Category: OE Updates
OE Update — 4/26/2024
Good afternoon, This week we want to highlight our support of the Graduate Student Experience (GSE) Initiative through advising and facilitation. I’m a member of the GSE Steering Committee and through those conversations, Beth Mayer-Davis, Dean of The Graduate School, and I saw the opportunity for Operational Excellence to support … Read more
OE Update — 4/19/2024
Good afternoon, In the spirit of continuous improvement, the Operational Excellence team has recently been examining its onboarding process. Last month, after 5 weeks in the role, David Hare conducted interviews with the team to gather valuable insights into the onboarding experience. These interviews formed the basis for an internal … Read more
OE Update — 4/5/2024
Good afternoon, Last month, Transformation Managers Georgia McRae and Nick Sengstaken became certified change management trainers after completing Prosci’s Train-the-Trainer Program Level 1. This certification enables them to continue transforming OE’s educational offerings by expanding into the world of change management and helping our campus community deliver project results. Exploring … Read more
OE Update — 3/22/2024
Good afternoon, In this month’s campus partner spotlight, OE is highlighting Vicki Bradley, associate vice chancellor for Human Resources and Equal Opportunity and Compliance. Vicki has collaborated with OE on numerous projects, most recently playing an integral role as a design team member on the space dashboard project. Vicki’s strategic … Read more
OE Update — 3/15/2024
Good afternoon, This Tuesday, the OE team hosted the second “From Problem to Project” workshop. This workshop aims to guide Carolina staff through the initial steps of the problem-solving process by using the A3 framework and high-level steps to complete a project charter. After the pilot workshop in December, the … Read more
OE Update — 3/8/2024
Good afternoon, Setting guiding principles for how your team approaches their work is essential in establishing a clear framework and shared values. These principles provide a roadmap that fosters a unified and strategic approach. The guiding principles below serve as the foundation for the Operational Excellence team’s approach to opportunities for operational improvement. We … Read more
OE Update — 3/1/2024
Good afternoon, This month, OE is highlighting Evan Yassky in our campus partner spotlight. Evan serves as the executive director of facilities planning and design and the University architect. He leads the team that manages Carolina’s capital improvement projects through planning, budgeting and supervision. As the executive director of facilities … Read more
OE Update — 2/23/2024
Good afternoon, I am happy to share that OE, in collaboration with Finance and Operations, has created a new, transparent procedure for managing administrative space requests. We are currently piloting this to inform our approach before establishing an annual process. Prior to this project, the University did not have a … Read more
OE Update — 2/16/2024
Good afternoon, I often get emails in my inbox that start with “I have a problem, and I need help from Operational Excellence!” In OE, our first step in helping a campus partner is thoroughly defining the problem. It’s not until you have that understanding that you can effectively move … Read more
OE Update — 2/9/2024
Good afternoon, I am excited to announce the launch of the OE team’s newest project: New Student Registration Experience. This project will build on the previous work we’ve done with undergraduate registration and address one of the themes highlighted in our 2023 Listening Tour by focusing on the needs of … Read more
OE Update — 1/26/2024
Good afternoon, Now that we have settled into 2024, I’d like to take this time to look back and celebrate our 2023 accomplishments. I am excited to share our annual report for 2023, acknowledging the noteworthy successes and partnerships that have played a pivotal role in our fifth year of … Read more
OE Update — 12/8/2023
Good afternoon, This past Wednesday, the OE team hosted the pilot of our From Problem to Project Workshop. This workshop builds upon the concepts we introduced during OE’s Lean Foundations training. We received feedback from Lean Foundations participants asking for additional tools to help solve problems. We designed the From … Read more
OE Update — 11/17/2023
Good afternoon, We are now accepting nominations for this year’s Operational Excellence Awards. These awards recognize the outstanding contributions of campus partners who have supported and promoted the advancement of Operational Excellence’s mission and goals. To qualify for an award, the nominees must be a campus partner who has been … Read more
OE Update — 11/10/2023
Good afternoon, This past Monday, the OE team had the privilege to participate in a transformative Liberating Structures training facilitated by Associate Vice President for Organizational Excellence Sarah Collie, Ph.D., at the University of Virginia. She led us through various activities showcasing the effectiveness of liberating structures methodologies, which can … Read more
OE Update — 10/13/2023
Good afternoon, Today, I want to share a tool the OE team often deploys to help streamline operations and enhance consistency: a playbook. Playbooks establish procedures and guidelines for teams to follow. They aren’t just pages of text but are intentionally designed to make the information easy to consume with … Read more
OE Update — 10/6/2023
Good afternoon, Back in March, I had the pleasure of announcing OE’s collaboration with Innovate Carolina to support the launch of the Innovate Carolina Junction. As you may know, the Junction recently celebrated its grand opening. Today, I’d like to share an update on OE’s involvement in this exciting project. Transformation … Read more
OE Update — 9/29/2023
Good afternoon, This month, OE is highlighting Stephanie Schmitt in our campus partner spotlight. Stephanie serves as the vice dean of The Graduate School. As vice dean, Stephanie plays an integral part in the administration and overall management of The Graduate School. Her experience as a champion for transformative positive … Read more
OE Update — 9/22/2023
Good afternoon, On Monday, the OE team welcomed our newest Transformation Manager, Madeline Snider. In that spirit, I want to discuss the significance of onboarding this week. Onboarding goes beyond paperwork and orientation; it sets the tone and involves a collaborative effort crucial for setting new employees up for success. … Read more
OE Update — 9/15/2023
Good afternoon, Last February, I mentioned the OE team’s work on the Credit Bearing Certificates Project. I am happy to announce that this week, after months of hard work by our campus partners, we successfully launched a pilot to examine our policy, process and IT solutions through practice. Led by … Read more
OE Update — 8/11/2023
Good afternoon, Last March, I announced that Operational Excellence was partnering with the Office of the University Registrar to launch the Course Setup — Waitlist Project. The goal of this project was to: Establish a campus-wide strategy for the application and use of waitlists. Evaluate and improve ConnectCarolina functionality to … Read more