The programme for the 2009-2012 mandate of the Director of the Faculty of Medicine established as a priority objective the promotion of the “administrative modernization” of the Faculty. Of the measures proposed, the following stood out: i) “optimization of human resources bringing together skills and competencies”, ii) development of “differentiated training policy that will contribute to the promotion of excellence in the provision of services through innovation and creativity, essential for the strategic development of FMUL”; iii) encouraging the “participation in technical and administrative development groups within the University of Lisbon as a means of quality assurance and technical reference, contributing to the optimization and streamlining of the administrative management of the UL”.
These measures have become the main guidelines of the strategic objectives in the Action Plans produced using the management tool QUAR – Framework for Assessment and Accountability and presented in the various Activity Reports approved by the Faculty Assembly.
The first two measures enabled the implementation of the Faculty’s internal procedures between 2009 and 2011. The success of their execution, as described below, potentiated the increase of the third measure and enabled the development and closer cooperation of the services of the Faculty of Medicine with those of the University of Lisbon which, from the first quarter of 2012, will be conducted in new ways through a closer collaboration with the Shared Services – SPUL, which will be responsible for the operational management of some of our services.
The main activities carried out from 2009 to 2011 and the changes that will be implemented in the services of the Faculty of Medicine in 2012 are as follows:
i) Attempt the “optimization of human resources bringing together skills and competencies”
The optimization of human resources seeking to bring together skills and competencies was carried out through four major activities:
a) Redefining the organizational structure of the Faculty services, a measure started in 2009 and amended in 2010 and which led to the separation of functions between the Central Management Services, the Decentralized Services and the Institutional Advisory Sections. This was an important step in the adoption of organizational structures appropriate to the proper functioning of the faculty and enabled the optimization of existing human resources;
b) Following the reorganization of services described above, the visibility of the Decentralized Services – Administrative Units (PA) increased in their role to act as support services to the University Clinics, Institutes and Laboratories, whose activity is developed in conjunction with the directors of the structural units and the central management services; these services have multidisciplinary competencies and their activities involve supporting teaching, students, and liaising with other services of the faculty; the creation of the Coordination of Administrative Units was a key element in conducting this process; currently, the setting up of the Units Advisory Centre and of working teams for the management and uploading of information on the faculty’s website and on the Moodle e-learning platform attest the change and the optimization of human resources that has been carried out.
Organization Chart
c) The internal partnerships and liaising activities among the various services of the facultywere continued and fostered, as a means of enhancing and maximizing the specific competencies of each sector through various types of cooperation, such as i) the Newsletter, of which this issue constitutes the 25th edition, has been continued, being the work of a multidisciplinary Editorial Team whose members ensure the editions along with other specific functions they perform in their respective services, ii) the new system for marking exams by optical reading (OCR) provided by the Internal Assessment and Quality Assurance Multidisciplinary Team was launched with the assistance of the Coordination of Administrative Units and the support of the Development Unit of the computer section, referred to in issues 23 and 24 of the Newsletter; iii) the partnership between the Academic Area and the Development Unit of the computing section has produced seven new specific computing applications, as described in issue no. 23 of the Newsletter; iv) the partnership between the Office for Image and Communication, the Technology and Information Unit, the Academic Services and the Coordination of Administrative Units to relaunch the use of the Moodle e-learning platform in a new format, etc.
d) the administrative reformulation and reorganization processes of sectors of the faculty have been continued, the Facilities and Equipment Unit and the Institute for Advanced Training being good examples of it.
ii) Develop a “differentiated training policy that will contribute to the promotion of excellence in the provision of services through innovation and creativity, essential for the strategic development of FMUL”
The Faculty of Medicine recognizes that its employees are its main asset and resource, for which reason it has invested significantly in their training to ensure they become active agents of change and improvement at their workplaces, thus contributing to the promotion of excellence in the services provided.
