Revised January 2014
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Kent State University
Information Services Strategic Plan
2015
Executive Overview – January 2014 Revision
It is my pleasure to present the revised and expanded Kent State University’s Information Technology strategic
plan. This document extends the existing IS Strategic Plan through 2015. The IT Strategic Plan remains directly
connected to the University’s plan. As such, it identifies specific, measurable objectives and milestones that will
ensure the greatest return on the university’s investment in this critical asset. The executive overview focuses on
three key elements of our strategy; Alignment, An Inclusive Process and IT Infrastructure Enhancement. The
complete strategic plan can be found at: http://www.kent.edu/is/about/ISstrategy.cfm
Alignment
With University Goals:
University Strategic Goals
Information Services Strategic Goals
I. Ensuring Student Success
1: Enable Student Success
II. Enhancing Academic Excellence and Innovation
2: Empower Teaching and Improve Learning
III. Expanding Breakthrough Research and Creative
Endeavors
3: Ensure Reliable, Secure and Accessible Systems
IV. Engaging with the World Beyond Our Campuses
4: Manage Costs; Improve Service Management
and Business Processes
V. Securing Our Financial Future
VI. Developing and Recognizing Our People
5: Plan and Manage Information Services
With Academic Affairs:
This revision maintains our commitment to supporting the project needs of the other university divisions. We have
mapped our IS projects to the Academic Affairs “Our Voices, Our Vision Strategy”.
High Level Mapping
AA Strategic Plan Goal
Information Services Strategic Plan Projects
Implement :
1. Ensuring Student Success
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
the Degree Works system,
the Advising Scheduling System,
Automated Advisor Assignment,
Course Signals, and
expanded Dynamic Student Checklists,
To enable students and advisors to review degree progress and plan coursework
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with a goal of graduation.
Implementing CurricuNET to improve efficiencies within curriculum development.
2. Enhancing Academic Excellence and
Innovation
Implement FPDC Productivity Database to monitor and evaluate FPDC
productivity indicators.
Provide integration between Distance Learning’s selected vendor support
organization’s computer applications and Kent State’s internal applications.
4. Engaging the World Beyond Our
Campuses
Maintain / enhance the fsaAtlas system to support streamlined processing of
international students.
Maintain / enhance the Banner Faculty Load and Compensation Module to
provide an integrated, efficient process for determining faculty assignments and
workload.
5. Securing Our Financial Future
Maintain / enhance the Electronic Data Warehouse (EDW) contains historical
trending information to allow for flexible analysis and timely decision making about
course enrollments.
An Inclusive Process
The process used to create this plan included four important elements:
1. DATA GATHERING:

Current State Assessment. This phase started with seeking answers to the questions, “Where are we
now? Where do we want to be? How big is the gap? What will it take to get where we want to be?” To
that end, we surveyed university stakeholders to determine their perspectives of the services we offer,
as well as to gather feedback and direction on strategic imperatives and university needs.

University Council on Technology (UCT) Faculty Audit. More than 300 faculty members
participated in a technology audit. Lead by the UCT, this audit provided clarity and direction around the
critical area of Learning Management Tools and Systems.
2. EXTERNAL INPUT: We reviewed the information technology strategy and tactical plans of approximately
10 institutions, as well as technology-related higher education resources such as Gartner, EDUCAUSE and
Campus Computing Surveys. These documents provided additional insights and perspectives as to current
trends, issues and concerns relative to technology and higher education. Additionally, the CIOs from five
major universities conducted a series of onsite interviews and discussions with major university
stakeholders to review and evaluate the plan, processes and organization. The full report of their findings
and recommendations is available at http://www.kent.edu/is/about/ISstrategy.cfm
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IT Infrastructure Enhancements
The plan also includes a renewed focus on strengthening the University’s IT Infrastructure. This renewed
infrastructure focus includes:






