Findings

Table of Contents
  1. Findings
    1. Demands and Opportunities
    2. Goals Resulting from Strategic Data Planning Project
    3. Issues Identified During the SDP Project
    4. Guiding Principles
    5. Current Systems Support
      1. Purpose
      2. Approach
      3. Assessment
      4. Conclusion

In the first phase of UM's strategic data plan, the SDP team reviewed selected operations within Financial Resources, Physical Resources, Employment (Human Resources), Development, and Student areas. The primary objectives of Phase I were fourfold:

Working closely with UM staff, the SDP Team undertook a series of interviews, process inventories, data modeling sessions and existing system inventories. The data were analyzed without respect to organizations to develop project area recommendations. We focused our assessment on the following areas:

On the following pages, we present the project findings that resulted from the study of each of the areas. The findings cover several areas:

We understand that in the next phase of the SDP effort, the University will develop detailed implementation plans that will address the necessary policy, organizational, process, and technology changes required to achieve long term, sustainable cost savings and enhanced services.


Demands and Opportunities

A demand or opportunity is an external factor that impacts the University of Michigan by forcing it to respond or by providing an opportunity to further its mission. These demands or opportunities are the driving force behind the goals. UM is subject to many current and future demands and opportunities; those highlighted in the interview process are:


Goals Resulting from Strategic Data Planning Project

A goal is a long term general statement of direction. A goal is approachable, not necessarily attainable, and far reaching. Projects that are defined in the SDP will be prioritized, in part, based on their support for these goals which were identified in the interview process.


Issues Identified During the SDP Project

During the information gathering steps, several issues were consistently cited by participants. Participants and the SDP project team believe that the resolution of these issues will increase the potential for successful implementation of the SDP results. The Executive Computing Committee should initiate action on each of these items.


Guiding Principles

The following principles were gathered from participants and other sources during the course of the project. They are intended to guide implementation of the strategic data plan throughout the University:

  1. The University is committed to Value Centered Management (VCM) to ensure that administrative and financial responsibility and accountability are appropriately defined, allocated, and balanced among the schools and the central administration.

  2. Within the VCM framework, responsibility for providing administrative services should be assigned to the organizational level where such services can be performed most efficiently and effectively to the benefit of the University community.

  3. Standards of performance and service level agreements should be clearly defined for those activities for which the central administration is responsible, conditioned by regular free market comparisons.

  4. Responsibility centers should resist the urge to develop their own free-standing services and information systems which replicate those for which the central administration is responsible. If the services provided by the central administration are unsatisfactory, schools should work with the central administration to elevate performance to acceptable levels consistent with University standards.

  5. Implementation of the Strategic Data Plan should build upon the experience of both industry and higher education, using tools, standards and methods found to be effective in similar settings, including but not limited to organizational redesign, process innovation, and quality improvement.

  6. Implementation of the Strategic Data Plan should extend to all administrative processes of the University, including those within each school or administrative division as well as processes that cut across the schools and the central administration.

  7. Data should have integrity and be consistent across the institution. Data Stewards and Data Managers should adhere to the Institutional Data Resource Management Policy and Data Administration Guidelines for Institutional Data Resources.

  8. Data should be captured at the source and shared with those who have a need to know. Capturing data redundantly increases costs, introduces errors and decreases customer satisfaction.

  9. Processes and information systems are to be flexible and adaptable to value-added changes. Change is constant and the University must be able to keep pace.

  10. Policies, processes, and procedures that do not add value to the institution will be eliminated.

Current Systems Support

Purpose

The Current Systems Support assessment establishes a baseline understanding of the systems that support administrative process and information needs. This information was intended to be used to determine the level of support that existing systems provide for future processes and information needs and to identify systems which would be impacted by projects identified by the Strategic Data Plan.

Approach

The project team worked with approximately 70 users and technical staff to inventory and evaluate systems (separated into mechanisms and data collections) that currently support processes and entities modeled in the SDP project. While central systems were the main focus of the inventory and evaluation process, information was also gathered on departmental systems. Comments and/or problems regarding systems also were collected from previous process modeling activities.

Assessment

Assessment of current systems helps to determine the level of support current administrative systems may provide to the strategic data planning projects. Approximately 228 mechanisms and 207 data collections were identified, but not all were included in the assessment process.

Major issues identified in this assessment:

Conclusion

The current system inventory assessment collectively describes the existing administrative computing environment. The SDP project team fully expected to use the current systems inventory to identify systems that needed to be replaced and those that could support the future. However, except for a few exceptions, most central systems provide inadequate support for today's process and information needs and cannot support the vision for the future. Systems must be responsive to the changing needs of the University community and its mission rather than imposing barriers. The University of Michigan should embark on a systematic migration from today's current systems to replacement systems that can provide the levels of support necessary to meet current and future information needs. The recommendation section is based on this conclusion and provides a road map for this systematic migration.