The size, scope, and complexity of the transformation initiatives require that we take an organized and planful approach to how we do our work to ensure that we can gain alignment across institutions and functions, collaborate among different functional teams, and meet our Transformation objectives and deadlines.
We are not simply adding more resources to what we are already doing, we are seeking to fundamentally change how we do things, implementing best practices from across our system and beyond, and streamlining our systems to ensure an education that is high quality, affordable, accessible and inclusive, relevant, and innovative, now and into the future.
Scope of Transformation
As we were creating Vermont State University and beginning administrative consolidation across both the new university and the Community College of Vermont, we focused on four different core process areas. In the first two areas, Student Experience and Academic Operations we were looking to bring together the programs and processes of three different institutions and re-engineer how we provide education and services to students. In contrast, the core processes related to Administrative Operations and Workforce Development were those that stretched across both Vermont State University and the Community College of Vermont.
In the fall of 2022, these teams were updated to better reflect the organization of VTSU and VSCS. The structure now looks like the following:
Project Management Process
Given the urgency of Transformation, the temptation was for each team to jump in and begin designing and building things based on some combination of how things were being done at each of the legacy institutions. That type of process is not transformative and would likely perpetuate inconsistencies and inefficiencies. To combat this temptation, all the sub-teams and project teams used a five stage project management process to ensure adequate discovery about how our programs, services, and supporting processes and systems should be designed and developed in a consistent and effective way. At the conclusion of each stage, there is a Gate Meeting where the teams present to sponsors and stakeholders a summary of their work with their recommendations, and sponsors approve them to move forward.
The image below describes the core work teams are engaged in at each stage.
Project Governance
For Transformation to progress smoothly, it is important to have clarity on how the teams are structured and how decisions are made. The project sponsors are accountable for the progress and success of Transformation, but they do not have the capacity or knowledge to do the work alone. They must rely on the experience and expertise of the teams to ensure that the resulting programs, services, processes and systems meet the needs of students and are aligned with our operational processes and systems. Here are the key governance principles:
- Project sponsors set vision and priorities and make decisions about plans to move forward
- Core teams plan, coordinate, and oversee the work within their core process area and make recommendations to the Sponsors
- The work of Design and Development is delegated to the sub-teams and project teams to ensure it is closely aligned with operational processes, systems, and student needs
- Stakeholders ensure plans align with functional priorities and identify linkages and dependencies across projects
Timeline
With an initiative of this scope, it is not possible for all projects to progress through the process at the same time and at the same speed. The Student Experience and Academic Operations Teams got off to the earliest start because the launch of Vermont State University is dependent on the completion of their work. Within those core processes areas, the sub-teams have created projects relates to the programs, processes, and services within their scope. These projects are then moving through the project management processes on a schedule that matches their priority, urgency, and the dependency they have on other projects. Here is a high-level overview of the schedule, including the Administrative Operations and Workforce Development Teams.