Seeking Your Input

Dear Colleagues,

The 2016 Leadership Retreat was held last month and attended by over 300 academic and administrative leaders of UIC. The topic this year was Building a Culture of Excellence and the Risk of Risk Aversion. VCHA Bob Barish and I first presented examples of the culture of excellence that is already thriving at our university, and then I spoke about the topic of bureaucracy and risk aversion. This was followed by a presentation by a guest speaker, Dr. Arin Reeves, who spoke further on the topic. Many people have asked me for a copy of my portion of this presentation. It is now on the UIC website at provost.uic.edu under “2016 Leadership Retreat.”

One of the main points of my presentation was that bureaucracy can significantly hinder our progress and it is, in some cases, preventing UIC from reaching its potential. Although there are many instances when we are obligated by federal or state law, university statutes or other mandates to have certain policies, there are many other policies that we control and can change, particularly if they are outdated, inefficient, or are not serving our current needs. As faculty, staff, and administrators, you are in the best position to know about policies and practices at UIC that are not functioning effectively.

With this in mind, we have created a web form so that you may report policies and practices that you believe need to be revised or eliminated. That form can be found at provost.uic.edu, by clicking on “Report a Policy or Practice.” The information submitted will be collected and reviewed and, when appropriate, directed without attribution to the responsible units for further review. I will send email updates periodically to the faculty and staff summarizing the information we have received and how we are addressing it.

I welcome your submissions. However, please use this with discretion. This process is not an invitation to express concerns about individuals, the budget situation, or the state of the world. It is intended as a tool to learn about ways in which we can eliminate unneeded bureaucracy and reform our policies and practices to make them serve our community more efficiently and effectively.

Thank you in advance for your assistance with this project, and for all that you do for UIC.

Susan Poser
Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs