Quality improvement, administrative process units to merge

The Office of Quality Improvement (OQI) and Administrative Process Redesign (APR) will formally merge in the coming months, joining to provide the UW–Madison campus with a comprehensive suite of organizational development and improvement services for both academic and administrative units.

The impending merger follows the announcement that APR director Alice Gustafson will retire later this summer and as the search for a new director of OQI nears conclusion. Longtime OQI director Maury Cotter retired earlier this year. Darin Harris is currently serving as interim director.

OQI has served the campus with a set of services including strategic planning, process improvement and redesign to a broad array of stakeholders. APR has been more focused on improving complex processes at cross-campus and departmental levels, working closely (but not exclusively) with units under Vice Chancellor for Finance and Administration Laurent Heller. Both units provide project management and other associated services.

“Because OQI and APR provide complementary services, Vice Chancellor Heller and I believe it makes sense at this juncture to formally merge the two units under a new director,” says Provost Sarah Mangelsdorf.

The date of the merger will coincide with the appointment of a new director later this summer, closely followed by the co-location of the two units into newly remodeled space at 445 Henry Mall planned for the fall. Finalists for the directorship will be on campus in the coming weeks. Learn more.