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Infrastructure
Meeting 1
November 16, 2007
3:00 pm
Topic:
Location: Foundation Blasco Event Wing
Meeting 2
November 27, 2007
5:30 pm
Topic:
Location: Stan Fulton International Gaming Institute Ballroom
Meeting 3
* topic wrap-up meeting
December 18, 2007
3:00 pm
Topic:
Location: Student Union Room 211
Read the Topic Summary Documents.
Post a comment.
Comments
| posted by: Lee Scroggins | 26-09-2007 | Thank you for this process. The sessions I attended were informative and interesting. During the infrastsructure section, additional support staff was brought up as a possible solution on a few occasions as well as the problems encountered regarding the paperwork to conduct business transactions. As a long-time support staff member who has worked in more than one college (currently executive assistant in libraries)what I've encountered over the years is an increasing inability to be productive. If this trend continues, more staff won't be the whole answer. For example, completing one document today or assisting/advising a faculty member or student often requires looking up information on several web sites. Why? Because the information changes, but people preparing the paperwork or on the front lines are not always informed. Therefore, we cannot trust that our "knowledge" or facts about the process is up-to-date and end up "hunting" down the information that used to reside quite comfortably in our heads. More often than not, in the time it takes for me to look up other dept's "rules" on how they want us to do things to prepare one document today, I could have completed several of them ten years ago. It's not because the computers are slower, but because there seems to be a misconception that it takes less time to look up things on the web than it does to send out an e-mail informing people that a policy has changed. Often, I've encounted when asking a question that would maybe take 2 seconds to answer by someone knowledgeable of a particular area, "it's on the web site". When I've asked if it's possible to please let me know when policies (or simply their preferences) change,(because oops-- I did it using "yesterday's news")I've been told "It's your responsibility to look on our web site so you are informed." This means I need to re-inform myself every time I do something, look on multiple web sites -- purchasing, accounts payable, travel, provost, research, HR to get the latest policies/practicies/preferences and even simple facts I need to do the smallest jobs. Take this times the number of support staff on campus involved in these transactions and it adds up to a BIG problem. I don't think these individual offices realize that when it was just one or two offices expecting support staff to view their web site for information on how to do the job, it was fine -- but almost every office on campus? Not fine.
There needs to be a less cumbersome and less time-consuming way to convey changes in how to conduct business, who to refer people to, etc. targeted to the people who are expected to apply those policies and practices to carry out their jobs. I would love it if my ability to be more productive were restored. While I don't have all the answers, I do believe that discussions resulting in solutions on how to do that might save the institution a lot of overhead expense in the long run. It could also improve morale in that employees, particularly support staff, could once again be confident in the information they have, the answers they give, etc. without wondering if because they didn't have time to go to an information sharing session or were out one day or didn't hear through the grapevine that Sodexho's doing this now, or Travel Team is doing that, they'll be blindsided yet again by finding out the hard way after the fact that they really didn't have a clue how to do their job any more-- they just thought they did , because someone changed it without telling them (AGAIN!)
| | | | posted by: Susan Summers | 28-09-2007 | As the originator of the Information Sharing Sessions, the co-coordinator of the 2007-2008 Faculty/Professional Staff Handbook and the lead AA in one of the largest academic departments on campus, I believe I have first hand knowledge of the lack of support service personnel on campus. Every day I see the dedication of the existing personnel in their attempt to meet the needs of every department on campus. In my own department we answer up to 200 phone calls a day; deal with over 250 book publishers; support a teaching staff of 168 instructors; complete hundreds of registration overrides; offer over 400 courses, manage offices in four buildings; and handle a very large, yet insufficient budget and we do all of this with the same four Administrative Assistant positions we had in 1970. Time and time again we have been refused an increase in staff. Last year every professor in this department signed a petition to ask for another support staff person and we were told, "ask again in the next biennium." Needless to say, the AAs are the first line of defense in student retention as they are the people who help solve student problems from registration overrides to grievance issues, from walking a student over to CAPS to encouraging a student to stay until their degree is finished and from recommending help from any number of resources on campus to attending student graduation. In addition AAs perform thousands of daily tasks for teaching staff, interact with every department on campus from facilities to the Registrar's office and from Accounts Payable to Recycling. They are often given a small amount of training and then expected to be experts in all fields such as travel reimbursement and purchasing.
It is not only the AAs who are suffering from overwork, it is all support services within UNLV. I consider OIT one of the most well managed departments on campus; however, without enough personnel they cannot accomplish miracles! The Registrar's office and Scheduling are both stretched to the limit and still manage to solve problems almost on a minute by minute basis! Facilities, bless them, are always understaffed and still manage to keep old buildings in working order!
