Author Archives: FinanceConnect

NEW Journal Upload Process

What better way to start the new fiscal year than by sharing a new, streamlined journal upload request process. The Accounting Services team recently adopted an OnBase workflow to manage journal submission and approvals. After a successful soft launch with several campus stakeholders, the OnBase Journal Request Form is available via FTS and a tile in One.SJSU for campus wide use.

Use the new form to submit department journal upload and manual journal entry requests. Once submitted, the streamlined campus experience includes:

  • Automated email referencing a request ID.
  • Communications from the Accounting Services team streamlined through OnBase, via reply-to-accounting-services@sjsu.edu. 
  • Email confirmation of the completed request, with reference to CFS journal IDs as appropriate.

The Finance & Business Services website has been updated to reflect the new process. For tips on using the Journal Request form, please take a look at Quick Steps: Journal Request Process.

Please use arbilling@sjsu.edu for requests to invoice auxiliaries or outside agencies, payment collections and related inquiries.

Announcing New Sr. Director of Budget Planning and Financial Management

Photo, Christine OptizSenior Associate Vice President, Finance and Business Services, Maureen Pasag is pleased to announce Christi Opitz as our new Senior Director of Budget Planning and Financial Management. She will join SJSU on June 17, 2024. This position works with campus leadership in planning, creating, and administering the $750 million campus budget, which includes five auxiliaries, NCAA Division I athletics and a compensation benefit pool. In addition to the campus operating budget, this position oversees the campus and auxiliary capital budget and debt program. This position influences university-wide strategies and decisions which have a high level of exposure and potential for a material influence on campus fiscal health or public perception; provides leadership to coordinate and prepare budgetary recommendations with each university VP; and participates in several university-wide committees.

Christi spent the first part of her career creating investment strategies for endowments, foundations, and pension plans at Cambridge Associates, where many of her clients were colleges and universities. She later shifted to corporate finance roles in Silicon Valley, where she enjoyed doing long-term financial planning for several tech companies. Most recently she returned to the university and nonprofit worlds. At Stanford she managed a project to change the way financial aid is distributed at the business school and then helped the School of Medicine’s finance department navigate COVID. She also worked at the Silicon Valley Community Foundation where she built new business processes as part of the organization’s initiative to reinvent itself in the wake of leadership changes.

Christi studied International Relations and Spanish at the University of Redlands and holds an MBA in Finance and HR from the Anderson School of Business at UCLA.
She lives with her husband and teenage son in Mountain View.

Announcing New Sr. Associate Vice President for Finance and Business Services

Administration and Finance Vice President Charlie Faas is pleased to announce Maureen Pasag as our new Senior Associate Vice President, Finance and Business Services.  Maureen G. Pasag, CPA, MPA is a top performing higher education administrator with 16+ years of progressive experience serving in key finance, accounting, budget, and audit leadership roles.  She is passionate about improving business processes to enhance students, faculty, and staff experiences on campuses.  She will join SJSU January 8, 2024.

Maureen recently served as the Associate Vice President of Financial Services at California State University (CSU), East Bay where she was responsible for financial reporting, accounting, budget, procurement, accounts payable, student financial services, and business support services for the university and its auxiliaries. The auxiliaries include Associated Students, Inc. (student governance), Foundation (philanthropic), and Educational Foundation (research and grants). She advises the university, auxiliaries, and enterprise units in financial matters impacting operations to comply with state, CSU, and university policies.  She has also served at San Francisco State and the Chancellor’s Office during her career.

Maureen is a personable, thoughtful, analytical, and strategic leader. Her collaborative style and creative problem solving has enabled her to successfully lead a large financial services team focused on process improvements, fiscal compliance, and customer service. She proved to be an empathetic, flexible, and effective leader during the pandemic time of uncertainty and throughout significant organizational changes.

Maureen earned her master’s degree in public administration at CSU, East Bay and her bachelor’s in accounting from CSU, Northridge. She is a licensed Certified Public Accountant with the state of CA.