Project Charter
A. GENERAL INFORMATION
Project Title:
People, Processes, Partnerships: A Faculty of Arts Initiative
The Faculty’s Workforce Planning Initiative is designed to ensure that Faculty
support staff provide students, faculty members, and other support staff with the
best possible services, given available resources.
Brief Project
Description:
This will involve:
1. the identification of existing administrative procedures which are effective
and/or efficient;
2. the identification of existing administrative procedures which are less
effective and/or efficient;
3. the identification of existing administrative procedures which are outdated
and/or redundant;
4. building on efficiencies and modifying or eliminating weak, outdated or
redundant processes;
5. the best possible use of the Faculty’s physical, financial, and technological
resources.
Particular attention will be devoted to
1. possible efficiency gains from the integration of services and reduction of
redundancies in the operations of the Human Resources, Finance and
Student Affairs Offices
2. ensuring that back up is readily available when administrative or support
staff change functions or leave the University;
3. improving oversight of administrative functions.
Prepared By:
Christopher Manfredi - Dean of Arts, Gillian Lane-Mercier – Associate Dean
Academic & Oversight, Helen Wilicka - Arts Director of Administration, Anna Coscia Arts HR Administrator, Kathy Lauer - Arts HR Adviser, Kathleen Holden –
Communications Officer
Date:
October 15 2012
B. PROJECT OBJECTIVES/MEANS/CONSTRAINTS:
With the broader purpose of providing the best possible services the project will:
1.
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ensure a more even workload within and across job groups;
preserve organizational memory through better succession planning;
ensure that there are back-ups to existing staff;
enhance faulty wide communication;
provide suitable career development possibilities;
improve training opportunities;
where appropriate, allow for/provide opportunities for innovation in the design and provision
of support structures for Faculty teaching and research.
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Project Charter
Whatever changes are made require coming to terms with the 1 for 2 staff replacement policy
being implemented by the University for the foreseeable future.
C. PROJECT SCOPE
The project focuses on a review of key administrative functions currently performed within the Faculty
in the following key areas:
 support of the research mission of the Faculty;
 finance and budget (department operations and grant management);
 student affairs (undergraduate & graduate studies);
 human resources, both academic (teaching release funded by grants and awards) and nonacademic (attrition/retirement/transfer related personnel loss)
 operations (e.g., events, communications, IT, purchasing, etc.)
Phase 1 of the project will focus on academic/teaching departments and will exclude administrative
processes associated with, centres, institutes, and the School of Social Work. However, information
will be gathered from these areas for future integration in phases 2 and 3 of the project.
D. TIMELINE
The projected timeline for this initiative is Fall 2012 through Winter 2014.
E. ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
Name
Email / Phone
Christopher Manfredi, Dean – Faculty of Arts
christopher.manfredi@mcgill.ca/4968
Sponsor - Responsibilities include:
 overall delivery of the project;
 to champion the project;
 to ensure the project proceeds according to the agreed plan;
 to ensure the staff committed to the project give sufficient time to the project.
Name
Email / Phone
Gillian Lane-Mercier, Associate Dean Academic
gillian.lane-mercier@mcgill.ca/4428
and Oversight
Helen Wilicka, Director of Administration
helen.wilicka@mcgill.ca / 3254
Project Co-Managers - Responsibilities include:
 to drive the project forward from implementation to completion;
 to develop the project plan;
 to identify risks and develop risk management plan;
 to ensure the project’s overall objectives, targets at various key stages, and individuals’
responsibilities are clearly understand by all concerned;
 to provide direction to project team members;
 to monitor performance against the plan;
 to oversee quality assurance of the project management process;
 to maintain all documentation including the project plan;
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Project Charter
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to report and forecast project status to the Executive;
to ensure appropriate communication between the members of the project team and other
project stakeholders; and
to communicate project status to stakeholders.
