A campus forum on the progress of Administrative Excellence (AE) projects was held on Friday, May 10 at Union South. The main topic for the forum was the work of the Enterprise IT Decision-Making team. Brief updates were also provided on other AE projects.

The Administrative Excellence team, in partnership with Purchasing Services, has selected Dell computers — including three laptops and one desktop with an optional monitor — as UW–Madison preferred products.

Purchasing Services, with the support of an Administrative Excellence team, announced that several UW-Madison Preferred Products, including common office supplies such as pens, writing pads, copy paper and remanufactured ink and toner, are now available for purchase.

A campus team working to employ a single email and calendar software supplier for the campus has completed critical steps toward implementing Microsoft Office 365.

The university has begun mapping out solutions to the fiscal squeeze by seeking flexibilities in key areas such as tuition, purchasing, and human resources, Interim Chancellor David Ward told the Faculty Senate on Monday, October 1, 2012.  More

In a rundown of some of the major developments this summer, it was noted that Microsoft Office 365 was selected as the campus email and calendar software system in one of several recommendations from teams working on the Administrative Excellence project.  Read about this project.

Two strategic work teams are researching the best ways to deliver information technology services while supporting the core mission of UW–Madison.

Members from seven teams described their efforts and listened to feedback during this campus forum held at Union South.

View the transcript.

A UW-Madison team working on the AE project will recommend the university select a single software supplier for campus email and calendaring systems. The recommendation is one of several being released by the project’s Email & Calendaring, Classroom Space Utilization and Data Center Aggregation teams. Read more about the work of the teams.

The campus community participated in a web chat about the work of the strategic purchasing teams: Computer Bundles, Office Supplies, Scientific Supplies, and Maintenance, Repair and Operations Supplies. View the transcript.

Recommendations will provide a strategic purchasing direction for UW–Madison and save nearly $14 million over five years, according to estimates by teams working on the Administrative Excellence project. Read more about the work of the strategic purchasing work teams: Computer Bundles, Office Supplies, Scientific Supplies, and Maintenance, Repair and Operations Supplies.

The Administrative Excellence Email and Calendaring team recently conducted a survey to learn how faculty, staff, and students use email and calendaring systems on campus. Read the results.

Administrative Excellence work teams have been rolling up their sleeves to refine and develop action plans to incorporate effective resource stewardship across the campus.

The following letter was sent to the Administrative Excellence Email & Calendaring team by Provost Paul DeLuca, Vice Chancellor Darrell Bazzell, and CIO Bruce Maas in response to a concern expressed by team members regarding an interim calendar solution.

The Steering Committee articulated three criteria to evaluate an early round of high-level savings opportunities presented by Huron: (1) quick wins – broadly viewed and broadly received, (2.) ease of change – evaluating cultural acceptance, dependency on other things, existing knowledge and skills to effect the change and the level of organizational redesign required to make the change successful and (3.) the financial impact – net savings.
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In a time of decreasing state support for public universities, University of Wisconsin-Madison officials say the time is now to seize opportunities provided by the flexibilities granted to the campus to create budget efficiencies.

UW-Madison interim Chancellor David Ward will host a campus forum Thursday to highlight five areas in which a consulting firm believes the university can run more effectively and efficiently. (From The Cap Times)

View the October 27, 2011 campus forum which was video streamed.