Ohio State identifies opportunities to improve operations, save time for faculty and staff

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Ohio State identifies opportunities to improve operations, save time for faculty and staff

Community input drives University Continuous Improvement program

The Ohio State University has announced the first results of the University Continuous Improvement (UCI) program designed to address "pain points" and make it easier for faculty and staff to break through operational barriers that limit their efficiency and effectiveness across the university's campuses.

The idea for the UCI program in the Office of Academic Affairs emerged from faculty and staff input around administrative and operational challenges that affect their work. Additionally, in last year's Ohio State Listening Survey, employees shared that they value having a greater role in decision making and elevating good ideas from anywhere at the university.

Based on subsequent listening sessions with President Ravi V. Bellamkonda, then in his role as provost, and an operations survey administered by Faculty Council, UCI aligns administrative units and colleges to make a large and complex public university more effective though operational efficiencies.

"The UCI program will result in more time for members of the Buckeye community to teach, learn, research and take part in meaningful development opportunities," Bellamkonda said.

The aim of UCI is to create efficiencies, accelerate impact, improve quality and enhance faculty, staff and student satisfaction - all while fostering a culture of continuous learning, change management and employee engagement. Along with being the direct result of community feedback from the Ohio State Listening Survey, UCI addresses the operations theme of the university's Education for Citizenship 2035 plan. Early wins include:

• Significant reduction in the time taken to hire graduate associates - from 14.5 days on average in late 2024 to 5.9 days in November 2025; as well as time to hire lecturers/senior lecturers - from 26.1 days to 2.4 days in the same time frame.
• Improvements to the Strategic Hiring Initiative for Faculty Talent (SHIFT), reducing the Faculty Search Report to a single page and the number of required documents to four while enhancing the user experience via a redesigned website, mini-tutorials, flexible virtual office hours, and on-demand consultation tools for a more faculty-centered experience.
• Increased visibility for admissions staff through the Enrollment Outreach Dashboard, a new tool developed by Institutional Research and Planning to support retention efforts and further aid students and families in college planning.
• Implementing closer drop-offs at the new University Hospital via an overnight, fixed-route Med Center Express expansion - the aim of which is to improve commute reliability as well as safety.
• Providing more flexibility to colleges and end users by the Office of Technology and Digital Innovation shifting from strict data storage caps to a soft-limit model that emphasizes education and cleanup support instead of immediate restrictions.

"When we heard the feedback, we were able to identify frustrations that those in our community share while navigating processes and systems - and then work to streamline or simplify," Bellamkonda said. "While we've had significant early successes, the best part of the program is that it is designed to be ongoing. The idea is to never stop improving."

As part of the focus on a continuous and ongoing feedback loop, the Office of Academic Affairs has set up a submission process on the UCI website for members of the Ohio State community to identify areas for the UCI steering committee members to direct their efforts.

"We're excited to find areas where change management can occur quickly and transparently for our university community," said Ann Talbot, associate vice president for strategic initiatives and a UCI steering committee member.

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