Administrative Computing PBA 2009

Administrative Computing Services Mission Statement

Provide the possible service – not just what the customer needs or wants – provide what they will love!– We cannot give everyone everything they want,

but we can honor a value of fairness in making decisions about who gets what

The Team

Joe Belnap; Senior Director of Administrative Computing Nathan Gerber; Director of Web Development Services Denise Vandevanter; Director of Administrative

Programming Services 15 FTEs averaging 13 years IT experience 5 PTEs averaging 1 year IT experience 2 Part-time Administrative Assistants 2 Work Study Associates

Recent Accomplishments Degree Works (Wolverine Tracks)

Google Search Engine

Emergency Text Messaging Service (Opt In)

Finished web rollover to UVU (Approx. 30,000 pages, 228 department sites)

Online Residency Application (rather than purchase at $30K - $70K)

Banner 8 upgrade

CEL Online Application System

Presented at six conferences last year

Published a Dispersed Content Management article in Educause magazine (co-authored with Anne Arendt)

Customer Base: Continues to grow

Increased requests from higher customer base (more students, faculty, and staff)

ASD, Continuing Education, and Turning Point are transitioning to Banner and will also need to be supported

Responsiveness

Last Year: Current task list of 165 Requests Now: 159 Has list stopped growing?

– Last year APS: Averaged 4 – 5 new requests per week– Now APS: 17 requests per week– Last year APS: Completed 4 – 5 tasks per week – Now APS: 15 – 16 per week

– Last year WDS: Averaged 5 – 6 new requests per week– Now WDS: 12 – 13 requests per week– Last year WDS: Completed 5 – 6 tasks per week – Now WDS: 12 per week

Comparable Requests are Completed Much Quicker Now

The Numbers are Deceiving– Increasing Volume, and Even More Complex Requests

Attrition & Succession

0 FTEs needed to be replaced (again)

New applications or vital, additional functionality implemented without additional resource(s) for support– Yet we still need to support them

Farm System Established (Career Ladder) (e.g., 5 OCPs, 6 OCAs, 2 PHP Certs)

Retention

The cost to replace one associate is between 3 and 10 times the annual salary of the position– 84% bonus would break even

Annual cost of turnover represents 3.4 - 5.8 percent of the annual operating budget

Training

50% of professional workers' skills become outdated in 3 to 5 years

Some experts recommend forty or more hours of training a year per person

$1 spent on IT training can translate into as much as $30 in productivity gains within three years

Competition

Currently Utah unemployment is: 6.2%– Still well below the 9.8% national average

Still more IT jobs than qualified individuals

Lost out to University of Utah on a position

What IS the FARM System?

Objective: To grow a World Class Administrative Computing Service in the desert (i.e., Higher Ed)

Two ways to grow in Utah: Farming or Ranching

Ranching: bring in a lot of developers from other places

Farming: grow what you have planted

Reasons for the FARM System

Asked to do more with less– According to some: do everything with nothing

Current salary offerings cannot lure advanced skill sets to come

Budget cutbacks demand fiscal responsibility (i.e., get the most bang for your buck)

Three Approaches

Turnstile

Leftovers

FARM System

Three Attributes

Budget Cost

Productivity

Customer Satisfaction

Customer Satisfaction

Good (Amiable, but low productivity)

Better (Amiable, higher productivity, but at a cost: more resources)

Best (Amiable, highly skilled/productive resources)

Budget/Productivity Ratios

Turnstile (Low Cost; Low Productivity)

Leftovers (Higher Cost; Low Productivity)

FARM System (Reasonable Cost; High Productivity)

Budget/Productivity Ratios

Turnstile (10 FTEs @ $40K produce 150 basic requests annually)

Leftovers (10 FTEs @ $50K produce 250 basic – moderate requests annually)

FARM System (10 FTEs @ $60K produce 750 moderate – complex requests annually)

