Office of Shared Services

Annual Report

July 2013

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Table of Contents

Shared Services Initiative ....................................................................................................... 3

Shared Services Steering Committee ...................................................................................... 4

Shared Services Stakeholder Groups ...................................................................................... 5

Partnership with New York State ........................................................................................... 8

Strategic Communication Plan ............................................................................................... 9

Status of On-Going Projects and Quick-Wins ........................................................................ 11

Strategic Sourcing .................................................................................................................................. 11

IT Transformation................................................................................................................................... 14

Centers of Excellence ............................................................................................................................. 19

Campus Alliance Networks .................................................................................................................... 29

Phased Approach to Assessment, Design and Implementation of Shared Services Program . 31

Phase I: Assessment ............................................................................................................................... 31

Phase II: Overall Design .......................................................................................................................... 31

Phase III: Implementation ..................................................................................................................... 31

Conclusion and Next Steps .................................................................................................. 32

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SHARED SERVICES INITIATIVE

Goal – to enhance the core academic and student service missions of our campuses by redirecting

resources and reinvesting $100MM in savings into instruction and direct student support. To drive

operational efficiencies and enhance student services to improve Access, Completion and Success.

Beyond Savings - innovation, quality improvements, service excellence, efficiencies, best practices and

savings and reinvestment

• Improving core services across campuses for students, faculty and staff

• Meeting and exceeding our students’ expectations for seamless student services beyond

boundary constraints.

• Appropriately realigning funding to meet the goals outlined in SUNY’s vision

The Office of Shared Services works directly with the Vice Chancellor and Chief Financial Officer to

execute the Operational Efficiencies and Service Excellence: Shared Services – Implementation Plan

(Attachment 1). The plan details specific projects, roles and responsibilities and communications plans.

This tool was created at the beginning of this effort and is maintained by the Office of Shared Services at

http://www.suny.edu/sharedservices/reports/

In order to achieve these goals, the Office of Shared Services has developed a working structure that

includes constant communication with campuses, project managers, professional organizations, peer

institutions and other stakeholder groups; as well as input of the Shared Services Steering Committee.

Additionally, SUNY has partnered with New York State to leverage the work of the State’s business

transformation efforts; and is in the midst of a 12-week engagement with a management consulting firm

for the review of the Operational Efficiencies and Service Excellence: Shared Services – Implementation

Plan.

Strategic Priorities - There are four main areas of our shared services strategy:

Strategic Sourcing: • SUNY/NYS • SUNY-wide • Regional & Campus to Campus

IT Transformation • Seamless Student Information Systems • Software Standardization • Data Center & Networking • E-mail

Centers of Excellence • Transaction Processing Center • Functional Expertise • Regional Hubs

Campus Alliance Networks • Administrative Alliances • Campus to Campus Initiatives • Regional Initiatives

The status updates presented below provide details on SUNY’s progress in achieving these goals and the

thoughtfully designed approach for moving forward.

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SHARED SERVICES STEERING COMMITTEE

The SUNY Shared Services Steering Committee is charged with assisting in the coordinated efforts

required to bring to scale the shared services initiative, including advising System Administration and

providing the leadership needed to drive change to their colleagues at the campus level. The committee

is designed to help prioritize savings opportunities, vet ideas, and help make decisions on SUNY-wide

projects for shared services. This group is convened by the SUNY Provost and SUNY Chief Financial

Officer.

Membership of the Committee consists of the following:

• A president, provost, and business officer from each of the four sectors as nominated by

the presidents across the system.

• Shared governance representatives, including Faculty Senate, Faculty Council of

Community Colleges and Student Assembly.

• A member of the SUNY Board of Trustees as nominated by the Chairman of the Board.

• Representatives of key constituent groups including initially the President of ACT and

the President of NYCCT with more to be added as needed.

• Cabinet and relevant staff from SUNY System Administration.

The meeting schedule and topics are as follows:

March 26, 2012 Leading Transformational Change

May 31, 2012 Alignment and Decision Making

July 25, 2012 Implementation and Project Management

September 18, 2012 Communications and Reporting

November 5, 2012 Governance and Reporting

January 30, 2013 Governance and Funding

April 9, 2013 Communications and Management

June 4, 2013 Management Consulting Firm Engagement

July 29, 2013 Engagement and Next Steps

August 6, 2013 To Be Determined

The Shared Services team is working on an engagement plan to maximize the participation of the Shared

Services Steering Committee and increase the value of participation for both committee members and

the shared services program. Implementation of the engagement plan will begin with a full-day steering

committee workshop on July 29, 2013.

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SHARED SERVICES STAKEHOLDER GROUPS

The Office of Shared Services performs campus engagement including meetings and communications

with campus stakeholder and peer groups, national organizations and consortia, and other university

systems. The purpose of this engagement is to support the implementation of shared services, obtain

useful information through discussion of best practices, and to learn from experts.

SUNY Stakeholder and Peer Groups

SUNY Accounting, Budget, Bursar Committee (ABB) - The Office of Shared Services communicates

with and participates in scheduled meetings with ABB. ABB has also provided its “35 Points of Light”,

a document outlining 35 ideas, including shared opportunities the group is asking SUNY to pursue.

SUNY Alliance for Strategic Technologies (AST) - The Information Technology Transformation Team

(ITTT) participates in regular meetings with AST, presents project updates, and solicits feedback

from the group.

SUNY Business Officers Association (SUBOA) - The support of the business officers is essential for the

successful implementation of the Operational Efficiencies and Service Excellence: Shared Services –

Implementation Plan. The CFO provides regular updates to the group and has engaged them

through subcommittees and special meeting. Additionally, SUBOA plays a significant role in the

development of procurement related projects, including Strategic Sourcing.

SUNY Council for University Advancement (SUNY CUAD) - The campus design and print staff

members represented at SUNY CUAD are critical to the success of Print Matters (SUNY –wide Print

Shop Utilization Project). Print Matters team members presented at the June 2013 annual

conference to a large group of stakeholders. The presentation was well received and served to

inform the project going forward.

NY Community College Association of Presidents (NYCCAP)/Community College Business Officers

Association (CCBOA) – The CFO continues to meet with NYCCAP & CCBOA and works to engage the

community colleges in shared services, to the extent that community college participation is both

feasible and of benefit to the participants. A sub team is being developed and formalized initiatives

focused on the Community Colleges will be prioritized.

SUNY Purchasing Association (SUNY PA) - SUNY purchasing staffs are early adopters of shared

services. The Office of Shared Services began regional procurement group meetings in January 2012.

All state-operated campuses have hosted such regional meetings. This willing participation has been

essential to the quick wins achieved in Strategic Sourcing.

SUNY Council of Chief Information Officers (CCIO) – no update available.

SUNY Human Resources Association (SUHRA) – no update available.

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Professional Groups and Consortia

Educational and Institutional Cooperative Purchasing (E&I)

Through the use of E&I contracts and consortia purchasing, SUNY is able to take advantage of

large volume pre-negotiated contracts, allowing SUNY to capture savings through both reduced

prices and reduction in staff time required for contract negotiation.

HCM Strategists/Lumina Foundation

SUNY has partnered with HCM Strategists, a public policy and advocacy firm that is working with

Lumina Foundation, to advance post secondary education through the development of Strategy

Labs. The Strategy Labs provide policymakers with the opportunity to connect with peers from

other states and to share, identify, and pursue solutions to ensure that more students complete

college within existing resources.

