The document discusses the Carolina Counts program at UNC-Chapel Hill, which aims to make the university more cost effective. It was established based on recommendations from a consultant study to realize potential savings of $167 million. The program seeks to streamline campus operations, implement more efficient processes, and reduce bureaucracy. So far, the program has identified areas for improvement, established an IT partnership program, and achieved estimated annual savings of $6.5 million through initiatives like help desk consolidation and improved staff efficiency. However, driving adoption across the decentralized university remains a challenge.

1. Mission Impossible?
Making the University More Cost Effective
Larry Conrad
Vice Chancellor, IT
and CIO
Mike Patil
Executive Director
Carolina Counts

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Background
and Introduction

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About UNC Chapel Hill
first public university in the US, founded 1793
28,570 students
3,600 faculty
8,600 staff
$2.4 billion overall budget
$1.2 billion in contracts/grants/ services

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Consultant Study‐ Historical Timeline
•Consultant hired Spring 2008
•Economy does deep dive Fall 2008
•Consultant report 2009 Summer
2009
($167M in potential savings)

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Consultant Report Follow‐up
• Establish a program, Carolina Counts, to realize
the cost savings
• Identify and act on high‐potential saving areas
• Use data based methodologies
• Get community involved in the program

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About the Program

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Mission
To make the University of North Carolina
at Chapel Hill the most collaborative,
well‐managed university in the country.

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Objectives
• streamline and automate campus operations
• implement more responsive, less costly
processes
• reduce bureaucracy and create a more
satisfying work environment

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February 2010
“There’s no reason we can’t conduct nonacademic
functions as efficiently as possible.”
11/15/09www.nytimes.com ALL THE NEWS THAT’S FIT TO PRINT
UNIVERSITIES TURN TO CONSULTANTS TO
TRIM BUDGETS
Holden Thorp, Chancellor
The New Normal?

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Remarks by the President
on Higher Education and Economy.
August 9,2010
..responsibility for controlling these (college) costs
falls on our colleges and universities. ..institutions
like the University of Maryland, University of North
Carolina, Cornell, are all finding ways to combat
rising tuition without compromising on quality.
The New Normal?

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Program Scope‐ areas of improvement
Teaching, Research
& Public Service
University
Operations
Admin Support
2.Procurement
3.IT
4.HR
5.Finance
6.Utilities
7.Facilities
8.Space
9.Centers &
Institutes
10.Research &
Compliance
1. Overall University Structure and Strategy

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Leadership, Project Selection,
Timeline, Results
Project Team Management,
Reporting
Oversight, Direction,
Decision Making
Guidance, Know-how,
Progress Tracking, Coordination
Initiative Champions
Project Team Leader
Oversight Committee
Carolina Counts
(Program Office)
Role Major Responsibilities
Program Structure and Roles

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Process/Tools/
Tactical
Change
Competency/
Organizational
Change
Strategic/
Cultural Change
Year
1
Year
3
Year
5
Design
Develop
Execute
Design
Develop
Execute
Design
Develop
Execute
Targets and Milestones

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Mission Possible?
Information Technology

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~1100 IT FTEs, >85% in
ITS/ERP and academic units
0
20
40
60
80
100%
Percent of IT FTEs
ITS/ERP
Information Technology Services
Enterprise Resource Planning
487
Academic
Libraries
Sch Business
Sch Education
Sch Medicine
Sch Pub Hlth
Arts & Sciences
Sch Info & Lib
Provost
Sch Pharmacy
Other (5)
Sch Dentistry
Sch Nursing
Sch Govt
464
C&Is
Ofcof
ResearchIS
Carolina
Population
Center
FPGChild
Development
Inst
Other
Other
VCRED
Sheps
Ctr for
Hlth
Serv Res
102
Central
Admin
VCAdvancementAssocVCCampSvcVCHumanResources
Other
VCStudentAffairs
54
Total = 1,107
11812 7

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0
20
40
60
80
100%
ITS/ERP
Other sources
Internal UNC customers
F&A and tuition & fees
State Appropriations
$52M
Academic
Other sources
Research Contracts & Grants
Endowments & Private Gifts
Internal UNC customers
F&A and tuition & fees
State Appropriations
$32M
C&Is
Other sources
ResearchContracts&Grants
Internal
F&A
and
tuition
& fees
State
App.
$8M
Central
Admin
OthersourcesEndowments&PrivateGifts
F&Aand
tuition&feesStateAppropriations
$4M
Percent of IT personnel spend Total = $97M
UNC spend ~$100M
annually on IT personnel
Spend per FTE* $82K$70K$108K
($94K if excl. cont’rs)
$71K

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0
20
40
60
80
100%
ITS/ERP
Admin
IT Mgt
Security
Network Mgt
System monitoring
Systems Admin/Maint
End-User Support
Admin/Biz Apps
Research Apps
Acad/Inst Apps
487
Academic
Other
Admin
IT Mgt
Project Mgt
Security
Network Mgt
System monitoring
Systems Admin/Maint
End-User Support
Admin/Biz Apps
Research Apps
Acad/Inst Apps
464
C&Is
Other
Admin
IT Mgt
Project Mgt
Security
Network Mgt
Systems
Admin/Maint
End-User
Support
Admin/Biz
Apps
ResearchApps
102
Central
Admin
Other
Admin
IT
Mgt
Project
Mgt
Security
Systems
Admin/MaintEnd-UserSupport
Admin/
BizApps
54
Percent of IT FTEs Total = 1,107
24%
40%
Staffing Levels by Functions
by Organizations
Potential
Savings
$4-6m
$3-4m
≈$1m

