Budget and Finance

The Finance team (formerly the SoE budget, financial management, and administrative support programs and the WCER client services and procurement teams) handles core financial processes for the School of Education. Our mission is to serve as responsible stewards of university funds by providing support and training to our departments in budgeting, procurement, reporting, and various financial tools. We aim to create a sound financial environment that encourages academic progress, accurate information, and monetary decisions that adhere to policy.

Contact Budget & Finance

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Workday: SoE Recommended Reports

SoE has a working document where we provide guidance on Workday reporting. The goal is to provide direction on relevant reports by functional area, defining purpose/use case, and defining key filters to help refine the results of the report. If there are any questions related to specific reports, please feel free to reach out to your fiscal point of contact.

SoE Recommended Workday Reports

 

SoE Worktag Creation Guideline

Please refer to guideline via: SoE Worktag Guideline

SoE Costing Allocation Job Aid

This job aid was created by the SoE Office of Budget & Finance and is customized for SoE Departments & Projects via:

SoE_Costing Allocation Aid

SoE Reconciling Credit Card Transactions

Allcredit card transactions must be reconciled within 60 days of the Credit Card Transaction Load Date (or the date the transaction is loaded into Workday).  Please note “reconciled” refers to the cardholder adding the transaction to an expense report, providing the supporting documentation and business purpose, and submitting that expense report for approval.  The 60-day requirement does NOT include approval time.  You can help us monitor accounts in your school/college/division by utilizing the Workday report “Find Credit Card Transactions (UW)”.  See below for full procedures.

SoE_Reconciling Credit Card Transactions Job Aid

Budget & Finance Points of Contact

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SoE Academic Dept. Fiscal Point of Contact

Overview: Each Department is assigned a fiscal point of contact who serve as their primary resource for budgetary guidance, financial planning and related financial inquires. We can assist with work efforts such as budget development, expense tracking and financial reporting. Below you will find the fiscal point of contact for each unit.

Dept. Name | Fiscal Point of Contact

Art: Kweku Brewoo

Counseling Psych: Ahna Holliday

Curriculum & Instruction: Luciano Tello/Ravi Rajani

Dance: Ahna Holliday

Ed Psych: Alisa Gradney/Ravi Rajani

Educational Leadership & Policy Analysis: Alisa Gradney/Ravi Rajani

Educational Policy Studies: Ahna Holliday

Kinesiology: Ahna Holliday

Rehab Psych & Special Education: Kweku Brewoo

Theater & Drama: Kweku Brewoo

SoE Admin/Support Unit Fiscal Point of Contact

Overview: Each Department is assigned a fiscal point of contact who serve as their primary resource for budgetary guidance, financial planning and related financial inquires. We can assist with work efforts such as budget development, expense tracking and financial reporting. Below you will find the fiscal point of contact for each unit.

Dept. Name | Fiscal Point of Contact

Center for Community & Well-being: Ravi Rajani

Cooperative Children’s Book Center: Alisa Gradney/Ravi Rajani

Communication & Advancement: Luciano Tello/Ravi Rajani

Global Engagement Office: Kweku Brewoo

MERIT: Alisa Gradney/Ravi Rajani

OCCFR: Luciano Tello/Ravi Rajani

PLACE: Ahna Holliday

Student Services: Luciano Tello/Ravi Rajani

Tandem Press: Alisa Gradney/Ravi Rajani

Teacher Education: Luciano Tello/Ravi Rajani

Fee for Service Activity Fiscal Point of Contact

Center for the Improvement of Mentored Experiences in Research (CIMER): Ahna Holliday

Center for the Integration of Research, Teaching, and Learning (CIRTL): Kweku Brewoo

Center for Research on Complex Thinking (CRCT): Alisa Gradney & Ravi Rajani

Center for Research on Early Childhood Education (CRECE): Ahna Holliday

Fairplay: Ahna Holliday

Field Day: Alisa Gradney & Ravi Rajani

Global Cities: Ahna Holliday

Innovative Partnership for Advancing Rehabilitation Research and Training (IPARRT):  Alisa Gradney & Ravi Rajani