Martha Snyder, the Albany-based Strategy Labs policy lead, is scheduled to present at the next

Shared Services Internal Team meeting scheduled July 22, 2013.

National Association of College and University Business Officers (NACUBO)

As a member of NACUBO, SUNY has participated in conversations and presentations around

best practices in shared services.

The partnership between SUNY Potsdam and SUNY Canton was recently awarded NACUBO’s

2013 Innovation Award. The award acknowledges the campus’ achievements under the

leadership of Vice President for Business Affairs and Administration, Natalie Higley.

National Center for Higher Education Management Systems (NCHEMS)

The Office of Shared Services worked with experts from NCHEMS in the area of governance

required to support shared services.

Other Universities

California State University (CSU)

The Office of Shared Services and the ITTT participated in conversations with CSU regarding IT

infrastructure at both the strategic and tactical levels; including IT vision, direction and

principles; cyber-infrastructure strategy and environment; as well as data center elimination.

City University of New York (CUNY)

A joint meeting between SUNY and CUNY provided an open conversation on shared services

models.

SUNY and CUNY strategic sourcing staff have met on sourcing opportunities, including potential

projects and finding commonalities between both systems.

CUNY is receptive to working with SUNY, especially on strategic sourcing training opportunities;

however, discussions have been at a conceptual level thus far.

Cornell University

Cornell University shared information with the Office of Shared Services regarding its eight

financial and business services centers.

Cornell’s shared services efforts began in 1999, when the need for consolidation of physical

space drove them to create 35 shared services centers.

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In 2003, a workforce planning effort consolidated the 35 shared services centers down to 8,

allowing Cornell to save 63 FTE’s in finance alone.

University System of Georgia (USG)

The Office of Shared Services and ITTT spoke with USG to discuss best practices and lessons

learned during Georgia’s ten years working in a shared environment. USG stressed the

importance of standardization, communication, and the use of a consulting firm to implement a

successful shared services program.

Financial services, including procurement, have been centralized for 33 of 35 campuses. A single

common Student Information System is centrally hosted and used by only 11 of 35 campuses.

Johns Hopkins University (JHU)

JHU advised the Office of Shared Services about its massive shared services effort. Beginning in

2006, JHU used an IT-system driven approach to eliminate all of the shadow-systems and

redundant processes in place at each campus.

JHU was able to implement one shared services center for both the Johns Hopkins Health

System and JHU.

University of Michigan (UM)

The Office of Shared Services and ITTT spoke with the University of Michigan shared services

work in finance, HR, student services, procurement, and IT rationalization.

Through IT rationalization alone, UM was able to save more than $30M in the first year. The

creation of a shared resource center has also lead to a savings of approximately $20M per year.

UM advised that the greatest savings lie in procurement, particularly strategic sourcing.

Minnesota State Colleges and Universities (MnSCU)

In 2011, MnSCU implemented a Campus Service Cooperative (CSC) which supports MnSCU’s

goal of providing the highest value and most affordable option for higher education to all

Minnesotans.

o Provides services in the area of Finance/Business Offices; Human Resources; Financial

Aid; and Strategic Sourcing.

The CSC’s tag line of “One team, many campuses” is realized through its focus on efficient, high

quality, and transformational delivery of services, while respecting the unique academic mission

of each MnSCU college and university.

Yale University

Yale advised the Office of Shared Services that they too began working on shared services as

means to drive savings into their academic programs. All FTE savings have been moved from

administration to academic functions.

Yale will provide SUNY, along with the University of Texas, a tour of its shared services center on

July 12, 2013. The tour will include a presentation from an academic department on their

experiences (and level of services received) pre and post shared services.

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PARTNERSHIP WITH NEW YORK STATE

It is SUNY’s goal to partner with New York State and leverage their progress in business transformation

and shared services. SUNY will consider all state shared services projects, and where appropriate,

pursue a joint venture. Partnering with the State provides SUNY with the potential to utilize the power

of the Governor to impact change.

Additionally, the State has already invested significant resources on design and implementation.

Working with the State will provide SUNY the ability to utilize existing design and implementation

efforts; rather than expending resources to recreate similar structures. SUNY is working with DOB and

OGS to evaluate the State’s shared services efforts and to thoughtfully plan and implement SUNY’s work

with the state.

In order for SUNY to maximize the benefit the State’s resources and progress, a formal project plan is in

development, a draft of which is attached (Attachment 2: Leveraging New York State's Enterprise‐wide

Transformation Efforts). The project plan uses the Office of Shared Services’ project management

processes and techniques and addresses the functional areas prioritized by the State. The State is

moving forward with shared services projects in the following areas: Finance, Human Resources,

Information Technology, Procurement, Call Centers, Facilities, Fleet Management, Grants Management,

and Learning Management System (employee training tool).

SUNY’s plan incorporates the consideration and evaluation of all of functional areas for which the State

is pursuing. Though SUNY may not elect to move forward on a formal partnership in all areas, we will

document the analysis and decision making process.

The following updates indicate the Office of Shared Services’ progress in this endeavor.

SUNY met with New York State’s Transformation Team to discuss best practices. The State

indicated that each project has a consulting firm supporting design and implementation.

SUNY has a meeting scheduled with Commissioner Destito to continue previous discussions

around SUNY’s desire to partner with New York State.

SUNY continues to work with NYS PRO (NYS procurement) in the area of Strategic Sourcing.

SFS – The 1st year under a bulk load process from SUNY into the State Financial System was

completed in April 2013. Many issues were faced and solved by SUNY system Administration

and the campuses during the year. At this point SUNY is reviewing.

Business Process Centers – SUNY has had several meetings with NYS as they implement BPC

(transaction processing centers). Long-term opportunities exist but require assessment and

planning, tied to the State’s priorities and existing plans.

Call Centers – Although the State’s inquiry into operating all SUNY Call centers through NYS Tax

and Finance did not lead to a merger, there are efficiencies that can be gained by sharing

systems and other operational resources.

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STRATEGIC COMMUNICATION PLAN

The Shared Services Strategic Communications Plan was developed in March 2013 in order to provide a

structure for the collection and distribution of information regarding broad initiative-based goals and

project-specific goals and achievements. The plan was reviewed by the Shared Services Steering

Committee during their April 9, 2013 meeting. The Office of Shared Services continues to update and

roll-out the plan. Additionally, part of the management consulting firm’s engagement with SUNY will

include significant attention to communication, engagement methods and messaging.

Shared Services Website

The Office of Shared Services continues to work with the Office of Communications and the SUNY Web

Manager to develop a web presence (www.suny.edu/sharedservices). The site currently contains media

including news articles and social media items and information on the Harnessing Systemness Regional

Showcase event series. Plans for the website include information regarding the Office of Shared

Services; the overall shared services vision; project-specific information; links to available resources;

information on current and past events; news items; and resources for interested parties.

Webinar Series

In the spring of 2013, the Shared Services Team presented its first series of webinars entitled

“Harnessing Systemness: Discussions on Efficiency and Effectiveness - An Overview of Shared Services

Initiatives.” The sessions were designed to engage campus stakeholders including Presidents, Vice

Presidents, Provosts, Chief Information Officers, and their respective staffs.

