Template
for Administrative Support Unit Review Self-Study
The Self-Study will produce a clear, concise, single-spaced
20-page (maximum) narrative about the unit undergoing Administrative
Support Unit review. The narrative
will be organized according to the following guidelines, with sections
supported by appendices where warranted.
Omit questions not appropriate to your unit.
Mission and Functional Responsibilities
What is the mission of the unit (and its subunits, if applicable)?
Is the mission consistent with the present missions and strategic
plans of the division and the University? How is the mission communicated to unit staff and constituents?
What are the functional responsibilities of the unit, and to whom
does the unit report?
How does the unit
compare with similar units at peer institutions (e.g., Urban 13+) in
terms of structure, responsibilities, size, and budget? Note: if additional institutions are used for comparison, define
the criteria used to select them.
Goals
and Objectives
What are the unit’s
goals and objectives? Are they
consistent with the defined mission and functional responsibilities
of the unit? What is the unit’s
method of developing goals/objectives and communicating them to unit
staff and constituents?
To what extent
have the present goals and objectives been achieved? What are the unit’s notable accomplishments? How is achievement measured? Does measurement include feedback from the
providers and recipients of the service/product?
Is the reward structure aligned with the unit’s goals and objectives?
Services
Provided to Community
What services/products does the unit provide? To what groups/ individuals are these provided:
students? staff? faculty? alumni? others? How does the unit make potential clients aware of available services/products?
How are services prioritized and scheduled, and by whom? Do any laws, regulations, or other requirements
external to the university impact the provision of services/products?
If so, please identify.
How does the unit
make the community aware of priorities, policies, and procedures?
How does the unit learn about the community’s needs and obtain feedback
regarding service delivery? How
well are clients ’ needs defined and met? Note: For units that do not have an ongoing system for identifying community needs
and receiving community feedback, please include your plan for implementing
such a system and discuss how this information will be used by the unit.
Are there services/products that clients need which the unit cannot provide? What would the unit need to be able to provide these?
Structure, Organization, and Climate
What is the unit’s organizational structure? (Please provide an organizational
chart.) Is this form of organization
appropriate to meeting the unit’s goals and objectives? Do
all critical staff functions have a backup?
For any services/products provided by the unit in conjunction with
other units within the university, please describe the relationship. How is the work coordinated between or among
units? How can such relations be facilitated?
Are duplicate or parallel services offered within the unit or elsewhere
in the university? Describe
any overlap and discuss what changes might be indicated (e.g., centralization,
coordination, elimination of
duplication).
What
are the unit’s planning, decision-making, and evaluation processes?
Who is involved in each?
Are work responsibilities clearly defined? How are these determined?
What are the general morale, attitude, and culture of the unit?
What measures are taken to ensure that the unit
is appropriately sensitive to the cultural backgrounds of staff and
clients?
Resources
Provide a budget allocation and expenditure summary for the past
five fiscal years, and a copy of your most recent internal audit.
In addition, for each of the core activities identified in IB,
indicate how resources are spent on each of these activities. To what extent does the budget allocation and its utilization allow
unit goals and objectives to be realized? What is the decision-making process for the distribution of budget
allocations?
What is the space, facilities, and technology allocation? To what extent does the allocation and its
utilization allow unit goals and objectives to be realized.
Do employee skills match the unit’s needs? Is additional training or cross-training necessary? If so, what kind? Is there a regular mechanism for providing training?
What changes could be made to produce greater efficiencies or economies
of scale (e.g., reduction, modification, or elimination of paperwork;
structural reorganization)? What
constraints (e.g., resources, personnel, technology)
must the unit address to achieve these?
Summary of Report and Strategic Directions
Overall, what are the unit’s greatest strengths? How can the unit leverage the strengths that
already exist? Can the strengths be improved upon?
What areas need improvement, and what recommendations can address
these?
What, if any, changes are indicated in the unit’s current mission,
goals, and objectives? (Section I)
What, if any, changes are indicated in the ways that the achievement of goals and objectives
is measured? (Section II)
What, if any, changes are indicated in the services/products provided
to clients by the unit? (Section III)
What, if any, changes are indicated in the unit’s organizational
structure, processes,
and climate? (Section IV)
What, if any changes are indicated in the unit’s resources (budget,
space, staffing, technology, etc.)? (Section V)
Review the recommendations derived from B1-5 above. What priorities among these areas should be
set? What is a realistic timetable for the achievement
of the recommendations (1-, 3-, 5-years)? Within each time frame, prioritize the recommendations. How does the unit plan to monitor progress?
Note: For the purpose of addressing this question, a chart that
utilizes the following headings will suffice.
One-year goals
Prioritized recommendation(s) Measures of progress
1.
2.
etc.
Three-year goals
Prioritized recommendation(s) Measures of progress
1.
2.
etc.
Five-year goals
Prioritized recommendation(s) Measures of progress
1.
2.
etc.
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6-18-02