Video Updates & FAQs

In April 2021, the Government of Saskatchewan in partnership with post-secondary institutions in the province signed a multi-year funding investment MOU that provided funding certainty to the sector over the next four years. Of the $60 million announced by the Government of Saskatchewan, the University of Saskatchewan was allocated $31 million in multi-year funding.

Following the Government of Saskatchewan’s funding announcement in April 2021, Executive Sponsor and Provost and Vice-President Airini initiated a call to all deans, executive directors, and senior leadership for project concept proposals. Project concepts were submitted from colleges, schools, and vice-president portfolios and identified strategic projects where USask could potentially invest the multi-year funding.

Each project concept was developed and evaluated based on its alignment with the six areas outlined in the province's multi-year funding agreement and based on feasibility. This included clarifying the intended outcomes, identifying metrics to measure the outcomes, confirming the timelines, milestones, risks, barriers and resources required, and determining the return on investment for each project.

In total, the Horizons Project Executive Sponsor recommended 27 projects to the President’s Executive Committee for review and approval.

The 27 strategic initiatives were awarded through two rounds of initiative proposals, one that ran from May to September 2021, and the other from November 2021 to February 2022.

There are a total of 27 initiatives that received investment. Of those:

• 18 initiatives are currently on track and progressing toward the intended outcomes within the expected timeframe.
• Five initiatives have seen temporary delays mostly related to supply chain issues or challenges in recruiting the personnel required to launch and operationalize the project. In all instances, these delays have been resolved.
• One initiative has seen major delays related to the complexity of the project and the need to incorporate both quantitative and qualitative data findings, challenges in recruiting project personnel, and the need for broad stakeholder engagement. The delays are being resolved, and the initiative is progressing.
• One initiative has been discontinued. Upon further investigation, it was identified that the intended software tool was not fit for the Canadian market. Funding allocated to this initiative has been redistributed to other priority initiatives.
• One initiative has been completed.

*As of May 2023.

The Government of Saskatchewan’s one-time investment of $31 million has provided USask with an opportunity to strengthen its contributions to the province and accelerate the university’s financial sustainability. 

Through the Horizons Project, USask can consider our path forward and make informed and responsible management decisions. Ultimately, the goal is to reduce our operating costs by between 3-6% while moving forward with initiatives that will allow us to continue to deliver excellent results in research, education, and service to communities. This will achieve a balanced operating budget, restore reserves, and ensure between $12 million - $20 million is available annually for strategic investment beyond 2026.

*As of May 2023.

The Horizons Project is providing USask with the opportunity to consider our path forward and make informed and responsible management decisions. This includes reducing expenses by:

• Implementing a new administrative operating framework so USask can improve consistency and provide a continuum of high-quality administrative services across campus. It is anticipated that some positions may shift in terms of reporting, work activities may be reallocated based on function, and savings will be identified through process changes. The intent is not mass staffing layoffs.
• Negotiating incentives to encourage timely faculty retirements over short-, medium- and long-term, leading to the effective ongoing renewal of the faculty complement.
• Integrating USask stores to minimize risk and mitigate supply chain uncertainty and unify and improve material and inventory management. It is anticipated that creating efficiencies within our USask stores will reduce costs and have a positive impact on our operations and customer service across campus.

Through the Horizons Project, USask will see an economic, educational, social, foundational, and fiscal benefit from the investment. All projects align with the MOU signed with the Government of Saskatchewan and include gains such as enhanced teaching and research capacity, community engagement, strengthened administrative capacity, and growth in entrepreneurial thinking.

A return on investment has been calculated to forecast the financial impact of initiatives, where applicable. Overall, the forecasted return on the $31 million investment is 155%. As strategic projects progress, the Horizons Project will continue to monitor financial impacts and update the ROI calculation.

It is important to keep in mind that many of the project outcomes from the $31 million investment will require three to five years to realize the impact, including savings or revenue potential.

*As of May 2023.

The University of Saskatchewan (USask) is focused on a future of excellence. As a member of the U15 Group of Canadian Research Universities, we need an optimized administrative framework to support our world-class research, scholarly, and artistic work, and academic mission.

Guided by the University Plan 2025, and specifically Commitment #2: Boundless Collaboration, the Administrative Services Renewal (ASR) Initiative will take a “One University” approach to developing an enhanced and aligned administrative framework. This important work will require that we have the courage to ask tough questions, and bold curiosity and creativity to build practical operational solutions for our campus community. Through consultation and collaboration across campus, we are co-designing enhanced administrative structures that uplift our campus community and imagine a brighter and more sustainable future for USask.

