The Controller's Office redesigned the process for reimbursement of travel expenses significantly reducing the average processing time in the Controller's Office from 23 to 9 days.

A number of positive outcomes resulted from the work of CQI teams in Auxiliary Services over the last two years. Among other processes, teams created and implemented innovative best practices in prime vending for food services and a one-stop Events, Catering and Scheduling Office for the Campus Center/Student Union.

The purchasing process for items costing less than $500 was a major focus of an administrative redesign effort that began as a CQI project. The result of this effort was the development of the ProCard. Implementation of a pilot program using a purchase card was begun during the year.

We participated in the University-wide administrative redesign effort for travel reimbursement which addressed policies and procedures in addition to the processing of reimbursements in the Controller's Office. As the Amherst campus was re-bidding its corporate card program during this same time, the two efforts were combined and the corporate card program was expanded to other University campuses as well as to the President's Office. A new travel manual was also written as part of this effort. Currently, the Amherst campus has several departments involved in a pilot program which is testing pre-trip reimbursements for conference registration fees and airfares as well as elimination of University issued cash advances in favor of corporate card cash advances through ATMs.

Human Resources also participated in a University-wide administrative redesign effort to streamline the hiring process. The purpose of the project was to streamline the paper-intensive, time-consuming, cumbersome system of filling classified and professional non-academic positions on the Amherst campus. The new process resulted in revised/eliminated forms, reduced administrative approvals and processing time, and empowered department heads by delegating responsibility to make hiring decisions within specified parameters.

The Plant researched and implemented a system to insure customer financial commitment before purchasing materials or incurring labor costs. The many benefits that resulted included an agreed upon contract for work with the customer, establishing a ceiling for in-house project costs, and elimination of cumbersome, paper intense recharge documentation.

The following is summary of the major process design efforts undertaken over the two years.

Auxiliary Services revamped its food operations by revising its board plans to offer students more flexibility and enhancing menus in all its food operations.

Budget Office modified the revenue budget process timeline based on feedback from campus financial managers.

The Budget Office consolidated a number of student fees which improved the appearance of the student fee bill and reduced the number of pages printed.

 The Bursar's Office initiated an 800 number telephone service to respond to parent and student questions at the beginning of each semester.

Transit Services instituted the Rack and Roll Program which allows bus passengers to travel with bicycles. Twenty-five bicycle racks have been placed on commuter buses enhancing accessibility to transit and surrounding bike ways.

Through previous continuous quality improvement (CQI) activities, Administration and Finance has established a benchmark understanding of customer needs and perspectives regarding the services we provide to the campus. The NACUBO Benchmarking survey as well as our own internal survey of staff and customers provided the basis for many of the changes we have initiated. We will be resurveying customers and employees in the near future to assess our progress and respond to changing customer needs.

Human Resources initiated and CEAC approved a non-unit classified staff grievance procedure as well as non-unit classified staff policies covering: Merit Bonus Awards, Termination of Employment Due to Reduction in Force, and Terminal Vacation Leave Payments.

Accounting, budget, bursar, procurement and cost analysis functions were organized as a single division under an Associate Vice Chancellor for Finance and Budget. This major shift in operating responsibilities provides a coordinated approach to the financial management of the campus.

Campus Services reorganized its operations by combining the Label Center and Central Mail into one unit, Mail Services and combining Copy Centers and Duplicating into one unit, Printing Services. These reorganizations took advantage of RISPP vacancies to centralize administrative functions.

Fringe Benefits Administration and Classification & Compensation were merged into a single unit called Total Compensation. Sections handling direct and indirect compensation now report to a single manager who can use staff more effectively to achieve qualitative improvement in administering economic and non-economic employee benefit programs.

Auxiliary Services has been extensively reorganized to meet its strategic planning objectives of customer service, multiculturalism, staff empowerment and decentralization. The division was reorganized into two distinct areas, Business and Facilities Services for the Campus Center/Student Union Complex and Dining Services. This reorganization enabled the Division to further decentralize operational control within the Campus Center/Student Union Complex and Dining Services.

In June 1996, a separate Customer Service and Work Management Department was established in the Physical Plant. This reorganization provides for a single point for the accumulation of work requests, planning and estimating of jobs, scheduling, and coordination of these efforts with the customer. The resulting structure not only eases customer access to the Physical Plant but also provides faster, more consistent service.

