I believe that we need to think broadly as we conceive the future of IT at UVM, but I also believe that we must temper our recommendations with a healthy dose of reality. We have an important opportunity here to move the role of IT on our campus forward in significant ways. If our recommendations are too grand or require an immediate shift in the organizational culture, we run the risk of developing another report to sit beside so many others on the shelf.
Vision
In order to enhance the capabilities of UVM as a learning community committed to the creation, integration, interpretation, and application of knowledge for the benefit of society, we endeavor to provide each member of this community with the latest information technology. Information technology serves a critical role in our academic endeavors, supporting teaching, learning and research while enhancing the effectiveness of those who support these activities.
If there is anything we know today about higher education and technology, it is that the pace and scope of change is unprecedented. At every hand, we can see that patterns in creating new knowledge and disseminating it broadly will continue to change as informational and educational technologies become part of the faculty member's and student's academic lifestyle. Therefore, flexibility in envisioning and planning for information technology will be crucial in ensuring the viability of these activities as we move into the future. In addition, an emphasis on connectivity which will support continuing technological advances is essential as we move in directions we can only anticipate at this stage.
IT Leadership
We have a serious need on this campus for leadership in the information technology arena. Like so many of our efforts, we have many fine examples of achievement in IT. What we lack in IT is institutional focus and direction. The blurring of technologies previously considered separately, such as computing and multimedia, print and electronic information, local databases and international networks, just to name a few, creates an environment where coordination and coherence in our approach to technology are essential to our effectiveness as a university. In considering new leadership for IT, we should be looking for ways to promote coordination, to enhance collaboration, to learn from local successes and translate them into campus wide programs. We need to think carefully about the academic mission of the institution and find avenues for enriching this mission through technology. We need to develop and manage information technology as a strategic resource, but we must not view IT as an end unto itself. We need to focus this resource more deliberately, but we need to do this in ways which will not undermine the creativity and diversity of our academic programs or impair the effectiveness of our business operations.
The IT Leader will provide a focal point for the articulation of the value and potential for information technology for the university. Working with the IT Council (see below), the IT Leader will have responsibility for coordination and oversight of IT activities throughout the campus, both academic and administrative. Initially, this will be implemented through a combination of direct reporting lines and a secondary line of accountability for deans and directors with IT operations (in addition to the Provost/VP). Over time, some of these activities will converge into a more cohesive IT organization.
The IT Leader will be a senior executive reporting at a high level within the organization. The specific reporting line should be left at the discretion of the President, recognizing that reorganization of the senior administration may occur in the near future.
The IT Council will be made up of the key campus stakeholders in information technology:
Responsibilities of the IT Council will include strategic IT planning, involvement in the development of annual unit IT plans, decision making for major campus investments, consideration of appropriate standards, investigation of funding issues, and facilitation of communication.
IT Budgetary Issues
Like the organizational reporting lines described above, IT budgeting would consist of a combination of direct responsibility for unit budgets and dual responsibility, with the Provost or appropriate VP, for IT budgets within colleges, schools, or administrative units. Coordination of existing resources in various loci would occur with institutional objectives in mind, but unit priorities would continue to be set, after appropriate consultation, by the dean/director. Areas for improving the effectiveness of IT operations through closer coordination will be pursued, particularly in the area of training and support. Consolidation of some budgetary resources would be sought in order to provide funds for program improvement as an incentive for greater collaboration.
IT Coherence
The question of IT standards should be engaged at the highest level. Core campus systems should function in an open systems environment based on non-proprietary platforms and open standards, ensuring interoperability with other campus and external information systems.
While we recognize the richness that a diverse selection of IT solutions can bring to the higher education environment, we also appreciate the value of having a coherent information technology infrastructure. Exploration and research into alternate and emerging technologies must be fostered, but not at the expense of a compatible functioning infrastructure. Exploration activities should be coordinated to avoid "reinventing the wheel". Recommendations and other results should be published (preferably via the Web or similar technology). There should be a codified process for determining if, when and how alternative technologies go from research to "production". (Roger Lawson)
Opportunities for setting standards in campus communication systems, such as email and calendaring, should be actively pursued. Current solutions from our existing testbed, such as those present in the School of Business and Fletcher Allen Healthcare, should be seriously considered for broader adoption.
Training
The current IT curriculum is quite extensive, although it has been developed for diverse audiences and is largely uncoordinated. There are specific gaps in this program, such as in the area of instructional technology. Assessment of the needs of students, faculty and staff for IT instruction and training is required, as well as an evaluation of the effectiveness of current programs in meeting these needs. The coordination of these offerings, together with a more coherent approach to planning for a comprehensive program of training and instruction is needed.
Infrastructure
I have little to add to the statements of Joe Patlak and others in this regard:
Like the areas of standards, support infrastructure differs depending on its target. In the case of the central administrative systems the basic hardware support should include all central systems, all the way out to the maintenance of the basic desktop environment, i.e. the telephone model. Further, software and configuration support at the end user should be a strong collaboration between central and local support personnel, with the overall goal of minimizing employee time spent on tasks for which they haven't been trained.
The support infrastructure for the academic community should largely parallel this model, but should place more emphasis on local (within departments or other small units) personnel to provide the first line of hardware and software support. One of the most important aspects of such academic support is that it should always foster individual growth and exploration in both the faculty and student populations, with emphasis on providing on site training as part of the support.
All support structures need to be formulated so that they appear seamless to end users. Support personnel should be aware of the breadth of central and distributed resources, including exploratory projects where applicable. Central databases or other tracking systems should be used to log calls requiring follow-up so that the end user can effectively "one-stop shop".
Finally, the academic IT division should foster technology application and development by fostering and supporting collaborative teams made of interested educators, technologists, and students.