Becoming LEAN in Enrollment Management

1. Becoming LEAN in Enrollment Management C$I

2. Presenters • Karen Kusler (kkusler@ucok.edu, (405) 974-2540) • Certified Lean Facilitator • Coordinator and Trainer for the Center of Strategic Improvement • Process Improvement • Patti Neuhold (pneuhold@ucok.edu, (405) 974-2560) • Certified Lean Facilitator • Assistant Director, Organizational Development • Process Improvement C$I

3. What is Lean Enterprise? Lean is… A systematic approach to identify and eliminate waste through continuous improvement. C$I

4. 1900 1915 1935 1945 1973 1983 1995 The Origins of Lean U. S. Japan Time and Motion F. Taylor Interchangeable Parts E. Whitney “Today and Tomorrow,” 1926 Mass Production Henry Ford Jidoka S. Toyoda Just-In-Time K. Toyoda Supermarket System Toyota Production System Taiichi Ohno The Lean Timeline U.S. Productivity and Quality Seminars Japanese industry recognizes TPS and dissemination begins 1st Oil Shock U.S.. consumers look for smaller cars; Big 3 market share decline begins Toyota opens Kentucky mfg. facility Globalization MIT IMVP Study: Lean dissemination begins Dollar / Yen Exchange Rate and Renewed Cost Reductions C$I

5. Foundation of Transactional Lean Identify and Eliminate Waste including: • Defects • Overproduction • Waiting • Not Utilizing People • Travel/Transportation • Inventory • Motion • Excess Processing C$I

6. Why Transactional Lean? • Emphasizes the role Quality plays in the organization • Allows you to react to changes in customer demand quickly • Makes employees jobs easier • It involves all employees – Bottom-up approach • Customers (internal & external) demand value • Quality is expected • Fast response • Provides competitive advantage • Creates a way to proactively respond to budget constraints C$I

7. Changes in Campus Environment at UCO Significant efforts have resulted in: • External Environment • Enhanced Landscape and Gardens • Customer Friendliness of Campus • Campus Pride • Internal Environment • Adopt Good to Great Principles • Transactional Lean Environment • Employees Encouraged to Initiate Improvement • 5th Year of Utilization C$I

8. How Does Lean Work? Source: OAME C$I

9. Lean Solution Things we had to understand going in: • Managers, Directors, VP’s, etc. had to be committed to pursuing solutions that had not yet been identified. • Solutions had to be pursued without placing blame C$I

10. Transactional Lean in Action • Three Significant Transactional Lean Events In Enrollment Management • Financial Aid - Application Process • Executive Director: Drew Duke • Enrollment Management - Transfer Student Process • Assistant Vice President: Susan Wortham • Graduate Program International Student Admissions C$I

11. Identified Problem • Financial Aid vs. Bursar C$I

12. Relevant Points • Early adapter of lean ideals; faith in the people that were conducting the self study • Issues were a little bigger than typically associated with Lean • We began with some mistrust. Employees were quick to see exercises like this as attempts to downsize the operation. C$I

13. The Team • Coordinator • Third Party Scholarship billing • Office Assistant • Student Accounts Office • Financial Aid Counselor • Data Entry Processor • Student Financial Aid • Internal lean Advocate • External Lean Advocate C$I

14. How was the Team Selected? Employees who: • Worked in the trenches • Were respected by their peers • Had reputations for exceeding expectations C$I

15. How did they do? Several excellent kaizen opportunities 1. Long distance telephone codes 2. Extended bookstore charges 3. More efficient processing of OHLAP 4. Productive cross training ideas C$I

16. Long Term Results • Combined resources to build one comprehensive department of Student Financial Services • Development of a Call Center • Immediate increase in cooperation between units = better service C$I

17. Transactional Lean in Action • Three Significant Transactional Lean Events In Enrollment Management • Financial Aid - Application Process • Executive Director: Drew Duke • Enrollment Management - Transfer Student Process • Assistant Vice President: Susan Wortham • Graduate Program International Student Admissions C$I

