FAQs

• We recommend brainstorming and having conversations with your team, colleagues and manager to inform your concept proposal, as well as throughout the process.
• Informational Sessions will be available in September to help answer your questions.
• Your proposal will be shareable on the Open Proposals website, which enables features such as comments and likes for you to receive feedback on your proposal.
• Guidance from VI Coaches (PMO/FSC) will be available throughout the call for proposals to help you strengthen your proposal including project planning and budgeting 
• Still have questions? Email us at [email protected] content.

Yes, we also want to include projects that are already in process so that we can measure and track it, and/or help take an existing program to the next level (expand, improve, or enable it).

Absolutely! Go ahead and submit your proposal with your name as the contact person, and include your group in the proposal summary.

Don’t let that stop you! -- VI will be successful because of your ideas! Funding is available for projects, so that you can build your budget to incorporate the necessary resources to implement your project, such as hiring temporary staff or contractors. Coaching on project management, change management, and process improvement will also be available through this program from the Program Management Office and FAS Finance Service Center.

“Value” can be improved in so many ways. Time, cost, or waste reduction can help expand FAS’s capacity to meet the needs of our growing enterprise. Check out our sample proposals for inspiration: Freezers Project and Monthly Reports Project.

This program can help you improve that part of the job that “bugs” you, advance our work to benefit yourself and your colleagues, and provide a great professional development opportunity in lean process improvement. FAS experts and leadership will support your innovative ideas and celebrate your progress along the way.

We have been doing great work on process improvement already, however, it has been on an ad hoc basis, and not always with specific goals or rigorous measurement of improvement.  We want to support a focused, targeted approach, directing our resources and efforts toward the highest-potential experiments to reap greater value for FAS overall. This intentional approach will help point us toward creating the most value for us, our customers and FAS overall.

No, it is not. Participation in Value Improvement will not cut your budget or jobs. This is actually a way to free up your time to work on things that add value. We are looking for ways to improve processes, reduce wait times, or improve the customer experience so that we can better serve the growing UCSF enterprise.

You will receive notification that your proposal has been awarded.  Then you can begin working on your proposed idea.  During the upcoming year, we will have quarterly check-ins to review progress on the projects.

We encourage you to talk with your manager and colleagues to get input on your Value Improvement ideas to make your proposal as strong as possible. Given resource and bandwidth constraints, it may be advantageous to work with your manager to consider project ideas that stem from something you’re already thinking about.

The FAS VI program is managed separately from the UCSF Health Value Improvement program but have a shared vision to help UCSF achieve its goals and fulfill its missions. Both programs learn from one another to support continuous improvement at UCSF. While both programs are focused on increasing value and improving processes, Health has a specific cost savings target and FAS focuses more on value creation. The UCSF Health Quality Symposium showcases projects that are similar to those classified as Value Improvement. Visit this link to learn more: https://vimeo.com/showcase/ucsfhealthimprove2021. 

Coaching during the application stage will help you to clearly define your problem and ensure that your proposed countermeasure addresses the root causes. Coaching can also help you to structure your project plan and determine the benefits/value that will be created. Coaching in the project implementation phase is intended to help you achieve your targets and milestones, by applying problem-solving thinking to mitigate barriers and challenges. Coaches also help you prepare for VI report-outs.

If you are interested in talking with a coach, please email [email protected] or contact your unit’s FAS CI Steering Committee Member.

A committee comprised of representatives from the FAS CI Steering Committee will review the proposals and make a recommendation to the FAS Executive Team for final approval.

• A clear definition of the problem you propose to solve and why it matters.
• Positive ROI – value created is greater than the investment required.
• Implementation of the proposed solution seems feasible.

Yes, the person proposing should aim to lead the project implementation in their department. FAS VI will provide project management assistance if needed. You may also submit team members for your project. We want to avoid projects suggested by one department expecting another department to implement it.