Innovations

New (and old) Directions – A Look Back

by Chris Malins

It is amazing how fast time slips by. When the team suggested it was time to write an article about the history of New Directions, I didn’t think that we had been around long enough to even warrant a history. But a quick look at the calendar shows that we’ve been publishing New Directions on the web since summer of 2002 and the old Directions in a paper version since December of 1990. Our Financial Management quality chronicle is nearly 16 years old! If you are interested in viewing the inaugural edition of Directions, click here.

The original idea for Directions was developed by V’Ella Warren early in her tenure as UW Treasurer. The idea then, as now, was to capture and chronicle the fledgling quality improvement program, and highlight its many successes and future initiatives. When the very first issue was published in 1990, Harlan Patterson was the QI Quality Champion, Howard Cottrell was the Controller, and Fred Bailey was Director of GCA. In that same issue, Quality Improvement was described as “the single most important strategic issue facing American business.” Well, we may have new terms for the improvements that we continue to make, but the message is the same today as it was 15 years ago.

The idea of creating teams to solve problems also was in place right from the start. How many folks remember the Ape Team, the Chargers Team, the Open Team, or the Red Team? These were the original QI teams, the groups that paved the way for later improvement teams that have made such a difference in the way the University operates. The only team still in operation from the very earliest days of QI is – you guessed it – the Recognition Quality Team. There is one member of the original RQT who is still active in the quality effort at UW, SFS’s own Diane Cooley! In addition to being a Quality pioneer, Diane should also be recognized for having the world’s only complete set of Directions newsletters, for which, as author of this piece, I am eternally grateful.

The other constant in the look, feel, and sometimes content of Directions in its many incarnations, is the incomparable Michael Fero. Do you like the musical interludes on recent issues of New Directions? How about the web-page backgrounds that match the season? Or the format of the slide shows of FM events? That’s all Michael Fero. In fact, it is fair to say that the overall impressions readers have had over the years about Directions are largely due to Michael. Each article tells a story about Quality, but the professional format of Directions shows the newsletter itself is as much about quality as the articles it contains.

As the makeup of FM changed over the years, so did Directions. When Harlan left the editorship of Directions in the early 1990’s for a job in the School of Medicine, Doug Breckel took over as Quality Champion and Editor. Doug was ultimately replaced by Ruth Johnston, who joined FM in 1994 from Training & Development. Ruth’s involvement in Directions continues to this day, as co-sponsor for the Directions Editorial Board with V’Ella.

However well Directions was received over the years of the 1990’s and the early part of the 21st century, there comes a day when it is time to clean house and make a new start. That time came for Directions in 2002, as the newsletter was about to turn thirteen. Directions was faltering for lack of material and Ruth and Michael were relying more and more on “filler” articles on Quality topics to give Directions some content. It wasn’t that the quality program wasn’t flourishing in FM (it was), it was simply getting harder and harder to convince people to write about it. Clearly this was not the original vision behind the idea of a showcase for FM’s accomplishments in Quality. It was time for a different approach.

In 2002, Kate Riley, the then Quality Champion, and I decided that the best way to get broader FM involvement was to have a representative from each of the FM departments “shake the bushes” looking for quality initiatives. With that simple idea, the first Directions editorial board was chosen. The original members were:

Randi Adair – Equipment Inventory and Travel
Diane Cooley – Management Accounting and Analysis, and Student Fiscal Services
Kristie Dunne – Financial Accounting, Payables Admin, Tax Office
Sharon Langlois – Payroll
Chris Malins – Treasury
Cecilia Pittman – Grant and Contract Accounting
Kate Riley – Quality Program
Michael Fero – Graphics

Over the last four years, members have come and gone, either leaving the University or deciding that it was time to turn over the reins to someone else. Unlike the RQT, members of the Directions Editorial Board don’t have a set time commitment, and can stay or leave as they please. This “voluntary” aspect of the team assures that each one of the Board members are there because they want to be there. It also keeps the energy level high and the ideas fresh. If you read New Directions regularly, you’ll notice that it is constantly changing and improving. Our overriding goal is not only to be a mirror reflecting the FM quality program, but to be an integrated part of what makes Financial Management so special.

Stay tuned for the next history lesson in 2022!