Arizona State University is proud of its teams that have been recognized through the Governor's Spirit of Excellence Award Program.
Award recipients for this year, as well as past years, are presented below with a short description of the award winning effort.
2002 Governor's Award for Excellence (highest level award)
ASU Windows 2000 Active Directory Implementation Project
THE TEAM SHOP - An Inter Collegiate Athletics and ASU Bookstore Partnership
Student Employment Total Web-Based System Project Description
2000 Governor's Award for Excellence (highest level award)
Graduate Admissions Reengineering Project (GARP) Executive Team
1999 Governor's Award for Excellence (highest level award)
Main Campus Human Resources Integrated Delivery Model Team
Day of Hire Task Force Team
Workforce Learning 2000 Team
1999 Governor's Recognition Award
Education Tax Credit Reporting Team
1998 Governor's Award for Excellence (highest level award)
GARP Admission Process Coordination Team
Air Handler Maintenance Team
Affiliate Management System Project Team
Student Accounts & Accounts Receivable Phase I Application Team
Facilities Management Human Resources Team
First Year Mathematics
ASU MBA Services Marketing and Management Team
DARS Team
The Wayfinding Sign Program
1998 Governor's Recognition Award
Student Tracking Project
Student Process Reengineering Project (SPRP) Coordinating Team
Electronic Messaging Team
ASU West Virtual University Team
1997 Governor's Award for Excellence (highest level award)
Health Watch
Student Affairs Division Network
Alternate Duty Team
ASU West Library Sign Committee
1997 Governor's Recognition Award
Energy Management Team
Demand Side Management Team
Horticultural Resource Center
Law for the University Administration
1996 Governor's Award for Excellence (highest level award)
Decal Sales Total Quality Service Team
1996 Governor's Recognition Award
Energy Management Team
Demand Side Management Team
College of Business Honors Team
Central Plant Electrical Maintenace Team
1996 Subprogram Award
Department of Facilities Management
1995 Governor's Award for Excellence (highest level award)
School of Accountancy Team
The First Interstate Center for Services Marketing
1995 Governor's Recognition Award
Demand Side Management Team
Workers' Compensation Monitoring Program
Fleet Services
ASU West Employee Recognition Planning Committee
Data Warehouse
Multi-Disciplinary Initiative
Decal Sales Total Quality Service Team
Laboratory Products Group
Office Machine Rental and Repair
Office of Research and Creative Activities
1994 Governor's Award for Excellence (highest level award)
Travel Reimbursements Total Quality Service Team
1994 Governor's Recognition Award
Arizona School Services Through Educational Technology
Demand Side Management Committee
Business Partners
Facilities Management Institute for Supervisors
Arizona Universities Quality Forum Team
1993 Governor's Award for Excellence (highest level award)
Organizational Award
Individual Awards
1993 Governor's Recognition Award
Custodial Department
Energy Savings Team
Forensics
Grounds Department
In-Touch Phone Registration Project Team
Positive Connections
Purchasing
Team CSSER
Travel Reimbursement Team
Zoology Department
2002 Governor's Award for Excellence (highest level award)
Team leader - Patricia Schneider; mail code 0101
The ASU Windows 2000 Active Directory Implementation Team was established in March 1999 to develop an approach to Windows 2000 Active Directory implementation that would provide for maximum possible integration capability for units and interoperability with non-Windows 2000 servers and services at Arizona State University. The team was made up of assigned members and volunteers who were all Windows server administrators at ASU, and these team members worked for over 2 years on the design and implementation of the final architecture of the ASU Windows 2000 Active Directory.
The final design provides for integration with all current ASU technology infrastructure services and accommodates a variety of options and methods for units across the university to participate in the implementation. The design provides for reduced administration resources needed by many units and also provides a single sign-on solution for accessing Windows resources across the university.
2002 Governor's Award for Excellence (highest level award)
Team leader - Paul Strauss; mail code 0310
The partnership between the ICA and the ASU Bookstore was designed to be mutually beneficial, combining the ICA's access to retail customers at ASU sporting events with the Bookstore's experience in excellent customer service, merchandise assortment, and quality product pricing. To accomplish this, the partnership was asked to take over all merchandise activities associated with the Athletic Department. Specific objectives to be addressed were:
- How to remove the burden, expense, and decision making process of merchandising from ICA's responsibilities.
- Increase variety and quality and value of ASU merchandise for sale at ICA sporting events.
- Make ASU merchandise available at a greater range of sporting events.
- Improve efficiency and effectiveness to make this area a profit center.
This cross-departmental partnership has been very successful in accomplishing these objectives as well as increasing the visibility of the university and fostering great customer service to its supporters.
