After serving as Syracuse University’s comptroller for more than 27 years, Bill Patrick made the decision to retire, effective June 30. Rebecca L. Foote, currently the director of financial analysis, will assume the position of comptroller the next day.

‘I couldn’t be happier because it’s something he wants to do,’ said Lou Marcoccia, SU’s chief financial officer and executive vice president. ‘And we’ve had enough time to plan for it.’

The comptroller is responsible for overseeing the accounting and business aspects of the university. Various departments report to the comptroller, including accounting, pay roll, disbursement and the Bursar’s Office.

The position is ‘first of all, a corporate officer,’ Patrick said. He agreed that the comptroller could be thought of as one of the university’s accountants.

The March 9 announcement followed the Board of Trustee’s approval of Foote. Patrick had been in the process of making the decision to retire for the past year, he said.

In addition to serving as director of financial analysis, Foote is also the special assistant to Marcoccia. It was her experience and familiarity with internal operations that helped her earn the job, Marcoccia said.

‘I know what she’s like and what talent she’ll bring,’ he said.

The expectation is that her current role in the administration will allow her to evaluate what policies need to be changed, as well as those that are working well.

‘I’m expecting she’ll bring her energy, her outlook, her new ideas,’ Marcoccia said.

Patrick thinks his successor is a ‘highly qualified individual,’ having worked at a ‘big four’ accounting firm, and noted that she is a certified public accountant, like Patrick himself.

Foote was formerly the manager of financial reporting at the Rochester Institute of Technology and a senior associate with PricewaterhouseCoopers, LLP. She is a graduate of Siena College, located just outside Albany.

Yet the outgoing comptroller said he does not know how Foote will change the office. ‘Everyone has their own way of doing things,’ Patrick said.

Foote, who is out of her office until March 26, was unavailable for comment.

Marcoccia said he is satisfied with the terms of the transition. He thinks the three-month window between the announcement of Patrick’s retirement and the actual switch will give people enough time to be comfortable with the change, rather than surprised.

‘Three months is a good amount of time,’ he said. ‘In a lot of cases, you don’t have that seamless type of transition.’

For Patrick, the transition will lead him into a completely new phase of his life: retirement. Reflecting on his career, he said he will miss the colleagues he has enjoyed working with and the overall challenges of the job he has faced daily since joining the university in 1981 as senior associate comptroller.

In 1999, Patrick received the Chancellor’s Citation for Distinguished Service. And throughout his tenure, the university earned national awards recognizing SU for its accomplishment in financial reporting and student financial services, according to an SU news release.

‘I appreciate the service Bill provided and the leadership role he has played in the achievement of the university’s outstanding financial reporting and services during the most recent quarter century,’ Marcoccia said in the news release.

Marcoccia said, in an interview, that he and Patrick are good friends and talk about both current activities and future activities, including Patrick’s decision to step down.

In the search for a successor to Patrick, the CFO looked for someone who was smart and talented with the right personality and the ability to communicate well, Marcoccia said.

‘I am so excited to accept this position and look forward to providing the leadership to deliver unparalleled financial services in support of the university’s mission and vision,’ Foote said in the SU news release.

Patrick said he believed the transition will be smooth and Marcoccia echoed his optimism.

‘I’m sure we won’t miss a beat,’ Marcoccia said. ‘I’m sitting here with a very positive attitude about it.’

Published on March 20, 2007 at 12:00 pm