The webinars provided project details and information about the implementation of shared services.

The following topics were discussed:

Presenter Topic

Brian Hutzley Shared Services Webinar Series Kickoff

Joe Gardiner Business Intelligence (BI)

Patricia Thompson SUNY Smart Track

Pam Swanigan MWBE

Jean Boland SUNY-wide Data Dictionary

Julie Petti HR and Payroll

Dave Powalyk SUNY Seamless Student Information System (S4)

Laura Stetson Transaction Processing Center (TPC) - Procurement

T. Hippchen & M. Feathers Strategic Sourcing

These webinars were recorded for later viewing and may be found online:

https://sas.elluminate.com/mrtbl?suid=M.FD81857329FDCC4551AD9B51597BD7&sid=2012301

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Over the series, an average of 168 unique registration sites logged in for each webinar; however

multiple users participated at many registration sites. Surveys were issued following each webinar.

Each webinar was introduced by the CFO covering key component of the vision. The Office of Shared

Services plans to provide additional webinars focusing on targeted project areas.

Harnessing Systemness Regional Showcase Events

“Harnessing Systemness: Regional Discussions on Efficiency and Excellence” events were designed to

bring together campuses from the same geographic regions, in order to provide a better understanding

of the shared services initiative, celebrate progress, share best practices, discuss challenges, and foster a

collaborative culture of engagement across SUNY.

The first event was held at Cortland on January 30, 2013. The following events are scheduled and are

being designed using feedback provided from January event attendees, the Shared Services Steering

Committee, and SUNY faculty experts.

Date Host Campus Invited Regions (by REDC)

August 1, 2013 SUNY Potsdam North Country and Mohawk Valley

August 6, 2013 Fashion Institute of Technology NYC and Long Island

October 21, 2013 SUNY New Paltz Capital District and Mid-Hudson

November 20, 2013 University at Buffalo Western NY and Finger Lakes

E-Newsletter

The Office of Shared Services will produce a bi-monthly electronic newsletter, titled “One SUNY”. The

newsletter will highlight success in shared services from around SUNY; and will focus on dollar savings,

process improvement, and resulting investments from identified efficiencies. The newsletter will also

highlight the regional showcase events in order to provide campuses from outside the invited region an

inclusive view of each event.

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ONGOING PROJECTS AND QUICK-WINS

The following ongoing projects are managed by the Shared Services Teams. Each team is managed by a

Functional Lead, responsible for reporting project status (through the use of consistent project

management tools and practices) to the Office of Shared Services; meeting with the Shared Services

Steering Committee and Shared Services Internal Team, as well as engaging stakeholder groups.

Detailed plans for each project can be found in the Operational Efficiencies and Service Excellence:

Shared Services Implementation Plan (Attachment 1).

Strategic Sourcing

The Strategic Sourcing Team is working with the procurement experts at System Administration, the

Research Foundation, state-operated and community colleges, as well New York State to combine

buying power and drive large-scale savings in the purchasing of commodities and services. The Strategic

Sourcing team works collaboratively to identify opportunities and, where feasible, pursue State-wide,

SUNY-wide or multi-campus or regional contracts to achieve cost savings and increase procurement

efficiencies.

In order to facilitate the success of collaborative procurement, including insuring that campuses take

advantage of shared contracts, the Strategic Sourcing Team has submitted a Strategic Planning

Implementation Funding Proposal (Attachment 3) to purchase an electronic procurement solution. The

proposed e-procurement system will not only promote the savings associated with Strategic Sourcing,

but will also contribute to the development of an enhanced procurement system.

Strategic Sourcing is managed at three levels:

State-wide (Partnership with NYS Strategic Sourcing)

SUNY works directly with New York State’s Office of General Services procurement group

(NYSPro) to identify contracts that are beneficial to both SUNY and the State’s executive

agencies. SUNY meets regularly with NYSPro’s strategic sourcing team and provides them with

spend data related to SUNY’s purchasing.

Status of Current NYS Strategic Sourcing Initiatives:

o Office Supplies: contract awarded to Staples effective May 14, 2013

o Auto Parts – Filters: contract awarded to United Auto Supplies effective May 7, 2013;

o Office Equipment – Lot 1 printers: contracts awarded to OkiData and Lexmark effective

February 27, 2013;

o Existing Medical Laboratory Supplies and MRO Supplies: existing contracts are being

extended to allow more time for strategic sourcing projects in these areas;

Preliminary NYS Strategic Sourcing Wave 1 savings data was provided to SUNY and they are

being reviewed and applied towards SUNY category spend to calculate savings to date.

Preliminary calculations indicate that savings could be as high as $9.0M

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SUNY-wide

The Office of Business Operations and Procurement is responsible for the development and

execution of University-wide contracts.

A complete listing of U-wide contracts is available through secure-sign-on at

www.suny.edu/meansbusiness

Both State-operated and community college campuses submit suggestions for the collaborative

procurement of goods and services to System Administration. Suggestions are vetted through

data analysis (including the number of campuses using a particular vendor or item, total spend,

and market information). If analysis indicates the benefit of a U-wide or Strategic Sourcing

contract, it is assigned to a contract specialist.

Ongoing projects include:

o Electronic Bidding and Reverse Auction: Completed RFI process. RFI responses

identified solutions offering e-Procurement and contract management modules which

integrate with Electronic Bidding and Reverse Auctions solutions.

o Grainger Price Reduction: Agreement with Grainger to reduce costs 8-10% SUNY-wide

has been finalized and at System Administration for signature. SUNY-wide

implementation plan is being developed with Grainger and E & I. In addition to the

savings, strategic sourcing has worked with Grainger to increase MWBE utilization from

23% to 85% in the MRO category.

Making $ense - U-Wide Procurement Quarterly Newsletter is produced by the Strategic Sourcing

team.

o The spring 2013 edition was released in April.

o The summer edition has been drafted with a projected July publication date.

The SUNY Means Business Bid Opportunities Webpage project is in progress to provide vendor

community with single stop to access all SUNY procurement opportunities has been delayed due

to IT availability.

Multi- Campus, Regional, and Campus-to-Campus

Through the use of Regional Workgroup Meetings, Campus Alliance Network reporting, and

other stakeholder engagement efforts, the Strategic Sourcing Team promotes and assists

campuses in the development and execution of collaborative purchasing contracts. A

partnership with the State’s Office of the State Comptroller (OSC) was established in order to

develop a process that allows campuses to share estimated use contracts for commodities and

services.

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Initiatives currently in progress include:

o G-27 Collaborative Elevator, Escalator Maintenance: Contract has been signed by all

participating campuses and System Administration is working with SUNY Purchase to

prepare package for Office of the Attorney General and Office of the State Comptroller

review/approval.

Participation by 24 State-operated campuses, 2 community colleges and the

Research Foundation.

Cost Savings – OSC has advised SUNY that it believes millions of dollars will be

saved using this 10-year service agreement.

Cost Avoidance – OSC also commended SUNY on developing a contract model

that will make future collaborative purchases easier to procure.

o Athletic Apparel, Footwear, and Equipment: Draft IFB for has been distributed to 40

campuses for feedback.

o Hospital IDN: has identified and is currently working on price parity and IDN recognition

initiatives including Reverse Auction Opt-in, Sequential Compression Devices, Ablation

Catheters, and Drug Prescription Plans. Negotiations continue with Medtronics for

optimal pricing for all three hospitals in the CRM category.