2000 Governor's Award for Excellence (highest level award)
Team leader - Richard Cons; mail code 0412
With the implementation of the Student Employment Total Web-Based System by the Student Financial Assistance Office at Arizona State University, the paper-based student employment system was completely phased out. What was once a cumbersome process was overhauled to provide more convenience to ASU students and administration while at the same time providing considerable time and fiscal savings to all parties. The following goals set by the Student Employment Task Force were successfully met.
- Created a total web-based system for part-time student employment purposes, allowing on-campus and off-campus employers to post job information for students to access online. Students can secure employment prior to arriving on campus.
- Created an in-house system application designed to track and manipulate job postings imported from web-based tables.
- Streamlined the student hiring process by allowing campus employers to hire students online.
- Created links with ASU's Career Services, enabling students to register with the service as early as possible and begin creating and posting their resumes. This link is designed to facilitate an integrated approach to work and learning for students. Students using the service can better prepare for full-time jobs after graduation by developing their job skills at the outset of their college careers.
These project goals were instituted to simultaneously support Arizona State University Student Services Strategic Plan goals, which included:
- Improving the Student Learning Experience
- Improving Student Success in Persistence and Graduation
- Improving Responsiveness and Efficiency in Student Services
2000 Governor's Award for Excellence (highest level award)
Team members of the Graduate Admissions Reengineering Project (GARP) have reengineered the admission process for graduate study at ASU and implemented multiple supporting technological enhancements. An average of 21,500 applications are processed each year by Graduate Admissions with 11,000 of these arriving during the peak period between November and March.
Through the efforts of the team:
- Students can now access admissions information and submit their application via the web. 65% of all applications are now received via the web. Information is available to applicants immediately, mailing costs are reduced, and information is directly loaded to ASU's student database eliminating 1164 hours of data entry annually.
- Academic units' ability to proactively recruit top applicants has been enhanced through the Academic Unit Interface. Application information is available to academic units on-line within hours of data entry in the Graduate College. Admission recommendations are made on-line and due to filters, 85% of admission recommendations no longer require manual review in the Graduate College.
- Paper applications are scanned and automatically uploaded to the Student Information System freeing staff time for other customer services.
- The material from 12 informational pieces was rewritten and consolidated into one application booklet and the language changed to a more customer friendly tone.
Attracting top students is vital for Arizona State University to continue its rise to one of the nation's top educational institutions. The changes made to the admissions process will enhance and support the university's efforts to bring the country's best to Arizona.
1999 Governor's Award for Excellence (highest level award)
Arizona State University's Main Campus Human Resources Department has recreated its role, organization and relationship with the university community during the past four years. This is one of only a few human resource functions in higher education nationally that have designed and implemented a service-oriented, customer focused organization structure in collaboration with the people it serves.
Highlights of the changes include:
- Almost all human resource decisions, except those that have significant legal implications, have been decentralized to organizational units;
- Human resources policies were reduced by nearly 40%;
- The Human Resources Department was reorganized to better serve its customers through implementing a "one-stop" HR Customer Service Center for employees and applicants; assigning an HR Partner to each vice presidential area, college or department to assist individuals who make human resources decisions; and establishing a Workforce Programs group whose role is to deliver programs and services that foster individual and organizational effectiveness; and
- Nearly 90% of customers rate HR staff as professional and courteous with fewer than 2% disagreeing.
Within the first year after the changes were implemented, dramatic improvements were realized as evidenced in a spring 1999 Customer Survey. These favorable outcomes are a result of leadership by Human Resources staff in partnership with their customers to clarify roles in human resources decisions, streamline policies, simplify processes and reorganize the HR department to better serve different constituencies.
This project was awarded ASU's 1998-99 President's Medal for Team Excellence for demonstrating excellence in working together to improve the quality of university life.
The Day of Hire Task Force came together in November 1997 to improve the employment/orientation process for over 1,000 new benefits-eligible employees hired at ASU each year. The employment/orientation process begins at the time a candidate accepts an offer of employment and includes the new employee receiving a New Employee Packet, attending a three-part New Employee Orientation (University, Benefits, and Public Service Orientations), completing employment/payroll and benefits forms, obtaining temporary and permanent ID cards and parking permits, and obtaining a computer account. Team members were recruited from each of these administrative areas to work together to redesign the process and to identify sponsors and resources for implementing a streamlined event.
In 1997, newly-hired benefits-eligible employees had to make at least 7 trips to 5 different locations to submit paperwork and obtain services. The employment/orientation process was a time-consuming and inconvenient process. The Day of Hire Task Force used continuous improvement methodology to gather and analyze data, determine root causes and solutions, and create an action plan.
