Mark Hopton, assistant vice president for University Business Services, said that the name change reflects the university-wide scope of the department's mission and that he hopes to alleviate confusion between the functions of the office itself and the overall concept of shared services.

"UBS' focus is on consolidating business functions, standardizing processes and delivering efficiencies through business process re-engineering," Hopton said. "This change reflects a university-wide focus on business processes, emphasizing the university's commitment to modify our current business practices.

"This should also allow our internal and external stakeholders to better understand the partnership that exists among all planning units, as UBS strengthens its support to the university."

The shared services model is one of several initiatives designed to support Vision OHIO including strategic procurement, pay and classification planning, academic support unit program review, strategic enrollment management and sustainability planning. Officials are also looking at utilizing shared services to improve efficiencies in information technology and communications and marketing.

University Business Services will provide the support services and guidance necessary to implement a shared services model as an integral part of the Ohio University culture. University Business Services manages the following departments: Procurement, Accounts Payable, Payroll, Travel, Expense Reimbursement and the Business Service Center.

Hopton stressed, however, that the name change does not reflect a fundamental change in the day-to-day operations of the unit.

Projects on the horizon for University Business Services include expanding the role of e-business at the university by automating certain business processes, developing enhanced invoice routing and approval in Accounts Payable and expanding the functionality of Oracle in order to reduce the operating costs associated with updating employee information, printing pay stubs and verifying employment.

University Business Services is located at 168 HDL Center on West Union St. and can be reached at 740-597-3165.