New SUNY Initiatives:

o Cable TV: Project kickoff meeting held for collaborative Cable TV services project with

Oneonta, Oswego and Cortland.

Opportunity for participation will opened to additional campuses once draft

technical specs have been developed.

o Student Health Insurance Consultant: Formulating RFI with Student Affairs to gain

knowledge of the health insurance consultant industry, capabilities, experience, etc. in

preparation of IFB.

o Downstate Banking Services: Informational meeting scheduled for early July to discuss

feasibility of collaborative banking services RFP with various NYC/LI campuses.

o Photo Equipment and Creative Technology RFP: A SUNY SME from New Paltz has

provided technical guidance to the GPO RFP team. A new GPO contract is expected to

be awarded late summer.

o Office Supplies Price Comparison: Vendor detail spend requests have been sent out to

collect granular data necessary to perform a price analysis for GPO and NYS agreements;

o Reverse Auction: Meeting in early June identified possible spend categories for reverse

auction opportunities - Print Shop Supplies, Copiers, and Police Uniforms.

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IT Transformation

The Information Technology Transformation Team was created to manage the wide range of technical

projects currently being implemented across SUNY with the overarching goal of enhancing the core

academic and student service missions of our campuses by redirecting resources to them from

administrative and non-instructional functions.

The IT Transformation Team takes a two-fold multi-perspective approach:

Technology perspective focused on three areas:

o Academic technology and its seamless use and support on campus

o Infrastructure and technology efficiencies

o Administrative computing and improvements to business functions

Business perspective focused on input from Strategic Teams

The IT Transformation Team and other Strategic Planning teams maintain bi-directional communication

concerning common goals, initiatives, projects, and expected outcomes in order to ensure that

integration, alignment, and seamless systemness is achievable.

The Office of Information Technology is also consulting with the State of New York Office for

Information Technology on IT transformation initiatives across New York State.

The top IT priorities include:

Seamless Student Information System (S4): The S4 project is one of the most critical of all the IT

projects. The goal of S4 is to provide seamless, consistent, and improved system-wide services.

Achieving this goal will assist with future university-wide implementations such as degree

planning, Smart Track, seamless student transfer, reverse transfer, cross registration, single

student identity, and resident hall and housing management. It will also provide consistent

information for improved analytics and decision-making at the campus.

The S4 project consists of three sub-projects:

o Consistent data or creating a SUNY-wide data dictionary

o Seamless student information systems

o Core business processes with limited campus configurations

o SUNY-wide data dictionary – The S4 project begins with creating university-wide

consistent data with the creation of a SUNY-wide standard data dictionary as the

outcome of the first sub-project. Consistent data is the foundation upon which all

phases of the S4 project will build.

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The first phase involved getting student IR data. All student data (IR and HR)

have established draft definitions and set appropriate values for the data

elements. Working with the Common Data Group, chaired by Rick Miller, they

meet weekly to review the elements and definitions.

The pre-review step consisted of sending out the review draft from phase I.

Project staff are currently in the process of reviewing the feedback and

developing the next project. Substantive changes will be reviewed by the

common data group. Using that feedback, they will update the draft and end

review phase. That review phase will include all 64 campuses.

Phase 2 is beginning and project staff is putting together the data for admissions

and recruitment.

o Seamless student information systems - The University is currently working with a

cohort group of campuses creating a standard template for a campus student

information system.

The expectations are to have this template available in the later part of 2013

with campus adoption expectations to follow.

Additionally, there are efficiencies to be achieved by hosting all campus SIS as

part SICAS and ITE). To maximize the savings a new funding model is being

proposed that will provide SIS hosting services for all institutions. Campuses

choosing to continue to provide their own services would be required to cover

the additional costs of running locally.

SUNY has been refining the strategy and working with vendors to understand

the best systems for us. It was established that SUNY needed fewer choices for

student information systems, but these systems needed to be integrated to be

able to deliver expected services.

o Engagement with Ellucian: SUNY is currently pursuing conversations with Ellucian to

refine how their Student Information System make up will look.

Ellucian owns Power Campus, Banner and Colleague. Other student information

systems being used must be able to interface with Ellucian.

In the end, all SUNY data must be compatible with Ellucian’s data.

A mobile strategy, billing strategy, and transfer articulation are being

developed. On May 22, a kick-off meeting was held to align the SUNY and

Ellucian road map. Ellucian will outline the strategy for the required services

that SUNY needs delivered. During the eight-week engagement (beginning May

22nd), Ellucian will work to accommodate SUNY’s expectations and deliverables.

o ITTT is also working with a small group of other vendors to determine the viability of

their solutions in the overall Student Information System Strategy.

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o Milestones:

January 2013: Begin the successful deployment of SIS strategy.

April 6th – 10th: Philadelphia Ellucian Live Conference – this confirmed

Ellucian’s road map was aligned with SUNY’s strategy.

Phase 1 data pre review feedback was due on April 12th

Getting the phase one data to all the 64 campuses in May

May 22nd 2013 – Kickoff meeting with Ellucian. 6 – 8 weeks Ellucian

Consultation Meetings

Moving out of common data group to the 7 colleges

Data Center Consolidation

The Information Technology Exchange Center (ITEC) and the Office of Administrative Systems’

Data Centers have become the cornerstone to delivering technology and services for the

University, with the decision for usage and participation of many services resting with each

campus.

It is recommended that:

o State-operated campuses have appropriate information technology services hosted by

these Data Service Centers, while expanding the hosted services provided.

o SUNY expand hosted services and consider the possibility of alternate prime locations

for those University Data Service Centers.

o Institutions should be encouraged to collaborate on the provision of their services or

participate in the hosted services when appropriate.

o That SUNY leverages SUNY assets and review possible partnerships with NYS.

This strategy builds upon the historical success and savings of these offerings and synergies

already realized. It is expected that the University Centers and Health Science Centers would

continue to provide their technology services locally due to the combined complexity of their

research and academic environments.

o Accomplishments:

Early spring 2013: Two-year NYSERDA Contract signed. SUNY negotiated a two

year contract with NYSERDA. Previously, individual campuses may not have had

enough efficiency to participate in an efficiency reduction plan; with this

contract, campuses can participate system-wide to achieve energy savings.

Campuses collaborating with ITEC are expected to receive large energy savings

credits.

This past fiscal year, 17 campuses hosted Banner. As those servers are

established, campuses using Banner will see an energy savings.

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Old servers and storage are being decommissioning at ITEC and Albany is doing

the same thing.

June 30th, 2013: A Co-Location contract looking for more energy efficient space

built in Buffalo and Albany is in its final stages at OSC. A decision should be

issued soon.

E-mail: A broad SUNY-wide project has been proposed and a budget request has been made to

fund this project.