By December 1998, the action plan was implemented and the following improvements were accomplished:
- The New Employee Packet was revamped and made customer-friendly. Information sheets for each service (payroll, benefits, orientation, parking, computer accounts, and Sun Card) address the specific needs of new employees. New checklists and a color-coded map help guide hiring departments and new employees through the steps required to begin effectively working at ASU. The Packet is delivered to hiring departments and new employees earlier in the process.
- Additional sign-on services are offered during orientation. New employees have the option of submitting their payroll forms, having their I-9 forms verified, and receiving a temporary ID and a temporary parking permit in one location. This saves the employee trips to the Human Resources Customer Service Center and to Parking and Transit Services.
- A new web site specifically for new employees is now on line.
- A network is in place for communicating process changes and for exchanging information with Human Resources staff, service providers, Business Operations Managers, hiring departments, and new employees.
New Employee Orientation now welcomes new employees to ASU, assists them with completing necessary forms and obtaining services, acquaints them with the university's organization and mission, helps them understand that they are important contributing members of the university and of the state, and sets them up for a successful career at ASU.
In September of 1996 Employee Development established the Workforce Learning 2000 project. The goal of the project was to support the university’s vision of becoming an agile, responsive and flexible learning organization.
The project was divided into two phases. In phase one, a campus-wide needs assessment utilizing focus groups and on-campus experts identified and defined core competencies and learning objectives that supported the university’s vision. Phase two generated the following recommendations:
- Design and implement targeted training for ASU supervisors
- Design and implement a career development program for ASU employees
- Develop and implement a paid release time policy.
- Secure the additional staff and operational budget increase that Employee Development would require to implement recommendations, and meet the demand for training that the release time policy would generate.
- Develop and implement a plan to effectively market the programs
- Design and implement a fast, efficient customer-focused registration process
- Provide college credit for major learning programs in the form of CEU’s
- Developed a simple, easily accessible reference tool for employees and supervisors to help determine what training was suitable for enhancing skills.
Results:
- Supervisory training and career development programs
- Stepping Into Leadership is intended to prepare employees for the step into a supervisory or lead position. Six months of employment credit is available.
- The Supervisory Academy is targeted for first-time supervisors. One year of supervisory employment credit and CEU credits are available.
- The Manager’s Track 5 full-day sessions focusing on advanced skill building activities. CEU credits will be available.
- The Discovery Series is a nine-session career development series. Participants are encouraged to assess their abilities, examine their situations and generate options.
- Employment Credit (ASU certification) can be applied towards a job application as part of one’s minimum qualifications indicating the individual has had some supervisory experience at ASU.
- Professional development paid release time policy. I6 hours/year
- Increased staff and operational budget for Employee Development and more skill-based classes for employees.
- An effective Employee Development marketing plan and on-line registration form.
- Learning Pathways
Learning Pathways are available to all employees via the Employee Development web site. Developed for five targeted employee groups, the Pathways help employees and their supervisors decide on appropriate development opportunities.
1999 Governor's Recognition Award
Starting in 1998, there are two new Education Tax Credits available to students or their parents, the Hope Tax Credit for students in their first two years of college and the Lifetime Learning Tax Credit for all other students. These credits are worth up to $1,500 per student, an important source of financial aid for many students. Along with the benefits of these tax credits were mandated resource intensive reporting requirements by colleges and universities.
The ASU Project Team, with cross-departmental team members and with very limited resources and on a tight timeframe, met the new IRS Education Tax Credits reporting requirements on time and under budget. This was not the situation at many other educational institutions. The University's efforts were also customer focused. Students at ASU received up front more information and education than required by the IRS, resulting in less student inquiries and questions than originally anticipated.
Students, or their parents, desiring to take advantage of either tax credit, had the information they needed at their fingertips to determine if they qualified for one of the credits and, if they did qualify, the information that they needed when taking the credit on their tax return.
This project exemplified good planning, cross-departmental team work, efficient use of limited resources under a tight timeframe, and a significant customer focused orientation, resulting in a most successful conclusion to an externally imposed Federal Governmental mandate.
1998 Governor's Award for Excellence (highest level award)
The Admissions Process Coordination Team redesigned the process of evaluating applications for admission to graduate study at Arizona State University. During peak cycle, over 10,500 applications with supporting materials are processed by Graduate Admissions staff.
By totally redesigning the process, the team improved service to its customers by:
- Reducing the maximum turnaround time for processing files during the heaviest influx of applications from 4-5 weeks to 48 hours. Turnaround time during non peak periods was reduced from 3 days to 24 hours.
