Dear Colleagues,
I’ve promised to keep you updated about the work happening with our internal audit. During our Virtual Employee Town Hall today, I shared the findings from our first report.
As you may remember, we hired external firm McConnell Jones to look at what we’re doing and find areas where we can improve. They started by reviewing our Operations, Safety, and Security divisions since their work is deeply connected across the district.
I’m not surprised by what they found. We have good people here who are doing good work in a sea of broken systems.
- We need to set our policies and understand our roles and responsibilities.
- We need to communicate better with each other and break down our silos.
- We need to do a better job of setting metrics so we can see how we’re doing.
These are not unique challenges in higher education or in any industry. What makes us unique is we’re going to fix them. We’re going to align our work where it makes sense. In July, I’m going to bring forward a reorganization plan that takes all the elements of operations and safety and realigns them in divisions throughout the college. I don’t know exactly what this will look like yet, but I promise to remain radically transparent with you.
I know this might sound scary, but we’re not getting rid of any people, and no one will get a pay cut.
To our colleagues in Operations, Safety & Security, I want to say ‘thank you’ for all you have done and continue to do to keep us glued together and functioning. I know it’s been a challenge. I’m grateful for those of you who have shared your experiences and insights to help us improve.
We’re going to do similar audits across the college. Up next, the firm will look at our purchasing and accounts payable divisions. Every report will get posted on our website. You can read the first one here. As you go through it, I encourage you to think about how these findings align with your area, too.
This is what it takes to become a better institution for our students, our community, and each other. Together, we’re going to get even better.
Much love,
russell
Russell Lowery-Hart, Ph.D.
Chancellor
Austin Community College District