Below are samples of the types of projects that the UBC team has worked on in the past. Reference our Service Offerings and request a project if you have a challenge we could work on solving together!
Capital Strategy & Planning Framework and Organization Development
UBC provided a full year of dedicated support to assist in the development of the framework and staffing plan for the newly launched Capital Strategy and Planning (CS&P) unit. The completed work enables CS&P to carry out consistent and uniform planning and prioritization of capital expenditures, alignment with university strategic goals, integration with Mason budgeting processes, completion of the Six-Year and Two-Year Capital Outlay Plans, and hiring of three new CS&P employees. During the course of the project, UBC interviewed over 15 Mason staff, researched best practices, reviewed current CS&P processes, and reviewed and documented the Commonwealth of Virginia CS&P requirements, processes, and systems. UBC also defined and scoped a Mason Small Capital Improvement Program that was executed in Spring of 2022.
Shuttle Ridership Dashboard
In Fall 2021, OBSDAT analyzed the current Mason shuttle ridership and created a dashboard that illustrates the hourly ridership trends for each shuttle. By comparing this information to the university’s costs per shuttle and shuttle capacity, OBSDAT was able to recommend a series of service adjustments that resulted in an estimated savings of $1.7M per year. OBSDAT continues to analyze the most recent data to support data-driven decision making by the Parking & Transportation team.
Parking Spot Availability Dashboard
In 2021, the OBS Data Analytics Team (OBSDAT) – a sub-service of UBC established to provide quick and insightful data visualization and analysis – worked with the Parking & Transportation team to create a new online form and an automated process for the parking staff to record parking spot availability, thereby replacing the more labor-intensive pen and paper method. From the data, OBSDAT built a dashboard that shows parking lot availability trends over time, which has been useful in understanding how parking patterns have changed since COVID-19.
COVID Testing PMO
Since the start of the COVID-19 outbreak, UBC led the project management support to Mason’s COVID Director for Mason’s Safe Return to Campus COVID response. This effort included establishing and coordinating 22 different working groups made up of units across campus focused on all aspects of Mason’s planning and response, including procuring critical supplies, adjusting HR policies, instructional and research continuity, communications, event planning, travel restrictions, financial management, and many others. UBC, in partnership with the COVID Director, established a governance and reporting structure for the work of these groups that kept senior leadership informed on progress towards opening in hybrid form in Fall 2020 and beyond.
UBC also established the COVID Testing Project Management Office (PMO) (which included Mason’s COVID Director, the SEERM team, and Student Health Services) as it successfully executed Mason’s testing strategy. The PMO developed the testing plans, including expanding surveillance testing and pre-move in testing, and then implemented them by coordinating across various testing implementation teams, primarily focused on Test Site Operations and Logistics, HR, ITS, Procurement, and the College of Science. Mason set up its own internal labs in the College of Science to process the tests, which required IT systems, additional staffing, procurement of robotics, and an operational plan that aligned with the lab’s throughput capacities, and more. UBC coordinated these efforts to establish our own internal lab testing, as well as negotiated external contracts for at-home test kits to accommodate surge, peak period residential move-in testing. As of Spring 2022, Mason has processed over 223,000 tests.
UBC’s capabilities in project management, stakeholder engagement, financial modeling, and procurement have supported the successful containment of COVID cases on Mason’s campuses.