A major A&F initiative has been to train a critical mass of staff in the tools, techniques and philosophy of continuous quality improvement. To this end, we have provided staff with a number of different quality training opportunities. Over the last three years , approximately 160 A&F employees have attended 5 day process redesign training sessions, 185 employees have attended sponsor training, 40 employees have attended 3 day team training sessions, and 40 employees have attended 2 day management and planning tools training sessions. When we instituted our quality effort, all A&F employees attended an orientation session. As new employees are hired in A&F, they attend a workshop to orient them to our quality effort. In addition to these formal presentations, we provided opportunities for existing teams to meet with our CQI consultant to review team progress. As more staff become proficient in the areas of quality, we are reducing formal presentations and relying more on consultation and trained staff to start teams and redesign processes. We also have 9 staff who are becoming proficient in all aspects of quality through a rigorous certification training program. Once certified, they can provide support and guidance to other staff.

The executive area has also undertaken a major effort focused on diversity and multiculturalism. In early 1996, we brought the theater troupe SST Communications to campus. This troupe uses live theater to deliver its message about cultural diversity in the workplace. All 1,300 employees in A&F attended this presentation which was held a number of times in order to accommodate work schedules. In January, 1997, we held a workshop on diversity in the workplace for 90 senior managers and supervisors to underscore the executive area's commitment to diversity and encourage them to hold similar presentations within their own organizations.

As part of our quality efforts we also provided a special customer service initiative in Physical Plant, Facilities Planning, Campus Services and Auxiliary Services with over 160 staff from these areas attending an SST Theater performance on Customer Service.

A&F has made a strong commitment to supervisory leadership development through a 10 session skills development program that focuses on issues of management and leadership. Program goals include providing participants with an understanding of the various roles associated with effective supervision and the skills needed to lead others, to resolve conflict, to promote team development, to solve problems, and to enhance each participant's ability to contribute to the organization. The training is geared towards three levels of supervisory leadership skills: core, emergent, and advanced. The training is in its second round and 50 A&F staff have attended. Everyone in A&F, regardless of title or length of service, who supervises others will attend the core competency training.

Fifteen A&F staff participated in the Five College Collaborative Supervisory Leadership Development Program which is designed to offer participants an opportunity to develop and strengthen the knowledge, skills and abilities of those who serve in supervisory leadership positions.

Nine A&F staff participated in the University wide training program, Taking Charge of Change. Facilitated by the Cortland Group, this program brought together administrative managers and supervisors in a team learning environment to identify, learn and practice using skills and techniques to lead their organizations through the ongoing change effort. This 5 day program was spread over a number of months and also included eight staff from other campus executive areas.

The Physical Plant instituted a training program which covers such general topic areas as technical training, safety training, customer service, interpersonal skills, employee orientation and Physical Plant intra-shop relationships in addition to human resource issues addressing university wide topics and systems. This training program provides practical, job related education and development to all employees in order to help assure that they perform their responsibilities in the most competent and efficient manner possible. The hiring of a new Safety Officer in May 1996 also assisted in enhancing communications with Environmental Health and Safety and in increasing the emphasis on an active accident prevention and investigation program.

The Physical Plant's Custodial Department initiated an extensive training program to address new employee training needs and ongoing productivity issues. The custodial department experiences a high turnover rate within their staff and maintaining top quality service with consistency and reliability is a major challenge. Likewise, raising the overall level of service and productivity of long term staff is also needed. This in-house training program provides two weeks of intense, personalized attention by a permanent instructor to insure that our customer service is raised to a higher level on a consistent basis

Auxiliary Services encourages staff to attend professional training through the American Management Association on topics such as supervisory skills, team building and customer service. In addition, custodial staff have been sent to Janitor University for a 5 day training session.

Through regular department staff meetings and larger all-staff meetings, Administration and Finance is communicating and reinforcing its mission, philosophy and goals to its personnel. We are fostering an environment that is rich in communication across boundaries and that emphasizes team work and customer service.

The Organizational Development Program (described in the next section) provided services to the Physical Plant, Auxiliary Services, Campus Services and Human Resources last year.

We have also made a significant investment in meeting the training and development needs of the campus through the Training and Development unit. Course offerings span the breadth of workshops from stress reduction to supervisory skills development to diversity and multiculturalism. Since its inception a year and a half ago, the Organizational Development (OD) Program has developed into a visible, well respected program which is known for delivering the highest quality organizational intervention, consultation, training systems development and leadership development to the university community. The program focuses on involving customers in the development of interventions and training systems. It builds capacity for sustained impact within the system by training trainers in the work unit, involving supervisors of participants and implementing multiple level evaluation methods to optimize the transfer of learning.

