FoMD Organizational Redesign and the University of Alberta Operating Model

Today’s message provides details on the development of new administrative shared service units that will support the departments and programs and the new role of Academic Department Managers (ADMs), a key administrative leadership position in our shared services model.

Following months of consultation and dialogue with Department Chairs and stakeholders, we agreed that rather than reducing the number of academic departments in FoMD, we would instead focus organizational redesign efforts on administrative restructuring, grouping departments and developing shared service units for these groups.

Guiding principles for grouping departments

Department Chairs, Faculty General Manager Asha Rao and I were guided by the following principles and considerations in our work to group departments:

• Clinical and basic science: Keeping similar functioning units together allows for resources that are shared to be more efficient and consistent.
• Education and research: Similar teaching and research programs within units allows for more efficient use of shared resources and expertise.
• Location: Where possible, departments that are closer in physical proximity will be grouped together. There may be instances where proximity is not the basis for groupings, but site location is a reasonable factor to consider.
• Economies of size and supporting units that currently do not have an Assistant Chair: Offering smaller departments a consistency in practice, service and support so that all departments are able to operate at a recognized academic level that allows for accountability and the scope to implement policy and manage in / out of scope issues.

Academic Department Managers

Academic Department Managers (ADMs) will be key new positions in the new administrative services units that will be the core of FoMD’s shared services model.

Previously, academic departments were supported by administrative teams led by Assistant Chairs Administration (ACAs). In FoMD, some ACAs were responsible for staff in a single department, while some departments did not have an ACA exclusively assigned to them.

In the future state of FoMD, the position of ACA will cease to exist. The reality of the financial constraints the University is facing is that there will be fewer administrative positions. We will have to reimagine how we do things. The administrative model will shift to a shared services model with 12 ADMs leading the shared administrative units supporting the groupings of our 21 departments.

The ACAs in FoMD are valued members with important institutional and operational knowledge and expertise. These administrative professionals have been in many cases the first point of contact ambassadors for FoMD, onboarding new faculty members and instructors, welcoming students, residents and staff, connecting our programs with community partners, donors and alumni.

I recognize these changes to administrative leadership in the departments may be challenging. We will work to maintain strong connections with and between the departments and ensure that we support the transition and installation of the ADMs over the coming months. The ADMs will work closely with their department chairs. They will also work with our Faculty General Manager Asha Rao in a team based approach, sharing best practices.

Next steps

Engagement will continue for organizational redesign to:

• ensure organizational structure in departments will support the new operating model
• receive input on administrative structure and needs
• help build a shared understanding of the new operating model
• support Chairs and ADMs as leaders through this period of change

ADM job description evaluations for FoMD are complete. Positions considered as vacant with no incumbent and not a re-evaluation will be posted shortly.

We will share the organizational groupings of the departments in a few weeks. More information regarding the departments with re-evaluations will be forthcoming as well.

Today’s message provides a Human Resource Workstream update.

In alignment with the University of Alberta for Tomorrow and SET initiative, several new roles have been introduced to the university community including Senior Partners and Partner positions. These partner roles are integral, as they will provide strategic support, ensure policy is applied consistently and facilitate connection to services in the central functions.

As you know, the Senior HR Service Partners have been announced. Pam Averill is the Senior HR Service Partner in the College of Health Sciences. The hiring of several HR partners is in progress and I am pleased to announce Kendra Brunt will be moving into the HR partner role within the Department of Medicine. Kendra started in the Department of Medicine and held a brief role in the Department of Surgery prior to moving to the Dean’s Office in 1998. She has been the HR lead for FoMD and the overall go-to person for FoMD memory and HR problem-solving. I’m grateful that Kendra will continue to support the Faculty in addressing our HR needs over the next months as we operationalize the SET roles, positions, hirings and transitions.

Today’s message provides an update on our FoMD Department groupings and information about how we will triage HR service requests in FoMD as the new Staff Service Centre begins Phase 1 of its operation effective July 26.

