Barnum Named Vice President for Finance and Management at Buffalo State
Buffalo State President Katherine Conway-Turner announced Thursday that she has appointed Laura J. Barnum as the college’s next vice president for finance and management. Barnum, who will officially join the Buffalo State community on August 27, 2018, currently serves as associate vice president for resource planning at the University at Buffalo, a position she had held since 2013.
“Ms. Barnum brings more than 24 years of higher education administration to her new role at Buffalo State,” Conway-Turner said. “Her combination of progressively responsible roles in athletics administration, academic planning, and most recently finance and administration affords a unique perspective to work collaboratively across divisions and best align campus resources with institutional priorities. I am confident that Ms. Barnum’s broad organizational and planning skills, combined with her strong passion for higher education, will be a terrific addition to the cabinet and the campus community. ”
As the associate vice president for resource planning at the University at Buffalo since 2013, Barnum leads the campus resource planning process in support of the university’s mission, vision, and strategic objectives. A member of the senior leadership team in UB’s division of finance and administration, Barnum provides strategic advice on university and unit finances in relation to investment decisions across the university; serves as the principal liaison to campus divisions for long-term budget planning and forecasting activities; and helps guide financial best practices and reporting that allow the schools and support units to understand their respective resource status and the role they play in the larger university context.
“I am very impressed with President Conway-Turner’s vision and am excited to join her leadership team and support the strategic plan for Buffalo State College at such an exciting time in the city of Buffalo," Barnum said. “Growing up in a very large family, I personally understand the role that higher education can play in transforming lives and I am very pleased to serve SUNY’s Urban-Engaged campus and largest comprehensive college, an institution that is committed to access, inclusion, academic excellence, and lifelong learning.”
From 2007 to 2013, Barnum served as UB’s senior associate vice provost in the Office of Academic Planning and Budget, where she developed a new university resource management process that integrated multiple areas such as philanthropy, research, enrollment, financial, personnel, capital, public service initiatives, diversity, and legislative priorities with more than 30 university units. In addition, she was responsible for the university internal financial plan, including annual revenue and commitments of over $100 million.
Barnum joined the University at Buffalo in 1996 as assistant volleyball coach (1996–1997) and director of business operations (1996–2002) in the division of intercollegiate athletics. In 2002, she was elevated to the role of assistant athletic director of business operations, where she expanded the business operations unit during a period of rapid growth as the program moved to NCAA Division I. A year later, she was promoted to associate athletics director for internal operations and named senior woman administrator, monitoring and coordinating all gender equity planning efforts from 2003 to 2007.
She spent two years as an assistant volleyball coach at Canisius College (1993–1995), and was an adjunct faculty member in the graduate sport administration program at Canisius from 2001 to 2007.
Barnum earned her B.S. in exercise science with a sport management concentration from the University at Buffalo in 1993. She completed an M.S. in sport administration at Canisius College in 1996, and later earned an M.B.A. from UB in 2000.