The vision is for a best-in-class approach that ensures USask’s partners across campus receive the right administrative services at the right time and from the right providers, while operating sustainably within the university’s financial means.

The Administrative Services Renewal (ASR) Initiative is working with campus leaders on co-designing an enhanced administrative operating framework that aligns our people, operations, and resources.  

Administrative services support the operational needs of large institutions. Typically, these include business functions such as human resources and administrative support operations, finance, information technology, marketing and communications, alumni relations, and donor engagement, as well as facilities management and maintenance. Building off USask’s Shared Services model, the first phase of the ASR Initiative is focused on aligning administrative support within the colleges and schools, and communications and marketing functions across campus. As phase two of this work, alumni engagement and donor relations functions will be aligned and integrated across campus, following the conclusion of USask’s comprehensive campaign. 

This important work is a continuation of USask’s efforts over the past decade to enhance service design and delivery in ways that support the university community in achieving its teaching and research goals.  

The first phase of the ASR Initiative includes two main projects: (1) Administrative Network Project, and (2) Communications and Marketing Project. 

As part of its second commitment, Boundless Collaboration, the University Plan 2025 identifies opportunities for USask to align its administrative infrastructure. In doing so, USask can break down silos to support collaboration and reduce the administrative burden on faculty, while uplifting our administrative professionals by fostering a community of practice and a network of colleagues across the institution. USask can also nurture their career development, help build their capacity, and create an environment where they will continue helping the university excel in teaching, learning, research, and community engagement. 

Currently, resource decisions related to administrative services are made centrally and by individual colleges, schools, and units at USask. Although some institutional support is provided centrally, this devolved model can create:

• Confusion around individual staffing roles and responsibilities.
• A lack of clearly defined and institutionally approved processes for administrative procedures.
• Inconsistent onboarding and ongoing training for administrative professionals.
• A disconnect between service expectations and delivery within the colleges and schools and what is provided centrally.
• A strain on resources.
• A significant reliance on external vendors, with limited uptake on USask-approved tools, templates, and systems.
• A lack of standard roles and responsibilities for similar positions across the university, resulting in different staff skills and capabilities to deliver similar services.
• An imbalance in service across the institution.
• Misalignment if colleges, schools, and administrative units take on processes and/or functions without consulting centrally.
• A lack of process to ensure colleges, schools, and units do not duplicate services.

USask greatly values the contributions of administrative professionals across campus and is focused on nurturing a supportive, networked, and integrated organization that fosters well-being and a community of practice.  

In elevating the role of administrative professionals and by building on the existing Shared Services model at USask, intended outcomes include:  

• More effective, coordinated, and consistent service delivery for faculty, students, and staff, and greater support for a university-wide service culture.  
• Enhanced research and teaching capacity by reducing the administrative burden on faculty. 
• Improved employee retention and greater opportunities for professional development.  
• Less role duplication among administrative professionals.  
• Positive career pathways for administrative employees and opportunities for career progression within the institution.

In collaboration with vice presidents, deans, executive directors, and senior operational leaders, the ASR Initiative is focused on aligning and integrating administrative supports in the colleges and schools, and communications and marketing functions across campus. 

Alumni engagement and donor relations professionals on campus are currently engaged in the largest comprehensive campaign in the university’s history. As such, aligning and integrating these functions across the university will serve as phase two of this work. 

The ASR Initiative is using the following milestones to track its progress:

• Milestone 1: Initiative Initiation, Data Gathering and Assessment (December 2021 - December 2022)
• Milestone 2: Initiative Planning and Concept Co-Design (December 2022 - April 2024)
  • Round 1: Administrative support functions
  • Round 2: Communications and marketing functions
• Milestone 3: Concept Implementation (May 2024+)

The ASR Administrative Network Project has started discussions with the College of Education, College of Law, Edwards School of Business, and the Johnson Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy. The project team anticipates that the co-design process for an Administrative Network serving these four units will take until April 2024, with implementation occurring in the new fiscal year. At that time, the Administrative Network Project team will begin consultations with the next cluster of academic units, and so on. 

As part of the Communications and Marketing Project, consultations are currently being held with deans, executive directors, and senior leaders from central units, to gain greater insight into unit-level needs and opportunities for greater alignment and integration. 

