L&S Administrative Regional Teams

This KB will house L&S information related to the transition to the administrative regional teams including important dates, communications, and FAQs. For simplicity, we will use only the terms Administrative Regional Teams or ART on this site. Pods and SLACs are outdated terms yet mean the same thing.”

TIMELINE

ENGAGEMENTS

List of past and upcoming events
Event Date & Time Related Material (when applicable)
CASI/USIC standing agenda item for this academic year  Ongoing
HR Information Session 

Date: October 21st

Time: 11am – 12pm 

Slides
Finance Information Session

Date: October 22nd

Time: 1pm – 2pm 

Slides
Research Administration Information Session

Date: October 22nd 

Time: 2pm – 3pm 

Slides
First Advisory Group Meeting  Date: October 29th Meeting about every 3 weeks
Administrative Topic of the Month – College Staffing 

Date: November 7th 

Time: 8:30am - 10am 

Semesterly L&S Townhall for All-Staff 

Date: November 18th 

COMMUNICATIONS

Subject: PRIORITY MESSAGE:  Research Administration information session invitation 

From: Tina Nielsen 

To: People with positions identified as future ART roles 

Date: October 11, 2024

Dear Colleague,  

As the Dean shared earlier this fall (see below), L&S will be migrating towards an administrative staffing model where individuals in finance, human resources, and research administration support L&S units through semi-local administrative teams.  We will transition to this model by the end of this fiscal year to coincide with the implementation of the Workday system.  Units will have dedicated points of contact in each functional area in the new teams and existing staff will continue the same partnerships with their current units.  Relationships with those units will feel very similar under the new model, but the supervision structure will change to L&S Admin to facilitate the security needs of the Workday system as well as to ensure we have a stronger and more resilient staffing model that provides an improved ability to back-up work when folks are out of office, access to training and professional development opportunities, and more career pathing including promotional opportunities.  

We recognize this is a major change.  Our initial conversations are being purposely designed to begin an open dialogue and provide a space for all staff migrating to this new support model to ask both philosophical as well as detailed logistical questions about this change of approach. To that end, the upcoming information sessions will be the first in a series of opportunities to engage in dialogue about the changes and will occur the week of October 21st.    

Your position has been identified as one that will be a part of the researcher administration team in the future.  The information session for research administration will occur via Zoom at 2pm on Tuesday, October 22nd.  We hope you can join us and encourage you to add the attached invite to your calendar.  In addition to these sessions, please note there will be an L&S Admin Topic of the Month focused on this topic 8:30-10a on November 7th and an All-Staff Listening Session at 10am on November 18th. Be on the lookout for information for both of these events in the near future.  

Thank you for your patience and collaboration as we work through the details of this change together.  

Sincerely,  

Tina, on behalf of the L&S Admin Team – Lea, Jennifer, John and Dani 

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Subject: College Staffing Update 

From: Dean Eric Wilcots 

To: L&S Community 

Date: September 5, 2024 

Dear L&S Staff, 

As we begin another academic year together, we set our sights on the best ways to achieve our core mission in the year ahead.  Being a top-ranked public university requires modern, responsive, efficient, and secure administrative systems and resilient staffing structures to serve as the foundation for us to achieve excellence. 

Near the end of academic year 2022-23, L&S introduced a plan to pivot towards a strategic staffing methodology.  A key goal of strategic staffing was to create more resilience across our lean and fragile administrative staffing in the College to ensure departmental operations do not grind to a halt if there is a sudden leave or staff vacancy.  Additionally, a strategic staffing framework allows us to provide better access to training, professional development, and career pathing for administrative staff across the College as well as the ability for more frequent engagement with fellow employees in their communities of practice. 

The Universities of Wisconsin and UW-Madison have been engaged in efforts towards re-envisioning our administrative systems and structures for the last several years with the Administrative Transformation Program (ATP).  As campus began to evaluate the current state, the findings were that our administrative systems and the ways our staff were required to work through and around those systems were outdated, inefficient and staying the course was not an option.  Therefore, a necessary decision was made to move away from our current administrative systems and to the Workday system on 7/1/2025 for all financial, post-award and human resources processes. 

As L&S began to plan for implementation of our strategic staffing structure, we also began to understand the changing ways work will be accomplished on campus as the full efforts of the ATP unfold and faced the parameters of the Legislative position cap.  Therefore, our timeline for achieving the plans for strategic staffing was accelerated and boundary conditions became better defined.  Given the needs of achieving administrative work in a more resilient staffing system with greater back-up, ensuring that we have appropriate separation of duties, incorporating more communities of practice support into day to day work and building a staffing system constructed in a manner that will integrate well with the security parameters of the Workday system, we are embarking on the effort of creating Administrative Regional Teams.

The ART model is designed to:  

  • Allow us to ensure administrative work is performed under a supervisory structure of specialized experts in finance, research administration and human resources who deeply understand the rapidly changing landscape of compliance, reporting, and best practices; 

  • Retain vital partnerships with unit staff at every step of the configuration and long-term operation of the ARTs - financial, HR and research administration staff that migrate to the ART structure on or before 7/1/2025 will continue to have assigned departments they work very closely with day in and day out, often at 1:1 or 1 to few for those high transactional volume roles; and 

  • Provide the necessary system access, training, and support to complete administrative work. 

