MAIS

Sara HenryMin HuSarvagya KochakRay WallingCheryl Whitfield

Background: About MAIS

University of Michigan Administrative Information Services

Organization that manages the integrated, University-wide information systems

Ex. Wolverine Access

About the Unit Liaison Program

102 units Including colleges, schools, health centers, regional campuses, central business offices, institutes

Over 200 unit liaisons (ULs) Provide information from MAIS to their respective department’s

users Relay information on system changes and upgrades to the

department’s users

Unit Liaison Coordinator (ULC) Is the main contact within MAIS for the ULs

Project Focus

Analyze communication flow between MAIS and the Unit Liaisons

Current forms of communication: UL Meetings Emails (targeted and personalized) Website Help Desk

Objectives Assess the effectiveness of the current communication process Develop recommendations on how this communication process

can be improved

Data Collection and Analysis

Initial meeting with clients Attended one UL meeting Conducted interviews

6 Unit Liaison interviews Interviewed the Unit

Liaison Coordinator Analysis

Interpretation Sessions Consolidated Sequence

Model Individual Models Affinity Walkthrough

Key Findings

Importance of UL meeting

ULs are not sure who to contact with questions and often rely on the help desk for this purpose

Targeted emails can be difficult to understand or to read

Recommendation #1

Finding Importance of UL Meetings

Evidence A few ULs believe the meetings are “dry” All Six ULs interviewed use meetings as main source

of information “Rarely misses meetings unless on vacation” “I always go to meetings…they are wonderful” Some ULs use the website to refer back to slides or

handouts from the UL meeting

Recommendation #1 (cont.)

RecommendationCreate a podcast of UL meetings

BenefitsMore detailed reference tool for ULs If can’t attend meeting, then they could use

this tool

Recommendation #2

Finding When faced with questions, several ULs just call the

help desk

Evidence Four out of six ULs rely frequently on the Help Desk One UL notes “it is so much easier to call the help

desk” Other two ULs feel that they know more about their

user needs than the help desk

Recommendation #2 (cont.)

Recommendations Short Term: Educate ULs on MAIS structure and appropriate

contacts (create a contact list) Long Term: Create a UL Wiki – share common problems,

insights, and solutions

Benefits Promote communication between ULs UL would be able to contact an authoritative source for answers. MAIS could see the common problems and concerns and

address them

Recommendation #3

Finding Targeted emails are difficult to read and understand,

this can lead to ignoring or deleting these emails

Evidence Four out of the six ULs noted this “Hate them…like pulling teeth to read them” Upon seeing a targeted mail, “[sighs]”

Recommendation #3 (cont.)

Recommendation Short Term: Improve font size Long Term: Committee or focus group to analyze targeted

emails Improve the table of contents Analyze technical jargon Improve subject lines/tagging Provide a clearer explanation of why email is being sent

Benefits More ULs and users would read and comprehend the emails

Additional Recommendations

Meetings between ULs of large departments and MAIS staff to address their respective needs

Have the developers evaluate specific unit systems and consider for future changes

Train additional employees to handle responsibilities of the Unit Liaison Coordinator

Design a more specialized database to deal with duplication

Recognize the ULs hard work ex. provide breakfast at

meetings

Conclusion

Conclusion To enhance UL Meetings, create a podcast of them To provide additional problem solving resources, provide ULs with a

contact list and encourage the use of a wiki To improve the readability and comprehension of targeted emails,

improve font size and create a focus group/committee for further analysis

In general, ULs really happy with the communication flow to and from MAIS and specifically their interactions with the Unit Liaison Coordinator

Questions?