The University of Auckland’s Blueprint for Improving Administrative Efficiency

In March 2025, higher education leaders congregated in Washington, D.C., to kick off EAB’s Roundtable for Chief Business Officers, which focused on these leaders’ most pressing challenges, such as effectively navigating organizational change.

While many institutions face common barriers to organizational transformations, tailoring strategies to an institution’s unique context fosters greater success. Therefore, EAB experts shared three detailed case studies illustrating unique paths to successful organizational transformation.

One such example is the University of Auckland, which transformed its administrative structure and streamlined institutional processes with a new professional service administration strategy known as the Function Lead Model. Read on to learn about the Function Lead Model and see how your institution can learn from Auckland’s success.