Administrative Assessment

In the College of Science, we recognized the need to standardize operations and review staff roles to enable a more targeted and experienced focus, foster growth and development, address performance gaps through improved training and resources, provide backup support, and implement succession planning—all while combating burnout and ensuring equitable support across departments. This led us to pursue a more centralized model for business operations positions to ensure greater transparency and efficiency. See the current proposed mockup below.

To help guide this change, College of Science leadership engaged the Provost Office Project Team who specialize in change management to facilitate ongoing meetings and work. The team conducted over 100 private semi-structured interviews with College of Science administrative staff in 2023 and 10 process-oriented Focus Groups on challenges and solutions to specific processes in 2024.

The College of Science established a Steering Committee composed of staff, department chairs, and leadership to guide the assessment planning efforts. Additionally, two larger working groups were formed: a working group comprised of staff was formed to identify key functional areas, develop workflows based on a centralized model, draft process documentation, and support implementation needs; and a working group comprised of functional team leaders (e.g., HR, finance, IT, research administration, academic affairs, student affairs, faculty affairs, Marcom) was formed to review and further refine the structure recommendation from the working group.

The entire college community—staff, faculty, leadership, and students—will benefit from standardizing operations and centralizing roles. These efforts support our mission to empower students, advance groundbreaking research, and deliver scientific leadership for a changing society.

A Reorganization is a management-initiated restructuring of duties, responsibilities, and/or reporting relationships involving multiple positions within or across a department’s organizational units. Reorganizations are typically undertaken to improve operational efficiency, reduce costs, or realign business units with strategic objectives.

Change management is the strategic process that supports individuals and teams through such changes. While reorganization defines what is changing, change management focuses on how to help employees adapt, reduce resistance, and ensure a smooth transition. We are focused on both.

No. As noted at the beginning of this project, the goal has not been and will not be to reduce positions. New positions identified and recommended through the staff assessment initiative will be reviewed by Central HR and subsequently advertised. Recruitment efforts may include both internal and external searches. Internal employees who are interested and believe they are qualified are encouraged to apply for these new opportunities.

The launch of the staff assessment will not affect current salaries. As part of the initiative, existing positions will be reviewed for classification and compensation to determine whether current salaries are appropriately aligned. Any recommendations will be shared with COS leadership and addressed according to DHRM policies.

New positions that arise from needs identified through the staff assessment will be classified and assigned to a specific pay band. Internal employees who are interested and believe they are qualified are encouraged to apply for these new opportunities.

The University is looking at space in every college. While we, as a college, do not intend to remove staff or others from their office, at this time we cannot speak to where the college or university stands with space expansion. Our intention is that those who are primarily in the office will remain in their space. We do know that the university has stressed the idea of ‘hoteling’ or ‘hot desk’office space.

We cannot sustain our current operational model without facing significant and escalating consequences. Continuing this way will result in ongoing employee turnover, increased operational costs, declining morale, burnout, and unsustainable pressure on department chairs and supervisors.

More critically, we risk falling out of compliance with regulatory standards, which could lead to accreditation loss, legal penalties, or fines. The reputational damage from such outcomes would hinder our ability to attract and retain students, faculty, and staff—jeopardizing the future success and stability of our college.

A well-executed reorganization strengthens our ability to adapt, grow, and thrive. It fosters a culture of shared responsibility and collaboration, builds trust, and drives innovation.

This initiative focuses on enhancing organizational effectiveness through several key objectives. By streamlining operations and reducing redundancy, it improves efficiency and productivity while optimizing resource use to achieve significant cost savings. Aligning roles with employee strengths fosters greater engagement, boosting morale, performance, and professional development. The organizational structure is strategically designed to support core goals and initiatives, while clearly defined roles and reporting lines enhance communication and collaboration. Additionally, the initiative establishes flexible, scalable structures to ensure the organization is well-positioned for future growth and long-term success.

As noted in the model above, the intention is to keep at least 1 department admin in each department. Please note functional leads are currently reviewing the cluster model for functionality and feasibility before final determinations are made. Determinations about student-facing positions are still being discussed.

No. Each department will gain a team of subject-matter experts (SMEs), focused specifically on their respective functional area. In this model, the SME will now report to their respective functional lead.

Communication efforts will be led by functional leaders, who will prioritize support needs to maintain operational continuity. Any questions or concerns regarding the communication or performance of a clustered position should be promptly directed to the appropriate functional lead.

Details about implementation are being considered by College of Science leadership and in consultation with Central HR. Additional information and decisions are expected to be once central HR has received and reviewed the college’s proposed structure.

We will measure success through qualitative metrics (i.e. faculty and staff feedback, cross disciplinary collaboration), how well the model is achieving goals, workflow, and efficiency.

Essentially through assessing where and why gaps are happening, identifying duplication in effort, overload or missing functions and aid where needed (i.e. work-study position).

With this shared responsibility, the focus will be on customer service and accountability. Functional leaders will prioritize work to ensure operational continuity. Immediate needs or concerns should be directed promptly to the appropriate functional lead. We are also actively exploring the use of a tracking system for multiple operational areas to provide transparent updates on requests.

Supporting our students and addressing academic needs, equitably, across departments remain top priorities. The Working Group recommends that student and academic support roles stay within each unit, with continued backing from the College's Dean-level administrative offices. Discussions are still underway to determine whether these roles should be filled by staff or faculty, and the matter has been elevated to senior leadership for a final decision.

To date, project communications have primarily been shared via email. In response to feedback regarding communication frequency, we are taking steps to enhance the consistency and accessibility of updates through multiple channels, including this website, email listservs, and Microsoft Teams, as appropriate. Communications have previously been shared, and will be ongoing, with all staff, department chairs, and center directors who are tasked with sharing information with their department faculty as they deem appropriate.

College of Science Leadership, including the Chief Business Officer and Director of HR, have engaged Classification and Compensation regarding the ongoing staff assessment. Draft position descriptions generated by the functional leads will be submitted to and reviewed by Class and Comp. This is a critical step in the process and will take the office some time to review – they have limited staffing at this time and have many competing priorities, including restructurings across other units.