Project Charter

A.  General Information

Project Title: / People, Processes, Partnerships: A Faculty of Arts Initiative
Brief Project Description: / The Faculty’s Workforce Planning Initiative is designed to ensure that Faculty support staff provide students, faculty members, and other support staff with the best possible services, given available resources.
This will involve:
1.  the identification of existing administrative procedures which are effective and/or efficient;
2.  the identification of existing administrative procedures which are less effective and/or efficient;
3.  the identification of existing administrative procedures which are outdated and/or redundant;
4.  building on efficiencies and modifying or eliminating weak, outdated or redundant processes;
5.  the best possible use of the Faculty’s physical, financial, and technological resources.
Particular attention will be devoted to
1.  possible efficiency gains from the integration of services and reduction of redundancies in the operations of the Human Resources, Finance and Student Affairs Offices
2.  ensuring that back up is readily available when administrative or support staff change functions or leave the University;
3.  improving oversight of administrative functions.
Prepared By: / Christopher Manfredi - Dean of Arts, Gillian Lane-Mercier – Associate Dean Academic & Oversight, Helen Wilicka - Arts Director of Administration, Anna Coscia - Arts HR Administrator, Kathy Lauer - Arts HR Adviser, Kathleen Holden – Communications Officer
Date: / October 15 2012

B.  Project Objectives/Means/Constraints:

With the broader purpose of providing the best possible services the project will:
1.  ensure a more even workload within and across job groups;
2.  preserve organizational memory through better succession planning;
3.  ensure that there are back-ups to existing staff;
4.  enhance faulty wide communication;
5.  provide suitable career development possibilities;
6.  improve training opportunities;
7.  where appropriate, allow for/provide opportunities for innovation in the design and provision of support structures for Faculty teaching and research.
Whatever changes are made require coming to terms with the 1 for 2 staff replacement policy being implemented by the University for the foreseeable future.
C.  Project Scope
The project focuses on a review of key administrative functions currently performed within the Faculty in the following key areas:
·  support of the research mission of the Faculty;
·  finance and budget (department operations and grant management);
·  student affairs (undergraduate & graduate studies);
·  human resources, both academic (teaching release funded by grants and awards) and non-academic (attrition/retirement/transfer related personnel loss)
·  operations (e.g., events, communications, IT, purchasing, etc.)
Phase 1 of the project will focus on academic/teaching departments and will exclude administrative processes associated with, centres, institutes, and the School of Social Work. However, information will be gathered from these areas for future integration in phases 2 and 3 of the project.
D.  Timeline

The projected timeline for this initiative is Fall 2012 through Winter 2014.