Throughout this period several professional groups undertook training, of which the following examples stand out:
a) middle managers who have been attending the course FORGEP – Training Programme in Public Management, at the National Institute of Administration, in order to obtain the necessary theoretical framework and tools essential to the proper exercise of their activities;
b) Diagnostic and Therapeutic Technologists, a group of employees with specific functions essential for practical education and scientific production and for whom a training course on the topic “Practical Application of the PCR Technique to Microbiology” was organised with the assistance of the Human Resources Unit, involving seven experts in the fields of clinical tests and public health; this training course acted as the drive for the organization of the “Meeting of Diagnostic and Therapeutic Technologists held on 11 November at the Grand Auditorium of FMUL, which brought together participants from all over the country from the most diverse areas of work;
c) technicians with specific functions who need to acquire precise skills, such as the one week plastination course attended by the Anatomy Senior Technician in Murcia. The objective was to provide the future Anatomy Theatre with a more qualified technician in terms of teaching practice and range of components available for teaching;
d) training of specialists, at least one per team on the topics “Health and Safety at Work” and “First Aid”, in collaboration with SPUL;
e) worked-based training sessions for colleagues working in the Administrative Units, developed internally by the sectors responsible for the use of the e-learning platform or the applications for the academic management of students, seeking, in collaboration with the Coordination of Administrative Units, to disseminate these tools among new users;
f) new members of staff who were offered “initial training” through the INA, the only legally accredited entity, in an attempt to create the conditions for their better insertion in the institution and for gaining knowledge of the administrative practices in use in Public Administration.
Given the number of employees and the likely future impact in the rethinking of faculty services, the application to the Human Potential Operational Programme – POPH made by the Directorate of the Department of Administrative Management with a view to implementing a Self-Assessment of the Technical and Administrative Services of FMUL based on the Common Assessment Framework (CAF) model must be highlighted.
The successful application enabled the funding that allowed thirty employees from various units to reflect on, and engage in, the self-assessment of the services of the Faculty of Medicine during 2010 and 2011, with the collaboration of the National Institute of Administration – INA.
The use of the Common Assessment Framework – CAF, which was specifically developed to help public sector organizations from European countries to apply Quality Management techniques so as to improve their performance and provision of services, is pioneer in the University of Lisbon and, to date, has only been carried out in three other higher education institutions.
This project led to the writing of a Self-Assessment Report by those involved and to the organization of the workshop “Improving the performance of FMUL” as part of the final evaluation. The workshop was held at the Cid dos Santos Amphitheatre on 23 November and was attended by FMUL employees, DECAF-FM trainees and members of staff who participated in CAF training. The public presentation of results took place at the Workshop “Self-assessment with CAF in Higher Education: case studies” on 6 December at Aula Magna and was attended by over eighty five people from other higher education institutions.
This process, whose importance was recognized by the Board of the Faculty, will be continued with the preparation and implementation of an Improvement Plan. To ensure that the assessment process is ongoing and seeks continuous improvement, after the plan is implemented its impact must be evaluated, with a view to identifying new changes to be made and which aspects should be maintained.
In the context of the Quality Assurance processes conducted by the University of Lisbon and of the evaluation procedures to be implemented by the Agency for Assessment and Accreditation of Higher Education, it would be highly desirable that this self-assessment model of the services spread to other faculties and was adopted by the University of Lisbon as a tool to improve its administrative procedures. In this case, the Faculty of Medicine would be in a position to take on a leading role in supporting the implementation of this model.
iii) Encourage the “participation in technical and administrative development groups within the University of Lisbon” and closer collaboration with SPUL from 2012
The Faculty of Medicine has always been committed to, and participated actively in the various technical and administrative working groups that have been established within the University of Lisbon, in order to keep its teams abreast of the various activities as they came up, those teams being, more often than not, the promoters of innovative projects that improved responsiveness in terms of effectiveness and efficiency.
More recently, on the occasion of the creation of the Resource Centre and Shared Services of the University of Lisbon, an initiative supported by the Faculty of Medicine in the University’s decision-making bodies, faculty members of staff who wanted to leave and join that new service were free to do so.
