A&F Notes
enhancing our culture by sharing informationNo.2: Fall, 1996 (without graphics)
what A&F did during summer vacation: highlights
Paul's Page: A message from the vc of A&F
has A&F quality effort made a difference
MEET ..... the people who get you on the payroll
WHAT A&F DID DURING SUMMER VACATION
Highlights of Summer Work Activities Show Strong Commitment to Improving Customer Services and Satisfaction
Physical Plant
-Machmer Hall: restored 11 classrooms.
-Herter Hall, Auditorium 231: refinished the floor, installed new seats and carpeting, replaced wall sound panels and repainted surfaces.
-Steam Shutdown: completed two steam shutdowns which involved work around the "quad" area of campus.
-Plantings on Campus Center Way were done with a donation from a generous patron of the campus.
- Worcester Dining Commons Site Restoration: replaced some underground piping, built an entrance into the electrical vault and replaced electrical service, built stairs and a retaining wall,and backfilled area with plantings and a split rail fence.
- Bartlett: replaced flooring and painted five classrooms. Some lighting, heating and ventilation work was also done.
Mullins Center
- Painted and refurbished Ice Rink.
- Deep Cleaned the Arena.
- Refinished Basketball Floor
- Hosted 33 days of sports camps for Basketball & Hockey.
Bursar & Budget
- Entered 10,000 budget entries of unrestricted funds ($384 million) for approximately 300 campus departments.
- Prepared Operating Budget for Trustee approval.
- Submitted Spending Plans to the State.
- Updated Amherst portion of University System formula funding.
- Cleared 10,200 students by bill due date of 8/7/96 and 18,295 students by the end of the add/drop period.
Campus Services
- Campus Distribution Service (CDS) reorganized delivery routes, resulting in increased levels of service to the campus.
- Printing Services installed a state-of-the-art Xerox Docutech Production Publisher shortening turnaround time and improving print quality making it an ideal way to print course packets.
- Travel Administration selected a new vendor, First Bank VISA, for the Corporate Card Program.
Auxiliary Services
- Point of sale system installed in the University Store, Textbook Annex, and Munchy Stores.
- Painted over 17,000 square feet in the Campus Center.
- Menu Enhancements in the Dining Halls.
Financial Services
- Awarded Contracts for: upgrades to University Telephone System, Voice Mail System, & Campus Center telephone system; UMASS System Banking Services; All Campus Card; new UMASS Corporate Card; and ProCard.
-Helped bid the Radio Broadcast Rights for basketball and football.
-Began implementation of the pilot project for the ProCard Program.
-Worked with Physical Plant,Photo Services, University Store and Mail Services to streamline and automate the process of recharging services and supplies to on-campus departments.
-The travel CQI team changed internal travel processing procedures, significantly reducing the amount of time required to process a travel reimbursement once it arrives in the Controller's Office.
Financial Analysis and Systems
The new Fixed-Asset Inventory system was implemented successfully allowing data from the on-line purchasing system to be automatically entered thereby eliminating the necessity for manual entry.
Facilities Planning
- Governor’s Drive Relocation Project
- Campus Pond Beautification
- Tower "C" GRC Noise Reduction
- The New Polymer Science Building
- Thompson Hall Computer Room Upgrade for MISER
- Goessman Electric Service Upgrade
- The Campus Facility Audit
- The New Computer Labs
- Stockbridge and South College Electrical Renovations
- Mahar Auditorium Renovation
Human Resources
- Implemented pay raises for all unit and non-unit staff.
- Sent out the bid for automating the hiring process.
- Automated the student payroll PAF process.
Paul's Page: A message from the vc of A&FWe have spent considerable time and effort over the last several years focusing our efforts on quality. As a service organization for the campus our reason for being is to support the campus in the most effective, efficient and responsive manner possible. Whether we are truly effective, efficient and responsive is determined by those we serve. These descriptors of how we provide service can be easily embodied by the term quality. Our goal therefore is to provide quality service.
One way to attempt to get a handle on how well we are meeting our objectives is to ask our customers. In the last two years we undertook an extensive customer survey. We solicited their input about all of our units. The response was gratifying in that 2,281 individuals took the timenecessary to give us this important feedback. Many were indeed complimentary, others offered constructive criticism. Each of our unit managers took this information to heart and used it as a basis for seeking improvement in their services. Hopefully it was used as a basis for discussion among employees at all levels of the organization in order to gain your collective insight into how to improve services.
We also assessed where we stand as an organization in the eyes of our employees by surveying all attendees at our CQI overview sessions held two years ago. Close to 1,000 A&F employees provided invaluable information on what we need to do as an organization to meet the needs and expectations of our employees. One outcome of that effort was the recognition that we should pay more attention to giving our supervisors and managers the tools to more effectively do their jobs. To help in this effort we jointly developed with SEIU a supervisory leadership development program scheduled to begin this semester. We expect to repeat both these surveys in the future so as to be able to more precisely measure our progress over time.
A basic tenet of our quality effort is to engage everyone in the process. We are all in this together and collaborative approaches to problem solving are the most effective way of dealing with them, developing new strategies and implementing changes.
