College of Earth, Life, and Health Sciences

Initiative 9: Strengthening our support systems as the foundation for program excellence.

We will build an administrative system that is easier to navigate and more efficient for all employees, provides faculty more time to focus on their primary responsibilities, and allows college leaders to shift time and energy from routine functions to strategic initiatives.

To build an effective administrative system, we will complete the college’s fledgling Library of Policies and Procedures. We will explore new administrative models to reduce administrative burdens on faculty and unit chairs/directors by consolidating some functions at the college level. We will work with university business and support offices (e.g., Office of Research Administration) where we share service delivery to develop greater efficiencies and provide better overall support for faculty and staff. 

We will facilitate college-level professional networking with an emphasis on new faculty needs.  And, we will work with the university to explore options for addressing several important human resources needs and desires of our faculty and staff

Our success with these initiatives will help faculty and staff redirect time, our most limiting resource, from administrative busywork to networking and advancing the core mission of the University of Maine.

Objectives:

• Develop a comprehensive Library of Policies and Procedures and new administrative systems that make policies and procedures easily accessible and clear.
• Develop new administrative models that help alleviate burdens on faculty and unit directors, and coordinate with university support offices to provide more efficient shared-service delivery at university and college levels including effective training.
• Work with the UMaine Human Resources and UMaine administrators to assemble information on policies and options for addressing salary compression and professional growth for non-tenured faculty and staff, and partner employment and accommodation for consideration by the college’s Executive Committee.
• In parallel with our many of our other initiatives (e.g., advising, research, graduate education), expand college and university level opportunities for networking and professional development for faculty and staff.