U. braces for major administrative changes

Fox Chapel High School '93 Pittsburgh, Pa. The release of the Coopers & Lybrand administrative restructuring report -- and the subsequent appointment of a Coopers partner as the University's executive vice president -- have resulted in a new fiscal attitude on campus. The goal of the administrative restructuring project, initiated by University President Judith Rodin last fall, is to demonstrate ways in which the University can reallocate and more efficiently use its increasingly scarce resources. "The primary purpose of restructuring is to help us do a better job supporting and enhancing the primary missions of the University: teaching, research and service," Rodin wrote in a letter to University faculty and staff that accompanied the report, which was released in January. Former Interim Executive Vice President Jack Freeman said the University could realize savings of $25 million per year over the next five years through changes in the way the institution does business and 20 percent cuts in administrative costs. Although staff reductions will be accomplished through attrition and intra-University transfers whenever possible, Freeman admitted that layoffs will also occur. "The whole idea of reengineering is to cut out work that is not productive -- to eliminate wasted steps that do not add value to the end product," Freeman said at the time. The cost-savings figures -- and the lack of any concrete restructuring directives explaining exactly how streamlining will affect various departments -- have caused concern, uncertainty and anxiety among employees, who fear that recommendations made by Coopers may eliminate their jobs. Rodin selected current Executive Vice President John Fry, who directed the Coopers team that wrote the University's administrative restructuring report, in March. At the time, Fry said he thought managing the process of change would be the most challenging part of his job. However, he insisted that he would be guided by the goal of improving the quality of life for students, faculty and staff at the University -- delivering the best services for the least cost. Administrative restructuring will be implemented in stages University-wide over the next two to three years. It will refine, but not replace, responsibility-center management, which aims to make individual schools and budgetary centers financially accountable for their programs.

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.