An introduction to the Office of the Vice President for Finance for members of the MIT administrative and finance communities

finance

 

Who we are

The Office of the Vice President for Finance (VPF) works to advance MIT’s mission by supporting thoughtful stewardship and effective deployment of the Institute’s financial resources. VPF oversees the operations needed to pay MIT's employees and enables them to purchase goods and services for MIT business. VPF also coordinates the Institute’s annual budget process and helps the MIT community make thoughtful decisions about allocating resources by collecting and reporting financial data. VPF is an administrative unit of the Office of the Executive Vice President and Treasurer.
 

How we work

  • We solve problems. VPF is a highly collaborative, customer service-focused organization. Our teams work with you on routine day-to-day tasks and can help solve problems as they come up. When you send an email to a specific business unit address, our teams respond quickly to all messages and will work with you until your question or issue is resolved.
     
  • We take calls. Sometimes it is easier to solve something by picking up the phone. Call us. Get to know us. We are always happy to sort out a problem by having a conversation with you.
     
  • We welcome visitors. Our VPF Reception and Service Desk at NE49-3000 is open. You can drop in to resolve an issue, pick up or drop off forms, or check with us about a payment Monday-Friday 9 am - 5 pm. In addition, HR/Payroll staff are on hand at the Atlas Service Center (E17) to help international students, faculty, researchers, and staff determine their U.S. tax status and complete required forms. Drop in on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 10 am to 4:30 pm or call 617-253-2799 to set up an appointment.
  • We provide training. We offer online, drop-in, and classroom-based training sessions on a range of topics relating to sourcing, contracting, buying, paying, travel expenses reporting, and overall financial and accounting practices. We can set up a custom training session in your area to address topics that fall outside of the regular training offerings. No training session topic is too small or too complicated for us to consider. If we can help you and your team, we will.
     
  • We do more than transactions. VPF finance experts will partner with you on matters of strategy, growth, global operations, budget development, the finance implications for new areas of business, or new and innovative ways your department, lab, or center is working to advance education and research on campus or around the world.
     
  • We want to hear from you. If you have ideas on how to expedite, simplify, or reinvent financial functions, let us know. The VPF Finance and Administrative Services team maintains an ongoing dialogue with the MIT community to help set priorities for improving financial processes. The team engages business units within VPF with central administrative partners to streamline functions that cut across multiple VPF business units. Reach out to with your feedback and ideas.
     

The VPF website — your online guide to finance at MIT