Federated ID

o SUNY’s state-of-the-art information security strategy has won national awards and has

appeared in publications as the preferred approach in this technology area for colleges

and universities. SUNY has also guided New York State in their strategy and together

implemented the first intra-federation solution between NYS and SUNY to enable direct

access to NYS secured services.

o To ensure faculty, staff and students have access to all available services, each campus is

required to participate in aligning their campus’ identity and security management

strategy into the SUNY Federated Security solution. Example of services provided under

this security model include: SUNY Finance, SUNY HR, Time and Attendance, Degree

Planning and Audit, the Transaction Processing Centers, and services provided from New

York State.

o Campuses are at various stages of completion of the mandatory alignment with the

SUNY Federated solution. This will impact which services and efficiencies campuses may

participate in fully.

o Documentation and technical advice is available from University-wide support centers at

the Office of Information and Technology at System Administration and the Information

Technology Exchange Center (ITEC).

o Conversations on a common SUNY ID for students are underway. Similar discussions are

being held on a SUNY common ID for employees. Many campuses are in alignment with

a common SUNY identifier.

o The integration of a Federated ID solution may take 3 to 5 months. The Federated

Solution gives SUNY the ability to know where students are in the system. Employees

that are also students would have the same identifier.

Virtual Desktop Infrastructure

o The University replaces approximately 20,000 – 25,000 desktop computers annually.

Combining that associated equipment expense with the required licensing and

maintenance of the related software, staff support, etc., makes for considerable on-

going expense.

o The University is positioned and ready to provide a University-wide VDI solution offering

that would provide Desktops as a Service (DaaS) to all institutions. This roll-out would

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enable campuses to retain their older desktop equipment (up to ten years), reduce

software licensing and maintenance expenses and allow existing support staff to be

realigned to support the local academic mission.

o The basics behind the solution would shift the software licensing, support, and required

backend server support to the central location at ITEC.

o There are 5 campuses working on this program. These campuses have received pricing

for the SUNY option of a Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI). The pilot was done with

Oswego. Oswego’s CIO will meet with Mike Notarius at the end of May to discuss next

steps and decide if SUNY will manage the program remotely or if the campus will

manage it. New Paltz is interested in SUNY managing it remotely on their campus. Many

more campuses are interested in the SUNY VDI option.

The Oswego pilot put VDI in two labs with significant usage and bandwidth is

being updated now.

Some software coming from academic libraries can be delivered over VDI.

Contract talks are underway about Adobe. An example of software that people

are already using through VDI is SPSS, the statistical analysis program. The goal

is to make it easier to deliver these software and programs university wide.

The Virtual Application Initiative (VAI) will be launched fall 2013. Currently the

Office of Information Technology is looking for pilots campuses. The VAI is

delivering applications, not a desktop tool. This has significantly more interest

and possibilities then the Virtual Desktop Infrastructure.

Organizational & Governance: Equally as important will be the on-going engagement of our

campuses and the need for an efficient organization and decision making processes. Leveraging

the incredible assets of SUNY goes beyond our IT staff and will includes the use of a Smart

Workforce including students, faculty experts and researchers.

o Adequate resources, organizational alignment and controls will be required to move this

from planning phase into action.

o Leadership and governance will include advisory and working groups in critical areas

including:

Investments & Prioritization

Data

Portfolio Management (application and other supporting software) Vendor

Management and strategic partnerships

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Centers of Excellence

Shared Services Centers of Excellence refer to projects that improve SUNY-wide end-to end business

problems and create overall business value in new ways, including:

• Delivering upon continuous improvement, service enhancement and cost reduction targets.

• Enabling growth in existing and emerging markets without traditional investments in new

facilities, new infrastructure and new people.

• Getting closer to our students’ needs and internal customers to provide the services they

demand and truly value.

• Providing accurate and actionable information in real time.

• Innovating new services and solutions to enhance focus and growth.

• Attracting and retaining top talent.

Shared Services Centers of Excellence are comprised of projects falling under three project categories:

Transaction Processing Centers, Functional Expertise, and Regional Hubs. Potential opportunities exist

to reduce and consolidate administrative services including:

• Financial Aid

• Billing and collection

• Budgeting and accounting

• Human resources including payroll and benefits

• Procurement

• Policy and procedures

• Facilities planning and management

• Grant writing and management

• Fleet services

• Print shop

• Internal controls

• Legal and compliance

The centers will be “independent” services that leverage the geographic footprint of the overall System

and its strategic partners to deliver consistent, high-quality services at a competitive cost, while still

maintaining proximity to the customer where required.

Transaction Processing Center

Transaction Processing Centers will deliver cost effective services oriented to drive savings and improve

efficiencies. Projects under this Center of Excellence include:

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• Employee Benefits - The Multi-vendor Coordinator System (MVC) – SUNY is responsible for

administering the SUNY Optional Retirement Plan (ORP), and the new State of New York

Voluntary Defined Contribution Plan (VDC).

o In preparation for administering the VDC, SUNY has been working with campuses, the

OSC and the ORP investment providers over the last year to develop the Multi-Vendor

Coordinator (MVC) system.

o MVC is an online system by which employees may enroll and manage investments not

only in the ORP and VDC, but also in the SUNY 403(b) Voluntary Savings Program, which

is available to all SUNY employees. MVC will feature eligibility verification, and will

allow for easier, unified, and comprehensive management of both the ORP and VDC.

• Human Resources

o Time and Attendance:

The unclassified component of the Time and Attendance system (Phase 1) was

implemented in early 2012. 18 campuses are currently using this and over

100,000 timesheets have been submitted electronically to date. 3 additional

campuses are in the process of implementing the system.

The classified service component of the Time and Attendance system was

initially tested by the pilot campuses in September and was presented at the

Human Resources Conference in October. The second phase of pilot testing was

completed in May and we are currently analyzing the pilot testing results and

making additional system modifications. A detailed implementation plan will be

developed after all system changes have been completed.

Development work has begun on the hourly student assistant and college work

study component of the Time and Attendance system.

o Employee Self Service:

Human Resources has developed an employee home page to host all employee

self service initiatives in HR and payroll, implemented in April, 2013.

Employees can access this page directly from suny.edu with their

current campus log on ID and password.

All employees can view their paycheck and/or direct deposit advice and

update their address directly online.

The ability to update emergency contacts has been identified as the

next self-service initiative and development work on has begun.

We are working closely with OSC as they develop self service options to

ensure that the process will be incorporated into our overall strategy.

• Procurement

o Presently all procurement transactions are processed on the campus on which the

transaction originates. The transactions are routed through the SUNY’s common Web

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Procurement System and submitted to the Office of the State Controller (OSC) for

processing.

o SUNY is using process redesign principles to evaluate options for the shared processing

of procurement transactions. SUNY is considering both internal shared services options

or potentially partnering with New York State to leverage the work of the Business

Services Center.

o A SUBOA sub-team is reviewing the assessment of both the SUNY and Research

Foundation procurement systems and considering possible enhancements.

o Possible enhancements include the optimization of SUNY’s current Web Procurement

System, as well as the use of a packaged e-procurement solution (Attachment 3).

o In order to support either option, campus procurement procedures must be

standardized.

o The development and implementation of the Procurement Training Program (PTP) will

work to standardize procurement processes across SUNY, by providing each campus

with both knowledge and common forms and tools.

The PTP includes the utilization of both existing resources and new resources

(such as the Center for Professional Development procurement training course

and a newsletter).

SUNY is also partnering with the New York State’s Office of General Services

NYSPro to develop a coordinated approach to training and shared training

resources.

