Process Improvement Project Update

Joan Dove, chair of the Administration Team, reports that the team has prepared recommendations for improvements to the process for procurement of goods and services and the process for developing the annual working budget. The team is currently working on a new process for the search for and hiring of new personnel.

Pat McGraw, chair of the Pre-Enrollment Team, reports that the team is focusing on two major initiatives—a Web site assessment and the creation of new processes and procedures for how the University will create, produce, and distribute communications to the right audiences at the right time.

The Web site assessment project will, first, analyze the ability of the UMUC Web site to deliver specific services to identified user groups and to attract and retain students; second, inventory and analyze the technology, content, and processes currently supporting the Web site to identify its ability to accommodate growth and improvement; and third, make a recommendation for the improvement of the site, presenting the expected level of effort and cost required to implement that improvement. Spherix, a publicly traded corporation located in Beltsville, Maryland, has been chosen to assist with that work.

Finally, an increasing number of departments have approached the Office of Communications in recent months, seeking assistance in creating new brochures, direct-mail campaigns, etc. The recent launch of the University's new brand has also had a dramatic impact on requests for assistance. This led to initiation of the Communication Process Project, the goal of which is to provide the University with a simple-to-understand way of gaining the Office of Communication's assistance in conceptualization, design, copy writing, printing, production, e-mail, and direct mail.

Michael Frank, chair of the Post-Enrollment Team, reports that the team's projects focus on ensuring that a 24-hour turnaround for applications can be implemented, developing an expedient credit-transfer review process for applications, facilitating the transcript-receipt and approval process for prospective students, determining better methods to integrate student database management, and developing a failsafe records-management system for file use.