“The idea is to never stop improving.”
The aim of University Continuous Improvement (UCI) is to create efficiencies, improve quality and enhance faculty, staff and student satisfaction — all while fostering a culture of continuous learning, change management and employee engagement. Along with being the direct result of community feedback from the Ohio State Listening Survey, the program addresses the operations theme of the university’s Education for Citizenship 2035 plan.
Submit an idea
If you have experienced a pain point in your unit, have an idea for improvement, or simply want to share feedback on how we as a university can be more efficient, please answer initial discovery questions in the form below for review by the UCI Team. All submissions will be reviewed and prioritized by the team.
Not all submissions will have easy solutions, but collecting this information in a consistent manner will ensure proper problem solving, visibility and communication of the concerns of our faculty and staff.
Project intake form
The UCI Team
This collaborative group includes representatives from offices of Administration and Planning, Business and Finance, External Affairs, Human Resources, Academic Affairs as well as the Enterprise for Research, Innovation and Knowledge, and other administrative and academic units. Our mandate is to tackle these challenges holistically and pull in additional subject‑matter expertise from across the institution as needed to ensure meaningful, sustainable improvements. If you would like your unit to be included within the team, please contact Andrew Urbanski to learn more.
Recently completed
- Significant reduction in the time taken to hire graduate associates — from 14.5 days on average in late 2024 to 5.9 days in Nov. 2025; as well as time to hire lecturers/senior lecturers — from 26.1 days to 2.4 days in the same time frame.
- Improvements to the Strategic Hiring Initiative for Faculty Talent (SHIFT), reducing the Faculty Search Report to a single page and the number of required documents to four while enhancing the user experience via a redesigned website, mini‑tutorials, flexible virtual office hours, and on‑demand consultation tools for a more faculty-centered experience.
- Increased visibility for admissions staff through the Enrollment Outreach Dashboard, a new tool developed by Institutional Research and Planning to support retention efforts and further aid students and families in college planning.
- Implementing closer drop-offs at the new University Hospital via an overnight, fixed-route Med Center Express expansion — the aim of which is to improve commute reliability as well as safety.
- Providing more flexibility to colleges and end users by the Office of Technology and Digital Innovation, shifting from strict data storage caps to a soft-limit model that emphasizes education and cleanup support instead of immediate restrictions.
UCI staff
- Andrew UrbanskiUniversity Continuous ImprovementProject ManagerColumbus, OH 43210