Executive Sponsors

Executive Sponsors oversee and lead the Operational Excellence initiative.

Paul Redman, Executive Associate Provost for Budget and Resource Planning
Kim Kidwell, Associate Chancellor for Strategic Partnerships and Initiatives

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

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.