Updates
This page will be used to provide updates throughout the Operational Excellence process.
September 26, 2024
- 30+ interviews conducted with university leadership, Working Group members, Board of Trustee leaders, and Student Government Association members
- Huron has begun analysis of university information
- President’s Town Hall officially launched the process (review the presentation here)
- Confidential feedback form opened to encourage Loyola community members participation
October 30, 2024
- Huron completed 42 interviews and 4 focus groups with students, faculty, staff, and
administrators, meeting with 66 members of the community in total. Specifically, Huron
met with:
- The Student Government Association
- 20 faculty department chairs with representation across all three schools as well as 8 additional faculty members from different departments
- 32 administrators from the Academic Affairs, Administration, Advancement, Athletics, Business & Finance, Enrollment, Student Development, Equity and Inclusion, and Mission divisions
- All Cabinet members and Working Group members
- 4 Board of Trustee members
- Huron also analyzed over 170 data elements as part of the information gathering phase
of work. These data elements included information such as:
- Loyola’s employee census
- Budget documents and models
- Enrollment strategy
- Class offerings
- Space usage
- The Operational Excellence initiative received approximately 45 submissions to the confidential feedback email from Loyola community members. We encourage the community to continue to share their thoughts and feedback via this submission form.
- University leadership and Huron presented to the Board of Trustees on October 15th about the Operational Excellence engagement.
- Huron reviewed current state findings and discussed initial insights into campus culture,
institutional strengths, and opportunities for improvement with the President’s Cabinet
and Working Group. Highlights from the current state report are detailed below:
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Loyola has a number of strengths that make the institution a great place to be a student, faculty, administrator, or staff member:
- Values Driven: Stakeholders spoke highly of Loyola’s efforts to preserve and incorporate its Jesuit values, guiding University initiatives and efforts.
- Staff and Faculty Commitment: Stakeholders demonstrated a commitment to excellence in their programs and to student success.
- Initiative for Change: Stakeholders demonstrated a commitment to Loyola and recognized change is a necessary component to assure a vibrant future for the University.
- Student Wellbeing: Stakeholders keep Loyola’s students in mind while making decisions, resulting in high levels of student satisfaction and academic success.
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Stakeholders also recognized that there is opportunity for Loyola to make tangible enhancements that will strengthen the student and employee experience and facilitate better coordination and decision-making:
- Governance and Decision-Making: Stakeholders highlighted a need to adjust current governance structures to drive forward progress on initiatives that came out of the strategic planning process.
- Employee Experience: Stakeholders identified the need to address turnover, clarify roles and responsibilities, and strengthen career pathways to make Loyola a destination employer.
- Student Experience: Stakeholders communicated a desire to continue investing in student support and the student experience.
- Functional leaders have begun to meet with Huron to validate and refine emerging recommendations. A final set of recommendations will be provided to Loyola leadership for initial consideration in November.
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