Campus program works on efficiency

Developing more efficient ways for the campus to conduct business — built from the ground up with employee involvement — is the aim of a new cross-campus program.

“We’re seeking campuswide participation in taking a new look at how we deliver services and creating a new model that stresses collaboration and administrative efficiency,” says Darrell Bazzell, vice chancellor for administration.

The project will develop new ways to administer functions such as human resources, information technology, grants administration, other business functions and possibly facilities issues in academic units.

Bazzell says the campus will be assembling a number of project teams consisting of faculty, classified staff and academic staff to pinpoint ways to deal with these and other administrative functions.

“We want to put in place systems and processes that will reflect a stable and predictable level of service for all campus customers,” Bazzell says.

Alice Gustafson, who is on loan from University Housing, will serve as the project leader.

Similar concepts are being used at the University of Illinois, Cornell University, the University of Michigan, the University of Minnesota, Purdue University and others.

“The campus has been targeted in recent years with state budget cuts that have resulted in a loss of administrative staff and capacity,” Bazzell says. “This is a chance for us to revisit the ways that we provide a range of administrative support services in a way that is both collaborative and transparent.”

The project is expected to take at least two years to accomplish. One of the focuses will be to provide a variety of options flexible enough to serve the demands of various schools, colleges and divisions. Workforce trends and new technologies will demand that the campus take new approaches to administration in coming years, Bazzell says.

Bazzell emphasizes that the aim of the project is not to reduce staffing. But workforce changes in coming years make this an opportune time to introduce new, improved and streamlined systems. “About 40 percent of the people who do the work will be eligible to retire in the course of the next five years,” he says.

“That, and the advent of new technologies, means that the ways we currently provide administrative services are not sustainable in the long run.”

For more information about the project and how you can become involved, visit http://www.vc.wisc.edu/AdminProcessReview/ for an introductory message from Bazzell.