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Operational Excellence

Strategic Challenge Question:

How can the UW System advance operational excellence by becoming more flexible, nimble, responsive, and cost efficient?

The Call for Change: Like all organizations, the UW System must find ways to free up resources to invest them in strategic imperatives. While the UW System is already regarded as one of the most efficient and productive higher education systems in the United States, still more can be done. Creating a more flexible and responsive system is at the heart of being able to move to a still lower cost-structure while retaining and enhancing the high quality of the UW System campuses’ education, service, and research. The Think Thank will identify key opportunities, both within the UW System and in conjunction with the Wisconsin Legislature, that can advance operational excellence while retaining accountability to the Legislature and citizens of Wisconsin.

Additional Questions:

• What are the campus, system, and state regulatory barriers to flexibility, nimbleness, responsiveness, and cost efficiency beyond those that the UW System Regent study “Charting a New Course” identified?
• How does the UW System advance effectiveness in an environment of limited resources, when greater productivity is being demanded in all three facets of the university mission – teaching, research, and public service?
• What changes should the UW System make internally to become more flexible and responsive?
• How can the university work with state government to adopt recommendations for management flexibility, as outlined in the “Charting a New Course” final report?
• How can the university reduce the number of credits taken in the process of earning a degree, and reduce time-to-degree, for the average student? What about for part-time, adult, or non-resident students?
• How can the university improve responsiveness to regional and state job and continuing education needs?