All of this is fine until personnel become burned out and leave. If we are this capable of running a University with insufficient help, just think how dynamic UNLV would become with proper infrastructure support. Lee Scroggins has a point that our time is consumed with "searching for answers." Even with all the new websites we still need time for researching answers and that can only be done with additional staff to meet the everyday needs of the department.
Support services are quite literally the "backbone" of the institution and they simply cannot continue to carry the weight of responsibility on the shoulders of too few members. Hopefully, our new administration will listen to the plea of the many support staff personnel who want to continue making UNLV a University which encourages lifelong learning and is recognized for its contribution of excellence in the community of higher education. | | | | posted by: Janet Reiber | 02-11-2007 | Regarding Lee Scroggins comments on notifying the campus community of change in policy, I have also found this to be a problem. I would suggest that there should be a central "Policy" website that is accessible to the campus community (not students or public) where new policies and changes to old ones are placed.
Not to overstate the obvious, but we need more parking (preferably garages) and more classrooms. I believe that when the parking fee was instituted, the promise was that the money would go toward more parking areas, and specifically garages. UNLV built one garage, but has lost overall parking space since then.
Some advising centers continue to be understaffed.
I was hesitant to post any comments here because opinions of the campus community have been solicitated before, but none of the suggestions used. A case in point is the new student union. I attended a meeting where many great ideas for the interior design were suggested by the campus community. I did not see one of those suggestions implemented in the student union. It's basically a steel box with no character. I hope that someone will actually read these comments and seriously consider them in future plans.
| | | | posted by: Amanda Owens | 15-11-2007 | I have been thinking about this idea for quite time, and I want to take this time to thank you for this process. There needs to be someone who acts as a Academic Success Director which reaches across all discipline. For example in the area of Advising I worked for a federally funded TRIO program. The program utilizes Academic Success Advisors and Counselors to assist the student in areas of improving or enlighting students on how to study, navigate and understand university policies, procedures, and process. This approach could apply to all areas of the campus. Another example would be in the registration process, the school where I worked in Ohio the process was so easy and students coming to this institution should be able to access and register with little or no fustration. Another example would be more opportunities for students to interact with faculty, staff, and classified who they will have to do business with over their college career. This can be begin at Orientation. Instead of a program with a lot of speakers who the students can't identify with. Introduce them to Faculty, Advising, Enrollment Services, Financial Aid, Campus Housing etc. The program does not have to be long no more than hour. It should be fun using the band etc I hope you get the picture I have a few ideas on this subject. Those were just a few examples of how this position could tie up a lot of loose ends across the board. I recently attended the NASPA Conference here in Las Vegas. The President at Louisana State had my similar thought. She mention after the destruction of the campus. Their was the reality that a position of this was needed to aid in putting back the campus, and what better person to do this was someone from Student Affairs who understood and knew what students wanted. The President of that school wants to build
a student focus campus. | | | | posted by: Rochelle Athey | 16-11-2007 | The following issues need to be addressed in any discussion of infrastructure:
1. The university should create a strategic plan, develop white papers, and deliver a communication strategy to explain to stakeholders (politicians, donors, the public, the feds, etc.) why education and research are important societal needs and how they improve and benefit our lives. This communication strategy should be tied to a request for additional funds to support infrastructure needs.
2. In tandem, the university should explore working with the state to eliminate the need for adherence to many state administrative requirements as the state funded portion of UNLV's budget decreases. This process should help address some of the problems working with the state bureaucracy, particularly with regard to oversight of budgeting.
3. The university has to make the case for updating enterprise resource systems for accounting and human resources. The current systems are not designed for modern accounting and HR needs. Until those systems are updated, the university will pay the price with inefficient, expensive, manual workarounds in OSP, Controller's Office, and Purchasing.
4. This university desperately needs written policies and procedures in every single area. There should be a university policy committee to review and recommend policies. Additionally, there should be a university handbook into which all university policies should be placed.
5. The use of recovered facilities and administrative costs should be used primarily for research needs. However, due to the state's underfunding of undergraduate education, these F&A funds are often diverted to instructional uses. These funds should be used for administrative support staff for research administration in the colleges and departments; to fund research administration staff in OSP, ORSP, etc. (add'l staff to process research related payment vouchers and requisitions could possibly also be funded from this source); start up funds for new faculty; laboratory renovations; equipment; and cost sharing.
6. Create and/or increase the number of workshops and training opportunities on research and other topics. Development of proposals, post-award research administration, searching for funding opportunities, export controls, subcontracting, etc. could all be helpful, especially to junior faculty. | | |
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