Achieving Operational Excellence

An omnichannel approach to exceptional customer experience will provide a seamless and unified experience for the customer across all touchpoints, delivering a differentiated and consistent value to meet their needs. 

Enhance the customer experience with an effective and efficient omnichannel system, using three tactics:

1. Single phone line for support for users of business systems (ex: Concur, SIRI, eReq/Jaggaer, etc.)
2. Live chat service on specific webpages to provide immediate help, but also to gain insight into customers’ pain points. This includes support for business applications as well as interacting with service providers like University Facilities, Human Resources, and others.
3. Website self-service concept, where key tasks, guidelines, procedures, forms and subject matter experts are easily accessible.

• Faculty
• Staff
• Students
• External audiences who browse webpages

• Single phone line established
• Live chat project implementation starts 2/02/18, with expected go-live date 4/1/18
• Website is ongoing

• We recognize that organizations must create and sustain user experience strategies that optimize the end-to-end experience of completing a task across multiple devices and interaction channels.
• We understand that customers want to take control of their journeys and engage with organizations on many channels as they complete tasks.
• We know that customers don’t think in terms of channels and devices, so they will not understand or tolerate experiences that are fragmented across channels.
• We aim to create an environment where the customer experience can move with people.

Project sponsor:
Beth Corry, Business Services

Project leader:
Thomas Okon, Business Reporting and Systems

Project committee:
Donna Czaja, Business Reporting and Systems
Mary Kvetkosky, Business Reporting and Systems
Samantha Rzeszut, Business Reporting and Systems

Implement the ShopBlue procure-to-pay solution. This solution provides an Amazon-style purchasing experience for the requistioner and will result in:

• Reduced time in both the procurement and payment processes.
• Reduced cycle time from requisition to delivery.
• Immediate feedback to the requisitioner regarding availability and shipment.
• Improved on-time delivery.
• Provide requisitioners with the ability to easily track their orders.
• Provide product and pricing comparisons for the requisitioner.

• Campus requisitioners
• Procurement Services buyers
• Accounts Payable staff

• Pre-implementation: January 2017 — April 2017 
• Implementation of Procure-to-Pay, Spend Analytics, Sourcing Director and Total Contract Manager: Spring 2018
• Go live and soft roll-out beginning Summer 2018
• Phased roll-out with target completion date of Winter 2018-2019

• Adapt business processes to permit use of the software without customization.
• Facilitate strategic sourcing through the use of the improved data reporting.
• Provide requisitioners with improved capacity to identify sources of supply and comparatively shop.
• Capitalize on the combined purchasing power of the collective SUNY campuses.
• Be able to provide requisitioners with user accessible 24/7 support through on-line help and training.
• Standardize the procurement and payment business processes across SUNY campuses.
• Demonstrate the solution's applicability across the Western Region campuses for future roll-out across all SUNY campuses.

Project leaders:
Mike Maute, Business Services

Project committee:
Marie Colella, Procurement Services
Karen Crissey, Financial Management
Linda Deni, Procurement Services
Barb Lorango, Procurement Services
Michelle McCartney, Financial Management
Angie Rzeszut, Financial Management
Annette Saraceno, Financial Management
Dan Vivian, Procurement Services

Procurement representatives from Alfred State, Alfred University, Brockport, Buffalo State, Erie Community College, Fredonia, Geneseo, Monroe Community College, Stony Brook, SUNY Administration, and the Research Foundation

Implement the Concur Request and Expense system, in conjunction with travel agency The Travel Team's Concur Travel module. This solution provides end users with the option to fully automate their travel and expense process, and will result in: 

• Reduced time in both the expense reporting and reimbursement processes
• Ability to capture data no matter how travel is booked
• Increased efficiency and productivity savings
• Improved policy compliance
• Reduced paper and cost
• Mobile functionality

• Campus travelers
• Office administrators
• Travel business office staff

• Pre-implementation: November 2016 — January 2017
• Implementation of Request, Travel (travel agency), and Expense modules: January 2017 — August 2017
• Soft roll-out of Concur to end users: September 2017 — December 2017
• Phased rollout: Spring of 2018 

In the fall of 2017, Town Hall meetings will be held on the North, South and Downtown Campuses for staff members interested in learning more about the new system, training and support.

