Empowering UF: October 20, 2022 Communication to Cabinet and Deans

Dear Cabinet members and Deans,

We are halfway through the Empowering UF readiness assessment, which will assist UF in determining the best path for modernizing our business processes and administrative systems.  At the midpoint of the assessment, we’d like to share what we are learning along the way.  The potential benefits of moving to a cloud-based system are coming into focus.  Benefits include the opportunity to transform the way we conduct business through enhancements such as advanced reporting and dashboard capabilities, streamlined business processes, aligned data governance, and continuous security upgrades. 

Through this effort we are also gaining valuable information on peer R1 research institutions that are currently or have recently completed a similar modernization effort.  These higher education peers include UCLA, the University of Virginia, and the University of Wisconsin-Madison, who have all made recent decisions to transition away from legacy systems. 

Most importantly, through your support and that of your staff, to date we have held 27 business process workshops and interviews, engaging hundreds of UF stakeholders in uncovering existing challenges with our data capabilities and business processes.  Because of this engagement, we have gained strong insight into the current pain points that modernizing our business processes and administrative systems should address. 

In the coming weeks, the Empowering UF project team will complete the total cost of ownership and business case study components of the assessment, which will outline important cost and strategic considerations as we determine our next steps. 

As always, we’d like to thank you for your continued support and ask that you please share this information widely with the appropriate staff in your respective units and colleges.  Please continue to visit our website empowering.ufl.edu for updates and you may also contact us directly at empowering-uf@ufl.edu with input or questions. 

Sincerely,

Chris Cowen, SVP and Chief Financial Officer

Charlie Lane, SVP and Chief Operating Officer

Elias Eldayrie, VP and Chief Information Officer