Operational Excellence, the branch of Fast Forward Syracuse concerned with creating plans to fund Syracuse University’s academic initiatives and campus improvements, was discontinued earlier this year without public notice from SU, recent interviews with university officials revealed.

The termination of Operational Excellence came as SU officials also crafted and later launched Invest Syracuse, the university’s $100 million plan for academic investments. The function of Invest Syracuse closely mirrors the original intended function of Operational Excellence: Invest Syracuse is a mechanism for “generating new resources” to fund the Academic Strategic Plan, according to the Invest Syracuse website. Similarly, Operational Excellence was intended as a method to “generate savings and new revenue” for investment in the Academic Strategic Plan and Campus Framework, according to the Fast Forward Syracuse website.

But while SU advertised Operational Excellence as a university-wide initiative with faculty, staff and student input, the Invest Syracuse plan was crafted by a team of only administrators.

Officials say some opportunities identified through Operational Excellence will be reflected in Invest Syracuse, but it’s unclear to what degree that will occur. There is no official connection between the two initiatives, and Invest Syracuse currently doesn’t specify how most of the $100 million will be allocated. It’s also not clear whether the $30 million that will be made in administrative cuts through Invest Syracuse will reflect the savings initiatives that were previously pursued through Operational Excellence.

Amir Rahnamay-Azar, the university’s CFO who was appointed in January, said in an interview with The Daily Orange Editorial Board that Invest Syracuse is a “standalone initiative” independent of Fast Forward and Operational Excellence.

“We continue to pursue opportunities to be more effective and efficient,” he said. “… You know, the interesting thing about organizations is they evolve. New priorities come, new leadership joins.”

Ali Harford | Design Editor

Under Operational Excellence, more than 90 students, faculty and staff were on teams working to identify opportunities for savings and investments. There was also an executive committee that oversaw the initiative, as well as a steering committee — one that included faculty and students in addition to administrators — that was charged with providing input on the initiative.

But the initiative, and many of the elements that came with it, was at some point phased out.

In July, the same month the university launched Invest Syracuse, the senior associate vice president for operational excellence, Andrew Clark, retired from the university — something SU did not announce publicly. The director of operational excellence, Verda Blythe, is also no longer listed in the SU directory.

Clark declined an interview for this story, while Blythe did not return a request for comment.

Most members of the Operational Excellence executive and steering committees did not return requests for comment on this story. The two who did — Keith Alford, director of the School of Social Work, and Brian Sheehan, a professor of advertising —  each said they no longer serve on the steering committee.

The Program Management Office, which the university created to advance Operational Excellence, appears to also no longer exist. The room where the office was housed, at 321 Crouse-Hinds Hall, is now home to the Office of Transfer and Veteran Admissions. Additionally, the webpage for the Program Management Office no longer has any information about the office or Operational Excellence. Previously, the web page included a rundown of the initiative’s leaders and their roles.

“Those initiatives ran their course,” Rahnamay-Azar said of Operational Excellence. “We’re now at a point where we need to find a way to fund the Academic Strategic Plan because we want to get it out of the plan mode and into the action mode. And this is the funding mechanism that is going to help us get there.”

Ali Harford | Design Editor

SU Chancellor Kent Syverud first publicly hinted at the creation of Invest Syracuse during an address to the university community in January. It was then when he announced that Vice Chancellor and Provost Michele Wheatly, Rahnamay-Azar and then-interim CFO Gwenn Judge would work to develop a plan to fund the initiatives and goals of the Academic Strategic Plan, though he didn’t say Operational Excellence would be discontinued.

During that same address, Syverud also noted the need for shared governance at the university, saying SU had worked hard “to model shared governance, respecting the significant roles of the Board of Trustees, University Senate, students, faculty and staff in the decision-making of the institution.” But when it came to creating a plan to fund the university’s highest academic priorities, those groups do not appear to have been involved.

Wheatly said Syverud turned to members of his executive team — namely Wheatly, Rahnamay-Azar and Dolan Evanovich, the senior vice president for enrollment and the student experience — to craft the plan. Wheatly added that such an approach is a “pretty normal way of doing things.”

“We all come at it with different perspectives,” she said. “Clearly, my area is really knowing the academic plan inside out. Amir is the money guy. Dolan knows students inside out, upside down and knows all the parts of financial aid packages, tuition, price setting and all that. So in a way, on the chancellor’s executive team, we each bring our expertise in our given areas. … There were a lot of discussions going on before we emerged this plan.”

Published on October 3, 2017 at 12:57 am

Contact Michael: mdburk01@syr.edu