(Editor's Note: The following is an email letter that was sent to UI students, faculty, and staff on Monday, Feb. 23.)

The implementation phase of the Board of Regents’ TIER (Transparent Inclusive Efficiency Review) project is underway on campus, and I’d like to share some information with you regarding next steps in the process. Our TIER campus leadership team has been working with Chazey Partners, the consultant hired by the Board of Regents to assist the institutions with the delivery of services model for IT, HR, and Finance, to put these next steps in place. 

On Wednesday, employees working in the areas of HR and Finance will be asked to provide input that will help to guide the process as we move ahead. Employees who spend some portion of their time on Finance transactions and HR will be asked to complete a brief survey about that work. The information gathered will assist Chazey Partners and our team in determining appropriate next steps in the process. 

In addition to the surveys, an estimated 50 employees working in IT, HR, and Finance will be asked to participate in process workshops that will be led by members of the Chazey Partners team. The workshops will assess key strategic services processes and will help to identify options for streamlining them. 

Huron Consulting has also been working on campus and will continue to do so in the coming weeks. They are working with members of our Sourcing and Procurement team on implementation processes and plans. 

The work on the academic cases is continuing as well. On Feb. 13, the Board of Regents announced that they have retained Pappas Consulting to continue the work begun last year by KH Consulting on cases dealing with Time to Graduation and Distance Education. Pappas will be working with Provost Butler to coordinate the start of their campus engagement with faculty and staff. Ad Astra is continuing its work with the universities’ Phase Two of the two academic cases dealing with space utilization.

I encourage you to visit the TIER website. Contact information for the business case leads, Sounding Board members, and TIER campus representative can be found there as well as links to the other project sites and the Board of Regents site. You can directly reach the Board of Regents website.  You can share feedback on our site as well as directly with the business case leads, Sounding Board representatives, and TIER campus representative. 

I’d like to thank all of you who have been working on the TIER project and those of you who will be assisting us in the coming days. As I’ve said before, the goal of TIER is to transform our university so it is sustainable for the long term while remaining true to our core academic missions of education, research, and service as well as learning, discovery, and engagement. We need your help and support in order to move the University of Iowa forward on this path.  

Sally Mason

President

University of Iowa