Five key functional areas began steps to centralize university wide as part of the organizational review and accepted recommendations outlined in the Path Forward. To provide updates on implementation efforts underway, processes, functions and next steps are posted in relation to the anticipated timeline for completion.
Division of Facilities and Energy Services
Establish single entry point for maintenance/project/space requests
- Aggie Works, the online portal for submitting a routine maintenance request is already live; however, the interface is being updated to support a single-entry point for all projects: routine maintenance, small and large projects, and space requests. It is anticipated to launch during July 2023.
Develop processes, outline KPI/metrics
- Established in fall 2022, Campus Planning, Design and Construction (CPDC) is a team of facilities professionals that review requests and guide fellow Texas A&M faculty and staff in all aspects of the process, including but not limited to budgeting, timelines and other key components.
- Established in January 2023, the Executive Facilities Committee (EFC) represents faculty, staff and students across the university by reviewing projects with an investment of $4 million or more, and all space requests.
- Four different tracks have been outlined to help campus members identify which track their request aligns with best.
Create Facilities Analytics and Mapping (FAM)
- Established in fall 2022, Facilities Analytics and Mapping offers a centralized unit to support an integrated workplace management system to coordinate campus GIS standards/processes. The software – Archibus – is set to launch by summer 2023 in support of space inventory by reconciling floor plans, developing space surveys and more.
Division of Finance and Business Services
Contract Review and Approval Process
- Division leadership formed a working group and established a target completion date of July 31, 2023.
New Budget Allocation Process
- Worked with the EAB consultant to begin designing the framework to guide the new process involving a performance-based element.
Continuous Service Improvement Governance Group (CSIGG)
- Created the Continuous Service Improvement Governance Group (CSIGG) by identifying the chair and vice chair. Began identifying potential committee members from across the university.
Division of Human Resources & Organizational Effectiveness
Centralization of support staff campuswide
- Formerly distributed across campus as HR Liaisons, team members supporting HROE functions have been centralized functionally and grouped together by hubs to better serve campus members.
- There are six official hubs that include a team of HROE professionals prepared to serve different segments of our university, including remote locations and branch campuses.
Establish a centralized onboarding process to support the employee experience
- Beginning February 1, all new employees – faculty, staff and student workers – will have a start date of the 1 st or 16 th to provide a consistent and coordinated welcome through a centralized onboarding process hosted by HROE.
Establish clarity with guidelines and processes with Flexible Work Arrangements/AWL
- Alternate work location (AWL) requests follow guidance in place by The Texas A&M University System and Texas A&M University which was revised and approved in December 2022.
- The business process in Workday was launched in January 2023 and now each division, department and/or unit is working to identify the positions that qualify for an AWL or flexible work arrangement, and how to best serve campus members while supporting remote work options.
Division of Marketing and Communications
Centralization of service areas and functional areas
- A majority of Marketing & Communications team members have aligned with their operational and/or functional areas as of February 2023. The first phase was to identify which personnel campuswide supported MarComm functions which supported implementation of phase two at the beginning of 2023 to evaluate service areas and functional areas.
- Digital signage is now centralized with all campus members previously utilizing the FourWinds contract completing the onboarding process to utilize the new process. By summer 2023, all others will be onboarded.
- Web centralization continues as a common process is developed to request website updates. Depending on the type and complexity of the request, web updates may be made by either embedded marketing/communications teams or by the centralized web team.
Technology Services
Establish a centralized ticketing system
- Historically known as Help Desk Central , Help Desk and HDC, this service has been in place for faculty, staff and students; however, with a target date of August 2023, a centralized ticketing system campuswide will be launched that also takes into consideration the campus member being served.
- The vendor, Team Dynamix, was selected in January 2023 with efforts to pilot and implement the new service led by the recently established Enterprise Operations unit within Technology Services.
- This will bring together more than 30 independently operated instances of IT support allowing both academic and operational units to seamlessly communicate needs within one system across campus.
Establish a centralized marketplace for purchasing technology equipment
- Technology Services is working with leadership in the academic and operational units to determine standardized options to procure high-quality, fully tested and vetted technology that will be configured and secured to university standards.
- This information will be used to establish TechHub, a centralized online marketplace for divisions, departments and units. TechHub service will be rolled out in three phases: pilot testing in spring 2023 with hardware only, the addition of software and transition to colleges/schools/units in fall 2023 and full implementation of the end-point procurement system by spring 2024.
Improve network connectivity for wired and wireless service
- Next-Generation Aggie Network , a three-year, multi-million-dollar project designed to offer 6E WiFi service on main campus and the Texas A&M Health location in Bryan, launched in fall 2022.
- This project addresses both wired and wireless connectivity to support a positive user experience, both as an employee or student accessing the secure network as well as a guest accessing the visitor network.
- Currently, campus building wireless and hardware audits are underway and building fiber upgrades are also in progress.