• Adapt business processes to permit use of the software with minimum customization.
• Simplify the expense reporting process for end users; ease of travel and expense reporting with less effort.
• Provide improved capacity for data collection and reporting.
• Provide end users with support through online videos, training and an on-campus/in-house "help center".
• Standardize the travel request, booking and expense business processes across campus departments.
• Increase customer satisfaction; reduce frustration of travel booking and expense reporting.

Project leader:
Dominic LoTempio, Procurement Services

Project committee:
Donna Czaja, Business Reporting and Systems
Greg Howland, Enterprise Application Services
Kara Kearney-Saylor, Internal Audit
Meg Mitchell, Procurement Services
Tom Okon, Business Reporting and Systems
Gary Pacer, Enterprise Application Services
Carrie Woodrow, Business Compliance & Internal Controls, Business Services
Members from travel agency The Travel Team for the Concur Travel module

Develop a dashboard in SIRI (the university's business intelligence reporting and analysis platform) delivering summarized information to academic chairs on various data pertinent to their department. These data areas include:

• Financial
• Human resources
• Student
• Research
• Philanthropy
• Procurement
• Space   

The Academic Chair dashboard in SIRI is intended to be used by academic chairs and the assistants to the chair in all academic departments across campus. Assistant and associate deans and business officers in the decanal units will also benefit from these reports and analyses.

• The Academic Chair dashboard has been piloted in the academic departments of the College of Arts and Sciences, as well as their dean's office.
• This dashboard was also demonstrated to the Unit Business Officers at their February 2016 meeting.
• The SIRI team is now in the process of making this dashboard available to all academic areas across the campus. 

The guiding principle for this project is to deliver the appropriate level of detail to the academic chairs. Too much information will result in confusion and information overload while not enough detail limits the utility to the chair.

Project leader:
Thomas Okon, Business Reporting and Systems

Project committee:
Laurie Barnum, Resource Planning
Donna Czaja, Business Reporting and Systems
Joseph Kerr, College of Arts and Sciences
Andrea Wiepert, College of Arts and Sciences

UB EDGE (Employees Develop Grow and Engage) is a learning management system, a platform for faculty and staff to administer, document, track, report and deliver learning and performance activities in a central online solution. UB EDGE is a unified system with a user-friendly experience, allowing an individual to easily incorporate learning activities into their performance plans and daily work experience.

All full-time faculty and staff.

• Currently being utilized (went live in May 2016)
• Next phase to include performance programs and competency library availablity (planned for 2018).

• Facilitate UB to become a learning organization.
• Promote individual development planning.
• Connect key competency (knowledge, skills, attributes) development for all employees.
• Promote supervisory focus on team and individual development.
• Provide a community for employees to be able to interact with ongoing learning and development.
• Promote a sense of career growth and management.
• Track all learning and development experiences for employees.

Project leaders:
Kelli Hennessy, Organizational Development & Training

Project committee:
Suzy Shallowhorn, Organizational Development & Training
Kerry Lynch, Organizational Development & Training
Michele Poitras, Organizational Development & Training
Susan Steck, Organizational Development & Training 

Look to simplify and improve the current ePTF process. The goal is to have HR move away from data entry work (entering information submitted by ePTF and then entering into the SUNY HR System) and having department level transactions in the form of an improved ePTF - follow a workflow with review by HR - and then directly hit the SUNY HR system.  UB will need to work directly with the IT support at SUNY to make sure the new ePTF matches directly field to field when uploaded.

All departments that interact with ePTF transactions connected with all life and work events at UB during the life cycle of employees.

Effort of redesign to start March 2017 with the goal of an intended solution to be implemented to begin the 2018-19 fiscal year.

Make the process simple, improve the workflow, increase efficiencies for departments and HR and remove the need for paper transactions.

Project leader:
Mark Coldren, Human Resources

Project committee:
Amanda Brown, IEU and HR Data Security, Human Resources
Bertha Hill, Customer Services, Human Resources
Dana Moore, Payroll and Appointment Processing, Human Resources
Amy Myszka, Benefits and Wellness & Worklife Balance, Human Resources
Representative individuals from units around campus

• Build a comprehensive and consistent service to assist new employees coming to UB when they relocate from outside of the area.
• Engage an external company to manage and facilitate a process for UB (moving, coordination of visits, real estate, travel, etc.).
• Conducted initial information gathering sessions with organizations that specialize in this service to help us identify what to place in an RFP to go out in Spring of 2017.
• The goal is for Human Resources to be the coordinator of the program and to provide this as a service that would not require immediate charge back to departments if they stay within parameters of the designed program.

