2) That we would engage in the creation of two new voluntary pilots, one with the Provost Portfolio and one with the College of Education.

Transcription

1 At the last meeting of the Faculty Council I announced that we were going to move forward with piloting the concept of shared administrative services in the areas of procurement, payment services, human resources and information technology. What did this mean? 1) That we would study the existing shared services models already in place in Liberal Arts and the McCombs School by gathering data about what has been done and the results achieved; and 2) That we would engage in the creation of two new voluntary pilots, one with the Provost Portfolio and one with the College of Education. We believe that shared administrative services can achieve three important goals as follows: 1) Improve the quality of administrative services delivered; 2) Improve the job opportunities for our administrative staff; and 3) Reduce costs move cost savings from administration to academics

2 I now offer the following brief update regarding where we are with piloting shared services. Regarding the study of existing shared services models in Liberal Arts and the McCombs School, Lecturer Angela Newell of the LBJ School is leading a Policy Research Project class whereby graduate students from the school will analyze and measure what has happened in each of these pilots. The project will last the full academic year. Many of us involved in shared services are participating in class discussions and will ensure that these students have the access they need to do their work. We have also volunteered to fund the cost of travel for students to visit other institutions that have established various forms of shared services. Regarding the two new voluntary pilots of shared services, we opened the doors of the Central Business Office (the CBO ), our administrative shared services center, and began staffing it with campus staff members this past spring. In the case of the two new pilots, the CBO began providing services this summer. It is still a very young organization.

3 To date, the CBO has created job opportunities for about 22 administrative staff members. The shared services implementation team took a phased approach to bringing the Provost Portfolio and the College of Education into the pilots. The Provost Portfolio was divided into 4 phases about 60% of the Portfolio is now being serviced by the CBO. The College of Education was divided into 3 phases about 1/3 of the College is now being serviced by the CBO. The pilots are still very young and I have no hard data as yet to share with you. I do offer the following anecdotal observations that I have received from the Provost, Dean of Education, and the CBO: Regarding our goal to improve the quality of the services delivered, the results have been mixed The Provost office reports generally good results and are pleased with the quality of services. We will continue to bring the remaining 40% of the Provost Portfolio into the CBO as planned.

4 However, we have had some challenges in consistently providing quality service to the College of Education during our start of the CBO. The perception of early results from the CBO and college were positive. However, the CBO found itself short of the trained staff needed to handle the dramatic increase in volume associated with yearend procurement and the start of the fall semester, and service levels appeared to decline. We are only now beginning to analyze the cycle time data to fully understand actual performance. But to ensure a high level of service we are adding additional staff to the CBO to make sure a high quality of service is delivered. That said, we have jointly decided with the Dean to delay adding additional units of the College of Education into the pilot until we mutually agree service levels are acceptable. We have scheduled performance reviews with the Dean at roughly 60 day intervals at which time we will discuss how to move forward with the CoE pilot.

5 Regarding our goal to improve the job opportunities of our staff, I reporting the following: The Shared Services pilots have not resulted in any layoffs. Rather, the CBO now employs roughly 22 people who tell me that they are excited about their opportunities to specialize and grow in their positions. We will at some point begin to survey our CBO staff to better gauge their thoughts and attitudes regarding their CBO positions. I can report that it is an enthusiastic group of people who are committed to shared services. I continue to believe that the CBO/Shared Services model offers great potential to improve the quality of the administrative jobs offered by the University. Regarding the goal to save money, we have seen good success. The Provost Portfolio, who implemented the shared services model largely due to budget constraints, estimates that it expects to save about $1 million annually by using a shared services model.

6 The Provost has said that every dollar saved will be reinvested into academic initiatives. The College of Education elected to pilot shared services largely to help the campus define the shared services model; cost savings was not a driving factor in deciding to pilot shared services. One preliminary observation I would have is that absent a specific reason to make such change it is difficult for those involved to see value in making it. The shared services model of operation is likely to be more successful in those units that have budget constraints as they see value or purpose in doing it. We will see how this plays out over time. The Shared Services implementation team tells me that there is opportunity for cost savings for the departments which they are working with should the College want to achieve it. We should not forget that implementation of the concept of shared services and the CBO are still in their infant stage. We must give both time to mature before drawing any firm conclusions from the results that I report to you today.

7 I remind everyone that the budget constraints we have seen over the past decade are still upon us and are not likely to simply go away. How we deal with the impact of these constraints continue to challenge each of us. We are at present, and have been for nearly a decade, dealing with the impact by deferring the maintenance of the campus, limiting salary increases to staff and faculty, reducing positions, and laying off staff that occupy those positions. I continue to believe that sharing administrative services offers good promise to achieving our goals and therefore a better path for the future.