Department groupings

To align with the University’s new operating model, rather than academic restructuring and reducing the number of departments in the Faculty, we will instead focus on administrative restructuring and develop a shared-services model to support our departments and academic programs. As part of the FoMD’s responsive organizational redesign some departments will be grouped, with Academic Department Managers (ADMs) leading the shared administrative units. You can review the department groupings in the following figure:

Academic Department Manager roles

Currently there are three vacancies for Academic Department Manager (ADM) posted on the POP and Careers pages. Closing date for all three positions is July 27, 2021. They include Pediatrics, Radiology & BME, and Biochemistry & MMI. There will be two additional vacancies posted in the next week. The other ADM positions have been filled, and we will announce the ADMs once all positions have been filled.

Supporting new Staff Service Centre launch: Phase 1 begins by offering some Human Resources services July 26

As you may know, Kendra Brunt is moving into her new role as HR partner in the Department of Medicine and Lindsey Rodil has moved to the Staff Service Centre. As Human Resources services shift to the Staff Service Centre in the coming weeks, we will be in a period of transition here in the Faculty. Until the official Staff Service Centre launches on Aug. 15, please refer to the table below and direct your questions to the appropriate email account, which is being monitored by staff in the Dean’s office. Specific duties are being handled as follows:

 Next steps

After Aug. 15, HR activities including time and labour-related auditing and exception time management will move to Shared Services. While some HR activity will still exist at the Faculty level, it will be represented by more generalist roles (CGM, FGM, and administrative support, for example). Staff will be able to find answers to most of their HR inquiries via the new Staff Service Centre web page, which you will be able to access from the Services tab at the top of the U of A homepage. To learn more about the future of Shared Services, click here.

Today’s message provides an update on the launch of the Staff Service Centre, including helpful information regarding the division of HR activities currently and in the near future.

On July 26, the new Staff Service Centre began Phase 1 of its operations, with Aug. 15 targeted for the launch of the next phase. Services currently available through the centre are mainly focused on HR, with plans to incorporate some Finance and IT before the end of 2021. We will share those details with you as those changes occur.

As part of the move to the new U of A operating model, some staff-level time-tracking and reporting tasks are moving to self-serve, with the support of the Staff Service Centre. Training on how to manage these tasks is currently being offered to salaried and hourly employees and supervisors. If you belong to one of those groups, you will need to sign up for a training session, as follows:

• Salaried employees
• Hourly employees
• Supervisors

Here is a brief breakdown of the various HR services available through the new Staff Service Centre:

• Processing forms and job actions; generating letters
• Administering benefits
• Advising about HR processes
• Processing actions related to employee life cycle, pay or benefits
• Processing employee data changes
• Collaborating with HR Service Partners and Centres of Expertise to problem solve
• Time and labour-related auditing and exception activities for pay periods; reconciling vacation, beginning Aug. 15

Today’s message provides an update on Human Resources in the Faculty as we continue our transition to the University’s new operating model.

Effective Monday, Aug. 16, Jacqui Mowat has left her HR/administrative role in the Dean’s Office and has moved to a new role in Shared Services. Jacqui has been an important part of the Dean’s Office team for 22 years, supporting the Faculty in a variety of invaluable ways. Please join me in congratulating Jacqui for her new role, and thanking her for all that she has done for the FoMD.

The following HR Partners are now supporting FoMD’s various departments, centres and institutes, and I look forward to working with them all in their new roles, as follows:

Valerie George: Faculty office, Family Medicine, Psychiatry/LMP, Centres and Institutes

Kendra Brunt: Department of Medicine

Cliff Anderson: Departments of Surgery, Oncology, Pediatrics, OVS/OBGYN, Anaesthesiology/CCM/Emergency Medicine, Physiology/Pharmacology/Cell Biology/Medical Genetics, Radiology/BME

Melanie Keizer: School of Dentistry, HSLAS

As staff shift into their new roles, please be patient when seeking Faculty HR support. For now, please continue to address your requests using the following contact information:

Today’s message provides an update on Human Resources in the Faculty, as we continue our transition to the University’s new operating model.

Below is a list of the Human Resources Service Partners in the Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry, their respective areas of service and contact information.

