Category: OE Updates
OE Weekly Update – 7/17/20
Good afternoon, Operational Excellence collaborated with the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research on several focused initiatives to streamline the management of externally sponsored research programs at the University. This week, the Office of Sponsored Research released one of the first results from this partnership. Research Playbooks are an online resource intended to support researchers and research administrators in managing … Read more
OE Weekly Update – 6/26/20
Good afternoon, Our goal in Operational Excellence is to create a high-functioning administrative operation that supports the University’s mission of teaching, learning and research. The OE team has been able to make progress on that goal as our community works together to resume campus operations this summer. We are staying true to the OE Service Model while … Read more
OE Weekly Update – 6/19/20
Good afternoon, If you have been a member of an Operational Excellence design team, you know that we often start out meetings with an energizer to get everyone talking and thinking. This week, Transformation Manger Jason Derrick started out his J Scholar Process Design Team meeting with an energizer focused on lateral thinking. Lateral thinking is an approach to … Read more
OE Weekly Update – 6/12/20
Good afternoon, This week, the Data Use and Literacy design and leadership teams officially launched the Salary Dashboard and accompanying data literacy resources for HR officers. These tools were developed in collaboration with OHR, OIRA, ITS, and employees across campus through a design team approach. The Salary Dashboard provides HR officers with on-demand access to 10 years of data for both … Read more
OE Weekly Update – 6/5/20
Good afternoon, I am pleased to announce the design team members for the International Student and Scholar Services (ISSS) project. Carolyn Adams, School of Social Work Tudor Comaniciu, College of Arts and Sciences Gretchen Gosnell, International Student and Scholar Services Joey Landry, School of Information and Library Science Steve Niezgoda, School of Medicine Brandon … Read more
OE Weekly Update – 5/29/20
Good afternoon, After taking a break last Friday from the weekly email due to the holiday weekend, I wanted to share some good news. The Executive Search project was launched in April to improve the experience for the candidate, search chair and administrative staff. This project is led by OE … Read more
OE Weekly Update – 5/15/20
Good afternoon, Back in February, I discussed how the Operational Excellence team employs the concept of continuous improvement in our work. This week, I want to talk about another strategy our team uses: problem-solving sessions. A problem-solving session, or PS session, is time intentionally set aside for a group of … Read more
OE Weekly Update – 5/8/20
Good afternoon, I am pleased to announce that the Operational Excellence Data Use and Literacy project began its pilot phase this week. The pilot group is testing two new resources developed for improved data use and literacy at UNC: a “one-stop-shop” portal for existing University-level dashboards, and a new dashboard for salary data. This is our team’s first fully … Read more
OE Weekly Email – 5/1/20
Good afternoon, As we begin a new month, I want to update you all on some of our ongoing work. Our Operational Excellence transformation managers, Candace Reynolds, Jason Derrick, and Mieke Lynch, continue to move forward on these projects with the help of their incredible campus partners. Data Use & … Read more
OE Weekly Update – 4/24/20
Good afternoon, Since Operational Excellence began in fall 2018, our relationships with schools and units across campus have driven early wins, sustained change, and a new way of doing business at Carolina. These relationships have been especially important as we navigate the current situation with COVID-19. This week, I want … Read more
OE Weekly Update – 4/17/20
Good afternoon, I hope you all are doing well. The Operational Excellence Steering Committee is often a source of ideas for our team regarding new opportunities for us to engage with campus, as well as a space in which we can learn from our colleagues. Though we have decided to … Read more
OE Weekly Update – 4/3/20
Good afternoon, As we wrap up our third week of working remotely, I want to give a brief look at some of the ways Operational Excellence is currently engaged with campus. On Monday, I had the opportunity to speak to the Faculty Executive Committee about the work that our team … Read more
OE Weekly Update – 3/27/20
Good afternoon, You may have noticed that I did not send my normal weekly update last Friday. Considering the many challenges that Carolina is facing right now, my updates may be less frequent and have a different focus than the ones you usually receive from us. However, even though you … Read more
OE Weekly Update – 3/13/20
Good afternoon all, As we work through the challenges of the next few weeks, Operational Excellence will continue operating to support the mission of the University, with some adjustments. The OE team has developed a plan together for how we can best work on-site and remotely, including daily check-ins and … Read more
OE Weekly Update – 3/6/20
Good afternoon, As students leave for spring break, the Operational Excellence team continues to make progress on our ongoing efforts in addition to preparations for new engagements around campus. This week, I want to bring you updates on two of our current initiatives – Data Use and Literacy: The design … Read more
OE Weekly Update – 2/28/20
Good afternoon, At the Office of Sponsored Research Town Hall this afternoon, Assistant Vice Chancellor for Research David Paul announced the rollout of two solutions for the Carolina research community: the Engagement Partnership and Research Playbooks. These solutions were developed by our Research Design Team to help streamline the award … Read more
OE Weekly Update 2/21/20
Good afternoon, A few weeks ago, I introduced the concept of lean thinking with the stick figure cartoon in my weekly update. I encouraged you all to think about a process and ask yourself, “Why is the glass twice as big as it should be?” In line with our goal … Read more
OE Weekly Update – 2/14/20
Good afternoon, Last week, the Operational Excellence Steering Committee held our first meeting of the calendar year. It is always inspiring to come together with this group, and I am grateful for both the returning and new faces. Our meeting focused on updates regarding our three current initiatives, Research, Data Use & Literacy, and Student Registration, as … Read more
OE Weekly Update – 2/17/20
Good afternoon, As many of you know, last Friday, Chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz and Provost Bob Blouin launched Carolina Next: Innovations for Public Good, Carolina’s new comprehensive strategic plan. You can read their announcement here. Carolina Next is composed of strategic initiatives that focus on the opportunities where the University can create change … Read more
OE Weekly Update – 1/31/20
Good afternoon, I mentioned in my email last week that the Operational Excellence team was planning on attending the UNC Health Care Lean Six Sigma Blue Belt training. We enjoyed learning more about lean methodology and how to plan for successful transformations. So, what is lean thinking? The cartoon below … Read more