The intent of the ASR Initiative is not workforce reduction. Instead, it is to implement a new enhanced operating framework so that USask can improve consistency and provide a continuum of high-quality administrative services across the institution. It is anticipated that some positions will shift in terms of reporting, work activities may be reallocated based on function, and savings will be identified through process changes. 

Any savings that are identified through process change will be reinvested in initiatives to support USask's teaching and research mission.

The ASR Initiative will impact how administrative services are delivered at USask. This type of organizational change requires significant leadership, collaboration, and consultation with stakeholders both centrally and within colleges, schools, and units across campus.

The ASR Initiative is governed by two executive sponsors, Dr. Airini, USask provost and vice-president academic, and Greg Fowler, USask vice-president administration and chief operating officer. The executive sponsors and the two project sponsors—Dr. Vince Bruni-Bossio, interim associate provost strategic priorities, and Chantel Laventure, director, shared services—make up the ASR executive team.

The ASR Initiative is guided by the ASR steering committee and ASR advisory committees. The steering committee provides recommendations to the executive team on areas of opportunity in the efficient delivery of administrative services and a proposed new service delivery model and includes representation from many of the vice-presidential portfolios. From December 2021 to August 2023, an advisory committee provided advice to the steering committee on issues of change management and includes representation from information technology, human resources, the university governance office and university library, and the Edwards School of Business. As the ASR Initiative co-designs with colleges, schools, and units, new advisory committees will be established to guide this work.

Supporting the ASR Initiative sponsors is an operational team of professionals who provide data and design support, and guidance on change management, communications, human resources, project management, and process improvement.  

The ASR Initiative sponsors are meeting with individual project teams and with the deans, executive directors, and senior leaders to review the data findings and gain additional perspective and context. These consultations help the ASR Initiative sponsors deepen their understanding of the current administrative structures and need on campus so that the ASR Initiative can leverage leading practices from across the institution. 

As ASR progresses into the co-design phase, advisory committees for individual projects are being established and further consultation will take place with leaders, faculty and administrative professionals from colleges, schools, and central units. This ensures that recommendations on future administrative structures are sustainable, people focused, and innovative, and meet the local needs of academic units, while also aligning with an institutional operational model. 

The recommendations will be reviewed by the steering committee and submitted to the executive sponsors, and ultimately the president’s executive committee, for review. 

The ASR Initiative is based on evidence-informed decision-making. The ASR Initiative team is using robust quantitative and qualitative data from various sources including, but not limited to: 

• USask Employee Engagement Survey to provide a comprehensive picture of the general state of engagement among our faculty and staff, along with a set of identified areas of strengths and opportunities for improvement within the university. 
• UniForum Benchmarking Project to provide USask with an opportunity to assess its administrative operations against its peers over a multi-year timeframe using a rigorous process and comparative data. The project is also providing the ASR Initiative team with data on administrative services and how and where they are delivered, as well as information on service effectiveness and user satisfaction. 
• Institutional financial systems to collect information on vendor spending.  

This data is shining a light on the current administrative environment at USask, but is not being used as the sole decision-making tool.

The ASR Initiative sponsors, Dr. Vince Bruni-Bossio, interim associate provost strategic priorities, and Chantel Laventure, director, shared services, are sharing the data findings with deans, executive directors, and leaders within colleges, schools, and central units to gain additional perspective and context. These individual consultations help the ASR Initiative sponsors deepen their understanding of the current administrative structures and needs on campus so that the ASR Initiative can leverage leading practices from across the institution. 

Through discussions with senior USask leaders, a framework is currently being developed to prioritize the sequencing of the administrative areas of focus for the ASR Initiative. 

ASR is a multi-project initiative focused on co-designing an enhanced administrative operating framework that aligns USask’s people, operational structures, and resources.  

Since December 2021, the ASR Initiative sponsors, Dr. Vince Bruni-Bossio, interim associate provost strategic priorities, and Chantel Laventure, director, shared services, have been meeting with deans, executive directors, and senior leaders within central units regarding the initiative. 

With two sub-projects now underway—Administrative Network Project, and the Communications and Marketing Project—the respective project teams are beginning to engage further with senior leaders and administrative professionals. 

