Michael Morgan works in the Accounting and Financial Services Department and manages campus strategic sourcing initiatives from a system-wide, University-wide, and regional perspective.

When did you join the University?
I joined UC Berkeley in 2002 and came to UC Davis in 2011.

What's your day-to-day role in stewarding university resources?
As the Strategic Sourcing Manager, I manage system-wide, university-wide, and regional strategic sourcing initiatives valued at $200-million plus, including implementing best-in-class strategic supplier relationships, ensuring contracts provide value to our customers and the University. This is achieved by reviewing and understanding current business practices, identifying the opportunities, reviewing and streamlining processes to leverage campus spend. In addition, there are always initiatives happening at a system-wide level, and I am representing UC Davis, ensuring our requirements are incorporated. I spend a lot of my time analyzing data, identifying trends throughout campus.

What do you like best about working at UC Davis?
I love solving people’s problems whether that is by identifying inefficiencies in processes, delivery issues, pricing issues, or system issues. I try to get to the root-cause of a problem and develop solutions through analysis that mutually benefit all parties involved. I love interacting with our diverse campus community, sharing ideas, and learning new things every day.

What’s the most challenging part of your job?
One of the most challenging parts of my job is gathering requirements from multiple departments and stakeholders, finding commonality, identifying risk, and developing a scope that meets everyone’s expectations and provides value to the campus. This is a challenging balancing act, as most are concerned with “What’s in it for me?” or “How is this going to affect me?”

Tell us one thing about yourself that most people wouldn’t know.
My daughter is in high school rodeo, so I’m a rodeo Dad and we have a couple of horses. Don’t tell anybody, but I’m afraid of the horses and white-knuckle every time I have to trailer them.

What’s something you like to do when you’re not at work?
I like to spend my days off fishing. Within 30 minutes of my house I have access to three rivers and four reservoirs.