OVERVIEW
General
The overall purpose of the Unit Review is to foster administrative excellence through assessment and continuous improvement; to assess a unit's quality, efficiency, and effectiveness of services; to consider the impact of current and emerging issues on services and structure, and to promote continuous improvement in support of the University's mission and priorities.
The review has two parts: 1) a unit self-study 2) an on-site review by an external committee, comprised of representatives with higher education and/or function experience. The unit self-study is provided as background to the external committee in advance of the on-site visit. The on-site visit includes interviews with leadership, functional staff, and stakeholders and direct observation.
Procurement
The Procurement Administrative Unit review was completed in Fall 2015 to provide supplemental context for the previously completed benchmarking study. The external review committee included a VP/CFO, an Executive Director of Procurement Services, and a Director of Quality Improvement from three different public higher education institutions. The committee met with approximately 40 stakeholders, representing executive leadership, Procurement staff, school and unit purchasing, and fiscal administrators, and faculty and staff engaged in recent procurements, ranging in size and complexity.  The committee synthesized the stakeholder feedback with other findings and observations to develop a set of recommendations for improvement.
OBJECTIVES
The overall review is intended to promote constructive change and mission-centric service improvements through self-study, stakeholder input, and external perspectives.
TIMELINE
Fall 2015 - Self-study and external review site visit
Winter 2015 - present - Action Plan and followup
RECOMMENDATIONS
The reviewers found PSDS to be high-decentralized in nature and that perception of PSDS service varied from that of valued partner to gatekeeper. They made the following recommendations:
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Develop a vision and strategic plan aligned with The Cornerstone Plan
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Enhance a culture of customer service
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Review and update policies and processes with customer input to streamline and simplify
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Increase collaborative work practices with other administrative units
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Build continuous management and review into the contracting process
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Better leverage data
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Review the service delivery model to reduce transactional activities
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Incorporate customer focus into training and development activities for all PSDS staff