Current state of financial and administrative operations
Today, many routine tasks—processing forms, arranging travel, and completing certain HR, finance and other administrative work—are distributed across campus and handled in highly variable ways. This level of dispersion creates inconsistency, limits scalability, leads to coverage gaps and results in uneven workloads. The University will assess current practices, stakeholder needs and service expectations to determine which future model would best support WMU.
In practical terms, this effort starts with understanding what work is being done, where it is performed, how it is experienced by those who rely on it, and where shared services or clearer ownership could improve outcomes. The findings will inform a possible design of a future shared-services model for financial and administrative functions.
Benefits
For the University
- Clear visibility into how finance and administrative work is currently distributed and where process redesign could improve systems, scalability and service quality.
- Clearer decisions about which services should remain within individual units, which could be shared and where standardization could reduce unnecessary variation and risk.
- Stronger alignment between administrative structures and institutional priorities by using data, stakeholder input and service-design principles rather than informal workarounds.
For colleges and departments
- More consistent support for common administrative work through clearer processes, service definitions and ownership of routine transactions.
- Clearer service expectations over time, including turnaround standards, escalation paths and accountability for common requests.
- Less reliance on one-off practices within individual units, broader shared support, improved service continuity, and reduced disruption when workloads shift or vacancies occur.
For affected teammates
- Clearer expectations around administrative work, how it connects to other functions and where process improvements could ease daily work.
- More consistency in how common services are defined and delivered across units, helping campus partners know what to expect.
- A deliberate approach to service improvement that begins with listening, data collection and service analysis before major design decisions are made.
Planning approach
Leadership: Dr. Chris Cheatham, executive vice president for academic affairs and provost; Keith Hahn, general counsel; Nicole Kalmbach, senior director of business operations for student affairs; Erica Martinez, senior director of business operations in academic affairs; Colleen Scarff, associate vice president for business and finance; and Jan Van Der Kley, vice president for business and finance, will serve as the steering committee. Western is partnering with Huron for this 7-month, assessment-oriented and evidence-based effort.
Timeline and phases
Assessment (5 weeks)
Assess the current state by establishing a quantitative baseline of how work is distributed today. The team will gather stakeholder input from supervisors, divisional leaders, affected employees and campus partners through interviews and focus groups. The goal will be to understand needs, dependencies and service expectations; define which activities are in and out of scope of the effort; and identify where current processes create inconsistency, undue effort or risk.
Design (8 weeks)
Translate findings into a future-state design, including workflow analysis, organizational structure evaluation and determination, service catalog, service-level agreements and key performance indicators. Map the current organizational chart and job descriptions to the new design.
Implementation (16 weeks)
Implement the new design into operation and focus on stabilizing services over time.
Recent communications
Dear Colleagues,
As part of Western Michigan University’s Finance and Administrative Redesign, we launched the Huron Administrative Activity Study (HAAS) overview webinar yesterday, Aug. 25. This overview webinar, hosted by our steering committee and Huron Consulting Group, provided a live demonstration of how to complete the study. Thank you for the wonderful participation. We know you are very busy welcoming back our students and preparing for many fall activities and have many demands on your time and talent.
For those of you who were unable to attend, or if you did participate and want to review certain sections, you can access a recording of the webinar.
Again, thank you for your engagement. If you have any difficulties accessing the webinar, please reach out to the Huron Administrative Activity Study support team. If you have general questions about the project or a thought you would like to share, please reach out to any member of the Western steering committee. Thank you for your participation in this important effort!
Dear Colleagues,
As part of Western Michigan University’s Finance and Administrative Redesign, we have launched the Huron Administrative Activity Study (HAAS). To help support your completion, we invite you to attend an overview webinar, hosted by our steering committee and Huron Consulting Group, that will provide a live demonstration of how to complete the study.
The webinar will be held on Tuesday, Aug. 25, from 1 to 2 p.m.
Attendance is encouraged, and we ask that you please register in advance. If you are unable to attend, the webinar will be recorded.
