Campuswide Teams

Operational Excellence is made possible by the efforts of campuswide teams under the guidance of the Chancellor, Provost, Executive Sponsors and other leaders. We have also engaged Huron Consulting Group to support our work. 

Current Governance

Executive Sponsors

Executive Sponsors oversee and lead the Operational Excellence initiative.

  • Mike DeLorenzo, Vice Chancellor for Administration and Operations                                                                              
  • Paul Redman, Executive Associate Provost for Budget and Resource Planning

Project Management & Advisory Support

The Strategic Project Management Office in the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Administration and Operations oversees university-wide initiatives that require project management, including Operational Excellence @ Illinois. 

  • Rebecca McNaught, Executive Director for Project Management & Business Service Quality and head of the SPMO 
  • Advisory Committees: The Strategic Program Management Office (SPMO) leads advisory governance committees for each administrative area involved in Operational Excellence (HR, IT, Budget, Space, Procurement, MarCom and Data). These committees ensure an official avenue for representatives to advise on strategic initiatives supported by the SPMO, including Operational Excellence projects.

Current Teams

HR

Functional Design Team

Functional SponsorShari Mickey-Boggs
Functional Co-LeadsJoe Bohn
Deb Stone
Functional Design Team Laura Bleakney
Brian Farber
Sonya Holley
Heidi Johnson
Sue Key
Eric Smith
Talisa Thompson
Staci Wagers
Lori Willoughby
Procurement

Functional Design Team

Functional SponsorBrad Henson
Functional Co-LeadsGreg Anderson
Nichole Isaac
Functional Design Team Larry Dunham
Benjamin Ford
Justin Johnson
Don Marrow
Jim Martinie
Jason McArthur
Nicole Neighbors
Jamie Price
Dawn Rawlings
Maile Tat
Maria Thompson
Chris Tidrick
Kris Williams
Change Leadership Team

The Change Leadership Team:

  • Advises on communications to keep the campus community engaged and informed
  • Advises on potential trainings on change leadership, service excellence and other topics
  • Tracks community sentiments on Operational Excellence
HRJoe Bohn
Deb Stone
Jake MacGregor
Emilia Schroer
IT James Quisenberry
Tracy Smith
MarComJenny Larson
Allison Vance
Katie Watson
DataAmy Edwards
ProcurementBrad Henson
SPMORebecca McNaught
Service Excellence Team

The Service Excellence Team:

  • Advises on service governance best practices and promotes campus engagement
  • Supports process redesign efforts in collaboration with functional areas
  • Establishes infrastructure to produce success metrics and data to track service quality
Team LeadRebecca McNaught
Process Redesign & Culture of ServiceMichael Chan
Michael Curtin
Jeff Fox
David Grider
Steven Kemp
Margo Kiener
Jeff Sylvester
Andy Weaver
Tracking SuccessHannah Christensen
Ashley Hetrick
Pooja Yadav
Irene Sakellarakis
Nick Vance
Best PracticesJeff Fox
Jessica Mette
Jeff Sylvester
Prior Phase Governance

Task Force (Imagine, Decide and Bridge Phases)

Prior Task Force

  • Andreas Cangellaris, Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs and Provost
  • Mike DeLorenzo, Vice Chancellor for Administration and Operations
  • Scott Genung, Interim Chief Information Officer
  • Gabe Gibson, Senior Director of Collaborative Initiatives Planning
  • Vicky Gress, Acting Associate Chancellor and Vice Provost for Budget and Resource Planning
  • Deb Stone, Interim Senior Associate Chancellor for Human Resources (formerly)
  • Kraig Wagenecht, External Research Partnerships Senior Director
  • Paul Ellinger (on the Task Force before moving to a position at the University of Illinois System)

Executive Sponsors (Imagine, Decide and Bridge Phases)

Prior Executive Sponsors

  • Vicky Gress, Acting Associate Chancellor and Vice Provost for Budget and Resource Planning
  • Kraig Wagenecht, External Research Partnerships Senior Director

Information Technology (IT) (Imagine, Decide and Detailed Design Phases)

IT Operational Excellence was previously supported by the Information Technology Functional Design Team. The creation of the draft service catalog marked the completion of the team’s original charge and as a result the group retired and was replaced by Project Teams focusing on IT Operational Excellence priorities for 2023. The IT FDT was composed of IT leaders from various units across campus.

Members

  • Functional Sponsor: Mairéad Martin, Chief Information Officer
  • Functional Co-Leads
    • Chris Tidrick, Senior Director of IT
    • Scott Genung, Deputy CIO of IT Operations
  • Functional Design Team Members
    • Kelly Block, Associate VP of Administration, IT Service
    • Tim Boerner, Interim AD of Integrated Cyberinfrastructure
    • Troy Gagne, Manager, IT Project Management​
    • Jim Hurst, Director of Engineering IT Shared Services
    • Jeremy Jones, Director of Infrastructure and Support
    • James Quisenberry, Director of Student Affairs Technology
    • Tracy Smith, Deputy CIO for Innovation & Technology Strategy
    • Tracy Tolliver, Director of Library IT

Work Teams (Imagine and Decide Phases)

Teams comprised of a Team Lead and 10-15 cross-campus representatives specific to each of the five functional areas (see below) that advised on means to reach Operational Excellence @ Illinois goals. Team members participated in a series of live sessions to offer insights, raise concerns and develop Functional Opportunities to support the ideal future state of administrative services at Illinois and achieve phase objectives.

Human Resources
  • Deborah Stone (Team Lead)
  • Susan Key
  • Sharon Reynolds
  • Heidi Johnson
  • Sonya Holley
  • Joe Bohn
  • Lori Willoughby
  • Skye Arseneau
  • Stephanie Haas
  • Gabe Gibson
  • Douglas Lamb
  • Philip Stanton
  • Eric Smith
  • Nicole Peck
IT & Data
  • Scott Genung (Team Lead)
  • Michael Brosco
  • Michael Chan
  • Kelly Block
  • Laura Hendley
  • Jeremy Jones
  • James Quisenberry
  • Amy Schuele
  • Michelle Rome
  • Xiaobei Chen
  • Amy Lee Edwards
  • Tracy Tolliver
  • Tracy Smith
  • Kim Nystrom
  • Phil Reiter
Space
  • Michael DeLorenzo (Team Lead)
  • Brian Bundren
  • Kristin McMurray
  • Ehab Kamarah
  • Andrea Hoey
  • Douglas James Wolters
  • Qu Kim
  • Lowa Mwilambwe
  • Alma Sealine
  • Derek Fultz
  • Brett Stillwell
  • Bruce Walden
  • Paul Redman
  • Melanie Loots
  • Brad Trankina
Marketing & Communications
  • Robin Kaler (Team Lead)
  • Jan Slater
  • Libby Kacich
  • Laura Mabry
  • Nell Madigan
  • Kirsten Ruby
  • Heather Murphy
  • Doug Burgett
  • Allison Vance
  • Chris Harris
  • August Schiess
  • Michelle Nelson
  • Robert (Jeff) Trapp
  • Chris Tidrick
Budget & Procurement
  • Michael Devocelle (Team Lead)
  • Bradley Henson
  • Jamie Hackett
  • Anne Marshall
  • Jim Hurst
  • Sharee Robinson
  • James Wade
  • Brent Rasmus
  • Jim Martinie
  • Amanda Brown
  • Michael Allen Wellens
  • Jason Carl Butler
  • Nicholas Unser
  • Suzanne Rinehart
  • Kristopher Williams
  • David Gerstenecker