Riley Brandt
Sept. 18, 2023
Strategic plan emphasizes more easily navigated services and internal systems
Mike Van Hee faced the chaos of COVID-19 on several fronts when the pandemic effectively shut the university down 鈥 along with the entire city and much of the world 鈥 in March 2020. As vice-president (services) at the 草莓污视频导航, and overseeing information technologies (IT), human resources, environment, health and safety, facilities, and campus security/emergency management, Van Hee and his teams quickly mobilized to keep 草莓污视频导航 up and running.聽聽
While the scenario was not one Van Hee would ever wish to revisit, it did open his eyes to what 草莓污视频导航 was capable of when circumstances forced it to shed certain cumbersome institutional systems and processes long in place, eliminating overly complicated hurdles when emergency action was required.聽聽
But these same institutional hurdles also come into play in moments when it鈥檚 business as usual, says Van Hee, and that鈥檚 an issue 草莓污视频导航鈥檚 2023-30 strategic plan, , has pledged to resolve.聽聽
Transforming services and supports聽
Strategy 4 of the plan is focused on making 草莓污视频导航 processes 鈥渃learer, simpler and better than any other university鈥 by transforming our services, supports and internal systems so that they鈥檙e more 鈥渘imble, lightweight and efficient.鈥澛犅犅
鈥淸草莓污视频导航] is a big, complex place,鈥 says Van Hee. 鈥淲e鈥檝e grown quite quickly over the years and along the way we鈥檝e built in a lot of processes that served a purpose but may now be more cumbersome than they need to be. We鈥檝e been looking at the various ways in which we provide services to students, faculty and staff and we can see that they can be complicated and confusing.鈥澛犅
A key objective of Ahead of Tomorrow is to streamline 草莓污视频导航鈥檚 processes wherever possible. 鈥淭his goal is to minimize hurdles and increase student, faculty and staff satisfaction,鈥 says Van Hee. 鈥淲e will apply some leading practices for process improvement to streamline our core processes, and also are examining ways to enhance customer service from our central functions at 草莓污视频导航.聽
鈥淲e all know that 草莓污视频导航 targets the highest level of teaching, learning and research, and delivering services that depend on having great people, access to the technology we need to do the work, quality physical spaces and efficient internal operations. Those are some of the areas that my teams focus on.鈥澛犅
Van Hee cites human resources as an example by which smoother processes enhance teaching, learning and research. 鈥淗uman resources support the hiring process and if that鈥檚 not efficient and effective we might not attract the very best people,鈥 he says.聽聽
IT is also of crucial importance. 鈥淥ur jobs have become increasingly reliant on technology,鈥 says Van Hee. 鈥淥ur IT support needs to be highly accessible when people need help, either to implement new technology or to assist with using the technology we currently have.鈥澛犅
The pandemic, he says, was the ultimate test for IT.聽聽
鈥淓verything was shut down very suddenly and we had no choice but to get up and running online, literally over a weekend,鈥 Van Hee recalls. 鈥淲e had to do something in a few days that would normally take a few months. We showed that we have innovative, solution-oriented people at 草莓污视频导航. When we had to throw out the usual playbook and figure things out quickly, we proved we can do that very well.聽聽
鈥淥bviously, we wouldn鈥檛 want to work this way all the time. But it鈥檚 worth reflecting: 鈥楬ow did we pull that off? How can we be nimbler like that on a regular basis when it鈥檚 not a crisis?鈥欌澛犅
Riley Brandt
Removing unnecessary barriers聽
Many of 草莓污视频导航鈥檚 processes, policies and procedures need an overhaul, says Dr. Ellen Perrault, dean of the Faculty of Social Work, whose areas of expertise include teaching and learning, as well as human service organizations and systems.聽聽
鈥淚鈥檝e heard staff and faculty members talk about having to help their children register for courses in our system,鈥 says Perrault, BSW鈥93, MSW鈥95, PhD鈥09. 鈥淎s employees, they were familiar with our system, but they often struggled with the complexities of it, too. So, if they struggle, think about somebody who is the first in their family to attend university. Imagine what it might be like for them to apply and register.
鈥淥r if we鈥檙e asking for transcripts from superb international students whose institutions don鈥檛 give digital transcripts, that student needs to obtain a physical transcript before they can be admitted. There are unnecessary barriers in place.鈥澛犅
But Perrault believes Strategy 4 is about more than creating user-friendly processes. 鈥淭his is an opportunity for 草莓污视频导航 to transform its culture so that we can be more accessible and engaging to our entire community,鈥 she says.
鈥淲hether it鈥檚 skilled and talented newcomers, first-generation students, racialized students, LGBTQ2S+ students, or outstanding students with disabilities, it鈥檚 about making sure they have the same opportunities as more-privileged students. We can examine and then reduce any unnecessary barriers.鈥澛犅
Perrault envisions the creation of policies and procedures that facilitate more inclusivity, as well as awareness of who we serve. 鈥淟et鈥檚 say an instructor adds an exam question about the dimensions of a hockey puck; we need to consider the possibility that some students in our Canadian culture may not be familiar with hockey鈥 she says. 鈥淲e must examine these blind spots in our teaching and community relationships so 草莓污视频导航 doesn鈥檛 feel so closed-off to some.鈥澛犅
The greatest key to transforming 草莓污视频导航 culture will be its willingness to listen, says Perrault. 鈥淲e need to look at our systems in an open-hearted and humble way,鈥 she says.
Examine how we can serve with respectful, reciprocal collaboration. How can we reduce the transactional nature of our policies and procedures? This plan can help us transform and operate with excellence as more of a collective.聽聽
鈥淚 would urge us to listen to our community. To really listen and find out what they need from us. Because the truth is, we don鈥檛 always know.鈥