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Good afternoon,

As part of our campus partner spotlight, this month OE is highlighting Ashante Diallo, the associate dean for human resources in the College of Arts and Sciences. In her current role, she oversees the human resources functions for the largest academic unit on campus, ensuring effective human resource management and support across the College. Ashante partnered with OE as a design team member on the Staff Hiring project and most recently the Faculty Hiring project, playing an integral role in both projects. She is also collaborating with Evan Widney, embedded transformation manager, on an internal HR project at the College. Discover more about Ashante’s time at Carolina and her involvement with OE.

1. How long have you worked at UNC, and what has your career path looked like here?
I’ve had the pleasure of working at Carolina for over 15 years. I started in January 2009 as a business officer in the Department of City and Regional Planning and eventually transitioned to the dean’s office, serving as a human resources consultant and then senior director of HR shared services, prior to my current role as associate dean.

2. What has been your involvement with Operational Excellence? 
I love the College and working at UNC, so I’ve always supported any campus-wide Operational Excellence projects that will make us all better. As such, I served as a member of the design team for the Staff Hiring project in 2018 and I currently serve as a member of the Faculty Hiring project that kicked-off last month. In addition, with the approval of the College senior leadership, the HR team has enlisted the assistance of an embedded Operational Excellence transformation manager to lead an in-depth analysis of our organizational structure, College processes and policies. Our HR team and our partners are excited to work with Evan Widney on this project and are hopeful that this hard work will lead to a more efficient, highly knowledgeable and empowered team.

3. What do you see as Operational Excellence’s impact on your work and/or the operations of the University/College? 
The work of the Operational Excellence team directly aligns with the mission of the College’s business operations unit: to deliver innovative business solutions to Carolina.  As the academic core of the University, it is imperative that we continuously look for ways to provide exceptional service, empower our partners and continue to be an extraordinary place to work.  The projects led and trainings offered by Operational Excellence have been invaluable to units on campus and provide tools to think strategically about what we do and why we do it.  Specifically, the Problem to Project workshop has allowed me to turn a problem into a project, using the A3 problem solving method.  I am now looking forward to learning more about change management in the Prosci Delivering Projects workshop.

4. What do you do in your spare time outside of work?
I’m very close to my immediate and extended family and we spend time together whenever we can.  Outside of that, my favorite things to do is travel, try new restaurants around the Triangle, socialize with my neighbors and friends and binge watch the latest shows.

We thank Ashante and our other campus partners for their dedication to help others on their team and at the University work more efficiently and strategically.

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


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