Administrative Burden & Process Improvement Initiative
Purpose and Mission
Within the Office of the Provost, the Administrative Burden & Process Initiative is charged to reduce unnecessary administrative complexity, improving institutional processes, and ensuring faculty and staff have the time, resources, and support needed to focus on their core academic responsibilities. The initiative also informs strategic planning for resource investments and works in close partnership with the Division of Strategy and Business Services to advance efficient, effective, and scalable practices that enhance the experiences of faculty, staff, and students.
Process challenges are identified through annual reports submitted by academic and non-academic units, as well as through individual submissions that are tracked to proactively surface systemic issues. A university-wide committee (University Systems Institutional Improvement Council), guides the initiative’s work by recommending priorities, evaluating opportunities for improvement, and advising on strategies that promote meaningful, sustainable change.
How We Work: Process challenges are identified through annual reports submitted by academic and non-academic units, as well as through individual submissions that are tracked to proactively surface systemic issues. A university-wide committee (University Systems Institutional Improvement Council) guides the initiatives work by recommending priorities, evaluating opportunities for improvement, and advising on strategies that promote meaningful, sustainable change.
The Charge
Dr. Heather Lench, Senior Associate Provost
Dr. Lench will lead initiatives aimed at reducing administrative burden, improving processes and ensuring faculty and staff have the time and support needed to focus on their core academic responsibilities. She will also help guide strategic planning for resource investments and collaborate closely with the Division of Strategy and Business Services to implement efficient, effective practices that strengthen the experiences of faculty, staff and students. Feel free to reach out at:
Initiative Impacts
Initiative: Research Staff Hiring Process
Hiring Friction & Delays
Increased clarity and communication to continue improving the speed of research staff hires. Delays in these hires create significant barriers to timely project initiation.
Collaborative Analysis and Redesign
A small working group reviewed process; 5 strategic recommendations for improvement.
Shift to Streamlined Process
Substantial streamlined process, standardized wording, simple fillable hiring manager forms & toolkits.
Initiative Impacts
Initiative: Emburse Notification Optimization
Notification Overload
Faculty and department heads faced excessive daily notifications causing alert fatigue and workflow disruption.
Collaborative Analysis and Redesign
A small working group analyzed notification structure and redesigned messages with clearer language and urgency markers.
Shift to Weekly Consolidated Notices
changing from daily to weekly notifications reduced noise and improved clarity for faculty and department heads.
|
Role / Representation |
Name / Placeholder |
Title |
|---|---|---|
|
Provost and Executive Vice President |
Dr. Alan Sams |
Provost |
|
Senior Vice President for Strategy and Business Services |
Joe Pettibon |
Business Services |
|
Dean Level Representative |
Dr. Debbie Thomas |
Dean |
|
Department Head Representative |
Dr. David Cairns | Professor & Head |
|
Faculty Advisory Council (FAC) EC |
Pending | |
|
University Distinguished Professors (UDP) EC |
Dr. Valerie Hudson |
Professor |
|
Council of Principal Investigators (CPI) EC |
Dr. Rebecca Brooker | Professor |
|
University Staff Council EC |
Daniel Roberts | Secretary USC / Assistant Athletic Director for IT |
|
Academic Business Officers Council (ABOC) EC |
Kari Curtis | Assistant Dean, Finance & Business Operations |