Patrick Monahan, vice-president academic & provost, and Gary Brewer, vice-president finance & administration, have issued this letter to the York community:
As you read in last week’s YFile, York is proceeding with the implementation of PRASE Phase 2, which focuses on four administrative areas:
1. Accountability and Budget Planning
2. Human Resources, Finance, Procurement and Research Accounting
3. Information Technology
4. Student Services
The next step is to put in place the necessary human and financial resources needed to design and implement Phase 2. It is our intention to have the University lead Phase 2, using internal resources wherever possible and by making the necessary investments in our people, technology and systems, and use external third-party expertise where necessary. The proposed University budget, which is going forward to the Board of Governors for approval in June, includes provisions for the necessary new resources we need to successfully implement PRASE.
The PRASE program will also seek to maximize the use of current resources. For example, the opportunities for improvement related to the Accountability and Budget Planning category fit well within the University’s existing Integrated Resource Planning (IRP) framework and will become part of the IRP Office responsibilities and mandate.
To staff Phase 2, we will begin the process by seconding senior level staff to each of the three remaining areas of focus noted above. These senior level PRASE project directors will report to both the vice-president academic & provost and the vice-president finance & administration, and will be accountable to the PRASE Steering Committee for the various projects and initiatives that are to be carried out inside the four areas of focus. These positions will be full-time secondments for a time frame of up to two to three years. The home positions of the secondees will be back filled so that their units are not disadvantaged.
These challenging roles will be instrumental in helping to shape changes at the University, enabling us to deliver better services while ensuring our longer term sustainability.
In addition to the PRASE project director roles, we envision that PRASE will also require staffing support and/or participation that needs to be put in place as soon as possible. The various skills and background required include:
- academic input and oversight,
- project management/business process analysis,
- program administrative support,
- function and process expertise to contribute to subject specific working groups,
- third-party resources, where deemed necessary, to provide specific subject matter expertise and additional support.
We anticipate requesting other expressions of interest for these important supporting roles in the near future. For details on the types of specific project initiatives included in each focus area, refer to the PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) report posted on the PRASE website.
Click here for a summary of the characteristics and responsibilities identified for the PRASE project director roles as well as an application to submit an expression of interest for these positions. Expressions of interest are due to the vice-presidents by end of day Friday, May 20 via PRASE@yorku.ca.
Should you have any questions about the process of submitting the expression of interest for the PRASE project director roles, contact Sarah Cantrell, PRASE project director, at 22904 or sthrush@yorku.ca.
Sincerely,
Patrick and Gary