As to the question of which staff will migrate to the ARTs, we are currently in the process of determining that via a survey and discussions with unit leaders to understand current day to day efforts.  They may need to engage with you in order to complete the survey.  Once we are able to analyze the results in partnership with unit leaders, we will be able to determine the efforts that will need to be reconfigured versus the many other vital tasks needed to meet our mission which will remain locally administered.  In order to meet the timeline for security role access and training needed for set up in Workday, any modifications to reporting lines will need to be established before the end of the calendar year.  While job duties are likely to change for most individuals currently in administrative roles, we are seeking to maintain the existing connections with current unit assignments while expanding communities as well. 

We recognize this is a significant shift for staff to process, and we will be holding information sessions and discussions throughout the fall semester.  Whether an individual will be joining a ART or continue reporting directly to a unit, there will be many questions regardless of which group an individual lands.  Let me be very clear, though there may be changes in job responsibilities and reporting relations for a portion of the L&S community, these changes will not result in employee layoffs. 

We acknowledge a transformation of this magnitude causes a great deal of anxiety for all in our College community, staff and faculty, and we greatly appreciate your patience and constructive engagement as we navigate these efforts.  We also encourage you to reach out to the Employee Assistance Office for support and assistance when helpful; they are an incredible resource in navigating change and are available at no cost. 

While recognizing that many of the key details of the upcoming changes will continue to emerge in the next several months, our goal is to have transparent communications and discussions throughout ATP.  As our campus leadership has indicated, ATP is not just about implementing a system, but reimagining how we approach our work and shifting towards continuous improvement.  To meet the opportunity and challenge ahead of us, your partnership, expertise, and insights will play a critical role in our success. While there is much to be done, we know we can do this together. 

Sincerely, 

Eric 

FAQs

General FAQs

Will L&S involve Academic staff Assembly and University staff Congress in planning this as part of shared governance? 

  • Yes, shared governance groups (L&S CASI-USIC) will be involved in supporting the implementation of the Administrative Regional Teams and help us to ensure we are addressing employee questions and concerns. The Administrative Regional Teams implementation will be an ongoing agenda item during the upcoming academic year, and meetings will include individuals moving to the teams to ensure we are hearing questions, concerns, and feedback. 

Will other ARTs be formed on campus (Advising, program coordination?) 

  • There will be other shared administrative service groups formed on campus, but we are not aware of the formation of an advising or program coordination shared service group at this time. 

Are all campuses moving to ARTs? 

  • Our understanding is that most comprehensives within Universities of WI already have a centralized and shared services model.

Will there be a financial savings realized with this move? If so, will those savings be given to US staff that make less than a living wage for Madison?

  • We do not anticipate there will be financial savings with this approach in the near term.

Who is in charge of the ART process, and who is assisting with the changes?

  • L&S Admin is managing the transition process, in close partnership with many across the college, including many DAs, the ART Advisory Committee, and CASI-USIC to name a few.

Will offices in new buildings (Levy hall, CDIS) have space allocated specifically to ARTs, or will the employees moved to ARTs stay with the departments they were part of when the departments move to the new buildings? 

  • Our preference is to have positions within the ARTs remain physically located with their assigned unit(s).

Will Business Services continue to operate in its current structure and service provision or will all policy questions go to System?

  • As of January 2025 all auditing of e-reimbursement is now being completed by UW-Madison central business services office and two staff from L&S have joined that team. The remaining staff members are available to provide departmental back-up for vacancies as we prepare the College for new roles in the ART taken on by staff from departments as well as current L&S Business Services and Budget Offices staff.
I saw in the timeline that 'official reporting begins' on July 1 when Workday goes live. So just to clarify, people would not be transferred to a different unit until that day?
  • Existing employees will remain assigned to their current departments. The transition date to the new supervisor will occur between March - June, 2025, based on feedback from the unit and the hiring timeline of the new supervisor.
This is the least of my priorities, but a question I think could be answered: what if I'm planning a vacation for June? Who's approving that, my current supervisor, my new supervisor, both?
  • Vacation requests for 2025 should be sent to your current supervisor for approval.
Also, when would new appointment letters be signed? This is a change in job duties/description. When will salary negotiations be possible?
  • There will not be new appointment letters issued as a result of the implementation of ARTs. Letters communicating the supervisory change and change in operational area will occur once the transition date is finalized.
As someone in such a small department that does a lot of NON-RA related work as well, my concern is that my current supervisor, or PIs, will continue to come to me directly with work to do. How are we supposed to manage responsibilities of a new supervisor, as well as learn the responsibilities of all other departments in our ART, as well as try to satisfy and maintain a close relationship with our unit and current supervisor? Who takes priority?
  • Employees will remain assigned to existing units in much the same way they are today. If there are concerns about managing responsibilities and requests coming from the unit, we encourage employees to communicate with their supervisor.

People and Position Impacts

Will people lose FTE when moving to an ART? How is the FTE determined? What if that person has duties in an ART area, and a non-ART area? 

  • Individuals who will be part of the Administrative Regional Teams will not experience an FTE decrease. L&S Admin will be partnering with each unit to evaluate positions with responsibilities both inside and outside the new team. 

Will anyone lose their job to ARTs? 

  • No one will lose their job as a result of Administrative Regional Team implementation. 

If employees currently do multiple jobs (HR and Finance) in their department, will they have to choose one when they move to a ART? 

  • There will be a separation of duties between the functional areas within the Administrative Regional Teams, and, in many cases, within Workday. Where positions currently have responsibilities that bridge multiple functional areas, L&S Admin will be discussing the details of these positions and the outcome (if the individual will be part of the new team, and if so, which one) will be determined based on the unique circumstances of their situation. 

Will titles change? 

  • There will not be immediate title changes with the implementation of Administrative Regional Teams. We will continue to evaluate titles after we fully transition into the new structure and Workday to ensure we are in alignment with campus title guidelines. 

