Profiles of Consulting Engagement Experience
WHITEHALL CITY SCHOOL
- Analysis of Building Secretarial Positions
The objective of this analysis was to review the workload of the building secretaries in the District to identify
opportunities for improvement and determine if additional support was needed; this included the high school, middle
school, and elementary schools. The primary findings were the need for more for structure and organization of the
positions, with clear delineation of specific duties to be carried out at regular times each day. Further, common tasks
were not being carried out consistently among the buildings, nor District policies consistently applied; this
highlighted the need for additional training/reinforcement, in technical areas (using automated and manual systems)
and in “customer service” (e.g., how to politely disengage from a conversation, how to deal with an angry parent, and
when to pass along the situation to someone else).
KETTERING CITY SCHOOLS
- District-wide Business Process Improvement
The incoming Treasurer wanted a comprehensive analysis of the organization and operations of his office from a
business process point of view. Accordingly, a key element of this project was soliciting input from “customers,”
District personnel that supplied information to or used information produced by the Treasurer’s Office (e.g.,
Transportation, Maintenance, elementary school Principals and secretaries, and Treasurer’s staff located in the high
school and middle schools). This provided an overall systems perspective, with opportunities for improvement
identified at many levels within and outside of the Treasurer’s Office.
Major benefits included removing non-value-added process steps (e.g., less handling of paperwork),
reducing/eliminating errors at the source (through problem data collection/analysis and feedback), eliminating the
need for redundant recordkeeping by external users, improving visibility of the data in the central computer system,
and making better use of the features of the computer system. Also, a number of control and security issues were
identified and addressed.
UPPER ARLINGTON SCHOOLS
- Organization & Operations Improvement –Treasurer, Personnel, Business Operations
The Treasurer of this suburban school district was faced with two key employees retiring. B. Greenfield &
Associates developed an alternative organization structure and proposed process flow changes that reduced staffing
requirements, enhanced the employees’ jobs, and improved internal controls. The project continued with implementation
support during the transition period, and was expanded to include related functions in Personnel and
Business Operations departments.Several years later, a newly-hired Treasurer asked B. Greenfield & Associates
to conduct a follow-up operations review. The objective was to revisit and refine the initial recommendations
in light of changes in staff and the
computer system since the previous project.
HILLIARD CITY SCHOOLS
- Administrative Organization & Operations Review
The overall purpose of the engagement was to identify potential improvements in the District’s central administrative
organization and operational structures, including the Treasurer’s Office (a total of 14 administrators and 3 assistants).
The project focus was assessment of the administrative organization/operations from a business perspective. This
was a collaborative effort, with significant participation by District personnel and the Board of Education.
Recommendations included restructuring the administrative organization (to rationalize the distribution of duties and
responsibilities), revamping work process flows to streamline operations and improve efficiency (an integral part of
restructuring an organization), and making better use of technology to help improve communications and process
information more efficiently.
OHIO DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
- Business Center Operations Improvement Initiatives
The Deputy Superintendent of Education, a former B. Greenfield & Associates client
while a school district superintendent, was the initiator and sponsor of this engagement.
A series of projects were conducted, comprising all of the Department’s Business Centers,
as selected by each Center’s Associate Superintendent. The scope of the projects ranged from analyzing
and re-engineering process flows to restructuring the workload and organization. Benefits were realized
in all of the initiatives, with documented potential savings in the $180,000 – $250,000 range
(a 5:1 return on the investment in this project).
SYCAMORE COMMUNITY SCHOOLS
- Organization and Operations Restructuring –
Treasurer’s Office, District Secretaries
This engagement originated in the Treasurer’s Office, with an assessment of the organization
and operating structures. Major process flows were significantly revamped, eliminating non-value-added steps.
The workload was redistributed among the staff, reducing process fragmentation and improving accountability.
