UCOP’s first Lean Six Sigma Green Belt Certification cohort participants celebrate the successful culmination of their program.

On May 29, 2025, UCOP celebrated a monumental milestone: the completion of its first Lean Six Sigma Green Belt Certification cohort. Launched by the Operational Excellence Center of Expertise (OE COE) — a department founded in 2024 to champion organizational effectiveness and foster a culture of continuous improvement — this initiative trained 21 UCOP staff to lead change, improve services and enhance operational efficiency across the organization.

In partnership with UC San Diego Extended Studies, participants completed a rigorous four-month program focused on Lean Six Sigma principles and the application of structured problem-solving tools. Each participant was required to demonstrate at least $40,000 in measurable impact through their applied improvement projects — and they all delivered.

“By investing in your professional growth and process improvement skills, you’re helping us advance our strategic objective to deliver operational service excellence,” said Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Rachael Nava in her opening remarks. “More importantly, you’re creating solutions that will improve how we work together, create more frictionless experiences and better serve our stakeholders across the UC system.”

Real results from across UCOP

Lean Six Sigma Green Belt Certification cohort participants demonstrated extraordinary results.

With representation from RASC, UC Legal, UC ANR, UCOP Operations, UCPath and UCOP HR, the inaugural cohort tackled process pain points across UCOP. Projects included:

• “Woah! It’s Done” (UCOP Operations): Cut average BASC facilities’ work order time from 23 to eight days, reclaiming over 2,400 hours per year and boosting monthly capacity by 65%.
• “Reports Reimagined” (UC Legal): Reduced report compilation time from 90 to 40 minutes.
• “New Hire Space Assignment” (UCOP Operations and UCOP HR): Trimmed 70 minutes per new hire setup.
• “Graceful Goodbyes” (RASC): 85% of retiree records are now processed in just two days, down from 180.
• “Vendor Onboarding” (UC Legal): Shortened the process from 22 to nine days.
• “Concur: From Chaos to Clarity” (UCOP Operations): Dropped travel pre-approval rejection rates from 20% to 5%.
• “Position Management” (UC Legal): Reduced errors from 1,108 to just 85.

“These projects don’t just save time and money — they allow us to focus on what truly matters,” said Executive Director of UCOP Operations Thera Kalmijn.

Be part of the next wave of innovators

The next Green Belt Certification program runs from Sept. 12 to Dec. 12, 2025. UCOP encourages all staff — as well as managers eager to grow their team’s capabilities — to participate. This is more than a professional development opportunity; it’s a chance to help shape a more effective, responsive and forward-thinking UCOP.

If you’re interested in joining, receiving updates about UCOP process improvements or learning more, contact Kristin Kielich.

Congratulations to the trailblazing Green Belt cohort members!

We extend our sincere congratulations to the Green Belt class of 2025 — 21 changemakers who’ve set a new bar for operational excellence at UCOP. Their work proves what’s possible when staff are empowered with the tools and mindset to lead improvement—and we can’t wait to see what they accomplish next.

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