Dear Members
I am writing to you to announce some important changes to the HEUG Organization. Advisory Groups are a fundamental element of the HEUG, critical to informing the Board about the needs of the HEUG community, both in terms of their business challenges and their future direction in the use of Oracle solutions to support their activities.
In 2016 the Board signaled the need to rethink our existing advocacy structures to better position the organization as the technology landscape around us changes rapidly. The HEUG Board then assembled an Advisory Group Reorganization work group to review the current advisory group structure.
The HEUG Board reviewed and endorsed recommendations from this work group during its July 2017 Board meeting. The Board believes that the changes I am announcing today will ensure that the HEUG continues to serve the needs of its community, and meet its core objectives of advocacy and education across the board range of technology and business areas it represents. The changes will balance our commitment to continued representation across existing product solutions used by HEUG members while preparing the organization to be able to engage on future challenges and solutions.
The changes to the advisory groups will be:
- Budgeting; General Ledger; Grants, Contracts and Billing; and Procure to Pay will be consolidated into a single advisory group
- Constituent Experience and Outreach and Contributor Relations will be consolidated into a single advisory group
- Reporting and Business Intelligence will be consolidated with the Technical Advisory Group
- New advisory groups will be established in the near future to ensure the HEUG keeps pace with changing technologies and continues to meet the needs of member institutions
The changes will take effect from the Advisory Group Summit in March 2018. The upcoming advisory group elections and the available positions will reflect these new advisory group compositions. The Board strongly encourages those that have been considering making a contribution to the HEUG through participating in an advisory group to do so through these new groups where positions are available. The Board is also pleased to be able to provide opportunities for members to contribute to new advisory groups in the future and announcements about these groups will follow. This is an exciting time to become involved in the HEUG as it broadens its capacity for advocacy and education!
It is important to note that this will not impact Alliance 2018 in terms of tracks and sessions so please put forward your proposed presentations as usual. There will also be no immediate changes to product enhancement trackers and community listservs so you can continue to communicate with your current advisory groups, and each other, as you have previously.
The Board will work with the current advisory group membership to successfully transition to the new structure over the coming weeks and months and ensure the work they have been undertaking on your behalf continues to be progressed. We also want to hear your feedback about the changes so please contact HEUG Support and let us know your thoughts.
The Board wishes to thank all current and previous advisory group members for their contributions under the current structure and looks forward to working with continuing and new members under the new arrangements. I firmly believe that these changes will better position the HEUG to continue to provide strong advocacy around existing product suites and to keep pace with the ever-changing business and technology challenges and opportunities of our members.
Regards,
Jane Broad
HEUG President