As staff shift into these new roles, please continue to be patient when seeking Faculty HR support. Remember that many general HR questions should now be directed to the central Staff Service Centre, including:

• Processing forms and job actions; generating letters
• Administering benefits
• Advising about HR processes
• Processing actions related to employee life cycle, pay or benefits
• Processing employee data changes
• Collaborating with HR Service Partners and Centres of Expertise to problem solve
• Time and labour-related auditing and exception activities for pay periods; reconciling vacation

Cliff Anderson, HR Partner, Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry

Phone: 780-492-0232
Email: anderso2@ualberta.ca

• Oncology
• Anesthesiology
• Biomedical Engineering
• Critical Care Medicine
• Emergency Medicine
• Obstetrics and Gynecology
• Pediatrics 
• Ophthalmology
• Pharmacology
• Physiology
• Radiology and Diagnostic Imaging
• Department of Surgery
• Clinical Islet Transplant Program
• Division of Anatomy 
• Medical Genetics
• Cell Biology

Kendra Brunt, HR Partner, Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry

Phone: 780-492-6626
Email: Kendra.Brunt@ualberta.ca

Department of Medicine, including:

• Administration
• Cardiology
• Dermatology
• Endocrinology
• Gastroenterology
• Hematology
• Infectious Diseases
• General Internal Medicine
• Geriatric Medicine
• Neurology
• Nephrology
• Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
• Preventative Medicine
• Pulmonary Medicine
• Rheumatology

Valerie George, HR Partner, Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry

Phone: 780-492-1032
Email: vgeorge1@ualberta.ca

Faculty Office, including:

• Office of the Dean
• Administration
• Communications
• Continuous Professional Learning (CPL)
• Development & Alumni Affairs
• Division of Support and Studies in Medical Education
• Facility Planning & Projects
• Faculty Affairs
• International Relations
• John Dossetor Health Ethics Centre
• Family Medicine
• Global Health
• Indigenous Health Initiatives Program
• Office of Advocacy and Wellbeing
• Med IT
• Office of Education
• Undergraduate Medical Education
• Office of Research
• Physician Learning Program (PLP)
• Postgraduate Medical Education
• Office of Rural and Regional Health
• Alberta Diabetes Institute
• Women & Children's Health Research Institute 
• Laboratory Medicine and Pathology
• Medical Microbiology and Immunology/Biochemistry
• Neurosciences
• Psychiatry

Melanie Keizer, HR Partner, Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry

Email: mkeizer@ualberta.ca

School of Dentistry (Dentistry and Dental Hygiene), including:

• Research
• Clinical Affairs
• Administration
• Community Outreach
• Education
• Graduate programs in Orthodontics

Health Sciences Lab Animal Services (HSLAS)

As we continue our shift to the new U of A operating model, this update provides information on changes within the FoMD IT department.

I’d like to begin by congratulating Sherri Honeychurch on her new role as IT Partner for the College of Health Sciences, effective Sept. 1. Sherri has been the IT director in the FoMD for the past six years and we are grateful for her calm and steady leadership of a large team of IT professionals during that time. Sherri will continue working closely with all faculties within the College of Health Sciences, including FoMD, in her new role providing senior professional expertise in strategic IT initiatives at the college level.

In other IT news, after a lengthy review period thanks to the cooperation and collaboration of teams from both FoMD and Information Services and Technology (IST), responsibility for the FoMD’s cyber security, networks and data centres has transitioned to the central IST team.

As the other streams within the IT transition continue to move forward, for the time being please continue to submit any help desk tickets or requests to the MedIT helpdesk or by calling 780-492-9731.

As we continue our shift to the new U of A operating model, this update provides information on the impacts to FoMD and how our Faculty is responding in a variety of areas.

Academic Department Managers

This week, I’m pleased to share that Academic Department Managers are now in place for 10 of our 12 new department groupings.  Recruitment is underway for the remaining two positions.