Will pay change? 

  • There will not be salary changes as a result of Administrative Regional Team implementation. 

Is there career progression in an ART? 

  • Yes, we do expect more opportunities for career progression within L&S as a result of Administrative Regional Teams. 

Will there be an open call for applications to the new ART roles or a forced move? 

  • There will be both recruitments for roles within the Administrative Regional Teams and reassignment of existing employees to a team. 

Will staff get a new appointment letter if duties are changing? 

  • If the percentage split and/or unique duties need to be updated on the position description, we will work through PD update process. This would not result in a new appointment letter; however, individuals will receive a letter communicating changes such as supervisory and operational area. 

How will training be managed for staff moving to an ART with work they are not familiar with? 

  • We will offer training for any aspects of a role an individual may not be familiar with. In addition, we will all be engaging in Workday training (expected to begin in March) and the many impacted processes. Ongoing professional development will also be a key component of the Administrative Regional Teams. 

Will our supervisor change if we are moved to an ART?  

  • Yes, those positions that are part of the Administrative Regional Teams will report to the manager overseeing their functional area (e.g. Finance Manager, HR Manager, or Multi-functional Research Administration Manager). Current supervisors will have an active role in your work. 

Currently we each have a variety of work schedules.  Can we keep our current work schedule when moved to an ART?  Will ARTs allow flexible schedules or require standardized schedules? Will we need to coordinate work schedules and leave requests with other ART members for adequate coverage? 

  • We will be working with the Administrative Regional Teams advisory group and L&S shared governance to work through expectations around work schedules and coordination of leave requests. 

Will our Academic or University staff status change when moved to an ART? When new ART members are hired will they all be Academic staff, or a mix of Academic staff and University staff? 

  • Existing staff will retain their current employment classification with Administrative Regional Team implementation since titles are not changing. New team positions will be in a mix of both Academic and University staff classifications. 

Will ART members still attend department meetings? Will they need to attend multiple department meetings?

  • L&S Admin would like to see the primary department contacts within the ART invited and attending departmental meetings. If this is not feasible, we would expect the DA to provide pertinent information to ensure the primary contacts within the ART have the information needed to be successful in their role.

Will ART members still be on g-group lists for their primary department? Or other email distribution lists?

  • L&S Admin would like to see ART members included in the unit's departmental communications, including g-group lists, for their primary department(s). It will also be helpful in many circumstances for the primary point-of-contact to have access to send information to the distribution groups within the unit.

What does strategic leadership look like for DAs?

  • Strategic leadership can look a number of ways, and will likely be shaped by departmental needs; it could include areas such as alumni relations and development, organizational and/or curriculum development to name a few. Our goal is to have department administrators having roles and responsibilities that more clearly match the SJD. We will be facilitating ongoing college-wide conversations on this topic in 2025.

Can we incorporate the work of the Office of Inclusive Excellence and Organizational Equity to help benefit connections within an ART?

  •  Yes, we love this suggestion! We will be sure to work with our colleagues in the Office of Inclusive Excellence and Organizational Equity to further connections within each ART. 

What steps is the College taking to ensure staff retention and job satisfaction?

  • Employee retention is of critical importance to us as we navigate the changes ahead. We are striving for clear and transparent communication, opportunities for individuals and groups to ask questions, provide feedback, and contribute ideas. Towards this end, we are engaging with the ART advisory group, as well as L&S CASI-USIC, to solicit feedback and input. Additionally, each of the functional areas (Finance, HR, Research Admin) have engagement with employees in positions migrating to the ART structure. This KB page is dedicated to the ART transition, where employees can find updates, FAQs, and submit questions/suggestions.

Are team members going to be compensated via salary for essentially becoming "on call" for other units within their silo?

  • Positions migrating to the ART structure will continue to be compensated following existing Salary Administration Guidelines. There will not be compensation adjustments resulting from ART implementation.

Structure & Operations

Will all departments be in a ART? 

  • Yes, all departments will be included in the new model. 

Will an ART member’s current department remain their primary department? 

  • In most cases yes, the individual currently in a unit will continue to be assigned to that same unit. While it will take time to fully evaluate capacity and activity levels, potentially 1-2 years. we will be working with ART employees to address areas where the workload needs balancing. For individuals with capacity, this may result in having an additional unit(s) assignment.

Will staff need to move offices? 

  • In most cases, no, the existing staff will not need to move offices. L&S Admin would prefer that individuals within the Administrative Regional Team have space within or near the unit(s) they serve. 

What will the daily interaction look like between departments and the ARTs? Will it be something like what happens now between centralized departments and the College HR partners? 

  • We expect the daily interaction between departments and their assigned person within the Administrative Regional Team will look similar to the interactions folks within these roles currently have with their departments. We recognize the need for strong and collaborative working relationships in order for all of us to be successful. 

How will work be assigned in an ART? Will each ART member be assigned to one department as their main support role like it is now?  Or will ART members support all departments in their ART on a routine basis? Will an email ticketing system be used like UWSS does for affinity groups? 

  • There will be an Administrative Regional Team  primary point-of-contact assigned to each unit, and that person will serve the primary operational needs of their assigned unit(s). We expect members of the Administrative Regional Team will support each other as needed in times of peak workload, leave, etc. We are looking into the possibility of using an email ticketing system to help facilitate and track requests, but the primary assignment to a ticketing system request would be to the unit's primary point-of-contact. 

How does backup coverage work with ART?  If an ART member is on long vacation or leaves for another job, how is it decided which ART member will do their work temporarily?  Will they be paid more when covering for other areas? 