Budget/Productivity Ratios

Cost to Have Identical Productivity

Goals & Objectives

Immediate goals (by July 2009)– Provide superior customer service through

adequate resource coverage• Request Tracking System

– Increase productivity through technical skill development

• Minimum 2 developers with Advanced Web Development certification

Goals & Objectives

Immediate goals (by July 2009)– Provide superior customer service through

adequate resource coverage• Request Tracking System (Still Separate)

– Increase productivity through technical skill development

• Minimum 2 developers with Advanced Web Development certification (2 completed)

Goals & Objectives

Five-year goals (by Fall 2010)– Well established farm system

• Reduce attrition from 25% to 15%

• Upper level vacancies filled internally

• Outside recruitment and hiring for entry-level positions only

Goals & Objectives

Five-year goals (by Fall 2010)– Well established farm system

• Reduce attrition from 25% to 15%

• Upper level vacancies filled internally

• Outside recruitment and hiring for entry-level positions only

Goals & Objectives

Five-year goals (by Fall 2010)– Provide possible solutions rather than what we can get

by with:• Continued innovations in our UVU Enterprise Applications

• Stop relying on outside sources for solutions we could/should provide

– Still using SunGard consultants (most of which we aren’t using)

– CTE outsourced their Web Design & Development

Life is an occasion … RISE to it

Robust (Large) takes care of itself provided that we:– Secure Resources– Manage Growth– Operate Effectively

Inclusive

Serious

Engaged

In order to effectively accomplish the core objective and any of the supportive goals, we must have the following:1. Proper Priorities2. Time Dedication3. Accountability

Resource Requirements

Technology Requirements– We have become …“Better, stronger, faster”

Resource Requirements

Now we just need to stay current– Not only to keep up with the pack– But to keep the competition behind with the

steady stream of “innovative dirt” that we will continue to kick out.

Resource Requirements

Personnel Requirements– Additional full-time, part-time, and work-study

personnel to keep up with increasing demand and refine FARM system

Resource Requirements

Resource Requirements– Continued exposure to innovative problem

solving approaches others have taken through collaboration with objective peer groups

Resource Requirements

External Requirements– Reliable hardware capable of adequate

performance levels & situational demands

Risks & Rewards

Risk: Inefficient & Ineffective Support– Tomorrow’s technology with yesterday’s skill

sets & tools

– Continued customer base and task request growth without growth management

Risks & Rewards

Addressing Risk– Skill Set: Certification, Continued Training, &

Conference Attendance

– Growth: Additional Personnel

– Retention: Positive Environment

Risks & Rewards

Rewards– More bang for your buck!

• Many of our innovations have resulted from collaboration with peers

– Reduced turnover costs • Hiring, training, and reduced productivity – the first

two are readily calculable and together represent 2 percent of the annual operating budget

Risks & Rewards

Rewards– Every dollar invested in technology

certification yielded more than $300 in return

– Train to Leave; Certify to Retain

Key Issues

Near Term (January 1, 2010) ONE-TIME– Summer “Work-Study” Funding $ 5,000– Additional PTE funding (WDS)$14,000– Moving Expenses $11,000

Key Issues

Long Term (July 1, 2010)– PTE Programmer (APS) $38,000

– FTE Web Developer (WDS) $60,000

– PTE CS Student funding (APS) $15,000

– Additional PTE funding (WDS) $32,000• Ongoing Preferred, but would take as one-time

– Career Ladder/Equity Issue $ 5,000

– Learning (includes certification) $15,000

– Networking & Peer Relations $ 7,500

Summary of Requests

AdCom Pre-PBA – Summer “Work-Study” Funding $ 5,000– Additional PTE funding (WDS) $14,000– PTE Programmer (APS) $38,000– FTE Web Developer (WDS) $60,000– PTE CS Student funding (APS) $15,000– Additional PTE funding (WDS) $32,000– Career Ladder/Equity Issue $ 5,000– Learning (includes certification) $15,000– Networking & Peer Relations $ 7,500– Moving Expenses $11,000