Financial Stewardship Institute

Are you a UO staff or faculty member who's interested in:

  • Enhancing skills in strategic thinking, proactive risk management, and decision-making around budget and finance issues?
  • Gaining experience in diagnosing and consulting on real life issues facing higher education?
  • Having opportunities to network with colleagues and subject matter experts in financial stewardship?

If so, please consider participating in the annual Financial Stewardship Institute.

employees presenting at podium

"Institute participants showcase their capstone projects," Workplace, March 20, 2025.

Program Overview

employee receiving a certificate

The Financial Stewardship Institute is an engaging professional development program with unique workshops related to why we do what we do and what we do when it comes to stewarding the finances of the University of Oregon. 

The cohort is comprised of UO employees from across the university with varying levels of experience in higher education, business practices, and budget planning. All faculty and staff are eligible to participate.

The program is a five month commitment, and to optimize the learning experience, enrollment is limited to 25 participants.

Sample program schedule

  • Session 1: University of Oregon Financial Overview; University Accounting
  • Session 2: Essentials of University Budget Planning; Payables, Receivables and Collections
  • Session 3: Human Resources and Payroll; Financial Reporting and Analysis
  • Session 4: Fundamentals of Sponsored Projects Administration; Export Control Management; Small Group Project Assignments
  • Session 5: Safety and Risk Services; Contracting
  • Session 6: Small Group Project Check-in with FSI Design Team
  • Session 7: Internal Controls and Fraud Awareness; Records Management and Information Security
  • Session 8: Financial Stewardship Institute Capstone: FSI small group project teams will present their recommendations to the FSI design team and project sponsors.

Nomination Process

Nominations for the 2025-26 cohort will open in late summer 2025.

Small Group Projects Proposals

An essential element of the FSI involves the application of financial stewardship principles taught in the workshops to real issues at the UO. To provide this experience to FSI participants we have them lead consulting projects for UO departments.

Proposing is easy: Simply provide a project title, a contact person/sponsor, a 1-2 paragraph problem statement/description, and a brief charge/goal for the FSI project team. 

The deadline for submitting a proposal to the 2024-25 Institute was November 30, 2024. 

Proposals for 2025-26 will be accepted starting in fall 2025.

Submit a Proposal

Guidelines for identifying a project to submit

Focus of the project

  • The project must focus on an issue with the potential to have a financial impact on the overall UO budget.
  • The project should involve a complex issue that would benefit from the advice of a consulting team and require strategic thinking to be resolved.
  • Participants in the FSI will serve as consultants, focusing on applying principles of financial stewardship (e.g., related to accounting, payables, receivables, and collections, contracting, sponsored projects, risk services, internal controls and fraud prevention, financial reporting and analysis, records management, HR and payroll) to your project.

Role of the sponsoring department

  • Submit a project.
  • Identify and electronically submit a project for FSI participants using the online form.
  • Work with the FSI small group.
    • If your proposal is selected, meet with your FSI project team to provide an overview of the project and answer any questions. Be available to answer questions from your FSI project team members as they analyze the issues and prepare their recommendations.
  • Attend capstone presentation.

 

 

five people standing and smiling

Examples of Prior Projects

  • Enterprise workflow management systems for shared services.
  • Assessment of annual, academic year, and daily or overnight stays on the Portland campus.
  • Email and retention management analysis.
  • Feasibility of campus-wide translation and interpretation services.
  • Analysis of graduate student external fellowships and training grants.
  • Classroom furniture diversion program.
  • Leveraging SharePoint to better manage the university’s records.

Questions

If you have any questions about the nomination process, or sponsoring an FSI consulting project, please contact Sheena Kindred, Learning & Development Manager, at 541-346-5116 or skindred@uoregon.edu.