ITC Mission and Charter

Mission & Charter

Objectives And Measures Of Success

Mission & Charter

1. Overview

The University is entering a period of intense competition for the delivery of educational services, a competition fueled by the capability of information technology (IT) to deliver learning at long distances. IT offers a key for enhancing teaching and learning, for expanding service, for establishing new client groups, for creating new educational delivery systems, and for applying resources across the breadth of the University and the Commonwealth.

IT can build multi-disciplinary learning environments based on vast stores of information resources accessible to students and teachers alike. Instructors will draw from a wealth of technology-enabled pedagogic alternatives. Laboratories will be enhanced by providing remote access to facilities beyond the reach of most universities today. Simulations will allow students to manipulate whole galaxies, create new substances, travel through history, consider alternative economic scenarios, manage factories, converse in many languages, and "talk" with the great minds of many nations. Tutoring systems can tailor lessons to individual students, while sessions can be recorded and played back for review by the students alone or with the assistance of instructors. Changing demographics and markets will produce increased student demand for access to specific learning experiences in places of their convenience; whether on campus, at work, or at home. The new service-based economy will require worker training and life long learning to adapt to new careers. The University must be ready to deliver services equitably with easy access from anywhere, to anywhere, and with adequate security and privacy safeguards.

In order to be successful and competitive, institutional infrastructures must be radically re-aligned and services upgraded to meet these information technology requirements. IT must become pervasive, easy to use and commonplace for all constituencies, regardless of economic resources. It must make transparent the geographical distances between the campuses so that students and taxpayers may enjoy access to institutional programs and resources regardless of where these programs originate.

2. Academic Technology Conditions at the University Today

The University is at the leading edge of technology research and development in some areas. However, many of the University's best initiatives are isolated within campuses and from the system at large. This pool of excellence must be dramatically enhanced by institutional coordination, and by explicit efforts to align R&D with academic application.

While the five campuses and the President's Office are loosely connected by various telecommunications networks (including a common digital telephone system on three campuses, an Internet- style network for most campuses and a new videoconferencing system), access by individual students, faculty and programs is severely limited. The existing systems cannot support system-wide collaboration in teaching or research at any reasonable level.

University courses are delivered from the Amherst campus via video satellite to a limited number of locations with downlink capability. Videoconferencing is limited to a few locations on each campus. Few classrooms or auditoriums are equipped with modern information technology. Access to personal computers is insufficient on all campuses. Academic computing systems need greatly improved internal and external networking.

3. The Competitive Environment

Other Major Public Institutions Comparisons to our peer institutions are revealing. At the University of Wisconsin, a two-way video system links ninety campus buildings while campus-wide fiber-optic (FDDI) and Ethernet networks interconnect thousands of campus PCs and workstations. These provide integrated access to research, educational and administrative computing, and support all major LAN protocols and Internet access.

The SUNY system is interconnected via NYSERNET and SUNYnet, supporting educational, research and administrative computing for all of the more than 20 SUNY campuses. In Michigan, MERIT provides high bandwidth access to the University's campuses, the Michigan State campuses and to Wayne State University. MERIT has long been a leader in providing universal access to faculty and students.

At Rutgers, networks interconnect all six campuses. Within most of the Rutgers campuses an optical fiber backbone connects buildings and provides access to all of the libraries and to the Internet. At the University of Illinois, similar networks provide broad access to the academic community and its constituents.

Regional Competition in distance education is rapidly increasing. The University of Maine already offers eight degree programs through the Education Network of Maine and recently voted to seek accreditation to convert the distance learning network into a degree- granting institution. New York University's Information Technologies Institute is preparing to offer a 16-credit graduate program entirely through an interactive multimedia network right into the student's homes. SUNY has developed reports and recommendations with hopes of capturing a leading role in distance education.

