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Improve
Quality of Administrative Processes
Process Simplification
University
of Virginia
implemented
this best practice in
Qualifying
under the Best Practices
catalogue:
3 Provide Capabilities
34 Develop resource capabilities
344 Manage improvement and change
Best
Practice Summary
(how it works, how you measure it)
Process Simplification,
the University of Virginia's quality-improvement initiative, features
projects designed to enhance the quality and effectiveness of
key administrative processes that impact faculty, staff, and students.
Process Simplification was established in 1994 to further the
goals of decentralization - to improve customer service, to reduce
costs by eliminating duplication of effort, and to tailor processes
to meet the requirements of the University community in the areas
of financial administration, purchasing, and human resources.
Over the past five years, 225 faculty, staff, and students have
worked on teams to improve the way new employees are hired, oriented,
and trained; simplify the payroll distribution system; make the
travel reimbursement process more efficient and easier to understand;
and set the groundwork for improving the quality of the research
administration process. Recent endeavors have focused on student-enrollment
services, specifically on the implementation of a summer-orientation
program for new students.
During the
past five years, several teams have been formed to assess and
recommend improvements to administrative processes. A number of
the recommendations proposed by these teams have been implemented,
while others are still underway. Teams consisting of employees
from various end-user areas have addressed the following issue
areas: New Employee Orientation, New Student Orientation, Transcript
Issuance, Classified Staff and Faculty Hiring Processes, Limited
Purchase Orders, Employee Training, Check Distribution, Research
Administration, Electronic Forms, Web-Based Forms, Electronic
Transactions, Prospective Undergraduate Student and Parent Interactions,
and Summer Communications with Current and Prospective Undergraduate
Students.
Impact
on the Process Organizational Performance (OUTCOMES)
The on-going
improvements achieved through process simplification make University
activities more effective and result in cost savings that provide
additional resources for instructional purposes. Over the last
four years, process simplification has accounted for nearly $4,240,938
in savings, the majority resulting from the vendor credit card:
$1,908,250 in savings during 1998-99; $1,399,000 in savings during
1997-98; $755,750 in savings during 1996-97; and $177,938 in savings
during 1995-96.
The following
is a brief summary of the key results and benefits derived from
Process Simplification initiatives:
- The Check
Distribution team developed recommendations that led to a
shift to a bi-weekly pay schedule for wage employees, and
to the successful implementation of direct deposit for all
wage and over-time payments. As a result of creating a more
efficient and less labor-intensive distribution system, the
University expects to save the equivalent of five people.
- By increasing
the maximum amount of a limited purchase order from $1,000
to $5,000, the $5,000 Limited Purchase Order team not only
offered greater autonomy for end-user departments in the purchasing
process but also expedited procurements. The implementation
also reduced administrative efforts for small-dollar purchases
University-wide. The administrative savings from this project
are approximately $41,000 a year.
- Due to
the work of the Local Expenditure Limits/Approval Authority
team, the number of vouchers sent to deans and vice presidents
for approval has been reduced. By simplifying and clarifying
the approval process for routine expenditures, exceptional
transactions should receive the thorough review they require.
- The Short-Term
Enhancements to Sponsored Programs team identified University
needs for information contained in the sponsored-program database
and successfully developed the means for accessing it. Primary
gains are in time savings and enhanced service delivery.
- Key outcomes
of the Travel Reimbursement Policies and Procedures team include
a simplified travel planning and approval process, time savings
for travelers and travel processors, and increased departmental
accountability. Use of the electronic book has increased from
approximately 20 percent in June 1998 to 46 percent in November
1998.
- The University
Purchasing Card team successfully implemented the American
Express Corporate Purchasing Card Program at the University,
which facilitates small purchases and reduces the cost of
recording transactions in the University's accounting system.
With the cost of processing and paying a bill calculated to
be between $50 to $75, savings resulting from implementation
of the card are estimated at $1.4 million for fiscal year
1997-98.
