Kristie Harris, Associate Vice President of Financial Affairs, University of Central Florida
This is a transcript from The Floridaville podcast. This transcript was created using artificial intelligence so it may not be an accurate account of what was recorded.
Rosanna Catalano 0:08
This is the Floridaville, Get to know the people behind the Florida names you know. I'm your host Rosanna Catalano. On this episode we get to know Kristie Harris, Associate Vice President of Financial Affairs at the University of Central Florida. She joined UCF after the university had issues with state regulators. She tells us what she had to do as a leader to rebuild the relationship within her organization and outside the university campus. She also shares with us what is on the horizon for higher education. We are excited to be recording today's episode on live video stream to the Floridaville page on Facebook and the Floridaville channel on YouTube. I'm in my home office in Tallahassee, and Kristie is speaking with us remotely from her home in Orlando. Welcome to the show.
Kristie Harris 0:55
Thank you. Thank you very much, Rosanna. I'm so excited. So thank you much for inviting me on your show.
Rosanna Catalano 1:01
Well, we're so happy to have you. You are the Associate Vice President of Financial Affairs at UCF. As I stated earlier, can you describe your job for us?
Kristie Harris 1:11
Absolutely. You know, I started at UCF back in August and I have to say it has been a rewarding, rewarding experience for me. I currently oversee a Division of Finance. So you know, I have a chief financial officer that is also my supervisor, but I pretty much oversee General Accounting. I oversee the budget office, purchasing, travel, vendors payables, things of that nature. But I have to say most of my job is associated with just being a strategic advisor for leadership, whether it's for the chief financial officer or the provost of the institution. Not only that, you know, I still have a lot of dealings with the State University system, a Florida Board of Governors. That is a place I've worked with and worked for 13 years. And so I'm constantly interpreting new statutes regulations, making sure that we're staying financially solvent and making sure that we were being fiscal stewards before taxpayers dollars. And so I have to say my most rewarding experience about my job is just working with the number of people that I work with at UCF as well as that folks throughout the system. But my job has been exciting. When I first started, there was a lot of getting used to things because UCF is a very, very large institution. And you have so many students, so many faculty and staff all have the same passion about things, dealing with how your education, so actually had to come in and just kind of listen to all the concerns that campus stakeholders had and just being that voice in just making sure that we're providing good guidance and direction for our students as a whole for the campus. As a whole, so it's again, it's been just a rewarding experience and even though I have not made the year yet. But I am looking forward to more times at this wonderful institution that I work for. So thank you for asking about UCF and what I do there.
Rosanna Catalano 3:14
That's wonderful to hear. I'm glad you're enjoying it there. Now, before your arrival, there was a state audit in 2018 that led to some issues for UCF at the state level, how do you come into a position like yours as a leader and rebuild the relationships within the organization among staff and outside the university campus?
Kristie Harris 3:37
Well, again, it's about listening to the concerns and just making sure that when you come in, you have all eyes on what is important, and I think the most important here is just building that trust and showing that you have credibility and integrity and what you do before you see I again, I worked at the State University system of Florida, where I dealt with a lot of other universities in the system. So I pretty much knew all the compliance laws and everything that we needed to do to make sure we make those right decisions. And so I think at UCF, I was able to bring my expertise on what it was that we needed to do to make sure that we get it right and move it forward. But just being that leader and being that voice for the people that I oversee, as well as just paying attention to what others are saying, and taking all of that very, very great information, and making those decisions being one of those other people being part of that that group of folks that sit down and just say, look, this is what we're going to do. This is the best for the institution and just being that voice. That is important.
Rosanna Catalano 4:49
I know you're the Chair, you and I had spoken earlier that you're the chair of the Budget Redesign Initiative. Can you tell us what that is?
Kristie Harris 4:57
Yes, that is that is a very, very exciting project that that the university is currently, you know, trying to implement. But basically it's a model that we're trying to implement that focuses on fiscal accountability, how are we managing our resources and allocating our resources, but at the same time providing that transparency and clear financial information to our board to our campus stakeholders, that's important for them to have as they make those key decisions. So we started with this work back in the fall, I would say around October, and this even though we've we've done a wealth of work, you know, within the last eight to nine months, the second year is coming up, and we still have a lot of work to go and putting this together. That was part of what I did when I when I arrived, Rosanna it's about understanding some of the things that we really need to focus on and kind of improve. And it was all about just building that transparency, being able to provide information to people, stakeholders so they can better understand the fiscal position of our institution. And so this model actually gets us there. It's hopefully we'll be able to bring transformational change that will impact the university's culture and the way that we conduct business. So, again, I'm looking forward to it. It's a lot of work ahead. But I've worked with a group of really wonderful people that have been instrumental in helping us move this project along. So thank you for asking about that project. It's a great thing that's going on right now.
