About Shared Service Centers

Shared Services are a way to consolidate and streamline an organization’s administrative functions, such as human resources, payroll and accounts payable, to ensure the most efficient and effective service delivery possible.

Focusing Resources on Academic Priorities

Establishing a Shared Service Center (SSC) for core administrative services will allow the campus to significantly reduce costs and to focus more resources on achieving our academic mission.

As UC Davis has grown in complexity and size, our administrative infrastructure has tended to mirror the university's complexity.  Generally speaking, administrative growth has occurred at the departmental level, with units adding positions or functions based on their own needs and priorities.  The result is a highly decentralized organization, which has both strengths and weaknesses.

Shared services are neither centralized nor decentralized. They capitalize on the plusses of both decentralized and centralized service models, while minimizing the weaknesses of each approach.

Shared Services Implementation

The development of an SSC at UC Davis includes systematic reviews and restructuring of select administrative functions. The development of the shared service center and administrative clusters* is supported at both campus-wide and school/college/division levels.

Participating Divisions

Andrew Dunn, UC Davis Shared Service Center Director

The following divisions are participating in the shared service center:

• Administrative and Resource Management
• Information and Educational Technology           
• Offices of the Chancellor and Provost
• Office of Research (vice chancellor's office only)
• Student Affairs
• Development and Alumni Relations
• External Relations

Currently, the chancellor has mandated only the participation of these administrative units.  However, academic units are welcome to participate, should they choose to do so.

*Administrative Clusters

Several operating units are consolidating their own administrative services into “administrative clusters.” These serve as “mini” shared service centers at the local level by eliminating redundancies and creating efficiencies and cost savings.  Two examples of academic units doing administrative clustering are the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences and the Division of Social Sciences.

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Questions or comments?

Last update: February 13, 2012