Treasury Management Association of Chicago

Tamara Farley
tfarley@niu.edu
Northern Illinois University,
Director of Treasury Operations

Job Description:
The best thing I can say about what I do on a daily basis is that my days are never the same and it is variety that keeps a job interesting. I supervise a small team of professionals, when I am fully staffed we are a department of three: director, assistant director and cash accountant. Each Fall and Spring semester TMAC has provided an opportunity for an NIU finance student to intern in my office. What do we do....well, we set the daily cash position and related accounting and reporting; we invest all university operating funds and related accounting and reporting; we oversee all credit card processing on campus this includes setting up new merchants, point-of-sale training and on-going education related to PCI DSS (payment card industry data security standards); we get involved in other miscellaneous tasks related to cash management, investments and/or banking relationships. We are a very busy treasury operations office to say the least.

Getting to Know You:
I have been married to David for 23 years and we make our home in DeKalb. We have two daughters, Allison who is in her second year of college and Kristen who is a senior in high school.

Neighborhood News:

Living in DeKalb and working in DeKalb has been of key importance in managing my family and my career. I am in my 29th year at NIU and I am grateful for the opportunity to work on a college campus. You may be aware that we had a tragic shooting on campus last February 14th and I am pleased to report that NIU has done a wonderful job in moving this campus forward, together forward.

Down Time:
We have a second home in Eagle River, Wisconsin where we enjoy boating in summers and snowmobiling in winters and relaxing in the Northwood's every chance we get. We do find time for family travels which include several Florida trips, California, Arizona, Washington, Alaska and Canada. A few years ago we took an Alaskan cruise and we were awed by the beauty at sea and on the land. We enjoy visits to Chicago for shopping, plays and Hawks games.

Fun Facts:
Let's see.....I was born and raised on a farm in Maple Park, Illinois. I am the second daughter and have seven siblings. My dad taught me to help on the farm at a pretty young age. In addition to mowing the yard, which became my first paying job - mowing for neighbors, I helped with plowing, disking, hauling grain, operating our grain drying operation, stacking hay and straw, feeding chickens, cattle and pigs and whatever else farm kids did....oh, like cleaning the animal stalls!! And I wouldn't want to leave my mom out, she taught me the household stuff like cooking, cleaning and taking care of children.

Back to Business:
I have been a TMAC member for many years and since joining the group I have served as an academic representative on the scholarship committee. I've had the chance to meet and get to know many members who have chaired and/or served on the scholarship committee. The meetings are a great forum for learning and networking.

Joining TMAC:

Wow, that takes us way back to the fall of 1993 or 1994 I believe. I recall being asked to join TMAC because the membership wanted an academic treasury professional presence. So I was invited due to my treasury position at Northern Illinois University and I've been a member ever since.