Rosanna Catalano 6:34
It sounds like some really great things are on the horizon for you all. I know in any large organization like UCF, it's wise to implement checks and balances with regards to finances to prevent fraud and misuse of funds. What advice would you give to a business owner operating on a smaller scale to prevent fraud and abuse?
Kristie Harris 6:58
That's a really good question. I think the first thing I would say is you really have to watch the bottom line, watch your finances. A lot of times when you have businesses, you have that one person that keeps the books and that's a great strategy. I'm not kicking against that. But sometimes it's best to kind of sit down and say, okay, where are we? Where are we at financially? How are those revenues looking? What are those expenses? Are we cutting costs, what are we doing to make sure that that bottom line that net revenue margin stays in in the black and not the red because of course, when you have numbers that are in the red, you're you're a little bit maybe in trouble a little bit, but it's about keeping your eyes on your resources. And again, I understand the need to have staff I understand the need to delegate that type of direction, but I think it's important for any business owner to keep their eyes on their resources and making sure they understand the financials of their own business.
Rosanna Catalano 8:07
That's great advice. We're gonna go ahead and take a quick commercial break and we'll come back and talk to you some more. Thank you.
Commercial 8:17
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Rosanna Catalano 8:41
So, Kristie, I wanted to ask you, you know, you've spent most of your professional life working in higher education. Why did that line of work interest you?
Kristie Harris 8:53
It's started back when I started working at Florida State University and before that time, I worked at the Leon County Board of County Commissioners. And so I saw this position and I thought would be great for me. It was in the office of treasury management and financial reporting at Florida State. And so I decided to apply for it. After a lengthy interview, I received it. But I think the most important thing for me is when I arrived on campus, I saw the students and I saw how passionate they were about where they were at Florida State, you know, Seminoles. Go Seminoles. And so that just resonated with me. I i at that time when I was employed there, you had you had the long lines, nothing really got done online. You know, students stood in line for the financial aid. They stood in line for registering whatever it took for them to get what they needed. And so I would pass by these students and I just would see the excitement, the drive the motivation to get what they need it so they can get their classes or get their financial aid and so that just stayed in me, so I was like, wow, higher education is what I like. And I have been in higher education for 17 years since 2002, I believe. So it's been wonderful. And so after that, I started at the State University system board of governors and I worked there for 13 years. And it gave me an opportunity to work with not just Florida State on issues concerning Florida State, but all the other universities in the system. I'm not getting out of this industry. I love it. So that's how I fell into higher education.
Rosanna Catalano 10:30
That's fantastic. You know, on the show, we talk to people and we learn their life story. So as a child, where did you call home?
Kristie Harris 10:37
I grew up in Georgia in a very small town, about 45 miles north of Tallahassee, Florida, and I'm going to pronounce where I came from. And I guarantee you, you may not even know where this is, but it's pronounced Attapulgus, Georgia, and it's at that time, I believe it was about 800 people it's so again, about 45 miles north of Tallahassee close to Bainbridge, Georgia close to Thomasville, Georgia, and that is where I grew up. So I am a country girl and I'm I wouldn't change anything about it. So I've lived in this area about two decades now, and I have never heard here.
Rosanna Catalano 11:22
I was like, she can't fool me. Was she gonna say I'm gonna know it? Nope. I've never heard.
Kristie Harris 11:28
You've never heard of sound but it's it's been I have not been there in a long time, but I wouldn't change anything about it. I grew up in a very small town and 800 people is a very small town, but I went to high school in Bainbridge, Georgia. And again, you know, we weren't totally disconnected from the semi city life. You know, Tallahassee was down the road, but for the most part, yes. I grew up around a lot of woods. And I wouldn't change it.
Rosanna Catalano 12:02
How would you describe your home life growing up? You have siblings?
Kristie Harris 12:07
Actually, I'm the youngest of four and I do have a brother in Georgia, him and his family lives in Georgia and my two oldest siblings, they're deceased now it's just me and my brother and my parents are deceased as well. We grew up singing gospel music and so I was more of a background singer but my sister and my mother and my dad they did most of the leading singing so I started singing gospel at five years old and please don't ask me to do it tonight don't just would not do that. You know that was coming next you know that was coming. Absolutely when not because I was never lead singer I was more of that they put me in the background of course, but that's my my childhood memory just you know, going from churches to churches and and singing gospel with my family. And I did that for up till about eighteen until I went off to college, but yes, a childhood memory of mine that always stays within me. So yeah.
