Across the higher education landscape, staffing challenges are a familiar reality. Whether due to budget constraints, burnout, or career transitions, institutions grapple with the long-term implications of team reductions. And while the departure of a colleague is never easy, it’s the knowledge that leaves with them that can create real operational disruption.
If your team has ever scrambled to find the latest version of a grant rubric or piece together a workflow from someone’s inbox, you’re not alone.
From research offices to graduate schools and beyond, staff reductions are no longer isolated events—they’re part of a broader trend. The 2023 CUPA-HR Higher Education Workforce Survey found that nearly 60% of institutions experienced increased employee turnover over the last year, citing limited professional growth, stagnant wages, and burnout as top reasons for attrition.
Federal and state funding shortfalls have only accelerated this trend. As Inside Higher Ed reported, “Hiring freezes and delayed backfills are common, leaving remaining employees to absorb additional responsibilities—often without additional training or resources.”
When key staff leave, it’s not just workloads that shift—it’s the loss of years of institutional knowledge, customized processes, and personal judgment calls that once kept things running smoothly.
When processes live in someone’s head—or worse, in their personal email folders or spreadsheets—teams become vulnerable. The departure of a single staff member can delay application reviews, confuse committee members, and leave new hires struggling to piece together workflows.
Without centralized documentation:
A 2022 EDUCAUSE QuickPoll on knowledge management in higher ed found that over 70% of respondents cited “lack of centralized documentation” as a key risk during staff transitions.
The stakes are even higher when those processes involve critical funding decisions, such as limited submissions, internal grants, or student fellowships.
This is where InfoReady proves invaluable—not just as a process tool, but as a continuity solution.
With InfoReady, all application materials, review notes, routing steps, and decision records live in one secure platform—accessible to whoever takes over. New staff can immediately see what was done, how it was done, and what’s next.
“We try to use InfoReady any time we need to collect information, signatures, approvals, keep records, and process reports,” said Hillary Creely, Associate Dean at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. “
Tasks like application tracking, reviewer assignments, and deadline reminders are handled automatically. That means the system—not the person—remembers what needs to happen and when.
"InfoReady has really helped with setting up our processes because it has so many of them built-in," said Rebecca Latimer, PhD, Research Program Director, University of Virginia Comprehensive Cancer Center. "And we can house all these documents in one place in InfoReady so we can make sure the right documents go to the right people."
Templates, rubrics, and review processes can be reused and adapted across competitions. That consistency means less confusion and better decision-making, even during team transitions.
"There’s more standardization of what the applicants are expecting to upload, or we’ve been able to be really clear about what we need from people," said Julie DeJager Deputy Associate Director for Administration, Case Western Reserve University Comprehensive Cancer Center. "Our whole process has been a little bit more standardized, and that’s really useful.“
If your office hasn’t yet prepared for the impact of staff transitions, now’s the time. Here’s how to future-proof your processes:
1. Audit Where Critical Information Lives
Start by mapping where applications, reviewer notes, rubrics, and decisions are currently stored. If they’re scattered across emails, folders, or outdated systems, you’re at risk.
Move key processes—including application intake, routing, and approvals—into a single digital workspace. Ensure permissions are set appropriately and that team members can easily access historical records.
InfoReady’s built-in documentation, onboarding guides, and responsive support team make it easy for new hires to get up to speed quickly—without needing someone to explain every step.
“The staff at InfoReady is more dedicated than any other team I’ve worked with. They truly want to help you succeed,” one user noted.
Budget cuts aren’t going away. Staff departures will continue. But the risk of losing institutional knowledge doesn’t have to come with them.
With centralized systems like InfoReady in place, you’re not just managing your current workload—you’re preparing your office to thrive, no matter who’s in the seat tomorrow.
Because in higher ed, consistency isn’t just helpful. It’s mission-critical.
Want to see how InfoReady can make staff transitions seamless?
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