Human Resources
Campus: Hill Hall 3rd Floor
Mail: Dept. 3422
1000 E. University Ave.
Laramie, WY 82071-2000
Phone: 307.766.2377
Fax: 307.766.5607
Email: hr@uwyo.edu
UW Combined Study Status Weekly Reports:
Beginning week 12.19.2022 through 01.02.2023
Deloitte On-Campus 03.07.2023 through 03.09.2023
November:
December:
January:
February:
March:
April:
A: The Staff Organizational Structure Review will identify current-state strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and risks through interviews, surveys and focus groups with university faculty, staff and students. The information learned will then be used to develop any recommended changes to that structure, and recommendations for service enhancements and cost saving measures.
The Classification and Compensation Study includes a comparison of the University’s compensation program current state to 19 peer universities to determine areas of improvement and form recommendations that will align the University to leading market practice. The focus includes a review of compensation philosophy and pay policies, a new strategic job architecture, and a benchmark study to determine the competitiveness of the University’s current ranges and pay matrix.
A: University leaders and staff across campus have been selected to participate in the Staff Organizational Structure Review and Classification and Compensation Study governance committees. The project governance committees – comprised of the Executive and Advisory Committee – will act as stewards of change for the University of Wyoming future state. At the end of this effort, recommendations will be deliberated, prioritized, adopted, or tabled with input from these groups.
A: The Executive Committee is the decision-making body charged with making “go/no-go” decisions as the project progresses and will make key decisions related to the work.
Members provide:
The committee is structured with the intention that they will continue to provide governance for solutions as they are developed and guide them forward through to implementation.
UW Executive Committee Members:
What is the Advisory Committee and who is on it?
The Advisory Committee is charged with defining the vision and identifying focus areas aligned with this effort. These individuals periodically review findings as the project progresses and will help inform key decisions related to the work.
A: The Advisory Committee is charged with defining the vision and identifying focus areas aligned with this effort. These individuals periodically review findings as the project progresses and will help inform key decisions related to the work.
Members provide:
UW Advisory Committee Members:
A: The University of Wyoming is committed to creating a workplace experience where all staff members can grow, excel, and thrive. Guiding Principals were developed by the Executive Committee to ensure project scope, execution, and resulting recommendations are aligned with desired values that would translate to the future-state vision for the University of Wyoming.
Staff Organizational Structure Review and Classification and Compensation Study Guiding Principles:
A: The UW Organizational Structure Review drew qualitative and quantitative data through interviews, surveys, and focus groups to detail current state activities and functions of non-faculty administrative staff. The Deloitte team met with individual college and central unit personnel at key points in the project to conduct discovery, validate UW data, and receive direct feedback on assumptions and recommendations.
There were a number of ways UW employees were asked to contribute to the Staff Organizational Structure Review:
Virtual and In-Person Interviews: The Deloitte Team met with UW Employees, Faculty, and Students across campus. These individuals were identified by UW administrative leadership and College Deans to provide their points of view, data, or other information about their college/unit.
Surveys: Surveys are a valuable tool that help UW stakeholders and the Deloitte team define the current state, identify what gaps exist, and what opportunities leadership and staff see as they consider the future of the University. From the two surveys we received feedback from approximately.
Focus Groups: In addition to the 30+ interviews, the team conducted 7 focus group sessions were held with 53 UW employees, students, and faculty from departments/colleges across campus. Participants represented academic advisors, business officers, faculty, generalists, human resources, information technology, and students.
Data Collection: Information was gathered from various department sources – including Human Resources, Finance, other unit and individual college data. All UW personnel data gathered for this effort was drawn directly from UW systems and kept confidential.
Benchmarking: Comparative data was drawn from The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS). Relevant criteria were chosen and measured against a set of peer-grouped colleges and universities to draw conclusions around.
Subject Matter Advisor Consultation: Additional input was gathered from Subject Matter Advisors within Deloitte’s Higher Education Consulting Practice. These advisors
A: The Employee Satisfaction Survey [12/12/22-01/06/23] was sent to all full-time employees across campus (2,553 employees). Participants who rated services (on a scale from 1 to 5) they interacted with across campus. Deloitte received 671 completed surveys and 415 partial responses yielding a 35.68% response rate. Responses were anonymous to encourage increased participation and honest feedback.
The Employee Satisfaction Survey provided an opportunity to hear feedback from across campus and gain insight into the level of satisfaction with the administrative services that faculty and non-faculty employees receive. These results were one of the many inputs into the Staff Organizational Structure Review used to develop our Current State Assessment.
A: Deloitte launched an Administrative Activities Survey [01/10/23-01/30/23] to capture the level of effort (estimated time) required to complete specific functional and administrative activities over the past year. The intent of the survey was to match staff effort against transaction volume, assess service effort needs and requirements by level, and compare level of effort to applicable benchmarks.
The Administrative Activities Survey was one of many components to understand what activities are performed across campus to identify opportunities to increase efficiency and effectiveness amongst non-faculty administrative staff. The Activities Survey was sent directly to identified staff in college units. Intended recipients of the survey were staff who may do tasks related to: Academic Affairs, Communications & Marketing, Finance, General Administration, Human Resources, Information Technology, Research Administration and Training and Development – but do not sit in the specific central departments related to the activities. This survey WAS NOT used to assess an individual’s performance.
A: To select a target list of candidates for the Administrative Activities Survey the Deloitte team reviewed the UW staff roster to isolate all non-faculty staff and administrators [1,723 total staff and administrators].
