Shared Best Practices

May 20

The subcommittee met to review the campus communication being drafted, subgroup reports, and discussion of the meeting schedule for the summer. Discussion points included:

  • The campus communication being circulated between all subcommittees was closely reviewed and edits were suggested based on the viewpoint of this subcommittee.
  • Discussion included a review of information and data being gathered by the finance subgroup through interviews with Deans and Directors from various colleges and departments on campus. The information being collected from these administrators is informing the recommendations of the subcommittee
  • Research Administration has completed much of their work but is still working on regulatory compliance issues.
  • Human Resources is awaiting the final recommendations from hrQ. Their recommendations will provide direction for all subcommittees

Apr. 23

The subcommittee met to review subgroup reports, research with on-going work product areas, and to discuss the proposed communication plan from the main task force as it would apply to this subcommittee. Discussion points included:

  • A new executive director of Human Resources has been hired and is starting work in June. There is a team meeting with the purpose of getting on common ground and mapping processes that aren’t being done by hrQ. They are looking at multiple areas.
  • Sponsored Programs already has a set of best practices they are reviewing and putting forth for recommendations. The subcommittee should anticipate a more detailed report on the 15th, which will be shared with this group.
  • Discussion about how recommendations might be implemented as well as intersections with other subcommittees, e.g. training is a best practice. Best practices will need clarity on what other groups are doing before they can craft a best practice.
  • The potential communication plan was reviewed and there was some discussion about the FAQs being circulated between the various subcommittees. The FAQs will reside on the task force website that is in development.

Outcomes or next steps for the subcommittee:

  • Meetings with the deans, vice presidents, and business officers have been set. Decisions were made on which subcommittee member would be attending which meeting.
  • Subcommittee members will provide feedback on the FAQ document.
  • The chair will work with the other subcommittee chairs to align data across all subcommittees and drill down based on a collaborative review of all of the data.

Mar. 26

The subcommittee met to discuss the work of the subgroups and what’s being done within the Human Resource department by an outside consulting group, hrQ.

Discussion points included:

  • The group discussed survey results and the work session with human resource liaisons across campus. Areas of concern have been identified and each are being reviewed more closely for follow up. Information gathered in previous Human Resource sessions has been shared with hrQ who has begun their process. Their recommendations will be available in June. There will be two open forum sessions coming up, one for users and one for leaders.
  • Sponsored Programs has already been working on best practices for some time now, with significant progress and best practices already put into place for effort reporting. In interviews with other universities, it’s been noted that many have a separate project management group that works across multiple departments. This helps implement best practices as well as facilitates change management over time. It was discussed that this is being reviewed by the system process mapping subcommittee currently.
  • The finance subgroup is planning to meet with college deans to find out what they are doing well with the hope that they will also share what’s not working well. Individual meetings with deans and vice presidents will be scheduled. It will be important to partner with the deans. Outcomes would be to seek to better understand and discover what is being done on a college, unit and department level. When visiting with these individuals the focus should be on finance, but if procurement issues arise they should be discussed as well.

Outcomes or next steps for the subcommittee:

  • Appropriate subcommittee members will begin to schedule meetings with the deans, vice presidents, and their business officers.
  • Research and work will continue in subgroups

 
Feb. 22

The subcommittee met to discuss research results and to go over the survey from the systems process mapping subcommittee. The subcommittee also identified who would be ideal for subgroup membership to help achieve objectives.

Discussion points included:

  • Reviewed information from the system process mapping subcommittee – these are the results of the survey sent out. Much discussion about information contained in the results and which items might or might not be appropriate for the shared best practices subcommittee.
  • As best practices are determined, skill sets and training subcommittee would need to be advised to help coordinate the best option for training in those areas.
  • Discussion about how research feedback informs additional work needed by this subcommittee.
  • Conversation about efficiency v. effectiveness. This process will not be fast or easy because we are looking for long-term resolutions. The subcommittee will need to identify colleges and divisions that are exceptional at their business models and managing accounts and then delve into their processes.

Outcomes or next steps for the subcommittee:

  • Finance, research administration, and human resource subgroups were formed, and subcommittee members will begin recruiting for those teams.
  • Best practices for potential recommendations will need to be reviewed by subcommittee members based on feedback received by other subcommittees.

Jan. 22

The subcommittee had its initial meeting to determine its scope of work and who could best help carry out the work.

Discussion points included:

  • Is it optimal to come with recommendations for best practices or a process for implementing best practices across campus? It’s not possible to address all pain point areas to be carefully evaluated and recommendations developed, so a decision will be needed regarding initial items to review.
  • Conversation about how the systems process mapping subcommittee was collecting information and the survey their group sent out was shared with these subcommittee members. We will need to work with systems subcommittee throughout this process as they identify and correct issues.
  • Discussion regarding what process is best for identifying and implementing best practices moving forward; a mechanism to make it ongoing
  • Conversation around potentially asking the new president to address the issue of avoiding “exception is the rule.” Authority may erode when you overrule and make exceptions regularly to known processes.

Outcomes or next steps for the subcommittee:

  • Subcommittee members will review task force outcomes to see which potential best practices discussed feed best into overall task force goals.
  • Members will evaluate all items on the list generated during the meeting to determine the most important ones.
  • Subcommittee members will gather data on human resources onboarding and budgeting processes to discuss in the next meeting.