- Revising application materials to better organize the information and make it easier to read.
- Maximizing academic unit flexibility in determining when an applicant file is ready for review.
Efficiencies gained include:
- Moving to a smaller base of full time employees (from 13 to 10) while increasing utilization of temporary employees during peak periods. Employee reduction was achieved through attrition for an annual salary savings of $50,076 plus benefits.
- An annual reduction of 37,000 photocopies and elimination of 4,600 files.
The redesigned admissions process enhances ASU's ability to compete for the best applicants from the state of Arizona, the United States, and other countries around the world. Recruiting the best students is critical, as ASU's graduate students contribute to the research and creative activity needs at the local, state, and national levels. In addition, a number of these students will go on to fill professional positions in Arizona and the Phoenix metropolitan area.
The Air Handler Maintenance Team was originally assembled in 1995 to attack the problem of slime and sludge buildup on the inside of chilled water cooling coils. This buildup caused the air-conditioning to be inefficient and warmer air being delivered to the occupied spaces in the buildings. The team developed a method of pumping chemical through the coils to clean them. This cleaning is taking place in all campus buildings. Originally the team set a five-year goal for completion but is about a year ahead of schedule. It is estimated that the savings in utility cost are $44,477.00 per year.
Facilities Management Senior Management has been in support of this team, so with their support the team was able to expand in 1998 to include cleaning the entire air handler in each building. This cleaning prevents Indoor Air Quality problems of high carbon dioxide, mold and particulate. The team pressure washes the airside of the coils, cleans condensate pans, fresh air screens and plenums. During the cleaning process the team is able to clean, repair and check the operation of dampers and other mechanical parts inside the air handlers. They also respond to customer complaints which may require cleaning of registers and some duct. The cleaning of ducts and air handlers was formerly done by outside vendors, by keeping this in house we have saved the University approximately $8,350.00 the first half of 1998.
All of the cooling results are based on before and after supply air temperature readings. These readings are filed for future reference of the team. Arizona State Risk Management does air sampling of the indoor air problems and files the before and after results. The savings in the project pay for the team, but more important is the Indoor Air Quality is much cleaner and cooler air is being delivered to the customer. In addition to this customer satisfaction has been enhanced.
The Affiliate Management System is an enterprise solution to the business problem of processing information about affiliates, individuals and organizations doing business with ASU, based on the needs of customer and not the requirements of the university. It accomplishes this by defining and capturing in a single model and database the attributes and relationships of affiliates that are important to more than one ASU work unit. Since affiliate data are stored in a single database, in a single format, and based on a single definition, it is easily managed for the benefit of the customer. When affiliate data is updated, all business processes interfacing with affiliate immediately have the benefit of the new information.
However, the most strategic benefit of Affiliate is the ability to fully understand the myriad of relationships that a single affiliate can have with the university. Understanding such relationships could result in a new view of the university and how it serves the community. This view will lead to new and more effective services for our customers.
"On a lot of these processes, students are shielded somewhat from how complex the system is by the heroic efforts of staff" - Lou Ann Denny, Registrar, ASU Insight, January 13, 1995.
The Student Accounts and Accounts Receivable Team, a cross functional team representing the Comptroller's Office, Applications and Consulting Information Technology and the Student Financial Assistance Office, developed a three phase plan to move the existing Accounts Receivable system from an antiquated batch system to an on-line system supportive of self-service and one-stop service.
In May 1997, Phase I of this project was completed, delivering an application to customers throughout the university community. For the first time, staff customers are able to view account history on-line, produce ad hoc reports, and automatically audit accounts. The application facilitates audit procedures providing staff the ability to respond to student's inquiries four times more quickly than before. The application also facilitates on-going analysis and has set a foundation for future development.
This nomination seeks recognition for the Student Accounts and Accounts Receivable team for excellence in implementing the SAAR Phase I application.
Responding to the need to supply 650+ employees with a safe workplace environment, Facilities Management organized a highly qualified and trained Human Resources Safety Team to develop and deliver a program to meet this need. Using OSHA mandated Standards the Human Resources Safety Team developed and delivered a comprehensive health and safety program for all employees of Facilities Management. The elements of this program include: New Employee Safety Orientation, Hazard Communications, Bloodborne Pathogens, Asbestos Awareness, Lockout/Tagout, Confined Space, Hearing Conservation, Respiratory Protection, Back Safety, Boom Truck Operation, CPR and First Aid for Choking, Safety Training Enhances Performance and Management Safety.
