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Striving for Excellence (SFE) is a restructuring initiative of the Amherst campus. Inaugurated in the fall of 1997, SFE provides a mechanism for the systematic review and improvement of key institutional processes.
In the late spring of 1999, three SFE project teams completed their reviews of the following areas: graduate appointments, small-scale construction and renovation, and travel services. Recommendations for change, based on their reviews, were forwarded to the project sponsors for implementation. During the 1999-2000 academic year, implementation has moved forward. Below is a summary of implementation progress for each project.
If you would like more detailed information about Striving for Excellence or individual projects, please visit the SFE website at www.umass.edu/sfe or write to sfe@chancellor.umass.edu. Community feedback is welcome.
Graduate Appointments
The project team concluded that the appointment process is slow and often frustrating for graduate students and staff alike. Appointment forms require layers of approval; too many appointments occurring simultaneously can jam the system; timing of assistantship budget allocations for departments does not support early recruitment or appointment processing. In response to these concerns, the project team recommended several improvements to the appointment process.
In order to improve communication between offices, a new committee, the Graduate Appointment Administration Committee, has been formed. Comprised of staff members from several student services offices, this committee is developing new calendars for appointment processing. It has provided an opportunity for staff to engage in cross-functional coordination, problem-solving, and capacity-building.
A new staff member has been hired for the Graduate Assistantship Office. This clerk position, partially supported by an internal reassignment, is dedicated to supporting graduate appointment processing and has greatly increased the productivity of the office as well as the office's capacity to communicate with departments and students.
The Graduate Assistantship Office has been working to simplify the paperwork involved with the appointment process. Authorization at the dean's level is at the individual dean's discretion. Building on many years of design ideas, discussions about the development of an on-line appointment process in PeopleSoft are underway. Further, the Graduate Assistantship Office has designed a comprehensive data tracking system and will be testing batch authorization and electronic transfer of appointments in select departments over the next year.
Small-Scale Construction and Renovation
This review covered all aspects of small-scale, customer-funded renovation and construction work on the Amherst campus. The review team identified that the current priorities for Physical Plant focus on maintenance and repair, before the completion of small projects. Without a staff dedicated to such projects, time from initial request to completion (total turn-around time) averaged 235 days in FY98. To improve the timeliness of project work, the review team recommended that a small unit dedicated to small-scale renovation and construction be formed.
In July of 1999, a job description was developed for a new director of the Alteration Department in the Physical Plant Division. The Alteration Department is expected to complete facility alterations, building improvements, and minor construction in a timely manner at a competitive rate. In the fall of 1999, start-up funding for the director's position was approved. During the spring of 2000, the search for the director is being completed.
Once hired, the director will develop a business plan for the Alteration Department and negotiate agreements with the appropriate units on campus. The department is expected to become a self-supporting entity within the Physical Plant Division, after repaying its initial start-up costs.
Travel Services
The project team reviewing travel services at UMass asked two main questions: is the University providing the right level of service to clients? Is the University using the volume of travel expenditures to full economic advantage? Noting the range of innovative improvements already made in this area, the team recommended implementation of an integrated travel program under the direction of a travel services manager.
The leaders of the project team continued to meet in the fall of 1999 to refine their recommendations in light of rapid changes in the airline industry. A job description for the position of travel services manager was developed, as was a preliminary departmental budget. Investing in an integrated travel program at a time when the travel industry is undergoing such changes as airline commission cuts, transaction fees, e-commerce, and agency consolidations is not being made at this time. More data is needed regarding the factors which effect travelers' decision making for purchasing travel, and regarding the university's ability to leverage its travel expenditures to its best advantage.
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Copyright © 1998
University of Massachusetts, Amherst. |
