SUPPORT SERVICES AND OPERATIONAL REVIEW

Huron Administrative Activity Study Recommendations


PSU partnered with the Huron Consulting Group to conduct a comprehensive review of our University support services and operations. This project is a direct response to the pressures and challenges we have all felt in our work over the past several years with an ultimate goal of recognizing the vital work of our University staff in pursuing PSU’s core mission and determining what steps we can take as an institution to make that work more effective and rewarding.

The Support Services and Operational Review is one part of an overarching effort to achieve financial sustainability at Portland State that also includes:

It is imperative that the university community is united in this effort to maximize the mission of Portland State through better service to students, better collaboration across units and departments, and building the trust and the partnerships necessary to carry this institution successfully into the future.

Key Findings of the Support Services and Operational Review

The activity study that the university conducted with Huron has uncovered multiple opportunities to re-envision how we work together at Portland State. Our current operations and support services — and the budget decisions that have shaped them — are not consistently meeting the needs of our students and employees. The pandemic has only accelerated the urgency of addressing enrollment declines and other business challenges that have been emerging for years.

The report outlines four broad-based thematic recommendations that Portland State will be exploring over the course of the upcoming academic year with the intention of implementing changes in the 2023-24 academic year that will better position the university for the decades to come. The themes follow key focus areas for PSU: supporting students, engaging employees, providing consistent, high-quality service to external and internal customers, and future-focused planning and leadership. They are:


  1. Streamline & Improve the Student Experience

    • Proactively enhance the integrated effectiveness of student services

    • Implement a “one-stop shop” model to streamline the student experience

    • Consider a pathway to unite Enrollment Management, Student Affairs, Registration, and other services within a shared VP division


  1. Improve Employee Engagement & Career Mobility

    • Develop university-wide protocols for employee onboarding

    • Create more specialist roles with defined career pathways

    • Enhance employee engagement strategies


  1. Evaluate Management Structures & Support Needs

    • Assess administrative support needs to identify opportunities for alternative service models, including pooling of resources

    • Evaluate narrow spans of control and reallocate direct reports where appropriate

    • Enhance position management process


  1. Adopt a Federated Service Operating Model

    • Reinforce a customer-centric orientation

    • Ensure central service units have capacity to support campus needs and a mechanism for accountability

    • Create local support teams that provide dedicated service to a portfolio of units

    • Craft service-level agreements to manage expectations


Message from Huron Consulting Group

“In PSU’s future state, the work should drive the organizational structure and operating model — not vice versa. Meaningful organizational change is required to maximize resources and focus on student success, employee satisfaction, racial justice and equity, and community engagement."

— Huron Consulting Group


Message from President Stephen Percy

In an email message to campus on Nov. 28, 2022, PSU President Stephen Percy said, "The Huron report suggested some major reorganizations, which I will not be implementing. However, we will move forward on some of the innovative ideas suggested in the study, including developing a “one-stop” for student services in FMH, exploring the way we deliver administrative services through Federated Service Centers in the Office of Academic Affairs, and implementing unit-specific initiatives across campus to improve outcomes for employees and students through better onboarding, better use of technology and improved communications with students."


In a video message to campus on June 1, 2022, PSU President Stephen Percy emphasized that while he will work with others to begin to delve into the data and analysis presented by the Huron report, no major decisions will be made until a thorough study takes place in the upcoming academic year.


Access the Report


Town Hall Fall 2022

President Percy hosted a Financial Sustainability Forum in November 2022, outlining several initiatives the university is exploring from the Huron recommendations.


Questions

Send questions to info@pdx.edu.


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