4. Action Plan

The University must develop a strategy that involves all five campuses, the President's Office and outside partnerships. This strategy must be pursued in the context of broader institutional planning. The University must identify strategies and tactics with accompanying measures and milestones for an IT infrastructure that will meet the University's teaching, research and administrative needs into the next century. Key objectives will include:

developing a vision for how the university might exploit IT to meet its overall strategic objectives, including assessing our competitive position with other institutions and defining the requirements for successfully developing and deploying IT to meet this vision.
establishing a planning process driven by this vision for the system and each campus;
coordinating IT activities throughout the system to build multi-campus collaborations for IT technology and applications development and to increase opportunities for fund raising and external grant/contracts for IT development and deployment;
defining and developing training, re-training and user support services to insure that IT is successfully deployed within the system;
developing capital funding plans for financing IT development and deployment.

5. Resources for Future Development

The University must put in place the plans and programs necessary to up-date its educational technology infrastructure (e.g. for pedagogy, distance learning, electronic libraries, student placement referral service, inter-campus connections, capacity to offer courses at community colleges.) This will require that we secure passage of the Information Technology Bond Bill with specific funding for the University.

We must, however, be prepared to reallocate internal University Funds for technology. Regardless of emerging prospects for the current Information Technology Bill and other budget proposals, the University must secure the wherewithal for investment in appropriate educational and informational technologies. Failure to do this risks the competitive viability of the University as it approaches a new millennium. This investment must be made.

Objectives And Measures Of Success

Key Objectives

Develop a statement of vision for how the University might exploit Information Technology to meet the overall strategic objectives outlined by the Board of Trustees: reaffirming teaching and learning; embracing diversity and pluralism; promoting economic development; and advancing the distinctive goals of each campus; the vision to include defining the requirements for successfully developing and deploying IT to meet this vision.

Establish a strategic IT planning process for the system and each campus incorporating the planning processes of each campus, to achieve this vision as an integral part of the overall strategic planning process.

Facilitate IT acquisition, development and deployment in accordance with approved system- wide plans; assist in assessing the impact of IT on the strategic goals of the University; and coordinate definitions and guidelines for the development of training, user support and application development services.

Coordinate the development of and recommend capital funding plans for system-wide initiatives for financing IT acquisition, development and deployment.

Coordinate activities throughout the system to apply IT to the strategic goals of the system and to the particular goals of each campus; prepare periodic reports for the President, Chancellors and Board of Trustees; encourage multi-campus collaborations through the effective use of IT technology and applications.

The IT Council will encourage increased commitment to IT on each campus as a key resource and facilitate increased involvement by faculty in University IT planning and utilization.

In the following pages, the IT Council identifies measures of success for each key objective, for IT Council activities in the short and long term.

Objective 1

Develop a vision for how the University might exploit IT to meet the overall strategic objectives outlined by the Board of Trustees: reaffirming teaching and learning; embracing diversity and pluralism; promoting economic development; and advancing the distinctive goals of each campus; the vision to include defining the requirements for successfully developing and deploying IT to meet this vision.

Measures of success

The IT Council will recommend to the President and Chancellors, for adoption by the Board of Trustees, a vision statement for the University system for IT development and deployment in the context of the university strategic objectives, the campuses' strategic plans, Administrative Redesign and Academic Restructuring.

Specific IT vision statements will be developed on each campus with the assistance of the IT Council that support both local and system-wide goals.

Goals for the future

The IT Council will coordinate an assessment of our competitive position with other peer higher educational institutions.

The IT Council will assist the campuses and the President's Office in developing strategies that will make the University a center of excellence in IT for the Commonwealth.

The IT Council will encourage increased commitment to IT on each campus as a key resource and facilitate increased involvement by faculty in University IT planning and utilization.

Objective 2

Establish a strategic IT planning process for the system and incorporating the planning processes of each campus to achieve this vision as an integral part of the overall strategic planning process.

Measures of success:

The IT Council will establish subcommittees, as appropriate, to coordinate campus and system-wide activities and planning.

The IT Council will coordinate requests from the campuses for assistance in carrying out self- assessments and, as appropriate, external evaluations of current and planned IT strategies.

The IT Council will assist the campuses in ensuring that IT planning plays a prominent role in and is coordinated with each campus' long-range planning process.

The IT Council will establish a regular reporting procedure to the Board of Trustees on system-wide plans and accomplishments including campus IT developments.