Fortunately, our efforts in this area have coincided nicely with many of the objectives of the campus’ strategic planning effort. Our unit plans are greatly influenced by the information we have obtained from our quality program and the efforts taken to implement changes. Our future budget allocations will reflect how well our actions support the strategic plan.
I can honestly say that I sense a distinct change in how we go about our business. I am not the only one, however, that sees this improvement. I increasingly get positive comments from many quarters of the campus about the change in attitude, the level and quality of our services and the positive impact it has on their lives. We have taken a strong leadership position on the campus by our efforts. We are on the move, and moving in the right direction. The journey will be long and hard, but with everyone’s support and continued effort, we will do our part to make this a better campus and a place we can all be proud of.
Has the A&F Quality Effort Made a Difference?
We certainly think so. At a brainstorming effort several weeks ago, the A&F Council asked itself this very question. Within a matter of minutes the following list of things surfaced. It is by no means inclusive of all the positive changes A&F has made over the past 2 years - nor is it meant to suggest that the work is over. The list serves as a reminder of how far we have come and also of how far we still have to go.
Better Communication and Increased Learning at all Levels
- Internal communication is becoming a higher priority
- Training activities and attendance have increased within A&F
- We are developing in-house quality experts
- A&F’s mission and values are clearly articulated and better understood
- We have produced an A&F CQI video tape
- We have distributed an A&F services directory
Improved Leadership Skills
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Upper management supports leadership/supervisory skills development- A&F Council works together with better understanding of its leadership role
- A&F’s work has attracted other executive areas to quality
Use Of Teams To Improve Processes, Services and Products
- Team concept has begun to permeate A&F
- Changes are occurring in processes
- 27 A&F processes have undergone process redesign. Some examples include: Travel Reimbursement, Work Order, Worker Mobilization, Small Orders Purchasing, Response to Bursar’s Office Calls, Applicant Referral, Payroll Encumbrance, Snow Removal, Account Creation
- A&F staff are using process design tools to problem solve (like the Affinity Diagram, Flowcharting)
- We are doing more bottom-up problem solving
- We give more emphasis to understanding the process and making changes as needed
Our Culture Is Changing
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A&F staff get together more- We are learning more about multiculturalism and increasing our understanding of differences
- A&F’s values and vision are shared by more and more of our staff
- Professional/classified barriers are breaking down
- People outside of A&F are noticing that we have changed
- A&F is using a new way of thinking
A&F Is More Customer Focused
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A&F surveyed both its internal and external customers- A&F staff use surveys to assess customer needs
Supervisory Leadership Development
- A&F Council selected Supervisory Leadership Transformation as a major goal
- A&F continues to work with SEIU to develop Supervisory/Leadership Roles and Competency Model
- A&F commits to sending all new supervisors and managers through Supervisory/Leadership Development Program
- First round Supervisory/Leadership Development Program begins with 23 A&F staff attending
Congratulations to Alice Chapin, Myron Dudkiewicz, Bill Bartos, Zaneen Degowin, Robert Kirley, Peter McKemmie, Joe Mawson, Barry Suprenant and John Zilinski of Physical Plant for their timely response and excellent efforts to remove water and clean up the area of the Chemistry Department in GRC after the area was flooded. Paul Drummond sends a commendation for the wonderful effort and thanks to all for the great customer service the group provided to his department.
For the second straight year, the Bay State Games West Contingent Baseball Team, coached by Campus Distribution’s Rocky Barbuto, won the Bay State Games’ gold medal. The baseball program takes place at Harvard University and consists of 6 state regional teams. To make the gold medal round, Barbuto’s team played 6 games in 4 days. A few players from the Bay State games that have gone on to play at UMASS are Nate Murphy, Chad Sullivan, Adrian Softic, and Adam Robinson.
David McCulloch, Transit Services, "rescued" 30 buses from the Olympics. It seems the buses were a little banged up and it was going to be impossible to get them back to Western Mass by 8/31 when UMASS and Springfield needed them for school start-up. Dave flew down and spent 2 hot days crawling around the buses and negotiating with the Olympic folks on damages so that we could fix our own buses and drive them back. Dave arranged for 30 drivers to fly down and drive them back. This gave Transit an extra 4-5 days to prepare the buses for school start-up. The project was very successful thanks to Dave, who went above and beyond the call of duty.
Skiing Tuckerman’s Ravine Brings Thrills
By Ted Davis, Facilities Planning
Summer is over and the winter doldrums are right around the corner ... but there’ll be no winter doldrums for Dan Boisclair, from Facilities Planning. For Dan, it’s time to think about heading back to the woods and Tuckerman’s Ravine, Mt. Washington, New Hampshire for some thrills on the "wall" later on in the spring. Tuckerman’s Ravine is for the diehard, expert skier. Dan takes a few hour hike up the mountain with all his equipment -- skis, ski boots, poles, clothing and food - to get there. For Dan, the mountain setting is moving, the weather forbidding, and the sight of the wall, with its 45-55 degree pitches, pumps some adrenaline. Dan camps overnight on the mountain, sleeping in an extra heavy sleeping bag. Dan notes that "there are no bugs in the winter". If you would like to try back country skiing, you may want to go to a cross country ski center and rent a package for a day and compare it to Nordic cross-country skiing. Caution needs to be exercised in skiing Tuckerman’s Ravine as many dangers exist - AMC avalanche postings should be heeded and adequate preparation should be made to guard against exposure due to extreme and rapid weather changes. Be safe, enjoy and have fun.