What happens next
- After you register, you will receive a confirmation email containing your personal link to join the webinar. Please keep this email, as it is unique to you.
- In your confirmation email, please select “Add to calendar” so the webinar and your join link will be saved directly to your calendar.
- If you do not see the confirmation email in your inbox shortly after registering, please check your spam or junk folder.
- On the day of the webinar, simply click the join link from your confirmation email to attend.
We understand this is a busy time of year, and we are grateful for the time you are setting aside to take part in this important step. If you have any questions about registration, please reach out to the Huron Administrative Activity Study support team. If you have general questions about the project or a thought you would like to share, please reach out to any member of the Western steering committee.
Thank you for participation in this important effort!
Dear Colleagues,
As indicated in last week’s communication, Western Michigan University has launched Phase I of the Financial and Administrative Operations initiative to understand how finance, human resources operations and administrative work are currently organized across the institution. Our goal is to improve and clarify processes, provide more consistent support and establish shared service approaches where appropriate. You can visit the Administrative Redesign webpage to learn more about this initiative.
Our first step to gather information is the Huron Administrative Activity Study (HAAS), conducted by Huron Consulting Group. HAAS is an online tool used to discover what administrative functions and activities you perform. Your participation in completing this study is required and will provide essential insight into opportunities for greater alignment and operational improvement. If you are unable to complete the study by Sept. 2, your supervisor will complete it on your behalf. We recognize this is a busy time of year, and we are grateful for the time you set aside to take part in this important step of Phase I.
Timeline: The Huron Administrative Activity Study will be conducted from Aug. 20 through Sept. 2. A unique link will be emailed to you on Aug. 20, and your response is required by Sept. 2. You will be asked to estimate the time you spend on a variety of administrative functions and activities over the course of a given year.
What to know before you begin
- Respondents: The Huron Administrative Activity Study is being sent to you because we believe you perform administrative and/or finance activities as part of your routine responsibilities. While you will be asked to note any time spent on direct teaching, research or clinical care activities, the focus of this study is on administrative and/or finance functions.
- Best judgment: Please use best judgement and rely on your initial instinct to estimate how your time is spent. Depending on the number of “hats” you wear, this study should take 30 to 60 minutes to complete. Supervisors are copied on this email for awareness of staff participation.
- Additional context: The study includes a place where you can provide any additional context as needed, allowing you to note anything that helps explain how your time is spent.
- Purpose: This study is NOT intended to measure or be associated with an individual’s job performance or ability to complete their job duties efficiently and effectively. The results of this study will be combined with other quantitative and qualitative analysis being conducted as part of this project. The study is but one tool to help us better understand what you do.
- Confidentiality: Individual responses will not be published as part of the project; information will only be presented in aggregate.
Resources to review ahead of time
Please review the following resources ahead of the study to make the process as simple and seamless as possible:
- HAAS Catalog: Please review the full catalog of administrative and/or finance functions, activities and examples to which you will be assigning your time.
- Note: The HAAS is meant to gather data on actual functions/activities performed, regardless of department. For example, an employee in a finance department may certainly note time spent performing activities that fall under HR in the catalog.
- HAAS FAQs: Please review all relevant information and answers to common questions here before beginning your HAAS.
If you have questions about the study, please contact the Huron Administrative Activity Study support team. If you have general questions about the project or a thought you would like to share, reach out to any of your Western colleagues.
We recognize that the Huron Administrative Activity Study requires time and thoughtful participation. Your input is an important part of helping us better understand finance and administrative work across the University, and we appreciate your support throughout this process.
Dear Colleagues,
The first phase of the Financial and Administrative Operations Assessment has now officially started. Welcome! We expect Phase I to last five weeks, and its sole focus is on assessment. During this phase, the purpose is to gather information. We need to understand what you do, how and why you do it, and with whom you interact during the workday to be successful.