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Carolina Counts IT Process
Engaged the Carolina IT community: formed planning
committee with ITS, campus IT directors (ITEC), and campus
IT staff (CTC) reps
Have generated 32 proposed projects which can directly or
indirectly impact IT costs
One key project is to define which functions should be
centralized vs. which should be distributed
Created the Carolina Counts IT Partnership Program to
drive adoption of the projects by campus units
Zeroed in on a subset of “priority” projects which hold the
most promise of delivering savings

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Proposed Model for Rebalancing
Central vs. Distributed
Communications infrastructure (network and phone system, phone conferencing) 4.9
Data Center space and access 4.5
Email and Calendar 4.5
User account management 4.5
Campus‐wide business applications 4.4
Help desk support 4.1
Web site hosting 4.1
Research computing facilities 4
Server hosting and virtualization 4
Data storage 4
Software Licensing 3.9
Instructional facilities 3.86
IT Security 3.4
Central
Distributed

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Collaboration applications (Sharepoint, wiki, web conferencing) 3.4
Video conferencing 3.4
Database administration and support 3
System administration 3
IT Training 2.9
Instructional applications 2.86
Research computing support 2.71
Instructional support 2.71
Research computing applications 2.6
Web site development 2.6
On site support 2.3
Web site support 2.1
Unit‐specific business applications 1.8
Specialized discipline or unit‐based support 1.36
Central
Distributed
Proposed Model for Rebalancing
Central vs. Distributed

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IT Partnership Program
Design
Target the program individually for each unit
Focus on “priority” projects for greatest ROI
Meet with unit IT leadership in advance of
“entrance” meeting
“Entrance” meeting with unit executives and IT
leadership to determine greatest needs
Form joint team to examine opportunities for
savings
“Exit” meeting with unit executives and IT leadership
to lay out plan for adoption

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IT Partnership Program
Priority Projects
Clearer articulation of
central services
Better definition of what
“should” be central vs.
distributed
Server housing/hosting
services
24/7 Help Desk
consolidation
Network Attached Storage
Virtualized servers
Consolidate e‐mail and
calendaring services in MS
Exchange
Increased use of software
site licensing
Virtual computing labs

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Status
Need further vetting of central vs. distributed model
“Savings” can include
•Reductions (e.g., consolidation, budget cuts)
•Cost avoidance (e.g., info security)
ITS customer service initiative put in place
Have begun IT Partnership Program meetings with
campus units
Have generated one‐pager service summaries to
showcase the various IT projects

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Sample of
one-page
service
summaries

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Complexity of
UNC organization

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7
02_26
S
Spans and Layers:
Information Technology Services
Number of supervised units
No supervised units
1-3 units
4-7 units
> 7 units
Source: ITS HR data, Jan 2010
Note: analysis excludes 5 administrative
personnel;
Center point represents Layer 3 (CIO)
FTEs:
Mgrs:
Span:
419
73
5.7
Research Computing
User Support
& Engagement
Communication
Technologies
Teaching &
Learning
Deputy CIO
Enterprise Applications and ERP
Infrastructure
& Operations
Eliminated Layer
8 altogetherEliminated exec.
position with 2
direct reports

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Improving Efficiency
ITS has eliminated 34 filled positions with minimal
impact on customers
…that includes 5 executive level positions
ITS spans and layers:
•Increased average span slightly from 5.4 to 5.7
•Eliminated “layer 8” altogether

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Results to Date
Consolidate (Med School) Help Desk: $120K/yr;
servers in ITS computer room: $150K non‐recurring
Reduce use of “on‐call” pay: $700K/yr
Improved staff efficiency/spans and layers:
•$3.8M in ITS –includes FY2010‐11 budget cuts
•$1.9M in campus IT –not included FY2010‐11
budget cuts
For a total of: $6.5M/yr (plus $150K non‐recurring)
New IT governance structure put in place

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Mission
Challenges
Bain survey of IT personnel:
~1100 IT personnel, $100m in personnel
Applications, end‐user support, and system
admin./maint. are largest components
Bain pressed a traditional corp. model:
consolidate staffing and top‐down directives
Collides with Carolina culture…
How do we drive adoption of the IT projects
which could save units money?

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Program Enablers
and Challenges

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•Input and buy‐in from the constituents
•Tracked results, and accountability for the results
•Open and transparent process and measurements
•Public scrutiny through community involvement
•Published comparative benchmarks
•Technical /tactical support from program office
Program Success Factors

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Over three years:
Research Funding Growth‐ 165%
Faculty Growth‐ 60%
Budget Growth‐ 68%
Staff Growth‐ negative 18%
Infrastructure cost Percentage‐ under 11%
Recommended as a model for UNC
Accomplishments in
one school- An Example

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Lessons Learned:
Cautions/ Roadblocks
• “We are different”
• Stay within the comfort zone
• Complacent with “low hanging fruit”
• “Already have done everything that could be done”
• Delegate too far down resulting in inaction
• Procrastinate till this will go away
• Lack of desire or disincentive to make unpopular
decisions

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•Aggressive “marketing ” effort: present a value
proposition to make solutions attractive
•Build “Trust” through frequent communications
minimizing fears of arbitrary/self serving solutions
•Frequent reemphasis by the top management
•Routinely assess the program and perform course
correction as needed
Program Sustainability

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Questions?