  • In most cases, back-up coverage assignments will be based on capacity and will be short-term in nature. In these cases, individuals providing back-up coverage would not be paid more when covering for other areas. However, each situation, particularly if there is a long-term coverage assignment, will be evaluated to ensure appropriate workload and compliance with UW-Madison's overload policy. 

How will RWAs work in an ART? What if one department does not allow RWAs? 

  • We will be working with the Administrative Regional Team advisory group and L&S shared governance to work through differences in onsite/hybrid/remote work expectations. 

Will department assignments within an ART be geographically close so that employees do not need to walk across campus to speak to someone in person? 

  • We are looking at multiple variables when assigning individuals to departments, including geographical location/proximity, similarity of units, and overall workload. 

How many ARTs are there? 

  • There will be 5 Administrative Regional Teams in total covering all units within L&S. Note: We have received some questions about the units listed on the August 27, 2024, plenary slide detailing the 5 teams. Please note some units were not listed individually and were combined into categories (e.g. Social Science Centers, Arts & Humanities Centers) due to space limitations on the presentation slide. 

What improvements is the ART process meant to make? 

  • The improvements and benefits of Administrative Regional Teams include: 

  • More resilient staffing model 

  • Ability to successfully implement new workflows within Workday 

  • Robust training and support in each functional area (e.g. finance, HR, research admin) 

  • Ongoing communications and sharing of best practices with the L&S community 

  • Supervisors that are specialized in each functional area 

  • Increased career pathing and advancement 

Will these changes reduce redundancy in the system and lessen bureaucracy? 

  • We do anticipate this new model will present opportunities to streamline processes and decision making. We will be engaging with Administrative Regional Team members to help us identify these opportunities as both a part of implementation, and as part of ongoing operations. Please let us know if you see opportunities! 

Will all staff in an ART do all of the work, or will "specialist" positions be created within an ART? How will that be managed when someone is on vacation? 

  • We do not anticipate having "specialist" positions within each team upon implementation, but will continue to evaluate, listen to feedback, and adjust our approach if needed. 

When employees contact an ART will they deal with a random ART member like happens when they contact OHR now?  Most employees prefer dealing with a regular contact who they know well and knows them well. 

  • Employees within a unit will reach out to their designated contact person when support is needed, similar to how employees reach out for support in current state. 

When employees want to talk in person with a ART member will they need to go halfway across campus to the ART office? 

  • L&S Admin would like Administrative Regional Team members to be located within the unit, or nearby, when they are onsite, similar to current state. 

Will workers who move into a new official position/title receive a grandfather rule to bank vacation and receive vacation payouts as they are currently able?

  • If an individual moves into a new title through a competitive recruitment process, their terms and conditions of employment will be dictated by the new position's employment classification. If an individual moves into a new title through a non-competitive process, such through a position review, they would have the choice to maintain their existing employment classification (e.g. University staff) and the corresponding terms and conditions of employment.

How will vacation allocation work if staff are moving classifications?

  • An individual's vacation allocation will remain the same unless they apply for/compete and accept a position that changes their employee category. In these cases, their vacation allocation will follow the rules for their new employee category.

How will relationships with departments be built and maintained for staff in ARTs? 

  • It will be vital for existing and new staff within the ART structure to build and maintain relationships with departments, and those within the department. We will be working with the ART advisory group, DAs, Chairs, CASI-USIC, and others to ensure we are providing a solid foundation to foster these relationships.

Is there a plan to address salary compression in an ART, or across multiple ARTs? 

  • While there will not be salary changes as a result of ART implementation, we will continue to evaluate salary parity consistent with the Salary Administration Guidelines.

If a person is 50% academic planning and 50% finance, (half of the work they do today will move into the ART) would that person be reduced to half-time with the creation of the ARTs, or would they be assigned other duties? Will the FTEs of employees whose duties are split in this way change when the “ARTs” are created?

  • Where positions currently have responsibilities that bridge multiple functional areas, L&S Admin will be discussing the details of these positions and the outcome (if the individual will be part of the ART, and if so, which one) will be determined based on the unique circumstances of their situation. There will be no reduction in an employee's FTE as a result of ART implementation.

Currently we all have different pay rates based on experience, department size, performance, duties, etc.  When we move to ARTs could our pay change?  Will work be standardized in a pod with lower paid employees doing same work as higher paid employees?  Or will higher paid employees be expected to do more work?

  • There will not be salary changes as a result of ART implementation. Each functional area (finance, HR, research admin) will continue to evaluate operational needs and workflows/processes to determine how work will be split across different position types. We have a lot to learn yet about Workday and adjacent processes to fully know the answer to this question.

If Dept Admins will supervise fewer employees will they need their PD updated? Would they get a pay reduction?

  • There will not be salary changes as a result of ART implementation. We will not be updating PDs until well after implementation stabilization, which will likely take more than a year. We expect DA responsibilities will continue to support the same SJD title.

How will ART members be funded?

  • All ART staff will be paid in L&S Admin (with a few exceptions for staff on gift and grant funding who will still reside with the ARTs). L&S has received designated bridge funding and FTE for several years to create the ART model as pilot for larger efforts campus is now planning. The funds for existing staff will be transferred from BSRs to Admin for existing staff who transfer into ARTs.

How many departments will one person support?

  • Depending on the individual's role, many people will primarily support only one unit with back-up availability for a limited number of departments during staff vacations, vacancies or periods of time with higher than average demands. For smaller units or those with fewer activities, individuals may support 2-3 units.

Will any departments retain their own staff in HR, Finance or GA as currently structured?

