Study abroad, mental health, email and job application improvements honored

Three teams and one individual are receiving the university’s 2018 Administrative Improvement Award for efforts in making substantial improvements in administrative services at UW–Madison.

Award recipients are recognized for their exceptional work in administrative roles supporting academics, research, student services, outreach or administration.

“The innovation and resourcefulness these individuals and teams have shown is remarkable,” Chancellor Rebecca Blank says. “They set a high standard for what can be accomplished through innovative approaches and a commitment to improvement.”

Vice Chancellor for Finance and Administration Laurent Heller says the award winners make UW–Madison better for students, faculty and staff.

“My sincere thanks and congratulations to each of this year’s award winners,” Heller says. “The improvements they’ve made are already having a positive impact in their units and across the campus.”

The award recipients will be honored Tuesday, May 29, at Union South (Varsity Hall). The ceremony begins at 4:30 p.m. The campus community is invited.

The 2018 Administrative Improvement Award winners are:

Susan Speth, Computer Systems Administrator, International Academic Programs

International Academic Programs (IAP), the largest study-abroad unit on campus, has developed a database to manage student applicant, program and study abroad-related services, information and processes. The evolution and development of this system has been crucial in maintaining the student support services and program management of IAP.

Under Speth’s leadership, IAP began conversations with the Business and Engineering study-abroad offices about creating a shared database platform, which led to development of a shared system. Speth devoted considerable time in the development and delivery of the system, including Business and Engineering training, system documentation and overall technical support for the new user group.

The effort made it much easier for the campus to know who is studying abroad and where they are. With this information more readily accessible, the university is better prepared to respond in the case of emergencies.

UW–Madison List Library Team

Annette Stratman-Durrer (DoIT), Charles Calderon (DoIT), Joshua Olson (DoIT), Brian Rust (DoIT), Benjamin Sousa (DoIT), John Lucas (University Communications), Mari Ann Ames-Menager (Office of Strategic Consulting), Alice Gustafson (retired, formerly of Administrative Process Redesign)

The UW–Madison List Library is the result of more than three years of collaborative efforts to improve cross-campus communication. It was designed to replace a time-consuming and expensive system and transform official email communication and messages.

Through an easy-to-navigate interface and no-fee structure, it has improved the environment for message senders and recipients and enhanced campus internal communications. Currently, 53 email distribution lists are available for authorized users, representing more than 160,000 member emails.

The lists are reserved for sending official messages to employee groups, school, college and major unit employees and campus governance groups. The lists are updated daily and fully supported by a dedicated WiscList team and moderated by University Communications.

University Health Services Mental Health Triage Redesign Team

Angela Janis, Andrea Lawson

In an area of growing campus demand, UHS completely reimagined its access/triage system for mental health services. The team collected and reviewed historical data on access and use of services, reviewed student feedback and conducted interviews with staff. The intention was to design a service that was more able to connect students to the care that best fits their needs in a timely manner and make better use of staff time.

Students were evaluated more specifically for the intensity of the services they needed. This allowed UHS to match students with an appropriate level of care, bringing access in line with stated goals for the majority of students.

The improvements have enabled UHS to serve more students and improve access by reducing wait times for mental health care.

University Housing Student Employment Application Team

Brenda Krueger, Katie Smart, Jenny Noonan, Allyson Hedding, Devonne Tucker, Jessica Liegel

With more than 2,000 students hired into about 100 job titles throughout each academic year, University Housing’s Student Employment Application (SEA) system has served student applicants, hiring managers and human resources staff via one platform.

A decision was made to update the existing SEA system to best meet the needs of the division and the students it serves. The goal was to design and develop a replacement application that was easy and lower-cost to maintain, use human resources best practices for recruitment, selection and employee management, and deliver an excellent customer service experience. Specific enhancements include a mobile-friendly jobs dashboard, a personalized applicant dashboard that serves as a one-stop shop for status updates regarding employment, and texting functionality to communicate with job applicants.

As a result, recruitment timelines have shortened, and staff can more easily and accurately track employment data.