2026 Best Practices Submission University of Texas at San Antonio

2026 Best Practices Submission

Presentation Title:

Living the Mission: Building the Bridge (Academic Affairs) to the Engine Room (Business Affairs)

Presenters:

Sheri Hardison, The University of Texas at San Antonio
Brian McNamara, The University of Texas at San Antonio

Presentation Description:

Six years after senior leadership built the academic affairs/business affairs structure we call the University Finance Team, the academic and business office relationship thrives due to regular self-assessment and honest feedback. See the evolution of this successful relationship and how it benefits our colleges and campus. Learn how we address challenges, such as ensuring the same collaborative spirit among our teams. See how we use the structures established through this partnership to navigate the complexities of the current financial environment. Hear the financial impacts that result from a successful partnership, such as strategic enrollment investment and compensation strategies. This session is designed for leaders in finance offices and financial and academic leaders within the provost’s office who are navigating the complex demands of today’s higher education landscape. As institutions face mounting external pressures—from enrollment shifts and budget constraints to evolving student needs and research funding challenges—the need for unified, strategic collaboration across campus has never been greater.At The University of Texas at San Antonio, academic offices span colleges, student affairs, strategic enrollment, and student services, more than 60% of the university. Together with the business affairs offices, these units represent 75% -80% of the university’s organizational structure. Recognizing the power of alignment, UTSA has built a high-trust partnership between academic and business offices that ensures resources, operations, and priorities are tightly connected to the academic mission. The ongoing dialogue also facilitates unified campus messaging and recommendations to the President.This presentation offers a behind-the-scenes look at how UT San Antonio developed and sustained this partnership. Through a practical case study, attendees will explore how the university addressed a real institutional challenge by leveraging cross-functional collaboration. The session will highlight the governance structures, communication strategies, and cultural shifts that moved UT San Antonio from coordination to true integration. The session will offer practical tips that audience members can use for their own situations. This playbook will include what types of projects benefit from collaboration, strategies for openly reviewing finances for collaborative decision making, and practice times for shared timelines, files, and communications. Participants will also gain insight into how this partnership model adapts to change—whether it’s leadership transitions, funding fluctuations, shifting institutional priorities, or redefined organizational boundaries. The session will outline actionable steps for evolving partnerships over time, maintaining alignment even as the landscape shifts. This presentation will provide the following practice takeaways:

Tackle Big Financial Challenges—Together: Discover which institutional finance issues are best solved through a strong academic–business office partnership.

Take Home a Playbook: Leave with practical tools and strategies to strengthen collaboration on your own campus.

Align Strategy with Mission: See how UTSA ensures that operational decisions and resource allocations support academic goals.

Keep the Partnership Growing: Learn how to evolve the structures that support collaboration as leadership, priorities, and funding shift.

See Where You Stand: Participate in live polling to compare how your campus collaborates across academic and administrative units.

Step Into Each Other’s Shoes: Hear what the business office has learned about academic operations—and how that insight improves decision-making.

Bridge the Budget Gap: Explore what academic leaders have learned about finance that helps shape smarter, mission-aligned choices.

Build a Culture of Trust: Understand how UTSA created a high-trust environment that fosters alignment and shared purpose.

Statement of the Problem:

With new senior leadership and after implementing a hybrid-RCM budget model, leadership needed to create and foster an ongoing dialogue between the academic and business offices so that resource allocation was transparent and connected directly to the mission. However, elements continue to evolve as people, resources, and even organizations change, so leadership needed to adapt the original model to fit the new paradigm.

Identify the Solution:

Six years after senior leadership built the academic affairs/business affairs structure we call the University Finance Team, the academic and business office relationship thrives due to regular self-assessment and honest feedback. See the evolution of this successful relationship and how it benefits our colleges and campus. Learn how we address challenges, such as ensuring the same collaborative spirit among our teams. See how we use the structures established through this partnership to navigate the complexities of the current financial environment. Hear the financial impacts that result from a successful partnership, such as strategic enrollment investment and compensation strategies.

Implementation Timeline:

2018 - Origination of the University Finance Team, which includes members of Business Affairs, Academic Affairs, and Institutional Research
2021 - First significant evolution of the format; reduced the group size for specific team dynamics and to optimize efficiency
2023 - Working groups created to handle non-resource-related issues, such as business process improvements, specific budget issues, and other ad hoc issues
2024 - Second significant evolution of the format. Executive leadership is only brought in monthly as the group has matured, and more issues can be handled at senior and middle leader levels.
2026 - Looking forward to adapting to a new integrated organization; UTSA merged with UT Health San Antonio on 9/1/25 - a 38,000 student institution with a large health institution

Benefits & Retrospect:

The enterprise benefits from the academic offices and business offices working closely together. The two offices comprise 80% of the legacy UTSA institution. The business office is able to better understand the concerns, priorities, politics, and timeline of the academic side. The academic office gets a close look at resource constraints on the institutional side. The collaboration leads to deep discussion, but ultimately a unified message to the campus and consensus recommendations to the President.