• Finance

o SFS: Successfully implemented required year one integration tools and processes with

State. Closed out the first full year. Reviewing possible NYS partnership for direct input.

o Working directly with the SUNY CFO, the ABB group has proposed a multitude of

accounting efficiencies. These initiatives include:

Complete the move from the mainframe to the web and provide one central

platform / portal to operate within with enhanced functionality allowing

campuses to image documents, drill to detail, code project initiatives, and

identify the reason for transactions / the reason for allocation transfer as well as

spreadsheet to system loading.

Centralized P-Card Certification - In the procure-to-pay design centralization of

procurement is proposed. For P-Card transactions, centrally occurring

certification would shift responsibility from individual campuses. Better internal

controls would be achieved with independent reviewers looking at transactions

and it would relieve campuses of the burden of having certifiers who are

different from procurers and program administrators.

Temporary Service encumbrance – build the temporary service encumbrance

capability in the system similar to PSR. The data will allow campuses to better

plan and manage resources.

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Centralized Security Administration – Currently, campuses are required to have

a security administrator. Under this structure, there is an intuitive expectation

that the security administrator understands the system well enough, has a

fundamental understanding of internal controls and has a certain amount of

time to handle the - OSC, SUNY legacy, SUNY SMRT, SUNY SMART and SUNY BI

security. There is a question of implementing an on-line 'Security Coordinator'

function and centralize the requests and knowledge.

Intra Agency Journals and hardcopy journals– Develop an integrated web tool

allowing the campuses to efficiently transfer revenue or expenses between

campuses or within SUNY. For IAP type activity, include academic and program

information in fields that could be reviewed and searched subsequently.

Enhanced Data for Payroll – create user friendly access to payroll data to allow

the capability to pull all payroll, including PDME journal entries , by department,

by fund, by pay type including paid and encumbrance data with underlying

detail transaction data to allow complete payroll information for a person,

department, division or pay type for management purposes at the campuses

Central utility audit and similar type programs - Negotiate a contract to look at

all the campus utility bills for cost savings and recommendations. Other

companies provide similar services for contract payments – i.e., auditing the bill

to determine if the company made an overpayment. This dovetails into

centralizing aspects of the P-Card and the Procure-to-Pay concept.

Project Plan – ABB is developing a detailed project plan as a joint effort with

SUNY System Administration, including an enhanced chart of accounts.

Functional Expertise

The Functional Expertise Center of Excellence will deliver cost effective, high quality services focusing on

customer needs and demands. Projects include:

• Business Intelligence (BI): System Administration and SUNY campuses need a better tool to

report, analyze and manage information. BI provides campuses with pre-defined dashboards

and the ability for campus personnel to create and run their own analysis. By creating financial

and HR views, this initiative will provide for data analytics and an all-funds view of campus

monies.

o Initial focus is on financial information for state operated campuses along with some

payroll information.

o The BI initiative has been campus driven based on a production solution in place at the

University at Buffalo and in collaboration with Binghamton University and supported by

System Administration

o This leverages the University of Buffalo’s Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition

(OBIEE) implementation delivering similar functionality to all campuses.

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o System Administration has acquired OBIEE for use by all campuses thus positioning us to

develop campus and U-Wide managerial/analytical dashboards. The team will be using

UB’s dashboard design, flow, subject matter and look and feel as a basis for developing

campus and U-wide management reporting/analytical dashboards against the SUNY

Data Warehouse and in conjunction with SUNY existing federated security approach.

o One of the fundamental goals of the SUNY Business Intelligence Initiative (SBII) project is

to support planning, forecasting, and decision-making processes at campuses and

System Administration. The SBII solution supports an implementation of a decision

support (DS) model addressing business problems. The OBIEE tool enables SUNY to

produce reporting, charts and graphs for all campuses and System Administration in

flexible user friendly formats.

o Redesign the existing SUNY HR Data Warehouse to create a comprehensive repository

of the SUNY community is required. Historical, current and future data will be

maintained for purposes of reporting and analysis at the detail and summary levels.

Campus and System Administration will have the ability to view current information and

historical trends and also provide input for future projections.

o Financial Operations/ Analytical Dashboards including: Allocation/ Encumbrances/

Expenditures; Supplier Analysis; Money – PSR/ TS/ OTPS; Payroll; Revenue; Budget/

Form 1.

o Human Resources Dashboards – including employee information and student

information.

Employee Information such as: Appointments; Salary; Title and Dates;

Appointment by Account; Temp/ Term Employees.

Student Information including a Payment Summary.

o Milestones:

Phase I—State Operated financial information

Campus Pilots – April 2013

U-Wide Rollout – July 2013

Financial Operational/ Analytical Dashboards –– October 2013

o Payments (details)

o Purchasing (details)

Phase 1a – Security – December 2013

Phase II—SUNY Human Resources information – April 2014

Phase III—SUNY Research Foundation information

Phase IV—Campus Foundation and other campus specific information

o Training-To-Date: 6 Sessions Held; 24 Campuses; 111 People Trained

o Pilot Campuses (8 campuses) – Binghamton, Buffalo State, Oneonta, Plattsburgh,

Potsdam, System Administration, University at Albany, University at Buffalo

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• Financial Aid (Smart Track)

The SUNY Smart Track campaign was developed to combat debt and student loan default and

has three main components:

o SUNY Award Letter

Year one implementation across the system continues and is based on the plans

submitted by each campus President. A subcommittee of the Financial Aid

Shared Services Committee has been established to discuss Year 2

enhancements for the Award Letter. This group includes members of the initial

development team as well as additional members interested in the effort.

o Financial Literacy Campaign

The Financial Literacy RFP process has been completed and the top three

bidders conducted demos of their web resources and tools at System

Administration. The evaluations are being tabulated. SUNY hopes to announce

the successful bidder shortly.

The target date for implementation of the financial literacy is September 2013

with the unveiling of the SUNY Smart Track webpage. In addition to the

inclusion of the financial literacy on SUNY.edu, the tools will be available on

campus websites.

o Student Engagement Campaign and Delinquency/Default Campaign

SUNY has begun testing uploaded NSLDS files from pilot campuses. This will

enable SUNY to send targeted emails to student loan borrowers. Testing will

verify that all files can be transmitted and uploaded properly to SUNY

Administration. An application will be developed by SUNY that can segment

uploaded NSLDS data according to established rules and guidelines, which will

allow for the proper dissemination of Smart Track communications to federal

student loan borrowers.

Additionally, SUNY is exploring available email communication platforms that

can be used, albeit temporarily for phase one of this project, to send Smart

Track communications to federal loan borrowers. These email communications

will begin for the six pilot campuses no later than September 2013.

Smart Track reports will be available for campuses in later phases of this project

and initial project reports will be established for phase 1 including:

The total number and frequency of emails sent to borrowers for each

campus

A breakdown based on the borrower’s status: in school, in-grace period,

in delinquency and/or in default

For delinquent borrowers (Between 30-360th day of delinquency), the

total number of email communications sent for each 30 stage of

delinquency, and the number of delinquencies resolved during

corresponding periods of delinquency.

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The number of rejected emails and the actual email addresses that are

invalid

• Libraries

o The Cataloging and Authority Control Taskforce continues to make great progress. Plans

for consolidation of the shared Aleph systems to a single instance are being developed

in association with documentation regarding library workflows associated with the

change.

o The library of Environmental Science and Forestry had completed the migration of their

library management system and primary digital resource databases from Syracuse

University’s environment to SUNY’s.

o The Library Discovery Systems Task Force presented a recommendation for a shared

discovery system to the SUNY Council of Library Directors at their April meeting.

