UC Davis Project Highlights

Continuous Improvement Projects

Discover how UC Davis teams are transforming the way we work. These real-world projects highlight how individuals and teams have applied Lean principles and continuous improvement tools to streamline processes, boost efficiency, and deliver measurable results across departments and functions. 

See continuous improvement in action and get inspired by the impact it's making across UC Davis.

Additional project summaries available in the Continuous Improvement Showcase Gallery Walk. 

2025 Project Highlights

Category	Project Title	Project Lead(s)	Area	Description	Overview
Administrative and Operational Efficiency	Streamline the Payroll Process for Aggie Host Security Officers	Andrey Furmuzan, Carlee Gnos	FOA - Business Partners and Human Resources	Students and staff were collectively spending over 30 hours every two weeks on inefficient and time-intensive activities to manage timesheets. This project resulted in a 75% reduction in workload, and $50K in annual savings.

2024 Project Highlights

Category	Project Title	Project Lead(s)	Area	Description	Overview
Digital Automation	Budget Process Improvement	Tiffany Wright	FOA - Budget and Institutional Analysis	The campus budget process affects every operational unit, yet the time spent on it varies widely. This project works to streamline, standardize, and automate the process—reducing effort and improving consistency.
Administrative and Operational Efficiency	Enhancing Customer Satisfaction by Reducing Project Request Turnaround Time	Aruna Chetty	School of Medicine	Users and PIs can experience delays of up to six months for new project orders in the Biostatistics Shared Resource (BSR) PPMS, often due to incomplete or redundant templates. These delays create challenges for customer satisfaction. This project aims to shorten turnaround times and enhance the overall customer experience.
Service Delivery	Improve Life Sciences Purchasing Efficiencies	Maura McLoughlin	FOA - Supply Chain Management	Department buyers for Life Sciences purchases often face confusion when choosing between the SSPR and SBF waiver forms, resulting in errors about 30% of the time. These errors cause processing delays and customer frustration. This project aims to increase correct form usage, speeding up processing and improving customer satisfaction.
Service Delivery	Improving Timeliness of Computer Deployments	Elissa Roeser, Melanie Clague, Prosper Godonoo, Steve Pigg	College of Engineering	College of Engineering computer deployments are delayed, averaging 10 business days instead of the 2-day target. This project aims to speed up deployment, reduce frustration, and help users become productive sooner.
Service Delivery	Last Mile Initiative	Jen Carmichael	FOA - Supply Chain Management	Vendor delivery on campus average 1-3 packages per stop and are performed by unknown persons. Project goals include reducing carbon footprint while increasing package delivery per stop.
Administrative and Operational Efficiency	MEDComp Benefits Payment Process Cycle Time Reduction	Priya Venkatesan	FOA-Office of Business Transformation	Reduce processing and payment of MEDCOMP benefits; improving customer satisfaction and reducing manual effort of Benefits staff.
Administrative and Operational Efficiency	Improve NIFA Reporting Compliance	Maggie Gonzalez	School of Veterinary Medicine	Improve compliance rates with annual National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) reporting.
Administrative and Operational Efficiency	Partner Onboarding Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) Process	Erin Silva	Office of Chancellor and Provost	Improve the turnaround time for MOU process, explore automation and develop standard work.
Digital Automation	Personnel Action Form	Jody Hyde	DEVAR	Reduce the processing time and improve efficiency for pay-related action within Development and Alumni Relations by implementing a SharePoint form that automates data collection and approval routing.
Administrative and Operational Efficiency	Reduce Recruiting Advertising Budget	Charlie Conselman, Sarah Banchieri	FOA-Human Resources	Reduce advertising budget for recruitment tools and identify more strategic uses to reallocate savings.
Digital Automation	Reduce Volume of cases for general questions	Andrey Furmuzan	FOA-Business Partners	Explore AI tools to reduce the number of cases (e.g., tickets) created for general questions.
Administrative and Operational Efficiency	Streamlining Effort Allocation Process	Sumeet Hothi	School of Medicine	Improve the tracking of effort allocations in the Violent Prevention Research Program (VPRP).
Administrative and Operational Efficiency	Talent Acquisition Budget Management Enhancement	Martin Serrano	FOA-Human Resources	Optimize use of budget for role that take longer time-to-fill. Project aims to improve time-to-fill and increase satisfaction.
Administrative and Operational Efficiency	Update Youth Protection Waiver Process	Courtney Merson	Continuing and Professional Education	Improve the waiver collection process for youth programs at UC Davis; enhance customer satisfaction and revenue generation.
Service Delivery	Website Efficiency and Customer Satisfaction	BreAnda Northcutt	FOA-Communications	Enhance website visitor experience by automating site analysis, content audit and regular feedback collection.