Part time employees, work study students, and those who do not perform Academic Affairs, Communications & Marketing, Finance, General Administration, HR, IT, Research Administration, Student Services were removed to refine the list of eligible employees.
This down-selected list of employees and positions was then verified with HR stakeholders, college, and unit leaders [238 located in college units + 302 located in central units = 540 UW employees performing these roles.] This survey generated 462 responses (210 college unit + 252 central unit), resulting in an 86% response rate.
A: Thank you for contributing to this effort and completing the Administrative Activity survey. Your responses are instrumental in our understanding of UW’s current state and desired future state, and we welcome your continued engagement through a variety of channels:
Advisory Committee – this committee consists of representatives from across the University. Everyone is encouraged to connect with members to share your perspectives and to learn more about the latest project updates. While members may not have all the answers, they have been charged with bringing representative perspective to the project.
Email – we also welcome questions and comments shared directly via email at: hr@uwyo.edu.
A: This survey captured the level of effort required to complete specific functional and administrative activities per full time employee (FTE). Participants were asked to estimate the amount of time they spend on individual activities totaling 100% of their time over the course of the last year. If employees work over 40 hrs. per week the percentage of time spent will equal 100% of their time. Total time is measured as a percentage, rather than total hours worked. [Example: If 1 FTE works 55 hours per week, the total percentage of time across activities = 100%.]
As this effort moves forward through design and potential implementation, there is a recognition that workload may not be evenly distributed today. As a design principle, any future state operating model will seek a more even distribution of workload.
Future State Design Principles:
A: Fifty-three participants took part in seven hour-long focus groups from January 23 – 31, 2023. UW Human Resources leadership identified participants by role and function – making every effort to achieve a broad representative sample of constituencies across campus.
Qualitative analysis gained from these sessions resulted in:
A: To get a broad understanding of the perspectives across campus a variety of faculty, non-faculty employees and students were selected to participate in interviews and focus groups. These individuals represented the different schools, units and departments and included people in a variety of positions and levels across the university. The Employee Satisfaction Survey was administered across the entire campus to fill any gaps and provided all faculty and non-faculty employees an opportunity to share feedback.
A: While the initial project with Deloitte wraps up at the end of March, we will continue to take a strategic approach in implementing recommendations that reflect our Guiding Principles and core values as a university.
We engaged in this effort to complement the Academic Restructuring Plan with a focus on non-faculty organizational structures, job classifications, job titles, and compensation programs with a commitment to creating a workplace experience where all staff members can grow, excel, and thrive. To that end, there is still much road ahead of us. Once UW receives the Staff Organizational Structure Review and Classification and Compensation Study final reports, members from the Executive and Advisory Committees will weigh options for change. Some changes may be incremental or take time to implement – but we are wholeheartedly committed to this evolution.
Prospective initiatives include:
A: The Staff Organizational Structure Review provided current state insights on staff activities, current college/unit operating models, and opportunities for improvement for our UW campus community. To develop components for the UW future state operating model, the project grounded recommendations around four central design principles based on feedback from UW staff across campus:
Future State Design Principles:
UW will weigh provided recommendations against administrative best practices and co-create solutions based on feedback from the Advisory Committee, colleges, and our employees across campus.
A: The Classification and Compensation Study provided insight into the current state of the University’s compensation program including how Wyoming compared to 19 peer institutions. The Compensation Philosophy and Pay Policy updates are aimed at aligning to the University’s mission of becoming market competitive.
The outcome of a strategic job architecture will alleviate pain points caused by complex and outdated job leveling, inconsistent use of job titles, and lack of transparent career tracks. Job architecture will reduce role ambiguity and clarify role alignment, support consistent career pathing, and simplify external benchmarking allowing the University to pay more competitively.
The benchmark study will share insight into how the University’s pay aligns to the market for a sample of jobs. This data is used to determine the competitiveness and market alignment of the current pay matrix. Updates to the pay matrix will allow the University more flexibility in making compensation decisions that are based on current market data.
At the conclusion of this effort, the UW HR team will receive a final report summarizing project analyses, methodology and findings and include a roadmap for implementing the recommended classification and compensation program updates. The UW HR staff will learn the project methodology to continue this work in the future.
A: As the project moves forward, University leadership will host several information sessions to communicate project insights and gather feedback from staff on recommendations before proceeding with an incremental approach for change. Aside from the many interviews and other engagement from university staff, our Executive and Advisory Committee membership have been encouraged to share information about our journey thus far and will be equipped to answer any questions you may have.
A: The best place to access related to this effort is right here! The University of Wyoming Human Resources department has a webpage dedicated to providing up-to-date information on the Staff Organizational Structure Review and Classification and Compensation Study that includes an overview of this project, corresponding activities, and frequently asked questions. This page can be accessed for the latest news, updates, and communications associated with this effort as we continue to develop and implement recommendations towards the UW future state vision.
A: If you have participated in any of the interviews, surveys, focus groups, or governance committees thus far – thank you for your contribution!
This is a collective effort that can only be achieved with your input and support. If you are not part of this effort, have questions, or would like to get involved, please reach out to Bob Link. As we move forward with recommendations around changes to staff compensation and our organizational model there will be additional opportunities to provide feedback through town halls, staff senate committee meetings, and college/unit reporting channels. Be on the lookout for communications across campus providing specific guidance on ways to make your voice heard and be a part of this change.
Human Resources
Campus: Hill Hall 3rd Floor
Mail: Dept. 3422
1000 E. University Ave.
Laramie, WY 82071-2000
Phone: 307.766.2377
Fax: 307.766.5607
Email: hr@uwyo.edu