Have a word of praise or kudos to give to someone else? Here it is!
Duke will launch an upgraded cloudbased Learning Management System
TeamworkTouts
Let’s emphasize and actively foster teamwork across various aspects of our departments by sharing our successes.
Notable news about our colleagues’ career and personal milestones
QuarterlyBirthdays
Let’s celebrate with our colleagues on their special day. Other notable dates listed
Employee Spotlight
Getting to Know You: Staff profile featured quarterly.
Blue Devil Finance Focus
Newsletter Newsletter
Rachel Satterfield, VP of Finance & Treasurer
GENERAL CONTENT EDITOR
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF SHOUT OUTS & CONTENT EDITOR
Marcia de la Torriente, Managing Director of Duke Finance
CONTRIBUTING WRITER AND CONTENT EDITOR
Krystal Ingram, Treasury
Contributors
kASSAUNDRA hESTER & lYDIA iWARA
Saundra and Lydia alerted us to a retirement in Payroll department and sent us write ups about that special event
THAVY WALTERS
Thavy provided information about a new baby boy born in the PAFM (Post Award Financial Management) department
KATIE SENKO
Katie provided information about Angelo Gershon joining Financial Reporting department
Suzette Billings, Procurement & Supply Chain
TEAMWORK TOUTS AND CONTENT EDITOR
Melodie Ford, Controllers Division
CONTENT DIRECTOR
Cassie Lewis, Office of the VP
LAURA MCANDREW
Laura provided information about Pete Balbirnie’s proposal and work of implementing a supervisory mentorship program and how Duke HR has now adopted this program.
BRADLEY WALKER
Brad provided information about a new hire in Plant Accounting, Wes Wierman
JULIE SIEGMUND
AMY GOODREAU-WILLIAMS
Amy provided a shoutout to her team in Corporate Tax on a job well done in meeting a big deadline in the month of May
TONY HIGGS
Tonya provided information about a wedding and a baby boy born in her department, Procurement & Supply Chain
Julie provided information about their new hire, Laura Gooding, in Real Estate, as well as information about Scott Selig’s retirement.
Rachel A NOTE FROM
Dear Finance Team,
As we welcome the warmth and vibrancy of summer, I hope this season brings you moments of relaxation and rejuvenation. This edition of our newsletter comes at a pivotal time for our university as we embark on a strategic re-alignment and cost reduction process. Our commitment to excellence and sustainability remains unwavering, and I am confident that together, we will navigate these changes with resilience and innovation.
I want to express my heartfelt appreciation for your dedication and commitment to Duke over this past year. I hope you find the updates within the newsletter ranging from updated learning management system and supervisory mentorship resources to updates from various Finance staff and team members helpful and provide a sense of community within Duke Finance.
Warm Regards,
Rachel Satterfield
VP OF FINANCE AND TREASURER
KudosSHOUTOUTS
With Shout-Outs, you enable all your team members to give positive recognition to each other - so you cultivate a culture of trust with recognition.
Pictured: Debbie Endsley
“I have had the wonderful privilege of working with Debbie since I began my career at Duke. Earlier in April, Debbie celebrated her 40th anniversary with Duke and all 40 years were at Duke Payroll! Her dedication and loyalty has been instrumental in the success of the department. We will miss her greatly but are very excited for the next chapter of her life and also that she is about to become a grandma!!! Please join us in celebrating this incredible accomplishment!!!”
-Lydia Iwara, Assistant Director of Corporate Payroll
“On behalf of the entire Corporate Payroll department, we want to say thank you for being dedicated, loyal and a team player. We wish you much success as you embark on the next stage of your life. You will be missed!!”
-Kassaundra Hester, Senior Director of Corporate Payroll
In May, Duke will transition to an upgraded cloud-based Learning Management System (LMS) that offers enhanced usability and expanded functionality, including new reporting capabilities.
The system, which will still be powered by SABA, will replace the existing web-based application. During this process, all historical training data will be securely transferred to the new platform. The launch of the new cloud-based system took place on May 13.