The People Who Get You on the PayrollThe Payroll Office has the major task of insuring that employees are paid properly and paid on time. They process, on average, 13,260 paychecks every week, year in and year out. They take pride in their work and feel a strong responsibility to insuring that all employees are paid what they should be and when they should be. This is most evident in the amount of time that payroll staff put in during September, working nights and weekends to process all the new school year paperwork. Emilia Garcia, Sue Warner, and Marisa Almodovar help new employees fill out the necessary forms to insure getting in the payroll process. They also assist employees in making changes which affect their payroll deductions. Sharon Como, Minnie White, Dorothy Lesko, Nancy Carson, Amy Cotter, and Bonnie Weeks process student payroll and enter time and attendance data for all employees. Brenda Libertine, Lorraine Weimann, Louise Siwy, Anne Morrissette, Tim Cendrowski, Ann Watson, Dede Goodnow, and Pat Misiun input and process all employee payroll and personnel data, and insure that all the factors affecting your salary level are entered properly. Lois Sadowski, Susan Beaubien, and Ted Los manage the whole preparation and processing of payroll.Todd Zaniewski, Mike Cendrowski, Kevin Wissmann, and Brian Zaniewski, student employees, whose importance to the smooth operation of the student payroll cannot be overstated. In addition, all payroll staff respond to questions, problems and concerns from the campus community. Payroll handles an enormous number of transactions in a paper intensive system. In a regular year, Payroll processes approximately the following number of transactions:
|
Non-Student Personnel Actions |
24,660 |
|
Non-Student Hourly Time Sheets |
16,640 |
|
Student Personnel Actions |
21,360 |
|
Student Time Sheets |
28,190 |
|
Attendance Reports |
24,370 |
|
Retroactive Adjustments |
12,200 |
A major initiative within the Human Resources Division is to move towards a paperless system allowing processing to occur more quickly and freeing up payroll staff to provide more and better services to its customers.
Letters to the Editor
Just a quick note to say that I enjoyed reading your newsletter. I think you all did a good job of putting it together, liked having Paul’s Page and the mission & vision statements and values there in the "kick-off" issue, and was glad to see a fair amount of space devoted to employees. Good work! I look forward to next quarter’s copy. (is the swap section just for A&F offices?)
Maggie Vidrine, OGCA
(Ed. Note: The swap section can be used for other offices as space permits.)
COMEC UPDATE
On October 11th the 1996 COMEC pledge cards were distributed in your department. Last year, 17% of A&F employees contributed to COMEC. These contributions made it possible for many of our neighbors and co-workers to receive such critical services as housing and food for families in crisis, shelter for women and children in abusive situations, home care for the elderly and programs for our youth. As you receive your pledge card this year, please consider giving to the COMEC agency of your choice. Your participation, at any giving level, will assist people to get the help they need. Thank you. Together ... let’s make a difference.
Title contest winner
Congratulations to David Bull from the Physical Plant who had the winning name for the A&F newsletter -- A&F NOTES. The Editorial Staff wishes to thank all employees who sent in their very creative ideas. Dave will receive a prize from the University Store for his fine effort.
Campus appreciation day a big success
Over 2,800 staff, faculty and members of their families attended Campus Appreciation Day on Thursday evening, August 29th and a good time was had by all.
Campus Appreciation Day would not be possible without the 127 volunteers (46 from A&F!) helping with serving, cooking, registration, games, set-up and clean-up. Volunteers served up 2,847 meals, cooked 450 lbs. of hamburgers and 240 lbs. of hot dogs, poured 1,978 cups of soda and distributed 1,170 cartons of lemonade.
Special thanks are also extended to Physical Plant staff who groomed the Metawampe Lawn area and made it safe for everyone attending; the Campus Center staff for setting up the sound system; to Food Services staff for ordering, preparing and delivering the food; to staff from Printing Services, Human Resources and Mail Services for printing, labeling and distributing over 6,000 invitations; and to staff from the Controller’s Office for receiving over 3,200 registration forms and maintaining the database for registration.
In addition, 11 staff members and one retired staff person from Administration and Finance volunteer to serve on the planning committee. Their year-long commitment and attention to detail help to make Campus Appreciation Day a success. Thanks to Ron Lenois (Physical Plant), Donna Motyka and Bud Wilkes (Campus Center), Dick Rossi, Vic Keedy and Dick Ellis (Food Service), Kathleen O’Dowd and Jayne Krause (Controller’s Office), Cheryl Daggett, Donna Novak and Ken Snella (Human Resources) and Jack Walsh (retired staff).