Making Connections between
Central Administration and
Faculty Administrators
Presented By:
Caron Bueckert
Gord Pasieka & Kimberlee Potter
Making Connections
Agenda
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History of Gaps at U of M
Bridging the Gap
Eliminating the Gap
Questions remaining
History of Gaps
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Series of systems renewal projects – HRIS, FMIS and
SIS
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HR system wasn’t quite ready to be implemented
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HR system renewal was problematic with workloads
overwhelmingly high
Culture of fear and mistrust
Major obstacle to success = inability to obtain answers.
History of Gaps
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A meeting was the catalyst for change.
Concerns were expressed by Faculties and were listened
to by Administration.
Finance Administration dramatically made aware of what
needed to be done to ensure success
Bridging the Gap…
Bridging the Gap…
Form methods to consult with and work together
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Open lines of communication
Widen the circle of involvement
Bridging the Gap…
Form a Middle Managers Group
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Senior faculty administrators
Active participants of change
Bridging the Gap…
Set-up a system of support
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Created website with online help, FAQs and
additional resources
Help Desk
Central Administration trained staff on Customer
Service support and designated department
resources
Bridging the Gap…
Help Desk Calls
Go-Live
376
350
230
222
Year-End Period
199
165
164
148
119
97
140
128
99
125
102
52
Bridging the Gap…
Deliver on your promises
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Promised training to anyone who wanted or needed.
Promised a support system would be in place before
and after the changes
Promised we would listen
Building goodwill with community
Bridging the Gap…
Rewarding results
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Communication not without it’s bumps but faculty
administrators and users happy
Change considered a non-event
Aurora Finance Implementation Team received the
2007 Team Excellence award
Bridging the Gap…
Assessing the Situation
Review
Bridging the Gap…
Gaps in communication remaining
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Insufficient connections to realize information was
missing
Knowledge gap for both groups
Eliminating the Gap…
Further develop system of support
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Central Administration created and hired new
positions to meet the increasing need to connect with
the faculties
• Finance Customer Service Representative
• Additional system security support
• Systems Optimization Specialist
Eliminating the Gap…
Connections need to be made on an ongoing basis
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Listserve emails
Quarterly newsletters
Financial Services website
Eliminating the Gap…
Create opportunities to show people their voice counts
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Customer Service team meets with faculty
representatives
Develop faculty specific training
Develop position specific training
Eliminating the Gap…
Don’t dictate, involve.
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Overcome the tendency to command
Allow faculty administrators to make the decisions
that will affect them whenever possible.
Eliminating the Gap…
Address problems immediately
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Monthly Brown Bag lunch sessions
Develop University Finance series of courses
Eliminating the Gap…
Keep each Unit informed on how they are doing
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Correspond with each other
Middle Managers support of Team Excellence award
Use statistics/error reports and teach how to correct
Eliminating the Gap…
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Should there be a particular designation required for
Business Officers?
How do we handle staff who have evolved into positions,
but not received any formal training?
Is it the role of Central Administration to train Faculties
beyond system requirements?
What aren’t we doing to more effectively communicate
between the two groups?
Should we enforce mandatory testing to reduce errors?
If so, how?
Making Connections
Why does this matter?
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Less errors and less frustration
Support when things go wrong
Answers obtained quickly
Better product
Summary – Central Administration Perspective
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Deliver on your promises
Address problems immediately
Make connections on an ongoing basis
Don’t dictate, involve.
Possess a willingness to work with Faculty
Administrators
Summary – Faculty Perspective
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Form methods to consult with and work together
Create a Middle Managers group
Set-up a system of support and continue to build on that
system
Keep each unit informed on how they are doing
Possess a willingness to work with Central Administration
Making Connections