Twenty Four Florida Department Of Education Employees Recognized For Major Cost-Saving Projects
Thursday, March 12, 2015
DOE Press Office
850-245-0413
Twenty Four Florida Department Of Education Employees Recognized For Major Cost-Saving Projects
Tallahassee, Fla., March 12, 2015 – Five teams comprised of Florida Department of Education (FDOE) employees are winners of the 2015 Prudential Productivity Award for their innovative solutions and productivity improvements in state government. The 27th annual awards ceremony, held today at the Leon County Civic Center, conferred 217 cash and plaque awards to nearly 850 individuals and teams of state employees.
“I am very proud of our employees’ tireless efforts to improve services for Florida’s citizens,” said Commissioner of Education Pam Stewart. “I also commend them for their commitment to customer service and efficiency.”
The department’s award-winning teams were honored for their work on the projects listed below:
- Looking Out For Florida’s Taxpayers
Staff developed an automated state reporting system that allows school districts to submit cost data to a web portal, where the data can be reviewed quickly, accurately and consistently. This is a significant improvement over the previous reporting system, which required manual reviews involving numerous staff hours. Under the new system, school districts are provided speedier feedback regarding their data, saving the districts – as well as the state – time and money.
- Ticket to Work
A team in the Division of Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) developed and incorporated numerous process enhancements that improved the accuracy and integrity of data for VR consumers. This resulted in using fewer resources to accomplish the goals of the program, which yielded an ongoing cost savings to the state and an increase in program income of more than $3 million.
- Process Action Team
The Education Practices Commission (EPC) created a team to re-imagine its existing records archiving process. The team determined EPC could operate more efficiently by eliminating two part time positions as well as discontinuing outsourcing for bulk scanning and copying services. EPC then hired one full-time staff member to take on both part-time requirements and the outsourcing work that will continue to result in a net savings of more than $10,000.00 every year.
- Eliminating Duplicate Equipment Cost Team
The Bureau of Educator Certification eliminated duplicate departmental resources while maintaining high-quality customer service. Structuring this method of shared resources allowed the team to terminate its lease agreement with an outsourced company, which resulted in an annual cost savings of $1,533.96 to the agency. With this accomplishment, the team will save taxpayers more than $7,500 of taxpayers’ money during the next five years.
- Christian Masal (Individual Winner)
Christian Masal expedited the implementation of assistive technology orders to improve client services, placement efforts and allow for efficient placement and successful planned outcomes of blind clients.
The Prudential Productivity Awards program recognizes and rewards hard-working state employees who create and implement innovative, cost-saving and efficiency improvements. The program, founded and sponsored by the independent, nonprofit government watchdog research institute Florida TaxWatch, is co-sponsored by the state of Florida.
The program also strives to encourage state agencies to work together to replicate the savings across state government. Since 1989, thousands of individuals, teams, work units and partnerships have produced nearly $9 billion worth of added value as a direct result of award winners' achievements and the replication of those achievements. Over the program's 27-year history, Florida TaxWatch has discovered more inter-agency cooperation and increased teamwork among award winners to bring savings to Floridians.
For a full list of winners, visit Florida TaxWatch.
Read More News...