{"id":49566,"date":"2017-07-31T10:23:23","date_gmt":"2017-07-31T15:23:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/?p=49566"},"modified":"2017-08-03T14:49:40","modified_gmt":"2017-08-03T19:49:40","slug":"project-reform-uwm-delivers-services-moves-forward","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/project-reform-uwm-delivers-services-moves-forward\/","title":{"rendered":"Project to reform how UWM delivers services moves forward"},"content":{"rendered":"

A university project aimed at improving how\u00a0core business and IT services are delivered is moving forward with the establishment of a prototype support services center, or \u201chub.\u201d<\/p>\n

This first hub will support the School of Education, the College of Health Sciences, the College of Nursing, the Zilber School of Public Health, the Helen Bader School of Social Welfare and the Division of Finance & Administrative Affairs.<\/p>\n

The project, known as Integrated Support Services<\/a>, rethinks how UWM provides services involving finance and accounting, procurement, human resources and information technology. Currently, those functions are decentralized, with much of the work performed by staff in departments across campus. The degree to which schools, colleges, divisions, and departments utilize local business and IT support staff to facilitate work with the central offices varies greatly.\u00a0 Provost Johannes Britz and Vice Chancellor for Finance & Administrative Affairs Robin Van Harpen are the executive sponsors of the project.<\/p>\n

The ISS project will organize those administrative services into hubs, with the intention of providing better service and more efficient use of resources. Each hub will provide human resources, finance and purchasing services to its assigned colleges and units.<\/p>\n

\"A
Along with Robin Van Harpen and Johannes Britz, the ISS Leadership Team includes (from left) Tom Scrivener, director of purchasing; Ted Wiebel, controller; Kathy Heath, director of Integrated Administrative Services; Tim Danielson, associate vice chancellor for human resources; Robert Beck, associate vice chancellor and chief information officer; and Sylvia Banda, finance and administrative affairs project manager. (UWM Photo\/Elora Hennessey)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

IT will operate somewhat differently. Services like desktop and classroom support will be organized within an IT department in the new Integrated Support Services structure.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is critical work for UWM as we transform how we provide services to be more effective and efficient,\u201d Chancellor Mark Mone said. \u201cIt\u2019s also challenging work \u2014 change can be difficult, and transitions like this can bring obstacles. It\u2019s crucial for our campus to make this transition, and it has my full support as we move forward. This work is important, valued and needed because it underlies all that we do \u2014 enabling success with students, research and the broader community.\u201d<\/p>\n

While the ISS project is expected to reduce costs through simplification and standardization, it is not intended as a means of budget cutting. Rather, more efficient and effective processes will reduce the administrative burden on academic leadership, faculty and staff, allowing them to focus on education and research.<\/p>\n

Project leaders expect several benefits<\/a> for employees, including:<\/p>\n