Update from the Task Force on Workforce Planning

Dear colleagues,

On behalf of the FAS Task Force on Workforce Planning, I am writing to share an update on the first phase of our work, which has focused on gathering data, including significant input from the FAS community.

As Dean Hoekstra noted in her September 2 email, this is a challenging time for the FAS. For many years, the FAS has operated with a structural deficit. This financial reality is compounded by significant external pressures, such as changes to the federal funding landscape and an increase to our endowment tax. Adding to these financial constraints, faculty and staff are working within administrative systems and structures that have not kept pace with evolving needs and technologies. The Task Force seeks to address both these financial and operational challenges. Specifically, our goal is to achieve a more effective and efficient administrative model while improving the working and learning environment for staff, faculty, researchers, and students.

Over the summer, the Task Force gathered input from more than 100 groups and individuals across the FAS and received nearly 150 ideas through an online "Ideas Box." These conversations and ideas, along with existing data and other resources, have provided critical insights to inform our work.

Your input highlighted both what makes the FAS strong today and where we see opportunities to improve. Colleagues consistently expressed pride in the deep institutional knowledge, commitment to the academic mission, and adaptability of FAS staff. At the same time, nearly everyone identified challenges that make it harder for faculty and staff to efficiently deliver their best work and for faculty and students to focus on teaching and research.

Below, we highlight three major themes that emerged from our conversations. The challenges noted are indicative of the limitations of our current model, not the dedication of staff who work within it.

Complex and inefficient administrative systems: Individual staff must navigate a host of complex administrative systems and processes. For example, some Department Administrators use more than 60 administrative systems and processes with multiple layers of review, such as the 67 steps required to hire a staff member. Responsibilities and decision authority are often unclear, significantly slowing down work. The lack of role clarity is evidenced by the more than 1,500 unique job titles in the FAS. In addition, support for administrative functions is often distributed across multiple offices. For example, research administration support is provided across five offices at different levels of the organization. Together, these factors create a challenging environment requiring extensive institutional knowledge to navigate successfully.

Opportunities to enhance expertise: More than a quarter of FAS staff serve as generalists, balancing responsibilities across finance, human resources, facilities, grants management, and other functions. While this model requires remarkable breadth, it can limit opportunities to deepen expertise and reduce inefficiencies when complex processes must be repeatedly relearned. This approach makes it harder to build communities of practice or establish clear career pathways for staff that fully leverage our talent. 

Process duplication without improved service levels: When needs grow or are not adequately met, the response has often been to add staff rather than redesign processes or develop current staff skills. This has led to duplication as well as variable staffing levels for key functions and inconsistent service quality across units.

What comes next

Building on what we've heard, the Task Force is developing recommendations for how the FAS could evolve its administrative model to meet our financial realities while creating a structure that works better for staff, students, researchers, and faculty. We will provide another progress update with more information on proposed solutions later this fall.

Thank you for your continued engagement and dedication to this important effort.

Best wishes,
Nina Zipser, on behalf of the Task Force on Workforce Planning