At a time when we are faced with endless requests for retirement on the part of our employees who, due to the difficult situation we are experiencing in our country, will not be replaced by new members of staff, it has become increasingly more urgent to see the organization of the services of the Faculty of Medicine in a different light and rethink and foster profound changes in organizational structures and in administrative procedures so as, with fewer resources and funds, we can attempt to maintain the same standard of service provided to users – students, lecturers and all members of staff.
Aware of the need to rethink and consider new forms of administrative organization, which is the only way to cope with the difficulties arising from the present difficult times, and in view of recent changes in the Statutes and Regulations of the Shared Services, which enable greater participation of Faculties and Institutes in its decision-making process and everyday management, the Board of the Faculty of Medicine has decided to start collaborating more actively with the Shared Services – SPUL.
This decision to start this collaboration was not triggered because the services of the Faculty of Medicine lacked proper size, good organization, or correct functioning, but because it is believed that there is a need to start new forms of organization within the University of Lisbon, optimizing resources and creating new synergies. The aim is to increase the levels of efficacy and effectiveness in the context of financial difficulties and growing scarcity of human resources, as those who leave are not being replaced.
In this context of collaboration and optimization of resources and staff within the University of Lisbon, a process in which the Faculty of Medicine will be involved and actively engaged, the Computing Services of the Shared Services – SPUL will be based at the Faculty of Medicine as from the first quarter of 2012, and the current Computing and Information Technologies Unit of FMUL will become part of those services. Throughout 2012, the Financial Unit and the Facilities and Equipment Unit of the Faculty of Medicine will also be part of the Shared Services – SPUL.
This strategic decision to establish a closer collaboration with the Shared Services of the University of Lisbon and to transfer some of the faculty’s existing services to its operational management is a new challenge the organizational structure of the services of the University of Lisbon will need to address from 2012, since it will need to continue the levels of efficiency and quality attained in the current model.
We are confident that once this initial stage of adapting to the new operating model is overcome, the services of the Faculty of Medicine will pursue their Mission and be in a position to focus their resources in the direct support of educational and research activities, of students and lecturers, maintaining the high standards to which they have accustomed users.
Luis Pereira
Coordinating-Secretary FMUL
lap@fm.ul.pt
These measures have become the main guidelines of the strategic objectives in the Action Plans produced using the management tool QUAR – Framework for Assessment and Accountability and presented in the various Activity Reports approved by the Faculty Assembly.
The first two measures enabled the implementation of the Faculty’s internal procedures between 2009 and 2011. The success of their execution, as described below, potentiated the increase of the third measure and enabled the development and closer cooperation of the services of the Faculty of Medicine with those of the University of Lisbon which, from the first quarter of 2012, will be conducted in new ways through a closer collaboration with the Shared Services – SPUL, which will be responsible for the operational management of some of our services.
The main activities carried out from 2009 to 2011 and the changes that will be implemented in the services of the Faculty of Medicine in 2012 are as follows:
i) Attempt the “optimization of human resources bringing together skills and competencies”
The optimization of human resources seeking to bring together skills and competencies was carried out through four major activities:
a) Redefining the organizational structure of the Faculty services, a measure started in 2009 and amended in 2010 and which led to the separation of functions between the Central Management Services, the Decentralized Services and the Institutional Advisory Sections. This was an important step in the adoption of organizational structures appropriate to the proper functioning of the faculty and enabled the optimization of existing human resources;
b) Following the reorganization of services described above, the visibility of the Decentralized Services – Administrative Units (PA) increased in their role to act as support services to the University Clinics, Institutes and Laboratories, whose activity is developed in conjunction with the directors of the structural units and the central management services; these services have multidisciplinary competencies and their activities involve supporting teaching, students, and liaising with other services of the faculty; the creation of the Coordination of Administrative Units was a key element in conducting this process; currently, the setting up of the Units Advisory Centre and of working teams for the management and uploading of information on the faculty’s website and on the Moodle e-learning platform attest the change and the optimization of human resources that has been carried out.