Campuses are being polled to determine if there is enough support to proceed with the

acquisition of the recommended product.

o 50 SUNY libraries have agreed on a library discovery system. This system provides a

single interface to a majority of providers that SUNY purchases electronic content from.

Full university-wide participation was not possible as several campuses in western NY

have already implemented a different system. Pricing is about 50% of standard pricing,

but as part of the deal, Ebsco is also providing SUNY with 3 additional databases and a

low price for a linking software tool which will likely replace the current linking software

we are using that costs more money. While not every campus is paying for the

Discovery system, every campus can take advantage of the databases and the linking

software at no additional costs (this must be analyzed within financial/business

models). This is a three year deal with costs starting around $270,00 and ending at

$440,000. A team from the Office of Library and Information Services and campus

representatives developed the analysis comparing the three best products for this

service. One was on a SUNY contract, the other two on state contract.

• Print Matters (SUNY-wide Print Shop Utilization Project)

o The project team comprised of campus print shop managers and design staff,

procurement managers, and representatives from the Office of Shared Services began

working in August of 2012 and have continued to meet.

o The project team has defined three kinds of printing services that can be performed on

participating pilot campuses: Commercial Printing, Stationery, and Documents.

At this time, Alfred State, Empire State College, Oneonta. Upstate Medical

Center, and Potsdam can provide all three printing services.

Additionally, Brockport can provide Commercial Printing Services, Buffalo State

can produce Documents, and University at Buffalo and Plattsburgh can provide

both Documents and Stationery.

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o The project team has performed stakeholder outreach at both the SUNY PA and SUNY

CUAD annual conferences.

o In 2012 – 2013, the pilot campuses at Alfred State, Empire State College, Oneonta and

Potsdam have reported performing $223,525 for internal printing clients, including

Adirondack, Canton, Clinton, Cobleskill, Cortland, Delhi, ESF, Fredonia, Geneseo,

Optometry, Oswego, SUNY IT, Sullivan, System Administration, SUNY Retirees,

SUNYCUAD, SUNYCAP, and Upstate. These services were performed internally, and as

such the associated costs remained within SUNY, rather than with external vendors.

o Though currently a small pilot program, Print Matters represents an opportunity for

leveraging existing structure and expertise and for SUNY to potentially partner with New

York State to provide printing services to other state agencies.

Regional Hubs

The Regional Hub Center of Excellence focuses on highly coordinated programs organized around

regions of New York State. These programs are consistent with one another, but are also designed to

address the unique regional environment. Included under this Center of Excellence are:

MWBE

o SUNY has made considerable and impressive progress toward reaching the MWBE goal

of 20% as established by Governor Cuomo.

o For 2012-13, overall utilization is at 16.4%, versus 5.1% last year and the 4th quarter was

at 19.7%.

o During State Fiscal Year 2012-13 SUNY spent $76M or 16.4% of discretionary dollars

with certified MWBEs, an increase of 79.9% from the previous fiscal year, when SUNY

spent of $42.6M with MWBE suppliers.

86% of our campuses (26/30) achieved participation of 20% or greater.

Accomplishments:

o MWBE Program Modification & Improvements

In January, 2013, the University-wide MWBE Program Assessment was

completed; findings and recommendations were presented to the BOT.

SUNY continues to meet weekly as part of a T-12 group with staff from ESDC

and the Governor’s office to identify strategies, measurable goals and targets to

reach 20% MWBE goal participation.

In April 2013, Phase I of the new MWBE program modifications focusing on

services and commodities, was rolled out to all campuses.

The University-wide Elevator maintenance contract successfully used a

“Teaming Agreement” (15-A best practice) to keep the only WBE elevator

maintenance company in NYS, working with SUNY.

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o Data & Reporting

Through a significant effort by the SUNY team and with great support and

leadership from the campuses SUNY is now reporting more accurate MWBE

utilization.

SUNY created a MWBE Total Payment Data File to give campuses a tool to

review their expenditure detail and ensure data accuracy at the campus level.

o Training & Communication

Over 250 procurement staff received enhanced webinar and on-site training at

all 30 campuses on best practices and business rules to standardize MWBE

compliance.

79 Participants attended a presentation on our MWBE Program initiatives and

best practices through our Shared Services webinar series in April. Chairman

McCall was a guest speaker, along with special guests from Governor Cuomo

and ESDC’s office.

Two MWBE outreach events were hosted: 3rd Annual College Regional MWBE

Conference and University at Albany MWBE Workshop.

SUBOA launched a Steering Committee to better engage the campuses and to

ensure alignment with our programs.

o Through the SBDC, a specialized MWBE Contractor Bonding Readiness course was

developed to increase the preparedness of MWBE Contracting firms to do business with

the State and federal governments. A total of 215 MWBE Contractors graduated from

the program and are well on their way to becoming qualified and responsive bidders for

State Procurement opportunities.

Next Steps:

o Phase II and III of our MWBE program improvements are underway, which focus on

construction contracts and development of a web-based MWBE compliance

management system.

o Work continues to develop Regional Hubs to deepen MWBE compliance expertise

throughout the system.

o Working to expand MWBE procurement opportunities with SUNY hospitals.

o Collaborating with campuses to host more regional MWBE outreach events – planning

for Stony Brook and Farmingdale is underway.

o The following have been identified as critical areas for improvement:

System & process: improve MWBE Reporting System, and create a new MWBE

database and compliance management system.

Communication: Increased campus communications, knowledge of program and

best practices, requiring business officer’s support for program improvement,

and adding an MWBE component to middle and lower level mangers’ personnel

evaluations linked to MBWE utilization.

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Program implementation & Enhanced Training: standardize and centralize core

MWBE functions, create new business rules for processing MBWE compliance

documents, review and streamline construction process, continue training

based on specific content of interests to MWBE liaisons, and create a

prospective bidder’s MWBE training video

Regional support: Drive the shared services Regional Hub model and provide

advice and support to campuses without full-time MWBE Compliance Specialist.

Update of procedures: Guidance Bulletins have been posted to SUNY Means

Business Website for clarifications on re-alignment of program responsibilities,

business rules, 9-point memo, and exemption and exclusion policy.

• Legal Services

o The Office of General Counsel (OGC) continues to provide shared legal services to all

campuses and other operating units of SUNY, through the use of attorneys who share

multiple client assignments, and/or perform both campus-focused and system-wide

functions.

o This mode of delivery of legal services is cost-effective, efficient, and protective of

SUNY’s legal interests.

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Campus Alliance Networks

Campus Alliance Networks will work through partnerships across the system to generate additional

savings and best practices. Though specific partnerships have been communicated, it is expected that

realignment will occur based on regional and campus needs and expertise.

Key areas identified in Campus Alliances include:

o Student Services – Enrollment and recruitment; tutoring; housing and food services;

library services; athletic facilities and staff; and, student activities

o Employee Services, Diversity, and Inclusion – Leadership development; and diversity

programming and training

o Advancement – Economic development initiative; grants writing and support; and,

system-wide alumni support

o Academic Affairs – Academic programs and course offerings; developing collaborative

plans; faculty development; international programs and study abroad; and, training in

grant writing

Campus Alliance Networks have successfully partnered across SUNY to generate additional

savings and best practices.

