05/09/2005

Candidate Forum - On May 2, at the request of the city manager, Warren served as moderator for a forum for the candidates for Mayor and Council in Kingston. Using the city staff as resources, Warren prepared a list of twelve questions and then moderated the forum by asking the questions of all the candidates. About thirty Kingston voters attended and listened to the candidates respond to the issues for about two hours. The entire forum was covered by the local television station. I don't know if MTAS has ever done this before but it is certainly an innovative and resourceful way to provide assistance to a city. And, no matter who wins in June, they will know who their MTAS management consultant is.

NEW TRAVEL POLICY- The University is going to convert all of our travel reimbursement to the IRIS system (that's the system we use for all accounting, payroll, and HR record keeping). The Treasurer's Office is in the process of revising the Fiscal Policy and Procedures for the new system. Since the revisions are not done yet, we don't know all the details. Here are some dates that are very important. All travel through June 24 will be on the current Notes system, but none after June 24. This will be our MTAS cutoff for the fiscal year. Any travel you do the last week of June will be charged to FY06 instead of FY05. Beginning July 15, we will have our Notes database modified and everyone trained on the new system. Our plans are to have all travelers continue to fill out their own T-3 on Notes - this will be forwarded to either Tess, Brenda Moss, or Jessica to complete the IRIS version of the T-3. The IRIS version will be sent to me to approve electronically. After I approve it the form will be sent electronically to the Treasurer's Office where it will be audited against the paper version (with receipts) that Tess, Brenda, or Jessica had the traveler sign before being mailed to the Treasurer's Office. At the beginning, the Treasurer's Office will cut you a check for your travel as it does now. In the future, you will be reimbursed with a direct deposit and the Treasurer's Office will send you an email to confirm the direct deposit.

As I said at the beginning, we don't have the revised Fiscal Policy yet, so some of this may change. Regardless, you will need to close out your travel and complete your T-3 through June 24. Thanks.

Tennessee Library Association - Frances has been asked to serve on the TLA Honors and Awards Committee for 2006.

THANKS - Let me publicly thank Tess for keeping our payroll, accounts receivable, and accounts payable up to date. It's been busy, but we're getting it done.

Promotion - We've promoted Yana to the position of Program/Resource Specialist on the training team. She'll replace Lisa Murray. The promotion was processed and made effective April 24, but it took a while for Human Resources to let us know it had been approved. Congratulations to Yana - - and now all we need to do is find a replacement for her old job. One thing at a time.


Surplus Autos - The University of Tennessee will conduct a public automobile auction June 4, 2005.  If you're interested in buying a car that used to have a UT seal on the side contact Mike Moneymaker at 865-974-2134.