by J. Brooks Terry
Staff Writer
Before overhauling case management systems at the Duval County Courthouse, Clerk of the Courts Jim Fuller will use data compiled by two independent business consultants as a guide.
Ted Senior and Tracey Crosbourne started in February and, according to Fuller and assistant clerk Jack Sparrow, they will make recommendations to improve efficiency in every clerical department.
“I just felt like it was time to look at our whole operation,” said Fuller. “But more importantly, I felt like we needed someone from the outside to look at it so we could have an accurate reflection on what we’re doing here.”
Senior and Crosbourne were selected from a pool of over 35 applicants and have combined consulting experience with Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Florida, Cendant Mortgage and Chase Manhattan Bank.
“I’m impressed with their credentials and we expect to get some wonderful feedback from them,” said Fuller.
Sparrow said the case management system currently in place was designed several years ago and has remained largely unchanged.
“The City actually designed the system we’re using now and it is a good system,” he said. “However, it’s also very old and becoming more and more outdated every year.”
Sparrow said Senior and Crosbourne will work independently and analyze every department, making recommendations as they go.
“We’ll get together periodically and correlate our data,” said Crosbourne. “We’ll then incorporate our findings into a final report.”
Sparrow said Crosbourne and Senior are under contract until Aug. 31.
“It’s a very involved process and it will take some time before we have all the information we need,” he said. “But they’re already identifying some of our bottlenecks, which is great.
“This is the kind of information we need before we issue a Request for Proposals and implement a better system.”
Even after the report is issued, Crosbourne said she and Senior may stay on while a software developer works from their collected data.
“We’re really working from more of the business side,” she said, “but they want us to stay while the new applications are being developed. There is an option to extend our contract for another year and half.”
The goal of the system, she said, will be to streamline all departments by eliminating unnecessary and conflicting computer applications.
“For instance,” she said. “We’ve only looked at four departments, but in those four we’ve found six applications being used. Things like that make it very difficult to cross train employees, for example.
“When we’re finished we’d like to see a maximum of two systems for the entire clerk’s office.”
Crosbourne said a transition into more web-based applications — employees currently work from a mainframe — is also likely.
“We’re confident that once a new system in put in place, the clerk’s office will be run in a manner that is more cost effective and efficient than it has been in the past,” said Senior.