The Shared Services Team assisted in the growth of campus projects through outreach to

campus stakeholders, best practices and opportunities for formalized relationships have been

identified.

Communication strategies include promoting and sharing opportunities through internal

vehicles, role a-like groups, SUNY conferences, press releases, the SUNY website and shared

services webpage, webinars, and the Regional Showcases.

o Implemented a reporting process to identify campus projects.

o Reports are submitted bi-monthly on a rotating regional basis tied to the Harnessing

Systemness Regional Showcase events.

o The information populated from these reports will be used for shared services e-

newsletters, and providing updates to relevant stakeholders. In addition, this

information is used to highlight best practices and innovative programs during the

Harnessing Systemness Regional Showcase events.

• SUNY is looking to find programs that meet standards in the following categories: innovation,

quality improvements, savings and reinvestment, service excellence, efficiencies, and best

practices.

• Shared programs include:

o Adirondack Community College: Regional Center with Plattsburg

o Cobleskill/ Delhi: Collaborating on a study abroad program in South Africa

o Cortland - STAR-NY, an online tutoring consortium that includes Delhi, UB, TC3, Alfred,

Oswego, Ulster. Internationalization Student Teaching in Australia.

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o Farmingdale: collaboration with Stony Brook on a Dental Hygiene program, offering

both institutions’ students a broader experience as they enter into the dental profession

through expanded academic affiliation.

o Binghamton University working with Cortland, Delhi and Morrisville developed joint

contracts which will position campuses in a better bidding position.

o Brockport: Assisted in payroll audit for Geneseo.

o Canton /Potsdam: Shared administration - Vice President for Business; Shared Positions

- CIO, Chief of Police, EH&S, Veteran’s Affairs, and Graduate Residence Director.

National Award for Innovation (NACUBO 2013).

o Morrisville and SUNY ESF: The Morrisville Auxiliary opened a Cafe at SUNY ESF.

o Purchase –Led the RFP process for a shared elevator /escalator contract.

o SUNY System Administration, SUCF, RF, and U ALbany–have formed a network of shared

services including information technology, procurement, fleet management, security,

and print shop services.

• Reinvestment

o The immediate public goal of sharing services has been to shift $100M of administrative

spending to academic and student support services over 3 years. Coupled with the

increase in collected tuition fees from SUNY 2020, campuses were charged with

submitting plans for how monies would be reinvested in academic and student support

services.

o Campuses submit their reinvestment plans as part of the annual budget process. Major

themes that appeared in these reinvestment plans included:

New Faculty Hires

Financial Aid Programs, Tuition Credits and scholarships

Career development programs and staffing

Tutoring and Academic Advisement

New academic and instructional equipment

• Recognition

o In May 2013, the SUNY Potsdam and SUNY Canton team was recognized by NACUBO for

their innovative work in shared services under the leadership of Vice President for

Business Affairs and Administration, Natalie Higley. The campuses received the 2013

Innovation Award, which recognizes higher education institutions that have successfully

re-engineered or designed a program, or improved a service delivery of administrative

activity in response to a campus need. Natalie Higley will receive the award in person

during the annual NACUBO conference in July 2012. Since Vice President Higley was

appointed to oversee the initiative for the Alliance in July 2012, the two campuses have

jointly realized more than $900,000 in savings.

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Phased Approach

In its first year, SUNY has been able to move forward with Operational Efficiencies and Service Excellence: Shared Services – Implementation Plan; including mobilizing project teams and achieving quick wins. The priorities and individual projects are at various stages from assessment to design to implementation. The process for any individual project, as well as the overall shared services initiative requires a consistent approach. Through our shared learning, and with the recent work with a management consulting firm, SUNY has developed a framework for the design and implementation of a working shared services environment, through the use of a three-phased approach.

Phase I: Assessment

Perform an analysis of the shared services strategy and determines what activities SUNY should share.

Articulate the vision and business case for shared services

Confirm the strategy.

Prioritize activities and establish a timeline for implementation

Phase II: Overall Design

Upon determination of the appropriate activities SUNY should share, an operating model/shared

services center must be designed to provide services for each activity.

Design the operating model for shared services center ( potentially named “One SUNY”)

o Organization, Processes, and Governance

Design the incentive structure to support campus participation

Share the business case, vision, strategy, and proposed operating model with campus

stakeholders, get feedback, and refine the plan

Phase III: Implementation

An implementation plan must be designed and executed for each activity to be included in the shared

services center (potentially named “One SUNY”).

Design end state service delivery model, including processes, detailed organizational structure,

and financial model

Planning for transition and roll out of services to campuses

o Pilot and launch, including initial refinement of operating model and processes

o Scale up and performance improvement

Active engagement of customers in planning, design, transition, and ongoing operation.

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CONCLUSION AND NEXT STEPS

In its first year, the Shared Services Team has consulted with campus constituencies, multiple

stakeholder groups, expert scholars, and management consulting firms in the development and early-

stages of execution of the Operational Efficiencies and Service Excellence: Shared Services

Implementation Plan. As SUNY moves forward, the plan is designed to yield significant cost savings and

improved delivery of services. The results of this change effort will provide SUNY with the ability to shift

administrative spending to academic and student services, and will provide campuses with the resources

needed to enable access, completion, and success.

The potential for savings associated with shared services is well documented. According to a leading

management consulting firm, “reductions in general and administrative costs on the order of 20% to

30% are not unusual for [organizations] that do shared services well, and these savings are only part of

the benefits that can be achieved with shared services organizations.” In addition to cost savings, shared

services provide organizations opportunities for employee development and create a culture of value

within a collaborative environment. With continued thoughtful planning and support, SUNY can create a

shared services environment that realizes all of these benefits.

As we move forward the Shared Services Team will continue to work closely with the Shared Services

Steering Committee (SSSC) and engagement of the campuses is critical. The SSSC represents the first-

line of communication with campuses and the Team will continue to look to this group to help guide

efforts, provide feedback, and carry a shared vision back to the campuses. Additionally, plans are in

development for the formation of a community college team. The community college team will engage

with the SSSC, the Office of Shared Services, and the Shared Services Team to determine how

community colleges can benefit from a shared services environment.

SUNY will continue to engage stakeholder and peer groups to obtain feedback and develop shared

vision. In the summer of 2013, SUBOA will participate in a brainstorming session at its Executive

Meeting. System Administration staff will also work with SUBOA and New York State to investigate the

feasibility and value associated with using the Statewide Financial System (SFS).

Under the leadership of joint CIO, Dr. Hao Wang, SUNY and the Research Foundation will continue IT

transformation planning efforts as Dr. Wang moves further through his 100-Day Plan. SUNY’s other

large-scale initiatives, including Open SUNY and Degree Works, as well New York State’s IT

transformation efforts and the advice of our strategic IT partners will be considered throughout the

development and execution of IT plans.

Finally, SUNY will give careful consideration to the expert work being performed by a management

consulting firm in the assessment and planning of SUNY’s shared service environment. The data set

collected and compiled by SUNY and a management consulting firm will be used to create a baseline to

provide SUNY with new insight about the size and structure of each campus, as well as the foundation

for a data-driven decision making.