Updates
This page will be used to provide updates throughout the Operational Excellence process.
November 10, 2025
The co-chairs sent an email to the community updating them on actions taken to launch the seven work groups.
Community Email Text
Dear Faculty, Staff, and Administrators,
We write today with an update on the Operational Excellence initiative. We are grateful that more than 100 faculty, staff, and administrators responded to our request for volunteers to serve on work groups that will help us advance the goals of operational excellence as outlined in the March 2025 Report.
At this point, the lead co-chair for each of the seven groups has been established, and additional co-chairs, work group members, and faculty steering committee members are being finalized. We will be reaching out to selected volunteers to serve as work group co-chairs and members this week and next. Once the work groups have been finalized, we will announce the full membership of each group on the Operational Excellence website.
Steering Committee Membership
With the conclusion of the work of the initial Operational Excellence Working Group last fall, we are now shifting the oversight of this initiative to a steering committee that will guide the effort. The steering committee will oversee the seven work groups and help to ensure strong coordination, as well as organize final recommendations for leadership decisions and implementation. The steering committee members are:
- Cheryl Moore-Thomas, Ph.D., provost and senior vice president, co-chair
- Kristy Michel, vice president for finance and administration/treasurer, co-chair
- Stephanie Coldren, chief of staff, organizational assessment lead co-chair
- Frank Golom, Ph.D., dean, Loyola College, academic programs lead co-chair
- Jill Hecklinger, associate vice president and controller, endowment policy lead co-chair
- Mary Ann Scully, dean, Sellinger School of Business and Management, new revenue and financial aid lead co-chair
- Rob Smith, chief information officer, technology lead co-chair
- Jill Snodgrass, Ph.D., professor, theology, faculty representative for Loyola College
- Ravi Srinivasan, Ph.D., professor, operations management, faculty representative for Sellinger School of Business and Management
- Jennifer Watkinson, Ph.D., professor of counselor education, faculty representative for School of Education
- Nancy Wright, director of procurement, procurement lead co-chair
- Kristi Yowell, associate vice president human resources and chief people and culture officer, compensation and benefits chair
Work Group Charge and Timing
Each work group will have a faculty co-chair, and we will provide an additional update with details about the full work group membership in the near future. We have established charges, financial targets, and timelines for each work group. These charges and timelines will be further refined by each work group once they start meeting.
The overall cadence of the work is as follows:
November: First steering committee meeting and work groups launch
December: Each work group reviews the provided materials and drafts initial reactions to ideas
laid out for cost savings
January – February: Work groups continue research and evaluation of recommendations
End of February: Final recommendations presented from work groups to Steering Committee for review
March: Steering Committee and Cabinet review alongside consultation with Subject Matter Experts
April: Final recommendations shared with co-chairs and president as well as the Cabinet and
vice presidents
May: Final report released; community update
Final Recommendations
We remain committed to frequent communications related to our Operational Excellence efforts, and we will provide periodic updates over the course of the academic year. We will also post updates on the Operational Excellence website.
The timeline for sharing final recommendations with the community is not set at this point, but we hope to be able to release some recommendations throughout the course of the spring semester as decisions are made.
Thank you for your interest and collaboration as we work to strengthen the long-term resilience and operational effectiveness of our University.
Sincerely,
Cheryl Moore-Thomas, Ph.D., Provost and Senior Vice President
Kristy Michel, Vice President for Finance and Administration/Treasurer
October 13, 2025
The co-chairs sent an email to the community updating them on the formation of seven work groups and a steering committee.
Community Email Text
Dear Faculty, Staff, and Administrators,
We are excited to share with you an important opportunity to participate actively in our ongoing commitment to operational excellence. At the Sept. 24 town hall, President Sawyer highlighted the formation of dedicated work groups that will provide expert guidance, recommendations, and constructive feedback on a variety of proposals aimed at improving our University’s efficiency and effectiveness. These proposals address both cost-saving measures and new revenue-generating ideas, inspired by the research conducted after the March 2025 release of the Operational Excellence report.
We invite staff, administrators, and faculty members from across the University to volunteer for these work groups. Your diverse perspectives are critical as we work together to strengthen our community. Interested faculty members should respond to the call for volunteer process initiated by the Faculty Affairs Committee. Interested administrators and staff should sign up through this form.
The work groups and estimated time commitments are as follows:
1: Technology
- Review technology consolidation efforts, consider cost-saving measures like outsourcing, shared services, and student helpdesk roles.
- Estimated Time: Four 90-minute meetings (Nov–Feb) plus 1–2 hours of pre/post work.
2: Procurement, Contracts, and Travel
- Assess procurement policies and explore improvements in contracts, PCard use, and travel guidelines.
- Estimated Time: Four 90-minute meetings (Nov–Feb) plus 1–2 hours of pre/post work.
3: Organizational Assessment
- Conduct a comprehensive review of our organizational structure, focusing on service duplication, centralized vs. decentralized models, outsourcing, and vacancy management. Subgroups will address outsourcing, retirements/buyouts, and staffing structures.
- Estimated Time: 1–2 hours of meetings/work per week (Nov–Feb).
4: Compensation and Benefits
- The existing Compensation and Benefits Committee, chaired by Kristi Yowell, will evaluate recommendations for compensation, 403(b) contributions, healthcare costs, and staff stipends. No volunteers will be sought for this committee.