PROJECT TEAM MEMBERS:
Name
Email / Phone
Gillian Lane-Mercier, Associate Dean Academic
gillian.lane-mercier@mcgill.ca/4428
and Oversight
Helen Wilicka, Director of Administration
helen.wilicka@mcgill.ca / 3254
Joan Soares – Workforce Planning – Project
joan.soares@mcgill.ca/4614
Manager
Kathy Lauer, HR Advisor
kathy.lauer@mcgill.ca / 4217
Anna Coscia, HR Administrator
anna.coscia@mcgill.ca/ 4217
Kathleen Holden – Communications Officer
kathleen.holden@mcgill.ca/4400 ext. 094751
Connie DiGiuseppe, AO - Anthropology
connie.digiuseppe@mcgill.ca/4285
Mylissa Falkner, Acting AO - Philosophy
mylissa.falkner@mcgill.ca/
Brigitte Weiss-Dittmann, AA – Languages,
brigitte.weiss-dittmann@mcgill.ca/5953
Literatures, and Cultures
William Straw – Director – McGill Institute for
william.straw@mcgill.ca/ 7667
the Study of Canada
Michael Smith – Chair – Sociology
michael.smith@mcgill.ca/6849
Project Team Members - Responsibilities include:
 to assist the sponsor or project manager to create the Project Charter;
 to work with the project manager to manage the project including timeline, work plan, testing,
resources, training, and documentation of procedures;
 to assist in defining the final objectives of the Project;
 to identify approaches to be used to achieve objectives;
 to organize and oversee work teams
 to consult with Central HR with regard to training, employee relations and Munaca, Total
Compensation and Staffing
 to record minutes of meetings
 to develop and maintain a website that will provide updates on the project
 to draft and distribute all communiqués
EXECUTIVE /STEERING COMMITTEE MEMBERS:
Name
Christopher Manfredi, Dean – Faculty of Arts
Gillian Lane-Mercier, Associate Dean Academic
and Oversight
Helen Wilicka, Director of Administration
Karin Bauer, Chair – Languages, literatures, and
Cultures
Joan Soares – Workforce Planning – Project
Manager
Romesh Vadivel, Associate Director – Service
Point
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Email / Phone
christopher.manfredi@mcgill.ca/4968
gillian.lane-mercier@mcgill.ca/4428
helen.wilicka@mcgill.ca / 3254
karin.bauer@mcgill.ca/3647
joan.soares@mcgill.ca/4614
romesh.vadivel@mcgill.ca/2737
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Project Charter
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Executive/Steering Committee – Responsibilities include:
spokespersons for the project
offer guidance on the preparation of the original plan – define the strategic direction
receive progress reports throughout the project with problems/risks raised as appropriate
involved in needs analysis and/or identification of the project’s objectives
advise the sponsor (Dean) on any subsequent changes to the agreed objectives (scope,
timescale, cost) as may be necessary as the project proceeds, and how these changes may be
accommodated within the project plan
responsible for implementing/approving any changes which affect scope, timescale or costs to
the project plan rests with the Project Steering Committee or Sponsor (Dean)
remove obstacles and provide support
Advisory Committees: SUB-GROUPS: others may be added at a later date
Name
Sub-group for Financial Services – budget,
finance, procurement, and transactional
processes
Sub-group for Student Affairs – undergraduate
and graduate
Sub-group for Human Resources – academic and
non-academic
Sub-group for Operations - e.g., facilities and
space planning, events, communications, key
management, uPrinting, etc.
Members
TBD – comprised of managers, administrative and
academic staff
TBD – comprised of managers, administrative and
academic staff
TBD – comprised of managers, administrative and
academic staff
TBD – comprised of managers, administrative and
academic staff
F. RESOURCES
Identify the initial funding, personnel, and other resources committed to this project by the
project sponsor.
Resource
Project Budget
Personnel – See sub-groups below
Personnel – Organizational Development (Joan
Soares)
Physical Resources – implementation of an
integrated administrative services hub
Constraints
Currently, we do not have any financial resources
to devote to this project; however, once we have a
proposal/plan, we may approach the University for
financial backing
Time constraints – how much time with
organizational development be able to allocate to
the Arts Integration Project?
Financial constraints – will the University provide
the funding for renovations, moving, etc.
How do we integrate the stand-alone units we
have along McTavish and Peel , for instance and
where does Social Work fit into the plan
Advisory Committees: SUB-GROUPS: others may be added at a later date
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Project Charter
Name
Sub-group for Financial Services – budget,
finance, procurement, and transactional
processes
Sub-group for Student Affairs – undergraduate
and graduate
Sub-group for Human Resources – academic and
non-academic
Sub-group for Operations - e.g. facilities and
space planning, events, communications, key
management, uPrinting, etc.
Project_Charter.doc rev. 2012_15Oct MS 22 oct KH 23 oct
Members
TBD – comprised of managers, administrative and
academic staff
TBD – comprised of managers, administrative and
academic staff
TBD – comprised of managers, administrative and
academic staff
TBD – comprised of managers, administrative and
academic staff
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