On Monday, June 6, 2022, Veronica F. Cook, Executive Program Director (far right) proudly represented the UConn Supplier Diversity Program (USDP) in Grapevine, Texas, at the first in-person Annual Meeting of the National Association of Educational Procurement (NAEP) since Covid began. The University of Connecticut was part of a panel discussion along with Pennsylvania State University, Metropolitan Community College, and Grand Valley State University (from far left to right). Cook has recently served as co-chair on both the NAEP DEI Committee and the Supplier Diversity Sub-Committee.

In partnership with our entire UBS Team, the USDP mission is to increase the participation of small and minority businesses (S/MBE’s) on our UConn contracts.  Our joint efforts to be most inclusive in our Procurement  processes is the key to our successfully achieving our mission.

To demonstrate UBS’s commitment to leading the way in partnering with the USDP, 33 UBS staff members completed the USDP e-Learning Course now available on SABA.

Nine (9) of the first 10 (aside from the USDP team) to successfully complete the course are pictured here:

Allison Hestick, BJ Pavonka, Cesar Alonzo, Dennis Sienna, Kimberly O’Connor, Laurie Lanka, Luong Chiem, Nancy Patrylak, and Walter Dalia.  Not pictured here is Laurie Field.

As a cardholder, you are considered a “University Leader and Purchasing Decision-Maker”, who has been granted the privilege of transacting business on behalf of the University.  Your intentionality in making purchasing decisions for your respective department contributes to the University’s overall SMBE utilization goals and outcomes, which are established by and reported to the State of Connecticut Department of Administrative Services (DAS) and Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities (CHRO).  Aside from the statutory requirements, you are also asked to consider the potential economic impact to our surrounding communities based on the decisions that you make.