Dive Brief:
- A committee of faculty members at Cornell University is examining the ways the school can help faculty to reduce the amount of "shadow work" tasks, like travel booking, completing forms for reimbursement, research permissions, and other administrative duties.
- The committee says the school now faces a log jam of administrative tasks as a result of cutting personnel costs for positions which used to handle the duties.
- Faculty members say a blend of technology and departments committing to reducing red tape will be a major asset in freeing up time for grant writing, teaching and research development.
Dive Insight:
Previous research suggests that eliminating administrative red tape can help institutions to earn millions with increased time for revenue bearing work like competing for grants and contracts, or in brainstorming ideas for innovation. At elite institutions like Cornell, these conversations are much easier to have with endowment investments which can turn over technology and personnel in shorter order.
For smaller institutions, the goal is to integrate technology and consulting in efficient ways to support reductions in administrative bloat. This approach reduces the amount of staff, salaries needed to get work done, while maintaining flexible options of reviewing and changing the face of the campus enterprise for more efficiency.