Key features of the New LMS: Streamlined, user-friendly web interface
Enhanced analytics for reporting and tracking
Quick access to transcripts, learning histories, and completion certificates
Expanded capabilities to deploy training content
What Learners Should Know:
Records of completed training courses will be migrated to the SABA Cloud LMS and will be available for learners to review. Any progress for any trainings not completed by May 6 will be lost. But any registrations from the last 90 days will automatically migrate to the new system to allow for completion of the trainings.
Access to the new LMS will not change. Learners can access the new system through existing links on the Duke Human Resources website and through the Duke@Work Self-Service site on the “My Info” tab under “My Career.”
A GREAT BIG TEAMWORK SHOUT OUT TO THE CORPORATE TAX DEPARTMENT FOR JUST WRAPPING UP THEIR BIG MAY 15 DEADLINE. TH
“I am so proud of the whole team and appreciate all the hard work they put in throughout the year leading up to this event! Those on the team: Ermal,Amy,Vanessa,Abdul,Shirley,Jackie,
andJames!”
-Amy Goodreau Williams Senior Director of Corporate Tax Reporting & Services
THIS MESSAGE IS WELL DESERVED, AND WE ARE THANKFUL FOR ALL THE WORK AND DEDICATION THE CORPORATE TAX DEPARTMENT PUTS IN FOR THE BENEFIT OF DUKE FINANCE AND DUKE AS A WHOLE.
Treasury’s very own Pete Balbirnie, Director of Endowment Administration, was a part of Duke’s Leadership Academy where he and his team developed and presented a mentorship program for new supervisors.
According to a recent Gallup survey, 70% of an employee’s job satisfactions is based on their relationship with their supervisor.
Duke Human Resources adopted this idea and developed specific programming to support new supervisors -both those who have been newly promoted into a supervisor role and more experienced supervisors who have recently joined Duke.
The Work Culture and Communication Services department in HR has now matched their first 14 people with mentors based on the three competencies they identified as areas for development.
Supervisors, a new cohort is set to launch in September, so there will be more opportunities to signed up to be mentored or for you to serve as a mentor if you wish to volunteer.
More information about this mentorship program can be found HERE.
A great big THANK YOU to Pete for his contributions!
IN THE DAY AND AGE OF HYBRID AND WORK-FROM-HOME SCHEDULES, WE DO NOT ALWAYS GET THE OPPORTUNITY FOR THOSE “WATERCOOLER CONVERSATIONS.” LET’S SHARE OUR STORIES.
A new hire to the Plant Accounting team, Wes Wierman joined the staff in February as an Accounting Supervisor.
Angelo Gershon transferred from Alumni and Development Records to Financial Reporting in March 2025.
Laura Gooding joined the Duke Real Estate Office in January as the Senior Real Estate Coordinator, Real Estate. Laura comes with an extensive background in real estate management, most recently working for University of Colorado Health. She joins the team providing oversight and administration of the 4 million square foot portfolio leased by the University and Health System.
A big Duke Finance welcome to Wes, Angelo, and Laura!
Background from Laura Gooding:
Laura and her husband moved to Chapel Hill last July from Colorado bringing their love for the outdoors with them. Outside of work, Laura loves all things outdoors, snow skiing, hiking, paddle boarding, sailing and is always up for a new adventure. They have two boys ages 22 and 19 who came with them as they prepare for their next life chapters. You might spot Laura and her husband on the local trails with their dogs, Remy and Porter.
Calvin Watson Jr. of Procurement & Supply Chain, and his wife Tiara are expecting a baby! Procurement hosted a baby shower on May 7th.
Oh Baby! Oh Baby!
Welcome to the World Welcome to the World
Procurement’sown JesseAlston and his wife
Victoria welcomed their baby boy, Jesse, Jr., into the world back in January on Thursday, 1/30/25, weighing 7 pounds, 11 ounces and 20” long Welcome to the world, little one!
BornwithLove BornwithLove
PostAwardFinancialManagementlet us know that their teammate Justin Vance had a baby boy, Jace Vance, who was born with love on May 13 at 11:48am! Baby Jace weighed in at 8lbs 5oz th
Scott does not have any immediate plans for retirement, but he will be welcoming another grandbaby in the fall. Scott currently has two granddaughters. Scott enjoys swimming and playing pickleball with his wife Kris.
