Gator Business Administrator Services (GBAS) hosts 2019 spring institute

“Influence Matters!” was the theme for the Gator Business Administrator Services (GBAS) Institute held at Emerson Alumni Hall last month. The event was kicked off by Chief Financial Officer Mike McKee, who spoke about the importance of understanding the rules and exceptions for state funding use and being able to effectively communicate those rules to all stakeholders.

Guest speaker Alex Sevilla, associate dean and director of the Heavener School of Business, shared specific tools for fostering business relationships to be a more effective communicator and influencer. Attendees learned strategies for cultivating those relationships and their capacity to convey important information to influence decisions.

Two of the three afternoon breakout sessions were deep dives into different UF business processes: UF business travel and the disclosure of outside activities. The third session provided a framework and practice techniques for enhancing one’s emotional intelligence in the workplace.

In “Navigating Travel at UF,” Randy Staples, associate controller, and Brett Wallen, Travel accounting manager, along with Carlos Cordero, of the Digital Worlds Institute, worked through some of the most common travel reimbursement challenges and discussed exciting new travel tools scheduled for future implementation.

Terra DuBois, director of the Division of Research Compliance and Global Support; Gary Wimsett, director of Compliance and Conflict of Interest; and Chris Hass, associate provost for Academic and Faculty Affairs, engaged business and research administrators in a timely discussion about the importance of enhanced oversight on reporting outside activities and financial interests.

In the third breakout session, “Using Emotional Intelligence for Crucial Conversations,” GBAS training manager Gwynn Cadwallader, of UF Human Resources, and GBAS Director Barb Mitola, of the College of the Arts (COTA), provided a framework, strategies and practice activities for increasing self-awareness and self-management, especially in the context of high-stakes conversations.

“This was my first interaction with GBAS, and I was impressed by everyone’s energy and overall engagement,” said Sevilla. “It is clear that the culture of GBAS is highly positive. Given the key roles that these professionals play across UF, the positive impact of creating this space for them is profound.”

GBAS is looking forward to a productive summer and its next workshop in fall 2019. Learn more about GBAS here.

Story by Barb Mitola, GBAS director and COTA assistant director of Human Resources