In Brief: Supply Chain Services changes, BIO5 marks a milestone, Community Impact Awards
University CommunicationsSupply Chain Services announces updates on travel, purchasing systems
Supply Chain Services, led by Chief Procurement Officer Andrew Brennan, has announced progress on two fronts as part of its comprehensive transformation of the university's supply chain activities.
Andrew Brennan
Travel and Expense Transformation Project
The office announced a new purchasing card model and other updates ahead of the July 1 expansion of the Travel and Expense system.
The three new University Card types will replace the current PCard model, aligning cards with common purchasing and travel needs and creating more consistent practices and processes across departments and units.
Departments and units will be invited to apply for the new cards in phases between May and August. The project team is also building a community of Travel and Expense ambassadors to support departments and units during the transition.
The project will streamline expense and purchasing card reconciliation processes through Concur software, improving processing times, increasing visibility into transactions and reducing manual work.
New process for large purchase requests
A new supply chain management system has been launched for requesting large purchases and contract reviews.
Designated finance personnel within departments and units will use the system to support more coordinated purchasing and contracting across the university. Over the last few weeks, they received training to prepare for this change.
This new approach will strengthen institutional oversight, reduce risk through more thorough financial and compliance review, and promote fiscal responsibility by aligning submissions with those responsible for budget oversight. This is the first phase of the new system deployment. Additional functionality will be implemented in early 2027.
Those with questions about the updates can contact the Supply Chain Services team.
'Behind BIO5' celebrates 25 years of research
BIO5 was founded in 2001 as a virtual institute to connect researchers across disciplines and build shared research infrastructure and bioinformatics capabilities.
The BIO5 Institute will celebrate 25 years of groundbreaking research with an evening of fireside chats and hands-on demonstrations featuring top university scientists. Behind BIO5, a free event on April 9 from 4:30-6 p.m. at the Thomas W. Keating Bioresearch Building, will include presentations on topics ranging from women's health across the lifespan to the bioprinting of organoids.
BIO5 was founded in 2001 as a virtual institute to connect researchers across disciplines and build shared research infrastructure and bioinformatics capabilities. The institute currently includes more than 300 researchers across the university, representing 19 colleges and 80 departments.
Learn more and register for the event on the BIO5 Institute website.
Five honored with Community Impact Awards
Two employees and three students have been honored with Community Impact Awards, recognizing their efforts to foster community and expand opportunities for people of all backgrounds and experiences. The awards were presented by Campus Community Connections at the Community Impact Symposium on March 26.
The Community Impact Awards were presented at the second annual Community Impact Symposium in March.
The winners are:
Community Impact Faculty Award
Stephanie Springer, Director of Internships and Career Readiness and Principal Lecturer, Department of Public and Applied Humanities
Community Impact Staff Award
Deshawna Yazzie, Community and Tribal Health Evaluator, School of Nutritional Sciences and Wellness
Community Impact Graduate Student Award
Ernesto Cabrera Jr., Doctoral Student, Higher Education
Community Impact Undergraduate Student Award
Jada Burton and Alyssa G. Norris, Undergraduate Students
Read more about the winners on the Campus Community Connections website.