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Division changes name;
realignment brings efficiency

Several offices and their functions have been realigned and incorporated into a newly named Division of Administration. The changes, which took effect Tuesday (Jan. 18), reflect the transportation department’s commitment to group services that are similar into one office, explains administrator Susan Simmons.

“The division, at the direction of the Executive Team, has done a significant amount of research and had a great deal of discussion about the support services involving employees," Simmons said.

"It was concluded that there are areas that overlap between Human Resources, Equal Employment Opportunities (EEO) and Employee Safety. All three organizations today handle issues relating to employees and the management of such (employees) throughout the department.”

Coinciding with the division’s name change, functions of the EEO office related to employees were assumed by the Human Resources Office, as were similar responsibilities previously assigned to Employee Safety and Risk Management. Services not related to employees will be retained by Risk Management, which will continue to operate as a separate office.

Simmons also announced that a Human Resource Council, composed of several individuals throughout the department, will be created in the near future to provide recommendations on employee-related policy and procedures to the Executive Team. The Division of Administration also will work with the Division of Highways to address the roles of the districts in affected areas.

In addition to the realignment, the other organizational change that took place this week delineates the role of the department’s newly created Chief of Technology position. Liza Fox, ITD’s new technology officer, has assumed responsibility for guiding the transformation of the existing Information Services Organization into the new Corporate IT organization.

The division will elaborate on specifics of realignment in the future.