Process Improvements

As of the end of February, we have completed or made significant progress in a number of areas. These include: 

• The launch of the College’s newly formed Equity Committee on Feb. 19.
• Attendance at the Florida Pathways Institute by a group of faculty and staff to progress our implementation of a Guided Pathways model.
• Moving Navigate into production. This new application tracks and supports students along academic pathways. A pilot set to launch with a limited group of faculty, staff and students this summer.
• Integration of Academic Foundations with the School of Construction, Design, Engineering and Information Technologies. The new school will include centers for Adult and Workforce Education, Design, Engineering and Computer Technology, English Language Studies and the Wharton Smith Center for Construction.        
• The development of a new First Year Experience (FYE) course for freshman students, which is set to launch in Fall Term 2021
• Progress on flexible working with development of a new procedure and form. These elements, which were developed with input from across the College, are currently out for comment from faculty and staff.  
• Initiatives to make it easier for students to apply to the College and register for classes, including updated Steps to Enroll, first-time-in-college (FTIC) students’ admission into virtual orientation labs, a single payment due date and improved class schedule availability.

P-Card approvals

The P-Card approval process has been streamlined so that supervisors no longer need to go into the system to approve P-Card transactions. P-Card holders submit paper or scanned receipts and statements to their budget manager or next-level supervisor for approval before submitting the documents to Finance. Finance encourages the use of Adobe Sign to request signatures with a carbon copy (cc) to purchasingcard@seminolestate.edu to provide automatic routing and notification of approval. We are working on additional enhancements to the P-Card process that will provide more timely approval and posting of the transactions through PeopleSoft.

Absence Management 

The College is evaluating a solution to automate leave submission.  The goal is for employees to utilize self-service to submit leave requests for their supervisor’s approval, eliminating the need to submit paper documentation for leave.  This is expected to be implemented by Summer 2022.

Accounts Payable Office

The Accounts Payable Office implemented the direct ACH payment method and have signed up many of our suppliers. This gives us the opportunity to take advantage of discounts for early payments and also reduced financial costs and environmental impacts by not cutting and mailing a hard-copy check.

Purchasing Procurement Office

The Purchasing Procurement Office is working to negotiate buying where possible and utilize buying cooperatives and existing bid contracts to save money for the College. For example, staff negotiated buying for PPE sanitizing wipes to save $700 in freight costs and renegotiated Multi-Function Printer (MFP) Fleet to save over $6,000 annually.

Cashiers Office

Cashiering Services has gone cashless and no longer accepts cash for payments.  This reduces cash-handling risks and bank service fees to the College and provides cost savings by eliminating armored-truck services at a cost of just over $8,000 per year and expenses for miscellaneous cash handling supplies.

Human Resources has introduced a new HR Partner model to enable easier access to HR services and greater efficiency. One HR representative is assigned to each division and is the contact person for all Human Resources needs including hiring, compensation, benefits, etc. The following are assigned HR partners: 

Nancy Santos 

• Student Affairs
• Facilities
• Finance

 Dr. Joanne Kuzma

• Academic Affairs

Student Affairs’ Registration Improvement Teams have been progressing several initiatives to make it easier for students to apply to the College and register for classes. These initiatives and their status include:

• Update Steps to Enroll: Completed. A working group has successfully updated the College’s Steps to Enroll to provide students a clear roadmap to Seminole State admissions.
• First-Time-in-College (FTIC) Students’ Admission into Virtual Orientation Labs: Completed.
• Single Payment Due Date: Completed. For the Fall 2020 and Spring 2021 terms, the College began moving to a single payment due date for students in Full, A and 12-Week Sessions. Payment for B Session classes is due four business days before the start of classes. Improvements have reduced confusion among students, improved communication, reduced advisor workload and given students more time to pay for classes.
• Improve Class Schedule Availability: Completed. The Summer Term 2021 schedule will be locked prior to Spring Break to enable students to plan their class schedules prior to the opening of registration later in March. Class modality for summer will be similar to Spring 2021. Academic Affairs will continue to make small changes to the class schedule until the start of Summer Term.
• Testing Holds for Exempt and Non-exempt Students: In progress. 
• Tuition Deferment: In progress. 
• Financial Aid Packaging: In progress. CTS has completed needed setup in PeopleSoft for 2021-22.
• Bill Creation/Student Statements: In progress. The group has made good progress in identifying issues and is looking at adopting an online statement of charges and due dates similar to that used by UCF and other colleges to provide students and parents with a better understanding of the charges.
• Password Reset/MySeminoleState Email: In progress. The group is working on the timing for students to create their MySeminoleState and student email accounts.
• Reduce Paper Applications/Redesign Online Application (OLA): In progress. User interface suggestions have been produced and the group is working to enable online applications for all student types. 
• Course Display on Website: In progress. Online, remote, in-person and hybrid courses can now be filtered in the course catalog. The group is considering features that show courses that are “full” or have space available, can reduce confusion in class location and potentially wait list students for full courses.

Groups are also looking at other processes, including improvements to dual enrollment, a revamp of the scholarship process, streamlining submission of residency documentation, and updating students’ Steps to Enroll. Expected completion for registration improvement efforts is December 2021.

CTS has developed and implemented applications to improve processes for faculty, staff and students. These include changes to applications for the Print Shop, catalog, syllabus (OASIS), ID Card Remote Reservations, Academic Success Center (tutoring) and Sign Me Up calendar for the ASC, library, testing, security and reopening.

CTS also transitioned computer lab support from face-to-face to online only utilizing Teams. Students can meet with CTS assistants to get live help from home. Assistants can also help multiple students at the same time. The Help Desk staff is also now equipped to work from home, allowing more flexibility in scheduling and coverage with travel time to and from the College eliminated. 

Other improvements include a contract with Adobe Sign so employees can digitally sign documents, request signatures and instantly route documents, which eliminates delays in processing.

Marketing and Communications has worked with CTS to implement Team Dynamix, a new ticketing system that will assist with project management collegewide. 

Institutional Effectiveness and Research (IER) has been streamlining processes to generate more engagement and enable effective remote working.

All program reviews were conducted remotely via video conferencing, resulting in record participation. Materials were also prepared and distributed in electronic format, saving time, labor, printing and distribution costs. IER also continued transitioning collegewide surveys into the Evaluation Kit application, giving users easier and more timely access to survey results.  

Other improvements in IER include using Microsoft Teams for internal project tracking and reporting, transitioning reports from Excel and Access to Visual Analytics to enable more “drill down” capabilities and data sharing, and eliminating Gainful Employment reporting. These improvements have saved an estimated total of over 500 labor hours.

IER and CTS also transitioned SPOL to an enhanced cloud-based version, saving maintenance and upgrade time and providing a streamlined interface to SPOL features and information. 

The Office Safety and Security reorganized its department structure to enhance the service level to constituents by providing supervisory level command and control at the various campus sites (command decentralization). The reorganization also increased staffing levels at the Sandford/Lake Mary Campus(the most populated campus), which helped reduce response times and increase crime prevention.

Other improvements in Safety and Security, include:

• Emergency notification training and access to all department members, enhancing the capabilities to provide notification to constituents in the event of an emergency.
• Transition to an IP Security Alarm System at the Geneva Center, increasing the reliability of the alarm system where firearms and ammunitions are kept. This lead to cost savings for the College.
• Procurement of dispatching software to enhance the communications center by reducing manual log entries, improving analytics on calls for service/labor usage, and the reduction of office time for officers.
• Implementation of a remote ID Card system, which will increase customer service and convenience. The system is web based with a mobile application as well.