A message from the Business Services AVP Kathleen Prunty:
Contracts & Procurement Services and Accounts Payable are now Procure to Pay Services.
As announced in What’s Up? this Fall, these two finance units have been reorganized and combined to provide services across the purchasing and payment functions. This change will enable strategies to enhance service to campus departments, reduce price or contract discrepancies, increase savings and cost avoidance, and streamline the purchase to pay (P2P) functions. Last year, efforts from these two units resulted in cost savings of more than $4 million dollars to the campus. This year the team is focused on increasing those benefits and targeting current workflows to enable more efficiencies.
With this combined P2P unit, I am pleased to announce two new appointments:
Sara Bonakdar as the Director of Strategic Sourcing. The Strategic Sourcing role will manage contracts, procurement, and payment processes for our organization in which the procedures, methods, and sources are constantly re-evaluated to optimize value to our organization. Sara’s extensive experience in sourcing, contracts and overall operations make her a great fit for this leadership position.
Kim Gamblin as Associate Director of Purchasing and Payments. The Purchasing and Payments role will align the efforts of the purchasing staff and payments staff to improve service, efficiencies, and savings for the university. Kim has been an essential part of SJSU Accounts Payable for many years. Her expertise in vendor management, payments, and technology will be instrumental in positioning the unit for success. The addition of the SJSU Buyers to her role will allow greater insight and improvements within the P2P cycle.
These new roles reflect the growing changes in the industry and emphasis on Procure to Pay, driving our focus toward better serving our customers. The CSU is actively pursuing P2P opportunities via the 23C Procurement Report and P2P Technology Roadmap. Sara and Kim together will be instrumental in the successful attainment of our savings goals and adoption of new solutions in collaborative procurement efforts. Please join me in congratulating Sara and Kim in their new positions and the challenges ahead.