E.  Roles and Responsibilities

Name / Email / Phone
Christopher Manfredi, Dean – Faculty of Arts / /4968
Sponsor - Responsibilities include:
·  overall delivery of the project;
·  to champion the project;
·  to ensure the project proceeds according to the agreed plan;
·  to ensure the staff committed to the project give sufficient time to the project.
Name / Email / Phone
Gillian Lane-Mercier, Associate Dean Academic and Oversight / /4428
Helen Wilicka, Director of Administration / / 3254
Project Co-Managers - Responsibilities include:
·  to drive the project forward from implementation to completion;
·  to develop the project plan;
·  to identify risks and develop risk management plan;
·  to ensure the project’s overall objectives, targets at various key stages, and individuals’ responsibilities are clearly understand by all concerned;
·  to provide direction to project team members;
·  to monitor performance against the plan;
·  to oversee quality assurance of the project management process;
·  to maintain all documentation including the project plan;
·  to report and forecast project status to the Executive;
·  to ensure appropriate communication between the members of the project team and other project stakeholders; and
·  to communicate project status to stakeholders.
Project Team Members:
Name / Email / Phone
Gillian Lane-Mercier, Associate Dean Academic and Oversight / /4428
Helen Wilicka, Director of Administration / / 3254
Joan Soares – Workforce Planning – Project Manager / /4614
Kathy Lauer, HR Advisor / / 4217
Anna Coscia, HR Administrator / / 4217
Kathleen Holden – Communications Officer / /4400 ext. 094751
Connie DiGiuseppe, AO - Anthropology / /4285
Mylissa Falkner, Acting AO - Philosophy / /
Brigitte Weiss-Dittmann, AA – Languages, Literatures, and Cultures / /5953
William Straw – Director – McGill Institute for the Study of Canada / / 7667
Michael Smith – Chair – Sociology / /6849
Project Team Members - Responsibilities include:
·  to assist the sponsor or project manager to create the Project Charter;
·  to work with the project manager to manage the project including timeline, work plan, testing, resources, training, and documentation of procedures;
·  to assist in defining the final objectives of the Project;
·  to identify approaches to be used to achieve objectives;
·  to organize and oversee work teams
·  to consult with Central HR with regard to training, employee relations and Munaca, Total Compensation and Staffing
·  to record minutes of meetings
·  to develop and maintain a website that will provide updates on the project
·  to draft and distribute all communiqués
Executive/Steering Committee Members:
Name / Email / Phone
Christopher Manfredi, Dean – Faculty of Arts / /4968
Gillian Lane-Mercier, Associate Dean Academic and Oversight / /4428
Helen Wilicka, Director of Administration / / 3254
Karin Bauer, Chair – Languages, literatures, and Cultures / /3647
Joan Soares – Workforce Planning – Project Manager / /4614
Romesh Vadivel, Associate Director – Service Point / /2737
Executive/Steering Committee – Responsibilities include:
·  spokespersons for the project
·  offer guidance on the preparation of the original plan – define the strategic direction
·  receive progress reports throughout the project with problems/risks raised as appropriate
·  involved in needs analysis and/or identification of the project’s objectives
·  advise the sponsor (Dean) on any subsequent changes to the agreed objectives (scope, timescale, cost) as may be necessary as the project proceeds, and how these changes may be accommodated within the project plan
·  responsible for implementing/approving any changes which affect scope, timescale or costs to the project plan rests with the Project Steering Committee or Sponsor (Dean)
·  remove obstacles and provide support

Advisory Committees: SUB-GROUPS: others may be added at a later date

Name / Members
Sub-group for Financial Services – budget, finance, procurement, and transactional processes / TBD – comprised of managers, administrative and academic staff
Sub-group for Student Affairs – undergraduate and graduate / TBD – comprised of managers, administrative and academic staff
Sub-group for Human Resources – academic and non-academic / TBD – comprised of managers, administrative and academic staff
Sub-group for Operations - e.g., facilities and space planning, events, communications, key management, uPrinting, etc. / TBD – comprised of managers, administrative and academic staff

F.  Resources

Identify the initial funding, personnel, and other resources committed to this project by the project sponsor.

Resource / Constraints
Project Budget / Currently, we do not have any financial resources to devote to this project; however, once we have a proposal/plan, we may approach the University for financial backing
Personnel – See sub-groups below
Personnel – Organizational Development (Joan Soares) / Time constraints – how much time with organizational development be able to allocate to the Arts Integration Project?
Physical Resources – implementation of an integrated administrative services hub / Financial constraints – will the University provide the funding for renovations, moving, etc.
How do we integrate the stand-alone units we have along McTavish and Peel , for instance and where does Social Work fit into the plan

Advisory Committees: SUB-GROUPS: others may be added at a later date

Name / Members
Sub-group for Financial Services – budget, finance, procurement, and transactional processes / TBD – comprised of managers, administrative and academic staff
Sub-group for Student Affairs – undergraduate and graduate / TBD – comprised of managers, administrative and academic staff
Sub-group for Human Resources – academic and non-academic / TBD – comprised of managers, administrative and academic staff
Sub-group for Operations - e.g. facilities and space planning, events, communications, key management, uPrinting, etc. / TBD – comprised of managers, administrative and academic staff

Project_Charter.doc rev. 2012_15Oct MS 22 oct KH 23 oct Page 1 of 5