Following the planned budget cuts to higher education, the business operations optimisation process was launched in September 2024. The aim is to start working (together) more efficiently within business operations and to achieve structural savings. How can we deal with the financial austerity challenge and where can we simplify, downsize, digitise and de-duplicate processes?
Business operations refer to the professional services within both faculties and institutes like Radboud Services that facilitate teaching and research at our university. In the optimisation process, we are looking at these services per pillar. Each pillar comprises all the professional services provided by all organisational units collectively in a given field. There are six pillars:
- education and research support;
- finance & control;
- property & facility services;
- human resources;
- ICT & library services;
- marketing & communications.
The Administration Office, real estate (the Campus Plan) and the Faculty of Medical Sciences are not included in this process.
Phases in this trajectory
Phase 1: Drafting an analysis and issuing advice
In the first phase, which will run until early 2025, an internal project team will carry out an analysis and make recommendations based on this. This team will receive help from EY (formerly Ernst & Young), a firm with methodological expertise and market knowledge, to arrive at the desired analysis. Together, they will identify the improvement and savings potential for each pillar. This will be based on interviews conducted with professional service staff from the pillars and on available documents and data.
Once the initial analysis across all pillars is complete, two pillars will initially be selected for a deeper analysis. The remaining four pillars will be analysed from February 2025 onwards. The in-depth analyses will also involve talking to lecturers and researchers, for example, as service users.
The project team will then draw up recommendations. This advice should provide insight into the possible savings measures and how best to implement them. The deliverables of Phase 1 will be communicated in the first quarter of 2025.
Phase 2: Implementing measures
The implementation phase in 2025 will follow the analysis phase. On the basis of the advice issued, it will be determined how and by when the proposed measures will be implemented in concrete terms. This will result in an implementation plan per pillar.
While the implementation plans for the first two pillars are being developed, the in-depth analyses of the other four pillars will start. A precise schedule for these activities, including the order of the in-depth analyses in Phase 2, will follow.
Alignment with other savings measures
Savings measures are already being implemented across the university in various places. So far, these initiatives have been carried out within individual organisational units, such as a faculty, institute or department. Periodic consultations are being held within the RUDO (uu77 Directors' Consultation) to align the business operations optimisation process with these ongoing initiatives.
Questions and ideas
Do you have any ideas or see any opportunities that would contribute towards the aim of the business operations optimisation process? Or do you have questions about the activities within this process and how this is organised? Then please contact Roelie Schuring and/or Nick Oldemaat, project managers of the business operations optimisation process.