The campus has begun to make a modest commitment to correct major facility deterioration through the establishment of a deferred maintenance program. The total program is divided into issues of routine maintenance, renewal, adaptation, and deferred maintenance. While the existing mixed funding commitment does not approach the total deferred maintenance need, it has established a regular, defined system to address the most critical documented needs. Projects include the Mahar Auditorium renovation, fume hood replacement in Morrill, the GRC noise abatement project, replacing the chiller in the library, Goodell facade repair, mitigation of water infiltration at the Mather Career Center, programs for elevator upgrades to meet code compliance, critical roof repair, electrical infrastructure replacement and repair, mechanical system replacement and repair, steam line replacement, and ADA code related renovations.

The Physical Plant has embarked on a major initiative to improve the conditions of campus classrooms and auditoria. The program for restoration targeted roughly ten classrooms and auditoria per year and currently is targeting 20 classrooms and auditoria per year.

In the last two years, safety improvements have been made to several parking lots. Lot 44 was expanded and brought up to standard in terms of lighting and pedestrian walkways. The lots north of the recently realigned Governors Drive were either newly constructed or expanded as part of the North Area Plan and brought up to desired levels of facilities and safety standards.

The campus' vehicle fleet is badly deteriorated. In March 1996, a bodywork tradesman was hired to make major repairs in house. The result has been that 12 vehicles have been totally upgraded, painted, and lettered for an average cost of under $2000, thus avoiding a new/replacement cost of over $20,000 per vehicle. Additionally, major efforts to upgrade training (mechanical, electronic, brake systems, engine systems, electrical, etc) are underway to increase productivity and the quality of work.

The Physical Plant completely redesigned its work control and management system resulting in greatly increased efficiencies in requesting and tracking work orders. A new Customer Service and Work Management department, provides a single point for accumulation of work requests, planning and estimating of jobs, scheduling, and coordination of these efforts with customers.

Facilities Planning developed and enhanced project scheduling, tracking, forecasting and estimating systems to provide better overall work control and reporting. A project management philosophy, with single project responsibility from start to finish, has been instituted to provide better service to customers. Facilities Planning has also expanded its "house doctor" program which utilizes external design consultants to provide timely service and increased production capacity.

Facilities Planning began developing a comprehensive Facilities Condition Assessment for all campus buildings and utility infrastructure. This computerized program will provide the campus with a new planning tool for developing a comprehensive facilities funding model and support the decision making process for facilities and infrastructure expenditures.

A major effort has been made to reduce vehicular traffic in the campus core and improve pedestrian safety. The requirement that freight carriers and local deliveries be accepted only at the Campus Distribution Services (CDS) loading dock has had significant impact on reducing the amount of outside commercial vehicle traffic on campus. The expansion of CDS delivery routes to include the delivery of products from Office & Classroom Supplies (OCS) as well as the delivery of completed print jobs from Printing Services has reduced the delivery requirements in these areas from three parallel systems to one. CDS continued to provide excellent customer service with a turnaround time for the delivery of packages in one day and, based on customers needs, scheduling the delivery of freight within 3 days. A program to designate service vehicle/vendor parking spaces has been implemented on some parts of the campus and will be expanded to the remainder of campus in the coming year. Fifteen minute loading zones, available to anyone, have also been established.

In addition to providing general employment opportunities within our divisions for over 2,500 students, we offered internships and specific opportunities for real world applications of their studies in such diverse areas such as public transit, restaurant and arena management, landscape architecture, and financial services.

Collaboration with other executive areas and campuses in process design and administrative redesign efforts have resulted in increased efficiencies and major changes in the way we work together to meet customer needs. These efforts are described throughout this review.

We have made progress working with neighborhood groups affected by facilities development projects on campus. The relocation of Governors Drive and the new Computer Science facility are primary examples of improved community involvement in campus initiatives that affect the adjacent neighborhoods. Through early communications we have improved our relationships with entities in surrounding towns, most notably the Hadley and Amherst conservation commissions. We have invested significant effort working with the Division of Capital Planning and Operations (DCPO). We have been successful in establishing our professional capabilities and gaining local control of project activity supported by campus funds (non state appropriated funds). This has resulted in shorter project timeliness and greater cost effectiveness.

We have developed positive relationships with other campuses in the University system and the President's Office in the development of the University's Capital Plan.

Transit Services is working with Department of Environmental Protection to establish van and car pooling incentive programs to reduce the number of single occupancy vehicles for commuters to the Amherst campus.

In May 1995, we established the Parking and Transportation Advisory Board (PTAB) to obtain broad-based input from the campus community regarding parking and transportation issues. PTAB is charged to serve in an advisory capacity and review, evaluate, and recommend policies and proposals related to parking and transportation on the Amherst campus.

Facilities Planning and Physical Plant have worked in cooperation with Environmental Health and Safety (EH&S) to gain a greater understanding of risk management issues and implement new approaches to facilitate asbestos removal practices, confined space entry policies and "Lockout,Tagout" practices. We participate in existing programs and initiate new training sessions including hazardous materials, construction safety/code seminars.