• The Administrative Network Project is currently engaging with administrative professionals in existing Administrative Networks and with representatives from the College of Law, College of Education, Edwards School of Business, and the Johnson Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy. These conversations will help inform the co-design process for an Administrative Network supporting these four academic units. A similar engagement approach will be deployed when working with other academic units across campus. 
• As part of the Communications and Marketing Project, consultations are currently be led by Heather Persson, AVP Strategic Communications and Chief Communications Officer, Vince Bruni-Bossio, and Chantel Laventure with deans, executive directors, and senior leaders from central units to gain greater insight into unit-level needs and opportunities for greater alignment and integration. Marketing and communications professionals are also currently engaged in several working groups that will help inform some of the outcomes of this work. 

These consultations help the ASR Initiative sponsors deepen their understanding of the current administrative structures and needs on campus so that the ASR Initiative can leverage leading practices from across the institution. These discussions will also guide the recommendations reviewed by the ASR steering committee and submitted to the executive sponsors on a new administrative operations framework that is people focused, innovative, and financially sustainable. 

The ASR Initiative sponsors want to thank all deans, executive directors, and operational leaders within colleges, schools, and central units for your open and honest feedback and guidance. We value your input, are listening to your needs, and look forward to co-designing a new administrative services framework with you.

Some of the intended outcomes include:

• Innovative, shared best practices.
• Functional leadership for administration.
• Focused role clarity.
• Financial sustainability and position management.
• Improved integration when implementing policies and processes and access to institutional resources.
• More time available for research and teaching activities.
• Time savings: reduced handoffs and frequency of interactions.

Once the ASR Initiative is fully implemented, the role of administrative professionals at USask will be  elevated and more connected across campus. Administrative professional will have:

• A community of practice.
• Work-life balance.
• A professional network of colleagues.
• Consistent, focused onboarding, professional development, and knowledge sharing.
• Best practices for admin service delivery.
• Clear career paths for advancement within colleges, schools, and across the university .
• Better engagement and greater opportunity for staff employed at USask.

USask knows that faculty and researchers are currently feeling an administrative burden related to their teaching and grant management work. Many of the initiatives funded through the Horizons Project are aimed at creating optimal conditions for success in our academic and research mission and improving our service efficiency and delivery. These initiatives include Administrative Services Renewal, Integrated Services Renewal, Entrepreneurship and Startup Incubator, Research Grant Management, and Removing the Human Research Ethics Bottleneck.

U15 research-intensive universities require excellent administrative services that are aligned to support and facilitate their academic mission.

Once the ASR Initiative is fully implemented, the role of administrative professionals at USask will be  elevated and more connected across campus. Administrative professional will have:

• A community of practice.
• Work-life balance.
• A professional network of colleagues.
• Consistent, focused onboarding, professional development, and knowledge sharing.
• Best practices for admin service delivery.
• Clear career paths for advancement within colleges, schools, and across the university. 
• Better engagement and greater opportunity at USask.

This work will not be completed all at once and will require continuous and ongoing attention.

The ASR Initiative is preparing, equipping, and supporting leaders, faculty, and administrative professionals through organizational changes that result from both the Administrative Network Project and the Communications and Marketing Project. Whether this is through structural, technological, or process change, ultimately it is about supporting and ensuring administrative professionals at USask have the guidance, resources, and tools to deliver effective, coordinated, and consistent service.  

To ensure this is possible, ASR is actively engaging leaders both centrally and within colleges and schools and is taking a data-informed and structured approach to change. Key to our success will be frequent and open communication within academic and central units, participation from both leaders and administrative professionals in both identifying current state and co-designing the path forward, fostering ownership and commitment to both the process and outcomes, and ensuring dedicated resources and transition supports are available throughout the anticipated change.  

This approach ensures that future administrative structures are sustainable, people focused, and innovative, and meet the local needs of academic units, while also aligning with an institutional operational model. 

As the two ASR projects progress and outcomes and milestones are achieved, information will be communicated to those directly impacted by operational changes resulting from ASR Initiative recommendations.  

In 2010, Price-Waterhouse Coopers (PWC) was commissioned to support the Service and Process Enhancement Project (SPEP), with the goal of assessing the university’s services and providing recommendations for service improvements and efficiencies. Through this process, USask recognized that an organizational re-design of the administrative and support services would be an exceptionally valuable project to undertake. The university also noted that this would be a monumental and difficult task that would take years to complete, as it entailed creating a new organizational design for the university’s support services.

• Transactional/service supports are the main point of contact that deals with the majority of questions and transactions using standard systems, tools and policy, all with an emphasis on continually improving services. These supports include ConnectionPoint, ICT HelpDesks, financial operations research services, and facilities services. 
   
