With the new year, Executive Vice President for Administration and Finance Steven Swant has announced the first quarter of 2010 will see some changes to realign existing functions to better support the Institute’s mission and strategic direction. As a first step, a national search was initiated on Jan. 8 to fill the currently open position of the senior vice president for Administration and Finance.

Previously held and presently administrated by Swant, this position has an expanded scope and will oversee the Institute’s Office of Financial Services, Real Estate Development and the Institute Strategic Resource Management Office (ISRM).

Within this framework, Institute Budget and Planning, Institutional Research and Planning, Capital Planning and Space Management, Environmental Stewardship and Organizational Development will be organized into ISRM, enabling their more efficient support of the Office of the President.

With this change, the remaining Administration and Finance units also will have a new structure, mostly in the chain of reporting relationships, to better align offices with the Institute’s overall mission of teaching, research and economic development. “The structure and approach reflects the importance of strategy, people, partnerships and technology to achieving this mission,” Swant said. “This realignment will allow us to better focus on providing enhanced executive support to the Office of the President, increase our organizational effectiveness and capabilities, and provide tighter planning and financial integration.”

While Swant currently has 12 direct reports, the realignment streamlines this to seven reporting positions. In addition to the senior vice president, the others include vice president of Campus Services, associate vice president of Facilities, associate vice president of Information Technology, and the associate vice president over enterprise risk management and public safety groups. These join the senior director of Special Projects in Information Technology and the assistant vice president of Administration and Finance.

Administration and Finance offices and departments will be realigned according to these categories. Auxiliary Services, Business Services and Human Resources will report to the vice president of Campus Services. Rosalind Meyers, formerly the associate vice president for Auxiliary Services, has been named to this position. A search will begin in the spring for an associate vice president candidate for the enterprise risk management and public safety group.

“Our goal is to create more flexibility and allow for more attention on key areas identified by the study as opportunities for growth and investment,” Swant said. These changes will be implemented throughout the first quarter of 2010. The Administration and Finance Web page will be updated in the coming weeks to provide more information.