FY22 review and a look ahead at FY23 – A note from Steve Murphy

Congratulations on a successful fiscal year! In FY22 we set out in Yale Finance with four goals:

• Provide high quality, reliable day-to-day services, information, and advice.
• Strengthen compliance and internal controls, and build effective, supportive, mutually reinforcing infrastructures for both training and compliance monitoring.
• Provide strong stewardship for and improve the financial performance of the University, while advancing the President’s Academic Priorities.
• Build a positive work environment.

I am grateful for the excellent work you have done on all of these. We have made terrific progress. Throughout the year we’ve used the All Hands meeting to highlight some of the great initiatives happening around Finance, and these represent a small fraction of the exciting work over the past year. I am proud of what you have accomplished, and I hope you are, too. Your work is an essential part of Yale’s mission “to improve the world today and for future generations through outstanding research and scholarship, education, preservation, and practice.”

In addition to your success on the goals we discussed at the start of the year, you have also navigated unforeseen challenges, including a massive fraud in the Department of Emergency Medicine, the unpredictable nature of the pandemic, and figuring out how to work in a hybrid environment. These have each been difficult in their own ways, and I am impressed by how you have taken each of them head on – learning, innovating, and remaining focused on delivering high quality support for Yale’s mission.

As we head into Fiscal Year 2023, I ask that each of you actively participate in the Compass Conversations taking place right now. Share your experiences from where we’ve been. What are you proud of accomplishing in FY22? Ask questions about where we’re going. How does your work fit into our FY23 goals? Also, talk with your supervisor about your goals for next year to make sure you’re aligned about the important work you will be doing each day.

In FY23, our four goals remain the same for Finance. These four were never meant to be completed in one year. Instead, they are multi-year goals, and we’re positioned to make terrific progress again in the coming year. We’ll continue to focus on delivering high quality services every day and being strong stewards of the university’s financial performance. Soon you’ll be hearing more about the project we’re mobilizing to strengthen internal controls university-wide. As always, we will continue to focus on building a positive work environment, because What and How we accomplish our work are both essential to our success. I’m often intrigued by a quote, often credited to Gandhi, that several people include in their email signature, “be the change you want to see in the world.” In FY22 I have seen you do that to great success, and I look forward to our continued work together in FY23.

In closing, I realize the summer months are among the busiest for many in the Finance organization. Even so, I hope you will take time out at some point to relax and spend time with family and friends.

Thank you again for the work you are doing each day, and best wishes for an enjoyable summer and for the upcoming fiscal year.

Steve