Student Housing and Dining Services Strategic Plan2021

VII. Future Organizational Development and Staffing Needs

The department has undergone a great deal of growth and transition in the past five years and the staffing patterns have changed accordingly. At the senior leadership level, the Student Housing director has taken on responsibility for financial oversight for the Division of Student Affairs with an accompanying title change to associate vice chancellor. Our senior leadership team now consists of three directors and a food service contract manager. A revised organizational chart can be found in Appendix E.

In the next 3–5 years, we anticipate a number of campus and administrative changes. In this context, we are committed to ensuring that position descriptions accurately reflect the totality of the work assigned, classifications are appropriate, and compensation reflects the market as well as individual performance. In addition to preparing for planned changes, we are committed to being nimble and responsive to unanticipated needs. When prudent and appropriate, adjustments will be made as staff members leave, new opportunities arise, or campus priorities shift.

Student Development

As part of the overall campus growth and anticipated needs of international students, Orientation will need to hire 1–2 student affairs officers, one analyst and additional administrative support staff. With the addition of new bed spaces, Residential Education will also add 3–5 student affairs officers to the team as well as one position to assist with the case management of students in distress – a growing concern for the division. Additional student staff will also be needed in these areas.

Facilities Operations

With Tercero Phase 3 coming online fall 2014, there will be a need to add one senior custodial supervisor, one lead custodian and 15 senior custodians. The maintenance operation is staffed appropriately to handle the increased workload. The growth of our operation merits ongoing human resources review and we will begin succession planning for the retirement of our two fire safety coordinators.

Dining, Retail and Catering Services

In 2012, following the merger of retail and residential dining, the department began an extensive financial review of our food-service contract. The initial findings recommended more focused oversight of the contract. A new food service contract manager has joined the leadership team to serve in this capacity. In addition, a human resources specialist and financial analyst have been hired to provide consistent management of university staff, and for deeper analysis and review of the financial elements of the dining contract.

Administration

As a result of the campuswide Operational Excellence Initiative, the Shared Service Center was created to improve efficiencies and realize budget savings by coordinating transactional work in support of purchasing, travel and entertainment, payroll and human resources. This transition, in addition to an effort to flatten reporting lines in Student Affairs, has resulted in the elimination of seven administrative staff. Staffing levels and workload will be evaluated and adjusted as needed in response to updated processes in support of this effort.

In addition, the University of California system is moving towards centralizing all human resources and payroll transactions—an effort known as UC-PATH. UC Davis is scheduled to transition to UC-PATH in January 2015. This transition will include a change to the campus based accounting system and the use of online pre-purchasing software. In preparation for the UC-PATH transition, all UC campuses moved non-exempt (hourly) employees to a bi-weekly payroll system. In addition, all staff are now using an updated time reporting system. This effort will result in continued adjustments and changed expectations of supervisors and staff in this area.