Moving Administrative Applications to a single virtualized server environment (Banner off Sun)
Implementing Unified Communications including an upgrading of all network components to ensure high
quality of service
Improving Data Management which includes automating adherence to retention policies, implementing a
new distributed storage architecture, eliminating older storage methods (tape), provided increased storage
capacity.
Improving IS Disaster Recovery simplifying the process and reducing the recovery time. This will be
accomplished by replacing tape backup with more modern disk replication techniques. By documenting the
recover process in detail and training our vendor on these processes we will reduce the dependency on
Kent State’s IS staff during disaster recovery.
Implement a single IS Operations Control Center that utilizes enterprise management software to combine
the monitoring and management of the application, server and storage infrastructure with the network
infrastructure.
Evaluate and pilot the use of cloud based computing to support application and storage needs of the
university. Services that might be early adopters of cloud based computing include infrastructure
applications (email and calendaring), web applications and storage.
Thank you. My e-mail address is emahon@kent.edu; I welcome your reaction and ideas.
Ed Mahon
Vice President for Information Services and Chief Information Officer
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Table of Contents
EXECUTIVE OVERVIEW – JANUARY 2014 REVISION ............................................................................................ 2
I. UNIVERSITY MISSION STATEMENT ................................................................................................................. 6
II. INFORMATION SERVICES MISSION, VALUES AND STRATEGIC GOALS .............................................................. 7
Strategic Goal #1: Enable Student Success ................................................................................................................... 8
Strategic Goal #2: Empower Teaching and Improve Learning .................................................................................. 12
Strategic Goal #3: Ensure Reliable, Secure and Accessible Systems ..................................................................... 14
Strategic Goal #4: Manage Costs; Improve Business Processes and Service Management ............................... 18
Strategic Goal #5: Plan and Manage Information Services........................................................................................ 23
III. EXTERNAL ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS – TRENDS IN HIGHER EDUCATION .................................................. 26
A.
B.
C.
D.
EDUCAUSE Top 10 IT Issues, 2012 .................................................................................................................... 26
The ECAR Study of Undergraduate Students and Information Technology, 2012 ........................................ 27
Gartner Group, Agenda Overview for Higher Education, 2013 ......................................................................... 28
Campus Computing Project: The 2012 Campus Computing Survey ............................................................... 29
IV. INTERNAL ASSESSMENT (2010) .................................................................................................................. 30
ORGANIZATION PROFILE ......................................................................................................................................................... 30
SURVEY RESULTS ................................................................................................................................................................... 31
UCT FACULTY AUDIT SUMMARY – LEARNING MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS AND TOOLS .......................................................... 33
SUNGARD BANNER ERP IMPLEMENTATION ASSESSMENT .................................................................................................... 34
EXTERNAL ASSESSMENT – CIO ANALYSIS AND RECOMMENDATION ..................................................................................... 35
V. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION (2010) ............................................................................................................ 37
VI. MAPPING IS PROJECTS TO ACADEMIC AFFAIRS STRATEGY (2013) ............................................................... 39
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I. University Mission Statement
Kent State University Mission Statement
The mission of Kent State University is to discover, create, apply and share knowledge, as well as to foster ethical
and humanitarian values in the service of Ohio and the global community. As an eight-campus educational system,
Kent State offers a broad array of academic programs to engage students in diverse learning environments that
educate them to think critically and to expand their intellectual horizons while attaining the knowledge and skills
necessary for responsible citizenship and productive careers.
Kent State University Vision
Kent State University will change lives by encouraging outstanding teaching and innovative learning opportunities,
by cultivating excellence in all we do, and by seeking greater access and affordability for our students. Kent State
shall expand its dynamic leadership through recognized scholarship and path-breaking research, through increased
levels of external support leading to new discoveries and economic development, and through partnerships with
other institutions and organizations in the pursuit of academic excellence. To further these common goals, faculty,
staff and students, as well as our alumni and community supporters, shall serve as collaborative partners in
advancing Kent State’s status as a model for 21st-century public higher education.
Kent State University Strategic Goals:
I. Ensuring Student Success
II. Enhancing Academic Excellence and Innovation
III. Expanding Breakthrough Research and Creative Endeavors
IV. Engaging with the World Beyond Our Campuses
V. Securing Our Financial Future
VI. Developing and Recognizing Our People
Kent State University Strategy Map
In the fall of 2009, KSU President Lefton outlined a new vision and clear directive for the university. Capturing the
critical imperatives and core mission and values, a detailed university strategy map was developed. Likewise each
cabinet member was charged with creating a strategy map for their division. Imperative to the development of the
IS strategic plan was ensuring alignment with the university mission and strategy. These maps provided input and
clarity and ensured this alignment.
The university’s six strategic goals as well as individual division goals and key initiatives were transformed into
Information Technology goals and objectives that are necessary for the realization of the university’s objectives.
The resulting five strategic goals outline what Kent State University wants information services to accomplish during
the next three to five years.
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II. Information Services Mission, Values and Strategic Goals
The following mission and value statement represents the division’s purpose and guiding principles in support of
the university’s vision and strategic imperatives.
IS Mission:
The Division of Information Services provides the university community with technology solutions
that enhance the learning and business environment, support excellence in teaching, enable innovation in research
and provide opportunities for collaboration within and beyond our campuses.
Values:





