UVM has in place a basic infrastructure for electronic communication. The campus network is uniform, widely available and routinely used; microcomputers are found in most offices; electronic mail and Web facilities are robust and widely accessible. Most of us make good use of these, but we must do more to leverage our significant investment. Communication, collaboration and maintenance of skills are often impeded by inconsistent and incompatible implementations of some elements of information technology.
The task of improving the compatibility, consistency and availability of UVM's information technology must be engaged at the highest level, and should be among the first tasks addressed by IT leadership. 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. Exploratory activities should be coordinated, to avoid duplication. Recommendations and other results should be published (in electronic format). There should be a codified process for determining if, when, and how alternative technologies move from research to "production". Opportunities for setting standards in institutional communication systems, such as email, document sharing and calendaring, should be actively pursued. Solutions from our existing test beds should be seriously considered for broader adoption. Our choices of common IT solutions should:
Imposing consistency is not intended to limit our flexibility, but we must appreciate the difference between choices that empower us and those that are essentially arbitrary.
Because of the rapid advancement of technology, the solutions we choose should be constrained in number for efficiency, but must not be static. Exploration of emerging technologies and updating of existing standards must be ongoing activities.
No matter how much time and money we dedicate to acquiring the latest computers, sophisticated software, advanced information systems and blindingly fast networks, if we do not have sufficient skills to employ them, our investments will be largely wasted. Our success depends on people understanding what tools are available at UVM and how to use them effectively.
The current IT curriculum is extensive and serves diverse audiences. Many of its components, however, have been developed independently, and such efforts are largely uncoordinated. There are specific gaps, 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.
Today, many people at UVM are frustrated by the gap between what they need to know to participate in our IT-based environment, and the knowledge they have been able to acquire. People wishing to develop skills often feel they cannot take sufficient time away from their jobs to do so. We hear repeatedly, "more training is needed." Simplistically, this problem could be alleviated by having more people providing more IT education, more time for employees to attend courses and more money devoted to professional development. These are noble goals, and we agree professional development of all types must be a priority. That is only part of the solution. We also need to:
By making our information technology environment more consistent, we can help assure that the skills we acquire are widely applicable.
We need to make sure we are all learning, all the time, not just when we are sitting in a classroom or being individually tutored. Rather than attempting to teach everyone all the answers, we must make it possible, even pleasant, to discover our own answers. IT knowledge should be more "just in time" than "just in case". Our systems are already moving in this direction. To further this goal, all systems, documentation, on-line help facilities, and education we provide must be geared towards consistency and self-guided learning skills.
Ideally, IT infrastructure should be so effectively and transparently deployed that we rarely think about it. It should just be there, consistently available and natural to use. It should be apparent where to get support, what support is available, how it will be provided and how much it will cost (if anything). When our basic IT tools do not work (or are counter-intuitive), prompt, reliable support must be available. To that end:
Although administrative and academic missions are different, the basic IT infrastructure (electronic communications, document creation, etc.) is essentially identical. Our fundamental needs can be met most effectively with common technologies and support structures. We do not envision a "one size fits all" solution, but an offering of standard configurations which will meet a range of needs. As with the current, "recommended" desktop hardware offerings, there should be a baseline system configuration sufficient to meet basic IT needs, and one or more alternative systems designed to satisfy greater demands. At this time, we do not envision these standard offerings meeting all needs, e.g. specialized engineering or research workstations.
Basic IT capability must be provided as part of our infrastructure. Where organized infrastructure support exists, we generally have consistent, reliable, supportable, solutions. Where it is absent, where units have been left to research and implement their own distinct solutions, we frequently waste time and effort, and end up with a potpourri of technologies, not all of which work well together. All of these variations cannot be efficiently or economically supported. Restricting what will be routinely supported is necessary to ensure quality.
Not everyone will be able to achieve all their goals using the standard issue hardware and software. As an individual or department explores divergent technology, their choices and associated service expectations should be discussed with the IT support organization. Experimentation should be coordinated, and results shared with the community to advance our institutional knowledge of alternate and emerging technologies. In general, a unit experimenting with alternative technologies should expect to provide their own support until such time as that technology is adapted as a supported solution.
Currently, IT is supported by a combination of dedicated (decentralized) and shared (centralized) support staff. Each support model has advantages and disadvantages. The local support model typically has the advantages of being:
On the other hand this model:
A mix of dedicated and shared support is a viable structure, however, to promote coordination and organizational learning, distributed IT support staff will also report to the IT umbrella organization. Distributed units will continue to determine application priorities for dedicated staff. Also, consolidation of some functions (e.g. decentralized server support) should be evaluated for cost savings and better continuity of support.
World Wide Web technology presents UVM with significant opportunities to advance our teaching, research and service missions. Although UVM was an early adopter of Web technology, and has some outstanding examples of Web-based resources, our current approach to this technology, which does not formally coordinate or develop our broad collection of web pages, is causing us to fall behind our peer institutions. Web technology offers effective and consistent ways to do many different things. Making investments in this high leverage arena will serve us well. A properly designed university web site can be utilized to deliver online, course related information to scholars, deliver attractive and accessible public information to a broad audience, and improve the efficiency and effectiveness of all members of the university community by giving them direct access to institutional information.
We recommend a Web Development Team be created to assume responsibility for the UVM Web. This group will:
Coordination of web policy development , and monitoring of official UVM Web links, will ensure the quality of this comprehensive information tool. To be effective, the team must include staff with both technical expertise and graphics design experience.
As with many of the approaches we propose, the development of a new UVM web site must be a collaborative effort, attracting the energy and creativity of many contributors. Leadership and coordination of these efforts will be provided by the Web Development Team, but collaboration with many units will be necessary for success. Major stakeholders in the current UVM Web environment will continue to play specialized roles. For example, CIT will retain responsibility for Web training and for managing the central Web server hardware and software, and the Libraries and other units will continue to develop Web-based information resources.
The Web Development Team should report to the CLIO, as part of the learning and information enterprise. The improvement of UVM's presence on the Web is critical to many current, important university efforts, however, and should not await the appointment of a new senior administrator. In order to make immediate progress reworking the UVM web site, we recommend this team be established as soon as possible, with an interim reporting relationship to University Marketing. This will enable us to take advantage of marketing expertise such as focus group testing, usability studies, and image skills, all of which will enhance our efforts. Once the initial design work has been completed, the ongoing activities of the web team will more appropriately fall under the broader purview of the CLIO.