  • Unit positions in finance, HR, or research administration will all become part of the ART structure. Units will continue to work and collaborate closely with staff in these areas. Non-research administrators who do pre-award/proposal work, like PIs and some department admins, will continue to do so from their departments, and research administrators who are migrating to the ARTs that currently do pre-award work for their departments will continue to do so from the ARTs, in collaboration with the PIs and other proposal contributors in the department.

How will travel be managed? Many departments have complex travel arranging, or have relationships with special groups (First Nations, under-served populations) that could be damaged by disruption to current process.

  • Fox World Travel and Concur will not be impacted by the shift to Workday. Staff currently planning travel can continue to do so. E-reimbursement processes will move into Workday. If local staff who are not moving to ARTs are planning travel and serving as alternate expense reimbursement preparers today, they will need to work with ART staff to facilitate the expense reimbursement preparation piece of the process in the future.

How are pod unit assignments determined? Who is doing that work? Will departments have input?

  • For existing staff, they will continue to work with the same department to which they are currently assigned. For new assignments, we will be looking at various activity and workload metrics of the unit, proximity, and similarity of functions when making assignments. The unit assignment decision will be the responsibility of L&S Admin, and DAs will be consulted as part of the decision making process.

How are pods going to foster collaboration for the unique needs of each unit? The example given is regarding e-reimbursement. Some departments allow travelers to enter their own reimbursements. The Financial Specialist catches errors, troubleshoots, and approves forward. In some other units, staff enter the reimbursements.

  • Staff from ART will serve as expense data entry specialists for departments. This role will replace current state alternates as well as current state department approver roles. Expense reimbursements will go from expense data entry specialists right to UW-Madison Business Services for audit. If travelers prepare their own reports without coordinating with the expense data entry specialists, they will go to UW-Madison Business Services for audit without departmental reviews so we recommend the use of expense data entry specialists in Workday.

How will funding work for pod members?  Will they all be on same funding string? Will pod members be on L&S division funding, or will their costs be charged to departments like now?

  • All ART staff will be paid in L&S Admin (with a few exceptions for staff on gift and grant funding who will still reside with the ARTs). L&S has received designated bridge funding and FTE for several years to create the ART model as pilot for larger efforts campus is now planning. The funds for existing staff will be transferred from BSRs to Admin for existing staff who transfer into ARTs.

Will each pod member have access to all data for all depts in their pod?  All Payroll and benefits info, all financial and purchasing info, etc?  Seems necessary for pod member to serve all depts in the pod.

  • All ART financial staff will have access to financial data for all of L&S through the finance analyst role in Workday. All DAs will be given this same role to view financial data in place of the current access staff have to WISER as WISER will be retired.

How does Separation of Duties work with pods?  Who does approvals when needed?

  • Within Workday, separation of duties for most transactions is accomplished by restricting the initiator and other approvers from serving in multiple approver roles. Within each ART, we will have initiators and approvers for each transaction type assigned.

What will IT support be like? Will we be able to keep the computers and laptops that we currently have or will we need to switch over to other equipment? Additionally, will we still have access to department drives? Can you be more specific about opportunities for professional development and promotion? Given that Workday security roles limit access of certain titles to certain tasks, it seems like many individuals will no longer have as many different types of financial responsibilities and will narrow down their work to fewer types of tasks. It is unclear how the new structure will avoid lateral movement.

  • L&S Admin will be responsible for providing IT support to individuals within the ART structure. We will be working with units to determine if new computers and laptops will be needed, or if individuals can continue using their existing equipment. We will also be working with each unit to ensure employees continue to have access to existing files and resources, including those on department drives. Individuals within the ART will be able to participate in ongoing professional development, both within and outside of UW-Madison. There will also be many work teams forming as we get ready for Workday implementation, which will also provide opportunities for continued development. In addition, individuals are encouraged to apply for openings which may provide promotional opportunities.

Transition & Communication

Will there be a Town Hall that staff can attend? 

  • There will be a number of opportunities for individuals to receive additional information regarding Administrative Regional Team implementation, including: 

  • Week of 10/21/2024: Information sessions for impacted individuals by functional area (finance, HR, and research administration) 

  • 11/7/2024: L&S Administrative Topic of the Month focusing on Administrative Regional Team implementation 

  • 11/18/2024: Semesterly L&S Townhall for all staff 

What is the timeline for ART implementation? 

  • The transition to Administrative Regional Teams will occur by July 1, 2025. 

Will faculty experience a loss of financial support as a result of the ART structure and Workday?   

  • We do not expect financial support services will decrease as a result of Administrative Regional Team implementation. In some units, particularly smaller units, more services may be available with the addition of dedicated  support. 

The Dean’s 9/5 message noted: “In order to meet the timeline for security role access and training needed for set up in Workday, any modifications to reporting lines will need to be established before the end of the calendar year.” What does this mean? 

  • The Dean's message is stating that employees will be informed before the end of the calendar year if they will be part of the new Administrative Regional Team  structure and/or if there will be modifications to their scope of work (to the extent known) due to Workday implementation. The changes will be communicated by the end of the calendar year so we can appropriately map security roles and sign people up for training, however the changes will not take effect until closer to July 1, 2025. 

How will the supervisory lines be structured? Who will write evaluations and determine discretionary increases?

  • Each member of the ART will have a supervisor within their area of expertise (finance, human resources, or research admin). These supervisors will report to the functional area within L&S Admin. The supervisors will be responsible for performance evaluations, and will be responsible for recommending discretionary increases. Department Administrators will be consulted in these processes.

How will the reallocation of work within departments work after losing people to the ARTs who do other work in the department that is not covered by the ARTs? 

