President Napolitano announces the new Efficiency Review Working Group and the latest efficiencies for implementation:

Dear Colleagues,

As we prepare to embark on the second year of the UCOP Efficiency Review, I’m pleased to announce a new team to carry forward this essential effort. I want to thank these committed staffers, who will bring renewed enthusiasm and fresh thinking to the Review.

The new Working Group represents all UCOP Oakland locations and a wide variety of work functions to ensure that the team has the knowledge and expertise necessary to tackle changes across the broadest possible range of UCOP’s operations. I’m confident that the new Working Group is well positioned to take this effort to the next level in the year ahead.

Please join me in congratulating the new team:

Co-leads:

• Shirley Bittlingmeier, client services officer, Information Technology Services
• Dan Scannell, conflict of interest and Public Records Act coordinator, Office of the General Counsel

 Working Group:

• Michael Annas, engineer, 20th Street, Building and Administrative Services Center
• Karen Arnold, HR business partner, Local Human Resources
• Vini Bhargava, manager, design and construction policy, Budget and Capital Resources
• Garen Corbett, director, Health Sciences & Services
• Heather Kopeck, coordinator, Issues Management, Policy Analysis and Coordination (IMPAC)
• Paul Master, project lead, Office of Strategic Change Resources
• Brad Niess, BRC team lead, Business Resource Center
• Emily Rader, senior administrative analyst, Office of Research and Graduate Studies
• Yvonne Tevis, chief of staff, Information Technology Services, Immediate Office
• Jeannene Whalen, policy specialist, HR Policy and Program Design

Turning to new initiatives for November, here are three I’ve asked the Working Group to begin implementing:

1) High-voltage electric vehicle charger installation: In June, we decided to install two electric vehicle chargers in the garage of the Franklin building. They were soon so popular that we added two more chargers. Now they too are nearly always in use, and so we’ve decided to further expand the electric vehicle charging capabilities in Franklin. Next spring, we’ll install a high-voltage charger capable of fully charging vehicles in two to four hours. The new charger will service two parking spots at once, with each spot able to charge multiple vehicles in the course of a single day. Users will need to establish an account and will be billed for using the high-voltage system. They will be expected to move their cars once they’re fully charged to make room for others. As I mentioned in June, these charging stations allow more UCOP staff to bring EVs to work, lower their fuel costs and get them to work faster by providing access to high-occupancy vehicle lanes. Increased EV use by our staff will reduce greenhouse gas emissions and help UCOP meet its sustainability goals. Please contact the Work Management Center if you’d like to use the new system or have any further questions.

2) Money-saving changes to paper products in Franklin restrooms: After comments that restrooms were running out of paper products in as little as a single day on some floors of the Franklin building, the Building and Administrative Services team examined the contract and dispensers for paper products in restrooms. They determined that a new vendor and larger dispensers will save an estimated $15,000 a year in paper costs and ensure that restrooms less frequently run out of paper products. The new setup will be piloted in December on the 6th floor and, if successful, will be installed throughout the building in the first three months of 2015.

3) Campus ‘deep dive’ workshops offered at UCOP: Close collaboration with UC campuses and locations is essential for us to be effective supporting the university’s missions of teaching, research and public service. In order to deepen our understanding of campus operations and challenges, we’re going to start a series of ‘deep dive’ workshops with senior officials from each of our campuses. We’ll announce a full calendar of these workshops early next year, taking advantage of planned visits to UCOP by senior campus officials. I believe these sessions, which will be aimed at helping us understand campus operations, work flow and points of view on collaboration, will increase our efficiency and make us better colleagues.

Thanks again for your enthusiasm for making UCOP a better and more efficient place to work. Please keep the ideas coming.

Yours very truly,

Janet Napolitano
President

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