Good afternoon,
This month, OE is highlighting Jen Drake in our campus partner spotlight. Jen serves as a senior business analyst in the Division of Enrollment. Jen has played a critical role in strategizing ways to leverage technology to streamline the student enrollment experience. Jen has been a partner to OE in various projects, including as an integral part of the design teams for reserve capacity and waitlist. Read below about Jen’s time at Carolina and her involvement with OE.
What is your current role and how long have you worked at UNC?
“I’m the senior business analyst for enrollment solutions and I’m in my “Michael Jordan” (23rd) year here at Carolina! I worked in a variety of data and application analyst roles in ITS for 14 years before joining what has become the enrollment division.”
What has been your involvement with Operational Excellence?
“I participated in the Course Setup and Waitlist project teams. This spring, I started my Master of Applied Professional Studies at Carolina and used the new Class Availability section to see that a class I wanted to take in the fall had only three seats available for non-majors – so I knew to register for it as soon as my registration appointment opened! That was a full-circle moment and an affirmation that the design team implemented a small but impactful change to support students. Here’s an example for a different class – cool, right?”
What do you see as Operational Excellence’s impact on your work and/or the operations of the University?
“I find the Operational Excellence approach brings a spirit of collaborative ideation + focused and supported energy + a realistic and actionable goal to an impactful project scope. It’s so important to have multiple perspectives represented and collaborating to define both business process and technology changes. I appreciate that projects are thoughtfully selected and staffed and then well-executed to ensure success and have no doubt there are many projects that would benefit from the OE team’s process!”
When you are not working, how do you enjoy spending your time?
“I love to sew (clothing and quilts) and read – and just rejoined the Carolina Master’s rowing club. But I especially love to travel with my husband in the van we built out as our mountain-biking-adventuremobile for our 20th anniversary!”
Please feel free to share this email with your colleagues. You can also visit our website to learn more about Operational Excellence, read my previous updates, and submit feedback. If you have any questions, please reach out to me at wernoski@email.unc.edu. I read every email.
Best,
Rick