Here is what you can expect in the weeks ahead:
- Opportunities to share your perspective through surveys, interviews or small-group conversations
- Questions aimed at understanding needs, dependencies and service expectations
- A focus on listening and understanding
At this time, we would like to introduce you to your Western team members who are serving as the steering committee to oversee the successful completion of this initiative. You may know many of us, but we thought a photo and a few brief points of information would be helpful.
Dr. Chris Cheatham earned degrees in exercise science and exercise physiology from Miami University, Ball State University and Kent State University, followed by a postdoctoral fellowship at the John B. Pierce Laboratory affiliated with Yale University School of Medicine from 2001 to 2003. He joined the University in 2003 as an assistant professor, was promoted to full professor in 2014, and later served as Associate Dean of Academic Services in the College of Education and Human Development. Since 2018, he has held several senior academic leadership roles, including Associate Provost and Vice Provost, and he currently serves as Interim Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs.
Keith Hahn earned his bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Michigan and his law degree from the University of Toledo College of Law. Following graduation, he practiced private law, specializing in municipal litigation, insurance defense litigation and general municipal law. He later served as in-house counsel for a national insurance company before joining Oakland University as Assistant General Counsel in 2008. He was appointed General Counsel to WMU in 2022.
Erica Martinez earned both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Western Michigan University and is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in organizational change leadership. She has 15 years of experience in higher education, with roles spanning administrative support, business management, financial services and personnel operations. For the past three years, she has served in the Office of the Provost, specializing in budget, personnel and operational leadership.
Nicole Kalmbach earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Western Michigan University. She has spent more than 20 years in the financial services sector, with a career that has included roles in public accounting and higher education. For the past 18 years, she has worked in Student Affairs Business Operations.
Colleen Scarff earned her bachelor’s degree from Creighton University. She started her career at Western in 1997. Prior to serving the University, she held positions at TASUS Corp. in Bloomington, Indiana; Coopers & Lybrand in Lincoln, Nebraska; and Price Waterhouse in San Diego. She also serves as Assistant Treasurer for the University.
Jan Van Der Kley earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Western Michigan University in 1980 and 1983, respectively, and started her career at Western in 1983. Before assuming the vice-presidential role, she held positions in Advancement and Internal Audit. She also serves as Treasurer of the University and related foundations.
The Huron Team
Western is partnering with Huron throughout this project. Many of you may have interactions with the Huron team members, so we also want to introduce them to you:
- Brett Dalton, Principal
- Susan Basso, Managing Director
- Chris Powers, Director
- Kate Schifferli, Manager
- James Arms, Senior Associate
- Dawn Burt, Senior Associate
We look forward to working with you in the upcoming months. Please feel free to reach out to any of your Western colleagues if you have a question or a thought you would like to share. For your convenience, we provided our email addresses linked to our names in this message. Although this is our first communication, we plan to continuously communicate with you throughout this approximately seven-month effort. We are looking forward to the dialogue.
Update
The University’s Financial and Administrative Operations Assessment project remains on track in Phase 1 as of Sept. 4, 2026. Key efforts have focused on completing the Huron Administrative Activity Study (HAAS), conducting stakeholder interviews and gathering transaction data to support the current-state assessment. HAAS is an online tool used to identify the administrative functions and activities performed by employees who participated in the study.
Seven interviews were conducted and the HAAS survey participation was completed on Sept. 2. Huron received 222 responses from the total population of 225, representing a 98.7% participation rate. We thank everyone who completed the survey, recognizing the time and effort it took during the busy start to the semester.
The project steering committee, along with representatives from the other Administrative Redesign projects, met with the Faculty Senate Executive Board on Aug. 28 to update the board on the project’s current status and to answer questions from the board.
Over the coming weeks, the team will finalize analysis of HAAS data; complete remaining interviews and focus groups with business managers, key staff managers and University leaders; and develop the Phase 1 current-state assessment report. This work will help inform recommendations ahead of the anticipated launch of Phase 2 within the next four to six weeks.
Connect with Administrative Redesign leadership
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