Rosanna Catalano 13:08
So you've spent most of your professional life in education and numbers, right? You've been in finance. So everyone wants to know, did you like school when you were a kid? And more importantly, did you like math?
Kristie Harris 13:22
I loved math. And in fact, I excelled very well in math. And I believe it really boils down to my father how he used to call me at the kitchen table and asked me to help itemize the bills and I started doing that when I was like eight years old, and it's a it's a fun story to tell and I'm not going to go into it here. But when I was a young kid, that every month he would he would do that. So I would sit at the kitchen table with him and we would just he would tell me to write numbers down and and and give me a big number to allocate to the various services. We need it to support within the household and I think about that a lot because now I'm doing the same thing at an institution and you know, the first to the second largest institution in the country. And so I really do believe just my upbringing as a kid and my parents dealing in me that obviously with it, what any parent would do get your education, be mindful of how you spend money, things like that, that my dad used to just tell me about quite a bit. And so I, I think all of that just kind of factored into where I'm at. Now, if he was here today, I would just thank him tremendously for putting this type of career in my heart because I love it. I love doing what I do. It's been wonderful. I'm sure he'd be so long. I'm sure he'd be so proud to know, you know that those moments at the kitchen table has led to your career. Absolutely, absolutely. It's a childhood memory I would never forget.
Rosanna Catalano 14:54
So you've professed your fate, your your love, I should say to FSU and the seminoles. I know you went to college there. Tell us what your major was.
Kristie Harris 15:07
I majored in finance and I received a Master's in Public Administration finance degree is something that that I've taken and I've applied it to my career for the last 17 to 20 years, even before higher education. I work in the Leon County Board of County Commissioners in the budget office. And so really, my love for numbers started there. But once I got into education, higher education, it just really blossomed for me. Love the industry. I love what I do. And and the fascinating thing about higher education, obviously Rosanna is that you have the finance piece but you have so many other enterprises within how you're at whether it's the academic enterprise or the facilities, enterprise administration, HR, those types of areas. There's never a boring moment when you work at a higher educational institution, especially at the University of Central Florida.
Rosanna Catalano 16:08
So you mentioned that you worked in Leon County. Was that your first job when you were done with all of your schooling?
Kristie Harris 16:14
Yes. And during the time I worked at the Leon County Board of County Commissioners, I was getting my masters as well. And so I would say I tell everyone this that I really didn't tap into my edge of my career until I started in higher education, even though I had a remarkable time working in other agencies as I went to school, but it's the love that I have for higher ed. And so once I started at Florida State, I was I was completely done with any other idea of going somewhere else and working in another area. So higher education has has been it for me.
Rosanna Catalano 16:51
Well, it looks like we have some comments that some folks are expressing also their love for the Seminoles during our podcast.
Kristie Harris 17:00
But you know what? Go Knights.
Rosanna Catalano 17:02
Oh, that's right. That's right. Absolutely. So you talked about working at the State University system, the Board of Governors and you work there for more than a decade. For people unfamiliar with the Board of Governors. Can you explain what they do and what positions you held there?
Kristie Harris 17:21
Absolutely. You know, the Board of Governors is a governing body is a regulatory governing body. The primary mission of the Board of Governors is to help regulate the state universities within the state of Florida. So you have 12 institutions in different areas. Of course you at this one, I know you're a Gator so but yes, the primary purpose is that this organization regulates each institution and so it's whether it's providing financial guidance, guidance on academics, Student Affairs, things of that nature. I worked there as a budget director for 10 years. And that is where my love really grew for how your education because you're not just working for one institution, you're working for 12. And so they have various missions, they have a number of visions, USF may offer something totally different than Florida International University. So just having all of these universities with different goals and objectives of how they want to educate their students, it's just a remarkable career. And so during my time there, I met a lot of my colleagues and counterparts just by working with them at various institutions. So the Board of Governors, there's an administrative office where there's a chancellor, sort of a CEO, his name is Marshall Criser are a wonderful leader for the system. And then there's various offices within the board. And the primary purpose of that those offices is, obviously is to help manage and direct the state universities within the system.
Rosanna Catalano 19:00
So I know you work for a time at New College and now you're working obviously at UCF, the size of these institutions is very different. New College has, I think it's 1,000 undergrads, and UCF has about 60,000.