  • Where positions currently have responsibilities that bridge multiple functional areas, L&S Admin will be discussing the details of these positions and the outcome (if the individual will be part of the ART, and if so, which one) will be determined based on the unique circumstances of the situation.

How does the position cap affect ARTs? 

  • Campus leadership allocated L&S additional positions under the position cap specifically for the purpose of standing up the pod model.

Grouping ARTs by academic area creates big differences in pod sizes. Would working in big ARTs be better or worse than working in small ARTs? 

  • There will likely be pros and cons of working in bigger versus smaller ARTs; however, the workload for each individual working within the ART is expected to be comparable.

If ART employees work at buildings that are far apart, will they be compensated for parking?

  • We are looking at physical proximity when determining ART assignments. Please note, employees in existing roles will continue to remain assigned to their current unit, and our preference is for them to remain physically located in the unit, so parking shouldn't change as a result of implementation.

How will searches be conducted (at all levels).

  • Searches will be conducted in much the same way they are now, with representative stakeholders involved in parts of the process.

What role will DAs play in ART supervision? Could they possibly supervise an ART? 

  • DAs will not be responsible for supervising employees within the ART, however, similar to today, they will have significant interaction with their assigned individuals and will be consulted for performance feedback.

Currently we get a Pay Edit for our dept on almost daily basis.  When we are in pods will we get Pay Edit report for every dept in our ART?  For example, ART 5 has 20 depts.  Would those members get 20 pay edit reports daily?

  • We do not expect that all members of the ART will get a pay edit report for each unit within their team. We will be working together to identify what reports are available and how to best utilize the reporting functions and availability in future state.

I am wondering how scholarship submissions and withdrawals from the Foundation will be handled. Will people in the ARTs still do these, or will others in the department have to take these duties over? Will multiple people in the ARTs have access to the Foundation accounts? I have not seen either of these issues addressed, and they are both big parts of my work.

  • The majority of the disbursement process happens outside of workday so the people who currently process, can continue and access from the Foundation’s website won’t be taken away. The gift billing report is in Workday so members of the ARTs will facilitate the process of getting funds posted to the 233 accounts here on campus.

Info session question archive

Finance Info session Q&A

Is every College doing a similar approach to roles and the ART structure?  If not, why?

  • There are a variety of approaches across campus based on the size, complexity, and existing structures already in place in the S/C/D. Some S/C/D are already centralized in the finance, HR, and/or research admin areas and some are planning to pivot to a campus shared service model.

What does the change look like for someone in a hybrid role? For example, I mostly perform financial tasks and am also the building manager for my department. Would my building duties stay with the department, or would I still perform them? If I still perform them, what does supervision look like?

  • We are meeting with departments individually to work through the details of responsibilities that are not inherent within the title/summary job description.

Hybrid schedules: why can't we keep the ones we currently have, especially since we'll be housed in the same buildings therefore work productivity wouldn't change/be noticed by those in other departments/buildings? 

  • We are currently evaluating hybrid/remote work arrangements to understand what schedules are currently in place. We are working hard to get back to individuals to confirm those schedules can remain in place as we know this is an important topic for individuals.

Back-up coverage: what happens to the smaller departments when someone calls in sick and staffing becomes an issue? 

  • This situation is one of the benefits of the new team structure. In our current state, if someone is out unexpectedly, there are times when either there is no one available with the knowledge to answer questions, and other times when the department administrator is pulled away from their primary duties to fill in. In the new structure, we would work within the ART to cover the needs of the unit during the absence.

When and how will we be notified of our exact position change and who our new supervisor will be? 

  • Existing employees will remain assigned to their current departments. We will communicate supervisory assignments as the positions are filled.

When will the supervisors be hired? 

  • We anticipate supervisor positions will be filled in early 2025.

Will all of the new positions be posted? 

  • Yes, new positions will be posted for recruitment.

When will specifics about tasks, vacation selection, supervisors processes be released so that staff will know what is expected of them? 

  •  We continue to work on these details and ]will be sharing more information in these areas as they are known. Thank you for your patience.

You talked about "pathway to career growth opportunities". How will this be more obvious? 

  • In the immediate term, we will be sharing vacancy postings with each functional area which may present promotional opportunities. In the long term, this is something supervisors will be discussing with employees on an ongoing basis to ensure we are supporting each individual in advancing towards their professional goals.

How will pathway to career growth work for University staff and other financial staff not moved to Academic staff? 

  • Employees wishing to advance into an academic staff role will need to decide if that meets their personal and professional needs, or if they prefer to remain in a university staff role. Employees will not be forced to move to a different employee type.

1.) Best in class service to our units: a lot of us have other department/building specific duties. What happens to those duties if we're no longer part of the department we signed up for?

  • We are meeting with departments individually to work through the details of responsibilities that are not inherent within the title/summary job description. 

2.) It was previously mentioned before that it was possible to have a split appointment between L&S and the department. Is that still a possibility (to then also have two supervisors, because how will a subject matter expert in the finance realm help with department specific duties)?

  • It was determined split appointments were not the best way forward due to both system configuration concerns as well as our overall L&S strategic staffing priorities. But we agree department administrators and others within the department will continue to be key partners and collaborators as they have the department-specific knowledge that will be needed to complete the work. 

3.) How much are we expected to then participate in other departments we service? (meetings, etc.) 

  • Existing staff will continue to be assigned to the units they currently serve. We expect that if employees are currently attending departmental meetings, that they will continue to do so to support the connection to the unit and to help ensure employees within the ART have the information needed to do their work.

