March 6, 2025
We've completed initial vetting and posted two recent submissions to the CU Innovation & Efficiency (CU I&E) Awards Program website this week. Here's what some of your colleagues have done to make CU work better:
Email Inbox Automation Through Outlook Rules
On the Boulder Campus, Kayla Berg leveraged the Outlook rules feature to implement automated actions, based on specific email conditions, and thereby streamline management of the main inbox for the Office of Contracts and Grants (OCG). OCG receives 1-2,000 emails/month. Thanks to the new Outlook rules, each month, 54% of incoming emails (over 800 messages) are now automatically routed to the correct destination. Furthermore, sponsor emails that require special handling by specific individuals are highlighted with unique category tags: the visual cues have markedly improved accuracy in follow-through actions. Overall, the project is saving the OCG administrative team approximately 10 hours of time and effort every month.
The office is delighted to take advantage of no-cost tools to eliminate tedious tasks, reduce job stress, and create time for staff to focus on tasks requiring more brain power.
Read more about it here: Email Inbox Automation Through Outlook Rules.
On Time, On Budget: The Key to Award Management Success
At Anschutz Medical Campus, a team comprised of Trevor Sooy, Kelly Rago, Anabel Adler, and David Vu, transformed a set of manual processes by developing a webform and a management database (using FileMaker Pro) to streamline award tracking from proposal submission to award closeout. The new system ensures awards are properly set up, with accurate SpeedTypes and funding allocations, automates notifications to PIs of upcoming progress report deadlines, and helps the internal team monitor financial reports.
The project has increased efficiency, reduced errors, and improved compliance and communication among teams. In addition, staff can spend more time focusing on strategic oversight and less time chasing deadlines.
Read more about it here: On Time, On Budget: The Key to Award Management Success.
Learn more about these and other innovations on the CU I&E Awards Program website: Check out CU I&E Current Submissions.
Don't forget to share your own innovations! This year's Awards Program will be accepting submissions through end of day, Monday, March 31, 2025.