Hurdles are barriers to our path. In the case of strategic plans, these are often pressure points or processes that create challenges to progress. In an effort to remove barriers to progress/strategic thinking, these "Hurdles" are being addressed so as not to detract from the laser focus on the future.
Some hurdles are easy to remove/solve, but in some cases they are more complex and require more resources and time to address. The table below describes some of the hurdles that have been addressed. More will be added as more barriers are removed.
To report what you think is a hurdle that should be addressed, please email inhurdle@lehigh.edu.
|
Hurdle |
Description |
Progress/Status |
|---|---|---|
|
Testing Services |
Center to support testing accommodations; aims to support students needs and provide faculty support |
Launched in Fall 2022, this new offering has been well received by faculty and students according to a survey of those using the services. |
|
Transportation Services |
Bus transportation is not meeting needs of the population going to and from Mountaintop and Goodman campuses |
Transportation services launched pilot routes in January 2023 to enhance the user experience. Further refinement will continue and feedback is welcome. |
|
Parking Services |
Parking fee structure feedback suggests modifications to policy and fees should be considered |
Parking Services to launch a focused analysis of modifications to the policies and fee structure Spring 2023 with a hired external vendor with expertise |
|
Budget Process |
Resource planning depends on multiple spreadsheets and manual processes. |
Budget Office implementing Syntellis to synchronize plans with forecasts and provide interface for end-users; launch expected late Spring 2023 |
|
Mountaintop Services |
Mountaintop occupants/users lack clarity on services provided, seek more food options and better parking and transportation |
Mountaintop Field Guide reflects the additional dining services, new transportation routes and additional parking available for students, faculty and staff that frequent Mountaintop Campus |
|
Contact lists for group email distributions |
Periodically, Facilities and other central offices need to communicate with groups of our community on non-emergency-related location-based matters. Systems are dispersed across campus and lack a sufficient workflow. |
The solution leverages an already existing reporting tool (Argos) to generate distribution emails/data based on criteria of building location, department, and class offerings. This allows for the grouping of buildings, departments, and classes for distribution as needed for location-based email/targeted communications. Additional improvements are planned to expand the use case for this tool going forward. |
|
Policy Repository |
Policies are posted to various websites across campus and there is not a central location where they can all be found. |
An Administrative Reference Manual (ARM) is being developed with a launch target of Fall 2023. The ARM will include:
|
|
Staff and faculty compensation |
Staff and Faculty retention and hiring is a priority in a particularly challenging job market. Perception of salary equity across markets needs to be validated and corrected if adjustments are needed. |
Formal reviews have been conducted seeking comparison of staff and faculty compensation internally and with external peers to determine if any adjustments need to be made. Where needed, adjustments are being applied. For staff, this discipline will be applied each year to highlight and address needed adjustments. For faculty, Lehigh plans to engage in a similar salary review and adjustment process in future years to work to maintain a salary structure that is equitable and competitive. |
|
Faculty lab readiness |
Occasional delays in lab fit-out/set-up can impact research for our faculty hires. |
Commitment to lab readiness within six months of a faculty hire has been made and met. |
|
Off-Cycle resource requests |
There are numerous resource requests during the course of the year, outside of the resource planning process. |
A tool was created to promote better planning and stewardship, and to better enable request tracking. The form for requests is now available on the Budget Office website, and can be accessed here.
|
|
Accessibility at Alumni Memorial Building Bus Stop Location |
Accessibility to the bus stop location in front of Alumni Memorial Building could be improved, and not located on a grassy area. |
Upgrades to the bus stop location are in progress including adding a concrete pad, bus shelter, and new walkways to access the shelter. It is anticipated that these improvements will be completed in fall 2023. |
|
Classroom Furniture Conditions |
Furniture is sometimes not conducive to an engaging or inclusive learning environment. |
The University has been systematically replacing older classroom furniture and fixed seating with new furniture. The new furniture includes larger, articulating tablet arms and a percentage of left handed tablets. This work is ongoing. |
|
Collegiate Travel Partners (CTP) |
Service has been lower quality than expected from this vendor and is causing challenges for employees using the service. Members of the campus community are also concerned about the mandatory booking through the agency for international travel, given the service issues. |
Procurement has escalated these issues to the vendor for action and improvements are anticipated. |