The University of Washington is committed to excellence in teaching and learning, research and scholarship, patient care and public service. We are also committed to excellence in administrative operations; however, our highly decentralized model creates extra bureaucracy across all levels, costing time and money on administrative tasks that would be better spent serving our mission. UW Operational Excellence focuses on making administrative work simpler, easier to navigate, and less complex, so more time and resources flow directly to the University’s mission.
The downsides of our current model
In practice, this highly decentralized model results in widespread and unnecessary process variations that are costly to sustain and create risk for units and the University. Non-standardized processes for the same type of task require significant time to learn and manage. For example, there are at least 31 pathways and approaches to processing a vendor invoice in our current finance environment. And our research administration costs are higher than our Big Ten and other peers. Moreover, limited central capacity to support non-standardized processes forces units to develop their own capabilities and additional processes, further expanding variation that reduces the bandwidth of central offices for more strategic support.
Extra bureaucracy and non-standard processes are no one’s priorities, yet our resources are being spent to support them. As stewards of public resources, that must change.
Achieving increased effectiveness through the range of efforts related to UW Operational Excellence is an imperative if we are to ensure the success of the UW’s mission now and in the years ahead, and avoid unplanned, hasty actions in response to state and federal budget pressures.
An opportunity to be intentional
While the current pressures are undeniable, we have a responsibility, as stewards of public resources, to adopt a new mindset of continuous improvement in our operations. By working together, we can ensure that our resources remain focused on advancing our mission regardless of the specific pressures at any one time.
This mindset is the essential foundation to the success of our University’s comprehensive strategic plan, which we are moving to finalize this academic year. That is why we are sharing this information about a range of efforts grouped under “UW Operational Excellence” now to ensure that we transparently engage our University community in the essential planning to launch this foundation.
UW Operational Excellence is the connective framework that will coordinate and strengthen many of the UW’s existing efforts to build a more sustainable and mission‑aligned operational foundation. These efforts include Together We Thrive, Research Resilience and Transformation, and Integrated Resources within the School of Medicine, which are addressing structural, process or capacity challenges. We also intend for this work to enable greater budget transparency and control of expenses as the University transitions to an Incentive-Based Budget (IBB) model, targeted for FY28.
We recognize the anxiety that change can create and are committed to a transparent approach that co-designs processes and seeks to create new opportunities for staff in an environment that is more sustainable. By proactively making changes now, we will have more control over our own destiny.
Stronger teams, doing sustainable work in support of our mission
A core principle of UW Operational Excellence is the creation of teams working together to perform vital business functions. These teams will bring together staff with similar roles to support units with similar missions and operational environments and with attention to balancing workloads to ensure consistent service. This approach is not about adding a new layer of bureaucracy, but about simplifying how administrative work is organized and supported. And it will include alignment of enterprise technology platforms to support standardized processes, reduce duplicative local systems, and integrate administrative functions at their interfaces.
We recognize that change can be unsettling and, by definition, disrupts existing ways of working. But we also recognize the benefits that a new approach will provide employees and the faculty, students and staff they serve.
For staff in the teams, this will create new opportunities for professional growth, which are often limited in situations where an employee can sometimes be the only person in a unit performing their specific role. New employment opportunities will be created, offering employees opportunities to advance in their careers without having to leave the UW.
Additionally, these teams will provide continuity in service when employees are on vacation or on leave. And they’ll have more consistent processes across the University, reducing reliance on each unit to create their own systems. This will make everyone’s jobs more manageable and enable the sharing of best practices.
For the faculty, students, staff and units being supported, these teams will be designed to reduce administrative burden and expedite processing time. The result will be reduced administrative costs, lowered institutional risk and the creation of capacity to invest our limited resources and time in our mission.
Rather than relying on one or two individuals, units will have access to a team-based support model enabling more consistent service, with a designated point person who can help guide requests so they reach the right specialists. Streamlined processes will allow for more proactive, strategic support from central units to facilitate partnerships and research across units.
By reducing bureaucracy, our resources can be directed to new investments in strategic priorities, as well as demonstrate to government and private funders that the UW is a good steward of their resources and worthy of additional investments.
Moving forward together
We undertake this effort in partnership with units, compassion for affected employees and commitment to transparency.
We recognize that the Workday Finance rollout has been very challenging, and we have listened to the University community and learned from that experience. Ongoing input from the community will be essential to ensure the design, rollout and operations of this work is done in partnership with administrative process customers and stakeholders—faculty and staff across the University. We’ve also learned from UW Medicine’s ongoing work to create a sustainable financial path, enabling it to continue to provide outstanding patient care.
Central teams – including from the Office of Finance Planning & Budgeting, the Office of Research and UW Information Technology – have already been engaging with unit partners in conversations to identify the core needs that must be prioritized in creating these teams. These baseline conversations will inform an organized and inclusive process to co-create a structure to best meet these needs. This process will include:
- An executive sponsorship team to ensure institutional coordination across the academy and medicine
- A steering committee to oversee standards and implementation
- Advisory, design, and implementation councils, beginning with finance administration, research administration, and IT, to intake feedback, design solutions and implement on-going improvements and innovations
Each level of governance will include administrators, staff, and faculty who will bring together the collective expertise, experiences and strength of our community to ensure that the holistic needs of the University are identified and met.
When there are impacts on staff, we will prioritize efforts where natural transitions – retirements, departures for other jobs – are possible rather than layoffs. UW Human Resources will provide strategic guidance and support throughout these processes, reinforcing a human-centric approach. Administrative functions will transition at different paces and scope may differ by administrative discipline, but importantly this effort will prioritize continuous learning and improvement. And we will provide updates on the process throughout its development.
Updates
Read more on the president’s website
Resources
Together We Thrive – Finance, Planning and Budgeting