Asset Management: Identifying and Evaluating our Roadway System

Historically SCDOT ranks in the top 10 each year for highway conditions and cost-effectiveness as rated by the Reason Foundation. With billions of dollars invested and billions to be invested it makes sense to invest the public's tax dollars as wisely as possible. Therefore, assessing what we have or better yet what condition what we have is in can be vital to public safety and setting priorities. The focus of this project is on the maintenance responsibility of Roadway Inspection as outlined in SCDOT Engineering Directive Memorandum #8. This memorandum is a portion of the way SCDOT provides for the safety of the traveling public and keeps South Carolina's most expensive asset in working order.

Building an Improved Community Support System

This research will serve to evaluate the current processes and procedures in place for the Community Case Management training, data entry, and quality assurance at the Department of Juvenile Justice. The goal of the research is to identify and establish a framework for a universal unit within the agency that will enhance the effectiveness of Case Management by consolidating and streamlining information to reduce conflicting standards to create a stronger support unit, and to facilitate learning and understanding for the staff.

Creating Partnerships: Computer Training with Assistive Technology for Senior Adults

Currently, at the SC Commission for the Blind, there is no opportunity for computer training for adults in the Older Blind Program. The Older Blind Program has to look for outside partners to make this service viable again. This project proposes that the OB Program partner with regional senior and recreation centers to establish a community-based training program that is both effective and is of minimal cost to the agency and to the partnering centers.

Enhancement to the Mortgage Licensing Process

The Consumer Finance Division of the South Carolina State Board of Financial Institutions is responsible for the supervision, licensing and examination of all consumer finance companies, deferred presentment companies, check cashing companies, and non-depository mortgage lenders and their loan originators. This project specifically focuses on the licensing of Mortgage Lender/Servicer ( company), Mortgage Lender/Servicer Branch (branch) and Mortgage Loan Originator (loan originator) licenses. The problem statement is how the Division can handle increasing the number of mortgage loan originators in the state without delaying the time to process applications. The goal of this project is to make the current licensing process more efficient so that the Division can handle the increased workload without having to hire additional personnel.

Evaluating Methods of Calculating the Fixed Fee on Professional Service Contracts

The South Carolina Department of Transportation routinely retains Professional Consulting Engineering firms to provide engineering design and related professional services for the preparation of construction plans or design-build Request for Proposal bid packages for a wide variety of Federal-aid Highway Program roadway and bridge construction projects throughout South Carolina.The purpose of this project is to examine the current process of determining a "Fair and Reasonable" fixed fee for professional service contracts and to evaluate possible alternative methods including practices in other states that may improve the process, particularly in light of the considerable variation in audited overhead rates among consulting firms. In reviewing such alternative methods particular attention will be given to evaluating the potential impact of the method as an incentive to consulting firms to effectively manage their overhead costs.

Evaluation and Process Improvement of Federal Excess Property for Fire Departments

Currently, there are two federal programs related to excess federal property in which the South Carolina Forestry Commission participates. There is a need to streamline the process for applying for federal excess property as well as tracking its location once it has been received and assigned.

General ledger account coding

The Supplier-Relationship Management system is used by SC Department of Motor Vehicles personnel to requisition most purchases of services and materials for DMV purposes. General ledger account codes are first assigned by the shopping cart preparer. Administrative departments such as procurement, payables and budget regularly correct general ledger codes during the purchasing cycle to ensure proper reporting. DMV goals are consistent with accurate reporting of expenditures by general ledger account code. Incorrect reporting would be contrary to DMV' s vision of promoting effective and efficient business processes. Journal entries increased from 34 to 66 in FY2014 and FY20152 ; with a notable amount correcting the general ledger code. This project examines the assignment or correction of general ledger account codes for DMV's planned purchases for the purpose of process improvement.