Target audience includes all units that hire individuals from outside the area. The request for proposal (RFP) process and the program design will indicate if there are existing levels for assistance depending upon level of role in the organization.

RFP is scheduled for late Spring 2017 with a goal of offering the service beginning 2018.

• Save overall costs.
• Provide a consistent and high quality service and experience for all new employees recruited to UB.
• Build a simple and consistent financial process to administer.

Project leader:
Linda Deni, Procurement Services

Project committee:
Mark Coldren, Human Resources
Beth Corry, Business Services
Joanne Fletcher, Human Resources
Dan Vivian, Procurement Services

Move to the new cloud-based version of UB Jobs (PeopleAdmin). UB Jobs is the applicant tracking and search process system for UB. The system has been long overdue for an upgrade. This new version of UB Jobs will:

• Have a modern user interface.
• Offer more options for the search process.
• Provide an easier and more robust reporting capability.
• Provide an opportunity for HR to partner with the Vice Provost for Equity and Inclusion office to enhance and improve the search process for UB as a key element of UB's Commitment to Inclusive Excellence Strategic Plan - as connected to SUNY's overall strategic approach to diversity and inclusion.

Target audience includes all individuals and groups (State, RF, UBF, faculty and staff) that interact and work within recruitment and the search and selection process for talent to join UB.

Upgrade to new version to be completed March 2017. New search process changes and improvements to be phased in over 2 years.

Improve the search and selection process with a direct focus on connecting to UB's Commitment to Inclusive Excellence Staretgic Plan.

Project leader:
Jamie Lynn Bluhm, Worforce Planning & Recruitment, Human Resources

Project committee:
Sharon Chimera, Human Resources
Sharon Holdsworth, Human Resources
Delorian Miller, Human Resources
Melanie Phillips, Human Resources
Brendan Tom, Human Resources

• Identify, review, and prioritize the necessary materials, data sources, information, and analysis to provide actionable insight to support the university’s annual enrollment and resource planning process needs
• Coordinate with appropriate units across campuses (central offices and staff who support data & information needs) on access, training, and communication of any new enrollment, resource planning tools, and resources
• Academic Instruction Program Model (AIPM) – Planning tool for units and departments to strategically research and evaluate best practices or efficiency with regard to identifying, tracking, and forecasting academic program revenues and cost to support decisions
• Support, monitor, periodically evaluate and assess Integrated Enrollment & Resource Planning Calendar – Able to add/edit tasks, overlay category items on a single calendar, and integrate key dates eliminating duplication of efforts between offices when possible
• Integrate financial aid information into reporting and analysis
• Provide academic support unit data needs in support of long range enrollment plans
• Integrate efforts into the Campus Data Governance initiative
• Support the forecasting and modeling of enrollment, tuition, and other revenues
• Research and identify best practices in regards to enrollment, resources, and budget models
• Leverage data from multiple sources that will complement campus-wide academic goals

• Faculty
• Staff
• Department chairs
• Unit business officers
• Central business offices
• Deans and senior leadership

• Committee was established October 14, 2014
• Taskforces were established February 2015
  • Integrated Enrollment and Resource Planning Calendar
  • SIRI Reporting – Budget Model, Enrollment and Tuition
  • New Methodology to Calculate Budget Model Tuition Share
  • Enrollment/Tuition Scenario Tool
• Taskforces presented recommendations to Steering Committee July 2015
  • Fully move forward with the SIRI Reporting – Budget Model, Enrollment and Tuition implementation – Complete
  • Create data analytic capacity to provide both central and units with department and program level reporting and forecasting to better support university and unit data driven decisions for enrollment, tuition and resource planning – Complete – New Data Analytics function established September 2016
  • Merge the New Methodology to Calculate Budget Model Tuition Share Taskforce with the Enrollment/Tuition Scenario Tool Taskforce into “Academic Instruction Program Model” – Complete
  • upport the continued implementation of the Enrollment and Resource Planning Calendar and creation of the Senior Leadership view – Complete
• AIPM Subcommittee established – First meeting October 17, 2017
• Work is on-going

University's Annual Resource Planning Process (ARPP) Guiding Principles:

Strategic —- we align incentives with our mission and with strategic behaviors.

