The Procurement Initiative committee is still in the process of conducting research and has not made any final decisions regarding any aspect of purchasing at SMU including the process or distribution of p-cards. Procurement card holders who have not had an opportunity to share feedback with the committee are invited to complete this survey.
SMU’s HR operating procedures for reorganization will be used to assist those in positions affected by the Organization Design Initiative. The components of the severance package are as follows:
The process of evaluating the optimal structure for our organization involves a great deal of research, collaboration and resourcefulness on the part of our Vice Presidents and Deans. To date, VPs and Deans have reviewed their organization charts and are creating structures that they believe will result in a more effective operation that is better integrated. As a result, there is not a formal timeline for affected position announcements, but final decisions will certainly not be made until after the winter break.
Currently, we expect staff in affected positions to be notified beginning in the first quarter of calendar year 2015, with the understanding that some positions could be on a longer timeline.
What are the reasons for doing this initiative?
– Compared with industry standards and empirically validated benchmarks, SMU has an opportunity to adjust the level of staffing in the organization
– Optimizing areas such as managerial spans of control will enable better and quicker decision-making while unlocking funds to be used for strategic initiatives
What does this process look like?
– The VP or Dean of each organization will evaluate and determine the right level of staffing, using tools provided by the OE2C team
– The process will be iterative and collaborative with the OE2C Executive Committee and SMU units/schools
– As much as possible we will utilize transfers, attrition, early retirement, and voluntary exits to minimize impact to our people
– Any impacted positions will be handled with respect and care consistent with our SMU community values; this includes providing severance packages and support in job placements
What is in scope of this initiative?
– All staff positions, both in the Academic Units and Central Administration areas
– Extra compensation policies
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No. They have been from usual attrition or part of the annual budget process, which for this past fiscal year included a budget reduction of 2.5 percent for central administration and 1.5 percent for the schools and colleges. Most areas chose to meet their budget reduction without eliminating positions, but some areas opted for a reduction in the number of FTEs. Even in those cases, however, most eliminated positions had been filled by people who retired or resigned. A goal of the OE2C process is to proactively address budget shortfalls, so that we do not have to rely on non-strategic across-the-board budget cuts every few years.