NO. Our team has ALL been working remotely as of March 13, 2020. In alignment with the USM Chancellor’s message, we have instructed our team to not work from our respective offices and to work remotely.
YES. We encourage campuses to begin using our Electronic DRF platform or scanning hardcopy DRF’s to usmf-business-support@usmd.edu as we can process these DRF’s remotely. Link to the E-DRF is below and if
you have not previously used the form, you will need to send along a request to Dawn James (djames@usmd.edu) to be granted access.
We are also encouraging DRF’s to list ACH payment information so we can send money electronically. We are able to print checks remotely, however electronic payment is a quicker way of receiving funds. Our ability to process hard-copy DRFs received through the mail is LIMITED. See Question 6. NOTE: University of Maryland, College Park projects will not be able to use the E-DRF software for disbursements that go directly back to the campus (we can still distribute to individuals or vendors) due to system limitations with the campus and their KFS numbers. In these instances, please complete DRF’s and scan them to the support box listed above to expedite processing.
NO. We are not working from the office and therefore all DRF’s are being sent directly to the vendor/individual through the US Postal Service.
YES. We encourage campuses to receive gifts via credit card and Wire/ACH to the extent possible as we can process these gifts remotely. Please reach out to the contacts below for our banking information for electronic gift requests. Refer to Question #6 for hardcopy mail and our protocol on depositing checks.
The last two months have been unprecedented times from both a social and economic perspective. Our recurring valuation and reporting processes remain the same, however we understand the need for more communication and transparency to our campuses and stakeholders. Our Investment Office will continue to provide information on what we are seeing in the market and how it impacts our endowment and operating portfolios. To further assist with transparency, Sam Gallo, CIO, intends to reach out to the various campus management teams and Boards to review performance and make himself and the team available to answer any questions about how their account is performing and our overall outlook on markets. In general, the portfolio has been performing as designed, meaningfully protecting capital during a time of market crisis.
YES, with a time lag. For the time being, a team member is picking up the hardcopy mail one day per week and distributing to the appropriate accounting team representative. We encourage electronic forms of communication as there is an inherent delay with this process. To the extent couriers are still delivering inter-campus mail, we ask them to leave the deliverables in our mailbox now located within the atrium of our Adelphi office. If circumstances change and the weekly mail pick-up must cease, we will communicate with you as quickly as possible.
We expect minimal changes to our timing. Our close process is operating “business as usual” with limited interruptions to executing the process remotely.
We encourage campuses to use the Freshdesk application or e-mail usmf-business-support@usmd.edu for any questions/concerns as we can then route these to our team members while working remotely. As always, please Roy Hossler or Dawn James to the extent the matter becomes urgent. Contact info listed below.
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