Definition
TIPS — Team for Improving Productivity at Stanford — is a broad-based organization for achieving administrative productivity gains. TIPS' primary goal is to advise on and influence the development and implementation of administrative procedures that support the needs of the schools, departments, labs, research centers, institutes, student- support organizations and other academic and administrative units that TIPS represents.
TIPS provides a voice for user-level input throughout the selection, development, and implementation of University administrative processes and systems.
TIPS is a collaborative and complementary partner with the University Management Group (UMG) in the development and implementation of policies, processes and systems supporting Stanford business practice.
TIPS Roles
- TIPS Chair (and Co-Chair as alternate) serves as liaison to the University Management Group.
- TIPS representatives are responsible for communicating issues and concerns addressed by TIPS to the UMG member by whom they were appointed as well as to other administrative staff in their units.
- TIPS keeps abreast of administrative systems developments and regularly brings local issues, needs, and requests to the attention of business process owners and project managers.
- TIPS provides a forum for business process owners and project managers who seek advice on system changes under consideration.
- TIPS representatives, or other administrative staff recruited by them, participate in system development teams and act as testers of new applications.
- TIPS reviews specifications of online applications for functionality and handling of exceptions and endorses specific applications before they come under the Electronic Transactions policy (see Guide Memo 64). TIPS' endorsement shall be based on factors such as functionality, ease of use, and the availability of adequate training, documentation, and equipment.
- TIPS partners with project teams to develop implementation strategies appropriate to the varying needs of different work units.
- TIPS recommends and advises on enhancements to existing legacy systems during transitions to new administrative systems.
- TIPS sponsors Special Interest Forums on topics of interest to administrators, especially issues surrounding the implementation of new procedures and systems.
- TIPS provides a forum for discussing issues of productivity and work distribution, whether or not those issues include information system components.
- TIPS mission and UMG/TIPS Guidelines should be reviewed at least every five years.
- TIPS meetings are open to anyone who would like to attend.
Guidelines for Selection of TIPS Representatives, Officers and Liaisons
- TIPS representatives shall be appointed by the Administrative Deans (or the functional equivalent) for each unit currently represented on the University Management Group. Appointees shall represent their constituents, attend monthly meetings, and report back to their areas. These representatives will be expected to serve for a minimum of one year, the normal term being September 1 to August 31. There will be no term limits.
- TIPS Representatives shall be allotted as follows:
Graduate School of Business 2 Student Affairs 2 Earth Sciences 2 Libraries 2 Education 2 Hoover 2 Engineering 4 Controller's Office 1 Humanities and Sciences 4 Development 1 Law 2 Facilities 1 Medicine 4 ITSS 1 Dean of Research 2 Human Resources 1 Athletics 2 Provost's Office 1 - Those who appoint representatives should:
- consider the above-mentioned TIPS roles and make their selections based on the ability of the representatives to fulfill those roles.
- select members who represent different administrative functions (e.g.student affairs, budget officers, computing support staff, administrative associates, staff affairs, facilities, etc.) and levels (e.g. school, department, etc.)
- contribute to the continuity of TIPS by appointing representatives who are willing to serve for more than one year.
- A TIPS chairs and co-chair will be elected from among the representatives. *Electronic nominations and elections for the chair and co-chair position will be held in the Spring or Summer, regardless of the number of nominations received.* The normal term for TIPS chair shall be September 1 to August 31. It is the normal expectation that the co-chair will succeed as chair after a one year term. The TIPS Chair will serve as liaison to UMG.
- Liaisons from other groups and organizations (e.g. DUNSI, Expert Partners, Change Support Team, SAS, etc.) are invited to attend TIPS meetings and act as information channels to and from their respective groups. For purposes of continuity, groups are encouraged to assign TIPS liaisons to serve from September 1 to August 31.
- The TIPS-ALL@lists.stanford.edu will only be used to send email relating to TIPS business; not for general University announcements, job openings, etc.
* Amended 4/01
