Leadership Team
Paula Welch
System Controller & Associate Vice Chancellor
Vision
The System Controller team will serve as strategic partners and provide exceptional service through innovation and collaboration in support of UNT System Enterprise’s mission.
Mission
The UNT System Controller leads financial management and accounting activities that provide high quality, efficient, effective, and accurate financial services to all campus constituents. This team provides timely and accurate financial reporting that will withstand audits and provide reliable and meaningful information to both internal and external stakeholders. Controller operations include campus accounting and financial reporting (excluding budget and decision support), financial statement external audit management, payroll operations, tax compliance, and capital asset accounting.
Values
Paula Welch
Paula Welch has system-wide responsibility for the oversight of accounting activities and financial reporting, payroll and tax compliance for the three institutions under UNT System. She joined UNT System in 2015 as Associate Controller for the UNT Health Science Center until assuming her current position in 2019. Previously, Paula served as Controller for the City of Fort Worth for three years and Navarro County Auditor for 23 years. Paula holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting from the University of Texas at Dallas and is a Certified Public Accountant in the state of Texas.
Brittany Wisdom
Brittany Wisdom leads the UNT System Administration Controller team, consisting of UNT System Administration accounting and financial reporting, UNT System consolidated financial reporting, and management of the annual consolidated financial statement audit. Brittany utilizes her thorough knowledge of accounting principles and her audit experience at a public accounting firm to add value to financial reporting processes via enhanced efficiencies and a focus on quality control. She has been with UNT System since 2016, with over ten years of combined service to the State of Texas. Brittany holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Accounting from The University of Texas at Austin and is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA), Certified Internal Auditor (CIA), Certified Government Financial Manager (CGFM), and a Chartered Global Management Accountant (CGMA).
April Barnes
April Barnes serves as the Associate Controller for the University of North Texas System Administration. She is responsible for the implementation of new GASB standards and continued compliance with other recently implemented GASB standards. She is the subject matter expert and system administrator for the BlackLine instance used within the UNT Enterprise for account reconciliations. Previously, April served as the Associate Vice President for Budget & Analytics at the University of North Texas. Before joining UNT, she served as the Assistant Vice President for Finance & Administration at UNT Dallas. Her experience in higher education also includes positions at Texas A&M Commerce and Universities Center at Dallas. She is a CPA (Texas) with a bachelor’s degree in communication from Texas A&M University and a Master of Science degree in accounting from Texas A&M University – Commerce.
Regena Rodgers
Regena Rodgers is an experienced professional with over 25 years of experience in higher education. Her areas of expertise include payroll, general ledger, capital assets, auditing, and process improvement. Regena is skilled in evaluating processes in order to increase accuracy and efficiency within the available systems. A native of Texas, Regena Rodgers graduated from the University of North Texas with a Bachelor’s of Science in Accounting and went on to receive her Masters of Business Administration in 2013. This UNT Alumnus is passionate about motivating, and teaching, and collaborating, and providing the team the tools to be successful.
Rafiu Fashina
Rafiu Fashina is the Associate Controller of the University of North Texas over accounting and financial reporting. He began his higher education career as a Budget Analyst at Texas A&M University-Commerce in 2013 and joined UNT System in 2015. He previously served as the Assistant Controller for UNT Dallas before assuming his current position. Rafiu holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting, Master of Science degree in Accounting, and MBA.
Tom Spencer
Tom Spencer is the associate Controller of the UNT Health Science Center, over financial accounting and reporting. He came to UNT Health Science Center in 2015 as the Director of Accounting and currently serves as the Controller since 2019. Tom worked in Healthcare from 1983 thru 2015 for for-profit and not-for-profit healthcare companies, including hospitals, hospital corporate offices and home health agencies. Tom is a 1980 Graduate of Tarleton State University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Business and Certified Public Accountant for the state of Texas since 1994.