Administrative Review Council (Charter)

Vision

Through leadership and direction, the UC ANR Administrative Review Council (ARC) promotes and achieves administrative efficiency, effectiveness and compliance within UC ANR’s administrative structure and in support of UC ANR’s mission.  The council operates as councils for administration on the UC campuses operate.  Systemwide committees and taskforces are structured with representatives from campus councils and ARC.

Purpose

ARC’s purpose is to recommend to and implement decisions by ANR Vice President and the Executive Working Group concerning administrative functions, services and staffing in order to meet ANR’s current and future challenges and opportunities. ARC will achieve this by

• serving as the administrative services leadership group within ANR;

• modeling teamwork;

• communicating key information;

• recommending best approaches for implementing new policies, requirements, and administrative systems; and

• proactively anticipating, evaluating and developing solutions to address future challenges in ANR administrative services.

Goals and Guiding Principles

• Enhance administrative efficiencies to streamline processes and lower costs (including maximizing value of online systems).

• Build efficient coordination between administrative service units and their functions.

• Ensure ANR administrative services are compliant with UC policies and systems.

• Support delivery of outstanding customer service.

• Seek input and generate clear and concise communications regarding administrative issues and recommendations.

• Be responsible, accountable and equitable when developing administrative recommendations.

• Maintain flexibility to respond to UC and ANR administrative change.

Membership

The Administrative Review Council membership includes:

• Associate Vice President–Business Operations
• Resource Planning and Management Director
• Controller
• Contracts and Grants Director
• Financial Services Director
• Staff Personnel Executive Director
• Business Operations Center Director and Associate Director
• Program Planning and Evaluation Director
• Development Services Director
• Lead coordinators in CSIT, IPM, Youth, Families and Communities, and Research and Extension Centers-Administrative Office

Council members may not delegate attendance at the meeting to others.

The Council may invite other key ANR members or UC administrators to attend ARC meetings as guests to address specific agenda topics.

Roles

Chair: The Associate Vice President–Business Operations provides overall leadership to the Administrative Review Council. The Chair convenes ARC meetings and sets the overall agenda and parameters, makes final decisions and/or takes recommendations to the Executive Working Group for discussion with final approval by the Vice President as appropriate. The Chair is responsible for follow-through on pending items and/or implementation of approved actions. The Chair also serves as ex-Officio member of the ANR Program Council and serves as liaison between the two councils.

Staff Support: Provided by the office of the Associate Vice President–Business Operations, staff support includes providing analytical and process leadership and support for Council activities as designated by the Chair, assisting in planning and facilitating Council meetings, and following through on Council activities.

Administrative Review Council Members: Members represent the interests of various administrative units, share responsibility for fulfilling the ARC’s purpose and serve on ARC special assignment teams as needed to achieve goals. Members represent a diverse combination of UC and ANR knowledge, abilities, experience, and perspective that helps fulfill the purpose of the ANR Administrative Review Council.

Values

• Integrity—Be honest and truthful.
• Respect—Be respectful of each other and of each other’s ideas and perspectives.
• Shared Responsibility—All members share ownership for the successes and failures of the team.
• Creativity—Think creatively
• Transparency—Be open with information and ideas

Meeting Agreements and Ground Rules

• Participate fully as equals.
• Keep an open mind.

• Respect all individuals and ideas.
• Challenge ideas, not people.
• Be attentive to the subject matter of the meeting; stay engaged.
• Be present (both mentally and physically) at the entire meeting.
• Listen actively; one person speaks at a time.
• Focus on issues and solutions rather than individuals and problems.
• Following sufficient deliberation, make decisions/recommendations by consensus.
• Make your views known.
• Clarify agreements and follow-up before leaving Council meetings.
• Maintain confidentiality of subject matter and discussion as appropriate.
• Ensure accurate group memory is captured for meetings; watch what is recorded and correct/add items as discussions progress.
• Seek to identify options or proposals that represent shared interests, without minimizing legitimate disagreements.
• Place cell phones on “silent” or “vibrate” during meetings; check email during breaks.

Meeting Schedule

Administrative Review Council typically meets monthly except in August and December.  Meetings vary from one to two days and will be scheduled on Tuesday (and Wednesday for two-day meetings) of the third week of the month.

It is recognized that there will be need for ad hoc ARC meetings.

Videoconferencing and/or conference calls will be utilized when feasible (due to agenda and time constraints) to reduce travel time and costs.