In addition to the safety committee in the Physical Plant, we provide staff resources to the on-going Library/EH&S Safety Committee and the SEIU Safety Committee.

Representatives from the Vice Chancelleries of Student Affairs and A&F have been meeting regularly to discuss issues concerning the Campus Center/Student Union complex. This effort has facilitated greater communication between the two areas resulting in better services to students.

Auxiliary Services maintains linkages with campus departments such as Residential Arts, Housing, Student Activities, and Student Government to provide multicultural food offerings in the Dining Halls for students throughout the academic year.

In May of 1995, representatives from Administration and Finance and Student Affairs began meeting with representatives from SEIU to discuss guiding principles for the integration of CQI into the work environment. The meetings resulted from an expressed interest from SEIU to become full partners in the campus' CQI endeavor. Over the course of a number of months, we developed a series of mutual understandings, Guiding Principles for the Relationship Between SEIU and the University Regarding CQI, which were reviewed and approved by CEAC.

A&F joined efforts with SEIU Local 509 to develop a joint vision of the attributes of a good supervisor. A subgroup of the A&F Council, a group of about 30 senior and mid-level managers who meet monthly to deal with organization wide initiatives and efforts within A&F, and SEIU worked together for a period of nine months and developed a document entitled Supervisory Leadership Development, A Pilot Project of Administration and Finance and SEIU Local 509. This project outlines the attributes and competencies of supervisors at core, emergent and advanced levels, provides a blueprint for defining excellence in supervisory personnel, and provides the basis for the supervisory leadership development training program currently offered through our Training and Development unit.

Divisions in Administration and Finance focused attention on multiculturalism and issues of diversity in their recruitment efforts by insuring that position advertisements reach a broad, varied audience and questioning prospective candidates regarding their understanding of and commitment to Affirmative Action and diversity. The reinstitution of the Apprenticeship Program in the Physical Plant offered opportunities for advancement in the trades to traditionally under-represented populations. Six Apprenticeship positions have been established and two are currently funded and in process of being filled.

The formal linkages between Auxiliary Services and the minority programs (CCEBMS, BCP, and ALANA) created to improve the diversity of the student workforce in the past few years continued to show results. Minority students have been hired in the retail operations as well as administration and Summer Conference Housing. In collaboration with the New Students Program, Auxiliary Services continues to provide students who come through CCEBMS, BCP, ALANA or other minority programs with information and assistance in gaining employment in Auxiliary Services. The Facilities Planning Division was successful in its efforts to increase the number of minority and women students working in the division. Nearly half of the students hired in the planning and construction management areas were from under represented populations.

The executive area began a major initiative to broaden its knowledge and understanding of diversity and multiculturalism by embarking on a coordinated training program. The A&F Council planned a program which provided an initial exposure to the issues surrounding diversity and multiculturalism to the management staff in the executive area. Two such programs have been presented to approximately 90 A&F division and department heads. Subsequent training is to be determined within each division by its leadership. After the first program was presented, all employees in A&F attended a diversity theater presentation. Staff training continues at the division level as well. Working with Affirmative Action and Human Resources, Auxiliary Services trains large numbers of its staff on multiculturalism and issues of diversity. The Physical Plant Custodial Service employees previewed and discussed the movie Skin Deep.

Human Resources continues to provide strong support for the data needs associated with affirmative action reporting requirements. The Payroll Office provides data entry and support for the Employee Job Movement Monitoring (EJM) database, an historical adjunct to the Human Resources Management Information Systems (HRMIS). EJM data is downloaded to the Criterion Affirmative Action Management System (CAAMS) and is used by the Equal Opportunity and Diversity Office to produce required affirmative action reports.

The Employment Office continues to work with the Commonwealth's Department of Employment and Training. This agency has changed its focus and closed its Northampton job referral component. They now have Job Opportunity Centers located throughout Western Massachusetts which contact the Employment Office directly. As a result, increasing numbers of minority applicants have been in contact with the Employment Office.

In an effort to improve services to hiring departments, the Employment Office has now joined Training and Development to offer workshops on how to use the Applicant Tracking System. Job opportunities are also being listed on the Internet which has improved access for applicants to the Employment Office.

The Training and Development Unit provides education, training, resources and development opportunities for all faculty and staff . In meeting the unit's goals of promoting awareness of the benefits offered by an increasingly diverse workforce and fostering workplaces which are effective, empowering, creative and multicultural, Training and Development offers a rich array of services and programs. Specific achievements include:

The Procurement Departments on the Amherst, Boston and Worcester campuses continue to participate in a Small Business and Minority/Woman-owned Business Purchasing Program.