Predictability — we build models that provide reliable foundations for planning.

Flexibility — we build planning models that anticipate and are responsive to changes in the economic environment; we incorporate appropriate risk management strategies.

Integration — we consider the university as a whole and make intentional connections between varying types of organizational needs and priorities.

Stewardship — we exercise prudence in managing our resources, diversify revenues to promote resilience, maintain appropriate reserves and reward efficiency and effectiveness.

Project leaders:
Laurie Barnum, Resource Planning
Lee H. Melvin, Enrollment Management

Project sponsors:
Laura Hubbard, Finance and Administration
Charles Zukoski, Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs

Project committee:
Academic unit membership:
Sandy Drabek, Jacob School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences
Kristin Gniazdowski, School of Pharmacy
Joe Kerr, College of Arts and Sciences
Bill Mcdonnell, School of Engineering and Applied Sciences
Mike Redfern, School of Public Health and Health Professions
Ken Suski, School of Management

Support or operations unit membership:
Craig Abbey, Office of Institutional Analysis
Beth Corry, Business Services
John Gottardy, Financial Aid
Christina Hernandez, Student Life
Nancy Kielar, Office of the Chief Information Officer
Kelly Hayes McAlonie, University Facilities
Brian O’Connor, Office of Institutional Analysis
Tom Okon, Business Reporting & Systems
Tonga Pham, Univesity Facilities
Steven Shaw, International Education

What value does the Enrollment and Resource Planning Committee provide?

• Continue to support a culture to foster the integration of enrollment and resource planning
• Allows focus on analysis and strategic planning supported with data and information – “data informed actionable intelligence”
• Less efforts on “hunting and gathering” of data and disagreement about “numbers”
• More effort on taking action; being nimble with adaptive strategies based on the ever changing environment
• Academic Instruction Program Model will provide a planning tool for units and departments to strategically evaluate academic program efficiency looking at both revenues and costs to support academic and resource planning decisions
• Solidify institutional planning and resource allocation practices by leveraging data from multiple sources that will complement campus-wide academic goals

The Resource Planning subcommittee is charged with providing financial planning support and investment tracking for the Instructional Facilities Steering Committee. 

Specifically, we will:  

• Develop a three year budget for classroom/instructional technology projects which is integrated into the university's Annual Resource Planning process.
• Ensure that the appropriate funding sources are accounted for and provided to support the project in a timely manner.
• Ensure financial reporting on the project is provided and/or as requested.

Office of the Provost, Office for Vice President of Finance and Administration and senior leadership

The Instructional Facilities Budget is developed and approved annually as part of the Central University Budget during the university's Annual Resource Planning Process.

University's Annual Resource Planning Process (ARPP) Guiding Principles:

Strategic —- we align incentives with our mission and with strategic behaviors.

Predictability — we build models that provide reliable foundations for planning.

Flexibility — we build planning models that anticipate and are responsive to changes in the economic environment; we incorporate appropriate risk management strategies.

Integration — we consider the university as a whole and make intentional connections between varying types of organizational needs and priorities.

Stewardship — we exercise prudence in managing our resources, diversify revenues to promote resilience, maintain appropriate reserves and reward efficiency and effectiveness.

Project leader:
Laurie Barnum, Resource Planning

Project committee:
Cheryl Bailey, Capital Planning
Beth Corry, Business Services
Valerie Dennis, Financial Management
Nancy Kielar, CIO Administrative Operations Office
Larissa Kowalczyk, Academic Affairs
Bill Mcdonnell, School of Engineering and Applied Sciences

The Real Estate and Resource Planning committee consists of members from Real Estate, Resource Planning, Business Services and Facilities who are collaborating to create business plans for leased properties. The business plans include ten-year forecasts of revenue and expenses for each building.

Establishing a portfolio of business plans for leased properties will allow for a comprehensive evaluation of properties and facilitate the identification of efficiencies, savings and areas in need of investment.

