The new Service Center of Excellence (SCE) is being designed to create nimble, streamlined operations that will allow Finance and Administration to respond to future challenges.
That not only calls for a new way of doing business, it also calls for employees to think about their jobs and responsibilities differently. To provide support, both during the transition and afterward, Matt Fajack, vice chancellor for finance and administration, wants to expand training and professional development opportunities for employees throughout the division.
He has appointed a Professional Development Team, led by veteran Department of Public Safety training specialist Jackie Overton, to examine what Finance and Administration currently offers and leverage that with new professional development opportunities within the division and others offered throughout the University community.
Fajack is committed to providing division-wide training and professional development opportunities that create avenues for employees at all levels within the division to build their career paths as they grow professionally and personally.
“Part of the formula for success for our new Service Center of Excellence is to provide everyone in Finance and Administration with the tools they need to do their jobs as efficiently and effectively as possible,” Fajack says. “Creating new professional development opportunities and finding better ways to use what we already offer is crucial as we expand our capacity to support the University’s mission.”
Overton said the 10-member Professional Development Team, which began meeting in October, is working to develop a multi-tiered professional development approach that offers opportunities for people at all levels in the division: senior management, mid-level supervisors and frontline, entry-level employees.
“As we target areas best served by a new service delivery business model, we are identifying opportunities for all Finance and Administration employees,” says Overton, who has led training for public safety and transportation and parking staff for the past 30 years.
As a starting point, the team is compiling an inventory of what training the division provides, employee development opportunities that are available from the university, and what other universities provide related to their service delivery centers.
“The idea is to examine the courses and professional development opportunities we think are applicable to all our frontline employees, no matter where they work,” Overton says.
In conjunction with that effort, the team is gathering information about the best approach for senior management. Options include tapping the resources of UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School or finding an outside company that specializes in training for upper management.
Mid-level managers will probably be offered what Overton calls an accordion approach to professional development. “They need some of the same things senior management will be offered, but they are also direct connectors to our frontline staff,” she says, “so we believe they will benefit from a blend of opportunities.”
Team member Janet Kelly-Scholle, director of finance communications and training for the past eight years, says the variety of offerings already available in Finance and Administration would serve as a springboard for the future. “We don’t want to take anything away from what’s working well now, especially regarding University compliance,” she says. “Our goal is to expand on what we do.”
By the end of January or early February, the team hopes to submit its proposal to Fajack.
Ideally, Overton says, everyone in Finance and Administration will have an opportunity for training in some area related to change management, leadership, or a culture of service excellence – the primary areas of focus for the SCE.
“Going forward, this will support everything we do,” she said.