STAFF SPOTLIGHT
Staff Spotlight with Norman Kwong
In each issue, the FOCUS Newsletter spotlights an ABA staff member whose work deserves mention. This issue features Norman Kwong and his appointment to a system-wide project committee - the CSU Data Warehouse Committee.
Name: Norman Kwong
ABA Department/Unit: Budget Planning & Administration
Job Title: I am a lead budget analyst. We have two leads in our department. Angel Thayer is technically the Human Resources lead and I am the Finance lead. However Angel is very knowledgeable about Finance, and we share many duties.
How long have you held this title? This question is tougher than it sounds. When I first joined Budget in 2006, we had four analysts of equal rank. In 2008, one person retired, and another transferred to a different department. That’s when the two of us who remained were told we would be supervising the replacement hires, so we should call ourselves “leads.”
How long have you been with Sac State? I joined the Sac State family in 1999. I had been working at San Francisco State University, and recollect shopping for our first home. Homes within our price range included a condo with a view of the graveyard in the distance, and another condo which rumbled each time light rail passed by outside the window. When I saw a job opening at Sac State, my wife and I decided it was time for a change of scenery. At Sac State, I worked for the Student Financial Services Center for about a year. Then I transferred to Accounting Services. Finally, I transferred to Budget Planning and Administration in 2006 (where I work now).
What is the unique project/committee that you are on currently? For the past one to two years, I have been serving on the System-wide Data Warehouse Committee.
What are some of the requirements of this position? As a member, what role will you play? You have to be pretty savvy, both in finance related subjects and IT capabilities. I have always been a bit geeky on the tech side, so I was always more interested in data warehouse discussions. There are a few people more knowledgeable than me on these subjects, but most of them are managers who have enough to do. In addition, I have the advantage of having an ITC analyst, Charlie Eyster, who reports to me. Charlie is very intelligent and a hard worker, so we combine to make a formidable team.
How were you selected for this committee? Justine Heartt (our recently retired AVP for Finance) nominated me. When Justine first ran this past me, I naively assumed there’d be a representative from every campus. So even though I was a bit surprised, I said, "Sure why not?" A short time later, I found out there were only three campus representatives on the committee and the other two were ex-Chancellor’s Office employees. Also, they are all practically living legends within finance circles. So, initially I was intimidated and it took a few meetings before I got past that.
What is this committee’s goal? This committee is in charge of upgrading the CFS data warehouse. This is not to be confused with Sac Vault (i.e., Cognos) which is what most campus users are currently utilizing. CFS data warehouse is newer, and most other CSU campuses have switched to it. On our campus, we are hoping to rollout and offer training in spring 2016. As of now, we are planning to offer both Sac Vault and the CFS data warehouse concurrently. It’s better to offer users more of a variety of tools, instead of too few.
What are your biggest, yet most rewarding challenges? Sac State is only one of 23 campuses. Even though we are all part of the CSU and have some things in common, there are multiple ways of doing things. It can be very difficult to design reports, knowing there are slight differences within each campus. On the flip side, you get to hear how other campuses are doing things. It’s a lot faster to copy someone else’s great idea, compared to coming up with your own.
Who are your primary customers? I have to wear two hats on this committee. Much of the time, I wear my system-wide hat and think of all 23 campuses as the customers. Sometimes though, I have to put on my campus hat and make sure our interests are heard.
What do you like best about your job? It’s never boring. When I talk to people, I often use the movie Matrix as an analogy. In that movie, the character is given a choice of taking a blue or red pill. There are some people who choose to take a blue pill and forget about reality, since they know there are talented people out there who are steering things. However, working in Budget and being on this data warehouse committee is like taking the red pill. You are exposed to the true nature of how things work…this is usually exciting, but sometimes there is an overabundance of knowledge - your brain feels like exploding!
What is your favorite aspect of working on campus? I think, overall, the campus is a great place to work. As I walk past students on the way to my next meeting, there is living tangible proof of the difference we make. Also, most people I have met genuinely care about the work we do.
Why and how would someone contact you? If you have finance related questions about our data warehouses, feel free to contact me. You can also contact me regarding budget related matters. I may not have all the answers, but I am surrounded by a bunch of smart and great coworkers who are my resources!