We currently have dedicated points of contact when performing most of our tasks. How will this new dedicated point of contact be different and more effective? 

  • For those units who have staff in the functional areas (HR, finance, research admin), the dedicated point of contact will not be new. This will continue in much they same way it exists today. For those units who do NOT have staff in the functional areas, they will gain additional support from individuals specializing in their functional area.

How many employees will our new bosses be responsible for?  Will it be a small enough number for them to know their employees and their daily jobs, responsibilities?  Will they be able to build relationships with employees they never see? 

  • The number of positions each manager supervises will vary, with a range likely between ~5-15 employees. Supervisors' primary responsibility will be to support and manage the team, including getting to know staff and spending time with them both virtually and in-person.

Is this the structure for approvals? If so it looks like there is still probability of a "bottleneck" for approval as we move higher up the approval chain which is a bit concerning on things that are on tight timelines. 

  • The ability for staff to share workload and delegate tasks to others on the Administrative Regional Teams should help prevent bottle-necking that would likely be more common if tasks stayed entirely within units and only one person could approve a transaction

How will account auditing be handled and will the "teams" handle this or will Accounting Services handle this? 

  • Auditing of e-reimbursements will no longer be performed by L&S Business Services and will be performed by UW-Madison Business Services by the end of 2024

Where is Religious Studies? Will they be in Team 5? 

  • Yes, Religious Studies will be a part of Team 5.

What metrics will be used to rate our job performance? 

  • We do not have enough information about Workday and its processes to consider using system metrics to measure performance at this time.

Why were language departments excluded from the advisory group? 

  • Advisory group members were selected based on nominations; we intentionally looked at their knowledge of unit operational needs ensuring we had representation across the divisions (CDIS, Arts & Humanities, Social Sciences, Natural, Mathematical, and Biological Sciences). We also needed to maintain a reasonable group size. We recognize not all department types are represented within the advisory group.

Vacancies before the teams are put in place: when people leave before implementation and their position goes to the ART, what does that do for the current troubles of a department being down a person? Is that person going to be replaced sooner than later, or is the expectation that the department has to suffer until July 1? 

  • Positions that are vacated are being recruited for ahead of July 1.

How will historical transactions work when we are required by state statute to keep

  • My understanding is that appropriate level of grant detail will migrate to Workday so that grants will have the detail available for grant reporting needs and policy requirements.  More information from ATP on this aspect of the migration of WISER/SFS data to Workday will be needed. 

How can we get rid of shadow systems if we are not allowed or cannot get access to financial data and reports? 

  • We are working on understanding the reporting and data access capabilities that will exist within Workday, and also looking into other options to fill any gaps. More will be discussed in this area as we learn more.

Through GOAT teams and UXT training, I understood that there can be several approvers (at the level right before cost center manager) for one fund. That would mean that you could have a pool of people access every transaction that needs approval, and could have people who specialize in one type of transaction (such as e-res, DPs, reqs, payroll, etc.). Could you please clarify? Is that an L&S restriction? 

  • Initiator roles can be a pool of people and can specialize in certain transactions (purchasing vs e-reimbursement vs payroll) if a unit has enough initiators to cover multiple areas. In many units the same person will perform all tasks if they only have one finance person. Approvers (which occur before the cost center manager) are single assignment roles set at the funding string level and must be the same person across all finance processes for that funding string

Merit increases: can the departments we service provide merit increases, and/or provide input on our work? Otherwise, it feels like those of us in Finance/HR/Research Admin titles are being told we can't have merit raises past team implementation (if we were currently receiving those). 

  • As mentioned in the information session, DAs will be consulted around performance evaluations, which helps to inform subsequent performance-based increases. However, departments will no longer be funding the positions, and therefore would not be responsible for providing ongoing salary increases. Merit/performance based increases will be the responsibility of L&S Admin going forward.

How do the accountants in the business office factor into the new teams? 

  • Our function is changing as well and we will be shifting to other roles.

How will you prevent this transition from creating an "assembly line" approach to finance. Will there be any positions left that require thinking? 

  • While there is a change to the organizational structure, and the systems used to complete that work, the work will be similar to what exists today and will require critical thinking, planning, and collaboration with those in your assigned unit.

How will withdrawals from Foundation funds work? Will multiple people have access? 

  • Access to the Foundation website and requesting funds from the Foundation will be similar and done by the same folks in departments that do today (including DAs). Only folks from the L&S gift worktag manager team will be able to upload information to Workday to create the invoices that will bill the Foundation in order to transfer the funds to the 233 gift worktags. 

A question I know won't be able to be answered in this session: how come an email wasn't sent out to those in the Finance/HR/Research Admin groups announcing the available positions? It's entirely possible that people have supervisory experience outside of UW-Madison that have now been left out unless they were actively looking during a time that UW wasn't allowed to hire. 

  • Position vacancies are now available on the ART KB 143984 and openings will be sent to the employees within that functional area.

HR information session Q&A

Will this centralization eventually be campus-wide (e.g. my entire current department to become centralized, and not just for admin regional teams)?

  • We are not aware of other positions or functional areas that will be centralized campus-wide. There are conversations occurring across campus about shared services and how campus can best support efficient operations in administrative areas such as finance, business services, and human resources.

Will pay equity be looked at within the new teams?

  • We will review pay equity within the new teams and evaluating parity in accordance with the Salary Administration Guidelines. However we will not be making any salary adjustments at the time of this organizational change (July 1, 2025).

Changing supervisors (being pulled from our departments) without our input is one of the main issues causing anxiety.  Have you considered any other options - such as buddy departments for coverage? Or shared supervision? This was discussed early on...what changed?

