President William Powers Jr. endorsed the final report and recommendations produced by the Shared Services Steering Committee in a letter dated Monday. 

In the letter, addressed to the UT community, Powers said he expects Kevin Hegarty, vice president and chief financial officer, to carry out the change in a “thoughtful manner.”

“I thank the Shared Services Steering Committee, Vice President Hegarty, the campus leaders who have volunteered to participate in this next critical phase of transformation, and all members of the UT staff for the important work they do every day,” Powers said in the letter. 

As defined by Hegarty, Shared Services is a plan to centralize University services across campus. The plan outlines the elimination of 500 jobs — primarily through attrition and retirement, according to University officials — to centralize finance, information technology, human resources and procurement services.

The committee’s final report, endorsed by Powers, outlines the findings and recommendations produced by the committee through its exploration of Shared Services implementation at UT. 

In the report, the committee provided recommendations on how best to conduct a pilot version of implementation. According to the report, the committee will take a closer look at existing forms of Shared Services on campus, particularly those at the College of Liberal Arts and McCombs School of Business, as well as pursue test runs in colleges, schools and units that volunteer and have structures conducive to centralization.

Now that Powers has endorsed the plan, UT spokesman Kevin Almasy said the Shared Services project team will start meeting with pilot participants to begin developing a transition plan.