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UCOP Restructuring Update for Week of July 28, 2008
July 29, 2008

• Revised OP budget and departmental review
• Positions filled in OP Budget Office and BRC
• Institutional Research unit
• Questions and answers

Dear Colleagues:

This week I want to update you on the OP budget process as it relates to our ongoing restructuring initiatives. We also have news of hires in the OP Budget Office and the Business Resource Center, job postings in the new Institutional Research Unit and answers to some of your questions.

Revised OP budget and departmental review
You'll recall that in May, the Regents approved the 2008-09 budget for the Office of the President, which included substantial reductions in spending and workforce. Roughly half of those savings came from program reductions, while the other half came from moving certain functions out of UCOP, as recommended by the Work Group on the Roles of the Office of the President.

During the Regents' meeting earlier this month, President Yudof and I informed the Board that we will present a revised 2008-09 OP budget for their consideration in November. This revised budget will reflect additional savings we expect to achieve this year through the voluntary separation program, and the rollout of the new consolidated business units. The new OP Budget Office and the Business Resource Center will be opening this summer; the Desktop Support consolidation will be fully implemented by fall; and institutional research, communications and legislative analysis will rollout later this fiscal year.

The revised 2008-09 OP budget will be a milestone, but certainly not the end of our ongoing effort to redefine and restructure UCOP. President Yudof expressed to the Regents his support for the restructuring initiatives underway, and his intention to continue the process of reviewing all of the functions in the Office of the President in order to determine which roles are appropriate, which may not be, and which may need to be strengthened or expanded.

Individual departments have been asked to evaluate their roles and organizational structures, and over the next few weeks, the President and I will be meeting with each department head to continue these strategic discussions about department functions and the future vision of UCOP.

Positions filled in OP Budget Office and BRC
Progress continues toward the creation of the new OP Budget Office and the Business Resource Center (BRC). Last week Director Michael Rancer announced that Frances Chinn from the Office of Research and Susan Shinomoto from Student Affairs have joined the Budget Office as Senior Budget Analysts. In the BRC, Director Helen Valness has named her leadership team: Accountability Manager Ginny Blumberg from Ethics, Compliance and Audit, Payroll Team Lead Ana Trejo from Financial Management, and Pod Team Leads Sharon Perry (Human Resources & Benefits), Gigi Stollar (University Affairs) and Karen Tomajan (Financial Management). With the lead BRC positions filled, the team will proceed with screening and interviewing for the staff positions in the business service and payroll centers over the next few weeks.

Institutional Research unit
The organizational design for a new, consolidated Institutional Research Unit was presented to the OP community during brown bag meetings last week, and listings for open positions in the unit were posted on the UCOP Jobs website beginning on July 24. The job listings include openings for the Director, five Content Managers, eight IR Analysts and a Data Steward. You may visit the UCOP Jobs website to see the position descriptions and application deadlines. As with the OP Budget Office and the BRC, the new IR unit will take on functions that are currently performed within various departments around OP. If you perform the functions that will be consolidated in the IR and enjoy this type of work, we encourage you to explore these job opportunities. To see last week's brown bag presentation, including the IR organizational chart, click here.

In addition to the openings related to the restructuring initiatives, a number of other openings are posted regularly on the UCOP jobs website. If you're exploring new opportunities, visit the site regularly to see all of the options available.

Katie

Katherine N. Lapp
Executive Vice President, Business Operations

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Questions and Answers
Employees with questions, ideas and suggestions about the UCOP restructuring are encouraged to submit their comments through the feedback page.

Q: The July 22 OP Restructuring email update said that work in the new Institutional Research Unit will focus on five key subject/functional areas, but graduate data wasn't specifically mentioned. Will this work be done by the new IR unit?

A: Yes, it's intended that data research and analysis related to graduate studies will be one of the content areas for the new IR unit. The full scope of the new unit's work and a transition plan for the unit to take on specific functions will be developed as the Director and other leadership positions are filled.

Q. I'm an analyst in HR Benefits, and it's not clear if the work I do now will be done by the new IR unit in the future. I like my job and would like to stay where I am, but my supervisor can't assure me my job is safe. Will the IR unit functions be clearly defined in time for me to decide whether to apply for a position in the new unit?

A. Defining the scope of the new unit's work and identifying the work that will remain in the departments will take time. The best advice is to apply for one of the IR positions. Submitting an application does not commit you to changing jobs putting your application forward helps keep your options open. Also, you can expect to learn more about the new unit during the application and interview process.