With 25 years of experience at UAntwerp, Ann Notelé is a familiar face at our university. Now that she has recently taken the helm of the Finance Department alone, we are happy to give her the floor. Get to know Ann in five questions.
By her own admission, Ann is thoroughly a product of UAntwerp. She studied applied economics at RUCA and started working at the then UIA not long after. ‘I have always worked in finance: first as a policy officer at the projects department, afterwards I had several other finance-related roles. After the merger that resulted in UAntwerp in 2003, I started working at the Financial Policy Preparation Department. Together with Martine Janssen, I was the head of the Finance Department for more than fifteen years until she retired in April’, she says.
Since Martine’s departure, you have been head of the Finance Department alone. How has that changed your job?
Ann: ‘Before that, I was only responsible for financial planning and policy preparation. I managed a small team: together we worked on drawing up budgets, multi-annual financial plans, the distribution of resources between the faculties, monitoring the funding model, etc. Martine took care of the operational side: accounting, taxes, the management of externally financed projects, etc. She managed a team of some 35 employees. Now I get to be in charge of both parts. I see that as a nice evolution. After years of being able to focus on financial policy and building up a lot of knowledge and experience in it, I am involved in the whole process from now on.
Of course, it is an adjustment: I have to manage a larger team, with more staff responsibilities, and the job content covers a very wide field. But because Martine and I have gone running together a lot in the past year, the transition has felt very natural. For that, I am very grateful to her. I am also fortunate to end up in a well-functioning team with great staff, including five department heads who are fantastic in their roles. That’s a big gift.’
What specific challenges do you see for the coming years?
Ann: ‘Research activities at our university have grown significantly. This is positive, of course, but does put more pressure on departments and faculties. More has to be done by the same people, with regulations also becoming more complex. It is a challenge to keep managing that. Another evolution is that we are being audited more intensively: internally, externally, individual audits on research projects, etc. At the moment, for example, a VAT audit and a social inspectorate are running simultaneously, which take up a lot of time of different employees of the Finance Department and other departments. This leaves less time to deal with the actual tasks of a finance department. Regarding policy, it is then again a challenge to balance our university’s budget. Our job is to provide all the building blocks for the multi-year financial plans.’
‘Describe myself in three words? Committed, driven and caring. As a team, you can only function well if everyone feels good about themselves. That means looking beyond the job. If employees are going through a difficult period privately, you need to be mindful and consider that too.’
Ann Notelé – Head of the Finance Department
As head of department, what are you particularly keen to focus on?
Ann: ‘As the finance department, we have a support function: I want to further optimise that role. We want to further automate the operational processes and we also want to provide policy support as well and as broadly as possible. That also involves management reporting: we want to provide financial data to departments, faculties and policymakers. For example, our CFO Werner Jacobs wants a more data-driven workflow in the future. It is up to us to offer all that data and look for connections. An example is the link between financial data and staff data.’
How would you describe yourself in three words?
Ann: ‘The first word that comes to mind is committed. I have been working for our university for a long time and I love it, and I give my all. I also see myself as caring, both privately and in the workplace. As a team, you can only function well if everyone feels good about themselves. That means looking beyond the job. If employees are going through a difficult period privately, you need to be mindful and consider that too. Finally, I would call myself driven. I am not a diesel, but someone who always goes for it 100 per cent straight away. Even at a meeting Monday morning at 9 o’clock (laughs).’
Who is Ann outside her hours at the Finance Department?
Ann: ‘I am a true family person, by which I mean both my own family and family in the broader sense. When we go out together or go on a weeklong trip, it really gives me energy. I am also quite sporty, I like to hike and cycle. Every week I go for an evening walk with girlfriends, no matter the weather. Not only to exercise, but also to recharge myself mentally. And I am also quite the bookworm. That doesn’t necessarily mean literature with a big L. For example, I can completely lose myself in Scandinavian fiction, à la Camille Läckberg. And I also read biographies sometimes, Michelle Obama’s for example. On a two-week holiday, I tend to devour four or five books. Luckily, e-readers exist these days (laughs).’