The following people will continue in their existing departments:

• Janet Horyn, Surgery
• Francois Bouman, Medicine
• Mark Perreault, Family Medicine
• Yvette Labiuk, Oncology
• Suzanne Roy, Dentistry
• Darlene Stewart, OBGyn/OVS
• Stephanie Russell, APM/CCM/EM

Please join me in welcoming the following new appointments:

• Nicole Firth, Pediatrics
• Holly O’Kurly, BioMedical Engineering/Radiology
• Gonzalo Vilas, Biochemistry/MMI

We are currently in the recruitment phase for two additional departmental groupings:

• Physiol/Pharm/Cell Biol/Med Genetics
• Psychiatry/LMP

We are also recruiting for a Deputy Faculty General Manager, who will report to Faculty General Manager Asha Rao.

What’s new in IT?

The transition of requests to the IST helpdesk is scheduled for mid-November. We will let you know in advance how to use the new system to help ensure a smooth transition. This process will require our patience, as multiple faculties and units are moving to central IST around the same time.

Human Resources update

Shared Services is now active in answering queries. If you haven’t already been doing so, please visit the web page for answers to most of your questions and how to get in touch for help. If you do find there are Faculty-specific questions not addressed by Shared Services, your Academic Department Manager and HR Partner are available to assist you.

Meanwhile, please join me in congratulating Wendy Batienko, who has been in HR with the Faculty for 16 years, and has moved into her new role as Leave Administrator at Shared Services in the Staff Service Centre. Wendy continues to support FoMD as she assumes her new role. 

Research Administration

The Research Administration workstream is currently recruiting key positions. Once they determine the number of College- and Faculty-level research partners required, positions will be posted online. Please watch the Position Opportunities Page for more information in the coming weeks.

External Engagement

The recruitment process at the director level is nearing completion in the External Engagement stream, and Senior Partners are now being recruited for the Colleges. Congratulations again to former FoMD Director of Communications and Marketing Salena Kitteringham, who has been appointed the Director of Communication and Marketing Partnerships. We are currently undertaking a review to determine how internal communications and events can best be supported in the FoMD.

Student Services

A Faculty review is currently underway to determine an operating model that will best meet the needs of Student Services at the Faculty and Department levels. We have struck a working group to consult, review and make recommendations.

As we continue our shift to the new U of A operating model, this update provides information on the impacts to FoMD and how our Faculty is responding in a variety of areas.

Process reviews

Within the FoMD, Student Services and Research Administration are undergoing process reviews including stakeholder working groups, with SET consultants facilitating the consultation and Scott Phillips, current ADM for Psychiatry, providing oversight. The purpose is to revise existing processes if required, or create new processes, to ensure alignment with SET operating models for the Faculty, Departments and Units. Research Administration aims to align with central processes and Student Services will operate within FoMD-recommended models, to ensure consistent delivery and support.

IT transition

IT transition to the central operating model is in the final stages, with full migration expected mid-November. You will receive information and support in advance from IST regarding the changeover, including how to use their ticketing system.

ADM changes

Darlene Stewart, current Academic Department Manager (ADM) for OVS/OBGyn, has been seconded as project manager for Procurement centrally. With this interim vacancy, we have moved this portfolio to reside with the ADM for the Departments of Psychiatry and LMP. The successful ADM for these Departments will be announced next week. There will also be a posting for an assistant ADM for OVS/OBGyn, which will reside at Royal Alexandra Hospital, in the coming days.

As we continue our shift to the new U of A operating model, this update provides information on some recent changes in FoMD.

Changes to HR and FEC support

With some key staff having moved into shared services, we continue to work to determine the best approach to managing your HR queries.

Here is a list of the best ways to reach HR for your various needs going forward:

• Shared Services inquiries: Staff Service Centre
  • Time and labour entry
  • Pay and benefit
• General FoMD HR queries: fomdhrpr@ualberta.ca (monitored by Jessica Leaman, with support from Jacqui Mowat and Wendy Batienko in shared services)
  • Salary and benefit adjustment (SBA)
  • Academic recruitment
  • Recruitment approvals/job fact sheets/support recruitment
  • Appointment letters and contracts
  • Clinical academic colleagues (CACs)
  • CCIDs/passwords/email alias
  • Reports
• Faculty Evaluation Committee (FEC) queries: fomdfec@ualberta.ca (primary contact Erin Neil, with support from Wendy Batienko)
• General ledgers and journal entries: fomdglje@ualberta.ca

For any other query types not listed above, please contact fomdhrpr@ualberta.ca or your designated Human Resource Partner Valerie George. For the time being, you are also welcome to contact Faculty General Manager Asha Rao for any other queries not listed above.