Other areas of improvement achieved by the committee include the development of a property management dashboard in SIRI to streamline reporting for leased properties and a full review of facilities cost rates charged to properties.

Senior leadership

The leased properties budget is developed and approved annually and reviewed quarterly as part of the Central University Budget during the university's Annual Resource Planning Process.

University's Annual Resource Planning Process (ARPP) Guiding Principles:

Strategic —- we align incentives with our mission and with strategic behaviors.

Predictability — we build models that provide reliable foundations for planning.

Flexibility — we build planning models that anticipate and are responsive to changes in the economic environment; we incorporate appropriate risk management strategies.

Integration — we consider the university as a whole and make intentional connections between varying types of organizational needs and priorities.

Stewardship — we exercise prudence in managing our resources, diversify revenues to promote resilience, maintain appropriate reserves and reward efficiency and effectiveness.

Project leader:
Laurie Barnum, Resource Planning

Project committee:
Beth Corry, Business Services
Valerie Dennis, Financial Managment
Mary Luisi, Resource Planning
Carla Persico, Real Estate and Property Management
Tonga Pham, University Facilities
Ron Place, Real Estate and Property Management

Functional:

• Provide mechanism to integrate annual resource planning process with current university systems and databases.
• Improve efficiency and accuracy of multi-year financial plan.
• Replace Internal Financial Plan Tool.
• Improve forecasting and financial reporting of budget versus actual.
• Provide UBOs with a commitment management tool internal to their unit only.
• Support the UB 2020 initiative to pursue opportunities to invest in technology to gain efficiencies and lower costs.    

Technical:

• Current IFP tool is outdated, failing and in a technology that is not supported by central IT.
• Need for new functionality and data reporting — not possible in current environment.
• Build versus buy considerations:
  • Licensing costs versus IT developer costs (including support, maintenance and updates)
  • Time to implement
  • Local versus hosted options

• Senior leadership
• Deans
• Vice provosts
• Vice presidents
• Department chairs
• Assistant to the chairs
• Faculty and staff

Completed:

• Research
• Request for information - nine vendors participated
• Discovery phase
  • See the results of the Visioning Survey and the Requirements Activity
• Request for proposal issued September 8, 2017
• Vendor demos
• Vendor selected and recommendation sent to Procurement Services

In Process:         

• Town hall type meetings beginning October 2017
  • Departments may request a town hall type meeting for their unit by emailing a request to ub-uplan@buffalo.edu
• Contract with selected vendor
  • Vendor name will be released when contract has been fully executed
• Develop implementation strategy

Next:

• Form an implementation team 

Senior administrators, faculty and staff should have easy, well-supported electronic access to the data and information necessary to perform and manage their university functions, thereby eliminating the need to create shadow and supplemental systems.

• For every budget, planning and forecasting-related process, we will:
  • Identify the customers of the process.
  • Work with customers to determine their real needs.
  • Strive to provide them with outstanding customer service.
• We will treat information as a strategic asset that is:
  • Commonly defined.
  • Electronically captured once at its point of origin.
  • Appropriately shared across the entire institution.
• We will become an institution that makes data-based decisions through the use of easy-to-use management reporting processes and technologies.
• We will collaboratively develop common business processes and data across the entire institution, while still supporting the truly unique and compelling needs of our academic and academic support units.
• Customizations to the new system will be kept to an absolute minimum. Any request for a customization will be subject to a thorough business case review to justify its necessity.
• We will establish decision due dates to keep our projects on time and on budget. If these due dates are not met, the delayed decision will immediately be escalated and made by the appropriate decision maker. The project will then move on.
• We will work as a silo-free team to solve the problems of our students, faculty, staff and institution.
• We will create customer participation opportunities and two-way communications channels to ensure that our project choices meet real user needs.
• Full participation is expected - non-responsiveness or non-engagement implies agreement.
• All new information technology purchases related to budget, planning and forecasting must be reviewed and approved by the university VPCIO and VPFA. 