  • Early on we thought it might be possible to have a "buddy system" in place to support from L&S administration when a separation of duties would be necessary and a unit did not have enough roles to accomplish that workflow. As we have gained more clarity on how workflows will assign work, how tasks can and cannot be delegated, it was determined that a different reporting structure would be needed to accommodate.

does "serving multiple units" mean I could be pulled out of my current unit and assigned somewhere else, temporarily or permanently, based on unit needs? and more specifically, would such a reassignment be voluntary or involuntary?

  • Each existing position migrating into the ART structure will continue to serve the unit to which they are currently assigned. We have asked individuals to reach out if they would like to change the unit they serve, or if they would like to increase their FTE and potentially serve additional units. ART team members will be covering for each other during times of leave or when positions are vacant. The opportunity to support each other will take into account capacity and ability to do so.

Do we get input on our "new" position? At what point? Can we advocate for our individual preferences and interests?

  • For the majority of existing HR staff, your department/unit assignment will continue as it currently is. If you would prefer a change in assignment, please reach out.

Will our job titles and position descriptions change? Some of us are part-time. Can we stay part-time? Will each pod member have access to all needed data for all depts in their pod?

  • Job titles and position descriptions will not change on July 1, 2025. We expect it will take some time for all of the details of the change to be worked through. At that point, we will evaluate titles and ensure we are in alignment with campus guidelines. Existing staff with a part-time schedule can remain part-time. We are actively engaging with the Workday system to fully understand the data and reporting functionality and to identify how employees and departments can access needed information.

Will we "report to" strictly our L&S supervisor or do we also report to our current supervisor?

  • Employees on the Administrative Regional Teams will report solely to the manager of their team. Department Administrators will not supervise employees on the administrative regional team, but they will be partners in supporting employees within the ART structure and consulted on things such as performance evaluations.

On the part time question--if we're part time and would like to go full time, will that be an option? 

  • If an HR employee is part-time and would like to go full-time, please reach out to Lea.

If the move (change in duties, etc) is not a positive move for an employee, will there be an opportunity for us to give feedback on how things are going? 30, 60, 90 day check ins. If we are not happy with our new roles, supervisors, etc what options are available for us?

  • We like this suggestion for ongoing check-ins as we work through this transition to ensure we are hearing feedback and working together to support the new model. Our goal is to ensure employees have the tools, resources, information and support they need to be successful.

I know it was mentioned there will not be title changes, but what about responsibility changes. If we are currently generalists, even if our title does not change, is it expected that overtime we will become more specialized in specific areas of HR?

  • We do not expect the HR roles within the administrative regional team to become more specialized at this time. As we implement the new structure and Workday, we will continue to evaluate this approach and make adjustments if appropriate.

is the L&S HR structure going to change from separation by employment type (Student+, Faculty, etc.) to a single point of contact for each ART team? (i.e., do I still need to remember which of 5-6 people to contact for a question, or just a single person)

  • The current L&S HR structure is not expected to change significantly as a result of L&S implementing the administrative regional teams. As we continue to learn more about the Workday processes, we will continue to evlauate to identify if modifications to the structure are needed.

When I was initially told about this, I was told work from home schedules wouldn't change. Now hybrid schedules are up in the air. How do we trust that other things like salary, work locations, titles, etc. won't change? Will we have the opportunity to negotiate on any of this?

  • We are currently evaluating hybrid/remote work arrangements to understand what schedules are currently in place. We are working hard to get back to individuals to confirm those schedules can remain in place as we know this is an important topic for individuals.

Can there be split appointments to help in delegating to other units?

  • Split appointments will not accomplish what we need in terms of Workday functionality as well as strategic staffing needs.

Is it possible to add a few lower level employees (generalists) to the advisory board so to get a real feel of their day to day schedules (which might not be known otherwise)?

  • We are partnering with CASI/USIC to ensure we receive this feedback, and will be engaging with employees directly as we continue to plan for implementation.

If I'm expected to support other departments, how can I do that with no knowledge/interaction with that department. Yes, some items are general, but there are a lot of HR situations are handled differently in different departments/cultures, etc.

  • You are right in that each situation will need to be assessed to determine if we have the appropriate information to step in and provide support, particularly if someone is out unexpectedly and we don’t have an opportunity to plan for their absence. And it will depend on what support is needed. For example, if an employee needs support in completing an I-9, that would be very different than if there is a complex overpayment issue spanning a considerable length of time. When unexpected absences come up, the HR Manager of that Administrative Regional Team will be another resource who may be able to help bridge any context/knowledge gaps, as well as the DA. Again, it will depend on the details of the situation.

Meeting our ART would be helpful.

  • We expect to start bringing the HR administrative regional teams together early in 2025.

Will there be shared governance in planning this, not just Q&A sessions?

  • As mentioned earlier in the presentation, we are engaging with L&S CASI-USIC throughout the implementation process.

If the department administrators will still have input with our new roles, will they have input on performance based raises, PMDP's, RWA's, etc. or will that be solely up to the employees new L&S Supervisor?

  • As mentioned in the information session, DAs will be consulted around performance evaluations, which helps to inform subsequent performance-based increases. We are also consulting with DAs and the L&S Administrative Regional Team Advisory Committee regarding RWAs and hybrid work schedules.

RECRUITMENT

Financial Specialist III

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Keywords:
ART, Administrative Regional Team, SLAC, slac, Pod, ATP, Workday, FAQ 
Doc ID:
143984
Owned by:
Dani D. in L&S KB
Created:
2024-10-23
Updated:
2025-01-14
Sites:
L&S KB