Look
At All We’ve Done
Compiled by the EIT, reported
by Kate Riley
At our annual EIT retreat this
year, our attention was focused on the new approaches we could take
to achieve our vision. You’ll notice in the side box that
we have revised our vision—be sure to take a look at the new
statement. But before we took up planning a new direction, we reflected
on all that we had accomplished from our previous strategic plan,
developed in 2001. Below you will find our four strategic initiatives
from that plan and the many ways in which we advanced our strategies.
1. Move from being transaction-driven
to being knowledge-driven
• Chartered a FM-wide team, the Lead Team, to develop a plan
to achieve this initiative. The team has created a model for being
knowledge-driven, made presentations to departments, and launched
work to standardize knowledge about key processes, develop training,
and create a standing communication team.
• Several departments have or plan to reorganize to support
being knowledge-driven (e.g., Financial Services).
• Staff capacity to become knowledge-driven has been supported
through various initiatives and personnel hiring—diversity
and mentoring initiatives, CPA licensing team, CPE credits, and
hiring for project management skills.
• FM is sharing knowledge with campus through a monthly newsletter
that highlights improvement developments.
• Departments have created or work with existing advisory
groups to share and receive knowledge about customer preferences
and needs (e.g., Financial Services, Payroll, SFS, RAA, and Treasury).
2. Mine data to provide
customized services and information
• New positions have been created to support data mining,
analysis, customer outreach, and other knowledge-driven work (e.g.,
Financial Services, Financial Accounting, SFS, and RAA).
• Data mining results have been used to understand what direction
to take to improve under-performing processes (e.g., GRIP team,
ATA Team, and SFS).
• Departments have conducted targeted outreach activities
to customers based on customized data analysis (e.g., Treasury,
Financial Services, and Financial Accounting).
3. Replace paper or
legacy systems with web or other electronic solutions
• Departments have introduced web-based processing in many
areas-GCA lockbox, E-Perkins, Stafford loan, short-term loan application
and extension, on-line exit interviews for borrowers, OWLS, and
ProCard reconciliation.
• New web-based forms have been introduced-for example, on-line
TEVs and check request forms for student and staff payments.
• Payment options via the web are now available using credit
cards and automated cash transmittal.
• We have posted an array of communication pieces and reports
to the web including investment and endowment reports, the Annual
Report, FM Directions newsletter, the Employee Satisfaction Survey,
FM training request forms, and departmental and division dashboards.
4. Use a common measurement
system
• Operational dashboards have been created at the division,
department and, in some cases, team level. The dashboards are regularly
reviewed to charter action that either improves the measure or improves
an under-performing process.
• Dashboards have been used to communicate with department
staff, campus process partners, senior UW leadership, and external
universities.
• An on-line employee satisfaction survey was introduced that
provided external benchmark information.
• Department staff responsible for their dashboards have been
brought together as a team to ensure consistency in how dashboards
are created and used and to provide on-going support for this work.
• Financial Services created a shared measure with Purchasing
on aspects of the purchasing-payment process.