- The Classified
Hiring team's recommendations include offering different levels
of services depending on hiring officials' needs; improving
the existing on-line employment system; moving toward a Web-based
employment process; reviewing and simplifying the current
system of knowledge, skills, and abilities; revising the application
packet; and offering training for hiring officials.
- Expected
benefits of the Enhanced Employee Training Team include significant
time savings for employees, a decrease in the amount of time
it takes a new employee to learn the job, reduction in errors
and problems, higher employee morale, and increased service
to customers. In July 1999, the implementation team launched
the Training and Resources for Administrative Knowledge (TRAK)
web site -- a comprehensive listing of the administrative
skills and processes that supervisors can use to determine
the administrative knowledge and skill requirements for each
employee, and as a directory of administrative workshops and
one-on-one training available throughout the UVa community.
A pilot version of TRAK placed third in the 1998 "Special
Interest Group for University & College Computing Services
(SIGUCCS) Web How-to-Guides Awards."
- The Faculty
Hiring Business Case team reviewed the faculty recruitment
and hiring process and identified improvements in the areas
of technology, training, and communication, which should result
in a process that is seamless and efficient, practiced consistently
throughout the University, clearly understood, and easy to
learn and use.
- The University
is implementing a new employee orientation process that begins
with a pre-employment benefits sign-up, continues as an ongoing
education and training effort within the employing department,
culminates in a New Employee Welcome and Resource Fair. Implementation
of this initiative should result in a workforce that is committed
to the University's mission and understands the role of departments
and the importance of individual contributions in accomplishing
the institution's objectives.
- The Transcript
Issuance work group was formed to improve the current transcript
issuance process, namely simplifying billing and collection,
and has developed recommendations to increase payment options,
including using credit cards, in order to eliminate the billing
process, enhance available payment choices, and move toward
a web-based request process. Changes to the current process
depend on an institutional effort to establish a secure infrastructure
for credit card transactions.
- The New
Student Orientation Program was implemented in July 1999.
Nine summer sessions were conducted between July 8 and August
27 enrolling 93.4% of the total population of incoming new
students. As part of this two-day summer orientation program,
students took placement exams, met with faculty advisors on
a one-on-one basis, departed with a tentative fall course
selection, and were introduced to life at the University.
The main objective of adding the summer component was to make
fall orientation more academically focused.
- Representing
the largest Process Simplification effort to date, the Research
Administration team offered recommendations to facilitate
research at the University, improve the quality the current
process, make it more effective and efficient, and establish
clear lines of responsibility and accountability throughout
the process.
- The Web-Based
Forms team is in the process of placing all non-automated
University paper forms on the World Wide Web to eliminate
or make more efficient the use of paper forms. Anticipated
benefits include annual combined savings for departments estimated
at $13,000, the most current version of forms available to
users, and moving the University another step toward an automated
and paperless workplace with 140 web-based forms available
for use.
For more information,
visit the Process Simplification Web site at http://www.virginia.edu/~process.
Best
Practice Qualification
Few higher
education institutions have quality improvement efforts as extensive
as the University's. This has been verified through comparison
with other institutions' quality improvement efforts by external
consultants with a detailed knowledge of the University of Virginia
environment gained through an involvement with the implementation
of the University's new Integrated Systems Project. In many instances,
the recommendations implemented through the Process Simplification
effort have employed the most recent technology. Many of the University's
customers have reported greater satisfaction with the improved
processes or functional areas. The Process Simplification initiative
is one of the most visible ways the University is preparing for
the 21st century by promoting excellence and continuous improvement
of its administrative functions. This effort allows the University
to maintain and promote its excellence by building a solid administrative
infrastructure.
For
Additional Information
Office
of the Vice President for Management and Budget
University of Virginia
P. O. Box 400228
Charlottesville, Virginia 22904-4228
Christina
Morell
(804) 924-0761
cm5c@virginia.edu
Peter
Farrell
KPMG Consulting
(804) 243-0346
pjfarrell@kpmg.com
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