Sharing of better business practices on display at annual expo

Danielle Rocheleau Salaz talks shop with Denitta Ward at the CU Shared Practices Expo and Awards Ceremony on June 13 at 1800 Grant St. (Photo: Cathy Beuten/University of Colorado)

A record number of submissions made. A record number of submissions posted. And an exciting event where finalists described their best practices to a host of interested colleagues.

CU Shared Practices (CUSP) held its fourth annual Expo and Awards Ceremony June 13 at 1800 Grant St.  With a record 33 submissions and 19 award finalists, it was truly a banner year for CUSP.

Technology dominated the field this year, with Google Apps for Education playing a big part in submissions from CU-Boulder. YouTube also was a big presence this year, with two groups converting traditional training and step-by-steps into easy-to-follow and readily available YouTube video trainings.

Still, a number of submissions demonstrated the program’s ongoing commitment to improving customer service and communications, as well as streamlining business processes.

This year’s CUSP Expo culminated in the announcement of five award winners. Top honors – the University Controller’s Award for Excellence – went to E-Storage for Research Administration, submitted by a team from the Office of Contracts and Grants at CU-Boulder: Steve Sheldon, Garrett Steed, Melissa Englund, Roger McCormick, James Uhes, Stefanie Furman, Beth Kingsley, Sharon DeCarlo, Justin Mack, Andy Wang and Bev Baran. The team shares a $1,500 award.

Other award winners, with each team receiving a $1,000 award, were:

• Annual Financial Reporting Online, submitted by Office of University Controller-CU System (Travis Chillemi)
• APInvoice@cu.edu, submitted by Procurement Service Center-CU System (Charlene Lydick, Amy Gannon, Kaye Stewart-Hicks, Elizabeth Bentley, Carolyn DeTemple, and Pamela Andrade)
• Expense Clearing Training Videos, submitted by Accounting & Business Support-Boulder Campus (Jenny Shao, Rebekah Martino, and Chris Zetterholm)
• CU Denver Events Management System, submitted by Office of Associate Vice Chancellor for Administration-Anschutz Medical Campus (Layna Breyare)

Most of the accepted submissions were represented at the event, and staff from all campuses took advantage of the opportunity to learn about them. During the formal program, Leonard Dinegar, senior vice president and chief of staff, spoke about the importance of sharing successes in redesigned business processes. Frances Chapman, CUSP program coordinator, applauded the finalists for their hard work, noting that all were truly winners since their submissions had been well-vetted before being posted to the CUSP website. Robert Kuehler, assistant vice president and university controller, underscored his commitment to support and expand the program and highlighted the ingenuity and talents of employees throughout the university.

See all of the current and past CUSP submissions here.