Category: News

An Access Control Initiative has been undertaken to improve the process by which faculty, staff and student employees request and receive access to campus buildings and spaces. Team members will evaluate best practices from other organizations to help streamline current procedures involving keys, cards and codes. 

Updated metrics were posted in January tracking continued savings and improvements resulting from Operational Excellence initiatives. For example, Concur user satisfaction is now 3.9 (on a scale of 5), its highest level to date. The number of printers and copiers supported by SMU has been whittled down to a new low of 987 – the goal was no more than 1,000 – resulting in savings on toner, paper, supplies and maintenance as well as machine replacement costs. The average office supply order size was $446 in the last quarter. The large order size gives SMU better pricing and an additional discount that resulted in savings of $1,347 in that period, the highest since the implementation in 2015. The full rundown on all metrics is here.

 The Office of Operational Excellence welcomes input from faculty, staff and students on ways the University can operate more efficiently. Please submit your cost savings suggestions using this online form on the website. Ideas and questions can be submitted anonymously.

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Meet the Access Control Initiative Team

Assessing Our Metrics: New Data Shows Progress Towards Operational Excellence’s Mission

The Office of Operational Excellence has assembled an Access Control initiative team to improve the process by which faculty, staff and student employees request and receive access to campus buildings and spaces (not including student residence halls). This team, led by Project Manager George Finney and supported by Executive Sponsor Chris Regis, will work to streamline the processes of requesting, approving, processing and returning keys, cards and codes. The Access Control team will examine current procedures,  while evaluating best practices from other institutions and industries.

The Access Control team includes the following members:

Executive Sponsor – Chris Regis

Project Manager – George Finney – OIT

Mai Bui – Human Resources

Ashley Grealish – Risk Management

Brian Kelly – Police Department

Scott McCulloch – Facilities

Mark Rhodes – Parking and ID Card Services

Chris Snyder – OIT

Results were shared from the first Shared Services Survey, held Sept. 26 – Oct. 4, to understand how the workflow changes in Finance, Facilities and OIT that have occurred over the past year are impacting all SMU employees. The survey results detail what people think is working well, and where improvements may be needed.

A Concur User Group has been established and will meet quarterly to help identify ways that Concur, the University’s new system for managing travel and expenses, can be improved and used more effectively by faculty, staff and administrators. Meanwhile, ongoing Concur cost comparisons by Purchasing have shown that in almost every case, prices for hotels and flights available through Concur are equal to, or cheaper than, rates for those same hotels and flights available through other travel sites. 

The OIT Department has made significant tech upgrades to more than 60 classrooms, including installing remote control technology, and has begun testing several exciting new interactive teaching tools in selected areas. These new tools, such as cloud-based audience response systems, interactive projectors and wireless mirroring devices, will allow professors and students to engage in ways never previously possible at SMU.

To further help with communicating changes, the Facilities Department provided both a PowerPoint and a video presentation of the information session they gave to employees on September 21, so those who missed attending can easily review the info on their own.

Members of the campus community have provided thoughtful, cost-saving suggestions including recycling furniture and office supplies. In response, the Office of Operational Excellence has assembled an initiative team to improve and formalize the process by which University-owned furniture and office supplies can be repurposed and used by other areas on campus. 

If you have ideas for improvements that you think would help SMU become even more effective, submit them using the online form on the Operational Excellence website. Ideas and questions can be submitted anonymously.

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Watch a Recap of the Facilities Information Session

Classroom Tech Revolution

Meet the Property Initiative Team

The Shared Services Survey Results

Concur User Group Established

Travel and Entertainment: An Airline Cost Comparison

The Purchasing team has been periodically pulling data to compare Concur’s prices with those of other travel sites. They’ve found that in almost every case, prices for hotels and flights available through Concur are equal to, or cheaper than, rates for those same hotels and flights.

Here’s the latest Airline Price Comparison:

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