This program was designed and implemented using state of the art information gleaned from all organizations that fell under the University Safety Mandates. After implementation of the safety program, Facilities Management's reportable injuries dropped 14% in a three-year period and dollar losses to the University dropped $13,092. These numbers represent significant savings to the University and will be further reduced in each year that this program is in place. As important as these savings are to the University the team's goal of no accidents or injuries to any employee is still the team's main focus. These figures only take into account raw numbers and don't address the human pain and suffering that was also reduced to our employees which could not be measured.
In 1994/95 the Mathematical Sciences committee, charged with providing an in-depth assessment of Department of Mathematics programs, was formed by Dean Krahenbuhl of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. The focus of this committee narrowed to emphasize the lower level instructional program, in response to concerns raised in a report to Provost Glick. Over four semesters, 44.6% of students enrolled in two courses, MAT 117 and MAT 106, failed to successfully complete with a grade of A, B or C. In response the committee recommended implementation of a comprehensive First Year Mathematics Program headed by a Director of First Year Mathematics (FYM) working closely with a community of lecturers, instructors and graduate students. Under the Director's guidance, class sizes were reduced, lecture instructional format was replaced by cooperative learning, close coordination of multiple sections of FYM courses was instituted, and common testing and placement mechanisms were put in place. Success rates during 95/98 improved to 63%, while average grade points increased from 1.28 and 1.79, to 2.09 and 2.21, in 106 and 117, respectively. Students' perceptions have improved and enrollment increases in FYM indicate greater campus-wide satisfaction.
Responding to the enormous growth of companies focusing on services, the ASU Marketing Department, the ASU MBA program and ASU's Center for Services Marketing & Management (SMM Center) created an innovative concentration focused on services marketing and management within the ASU MBA program. Their goals were:
- To support the ASU MBA program's vision of becoming a nationally recognized MBA program;
- To leverage the specialization of the College of Business faculty and SMM Center and become the premier Services Marketing and Management MBA concentration in the US;
- To work with the ASU MBA Career Management Center to assist students in finding competitive jobs;
- To continuously improve how the concentration meets the needs of its customers - including business partners, students and internal customers.
To measure improvement, the team considered salaries of graduating students, the ASU MBA program's national rankings and used several internal feedback measures.
By its second year, student salaries increased dramatically, ASU MBA program rankings rose significantly, the concentration received growing attention from hiring managers and top students, and the concentration made on-going improvements to its program based on feedback from partnering companies, students and alumni. The concentration is recognized as the premier program nationally.
The DARS Team is responsible for the implementation of the Degree Audit Reporting System, an on-line system used primarily for tracking a student's progress toward degree completion. A collaborative group with members from Applications and Consulting Information Technology (ACIT) and the Division of Undergraduate Academic Services (DUAS), the team has been together since the fall of 1995 and has:
- Installed and tested the DARS software
- Encoded, verified, and made available to academic advisors more than 250 academic programs (majors and their variations) for all three campuses, for the 1996-98 catalog year
- Coded 200,000 courses from the Arizona community colleges to automatically fulfill requirements based on prior articulation agreements
- Coded several thousand courses from Universityof Arizona, Northern Arizona University and Brigham Young University.
- Trained 300 users to use DARS with students
- Organized several university-wide committees to provide input and solutions for implementation.
DARS has also been used to streamline labor intensive, time consuming student processes, such as establishing English Composition equivalencies and replacing the undergraduate Program of Study.
The Wayfinding Sign Program is supported by a committee and designers who function as a team to help make Arizona State University safe and easy to use for all students, faculty, staff and visitors. This is accomplished by improving room numbering in buildings, installing tactile/Braille signs, and planning directional wayfinding signs. Prior to the programs establishment in 1997, ASU did not have a team to address and maintain wayfinding issues and policies. As a result, campus buildings contain room numbers that do not follow logical sequences and do not function effectively for all members of the ASU population. Since the program’s implementation, 10% of all campus buildings have been upgraded to meet established standards. Wayfinding improvements not only help our campus population find destinations with more ease, they also enable emergency personnel to quickly find their destination. The program has configured its Wayfinding system to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act, and is one of few university programs working to meet ADA sign guidelines. Program research and experience will be used to encourage other state institutions to recognize the importance of wayfinding issues. These issues directly improve safety, customer service and civil rights within our state government.
1998 Governor's Recognition Award
ASU West needed a better and more efficient way to track the students it was recruiting. Additionally, it was recognized that other campus units at ASU had the same need. A multi-campus team developed a computer system that uses centrally developed components to work with an ASU West developed application. Such an effort is an innovative way to develop business solutions at ASU, and allows for an efficient use of university wide resources in sharing prospective student information and reporting on recruitment outcomes. Furthermore, the application links its data source with other central university-wide systems such as the Affiliate Management System and the Student Information System to ensure data integrity and to avoid data redundancy in various computer systems.
