President Napolitano holds Town Hall for UCOP staff
January 23, 2018 •
On Jan. 22, President Napolitano spoke to all UCOP staff at a Town Hall held at the Franklin building and webcast live to OP staff at other locations. Over 1,200 staff members attended either in person or remotely.
After recognizing the 150th anniversary of UC, the successful transition of Merced, Riverside and Associated Students UCLA to UCPath, the president touched on the preliminary state budget released earlier this month and the future of the university. The main topic of discussion was the UCOP restructuring effort.
There was great interest in hearing more about the recommendations from Huron Consulting, which was asked by UCOP last year to review UCOP’s size and scope, alignment of functions, processes, and governance practices. Huron conducted more than 130 interviews of staff at OP and at the campuses, analyzed data sets, evaluated past change efforts, and reviewed other background materials to develop a set of recommendations. These recommendations are currently being shared with OP leaders, campus representatives, the Academic Senate and the Regents to solicit their input. The recommendations made by Huron Consulting will be made available to UCOP staff on Friday, Jan. 26, following a presentation to the Regents.
The president responded to a number of questions that had been submitted ahead of time as well as those asked by people in the room. She acknowledged the feeling of “change fatigue” on the part of many employees but affirmed that, as a large and complex organization, UC must keep evolving in order to deliver on its core missions and prepare for the future. She assured the staff that any changes would be undertaken in a “thoughtful, deliberative way” and stressed that no final decisions have been made. The president closed the event by reiterating her appreciation for all that OP staff does as the “strong center” that helps keep UC moving forward.
A document repository has been set up on Box for UCOP employees to view information about the restructuring effort throughout the process, including FAQs, official communications, and the Huron recommendations (beginning Jan. 26). If you are not able to access the folder, please contact the UCOP ITS Help Desk. You can send questions and comments about the restructuring effort directly to President Napolitano by emailing them to Janet@ucop.edu.
