Action: 1. Centralize communications activities on campus by creating an agency-style organization that would consolidate the experience and expertise of UF’s communications team into a single unit 2. The unit would provide communications services across campus saving $6 million in annual costs 3. Savings are possible due to the increased efficiencies of an agency-style organization and the smaller unit size
The organization would have four functional areas: 1. Creative Services 2. Public Relations 3. News & Editorial Services 4. Strategic Planning & Account Services
Creative Services: 1. The Creative Services Group would work closely with those in Public Relations and Strategic Planning & Account Service to deliver high quality, creative products, including magazines, brochures and catalogs, annual reports, internal and external newsletters, Web sites, and more 2. Working together, members of the Creative Services Group would offer a variety of creative and memorable solutions to communications challenges across campus
Why Reorganize? 1. The current arrangement of individual news, public relations, photography, broadcast, Web design and graphic design and art departments is inefficient. We do the same work over and over and over again 2. In some cases, offices actually compete with each other for design work and photography. In others, work is sent off campus when the services are available internally 3. There is a huge duplication of staff and equipment and as many as 37 offices on campus dedicated to providing communications and art/design services
Proposed Organization: 1. About 75 Communications positions on main campus operating out of one central office and three or four satellite offices 2. $5.2 million annual salary and fringe benefits 3. $300,000.00 equipment and office expenses 4. $5.5 million salary, benefits, equipment and office expenses annually 5. Cost included in new Cost Allocation Model 6. Annual savings of approximately $6 million
"We do the same work over and over and over again"
In some cases it's true, but in most cases the work that is being done is highly specialized for the market/audience that each individual college (and sometimes even their individual departments) cater to.
"The Creative Services Group would work closely with those in Public Relations and Strategic Planning & Account Service to deliver high quality, creative products, including magazines, brochures and catalogs, annual reports, internal and external newsletters, Web sites, and more"
I don't think this addresses the fact that so many of our college's webmasters are part of their college's communications team, and rightfully so as our Web sites are our primary tool of communication. Also, I don't think this model accounts for the ongoing support each college Web site would need, unless of course they also consider consolidating the college Web sites.
What will happen to the webmasters that are part of their communications teams and do you think it's a good idea to remove them from their communications mindset? Will webmasters be working from university relations under this model, or will they be moved into their respective IT offices?
Also, It would be nice to know how many jobs each branch of this reorganization would have.