Kristie Harris 19:18
Well, actually, New College is a little smaller than that. It okay. I think the enrollment now is is maybe between six and 700 and UCF, between 68 and 70,001. So yes, it was a big difference. But I think the most remarkable thing about both of these institutions, Rosanna is that they're both so different. And it's in such a great way, you know, new college Sarasota, they're on the Gulf, and they're a liberal arts institution. And so the folks there are remarkable. They're doing great things at New College. So it's that liberal arts flavor that they provide their students, you know, obviously UCF is more Metropolitan research institution, a bigger playground, we have athletics, we have a medical school medical school, definitely a larger enterprise. And so when I started at UCF, the one thing that really helped me out a lot was the folks that said, Okay, we're going to teach you everything you need to know about this institution is a huge institution get ready and learn. And so I did that and just working with fabulous people there gave me the peace of mind to know that I'm in the right place, but also be we've got some work to do, and we're doing it and so I'm proud of working there and being a part of this new wave of leadership and what we provide our students.
Rosanna Catalano 20:52
So I know this spring, Florida universities were closed and moved to online learning as a result of the quarantine. We've all been home. So the state's now on a path to reopen. And it looks like universities will reopen in the fall, although I know things are changing literally every day. So from a financial standpoint, can you tell us how the closures affected University revenues?
Kristie Harris 21:21
Yes, there was some some loss of revenues, especially with our business type units, our auxiliaries, our bookstores, our parking because you don't have those students there to help support those those enterprises. But we've done remarkable with trying to manage that Rosanna we really have and we have a number of meetings throughout the system, not just with folks at UCF, but other universities. There's different groups of people that get together to talk about what are the challenges that we're facing? How do we manage this? How do we manage that? How do we manage that loss of revenues that we have. But you know, at the end of the day, it's about good financial management, you have to know the problems that you're facing. And then once you really tune in to the problems and understand, what is it that's causing the dip, then you have to immediately start thinking about a solution. How do we how do we solve this? And so back in March, when this pandemic really started getting a lot of attention, we started thinking then I mean, you don't start thinking about things you need to do at the at that very moment that you're that you're that this thing is in front of you. You start planning as early as possible. And so we kind of thought that we would have a little bit of downfall and revenues but we were able to manage it and able to identify those those extreme problematic areas and making sure that we feel those poles with with other resources that we may have available. It wasn't just a UCF issue. It was also issues that other universities have within the system. So we kind of like said, Okay, we have we work with each other, we get ideas from one another. And that has just been a great relationship that we've we've all been able to establish system wide. That's why it's so important to have that connection with the other universities in the system. It's a great system. They don't have a problem sharing their ideas with each other. It's just been remarkable. So we're ready for the upcoming fall. We're taking a lot of actions and precautionary measures to make sure that our students are going to be safe this upcoming fall.
Rosanna Catalano 23:37
Well, it sounds like you have lots of great relationships at the other universities that really come in handy and I'm sure your time at the Board of Governors was helpful with that. So that's wonderful. You know, no one creates a new program on a university campus until the budget exists for it. So as a result you and colleagues like yourself across the country, get to see the innovative programs on the horizons for higher education. What should the rest of us be on the lookout for on college campuses in the future?
Kristie Harris 24:10
My answer would be different before March. But now that we are under this, this virus would say that online education is going to be on the top, you have a lot of universities and I'm talking nationally that are having to teach their kids online remote learning, and it's no different here. So those are the things that we're going to have to really start focusing on and advancing. The great thing about UCF is that we already have an online program established. It's a remarkable program that's been in the works for years. We're happy about that. We're expanding in those efforts. I would have to say even before March, my tone to that would have changed would it be would be a little different because I would say that we would have to put more energy and effort into our deferred maintenance, you know, fixing up our facilities and making sure that the water is on and the lights are on and getting that state support. that's crucial for keeping those service deliveries going. also keeping our enrollment, that's very, very important. It's not a problem for UCF, but there, but it is a problem for other institutions that may be having a problem in those areas. But now we're kind of in a different fight. And so I think the most important thing is keeping our students safe, giving them the comfort level that they need and their parents, as well as faculty and staff that we're doing everything that we possibly can do, to make sure that they feel comfortable and that they are safe in the fall. Whether it's providing masks, whether it's providing a number of hand sanitizing stations throughout the campus, making sure we were able to generate the resources to take care of those efforts. And so it's a different ballgame, but it's somewhat the same. And we're doing we're doing a lot of work right now. And I give kudos to folks boots on the grounds for everything that they're doing to make sure that our campuses is ready to go in the fall. So I would say, you know, higher education is going to change a little bit because of, of this virus. If we all work together and collaborate, I think we'll be able, we'll be fine. We'll be just fine.
