Update on Administrative Modernization

 

To: All Faculty, Other Academic Appointees, and Staff

From: Daniel Diermeier, Provost, and Ivan Samstein, CFO

Subject: Update on Administrative Modernization

Date: October 31, 2019

 

We are writing to share our quarterly update on University-wide efforts to improve administrative services, systems, and processes. Your input has been important to driving new projects and supporting ongoing initiatives, and we appreciate your engagement.

 

Faculty Working Group on Administrative Service Improvements: The Faculty Working Group is beginning its third year of addressing administrative issues raised by faculty and staff. Each of the four subgroups (Institutional Review Boards (IRBs), Appointments & Promotions, Research Administration, and Resources Communication) is now advising on an in-progress administrative systems project related to their recommendations. More information about the progress and outcomes of the four subgroups is available here. Input on current work and ideas for new projects can be provided here.

 

Academic Recruitment and Careers System (ARCS): The University is in the last stages of implementation for Interfolio’s suite of software to support academic recruitment, review and promotion processes and activity reporting. More information on the project’s scope and progress is available at arcs.uchicago.edu. To support academic searches, the Office of the Provost offers training for faculty and OAAs who want to use the evaluator tools in interfolio. To schedule a training for your search committee, please reach out to mhale@uchicago.edu.

 

Financial System Transformation: The Financial System Transformation (FST) program is a multi-year initiative to overhaul our 36-year-old financial accounting system and other disparate systems with a modern, fully integrated software solution. The new system will provide critical improvements in many areas, including modern tools for managing accounts and reporting. The current pre-implementation phase of the program focuses on documenting our business processes, defining future-state requirements for the system, selecting software that best fits our needs, and choosing an implementation partner. In winter quarter, we will be reaching out with opportunities for you to learn more and engage in the process. Early conversations with faculty and staff have been very important, and we look forward to additional input. For more information or to ask questions, please email FST@uchicago.edu.

 

Job Architecture: Following the University’s introduction of a job architecture framework for staff jobs this past spring, the project is now focusing on governance and calibrating the framework. The Job Architecture Governance Committee has worked with HR to ensure specific roles are mapped consistently to job levels across campus, review educational requirements for various job levels, and align job postings with the framework. The Committee will continue to meet regularly to ensure the framework achieves its goal of creating a clearer and more consistent approach to categorizing staff jobs based on responsibilities and requirements, and provide staff and supervisors with more clarity on career tracks and opportunities. Contact your office or unit's HR administrator or jobarchitecture@uchicago.edu if you have questions. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Please send questions or input to Vice Provost Melina Hale or Mark Weber, Chief of Staff and Executive Director for Strategic Initiatives for Finance and Administration.