Organization Chart
c) The internal partnerships and liaising activities among the various services of the facultywere continued and fostered, as a means of enhancing and maximizing the specific competencies of each sector through various types of cooperation, such as i) the Newsletter, of which this issue constitutes the 25th edition, has been continued, being the work of a multidisciplinary Editorial Team whose members ensure the editions along with other specific functions they perform in their respective services, ii) the new system for marking exams by optical reading (OCR) provided by the Internal Assessment and Quality Assurance Multidisciplinary Team was launched with the assistance of the Coordination of Administrative Units and the support of the Development Unit of the computer section, referred to in issues 23 and 24 of the Newsletter; iii) the partnership between the Academic Area and the Development Unit of the computing section has produced seven new specific computing applications, as described in issue no. 23 of the Newsletter; iv) the partnership between the Office for Image and Communication, the Technology and Information Unit, the Academic Services and the Coordination of Administrative Units to relaunch the use of the Moodle e-learning platform in a new format, etc.
d) the administrative reformulation and reorganization processes of sectors of the faculty have been continued, the Facilities and Equipment Unit and the Institute for Advanced Training being good examples of it.
ii) Develop a “differentiated training policy that will contribute to the promotion of excellence in the provision of services through innovation and creativity, essential for the strategic development of FMUL”
The Faculty of Medicine recognizes that its employees are its main asset and resource, for which reason it has invested significantly in their training to ensure they become active agents of change and improvement at their workplaces, thus contributing to the promotion of excellence in the services provided.
Throughout this period several professional groups undertook training, of which the following examples stand out:
a) middle managers who have been attending the course FORGEP – Training Programme in Public Management, at the National Institute of Administration, in order to obtain the necessary theoretical framework and tools essential to the proper exercise of their activities;
b) Diagnostic and Therapeutic Technologists, a group of employees with specific functions essential for practical education and scientific production and for whom a training course on the topic “Practical Application of the PCR Technique to Microbiology” was organised with the assistance of the Human Resources Unit, involving seven experts in the fields of clinical tests and public health; this training course acted as the drive for the organization of the “Meeting of Diagnostic and Therapeutic Technologists held on 11 November at the Grand Auditorium of FMUL, which brought together participants from all over the country from the most diverse areas of work;
c) technicians with specific functions who need to acquire precise skills, such as the one week plastination course attended by the Anatomy Senior Technician in Murcia. The objective was to provide the future Anatomy Theatre with a more qualified technician in terms of teaching practice and range of components available for teaching;
d) training of specialists, at least one per team on the topics “Health and Safety at Work” and “First Aid”, in collaboration with SPUL;
e) worked-based training sessions for colleagues working in the Administrative Units, developed internally by the sectors responsible for the use of the e-learning platform or the applications for the academic management of students, seeking, in collaboration with the Coordination of Administrative Units, to disseminate these tools among new users;
f) new members of staff who were offered “initial training” through the INA, the only legally accredited entity, in an attempt to create the conditions for their better insertion in the institution and for gaining knowledge of the administrative practices in use in Public Administration.
Given the number of employees and the likely future impact in the rethinking of faculty services, the application to the Human Potential Operational Programme – POPH made by the Directorate of the Department of Administrative Management with a view to implementing a Self-Assessment of the Technical and Administrative Services of FMUL based on the Common Assessment Framework (CAF) model must be highlighted.
The successful application enabled the funding that allowed thirty employees from various units to reflect on, and engage in, the self-assessment of the services of the Faculty of Medicine during 2010 and 2011, with the collaboration of the National Institute of Administration – INA.
The use of the Common Assessment Framework – CAF, which was specifically developed to help public sector organizations from European countries to apply Quality Management techniques so as to improve their performance and provision of services, is pioneer in the University of Lisbon and, to date, has only been carried out in three other higher education institutions.
