Star Review: Phase I

November 29, 2012

To All Drexel Faculty and Professional Staff:

We have recently begun a comprehensive project to assess the effectiveness and cost-efficiency of Drexel’s administrative structure and services, to ensure that we steward our resources carefully and wisely and can invest in the implementation of our Strategic Plan. On Monday, December 3, members of Huron Consulting Services’ higher education practice will begin Phase 1 of an engagement to assist in this effort.

The Strategic Transformation of Administrative Resources (STAR) steering committee chaired by CFO Helen Bowman has charged Huron with examining management and operations of all our non-academic administrative functions, including but not limited to finance, technology, procurement, facilities, human resources, student services, fundraising, enrollment management and financial aid. This project stands alongside the Program Alignment and Review (PAR) process, led by Provost Greenberg.

The Huron team will collect data about our organizational structure, policies, procedures, budgeting and staffing, and interview University leaders and key administrators. Using this information, they will work with the steering committee to identify and assess opportunities to better align our resources with our strategic initiatives. Phase 1 will result in a series of detailed recommendations for service improvements and expense reductions, and an implementation plan ready to be carried out in Phase 2.

Huron has served more than 4,000 clients in its 10-year existence, from Fortune 500 companies to government agencies to 90 of the nation’s top 100 research universities. Huron’s experienced team brings knowledge of best practices in higher education and the commercial sector, and they will benchmark Drexel’s performance against universities and a relevant set of for-profit industries.

Please support this critical University-wide effort by participating fully and candidly if you are contacted by a consultant, and also by thinking about how services and processes in which you play a role can be improved. I encourage you to complete Huron’s confidential online survey. Huron may share your suggestions with members of the steering committee, but they will not share your identity.
Drexel and Huron will continue to update you on the progress of our work. The success of our strategic plan, and in particular our goal to ensure that Drexel functions as “one university,” rests on our ability to operate efficiently and to be good stewards of our resources. The project we are undertaking with Huron is essential to that success, and I look forward to carrying out its recommendations.

Sincerely,

John A. Fry
President