{"id":131483,"date":"2026-04-21T02:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-04-21T07:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/?p=131483"},"modified":"2026-04-20T09:29:37","modified_gmt":"2026-04-20T14:29:37","slug":"dr-davies-updates-campus-happenings-new-process-initiative","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2026\/04\/21\/dr-davies-updates-campus-happenings-new-process-initiative\/","title":{"rendered":"Dr. Davies updates campus happenings, new process initiative"},"content":{"rendered":"
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UNMC Interim Chancellor H. Dele Davies, MD, used his April forum to discuss his UNMC Better Processes Initiative and introduce the person who will be leading the initiative at UNMC. He also said that he expected university employees to see pay raises this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Davies\u2019 guests included Susan Kraft Mann, associate vice chancellor for business and finance, and Matt Singh, who has joined UNMC as director of Lean and process improvement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur processes are not ideal,\u201d Dr. Davies said. \u201cThere is a lot of wasted time, a lot of wasted effort, that staff, faculty and students have to go through to get things done.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The process improvement initiative, he said, was introduced to help faculty, staff and students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Singh said he was glad to be at UNMC.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI love the state, I love working with the people, Singh said. \u201cI saw the opportunity to do process improvement here, and I said, ‘That’s a perfect fit.’\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Singh discussed \u201cLean Six Sigma,\u201d which he said was good for improving operations for \u201cfrontline\u201d efforts by UNMC faculty and staff, to benefit their colleagues and students. It is a combination of two methodologies, Lean, which focuses on waste reduction, and Six Sigma, which seeks to create processes that have reliable results.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMatt’s creating a training program, and we will be rolling it out across campus,\u201d Kraft Mann said. \u201cThere will be people in each of the colleges and major units who are familiar with this process, who know it inside out and will be able to implement the process improvement in their own areas.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Training will be offered to all members of the UNMC community, Singh said. \u201cThe goal is to get everyone trained so we can get process improvement at all levels.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Singh and Linda Cunningham, assistant vice chancellor and executive director of human resources, discussed how Lean Six Sigma principles are being used to revamp and streamline FMLA procedure in the human resources department.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Davies called this a classic example of using the process on an institutional level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe first goal is to improve employee satisfaction,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On other topics, Dr. Davies said there will be a pay raise for university employees this year, but he added that the timeline announcing raises may shift, as tuition is set in June and then the university\u2019s budget comes together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Davies also:<\/p>\n\n\n\n