Rosanna Catalano 26:30
So we'd like to end our show with a little fun by asking all of our guests the same seven questions. So what would people be surprised to know about you?
Kristie Harris 26:40
Then I'm a couch potato. I don't like to go out that much. A nice dinner at home and relaxing. That's heaven to me. Hey, that's, that's what I like to do.
Rosanna Catalano 26:53
So, yes, when you have guests in town, where is your favorite place to take them?
Kristie Harris 27:00
I've only been in Orlando for about nine months, 10 months, and I'm still learning the area. But Winter Park is very nice. They have a lot of nice restaurants, Mills, Mills Park, I believe is very nice. And so I actually haven't had a lot of guests, because I really was going to start doing that once I was settled, and then bam, the virus hit. And so all of my friends were exercising, you know, social distancing my family, so no one has really come to visit. So I'm looking forward to that opportunities. Hopefully the pandemic will not last very long and we can get back to really trying to make some plans to see each other. But Amen. I have so many friends waiting to come and visit.
Rosanna Catalano 27:48
Amen to that. So what is the name of a book you recently read that you could not put down or the name of a show you enjoy binge watching?
Kristie Harris 27:58
Well, actually a friend of mine just sent me the name of a book and it's about and don't quote me on this, and I should know this, but it's about women being happier. And I think the the author's name is Valerie Morton, but don't quote me on that. And I just received it in the mail. She actually sent me two books from this author. With me being on vacation, I wanted to read a really good book and at anything on happiness, happiness during this time, I think is a great thing for anyone to just kind of not get into that depressive mode and just read some good and uplifting things, instead of just focusing on the news all the time, so I'm trying to do that. As far as my show. I try not to watch too much television, but when I want to just kind of ease and laugh a little bit. I'll tune into Family Feud. You know, that's Steve Harvey is great. I just, you know, he's funny and I'll watch him until until I've laughed enough and then I'll turn the TV off.
Rosanna Catalano 28:58
That show is so fun. So, among your close family and friends, what are you best known for?
Kristie Harris 29:06
I would say an advisor for some people tend to want to come and talk to me about things that they're wanting to do, whether it's business move or focusing on a particular career. And so I love to talk and give advice and just kind of talk about my career and how what are the things that I've done in my, my career track to help me and believe it or not, I used to be extremely afraid to speak publicly. But what helped me was when I was in grad school, we had no other choice, but to get up and make presentations. I was thinking, you know, maybe I could give some, some advice on public speaking, I tried to give those little various career tips advices to people about, you know, things that they can do to kind of help promote their true skill set and abilities. And so I think, I think people would see me as that you know, an advisor, someone that they can come to and just kind of, you know, bounce things off.
Rosanna Catalano 30:03
If you have a nickname Who gave it to you?
Kristie Harris 30:08
Well, I don't have a nickname I my dad used to call me Lenny, but that's part of my middle name. But, you know, let's just say if I have a nickname, I don't know it.
Rosanna Catalano 30:19
If you knew you could not fail, what would you attempt?
Kristie Harris 30:24
bungee jumping.
Rosanna Catalano 30:27
What are the top three things you love about living in Florida?
Kristie Harris 30:35
The weather, even though it's about you know, lately, it's been about 95 to 100 degrees here in Orlando, the weather the theme parks, I am a theme park person. I love the parks. And the fact that I live centrally and so I'm able to get home to Tallahassee or Georgia. But also if I want to have a little bit of fun and get out of my box a little bit can drive to Jacksonville or Tampa or Miami to visit friends and that that was the old days now, we can't do that. But once all of this happens, gets out of the way we'll be able to, to have to have those visits, and bit more fun.
Rosanna Catalano 31:15
Kristie, I'm so glad we've had the opportunity to get together and do this finally, I'm so happy. So it was so great speaking with you today.
Kristie Harris 31:24
Well, this is my first time doing something like this. I was a little nervous. And so I appreciate the opportunity. This has been a remarkable experience. I've enjoyed it. Thank you so much. Wonderful. Thank you so much.
Rosanna Catalano 31:37
Be sure to subscribe to our podcast channel on YouTube and all your favorite podcasting listening platforms. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Visit our website to see some extras on Kristie and get her contact information. our live stream director for this episode and audio editor for this podcast episode is Joy Tootle with Rocket Ship Consultants. If you're interested in starting a live stream or podcast, contact Joy at joy@rocketshipconsultants.com. Thanks for listening.
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