• Business partners: Business partners are located/embedded in a college, school, or unit (or a cluster of colleges, schools, or units) and are experts in a specific area of administrative service. These individuals understand the organizational culture of the unit, manage day-to-day relationships, and provide guidance, strategic support and advice to deans, department heads and others in the college, school, or unit (or a cluster of colleges, schools, or units). Business partners also ensure units are aligned operationally with institutional strategy and ensure university supported resources are followed. Business partners include Strategic Business Advisors (SBAs) and ICT College Coordinators. 
   
• Centers of expertise provide university-wide policy, governance, strategy, and decision support informed by institutional data. They also design and develop standardized tools and resources for the campus community. Centers of expertise include Financial Operations, Human Resources, Procurement, etc. 

Excellent universities require administrative services that are aligned to support and facilitate their mission. As a member of the U15 Group of Canadian Research Universities, USask needs an optimized administrative environment to support its world-class research, scholarly and artistic work, and academic mission. 

Guided by the University Plan 2025, the Administrative Services Renewal (ASR) and Integrated Services Renewal (ISR) Initiatives are focused on aligning and modernizing our administrative environment through differing, yet complimentary approaches.

The Administrative Services Renewal (ASR) Initiative is working together with campus leaders to co-create a structure that aligns and supports our people, operations, and resources. ASR’s initial focus is on organizational changes to align and integrate administrative professionals that support leaders, faculty, and staff within colleges, schools, and support units.

The Integrated Services Renewal (ISR) Initiative works in parallel with ASR to leverage our people, processes, data, and technology. ISR is supporting a campus transition to a modern cloud-based enterprise system and technology to support human capital management, finance, and procurement services. This will lead to more consistency, clarity, and standardization in job roles, responsibilities, policies, and processes. Through this initiative, USask will replace critical systems that are outdated and will have better processes, policies, and information technology to integrate workflow and provide greater access to data to inform our decision making.

Although both ASR and ISR Initiatives are focused on people, the former is concentrated on the distribution and integration of administration professionals centrally and within colleges and schools, and the latter provides clarity around job roles, expectations, responsibilities, processes, and policies.

In the future state, our administrative environment will be fully integrated, user-focused, and future ready, fully capable of supporting USask to be the university the world needs. However, we still have much work to do and achieving the goals will require commitment from all members of the USask community.

Our core systems are outdated and difficult to use, which has created a complex administrative environment that impacts every individual in our community, holding us back from achieving our bold vision of being the university the world needs.  

In our current state, we need to spend valuable time on manual and repetitive tasks. We struggle to find quality data to support our decisions. We miss opportunities to collaborate and innovate. 

We need to modernize our administrative environment by better leveraging our people, processes, data,  and technology so that we can excel as a U15 research intensive university and reach our potential. 

This work can only be successful with the support and active engagement of the entire campus community. Engaging our stakeholders is critical to ensure that the future is co-created by the entire community.  

Opportunities for participation, input and feedback will be designed into each step of the process and communicated broadly. 

The schedule for technology and partner selection will hinge on project funding. As we finalize our plans, we will communicate the specific timelines.

Excellent universities require administrative services that are aligned to support and facilitate their mission. As a member of the U15 Group of Canadian Research Universities, USask needs an optimized administrative environment to support its world-class research, scholarly and artistic work, and academic mission. 

Guided by the University Plan 2025, the Administrative Services Renewal (ASR) and Integrated Services Renewal (ISR) Initiatives are focused on aligning and modernizing our administrative environment through differing, yet complimentary approaches.

The Administrative Services Renewal (ASR) Initiative focuses on working together with campus leaders to co-create a structure that aligns and supports our people, operations, and resources. ASR’s initial focus is on organizational changes to achieve a more centralized network of administrative professionals that support leaders, faculty, and staff within colleges, schools, and support units. The Integrated Services Renewal (ISR) Initiative works in parallel with ASR to leverage our people, processes, data, and technology. ISR is supporting a campus transition to a modern cloud-based enterprise system and supporting technology, which will lead us to have more consistency and standardization in our roles, policies, and processes.

Although both ASR and ISR Initiatives are focused on people, the former is concentrated on distribution of administration professionals centrally and within colleges and schools, and the latter provides clarity around job roles, expectations, responsibilities, processes, and policies.

In the future state, our administrative environment will be fully integrated, user-focused, and future ready, fully capable of supporting USask to be the university the world needs. However, we still have much work to do and achieving the goals will require commitment from all members of the USask community.