B. Greenfield & Associates developed the transition plan for reassignment of the internal responsibilities,
and also documented the revised processes and participated in user training. Estimated potential savings
was 1-2 FTE positions.An important aspect of this initial project was the interfaces between the Treasurer’s Office
and District staff who provided required information for payroll and purchasing/payables. Accordingly,
most source documents were revised and made more consistent, saving time and effort both internally and externally.
For example, electronic spreadsheets were developed for departmental payroll submission,
and a better ongoing interface between the Personnel and Payroll functions (and computer systems) was established.This led to the second part of the engagement, assessment of the secretarial positions in the District,
encompassing the school buildings as well as the various departments.
This analysis took place at two levels: how the positions were structured organizationally (distribution
of duties and responsibilities, degree of collaboration with others, reporting relationships, etc.),
and how the work flowed. Major benefits were recognized in streamlining
and standardizing (and documenting) core processes, taking better advantage
of technology, eliminating duplicate (redundant) databases, aligning resources to the workload,
and facility layout improvements. By implementing the recommendations, estimated potential savings
was 3½-5½ FTE positions in the junior high and high schools, and 1-1½ FTEs in the central office secretarial complement.
COLUMBUS ACADEMY
- Computer System Needs Analysis and Conceptual Design
This client is a private school located in Gahanna, Ohio, offering educational programs for students in grades K – 12.
The engagement was to review the current financial reporting systems, academic office requirements,
and development functions, to identify the conceptual requirements of an automated system which would better support
the operations of the school. The resulting document provided the basis for soliciting
and evaluating proposals from software and hardware vendors, and selecting the eventual solution.
SPRINGFIELD CITY SCHOOLS
- Treasurer’s Office Operations Improvement
The purpose of this assignment was to evaluate the key duties and responsibilities in the Treasurer’s Office
from a business perspective, focusing on how these positions were structured and how the work was being performed,
to identify potential for operations improvement. Several “customers” within the District were interviewed,
recognizing the importance of dependent external relationships. Many of the key processes were characterized
by fragmentation, redundancy and duplication of effort, and non-value-added steps. Significant improvement
was realized by streamlining these processes, particularly taking advantage of the available and emerging computer technology.
WORTHINGTON SCHOOLS
- Administrative Organization Restructuring & Compensation
Treasurer’s Office Operations Improvement
The objectives of this project were to develop a plan for restructuring the administrative organization
to meet the future needs of the District and its learners, and to design and implement a compensation program
for the administrators. There was a high degree of interaction with the administrators and the Board of Education,
to facilitate consensus-building as well as a comprehensive understanding of the many and varied points of view.
While challenging, this collaborative process led to a high degree of acceptance
of the recommended organization structure and compensation system.
A subsequent engagement was an operations improvement project for the Treasurer’s Office.
EASTLAND VOCATIONAL SCHOOL DISTRICT
- Treasurer’s Office Operations Improvement
Superintendent’s Office Operations Improvement
This engagement was initiated by the District’s Board of Education, and encompassed all clerical/support positions
in the Superintendent’s Office and Treasurer’s Office. The objective was to develop alternatives/recommendations
on how the administrative component of the District should be organized and operate, as well
as identifying specific functions and processes as opportunities for improvement and strategies for taking advantage
of these opportunities. A key issue was whether certain functions should be moved from the Treasurer’s Office
to the Superintendent’s Office. With ongoing support from B. Greenfield & Associates,
major initiatives were implemented in payroll (particularly adult education payroll), accounts receivable
(electronic payment system), inventory management, and several cross-functional processes
such as the payroll/personnel interface and preparing the Board meeting agenda.
NORTHMONT CITY SCHOOLS
- Administrative Organization & Operations Analysis
This engagement was initiated by the Superintendent, who wanted to evaluate the central administrative organizational
and operational structures from a business perspective. The scope initially encompassed 4 Assistant Superintendents
and the Director of Operations, and was subsequently expanded to include central office administrative support positions.
The analysis revealed that one department was consistently overburdened, others were not (except during predictable peak periods),
and there were functions that could be accomplished elsewhere in the District.
Alternative organization structures were developed and evaluated, along with related potential workflow improvements.