Goals for the future

The IT Council will continue to support the University's strategic objectives by coordinating the implementation of the required information technology.

The IT Council will coordinate revisions of the campus plans and the system-wide plans as appropriate to implement the University's strategic objectives.

Objective 3

Facilitate IT acquisition, development and deployment; assist in assessing the impact of IT on the strategic goals of the University; and recommend definitions and guidelines for the development of training, user support and application development services.

Measures of success

The IT Council will assist the campuses and coordinate the development of necessary campus and system-wide infrastructure required to make it possible for all members of the university, including students, to access electronic mail and for every faculty member and student to access campus on-line services (registration, course catalogs, library, computing resources), the internet and electronic mail from offices and dormitory rooms.

The IT Council will assist in measuring and documenting the impact of IT on teaching and learning in such areas as: expanded video conferencing to aid inter-campus collaboration; increased availability within classrooms on each campus for access to University and worldwide information services; and effective pedagogical utilization of information technology in teaching and learning.

The IT Council will offer a series of IT and educational technology seminars on a system-wide basis and develop guidelines for the development of campus-based seminars for faculty, staff and administrators.

The IT Council will seek to promote specific economies of scale by coordinating system-wide IT use and procurement of IT-related equipment and software.

The IT Council will assist in measuring and documenting the impact of information technology on administrative information systems.

Goals for the future

The IT Council will coordinate guidelines and standards for campus development of technology to support student enrollment services electronically.

The IT Council will provide advice and assistance as the University acts to implement outcomes of the Administrative Redesign process.

Objective 4

Coordinate the development of and recommend operating and capital funding plans for system-wide initiatives in financing IT acquisition, development and deployment. Measures of success:

The IT Council will coordinate system-wide efforts to increase state capital appropriations to support campus and system plans for information technology.

The IT Council will lead University efforts to gain passage of the Information Technology Bonding Bill and to obtain $15M in initial financing for University IT expenditures.

The IT Council will identify opportunities for the University to leverage state appropriations and bonding authorizations with federal and foundation grants, industrial matching and donations and private donations; and coordinate the efforts to expand available IT funding.

Individual campus initiatives will be encouraged by the IT Council.

Goals for the future

The IT Council will recommend and encourage a set of targets and opportunities for a system-wide capital campaign to improve IT acquisition and deployment system-wide and on each campus.

The IT Council will provide leadership in working with the Executive and Legislative branches of State Government to establish an IT bonding and capital appropriation strategy that will aid the University in achieving its strategic IT goals.

Individual campus investment and development strategies will be encouraged and supported by the IT Council which also will coordinate inter-campus activities as appropriate.

Objective 5

Coordinate activities throughout the system to apply IT to the strategic goals of the system and to the particular goals of each campus; prepare periodic reports for the President, Chancellors and Board of Trustees; encourage multi-campus collaborations through the effective use of IT technology and applications.

Measures of success

As the campuses develop distance learning technology to deliver courses from each campus to other campuses and off-campus sites throughout the Commonwealth the IT Council will recommend policies, guidelines and standards as appropriate to the Board of Trustees. Areas for such recommendations include academic policies, copyright and intellectual property issues, collective bargaining, and other related issues.

The IT Council will facilitate and support inter-campus educational programs.

The Massachusetts Information Turnpike Initiative will begin and the IT Council will develop guidelines which will maximize University IT benefit from MITI. The IT Council will coordinate access on the five campuses to this resource.

Goals for the future

The IT Council will coordinate plans and identify needs for system wide support for each of the campuses to employ advanced IT and video technology to deliver University courses, lectures, information resources, and events to a broad segment of the Commonwealth at a time and place convenient to the consumer.

A 5-campus educational technology collaborative will be established combining the efforts on individual campuses and facilitated by the IT Council.
For matters related to the academic mission, including distance learning, the IT Council and its sub-committees will coordinate efforts with the Provost's Council and other campus personnel, as appropriate, to facilitate effective use of technologies and efficiencies consistent with campus academic policies.

The IT Council will work to identify, develop and improve consortial relationships with private business.

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Information Technology Council