Striving for Excellence guided by workplan

In 1997, the Striving for Excellence initiative began with the drafting of the SFE workplan and the formation of the Campus Committee for Organizational Restructuring (CCOR). Since then, CCOR has guided the implementation of the workplan. While the workplan continues to direct the review process, a spirit of flexibility among everyone involved has enabled SFE to adapt in response to the experiences and insight of many members of the University community.

SFE is an integrative mechanism for change

Striving for Excellence is both a workplan for institutional improvement and, in a broader sense, a way of working at the University. As a workplan, SFE provides a comprehensive methodology for analyzing and improving institutional processes. It enables the campus community to identify opportunities for change and seek new solutions. Every time we work together to improve services and make more efficient use of our resources, we are "striving for excellence." In this spirit, SFE refers to a way of thinking and working. SFE seeks to recognize and learn from the range of change efforts occurring on campus so that "striving for excellence" can become a deeper habit of organizational life.

SFE aims to improve services and stewardship of resources

In supporting the overall goals and mission of the University, Striving for Excellence aims to do the following:

· Generate savings (savings understood broadly as cost avoidance, risk management, and reduction in time required to perform specific functions);
· Improve service to university students and other constituent groups;
· Generate new revenues;
· Significantly enhance the learning, living and working environment.

In working toward those goals, the initiative attempts to do the following:

· Deploy financial, human, and technological resources in an optimal manner;
· Involve and impact the campus across organizational boundaries;
· Enhance visibility and strengthen the University's public presence;
· Empower community members to rethink their work and transform their working environment;
· Strengthen the capacity of the institution to learn and change.

These goals support the efforts of the University to become a more responsive, caring, and integrative institution. According to Chancellor Scott, "the administrative changes spawned by SFE will position the University as an institution better prepared for the transformations taking place in academe and in general the environment that lies ahead."

SFE archive available

Periodically, SFE provides updates to the campus community on the status of the initiative. In addition to the current information provided on this website, SFE maintains an archive of its campus updates. Updates were published on the following dates:

· September 12, 1997 (workplan)
· December 19, 1997
· March 27, 1998
· May 18, 1999
· July 23, 1999
· May 5, 2000
· May 12, 2000
· October 16, 2000
· November 3, 2000
· June 29, 2001