Carolina Counts What is Carolina Counts?
The Process
Carolina Counts is a program initiated by the chancellor to carry out the key recommendations prepared in July 2009 by Bain & Company, funded by the UNC-Chapel Hill Foundation, that took a hard look at the campus operating structure and how to make this complex organization more efficient. The report reflected input from hundreds of people from the campus community and was posted to the University’s Budget Information Web site: http://universityrelations.unc.edu/budget/
The Carolina Counts program encompasses the entire operational improvement initiative at UNC. The first phase of this initiative was the diagnostic phase resulting in the consultant report that was presented to the university community. The current phase is analysis and design. The analysis and design phase comprises 10 initiatives or improvement areas that were identified in the diagnostic phase. Each improvement area is led by a champion. Within each area there are projects expected to achieve targets identified by the champions and Carolina Counts program office. Each project team is comprised of a group of faculty, staff, or administrators as appropriate, and led by a project team leader.
A few other universities are following Carolina’s lead. The University of California at Berkeley and Cornell University launched similar projects in 2009.
Mission
Under the leadership of the project leader, the teams research the opportunities, analyze processes or policy options and cost implications, evaluate alternative scenarios, define measurements, estimate the improvement targets and savings, and propose a solution to the champion. The champion approves the solution and assigns it to an implementation team to put the recommendation in action.
To make the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill the most collaborative, well-managed university in the country.
Objectives To streamline campus operations and provide more funding for academics and the University’s core missions; to implement simpler, more responsive systems and processes that enable informed decisionmaking while complying with policies and laws; and to reduce bureaucracy and create a more satisfying work environment for faculty and staff.
Work Under Way Carolina Counts is well into the hard work of assessing the potential options identified in the Bain report. Leading those efforts are Joe Templeton, immediate past faculty chair, former chair of the Department of Chemistry and now part-time special
Carolina Counts assistant to the chancellor for planning and initiatives. He has been joined by Mike Patil, former associate dean at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy, as program director on a full-time basis. Templeton and Patil spent the last part of 2009 engaging campus colleagues from schools, units and departments who could best delve into the main options identified in the Bain report and what they could mean for future University operations. Their focus is on guiding the University’s analysis of those options, developing solutions that address them, and planning implementation. In November 2009, Carolina Counts formally launched with the designation of champions who will lead the 10 areas identified for major improvements. In January 2010, all of the champions were brought together for an orientation
session on understanding the process and their roles, and to formulate projects that would accomplish the objectives of Carolina Counts initiative. The details of the projects identified by each area can be viewed on the Carolina Counts website (http://carolinacounts.unc.edu) under Improvement Projects. Carolina Counts is currently working with the champions to assess the projects, help prioritize them, and ensure a broader participation from across the campus where appropriate. A few of the projects are already completed and a few others are being pursued actively.
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