5: Academic Programs
- Review academic and co-curricular program optimization strategies.
- Estimated Time: 1–2 hours of meetings/work per week (Nov–Feb).
6: Endowment Policy
- Evaluate endowment policy and disbursement issues.
- Estimated Time: Four 90-minute meetings (Nov–Feb) plus 1–2 hours of pre/post work.
7: New Revenue and Financial Aid Optimization
- Review strategies to boost revenue and optimize financial aid.
- Estimated Time: Four 90-minute meetings (Nov–Feb) plus 1–2 hours of pre/post work.
The call for volunteers will close on Friday, Oct. 24, 2025. All questions related to this work can be submitted to: operationalexcellence@loyola.edu.
We deeply appreciate your willingness to engage in this important process. Thank you for helping us move Loyola forward together!
Best regards,
Cheryl Moore-Thomas, Ph.D., Provost and Senior Vice President
Kristy Michel, Vice President Administration and Finance
September 24, 2025
- The President’s Town Hall discussed next steps in the Operational Excellence initiative. View the recording.
March 24, 2025
- President, provost, and interim vice president for finance host a town hall to introduce
the final 20 recommendations for further consideration and/or implementation.
Read the report View the town hall recording
December 5, 2024
- The Operational Excellence initiative received over 50 submissions to the confidential feedback email from Loyola community members. We thank the community for sharing their insights and perspectives as we start to translate feedback gathered into action over the coming months.
- The Operational Excellence Working Group and Vice Presidents reviewed and validated the full set of proposed recommendations aimed at advancing the University’s institutional positioning, resource efficiency, operational maturity, and financial resiliency. Recommendations were categorized to advance primary areas of Loyola’s strategic plan and were derived from data analysis, industry best practices, and stakeholder engagement.
- Considering strategic alignment and potential financial impact of proposed recommendations,
the Working Group conducted an initial prioritization. The results from the Working
Group’s prioritization exercise emphasizes a balance of initiatives that involve:
- Strengthening undergraduate and graduate students’ curricular, co-curricular, and extracurricular experiences
- Optimizing delivery of services to meet the needs of Loyola’s students, faculty, administrators, and staff
- Identifying and growing more diverse revenue streams, including enrollment and other external sources
- The State of the University address provided additional context and information.
- In December, the President and President’s Cabinet will review the Working Group’s initial prioritization and finalize the short list of recommendations for design and implementation.
- Huron will provide business cases to further supplement decision-making and help drive a roadmap for action. The President and Cabinet members will appropriately consult with managers and teams who may be impacted by some of the recommendations, so all perspectives are heard.
- The Operational Excellence leadership team will continue to provide updates around recommendation prioritization and next steps as decisions are made.
October 30, 2024
- Huron completed 42 interviews and 4 focus groups with students, faculty, staff, and
administrators, meeting with 66 members of the community in total. Specifically, Huron
met with:
- The Student Government Association
- 20 faculty department chairs with representation across all three schools as well as 8 additional faculty members from different departments
- 32 administrators from the Academic Affairs, Administration, Advancement, Athletics, Business & Finance, Enrollment, Student Development, Equity and Inclusion, and Mission divisions
- All Cabinet members and Working Group members
- 4 Board of Trustee members
- Huron also analyzed over 170 data elements as part of the information gathering phase
of work. These data elements included information such as:
- Loyola’s employee census
- Budget documents and models
- Enrollment strategy
- Class offerings
- Space usage
- The Operational Excellence initiative received approximately 45 submissions to the confidential feedback email from Loyola community members.
- University leadership and Huron presented to the Board of Trustees on October 15th about the Operational Excellence engagement.
- Huron reviewed current state findings and discussed initial insights into campus culture,
institutional strengths, and opportunities for improvement with the President’s Cabinet
and Working Group. Highlights from the current state report are detailed below:
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Loyola has a number of strengths that make the institution a great place to be a student, faculty, administrator, or staff member:
- Values Driven: Stakeholders spoke highly of Loyola’s efforts to preserve and incorporate its Jesuit values, guiding University initiatives and efforts.
- Staff and Faculty Commitment: Stakeholders demonstrated a commitment to excellence in their programs and to student success.
- Initiative for Change: Stakeholders demonstrated a commitment to Loyola and recognized change is a necessary component to assure a vibrant future for the University.
- Student Wellbeing: Stakeholders keep Loyola’s students in mind while making decisions, resulting in high levels of student satisfaction and academic success.
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Stakeholders also recognized that there is opportunity for Loyola to make tangible enhancements that will strengthen the student and employee experience and facilitate better coordination and decision-making:
- Governance and Decision-Making: Stakeholders highlighted a need to adjust current governance structures to drive forward progress on initiatives that came out of the strategic planning process.
- Employee Experience: Stakeholders identified the need to address turnover, clarify roles and responsibilities, and strengthen career pathways to make Loyola a destination employer.
- Student Experience: Stakeholders communicated a desire to continue investing in student support and the student experience.
- Functional leaders have begun to meet with Huron to validate and refine emerging recommendations. A final set of recommendations will be provided to Loyola leadership for initial consideration in November.
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September 26, 2024
- 30+ interviews conducted with university leadership, Working Group members, Board of Trustee leaders, and Student Government Association members.
- Huron has begun analysis of university information.
- President’s Town Hall officially launched the process.
- Confidential feedback form opened to encourage Loyola community members participation.