The application successfully enables ASU West to focus its resources on various recruitment efforts in order to meet its strategic enrollment management initiative of increasing full-time student enrollment. Moreover, it allows various business units to track their own prospects and coordinate efforts together to accomplish campus-wide objectives. The implementation of the system has helped increase enrollment at ASU West. It has also facilitated better customer service by allowing for the tracking and timely response of ASU West prospective student communication.
The Student Process Reengineering Project (SPRP) was organized in the fall of 1993 to review and act on opportunities to improve Arizona State University's student academic support and student business processes. Sponsored by the Senior Vice President and Provost, Vice President of Student Affairs, and Vice President of Information Technology, the project pioneered new approaches to continuous improvement at ASU.
This application for the President's Medal Award is made on behalf of thirteen individuals who committed twenty hours a week during the month of September 1995 to create a bridge between the design phase of SPRP and the implementation phase. This intensive team effort produced an implementation plan for new and improved student services that was innovative, cost effective, and consistent with the project's vision. In addition, the team created a Student Services Delivery Model that will guide continuous improvement to student business services into the next century.
Many higher education institutions have made contact with the project manager as a result of posting the Student Service Delivery Model at our project's Web site and through presentations t regional and national conferences. Universities as far away as Shenshen, China have asked for more information on ASU's Student Service Delivery Model and now it is being deployed. Here in the states, institutions such as MIT have acknowledged the value of the Student Service Delivery Model as a benchmark for their student services reengineering project, and in early 1997 the SPRP project manager and co-leader of the coordinating Team was invited to University of Maryland at College Park to deliver a presentation on the Student Delivery Model and project management.
The Electronic Messaging Team (E-Team) consists of 5 staff members that provide customer and technical support for 56,000 electronic mail (e-mail) users at Arizona State University. The E-Team supports the use of messaging systems such as Office Vision, ASUMail, Pine, Simeon, Netscape and Microsoft Exchange.
During the last year, the E-Team embarked upon a project to implement a new electronic messaging system for ASU that included two major phases.
- Product Evaluation and Selection
- Planning and Deployment
The product chosen, and currently being deployed, is Microsoft Exchange. It is groupware product that is enabling University employees to better communicate, collaborate, and coordinate through use of its integrated e-mail, directory, Public Folders and scheduling capabilities.
ASU West began offering web-based/Internet courses in 1997 at the request of the Arizona Board of Regents, West administrators, faculty and students. A team of eight led a pilot project to design three web-based courses. Team roles included the academic, administrative, and technology factions of this process. Since no one at West had experience with designing and teaching a course completely over the Internet, additional internal and external resources were sought. In addition to web design and technology, we required participation from many other University resources such as the library, general counsel, the bookstore and the course scheduling office. The entire process required much problem solving and brainstorming since we were held to tight financial boundaries. The goal of designing and offering quality courses with maximum accessibility and minimum equipment and effort on the part of the student was reached. All customers/stakeholders were satisfied. The pilot enabled the team to make recommendations to the University for future web-based courses. Many of the recommendations have already been institutionalized.
1997 Governor's Award for Excellence (highest level award)
Members of the Health Watch team recognized the need for and developed a comprehensive wellness program for the physical and psychological well-being of ASU employees. Evidence for the success of the program is demonstrated by: increased funding from the state, increased numbers of programs offered, and by an increased level of employee participation.
The implementation of a divisional network for Student Affairs resulted in:
- significant cost savings for Student Affairs,
- an increase in services provided to Student Affairs staff,
- improvements in productivity through more efficient utilization of available computing and networking resources,
- improvements in student computing lab facilities and services,
- improvements in network administration that enhance the stability, reliability and availability of computing and networking resources.
The team's approach to problem solving included planning, defining the scope of the project, identification and resolution of issues, development of solutions, defining team structure and enhancing group interaction, goal definition, and a plan for implementation. The resulting network is the largest divisional computing network at ASU.
It is important to note that the technologies implemented were new to project team members. While this increased the difficulty and risk associated with this project, the project was completed ahead of schedule, with minimal disruptions to the user community and to the satisfaction of those served.
