The University of Iowa

Business Services

Business Service units are committed to continuous improvement to help enable the university's success by providing high-quality resources and excellent services in an efficient manner.

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100% of projects

improve service and create efficiency

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25+ projects

completed 2019-2021

FY 2022 efficiencies

Project	Date completed	Department	Summary
Compliance and Qualifications	November 2021	F&O - Human Resources	Review of F&O training requirements and implementation of the Compliance and Qualifications tracking system to automate the tracking and notifications of required staff training.
Purchasing and PVI Contracts Process	October 2021	Purchasing	Review, simplify, and communicate the process of managing purchasing agreements for the UI Hospital between the UI Purchasing group and UIHC PVI.
Electronic Invoice Processing	October 2021	Accounts Payable	Implementation of electronic data interchange (EDI) with suppliers that reduces manual invoice processing.
Paper Invoice Processing	October 2021	Accounts Payable	Automation of invoice entry using intelligent character recognition (ICR) technology that reduces manual invoice processing.
Rental Vehicle Kiosk	July 2021	Fleet Services	Opened a rental fleet kiosk on west campus to allow for unattended pick-up and return of University Rental Vehicles 24/7, reducing customer time spent to pick up and drop off rentals, increasing the hour’s rentals can be picked up and dropped off, and reducing staff time of management of rentals.

Project	Date completed	Department	Summary
Standard Work Documentation	June 2021	Campus Mail	Develop detailed Standard Work documentation for each task and job function within the Campus Mail on how external mail is processed and paid for, this acts as a training aid and to ensure standardization of task performance between staff.
Standard Work Documentation	June 2021	Accounting	Develop detailed Standard Work documentation for how Accounting bills for each type of Printing Project for the Copy Center, to act as a training aid and to ensure standardization of task performance between staff.
Vehicle Lease Paper Elimination	March 2021	Fleet Services	Elimination of paper correspondence and documentation in the leasing, renewals, and replacement of vehicles for all of campus.
Driver Training	January 2021	Fleet Services	Eliminate usage of paper, implement universal workflow, and integrate with third party training courses to automate the management of driving courses for campus.
Data Mapping	October 2020	Parking and Transportation	Review of all locations and methods for storing of data and business-related documents within the P&T department. To ensure data and business continuity.
Master Plan	September 2020	Parking and Transportation	Development of a comprehensive master plan to guide future decisions for the department so as to deliver the right services at the right costs to the university.
Standard Work Documentation	July 2020	Printing Services	Develop detailed Standard Work documentation for each task and job function within the Copy Center to act as a training aid and to ensure standardization of task performance between staff.
Staff Backups	June 2020	Business Services	Created a contingency plan for Business Services and leadership to ensure continue operation in the absence of key staff members across units.
Disaster Plan	May 2020	Laundry Services	Developed a comprehensive disaster plan outlining how to handle and recover operations from any type of disaster, internal or external to minimize downtime and disruption to the University of Hospital.
Standard Work Documentation	April 2020	Laundry Services	Develop detailed Standard Work documentation for each task and job function within Laundry Services to act as a training aid and to ensure standardization of task performance between staff.
Ticket Auditing	March 2020	Parking and Transportation	Simplification of handling parking passes and cash for parking facilities on campus that increases employee safety and reduces manual labor.
Department Business Placards	February 2020	Parking and Transportation	Reduced distribution of unused parking placards on campus that reduced labor on managing unused permits and free up more permits for other services.
Identity Data Warehouse Rewrite	January 2020	Parking and Transportation	Rewrite of parking permit authorization rules for campus to reduce labor and to automate permit assignment for campus.
Pharmaceutical Invoice Processing	January 2020	Accounts Payable	Eliminated manual processing of pharmaceutical invoices from the university's largest supplier that reduces manual labor, increases accuracy, and shortens lead times.
Hiring Process	November 2019	Cambus	Review, mapping, and standardizing the hiring process within Cambus and the University in relations to Driver License Reviews, background checks, and Drug and Alcohol testing. The robust Cambus processes were adopted by the greater University.
Medical Permits	September 2019	Parking and Transportation	Review and reoffering of special medical parking permits for campus to follow state ADA placard distribution process versus our own internal process, this reduced parking fraud and management labor.
Boarding Data	October 2019	Cambus	Development of a database, dashboard, and metrics for Cambus ridership volume and trends to allow for quick determination of the best adjustments to Cambus services to utilize buses and drivers in the most efficient manner to meet customer needs.
Vehicle Accident Report Process	June 2019	Risk Management	Review and mapping of the Vehicle Accident Report process for the university. This will enable the university to utilize a paperless process for reporting vehicle accidents and to update their driving policies to match.