BETTER TOGETHER:University of Massachusetts modernizing administration and investing in students through shared servicesThe University of Massachusetts is a world-class public research university system committed to advancing knowledge and transforming lives. Through high-quality educational programs, a groundbreaking research enterprise, and impactful industry engagement, UMass harnesses the revolutionary spirit of Massachusetts to deliver an unparalleled student experience. With four comprehensive campuses, a top-ranked medical school and a mission-driven law school, each UMass campus prepares its students to contribute to their communities and thrive in the global economy.

However, like most public university systems, UMass faces a challenging fiscal environment. A shrinking pool of college-aged students, caused by demographic shifts in the Northeast and stagnant state funding, has made cost containment and efficiency an imperative for university administration.

Fiscal stability and sustainability are a top management priority... We are always pursuing innovative approaches to redirecting resources, in order to ensure we are fulfilling our core mission of providing a high-quality, affordable and accessible education for students from all backgrounds.

LISA CALISE Senior Vice President for Administration & Finance and Treasurer, UMass

One of the university’s most prominent initiatives, “We are better together,” is transforming the way UMass delivers its administrative services, which supports the university’s academic and research missions.

At its core, “We are better together” is based on the belief that, as a complex organization, our whole is greater than the sum of its parts. While the university system’s campuses are geographically diverse, they all have the potential to share administrative services, such as procurement, human resources, finance and IT. By implementing a shared services approach, the university minimizes duplication, increases efficiency, produces tangible savings, increases transparency and improves services for UMass faculty, staff, students and business partners. In higher education, savings from successful shared services implementations range from 10 to 20 percent. Recent advances in automation have also increased the potential for savings.

For certain functions, such as procurement and IT, there is the potential to dramatically reduce non-labor related costs. For example, there are opportunities in procurement to consolidate spend, negotiate better contracts and eliminate maverick spending with suppliers.

We are better together

As it prepared to implement shared services, UMass researched the experiences and results of other higher education institutions. The team focused its attention on other public university systems, including those in Colorado, Missouri and Maine. Their analysis included an investigation into the key characteristics of each implementation, including customer service, staffing strategy and organizational structure, which provided insight into the tools, policies and processes that leading organizations have adopted to support their “procure to pay” (P2P) shared services efforts.

Shared services—a proven modern management model in higher education

Through the modern shared services organization, UMass will drive significant cost savings that can be reinvested in students and the university’s mission. More specifically, the university will reap the benefits of an estimated savings of $16 million in the first 12 to 18 months with annual savings to follow, which is roughly equivalent to a 3% increase in tuition or the endowment distribution of a $400 million gift. But savings are only a part of the story.

Modernizing administrative services will yield savings to reinvest in the mission

A sentiment of skepticism arises when a system like ours takes on something of this magnitude...

DAVID NERO Assistant Vice President of Innovation and Operational Services, UMass

There is a perception that customer service may suffer as a result of delivering services in a unified way. The reality is that the personal side doesn’t go away. In fact, it can be better, because there will be a dedicated team to focus on a service, not just one person disconnected from their colleagues doing similar work on different campus.

While a shared services model presents a remarkable opportunity to improve service and reduce costs, campus personnel understandably want to participate in the process, in order to ensure their concerns are being addressed and service expectations are being met.

The team embarked on a series of campus town halls to solicit ideas and feedback from faculty and staff. These meetings allowed stakeholders to participate in shaping the plan by voicing concerns and the working group provided invaluable information about particular nuances at the campus level. For example, some campuses may prefer local suppliers for goods and services. While the university may look to consolidate spend to improve pricing, it was important that the local businesses that supply the individual campuses continue to be part of the ecosystem in the future. Their essential feedback was incorporated into the plan, and stakeholders will continue to be involved in ongoing improvement efforts in the future.

Managing change through collaboration

Staff specialization will improve service for end users, while better data will allow for advanced analytics and performance optimization. New service levels and increased transparency will also give university stakeholders more visibility into costs and outcomes.

As soon as the comprehensive shared services plan was approved by the Board of Trustees, UMass moved forward to implement procurement and related functions first to build momentum and confidence in the model.

After completing a national search, UMass hired the university’s first system-wide Chief Procurement Officer (CPO). The CPO will lead the newly created Unified Procurement Services Team, which is comprised of procurement, operations, accounts payable and travel services, and customer service professionals who will provide efficient, effective services to the system office and the individual campuses.

This first shared services initiative will play an integral role in improving the efficiency and effectiveness of the UMass system through enhanced strategic purchasing and more data-focused and streamlined operations. As the model matures, the university plans to extend the shared services model to drive further performance improvements.

Going forward together

We established an advisory working group with representation from every campus, and it included faculty and members of our Board of Trustees...

LISA CALISE Senior Vice President for Administration & Finance and Treasurer, UMass

That cross-functional working group model has worked so well that we are using it for other system-wide initiatives.

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ABOUT UMASSThe University of Massachusetts is a world-class public research university system committed to advancing knowledge and transforming lives. Through its world-class educational programs, groundbreaking research enterprise, and its impactful community service and industry engagement activities, UMass harnesses the revolutionary spirit of Massachusetts to deliver an unparalleled student experience. Visit us at www.massachusetts.edu.

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Having solid data is critical to revamping P2P. The team began by refreshing the data

(e.g., FTE and transaction data) for accounts payable (AP) and developing a plan for moving AP activities to a shared service. The team

also analyzed FTE and spend data to quantify efficiency and savings opportunities. As part of this process, the team structured the data

so that it could be used for benchmarking comparisons.

DATA ANALYSIS

Gathering a comprehensive voice of the customer was a

critical component to shaping the shared services plan. The team conducted workshops

and function-specific meetings to develop recommendations and allow input into the plan.

OUTREACH

After synthesizing findings, the team created a plan to

build a Unified Procurement Services Team to support P2P. The plan included a summary

of all of the FTE and transaction data by process and campus,

an outline of the sub-processes that could be performed

by a unified P2P team, key metrics for each process

area and a roadmap for designing the customer

services function.

ROADMAP

Key Components of UMass Journey to Shared Services

@UMass University of Massachusetts