This project led to the writing of a Self-Assessment Report by those involved and to the organization of the workshop “Improving the performance of FMUL” as part of the final evaluation. The workshop was held at the Cid dos Santos Amphitheatre on 23 November and was attended by FMUL employees, DECAF-FM trainees and members of staff who participated in CAF training. The public presentation of results took place at the Workshop “Self-assessment with CAF in Higher Education: case studies” on 6 December at Aula Magna and was attended by over eighty five people from other higher education institutions.
This process, whose importance was recognized by the Board of the Faculty, will be continued with the preparation and implementation of an Improvement Plan. To ensure that the assessment process is ongoing and seeks continuous improvement, after the plan is implemented its impact must be evaluated, with a view to identifying new changes to be made and which aspects should be maintained.
In the context of the Quality Assurance processes conducted by the University of Lisbon and of the evaluation procedures to be implemented by the Agency for Assessment and Accreditation of Higher Education, it would be highly desirable that this self-assessment model of the services spread to other faculties and was adopted by the University of Lisbon as a tool to improve its administrative procedures. In this case, the Faculty of Medicine would be in a position to take on a leading role in supporting the implementation of this model.
iii) Encourage the “participation in technical and administrative development groups within the University of Lisbon” and closer collaboration with SPUL from 2012
The Faculty of Medicine has always been committed to, and participated actively in the various technical and administrative working groups that have been established within the University of Lisbon, in order to keep its teams abreast of the various activities as they came up, those teams being, more often than not, the promoters of innovative projects that improved responsiveness in terms of effectiveness and efficiency.
More recently, on the occasion of the creation of the Resource Centre and Shared Services of the University of Lisbon, an initiative supported by the Faculty of Medicine in the University’s decision-making bodies, faculty members of staff who wanted to leave and join that new service were free to do so.
At a time when we are faced with endless requests for retirement on the part of our employees who, due to the difficult situation we are experiencing in our country, will not be replaced by new members of staff, it has become increasingly more urgent to see the organization of the services of the Faculty of Medicine in a different light and rethink and foster profound changes in organizational structures and in administrative procedures so as, with fewer resources and funds, we can attempt to maintain the same standard of service provided to users – students, lecturers and all members of staff.
Aware of the need to rethink and consider new forms of administrative organization, which is the only way to cope with the difficulties arising from the present difficult times, and in view of recent changes in the Statutes and Regulations of the Shared Services, which enable greater participation of Faculties and Institutes in its decision-making process and everyday management, the Board of the Faculty of Medicine has decided to start collaborating more actively with the Shared Services – SPUL.
This decision to start this collaboration was not triggered because the services of the Faculty of Medicine lacked proper size, good organization, or correct functioning, but because it is believed that there is a need to start new forms of organization within the University of Lisbon, optimizing resources and creating new synergies. The aim is to increase the levels of efficacy and effectiveness in the context of financial difficulties and growing scarcity of human resources, as those who leave are not being replaced.
In this context of collaboration and optimization of resources and staff within the University of Lisbon, a process in which the Faculty of Medicine will be involved and actively engaged, the Computing Services of the Shared Services – SPUL will be based at the Faculty of Medicine as from the first quarter of 2012, and the current Computing and Information Technologies Unit of FMUL will become part of those services. Throughout 2012, the Financial Unit and the Facilities and Equipment Unit of the Faculty of Medicine will also be part of the Shared Services – SPUL.
This strategic decision to establish a closer collaboration with the Shared Services of the University of Lisbon and to transfer some of the faculty’s existing services to its operational management is a new challenge the organizational structure of the services of the University of Lisbon will need to address from 2012, since it will need to continue the levels of efficiency and quality attained in the current model.
We are confident that once this initial stage of adapting to the new operating model is overcome, the services of the Faculty of Medicine will pursue their Mission and be in a position to focus their resources in the direct support of educational and research activities, of students and lecturers, maintaining the high standards to which they have accustomed users.
Luis Pereira
Coordinating-Secretary FMUL
lap@fm.ul.pt
