April 27, 2024

On campus activities suspended through June 30

April 16, 2020 by

To the campus community:

As noted earlier, guidance from the state and from public health officials – including the Governor’s stay-at-home order into June – has meant that summer school instruction will take place remotely, and we are now in the process of letting incoming students know that orientation will be virtual as well. In addition, all in-person campus-based or sponsored events and programs at Fredericksburg, Stafford, and Dahlgren are cancelled through June 30.

Paul Messplay
VP for Administration and Finance

Jeff McClurken
Chief of Staff, Office of the President

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Newly instituted approval requirement for ALL University purchases

March 24, 2020 by

To: All UMW faculty and staff
From: Paul Messplay

In order to more carefully manage the financial impact of COVID-19 on the University, we are implementing some additional spending control measures through at least the end of the fiscal year.

To that end, ALL purchases of goods and services, with the exception of Emergency Management and Facilities, will require Cabinet approval prior to procurement, regardless of fund source, effective immediately. Currently active University charge cards, with exception of those referenced above, will remain in a suspended status (deactivated) until further notice.

If you need to make a purchase, as always, you must work with your department’s authorized buyer, who holds a University charge card(s). The department buyer will route the request for purchase approval via the Approval to Purchase Request Form. Approval will be requested from the appropriate Cabinet member and, upon receipt of that approval, the applicable card (SPCC or Finance) will be temporarily activated for the approved purchase only.

  • If your department has Foundation Funds and/or a Foundation card, Cabinet approval is still required.
  • ALL purchases require pre-approval; regardless of fund source. This includes purchases traditionally made by check, AND reimbursements for purchases made with personal funds.
  • eVA requisitions, and Direct Pay check requests, will be reviewed for accompanying approval documentation prior to approval-to-purchase order.
  • All business meals, including catering, must be preapproved by a Cabinet member.
  • Documentation of purchase approval will be required in paper and electronic card files for future reviews and audits.

If you have questions about this process, please direct them to Procurement or  TESS.

Thank you for your support and cooperation.

Paul C. Messplay
Vice President for Administration and Finance & CFO
University of Mary Washington
(540) 654-1410

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Employee Travel Guidance, COVID-19

March 13, 2020 by
Dear Faculty and Staff,

I am writing to provide additional guidance regarding domestic and international travel as part of our efforts and the efforts of the Commonwealth to manage the impact of the coronavirus.

As mentioned in President Paino’s message on March 11, all University-sponsored international travel is suspended until at least May 15. While we recommend using caution and good judgment for all travel destinations, if you undertake personal international travel to any country that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has identified as a level 3 risk, or the State Department has identified as a level 3 or 4 risk, we expect you to follow CDC guidance. You must not return to campus until you have followed that guidance. Upon return home, notify your supervisor and self-quarantine for a period of 14 days. You are urged to seek medical attention if you experience fever, coughs or difficulty breathing. Read the latest CDC travel guidance related to COVID-19.  

In accordance with Governor Northam’s declaration of a state of emergency on March 12, all University-sponsored domestic travel outside of Virginia is suspended for 30 days, even if your travel was previously approved and regardless of the funding source of your official business travel. The Governor will revisit these guidelines after the initial 30-day period.

We strongly discourage all University travel for non-essential purposes, particularly if traveling by air, attending large gatherings or traveling to areas experiencing high numbers of COVID-19 cases, as documented by the CDC. As a part of the University’s travel approval process, we are asking supervisors and approvers to carefully evaluate the purpose of a trip, the destination’s COVID-19 conditions and why the travel is essential to the University. We also discourage personal travel when possible.

If you must travel, whether University-sponsored within Virginia or personal, please take all possible precautions, including staying up to date on the latest spread of the virus.

Please check UMW’s COVID-19 web page for additional travel information under the Frequently Asked Questions section.

The University’s Emergency Operations Team will continue to carefully monitor the situation, and both international and domestic travel guidelines will be updated and communicated to the UMW community as needed.

As always, take appropriate steps to ensure your health and safety, as well as the health and safety of those around you.

Sincerely,

Paul Messplay

VP for Administration & Finance, and CFO

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Richardson to Return as Dean of COB, Messplay to Assume Role as VP for Administration and Finance and CFO

October 11, 2018 by

As of January 1, Dr. Lynne Richardson will be returning to her role as Dean of the College of Business. Richardson has served as Vice President for Administration and Finance and Chief Financial Officer over the last year. Her first love, however, is the College of Business, which she has worked to build since her arrival seven years ago, setting the stage for the recent successful site visit by the AACSB accreditation team.

With Dr. Richardson’s return to her academic role, on January 1, Mr. Paul Messplay, our current Director of Budget, will step into the role of Vice President for Administration and Finance and Chief Financial Officer.

He has worked at UMW in budgeting for 11 years, and came to us after serving in positions at VCU, Tennessee’s Higher Education Commission, and Virginia’s Department of Planning and Budget, and he is well-known and respected in the Commonwealth and on our campus. Mr. Messplay has a Master of Public Administration (Financial Management) from VCU.

He has been deeply involved in institutional conversations about our financial position, in state conversations about funding for higher education, and in Board of Visitors conversations about our revenue opportunities and cost drivers.

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