Madison Education Partnership (MEP): Alisa Gradney & Ravi Rajani

Multilingual Learning Research Center (MLRC): Ravi Rajani & Ahna Holliday

Multicultural Student Achievement Network (MSAN): Luciano Tello & Ravi Rajani

Rural Education Research Implementation Center (RERIC): Ahna Holliday

See, Enact, Evaluate, Revisit (SEER): Kweku Brewoo

Sim Lab: Ravi Rajani & Ahna Holliday

School Mental Health Collaborative (SMHC): Luciano Tello & Ravi Rajani

State Personnel Development Grant (SPDG): Luciano Tello & Ravi Rajani

Stoddard: Ahna Holliday

Wisconsin Center for Education Research Clinical Program (WCP): Ahna Holliday

Wisconsin Evaluation Collaborative (WEC): Ahna Holliday

WIDA: Ahna Holliday

Travel and Reimbursement

Plan work travel with the best options for transportation and lodging to ensure reimbursement for your expenses.

SoE Client Services Support

Fiscal Year End Timetable

Plan ahead with our timetable for year-end dates to ensure success in processing financial transactions before the new fiscal year.

Year-End Accounting

Purchasing and Payables

As a Universities of Wisconsin employee, use ShopUW+ to place orders, submit purchase requisitions or request payments.

Access ShopUW+

What are the core services of Budget & Finance?

  1. Budget Planning & Forecasting
  • Develop annual budgets in collaboration with departments
  • Use tools like Adaptive Planning for scenario analysis and forecasting
  • Align financial planning with strategic goals and academic priorities
  1. Financial Reporting & Analysis
  • Provide regular budget-to-actual reports
    • Quarterly financial check-ins
  • Support data-driven decision-making with dashboards and financial visualizations
  • Assist with program-level financial reviews and audits

     3. Revenue & Fund Management

  • Ensure fund 101 budgets are being fully utilized
  • Oversee fund balances for tuition-based and revenue-generating programs (e.g., Fund 131 and Fund 136)
  • WFAA fund management & compliance
  • Apply appropriate overhead assessments and ensure fiscal responsibility

4. Personnel Budgeting

  • Manage salary budgets and vacancy savings
  • Coordinate course release funding and faculty buy-outs
  • Ensure strategic use of professorships and chair endowments

5. Year-End & Compliance Activities

  • Provide timelines and guidance for fiscal year-end processing
  • Ensure departments meet deadlines for financial transactions and reporting
  • Strategic & Collaborative Support

6. Training & Consultation

  • Offer workshops and one-on-one support for department staff
  • Help departments navigate financial systems and policy change

7. Policy Implementation

  • Communicate updates to financial policies and procedures
  • Ensure departmental compliance with university and system-wide regulations

8. Collaborative Budgeting

  • Facilitate cross-departmental planning and resource sharing
  • Support strategic initiatives through financial modeling and analysis

Finance Team

Kweku Brewoo

Position title: Financial Manager

Email: kweku.brewoo@wisc.edu

Kevin Chen

Position title: Administrative Assistant

Email: chen327@wisc.edu

Yerikk Cramer

Position title: Administrative Assistant

Email: ycramer@wisc.edu

Alisa Gradney

Position title: Administrative Support Specialist

Email: agradney@wisc.edu

Ahna Holliday

Position title: Fee-For-Service Accountant

Email: aholliday@wisc.edu

Andrew Johnson

Position title: Budget & Finance Director

Email: andrew.johnson@wisc.edu

Megan Kenney

Position title: Client Services Director

Email: mlkenney@wisc.edu

Nicole Kleinschmidt

Position title: Procurement Manager

Email: nicole.kleinschmidt@wisc.edu

Brian Maul

Position title: Procurement Specialist

Email: maul2@wisc.edu

Nick Minion

Position title: Administrative Assistant

Email: nminion@wisc.edu

Cabrina Pennington

Position title: Administrative Assistant

Email: cpennington2@wisc.edu

Ravi Rajani

Position title: Budget & Finance Associate Director

Email: rrajani@wisc.edu

Toby Schellhase

Position title: Financial Manager

Email: toby.schellhase@wisc.edu

Emily Worzalla

Position title: Administrative Assistant

Email: eworzalla@wisc.edu

Mai Vang Yang

Position title: Administrative Support Specialist

Email: myang357@wisc.edu