Spring Break
New business centers worry some OSU employees
Centers consolidate finance departments and may lead to eventual staff layoffs
Shanna Woodruff
Issue date: 4/28/09 Section: News
By Shanna Woodruff
The Daily Barometer
OSU is currently in the process of creating business centers to help consolidate functions and administrative authority from the university and college/departmental levels.
These new centers will combine the finance and administration departments of various colleges into one location making the main business functions, transactions, etc. more simple for the colleges.
"The purpose of the business center project is to improve the level of business and human resources services to the colleges and support units and to provide these services more cost effectively," said Nancy Heiligman, associate vice president for Finance and Administration and the business center project leader.
"In addition to improving the services, we believe that they can be made more effective through a combination of increased delegation from the central support units, better training and a balance between developed expertise and interesting job mixes among the business center staff," said Aaron Howell, director of business affairs and chair of the Implementation Team on the project.
This project was proposed by the vice provost in fall of 2007 and began in 2008 to create the first business center in Dryden Hall.
Six more business centers are still to be reorganized before the project is completed, which is projected to be around August 2010.
Many OSU staff members and faculty are concerned that the business centers will cause them to lose their jobs since they consolidate various finance departments.
"We post for jobs internally to staff the business centers," Heiligman said, and stressed that they are doing their best to absorb positions rather than do any layoffs.
The majority, if not all, of the staff in these new business centers will be those who worked in similar positions within their colleges or departments.
"Everyone's positions were transferred," said Tom Fenske, the health sciences business center manager in Dryden Hall. Fenske explained that each of the three colleges had a business office and then these positions were transferred to the business center.
The Daily Barometer
OSU is currently in the process of creating business centers to help consolidate functions and administrative authority from the university and college/departmental levels.
These new centers will combine the finance and administration departments of various colleges into one location making the main business functions, transactions, etc. more simple for the colleges.
"The purpose of the business center project is to improve the level of business and human resources services to the colleges and support units and to provide these services more cost effectively," said Nancy Heiligman, associate vice president for Finance and Administration and the business center project leader.
"In addition to improving the services, we believe that they can be made more effective through a combination of increased delegation from the central support units, better training and a balance between developed expertise and interesting job mixes among the business center staff," said Aaron Howell, director of business affairs and chair of the Implementation Team on the project.
This project was proposed by the vice provost in fall of 2007 and began in 2008 to create the first business center in Dryden Hall.
Six more business centers are still to be reorganized before the project is completed, which is projected to be around August 2010.
Many OSU staff members and faculty are concerned that the business centers will cause them to lose their jobs since they consolidate various finance departments.
"We post for jobs internally to staff the business centers," Heiligman said, and stressed that they are doing their best to absorb positions rather than do any layoffs.
The majority, if not all, of the staff in these new business centers will be those who worked in similar positions within their colleges or departments.
"Everyone's positions were transferred," said Tom Fenske, the health sciences business center manager in Dryden Hall. Fenske explained that each of the three colleges had a business office and then these positions were transferred to the business center.
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