Phase One Focus Areas
In early 2022, the Institutional Effectiveness Committee was placed on hold due to duplicative efforts with the Strategic Planning groups. The following groups with remaining projects to implement have been transferred to the Strategic Planning - Operations group: adjuncts, contract management, human resources, information technology. Once the strategic planning efforts have concluded, the Institutional Effectiveness Committee will reconvene.
In response to the survey conducted in 2018, the committee received 1,137 efficiency improvement ideas from 670 faculty and professional staff through the survey. The following focus areas represent the most frequent responses.
| Focus Area | Leader(s) | Summary of Survey Responses |
|---|---|---|
| Academic Advising |
Lindsay Norlen | Lack of consistency with processes: some electronic, some paper; lack of standardized advising practices |
| Academic Programs | Provost Paul Jensen | Course/program approval needs to be faster and more efficient; address accessibility issues with online courses |
| Academic Structure | Provost Paul Jensen | Duplication of effort in academic areas |
| Adjuncts | Nicole Sugarman | Contract process and systems access inefficiencies |
| Communications | Marie Fazio | Too reliant on mass emails; improve communication from top down and bottom up, across colleges/divisions |
| Contract Management Process | Don Liberati | Process and timeline for contract approval is lengthy and inefficient; roles in process are unclear |
| Customer Service | Kathy Choy | University-wide issue of delayed/lack of response, general lack of ownership/responsibility and lack of collegiality |
| Facilities | Dr. Steven Wrenn | Concerns regarding cleanliness and maintenance issues, including a lack of budget/deferred maintenance budget, for university-owned facilities |
| Financial Aid/Scholarships/Drexel Central | Gabby Berrios | Difficult to navigate which department to contact; customer service issues |
| Human Resources | Lindsay Norlen | Improvements needed to the hiring process, development of professional development opportunities/career paths for professional staff, and review of performance and compliance processes; customer service issues |
| IT/Systems | Chris Plummer | Concern was raised regarding the number of systems and lack of perceived integration between the systems; a stronger IT infrastructure is needed to support administrative processes |
| Organizational Structure | Linda Lee | Duplication of processes due to departments working in silos; poor communication across university; lack of cross-training/shared services |
| Paperless University | Julie Jones, Kathryn Matuch | Processes reliant on paper forms result in inefficiencies and duplication of work |
| Policies | Megan Weyler | Institute uniformity around format and approval process and regular review process for all policies; more input from stakeholders; better communicate new policies and policy revision |
| Procurement | Mary Quigley | Processes/policies could be simplified and made more efficient |
| Research Administration | Dr. Frank Ferrone | Inefficiencies in processes/procedures; COEUS Lite should be replaced |
| Sustainability | Lisa Miller | Lack of recycling options; focus on energy savings in all buildings /td> |
| Work/Life Balance | David Wilson | Lack of flexibility in work hours/telecommuting: affects morale |
| University Budget/RCM | Academic Resources Planning committee (revisit after their June report) | Comments regarding the university's budget and RCM were among the most common responses to the survey, however, the Academic Resource Planning (ARP) group is in the process of analyzing this area. The IE Committee will work with ARP to determine whether the concerns raised in the survey results are addressed through their efforts, and, if not, convene a group to address. |
Next Steps
The committee is forming cross-functional teams from various levels and roles across the university, including students, faculty and professional staff in order to gain multiple perspectives of knowledge and solutions. Implementation plans will be posted as they are approved by senior leadership. Contact Lindsay Norlen at les37@drexel.edu or 215.571.4644 with any questions.