The Facilities Management Human Resources Alternate Duty Team is tasked with the continuous improvement of all team processes in their respective area and actively seeks better methods on a continuous basis. The commitment is demonstrated in the Alternate Duty Assignment Program which places temporarily disabled ASU Facilities Management employees in an alternate duty assignment to:
- meet limitations of the disabled worker
- allow employees to return to work prior to full recovery to eliminate loss of income and benefits
- allow employees to become productive more quickly thus enhancing the recuperation process
- benefits the department by receiving services of additional employees who would normally be unable to return to work
- ensure the maximum use of human resources
- and to reduce costs for work and non-work related injuries and illness
The first alternate duty placements totaled 1396 days worked, which resulted in a savings of $232,127 in manpower hours. In addition the program reduced the insurance claim cost for the short term disability program and eliminated/reduced the need to hire temporary service employees in place of an inactive worker, reducing operational cost to the state.
Taking their charge to "provide signage in all public areas of the library that allow our patrons to find/identify destinations, services, resources within the library with the least staff intervention," the ASU West Library Sign Committee used the innovative approach the United States Air Force calls "Try-Storming." An idea that has the potential for speedy and cost effective results is actually tried and evaluated. For the Sign Committee, the idea was to make and install our own prototype signs, as opposed to identifying what signs were needed, getting an estimate of the cost, then putting the proposal out to bid. The group effort that went into design and production were seen immediately and the effectiveness of these signs was reinforced by the statistics gathered before and after the installation. In addition to the initial dollar savings to the library, when daily statistics indicate a change or enhancement is needed, it can be accomplished in a matter of hours and at minimal cost to the Library.
1997 Governor's Recognition Award
In 1993, the Department of Facilities Management initiated the search for new innovations in the value realized by Arizona State University for the funds expended in energy procurement of both natural gas and electricity consumed at the main campus. In the initial year, a new natural gas procurement and management program was instituted, negotiated and implemented in November 1994, at the start of the heating season. The program involves procurement of natural gas volumes from a natural gas producer in the oil fields of Texas, payment of interstate pipeline transportation from Texas to Arizona, and lastly, payment for interconnection between the interstate pipeline and the Southwest Gas pipeline which serves the Central Plant at ASU. Savings from this natural gas management program have offset, in part, the additional costs of new buildings and the use of computers and other energy-using equipment.
This Energy Management Team formed by the Departments of Facilities Management and Purchasing continue to search for new innovations both in technology and energy management to provide ASU with the best value for its energy funds thereby improving the quality of institutional life.
In 1992 the Center for Energy Systems Research of the College of Engineering and Applied Sciences and the ASU Facilities Management Department formed a demand-side management (DSM) team dedicated to reducing energy consumption at ASU. The team includes students, faculty, and staff who work together with representatives from Arizona Public Service Company, Southwest Gas, and the Arizona Energy Office. The DSM Team focuses on improvement of the quality of energy driven services, such as lighting and air conditioning, while reducing costs for energy, and environmental pollution.
To date, the team's accomplishments include educating and training students and staff in energy and pollution cost saving concepts and techniques; conducting comprehensive lighting energy audits; completing a lighting energy database for 7.5 million square feet of campus buildings; analyzing air conditioning systems; and retrofitting eight major buildings with energy conserving measures. The team has also generated more than $135,000 in supporting grants and incentives from utility companies to support student energy analysts.
Last summer the team completed analyses of two major campus buildings, Farmer Education Building and Physical Sciences, D-Wing, and applied to the Department of Energy for 50% matching funds to retrofit those buildings. The team is presently developing measures for reducing energy consumption at Stauffer Hall. This summer the DSM team will analyze two more buildings and again request matching funds from the Department of Energy to reduce ASU's costs for retrofitting those buildings. The DSM team plans to continue working towards it's goal of reducing ASU's energy costs by one million dollars per year.
In 1995, ASU's Horticultural Specialist, Fernando Reyna, and the Arboretum Volunteer Program Coordinator, Louisa Ballard, developed a program that would serve ASU, the Arboretum, and Facilities Management. Realizing the need for continued development of the Horticultural Resource Center (HRC), a community based volunteer program was created. Supporting an overlying theme of maintaining a positive and interactive team building approach, this effort has led to increased community involvement and awareness for Arizona State University. Results of this program are increased plant production, improved overall plant quality, increased plant variety and container sizes, an increased non-funded labor source, and increased community involvement with the HRC and the Arboretum at ASU. This program has provided training in basic plant care and maintenance which has led to advanced horticultural training in roses, date palms, woody ornamentals, tropical plants, etc., and includes appropriate signage and more.
The Law for the University Administrator Workshop gives university administrators practical information about laws and university policies that affect university services to students, employees, and the public. Each workshop session addresses specific legal issues relevant to the university community, provides practical information about current legal developments, and provides functional workshop materials usable as reference material throughout the year. By applying legal principles to university-based case studies, participants learn from the experiences of others in the class.
