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Deputy Chancellor Nandita S. Mani leads the Office for Institutional Effectiveness (OIE), which tracks, assesses and supports the implementation of the UMass Amherst campus strategic plan, For the Common Good. We asked her five questions about her work.
 

Q. What does the OIE do?

We partner with campus stakeholders to implement the strategic plan, For the Common Good, and related projects and initiatives. We track progress toward the plan’s five campus goal areas: Educate, Innovate, Engage, Connect, and Steward and collaborate with vice chancellors and deans to align their plans and support their initiatives. We also are developing school and unit metrics dashboards that are similar to the campus-level dashboards already in place.

Q. Why is this important? 

As a public, land-grant institution, UMass Amherst is committed to the betterment of the Commonwealth and the world. Every day, our faculty, students, and staff are engaged in remarkable projects across every discipline, and we want to convey what it means to work For the Common Good. We are actively making progress visible so everyone can see both achievements and next steps. Importantly, it gives us the opportunity to celebrate all of the good work happening across campus.

Q. What attracted you to this work?

After working in large, complex organizations in both health care and higher education, I’ve learned the value of using data to contextualize and inform decisions, track progress, and identify opportunities for continuous improvement. Here at UMass Amherst, we can craft a strategic plan for the next 10 years and develop an implementation framework that will enable us to be accountable while advancing our mission. It’s important to reflect on progress and continuously enhance processes so we can be most effective and impactful. This is an exciting opportunity for me and the OIE team. We will partner with colleagues across campus to ensure support for implementation using our expertise in project and change management, information curation and organization; assessment and evaluation; process improvement and organizational effectiveness, data reporting and visualization and, of course, strategic planning.

Q. What do you want faculty and staff to learn from the efforts that the OIE is advancing to support our campus?

I hope faculty and staff will see how different disciplines work to increase the university’s collective positive impact. At a university as big as UMass, it can be difficult to know what work is happening in the building next door, let alone across campus or at the Springfield Center or on the Charles River Campus. Individual and collective achievements are worth celebrating and our team is here to help stitch together efforts across campus so that we can better understand what moves the needle, share best practices, raise visibility, and highlight impact For the Common Good.

Q. What’s been the biggest surprise in this role?

In a very real way, every day has been its own surprise. I learn something new every day and enjoy discovering new opportunities for collaboration and ideation as the team meets with people across campus to help them with their initiatives. The projects that come the team’s way are diverse and unique, enabling us to leverage our skills in creative and flexible ways.

I don’t see my team getting bored at any time in the future!
 

Do you know someone whose work on campus or in the community is particularly unique and would be of interest to the readers of the Inside UMass newsletter? If so, submit your recommendations to through the IUM form or email [email protected].