Minutes December 09, 2021

  1. Open Discussion - Member Check-In
    1. Mary Ellen:
      1. Budgets due today, working on allocating budget increase. Staff council meets monthly (DEI, Professional Development, Wellness); visiting committees historically lacked staff voices so, starting now, staff element will be included on every visiting committee.
      2. Macall Coombs Zimmerman is new SoE AO starting January.
    2. Magdalena Rieb DMSE: New DEI Specialist hired for DMSE, BE, and ChemE.
    3. Michael Leskiw OSATT: Karl Koster retiring; John Roberts interim ED of CR and OSATT AM. Launching pilot in DMSE; 2nd pilot (ChemE Pilot launched spring 2021).
    4. Nicole Degnan Media Lab: New Director, Visiting Committee last week (staff were included). SA+P breaking ground on new building as hub for School.
    5. Elizabeth Lennox Provost: Marty’s departure & transition.
    6. Macall Coombs Zimmerman Chemistry: Moving to SoE 1/3/2022. Working on new Chemistry Sr Financial Officer & FA2.
    7. Jack Defandorf Kavli. Working out budget increase, and how grad student stipends/appointments are being adjusted. Working on carbon footprint for Kavli travelers.
    8. Olympia Valentine IS&T: Digital MIT ID card rolled out.
    9. Hasmik Kouchakdjian Sloan: New budget planning & forecasting tool (adaptive insight); rolling out this budget cycle to the School. Moving Sloan to o365 accounts (from exchange). Other CRM implementations.
    10. Mary Ellen Royer HR. Renovating 5th floor of NE49 (HR HQ): Hoteling, no more cubes. February 2022 will replace furniture, carpet, paint, etc. Digitization project for years and years of HR records with Iron Mountain – looking to get other offices & DLCs on board.
    11. Kathy McGrath VPF: IS&T Payroll & HR processing 3% increases. Update to Buy2Pay. Donna Marie is new Travel person.
    12. Bernadette Vallely RAS: 5 new people since October, working on onboarding. New assistant director from the summer. Search for new Director is in final stages.
  2. Kathy McGrath - Discussion on Buy 2 Pay System Updates (Powerpoint)
    1. Several reasons for system update, including:
      1. Previous new supplier setup was manual, no standard process.
      2. Did GAP Analysis and need was for a better way to automate the collection of new supplier info through standard forms & encryption, with info entered directly by supplier.
      3. Another Issue was data integrity due to VPF doing manual entry on behalf of supplier.
    2. New “SIM” addresses these issues, giving DLC staff real-time visibility into status.
    3. Kathy showed screenshots/demo showing DLC user searching for supplier; if no results DLC can request new domestic or international supplier, prompted for basic contact info (replaces paper form). VPF validates that supplier is not already in system. Supplier is then contacted with request to be added to Coupa portal (VPF procurement system).
    4. Implemented 11/20. A few glitches, but working well overall, thus far.
    5. Questions from group:
      1. Q) Is “forms” a new category? Other options? A) Forms and independent contractor are the only options.
      2. Q) Integration into IT modernization? A) This is built into Coupa so we would keep this as long as MIT continued to use Coupa for Buy2Pay.
  3. Updates on the Admin Roundtables
    1. Still discussing questions about AACII’s role, who has ownership role, who makes selections, next steps
    2. First meeting of new Administrative Lead Roundtables (AO/AO equivalent; different from HR-led Manager Roundtables because of functions specific to AOs) tentatively summer 2022
      1. Admin leads = processes. Managers = employees
    3. Elizabeth Lennox suggested Schools could rotate ownership role to share responsibility
    4. Magdalena Rieb DMSE suggested focusing on hybrid work: how it’s going, how it’s being adjusted, Covid… it’s something specific to start on.
      1. How do we integrate systems and processes into our new work styles? E.g., remote appointments: setting up systems, enabling/onboarding engaging/welcoming/retaining people
    5. Next Step: Raise with ADeans (added to their agenda). Needs a little more clarity: “What is the purpose of this group?” Discussion group to talk and share best practices (AO-to-AO, like networking) or facilitated discussion led by ____ (expert, outside person), hosted by ____  (Provost?).
      1. Units could be asked to share if they’re trying something new, or could be periodic meeting with (e.g.) 6 topics and attendees could pick a table to join.
  4. Updates on Annual Meeting
    1. DEI strategic plan will be focus, to be released soon.
    2. Improving mentoring, training, and onboarding
    3. Strategic Plan will be a lot of information that ADeans will need to read, ask questions, discuss… might want to consider the prep work that would most-facilitate….
    4. Magdalena Q: How does DEI Strategic Plan align with MIT Values statement
      1. There will be big-picture statements, with a year for Schools & units to work out details
      2. There will be alignment in some areas, but not clear if they’re clearly tacked together.
    5. Invitees: AO, AO-equivalent, DEI staff (not necessarily defined by a job title – people working on DEI)
  5. Discuss Future Meeting Agendas
    1. January 2022: Ronnie Haas will join & talk about new HR trainings & meetings
    2. February 2022: Christina Lo will talk about VPF “Purchasing with Purpose” program, tentative fall 2022 launch. Opportunity to show and seek feedback.
    3. March 2022: IDHR?
    4. New Travel user interface for Concur by next fall. VPF needs a little more time but maybe late spring?