Bert Oversees $32 Million Budget
Daryl Bert ’97
Eighteen years before becoming EMU’s vice president for finance, Daryl Bert ’97 came to EMU to play volleyball, recruited by Coach Sandy Brownscombe. In his four-year playing career, he set several school records, earning a place in EMU’s Athletics Hall of Fame.
Today, with an MBA degree and corporate finance experience, he oversees the work of 50 staff and manages a budget of $32 million.
Bert still plays team sports, just not volleyball: “I’m too old to play at the level I was used to.” He’s on a church-league softball team and plays on the faculty-staff basketball team in EMU’s intramural program.
From his third-floor office in the Campus Center adjacent to the president’s office, Bert can see Massanutten Peak in the distance and much of the 90-acre campus below him, including new power-generating solar panels on the roof of Hartzler Library.
Bert is responsible for the business office, physical plant department, human resources and auxiliary services. The latter includes the bookstore, dining hall, box office, rental of campus facilities, and summer programs.
As for the budget, Bert started putting the massive document together in December for the 2013-14 budget year, which starts July 1. “Student tuition is our biggest source of revenue,” said Bert. “But we couldn’t balance the budget without other sources of income.”
Tuition funds two-thirds of the operating budget, with room and board (fees for living in the residence halls and eating in the cafeteria) generating another 14 percent. Seven percent of the revenue comes from the contributions of alumni and other donors. EMU’s endowment fund – which currently stands at nearly $21 million – earns 2 percent for the budget. The remaining 10 percent of the budget comes from rental of campus facilities and other miscellaneous revenue.
Bert was living with his family in Austin, Texas, when he was invited by President Loren Swartzendruber to apply for the vice president position. “I wasn’t looking to make a change,” he said, “but we did think we eventually wanted to move back East where our families lived.”
Bert is married to Carrie Stambaugh ’97, who also played varsity volleyball for four years at EMU. They live at the edge of campus with their three children – Evan (8), Davis (6) and Maren (3). Carrie, a former elementary school teacher, works part time at EMU as an assistant coach for the women’s volleyball team.
As a student at EMU, Bert majored in accounting, taught primarily by Ron Stoltzfus and Karen Burkholder. His first job after graduating was at the Harrisonburg accounting firm of McGladrey & Pullen, which later merged with PBGH.
He and Carrie moved to Texas in 2000, where he took a job at the corporate headquarters of Dell as a financial consultant in product development. He left the company to earn an MBA at the University of Texas and then returned to Dell to work in the same area.
Four other EMU alumni work in the business office:
Joan Goodrich ’02 is the assistant controller. She majored in business and organizational development in EMU’s Adult Degree Completion Program, after which she took a job as the accounting supervisor at Rockingham Memorial Hospital in Harrisonburg.
Feeling that there were no further growth opportunities for her at RMH, Goodrich responded to an opening for assistant controller at EMU – and was offered the job. Her daily activities include journal entries, account reconciliations, general ledger transactions and oversight of EMU’s credit card program.
“The most satisfaction I get from the job,” she says, “is when I am able to respond quickly to questions from other employees and departments.”
Judy (Kauffman) Leaman, class of ’79, the cashier, is the face and voice of the business office, greeting customers – mostly students – and answering phone calls, often from parents of students. She is married to Jay M. Leaman ’77.
“I really enjoy helping and learning to know students and parents as well as the faculty and staff at EMU,” she says.
Tim Stutzman ’95, EMU’s controller and director of finance, heads the seven-member business office staff. He is a certified public accountant (CPA) with 15 years of experience in industry and public accounting in Ohio before joining the EMU staff in 2010. As a student, he was a double major in accounting and business administration. Stutzman is married to Laura (Gillman) Stutzman ’95.
Lisa (Brenneman) Crist ’87, student finance manager, is responsible for billing students and managing accounts receivable. In 2010-11, Crist’s older daughter, Rebecca, enrolled in EMU; she forsees her younger daughter, Rachel, enrolling as a first-year student in 2013-14. — Steve Shenk ‘ 73
