APT develops processes that span boundaries
Since 1994 the Administrative Process Team (APT)
has been addressing University needs and developing
solutions to cross-departmental issues and
opportunities.
At the urging of President Shapiro, the APT was
originally conceived of by the Vice President for
Finance and Administration, Provost's Office and
Office of Human Resources, and was envisioned as a
means of harnessing staff talent and creativity
with management tools to tackle projects that span
departmental boundaries.
"Over the past several years," says Chris
McCrudden, APT cochair, "APT has developed a cadre
of trained team members, as well as leaders,
facilitators and trainers, and a legacy of projects
that have resulted in better services, more
efficient use of resources, and streamlined
processes across University departments."
Originally working with an outside consultant, the
group has devised a training methodology tailored
to Princeton's environment and has a core of
trainers who can be called upon to train new team
members to tackle problems identified by APT.
"The needs for a Department Manager's Handbook,
a record retention policy and a University events
calendar are longstanding," commented Provost
Jeremiah Ostriker, who oversees the APT. "The APT
is a vehicle which is now allowing us to address
these and similar issues."
Variety of tasks
Under cochairs McCrudden and Dale Grieb, APT
teams have wrestled with a variety of tasks,
ranging from streamlining new employee and foreign
national visa processing to consolidating computer
account registration and enhancing employment
processing. Besides improving services, APT teams
have generated savings in staff time that have
permitted services to grow without requiring
additional staff and have improved staff
productivity.
According to Ellen Kemp, systems manager for the
Woodrow Wilson School, "Before APT helped implement
Computer Account Registration, getting a new
faculty or staff member's e-mail, server and
administrative system IDs established involved
numerous steps and delays. Today the process is
streamlined, and we can have them up and running by
the time they arrive on campus."
In some cases, real dollar savings have been
realized, as in the Surplus Equipment Project,
which frees up storage space and effectively
recycles equipment, saving on space costs and
self-funding the recycling effort. The Temporary
Employment Team, by initiating a University-wide
review of this activity, has saved nearly $140,000
annually in temporary labor contracts. Total annual
savings realized from the APT team efforts are more
than $500,000, over and above the space
savings.
Departmental bridges
"While the savings and efficiencies generated by
the APT projects have been important," says Grieb,
"of equal benefit has been the way that teams have
pulled individuals together from across the campus
and across departmental boundaries to solve common
problems. Besides the training and experience
gained by team members, bridges have been built
between departments that persist beyond the limited
scope of the APT projects."
Anyone who has ideas or suggestions for
cross-departmental issues that APT might tackle or
who is interested in serving as a team leader or
facilitator should e-mail apt@princeton.edu. The
new web site at www.princeton.edu/apt offers more
information about past and ongoing projects.
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