How to Efficiently Control the Title and Registration Mail-in Workload Backlog Processing

The Titles and Registration Mail-In Unit of the Department of Motor Vehicles only processes title and registration work that has been mailed in. During the time periods of May through June and November through January, the mail workload backlog becomes overbearing. This research will attempt to find out the cause of this increase backlog during those periods, determine what procedures or steps are currently in place and unnecessarily creating needless work that has a direct correlation with the backlog and deploy a recommendation that will totally eliminate peak time backlog work loads.

Improving the Asset Inventory Process

The South Carolina Department of Education (SCDE) is required by the State of South Carolina to provide an accurate physical count of all Capitalized assets listed on their inventory by the end of the fiscal year. There were no published procedures for employees to follow as guidelines for identifying, tracking, reporting and disposing of assets. This has led to errors in identifying items that require asset numbers, completing the shopping carts and transfer/disposal of assets. These errors cause additional work for the Asset Accountant, Procurement Analyst and Accounts Payable Supervisor. The scope of this project is to improve the fixed asset process by developing and publishing asset inventory procedures to ensure accountability and accuracy of all item listed on SCDE inventory.

Internal Improvements to SCDOT Project Delivery for Construction Projects

The purpose of this research project is to investigate project delivery as it relates to construction projects to help support the Department of Transportation's vision. The project delivery goals of the Agency as it relates to this research include: Fifty percent of construction projects are completed on schedule ; Ninety-five percent of projects are closed out within 270 days ; Seventy-five percent of construction projects are authorized on schedule. The goals of this project are to determine what factors contribute to unsuccessful project delivery and determine how these factors can be improved. This project will mainly investigate Construction roles during the Preconstruction phase of the project as well as examine the project during construction and identify areas that prohibit effective and timely project delvery.

LLR OHR Onboarding & OIE New Hire Orientation

Currently, there is no formal orientation process within Office of Investigations & Enforcement of the South Carolina Department of Labor, Licensing & Regulation for new hire investigators. The Office of Human Resources has identified this as an opportunity for improvement because research shows that engaging employees early in their career leads to greater employee satisfaction levels, productivity, and retention. This paper investigates ways to remedy this situation.

Into the Spotlight: Bringing Transparency, Consistency, and Efficiency to the Division of Appeals and Hearings

Currently, the Division of Appeals and Hearings of the South Carolina Department of Health and Human Services has no specific presence on the agency's website to provide information or to allow for the electronic submission of appeals. This project's focus was developing an online presence for the Division on SCDHHS' website. The page will make the Division's procedures publicly available to beneficiaries, providers, and agency program staff who attend hearings. Additionally, parties will have a secure online portal through which they can file appeals and upload supporting documentation, reducing the need to send appeals via first class mail. The online appeal portal will further the agency' s goal of reducing paper.

Making Board Meetings More Secure and Efficient: Purging the Paper

The Division of Professional and Occupational Licensing is an administrative unit within the Department of Labor, Licensing, and Regulation that provides support to 40 professional and occupational regulatory boards. All board members need documents to review during the meeting. Some boards use a fleet of dated laptops during the meetings to give board members the meeting materials in PDF format; however many of boards still print the meeting materials and put them into binders. .In today's age, there has to be a more efficient way to conduct meetings without all of the paper. This paper explores alternatives to paper and laptops for use at these meetings. It was concluded that a tablet with a Windows Operating System would be the best way to go.

The Take Home Car Advantage

This paper explores the idea of police officers from Conway being able to take their police cars home instead of leaving them at the station and having an assigned vehicle instead of a shared one.

Using Kofax Solutions for Process Improvement

One of the ways the South Carolina State Housing Finance and Development Authority fulfills this mission is through the purchase and servicing of mortgage loans. The 2007 Recession resulted in decreased revenues for the department while higher default, foreclosure and bankruptcy rates increased the department's manpower cost. The agency has since acquired different servicing software which complies with current industry regulations and is once again servicing the loans that it purchases. This project is to see if the department could improve any of their overall processes by using existing technologies and software to better utilize the new servicing system while minimizing manual tasks. This paper explores whether the existing Kofax Document Recognition system could improve this process and reduce overall employee time and effort?