UCSF Considers New Approaches to Realize Strategic Plan

Among the first questions campus leaders considered after completing UCSF's first-ever campuswide strategic plan last June was: How will the University finance its implementation? After all, the UCSF Strategic Plan details seven strategic directions and 34 specific strategies to further the University's fourfold mission of research, teaching, patient care and public service. As a reminder, the strategic plan calls for making significant investments to realize UCSF's mission of advancing health worldwide™ and its vision to: 1. Develop innovative, collaborative approaches for education, health care and research that span disciplines within and across the health sciences 2. Be a world leader in scientific discovery and its translation into improved health 3. Develop the world's future leaders in health care delivery, research and education 4. Deliver the highest-quality, patient-centered care 5. Build upon its commitment to diversity 6. Provide a supportive work environment to recruit and retain the best people and position UCSF for the future 7. Serve the local, regional and global communities and eliminate health disparities The UCSF Strategic Planning Board and Executive Committee initially considered all the strategies and identified 12 for focused attention and/or new resources for academic year 2007-2008, according to Eugene Washington, MD, executive vice chancellor and provost. During recent town hall meetings at six UCSF campus locations to report on the progress made toward implementing the strategic plan, Washington said that the purpose of the plan was in part to set goals and establish priorities for the future and to help guide resource allocation. "Our decision making is now guided by a document that was shaped by voices from throughout the University," Washington said. Among the 12 strategies targeted for focused attention this academic year, was to "establish a regular and transparent campuswide process for planning, budgeting and allocating resources and to develop mechanisms to fund needed investments in infrastructure, including ongoing maintenance and operating costs."

Financing Priority Projects

"For the first time in UCSF's 143-year history, the campus has a comprehensive roadmap containing seven priorities and 34 strategies, each of which requires financial support," Senior Vice Chancellor Steve Barclay says of the strategic plan. "Additionally, we must fund daily operations and an ambitious building program." To explore how UCSF could better respond to its fiscal challenges, the Office of Finance and Administrative Services, headed by Barclay, began a study in fall 2007 to analyze its own processes and practices, identify best practices from other peer institutions, develop alternative resource management, planning and allocation processes, and create an implementation plan with recommendations for change. UCSF retained Huron Consulting Group, a management consulting firm specializing in strategic, operational and organizational change, to assist with the process, working with the Resource Planning Committee that was created to oversee the initiative. As a result of the work, both the committee and Huron consultants recommend that UCSF should: * Create a stronger link between the UCSF Strategic Plan, capital plan, operations and balance sheet; * Introduce additional transparency into resource management and allocation; * Develop a more comprehensive understanding of UCSF's internal economy; and * Develop business plans and incentives for more efficient use of space. Importantly, Huron recommends that UCSF set priorities and quantify needs identified in the strategic plan, forecast their financial impacts across a relevant number of years, and develop revenue, expense and financing strategies to close forecast gaps. But since UCSF's ability to fund strategic priorities by revenues is limited, Huron recommends that UCSF adopt a concept called "growth by substitution" – which means reducing funding for low-priority initiatives so that investments can be made in high-priority initiatives. "Identifying reductions in low-priority initiatives will create funding opportunities for high-priority initiatives," Barclay says. "Among other things, we will be able to upgrade information technology services, provide additional graduate student support and promote a supportive work environment."

Investing in Information Technology

Investments to improve information technology (IT) services, such as networks and email, for example, have depended on the chancellor's discretionary funds. But the limited availability of these funds over the past few years has resulted in significant "deferred maintenance" in UCSF's IT infrastructure and no steady and sustainable means of replacing equipment or improving systems. After studying the IT situation, both Huron and a campus Data and Voice Services Advisory Committee formed by Chancellor J. Michael Bishop, MD, concluded that UCSF must adopt a new funding model to help pay for improvements to UCSF's technology infrastructure. The recommended strategy is to use a combination of the current support from chancellor's discretionary funds and a new monthly per-person user recharge for network services. Similar methods are currently used at many other research-intensive universities, including UCLA and UC San Diego, to support network infrastructure. "With a sustainable business model in place, UCSF can begin bridging the gap between the campus's current situation and a future with a network infrastructure that is highly reliable and has increased capacity and greater functionality for services, such as videoconferencing, voice-over-IP and enhanced email," says Jon Showstack, PhD, MPH, chief information officer at UCSF. Indeed, while many of the benefits, such as improved reliability, customer service and security, to be accrued from making these IT upgrades are intangible, they remain of great importance to the University. Consider reliability, which is the measure of the amount of time the UCSF network is properly functioning. Most, if not all, recent network failures have been due to failures of equipment 10 years old or older, according to the Office of Academic and Administrative Information Systems (OAAIS). OAAIS staff track system outages and report that year-to-date outages have increased significantly compared with the same time period in 2007. The chancellor will soon name an oversight committee to develop specific plans for implementing an IT funding model, which is expected to become effective in July 2009.

Supporting Graduate Students

Huron also has weighed in on new funding models for the development office, allocation of space and the support of graduate students. The latter issue is of critical importance since several UCSF public and private peer institutions have increased graduate stipends, creating a situation in which UCSF's average stipends for graduate students are 16 percent to 30 percent lower than what is offered elsewhere. Some of these recommendations represent a substantial change in operations and it will take time to inform the campus community before they are implemented. To help shed light on these developments and ongoing financial and budget matters, UCSF is beginning a new communications campaign which includes the launch of this new website. Barclay also has issued a [letter (PDF 125KB)](http://budget.ucsf.edu/downloads/budget_letter.pdf) and two reports: "[UCSF: A Complete Budget Process Overview (PDF 764KB)](http://budget.ucsf.edu/downloads/budget_process_overview.pdf)," which describes the results of Huron's study, subsequent findings and recommendations, and "[UCSF Updated Budget Overview (PDF 298KB)](http://budget.ucsf.edu/downloads/budget_overview.pdf)," which describes the proposed 2008-2009 budget and initiatives of the Executive Budget Committee. "We assure you that this package of letters is simply the first in a series of many more," Barclay says in his letter. "Our hope is that through this process, everyone will soon understand the financial complexities and opportunities that lie ahead." Meanwhile, UCSF is making plans to take a new approach to resource management, planning and allocation to develop the budget for fiscal year 2009-2010. "Improving financial accountability and transparency will make each of use more effective stewards of our resources," Barclay says, "and our future success demands that we seize the opportunities presented in our strategic plan."

Related Links:

[UCSF Develops New Funding Model to Support IT Infrastructure](http://budget.ucsf.edu/stories/ucsf-develops-new-funding-model-to-support-it-infrastructure/) [UCSF Unveils Strategic Plan to Guide Its Global Leadership in Advancing Health](http://strategy.ucsf.edu/about/plan-story/), June 28, 2007 [Huron Consulting Group](http://www.huronconsultinggroup.com/)