ITS launches strategic planning effort

Tynan

t the conclusion of a November 8 "Information Technology Summit" involving 60 senior leaders from all University divisions, Provost Charles Phelps charged Chief Information Officer Amelia Tynan and the Information Technology Services (ITS) staff to develop an IT strategic plan.

To ensure the plan's success, a University-wide coordinating group will be formed to oversee the planning process.

Phelps noted that the impact of IT on the University continues to grow and that a coordinated approach will have significant benefits.

"Now that last year's major projects, such as Year 2000 preparation, the phone system replacement, and the payroll system cutover have been successfully completed, an IT strategic plan becomes our highest priority," Tynan said. "The summit was a good beginning to share broad ideas, but there's a lot of work to be done. This will require campus participation and continuing dialogue. The benefits of having a coordinated approach must be demonstrated and valued by campus departments and technology customers."

The draft plan will be presented to the trustees in May. Phelps asked that the plan be linked to the University's missions and include divisional IT systems; that it include a process for prioritizing initiatives; that guidelines for partnerships, decision rights, and "ownership" be established; and that questions of cost/benefits and of standards should be addressed. Other components of the plan are financing strategies, benchmarking, and integration of business processes.

Based on summit participants' comments, Phelps also asked that the plan include strategies for disaster recovery and for the University-wide coordination of major purchases. He asked that ITS promote awareness of best practices, training opportunities, and information on IT developments at the University.

In addition to break-out group discussions, the day-long meeting included remarks from President Thomas H. Jackson, who emphasized that technology plays an important role in the University's residential learning community.

William Graves, former CIO of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, gave the keynote address, which highlighted broad trends in how technology has led to "e-learning" initiatives in higher education.

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