The Colleges of Arts and Sciences could save $11,858,000 over a five-year period, according to a management and information technology consulting firm.

In September, Ohio State contracted with the outside consulting group Navigator Management Partners to review the organizational structure of the fiscal and human resources business processes in the arts and sciences.

“They looked at how we were doing things in different divisions and showed where we could gain some efficiencies,” said Brad Harris, Arts and Sciences chief administrative officer.

Navigator spent three months meeting with subject matter officers, department staff and business operations teams, Harris said.

Navigator issued a 270-page report in December detailing recommendations and a five-year cost saving analysis.

The report also included a proposal for restructuring the business organization structure by creating shared service centers for fiscal and human resources activities.

Harris said consultants also defined responsibilities for employees who will be involved with the service centers.

“Until the implementation plan is fully developed, however, we won’t know exactly how specific staff duties may be redefined,” said Joan Leitzel, interim vice provost for the Arts and Sciences and interim executive dean of the Arts and Sciences Colleges, in a statement to faculty. Navigator estimated that implementation costs for the service centers would be about $1,040,000.

If the Colleges of Arts and Sciences accepts Navigator’s model and schedule, it would mean that once a department has transitioned to the new model, the human resource, benefits, payroll and fiscal transactional processing will be done by the shared service center staff.

“Navigator recommended that we do not remove decision-making or budget-making staff from departments,” Harris said. Although the review did not include academic business, the business restructuring can have positive effects on academic affairs, said John Roberts, interim dean of Arts and Sciences.

“People in departments would have more time to focus on academic aspects,” Roberts said. “It can be an important change for departments.”

The final phase of the implementation should begin before the end of the calendar year, Leitzel said.


Amber Phelps can be reached at [email protected].