Project Appraisal and Prioritization Process

The Project Appraisal and Prioritization Process (PAPP) is designed to facilitate the effective implementation of CFO initiatives in a manner that ensures that organizational resources are deployed effectively. It is also intended to support implementation through careful prioritization, planning and as well as monitoring of results.

The PAPP is a sequence of steps whose purpose is to:

• ensure a systematic appraisal of the cost and benefits of projects;
• examine potential conflicts or synergies with other institutional projects;
• establish priorities among projects;
• ensure adequacy of resources; and
• provide management support and oversight in the implementation of initiatives.

How to get started

Projects that routinely take place within a unit for standard operational improvement efforts are not expected to go through PAPP. A project should be submitted through PAPP if any of the follow holds true:

• The impact of the project goes beyond the unit (viz., the project will affect workflows of other units or require collaboration from other units).
• Requires resources from the IT group that exceeds 250 hours.
• Personnel or financial resources from outside of the requesting unit will be needed for the project and hours are expected to exceed 250 hours or budget for the project is over $50,000 including cost of new personnel, excluding facilities or infrastructure updates.
• Projects that would be submitted for approval as part of the System Office budget review process.

For projects that do not meet the above criteria, and you would like to notify the committee and CFO Leadership of your initiative, please fill out only Part 1 of the PAPP Proposal. This type of project will be designated as informational (FYI) only and can be presented to the committee. Sharing your smaller scale project will contribute to the CFO organization's understanding of ongoing initiatives.

Any unit or department can initiate a project request by completing a brief Project Initiation Proposal document. A successful proposal must contain the following:

• Aticipated benefits that are expected upon the completion of the project, including improvements to current operations.
• An initial assessment of the scope of the project.
• Identification of all project stakeholders.
• Identificaiton of any risks associated with the project.
• A preliminary assessment of the types of resources required for the proejct.
• An explaination of how the project aligns with the stated aims and goals on the organization.

All proposals should be submitted to the senior administrator responsible for division from which the proposal originates, hereby known as the “executive sponsor” of the project. The executive sponsor should carefully review the information provided in the project proposal. Preliminary conversations with major stakeholders should also occur to verify the assumptions and rationale of the project.

Upon completion of the above steps and approval by the executive sponsor and the unit head, the completed Project Initiation Proposal must be submitted to Karen Greenwalt (greenwlt@uillinois.edu).

Project Initiation Proposal Form

Need Assistance?

If you have an idea for a project and need assistance developing the idea and completing the required proposal, please use the following form to request assistance.

Project Idea Form

Committee Schedule

Proposals are due two weeks prior to the next committee meeting. Schedules and deadlines are listed below. The requestor will be asked to present in the next committee meeting as space allows. Given time constraints of the committee meeting, up to three proposals can be reviewed each month. If additional proposals require review prior to the next meeting, an off-cycle review may be considered.

Common questions about PAPP

What goes through the Project Approval and Prioritization Process?

The CFO Project Approval and Prioritization Process (PAPP) is for CFO and CFO unit projects. Projects that routinely take place within a CFO unit for standard operational improvement efforts are not expected to go through PAPP. A project should be submitted through PAPP if any of the follow holds true:

• The impact of the project goes beyond the unit (viz., the project will affect workflows of other units or require collaboration from other units).
• Requires resources from the IT group that exceeds 250 hours.
• Personnel or financial resources from outside of the requesting unit will be needed for the project and hours are expected to exceed 250 hours or budget for the project is over $50,000 including cost of new personnel, excluding facilities or infrastructure updates.
• Projects that would be submitted for approval as part of the System Office budget review process.
• Projects that don’t meet these criteria, but you would like to inform the committee and CFO Leadership on, you can complete Part 1 of the PAPP Proposal and it will be reviewed at the PAPP and CFO meetings. These would be considered FYI only projects.

Do all ITPC projects need to go through the PAPP process?

No. Only CFO unit ITPC projects are required to go through PAPP. ITPC projects done for the Registrar, for instance, would not go through PAPP as the Registrar is not a CFO unit.

Do mandatory CFO ITPC projects go through the PAPP process?

Yes, but only as an FYI. Sponsors of mandatory CFO-related ITPC projects do not need to do anything special, just complete the mandatory ITPC proposal as you have in the past. Project summary information from the most recent ITPC meeting will be reviewed at the PAPP project intake committee meetings and will be passed along to CFO leadership for their review. The complete list of proposals for all ITPC projects will be available on the ITPC website.

Do CFO projects have to go through PAPP prior to ITPC?

Yes. The PAPP project intake committee meets once a month. If there is a timing issue in relation to the ITPC review cycle, the committee can also review things via email or have an off-cycle emergency meeting. Any concerns of this should be mentioned when submitting the proposal.

Do I have to complete a PAPP proposal AND a separate ITPC proposal?

No. If it is a mandatory project, the Mandatory ITPC project proposal is submitted as part of the ITPC meeting materials. No separate document needs to be created for Mandatory ITPC projects.

For all other ITPC projects, the PAPP proposal matches a Level 2 ITPC proposal. ITPC will accept the PAPP proposal as is for all level 1 and level 2 ITPC projects. PAPP proposals that are large enough meet the ITPC Level 3 criteria will need the additional Level 3 ITPC proposal information included as an appendix.

What do I do if I need help filling out the form?

Submit the Project Idea Form and someone from System Offices Shared Services will reach out to you within one business day.

I have an idea for a project, what should I do?

Submit the Project Idea Form and someone from System Offices Shared Services will reach out to you within one business day to assist in developing the idea and filling out the proposal.