18. Prospective Student Services/Admissions Purpose: • Streamline flow of information and admissions processing for students • Improve communication between the departments. • Establish a recruitment mentality throughout the Enrollment Management Division. C$I

19. Prospective Student Services/Admissions Goals: • Explore the merging of the PSS and Admissions Departments. • Create an environment and structure that promotes a recruitment mentality shared by all staff. • Improve communications systems and styles aimed at employees and students. • Streamline processes and positions to better serve students. C$I

20. Prospective Student Services/Admissions Challenges: • Staff resistance to change. • Task-orientation. • Territorialism • Lack of information sharing between functional areas. C$I

21. Prospective Student Services/Admissions Actions taken: • Merging of PSS and Admission depts. to become the Office of Undergraduate Admissions. • Reevaluation of all positions resulted in elimination of three positions, redefinition of eight positions, and creation of one new clerical support position. • Creation of the Transfer Center to serve transfer and non-traditional students. • Evaluation of communications systems • Creation of call center • Rework of communication documents sent to students. • Created an improved meeting and communication system with staff. • Records storage and access rework • Merging many separate file areas into one physical location. C$I

22. Prospective Student Services/Admissions Actions pending: • Creation of help desk • Funding challenges and new changes related to merge will cause us to reevaluate the goals of the help desk. • Evaluation and rework of the articulation and advisement process for transfer students. • An evaluation of existing processes and service levels is in process and must be completed prior to introducing additional changes at this macro level. C$I

23. Prospective Student Services/Admissions Outcomes: • Staff is more productive & enthusiastic • Reorganization of tasks to allow each staff member to focus on core job responsibilities has caused employees to accomplish more. • A focus on a team-oriented environment and creation of cross-functional teams within the department to solve problems and generate new ideas has created a richer and more productive work environment due to employee empowerment and information sharing at a staff level. C$I

24. Prospective Student Services/Admissions Outcomes: • Reduced application processing time • Reducing waste and duplication in the application processing flow has allowed us to respond more quickly to applicants. • Creation of a clerical “hub” to manage pending applications and communicate with applicants regarding missing documents has allowed us to provide better customer service and relationship building with students. • Improving our utilization of technology tools has allowed us to accurately track backlog to be proactive in adding labor resources at peak times. C$I

25. Prospective Student Services/Admissions Outcomes: • Creation of call center • This has allowed us to allow students to get answers quickly. • We are in the process of completing training with call center staff and implementing call center scripts designed to answer questions for callers that do not wish to speak with a representative. C$I

26. Prospective Student Services/Admissions Outcomes: • Ability to serve students more intentionally. • Rework of positions to allow us to offer a full admissions service on the road. • Rework of positions to allow us to provide targeted recruitment. • Creation of transfer center allows us to provide a seamless transfer process to incoming students. C$I

27. Transactional Lean in Action • Three Significant Transactional Lean Events In Enrollment Management • Financial Aid - Application Process • Executive Director: Drew Duke • Enrollment Management - Transfer Student Process • Assistant Vice President: Susan Wortham • Graduate Program International Student Admissions C$I

28. Graduate Program Admissions Purpose: Reduce time to process International Students admissions. Improve communication of process with internal customers and the student. C$I

29. Graduate Program Admissions Goals: Create a system to accurately evaluate International student admission records. Improve communications systems between the Office of International Students and Graduate College. Streamline processes and positions to better serve students. C$I

30. Graduate Program Admissions Challenges: Inconsistent interaction between two departments. Departments report to two VPs. Territorialism. Confusing prospective students with inconsistent points of contact. C$I

31. Graduate College Admissions Actions taken: Defined process to route student records between offices. Reworked status notification letters to include information from both the International Office and the Graduate College. C$I

32. Graduate College Admissions Outcomes: Staff is more responsive to students’ needs. Admission records reviewed and forwarded to appropriate office same day. 3. Consistent communication and points of contact established for prospective students. C$I

33. Transactional Lean Facilitator Certification Training On-site Process Facilitation Karen Kusler - 100 N. University Drive, Edmond, OK 73034 -kkusler@ucok.edu - (405) 974-2540