Operational Excellence is made possible by the efforts of campuswide teams under the guidance of the Chancellor, Provost, Executive Sponsors and other leaders.
Current Governance
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
Collaborative Leadership Team
2025 Charge: Cross-functional information sharing, discussing opportunities and concerns, engaging in communication opportunities.
HR | Deb Stone Joe Bohn Jake MacGregor |
IT | James Quisenberry Tracy Smith |
StratCom | Katie Watson |
Data | Amy Edwards Michelle Rome |
Capital Delivery | Morgan White |
Procurement | Brad Henson |
Space | Evan Simpson |
Budget | Evan Simpson |
SPMO | Rebecca McNaught Kristie Nock |
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 Lead | Rebecca McNaught |
Change Support | Stephen Kemp Joe Blanks Irene Sakellarakis Darius Summerville Katy Thompson Kristi Moore |
Tracking Impact | Andy Weaver Ashley Hetrick Hannah Christensen Andrew Hagler Ashley Hallock |
Best Practices | Michelle Lewis Stacy Billman Jeff Fox Ginger Hundgen Tom Cottrell |
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
Procurement
Functional Design Team
Functional Sponsor | Brad Henson |
Functional Co-Leads | Greg 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 |
HR
Functional Design Team
Functional Sponsor | Shari Mickey-Boggs |
Functional Co-Leads | Joe Bohn Deb Stone |
Functional Design Team | Laura Bleakney Brian Farber Sonya Holley Heidi Johnson Sue Key Eric Smith Talisa Thompson Staci Wagers Lori Willoughby |