UI TIER Update: Nov. 20

As the University of Iowa moves forward with the Board of Regents’ TIER (Transparent Inclusive Efficiency Review) project, the UI TIER leadership team is committed to keeping the campus informed on the latest developments in connection with the initiative.

The team will be sharing updates in Iowa Now each month. Information on the initiative can also be found on the UI TIER website.

The following are the latest developments on the UI’s academic and business cases.

Academic:

Charges for the three committees involved with reviewing the recommendations of the Pappas Consulting Group (enrollment management and e-learning/distance education) and of Ad Astra (classroom utilization/scheduling) have been drafted.

The chairs for the three committees—Sarah Hansen and Andrew Beckett (student success/enrollment management task force), Chet Rzonca and Anne Zalenski (distance and online learning task force), and Lon Moeller (Ad Astra report review committee)—are working with the Office of the Provost to identify faculty, staff, and students for the committees.

Initial implementation plans for the academic review cases are due to the Board of Regents no later than Jan. 29, 2016.    

Finance:

University shared services

Office of Vice President of Research and Economic Development: Implementation plans are moving forward with a goal to complete by the end of January 2016.

College of Dentistry: An initial meeting with Associate Dean Scott Arneson was held Nov. 5 to review transactional data and to discuss moving forward with a full implementation with the college after the first of the year.

The Human Resources and University Shared Services Project teams met Nov. 3 and 10 to discuss the joint org/college implementation calendar. 

The University Shared Services Financial Advisory group held a meeting Nov. 13, with special guests Cheryl Reardon, Terry Johnson, Josey Bathke, Diana Leventry, Trevor Glanz, Suzanne Hilleman, and Rachel Napoli. A simulation of the staff selection process for shared services was conducted to help understand the various factors and concerns from different perspectives. The simulation was successful in helping all involved to understand the complexity and concerns of the process. This simulation will be shared with other groups/committees on campus as a way of educating and providing feedback to the implementation team. 

Human Resources:  

HR-01 revise distributed HR delivery model

Division of Vice President of Research and Economic Development and the Oakdale campus

The guidelines for employee movement into the Finance Shared Services structure have been finalized, allowing the project planning to resume for this integrated project.  

University Libraries

The team met with the university librarian and the senior HR leader on Oct. 27 to present final recommendations. The org’s response to the recommendations has been received and will aid the team with their future project follow-ups.

College of Law

The HR redesign team will be meeting with the senior HR leader soon to determine the individuals who will be interviewed to gather information. Meetings with these individuals should be scheduled by the end of November. 

Division of ITS

Meetings were held Oct. 23 with those individuals currently performing human resources duties in the organization. The HR team is currently analyzing the data gathered and finalizing their recommendations.

State Hygienic Laboratory

The gathering of information from employees took place Oct. 27 and 30. Individuals from the lab in Ankeny participated via video conferencing. The data is being analyzed by the HR redesign team, and recommendations should be complete by Nov. 30.   

Information technology:

Regents schools gather for IT retreat

IT professionals from the University of Iowa, Iowa State University, and the University of Northern Iowa met Nov. 4 at the UNI campus to exchange information about technology initiatives and discuss opportunities for collaboration. They made progress in several areas, sharing technology plans and strategies and discussing further opportunities for collaboration.

OneIT forums provide venues for questions, updates

OneIT leaders hosted three forums in recent weeks: a Town Hall for IT professionals, and two Listening Posts for the broader campus audience—this time held in the College of Education and the College of Dentistry. In all, over 100 people attended to hear updates and ask questions. The thoughtful engagement at all three events was appreciated.

OneIT project news

• Drupal digital signage gains momentum: Enthusiasm for the new Drupal digital signage service is growing; 36 departments and units have adopted, expressed interest in, or begun testing the free and user-friendly solution.
• Migration of faculty–staff email to Office 365 halfway complete: The Communication & Collaboration project team hit a milestone this month, announcing that more than half of faculty and staff email accounts are now migrated to the cloud. Migrations continue, with the goal to complete the change by Jan. 1, 2016.
• Classroom & Collaboration Spaces project plan available: The Classroom and Collaboration Space IT Support Team released a revised project plan. The plan, reviewed with the campus Learning Spaces Advisory Committee and other groups prior to release, was redesigned to reflect changes to other OneIT projects.
• Data Centers & Servers Consolidation project team reports on progress: The Data Center & Server Consolidation project is moving from planning to implementation, and project leaders recently reported to the program office on milestones and next steps.

Sourcing and procurement:

Office supplies

Evaluation teams at all three Regent Institutions are currently reviewing proposals from vendors. The team anticipates making an award in Jan. 2016.

PCs/laptops

A Regent’s negotiation team has been created to meet with our incumbent vendor, Dell, to negotiate pricing on eight to ten individual PC and laptop configurations.  

Computer peripherals

The Regent’s category team is currently reviewing data from purchases and will be determining a strategy for optimal savings.

Prime food vendors

All three Regent Institutions have provided specifications for a joint RFP. Weekly team meetings will further define the requirements.