Organizational restructures
To set the stage for further planning, senior leadership roles and responsibilities in the university's vice-presidential portfolios have changed to support continued restructuring of services and functions in alignment with the new operating model. This has resulted in an increase in functions and responsibilities for VPs and AVPs in central units.
The portfolios will have a clearer, expanded, and more consolidated set of responsibilities and functions, with a tighter focus on their areas of expertise; this will allow faculties to focus on their core mission of research and teaching. A number of difficult decisions have been made, with some units and activities being moved, consolidated, or redistributed within and across the portfolios.
This new structure reduces the number of direct reports to most senior leaders and streamlines to six to eight per senior leader. This results in a 33% reduction in the number of direct reports to the VPs, excluding deans.
Executive team restructuring
Administrative restructuring includes leadership positions in the President's Office. In the past couple of years, changes to the executive team include reducing the number of vice-presidents through the merger of University Relations and Advancement, and reducing the number of presidential direct reports through the merger of General Counsel and University Secretary into one role. As a result of these changes, the executive team has decreased in size by 22%, with a savings of 25%. These changes have resulted in reducing salary expenditures in the executive team by over $900,000 a year.
VP University Services and Finance
The University Services and Finance portfolio houses many of the university's administrative departments, including:
- Human Resources, Health, Safety and Environment (HRHSE)
- Finance, Procurement and Planning (FPP)
- Information Services and Technology (IST)
- Shared Services
- Performance, Analytics and Institutional Research (PAIR)
- Internal Audit and Risk Management
VP External Relations
The External Relations portfolio ensures alignment and coordination and support a single U of A approach in and across the following service areas:
- Communications
- Marketing
- Development
- Alumni Relations
- Government and Community Relations (GCR)
VP Research and Innovation
The Research and Innovation portfolio has been redesigned to align with the university's new operating model and to better support our research community. It includes the following Centres of Expertise:
- Research Development and Services
- Partnerships, Innovation and Knowledge Mobilization
- Strategic Research Initiatives and Performance
- Research Integrity Support
VP Facilities and Operations
We welcomed eight new units to our portfolio including Campus and Community Recreation, U of A Botanic Gardens, Glen Sather Sports Medicine Clinic, Emergency Management, Technical Training Centre, U of A Pharmacy, U of A Bookstore, and U of A Protective Services. This mean some fairly dramatic realignments needed to occur. The new structure includes the following departments:
- Asset Management and Operations
- Campus Services
- Integrated Planning, Development and Partnerships
- Support and Recreation Services
- Utilities
Faculty restructuring
- Faculty of Education
- Faculty of Arts
- School of Business