Project leaders:
Laurie Barnum, Resource Planning
Beth Corry, Business Services

Project committee:

Technical leads:
Tom Okon, Business Reporting and Systems
Gary Pacer, Enterprise Application Services

Functional leads:
Joe Lewandowski, Resource Planning
Jennifer Pesany, Financial Management

User liaisons:
Katie Beakman, Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences
Nancy Kielar, CIO Administrative Operations Office
Larissa Kowalczyk, Campus Living
Bill McDonnell, School of Engineering and Applied Sciences

Communication liaison:
Kathleen Manne, University Communications

Project manager:
Amy Dauber, University Communications

Project support:
Kelly Stich, Business Services

Advisory committee:
Craig Abbey, Office of Institutional Analysis
Erika Bagnoli, Office of the Vice President for Philanthropy and Alumni Engagement
Michelle Burger, Chemistry
Dr. Jane Brewer, School of Dental Medicine
Mark Coldren, Human Resources
Chris Decker, Endowments and Gift Administration, UBF
Sandy Drabek, Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences
Christina Hernandez, Student Life
Lynne Karlsen, School of Dental Medicine
Kara Kearney-Saylor, Internal Audit
Joe Kerr, College of Arts and Sciences
Michelle McCartney, Financial Management
Gary Mahon, School of Nursing
Lee H. Melvin, Enrollment Management
Jeff Murphy, School of Dental Medicine
Brian O’Connor, Office of Institutional Analysis
Tonga Pham, University Facilities
Mike Redfern, School of Public Health and Health Professions
Betty Smith, Research and Economic Development
Debbie Street, College of Arts and Sciences
Ken Suski, School of Management
Jill Uebelhoer, School of Dental Medicine
Cheri Weber, Procurement Services
Nate Wills, Division of Athletics

University Facilities is developing a streamlined process to complete rehab and capital projects.  The new methodology will ensure ease of use for clients, use an integrated team approach to project delivery and reduce project cycle time. 

Facilities Planning and Management Officers (FPMO).

• Design completion: end of February 2017
• Stakeholder input: March — end of April 2017
• Implementation (soft roll-out): June 2017

• Customer focused — easy for our customers to access and use
• Efficient — remove redundant and non-value added steps; less bureaucratic requirements
• Transparent — allows for customer involvement at all steps

Project leader:
Tonga Pham, University Facilities

Project committee:
Cheryl Bailey, Capital Planning Group
Bruce Buerger, Facilities Planning and Design
Paul Gareis, Facilities Planning & Design
Kelly Hayes Maclonie, Capital Planning Group
Martin Hohle, Facilities Planning and Design
Scott Ludtka, Facilities Operations
Ron Van Splunder, Facilities Planning and Design

A team of members from Facilities, Business Services and Resource Planning work together to create a multi-year utilities budget. The rolling 5-year financial plan has helped the university minimize commodity costs, prepare for volatility in energy prices and meet environmental stewardship goals by implementing energy conservation projects. By managing the utilities budget at a central level, fiscal risk is reduced, shortfalls are covered by the university, and surpluses are reinvested in the university.

Senior leadership

Utilities budget is developed and approved annually and reviewed quarterly as part of the Central University Budget during the university's Annual Resource Planning Process. 

University's Annual Resource Planning Process (ARPP) Guiding Principles:

Strategic —- we align incentives with our mission and with strategic behaviors.

Predictability — we build models that provide reliable foundations for planning.

Flexibility — we build planning models that anticipate and are responsive to changes in the economic environment; we incorporate appropriate risk management strategies.

Integration — we consider the university as a whole and make intentional connections between varying types of organizational needs and priorities.

Stewardship — we exercise prudence in managing our resources, diversify revenues to promote resilience, maintain appropriate reserves and reward efficiency and effectiveness.

The utility budget will:

• Be integrated into the UB annual budget process
• Support UB’s environmental stewardship
• Support UB’s goals and directions
• Be managed as a business enterprise model

The utility budget:

• Supports debt service for energy projects
• Supports specialized energy service contracts
• Supports the Climate Action Plan

The utility budget is not:

• A replacement for capital funds
• A replacement for operating funds

Project leaders:
Laurie Barnum, Resource Planning
Beth Corry, Business Services
Tonga Pham, University Facilities

Project committee:
Mike Forster, Facilities Campus Operations
Scott R. Ludtka, Facilities Campus Operations
Mary Luisi, Resource Planning
Michelle McCartney, Financial Management
Debbie Schmigiel, Financial Managment