As we continue to navigate a time of change—both within our institution and across the higher education landscape—I want to take a moment to share some important updates.
With the arrival of our new chancellor and recent shifts in federal education policy, we’ve taken a fresh look at our Campus Strategic Plan, particularly Goal 5. This goal focuses on how we operate —through our people, our finances and our technology. To stay effective and sustainable, we’re shifting our focus back to the basics: strengthening our core operations in human resources, finance and technology.
These areas are essential to supporting every part of our campus community. Right now, our decentralized structure—where each department manages its own systems and processes—creates duplication, higher costs and inconsistent service experiences.
To address this, we are looking to expand shared services. This looks to centralize common services so they can be delivered more efficiently and consistently across campus so that we’re working smarter together.
What this means for UCLA is better support with standardized processes with more reliable and consistent service for everyone. It also paves the way for smarter use of talent by consolidating routine tasks, freeing up time and energy for staff to focus on what they do best. Shared services can help us reduce duplication and make better use of our limited resources—something that’s especially important given our financial challenges.
We’ve already seen success with this approach with individual IT units joining forces as part of the new Digital & Technology Solutions (DTS), as well as with the HRPOC shared services model. We are now exploring how we can expand these models and expand them to include certain financial functions. These changes won’t happen overnight. We are taking a thoughtful, phased approach—testing, learning and adjusting as we go with an eye to building a stronger, more stable foundation that supports UCLA—now and into the future.
Thank you for everything you do to support our campus community. Your work matters, and we’re excited to move forward together.
Sincerely,
Michael J. Beck
Administrative Vice Chancellor