Academic Department Managers update

Academic Department Managers (ADMs) are now in place in all but one area; recruitment is underway for the Physiology/Pharmacology/Cell Biology and Medical Genetics grouping.

Today, I’m pleased to announce that Stephanie Russell will begin in the role of ADM for Psychiatry/LMP/OBGyn/OVS effective Nov. 1, with Lisa Cruywels taking on the ADM role in CCM/APM/EM.

Many thanks to outgoing Psychiatry ADM Scott Phillips for all his work the past number of years and his efforts in assisting the Faculty during this transition.

As the university continues to move forward with administrative restructuring under the SET program, a notable change for the Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry will be the transition of our IT services into the new Information Services and Technology (IST) Centres of Expertise.

Work on the transition has been underway since spring 2021, and is now mostly complete. Today we are providing an update with more information, including some of the changes that will occur once we formally transition to IST on Wednesday, Nov. 17, 2021.

Our MedIT team has done an amazing job in moving this process forward and IST and SET have been great partners in facilitating activities to get us where we are today.

What do we mean by IT transition?

The IST Centres of Expertise will assume full responsibility and accountability for the IT services being transitioned from the FoMD. This will include providing support for desktops, laptops, networking, and enterprise applications. It will also include maintenance and administration of systems, licences and evergreening technology.

What services are being transitioned?

• Foundational IT: Networks, data centres and IT security
• Distributed services: Servers, applications (except those that support our MD and Dentistry programs; these will remain within the Faculty)
• Shared spaces: Labs, classrooms and meeting spaces
• Support: Desktop and endpoint support

What does this mean for the Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry?

As part of the transition process, a detailed analysis was conducted to identify differences between services provided by FoMD MedIT and those currently provided by IST. Based on the information gathered, we are aware that faculty and staff may experience specific impacts resulting from these changes. We will be sending out separate communications to target groups / users outlining the change and how it will specifically impact them.

You will see little to no change regarding the transition of the network, data centres, VCS, IT security and servers. These functions are managed in the background and are not client facing.

Applications will be transitioning with support from IST, with the exception of applications specifically supporting our MD and Dentistry programs.

The most visible change you see will be that IST will now respond to all our desktop-support needs.

What happens next?

Effective Wednesday, Nov. 17, 2021, IST will be the contact for our IT support needs.

IST will be sending out a welcome message Nov. 16 with more information about who they are and how to get support and request IT service.

SET will also conduct a Post Transition Check In to assess any issues or concerns that arise

Preparing for this transition has required a lot of work from our MedIT team. Many of our staff have transitioned to IST roles and others have moved external to the University. I would like to acknowledge and thank all of them for their contribution to the transition and the excellent work they have done for FoMD over the years.

If you have any questions about the transition, please reach out to Asha Rao, Faculty General Manager.

Below are links you can use once the official transition occurs.

• Chat with Vera: Chatbot available 24/7, with access to all our IST web content and our IST knowledge base
• Through our online form
• Self-service: Find all our knowledge base articles categorized by service

Stay informed:

• IST website: Overview of IT services and resource information
• IT Pulse: Subscribe to the IT Pulse mailing list to stay in the loop on technology outages, upgrades and weekly changes happening to infrastructure and services across the University of Alberta. You can also view a list of IT Pulses online.

Welcoming our new Deputy Faculty General Manager

Taniya Birbeck began in her new role as Deputy Faculty General Manager Nov. 1. Taniya comes to this new role after more than three years as Director of PGME Administration and will be reporting to Faculty General Manager Asha Rao. While we work to recruit for her PGME position, Taniya will continue to support that area.

As we continue our shift to the new U of A operating model, this update provides information on some recent changes in FoMD.

