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Standards Committee:

The guidance behind UVM information technology support and implementation.
IT-STANDARDS@LIST.UVM.EDU

Statement of Purpose:

The committee serves as a guiding influence on the direction of information technology investment at the University of Vermont.  In the interest of ensuring faster, more consistent, and generally better support for your investments, the committee will set the standards for centrally supported and centrally managed technologies.   These standards will include all types of information technology purchased by the university.
It is not the aim of this group to limit the choices available to members of the university community, but rather to recommend directions for technological investment to individuals and departments.

Why Standards?

In this rapidly paced era of information, new technologies emerge, diversify, and die so quickly that no individual or group can manage them.  It would be impossible for an institution like the University of Vermont to offer centralized support services for all present and past technologies.  Technology standards provide a means of ensuring that all users at the University will have the support necessary to get their jobs done.  By limiting supported technologies, our support staff are able to concentrate on providing comprehensive support for a few products, rather than mediocre support for divergent ones.
It is easier for one group to evaluate emerging technologies and recommend areas in which to invest; by making standards a matter of public record, departments are able to spend less time evaluating individual products and more time getting to know their systems.  Additionally, standards encourage the development of centralized services;  when more members of the community rely on a single technology, it becomes economically feasible to finance and manage that product centrally, thus saving money and easing the support burden on individual departments.  Standards increase productivity and save time and money.

Statement on Transparency:

In order for the technology standards developed by the committee to be accepted, it is vital that all concerned parties understand the reasons for each standard and the considerations put in to their implementation.  It is in this spirit that the committee will strive to make ALL aspects of its operation visible to the general public of the University.
Our policies and procedures will be visible at this web site.   Notes on the standards currently under discussion will be made available as well.  No standard will be implemented without being subjected to an open discussion period of reasonable length AND the approval of UVM's chief information officer.  A list of committee members and project contacts will be available at this site. Additionally, there will be and electronic mailing list, "it-standards@list.uvm.edu", available for open forums.

Last modified March 21 2001 11:04 AM