Workshop speakers, facilitators and participants include representatives from ASU Main, West and East. Former presenters have included ASU attorneys, university representatives from Affirmative Action, the Campus Environment Team, Human Resources, Purchasing and Risk Management, speakers from County and State Government, and attorneys representing other universities. The workshop has improved the capability of the Office of General Counsel to provide timely and useful legal advice to the university community.
1996 Governor's Award for Excellence (highest level award)
Department - Parking and Transit, DPS
Service enhancements include a touch-tone vehicle registration system, increased service hours, student license plate changes and parking space availability by phone, automatic decal renewal for faculty/staff and increased service hours.
1996 Governor's Recognition Award
Department - Facilities Management
Initiated a search for new innovations in the value realized by ASU for funds expended in energy procurement of natural gas and electricity for the main campus. In the first year of implementation, this program saved the University approximately $300,000. Savings will continue each year thereafter at the rate of approximately $400,000 annually.
Department - Facilities Management
The DSM team is dedicated to reducing energy consumption at ASU. The team plans to continue working towards its goal of reducing ASU's energy costs by a million dollars a year.
Department - College of Business
The COB Honors Team has worked to improve the College of Business Honors Program. A sampling of accomplishments of this team include improved assessment of undergraduate education, course development and restructuring, and development of a mentoring program for freshmen and sophomore honors students by upper level students.
Department - Facilities Management
ASU's Central Plant is the "heart" of the plant that supplies the "lifeblood" of critical utilities to the university. The Electrical Team has worked to improve the reliability of plant equipment through a proactive preventive maintenance program. At the same time, the team has created an environment that has less unexpected down-time and less expensive operation and maintenance costs.
1996 Subprogram Award
The Department of Facilities Management was recognized for its leadership and commitment in providing customer focused, high quality facilities and services in support of the University's mission. Within the department, organizational values have been created, communicated and sustained through a team management concept that is modeled throughout the organization. The department's innovative solutions to ongoing operations and maintenance issues that go beyond "just taking care of business" was also noted as being worthy of recognition.
1995 Governor's Award for Excellence (highest level award)
Department - College of Business
The School of Accountancy Team focused on making significant changes in undergraduate accounting education, especially in cooperative learning and a lab-science format for upper-division course. Partly due to the team's efforts, the School of Accountancy moved from a ranking of 17th in the nation to 12th.
Department - College of Business
This team developed and implemented a measurable process for continuously improving the marketing and operating functions of the annual Activating Your Firm's Service Culture symposium, which attracts executives from Fortune 500 firms and scholars from around the world.
1995 Governor's Recognition Award
Department - Facilities Management
The DSM team is dedicated to reducing energy consumption at ASU. The team plans to continue working towards its goal of reducing ASU s energy costs by a million dollars.
Department - Facilities Management
Department - Facilities Management
The Fleet Services team improved the garage s preventative maintenance program and the Motor Pool s dispatch and vehicle preparation process.
Department - Cross functional
Improved employee recognition process.
Department - Institutional Analysis, Information Technology and Comptroller's Office
The Data Warehouse provides over 400 ASU employees with timely, accurate and pertinent information needed to make business decisions.
Department - College of Extended Education, Architecture and Public Programs
Negotiated a cooperative services agreement with the City of Phoenix to conduct a study to provide information regarding the condition of housing located in targeted neighborhoods within the City of Phoenix. This information is to be used to calibrate a model that identifies areas for neighborhood revitalization efforts to proactively prevent housing deterioration.
Department - Public Safety
Service enhancements include a touch-tone vehicle registration system, increased service hours, student license plate changes and parking space availability by phone and automatic decal renewal for faculty/staff.
Department - Purchasing
Designed and implemented an automated nitrogen dispensing system saving $192,370 in its first year of operation and reducing customer processing time by 22 percent.
Department - Purchasing
Department - Research
Provision of service and assistance to University faculty and staff in the acquisition and management of external funding for research and other creative activities.
1994 Governor's Award for Excellence (highest level award)
Department - Comptroller's Office
1994 Governor's Recognition Award
Department - KAET
Department - Facilities Management
Department - College of Business
Department - Facilities Management
Department - UofA, ASU, NAU continuous improvement staff
1993 Governor's Spirit of Excellence Award (highest level award)
Individual Awards received by D. G. Robert Pettit, Linda Truscello-Smith, Montgomery Van Wart, Josephus West
1993 Governor's Recognition Award
Department - Facilities Management
Department - Facilities Management
Department - Facilities Management
Department - Registrar's Office
Department - Comptroller's Office