Academic Department Manager (ADM) hiring process complete

Please join me in welcoming Denis Fortin as ADM for Physiology/Pharmacology/Cell Biology/Medical Genetics, effective Jan. 4, 2022.

Denis has extensive experience in project management, human resources and administrative leadership. Most recently, he was project manager for the SET Research stream, and HR Partner for the VPRI office.

We wish to thank Dancy Bogdanovic, Assistant Chair for Physiology/Pharmacology and Kendall James, Cell Biology for their outstanding leadership and for their continued support throughout this time of transition.

ADMs and their Finance and HR Partners:

• Francois Bouman, Medicine. Finance Partner: Margo Desmarais, HR Partner: Kendra Brunt.
• Lisa Cruywels, Anaesthesiology and Pain Management/Critical Care. Medicine/Emergency Medicine. Finance Partner: Wendy Nickolson, HR Partner: Cliff Anderson.
• Nicole Firth, Pediatrics. Finance Partner: Maarij Ali, HR Partner: Cliff Anderson.
• Denis Fortin, Physiology/Pharmacology/Cell Biology/Medical Genetics. Finance Partners: Andrea Smart and Dusty Pederson, HR Partner: Cliff Anderson.
• Janet Horyn, Surgery. Finance Partner: Jennifer Bernard, HR Partner: Cliff Anderson.
• Yvette Labiuk, Oncology. Finance Partner: Peggy Scade, HR Partner: Cliff Anderson.
• Holly O’Kurly, BioMedical Engineering/Radiology and Diagnostic Imaging. Finance Partner: Jennifer Bernard, HR Partner: Cliff Anderson.
• Mark Perreault, Family Medicine. Finance Partner: Maarij Ali, HR Partner: Valerie George.
• Suzanne Roy, Dentistry. Finance Partner: Peggy Scade, HR Partner TBD.
• Stephanie Russell, Psychiatry/Lab Med Pathology/Obstetrics and Gynecology/Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences. Finance Partner: Dusty Pederson, HR Partner: Natascha Dube.
• Gonzalo Vilas, Biochemistry/Medical Microbiology and Immunology. Finance Partner:  Jennifer Bernard, HR Partner: Valerie George.

SET Updates

Human Resources

Recruitment is underway for an HR position in the Faculty office. This position will help to support HR-related activities in the Faculty, departments, centres and institutes.

Finance

Seven of nine Finance Partners are in place and have been assigned to the ADMs in the departments along with our other units. 

Communications

Shelby Soke began as our Communications and Marketing Partner Jan. 5, 2022.  Shelby comes with extensive experience on campus, including with FoMD and centrally in issues management and strategic initiatives. We look forward to working with Shelby in her new role.

Meanwhile, much of the work that was handled by our FoMD communications team is transitioning to the College of Health Sciences, under the direction of Senior Partner Janelle Morin. Four former communications colleagues from across the Faculty have moved into this new team, and will continue to share their talents and commitment with us. Please join me in welcoming new Health Sciences communications associates:

• Danica Erickson (formerly Department of Family Medicine)
• Jonathan Pullin (formerly Women and Children’s Health Research Institute)
• Tarwinder Rai (formerly Dentistry)
• Sasha Roeder Mah (formerly FoMD)

I’m pleased to share a few important hiring announcements with you as we continue to move into our new operating model. Our Academic Department Managers now have the support of a full team of Finance Partners, reporting to Li-Kwong Cheah, Senior Finance Partner.

The Faculty Office would also like to welcome Jessica Leaman full time in the role of Program Support. Jessica, who comes from the Department of Pediatrics, has been supporting us part time since September 2021 and will be responsible for initiating and triaging a number of HR activities for Shared Services. Please continue using fomdhrp@ualberta.ca for your HR-related questions that require Faculty and staff support.

Meanwhile, the Dean’s Office administrative staff will begin a gradual return to campus April 4, 2022, with someone on site daily.

We are also in the process of recruiting an Events and Engagement Coordinator to provide support for the busy calendar of events throughout the Faculty

Procurement

There have been a number of changes in the procurement process. Please see this central update for more information.

Shared Services

To find out about changes in Shared Services, please click on this recent central update.