Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Timothy M. Chester, vice president for information technology (VPIT), has announced that Pamela Burkhart has been named director of finance and business services for the VPIT at the University of Georgia. Burkhart started her new position on Jan. 14.

As the director of finance and business services, Burkhart is responsible for leading, developing, supporting and facilitating the budget, financial and human resources functions for units reporting to the VPIT, including Enterprise Information Technology Services (EITS).

Burkhart has more than 25 years of experience mostly in the private sector in strategic business planning and analysis, change management, financial management, business process optimization, and mergers and acquisitions, among other professional experience.

“Pam brings extensive experience to the University of Georgia and EITS,” said Lynn Latimer Wilson, associate CIO for planning and engagement for EITS. “Her financial experience across multiple industries will be a valuable asset to the University. She has been successful with numerous change management initiatives and brings a collaborative style of leadership.”  

Burkhart’s career includes financial leadership positions in the fields of electronics and computer products distribution, data storage manufacturing and polymer solutions manufacturing.

In recent years, Burkhart has served as a consultant with Fortune 1,000 companies on issues tied to compliance, business process re-engineering, change management, and financial planning and analysis.

Burkhart gained public sector experience when she served as the financial planning director of the Lower Colorado River Authority, a non-tax based state agency providing energy, water and community services in Central Texas. She also helped establish a professional audio distribution business in Texas.

“I’ve accomplished a lot of things in my career in the corporate environment and I’ve dabbled in non-profit, but education has always been a focus area I wanted to be a part of,” Burkhart said.

As director of finance and business services for the VPIT, Burkhart will focus her efforts on reducing internal complexity and increasing efficiency, establishing new programs for hiring and developing IT professionals, revamping cost recovery operations and reducing expenses.

Burkhart said she not only analyzes how an organization can operate more efficiently, but she has also has acquired the skills to build strong relationships and develop teams.

“I’ve started with very little resources at other jobs, and established sustainable business processes and disciplines,” Burkhart said. “One of my strengths is to assess a situation fairly quickly, leverage professional relationships and prioritize to focus cross-functional efforts on sustainable improvements for the benefit of the organization at large.”

A Midwest native, Burkhart earned her bachelor’s degree in business administration in accounting from Indiana University. She earned her master’s degree in business administration in finance from Boston University.