We are committed to excellence
We are strategic partners
We act with integrity and accountability
We are fiscally responsible
We value diversity in people and ideas
Strategic Goal #1: Enable Student Success
Enable student success by creating and supporting technology services that increase information availability
and improve customer service.
Strategic Goal #2: Empower Teaching and Improve Learning
Empower teaching and improve learning through technology.
Strategic Goal #3: Ensure Reliable, Secure and Accessible Systems
Provide and maintain systems that are reliable, secure and accessible anytime, anywhere; thereby providing an
information technology infrastructure that enhances productivity and enables global access.
Strategic Goal #4: Manage Costs; Improve Service Management and Business Processes
Significant focus must be placed on cost of service, Total Cost of Ownership (TCO), and improving
administrative and organizational efficiencies (resulting in reduced cost) through process improvement and
organizational alignment.
Strategic Goal #5: Plan and Manage Information Services
Critical to the efficient execution of the university IS mission are the organization, its people and processes. We
must have fully engaged and visionary teams in order to facilitate university wide information technology
strategies, priorities and decisions. Equally, we must deploy processes and disciplines that enhance
organizational efficiency, as well as reliable systems and environments.
The next few pages outline in detail the initiatives that are fundamental to the success of our strategic goals. They
are high value projects that should be recognized across our organization as critical imperatives.
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Strategic Goal #1: Enable Student Success
Enable student success by creating and supporting technology services that increase information availability and
improve customer service. Three references or points help to frame this strategic goal; (1) Critical to the university’s
success, of course is the success of its students, as determined by graduation rates, retention and the caliber of
first-year students. (2) The “Year of the Yes”, an underlying university theme for 2010, stresses the importance of
providing customer service and removing obstacles to helping students accomplish their educational goals. (3) The
profile of current students as highlighted in ECAR and EDUCAUSE studies shows they are more technologically
aware than ever before and they demand access, immediacy and information. Following outline several technology
initiatives in support of these university goals.
1.1. Graduation Planning System (GPS). Implement a graduation planning system that will provide a
universal tracking method for students to easily understand and navigate their educational requirements
through to graduation. The benefits of this system include:
 Keeping students on a graduation path

Providing timely advising for student success in a major

Improving retention rates

Creating program requirements by semester
 Tracking degree progress
Components to support this vision include Web sites, roadmaps, planning, tracking, advising and career
counseling.
Completed Key Initiatives
Measures
1. Develop and fully deploy GPS timetabling
Completed Dec 2011.
2. Develop and fully deploy GPS tracking
Complete initial implementation of GPS tracking Dec 2011.
Continue with system enhancements as needed by the GPS
initiative.
New / Revised Key Initiatives
Measures
1. Deploy GPS timetabling based on course
schedule demand.
Implement by Oct 2015.
2. Develop and fully deploy GPS tracking
with system enhancements defined by the GPS
initiative.
Implement by Dec 2015.
1.2. Business Intelligence and Reporting. Define and implement a business intelligence strategy and solution
that facilitates presidential dashboards, quality scorecards, matriculation and graduation studies and predictive
enrollment management in support of student recruitment, retention, diversity and other institutional metrics.
Completed Key Initiatives
Measures
1. Implement Electronic Data Warehouse
(EDW) for admissions and enrollment.
Completed implementation of the EDW for admissions and
enrollment management 2011.
New / Revised Key Initiatives
Measures
1. Enhance FlashLine Dashboards
Add measures to current reports and create new reports
prioritized by EMSA and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.
Continuing enhancements through academic year 14-15.
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1.3. Improve the Web Presence and Processes for Incoming Students. Enhance the Destination Kent State
online processes to improve registration, scheduling, and advising for incoming freshmen. Provide a robust
technology solution to increase the usability and Kent State branding for the suite of Websites (including
Admissions, Financial Aid, Residence Services and other student services) directed at incoming students and
prospects.
Completed Key Initiatives
Measures
1. Online graduation Process
Implemented the online graduation application process,
2010.
2. Web Presence/Destination Kent
Migrated the freshman suite of websites to the new design
and navigation, 2010.
Enhanced Destination Kent processes for use with the
summer 2010 program.
Provided enhanced advisor appointment scheduling for use
in Destination Kent 2012.
3. Appointment Scheduling
4. Enrollment Management
Support enrollment management through improved
integration of prospects and recruiting with the Banner
system. (2011)
5. Improve www.kent.edu infrastructure
facilitating redesign and improvements of
divisional webs.
Completed infrastructure improvements to www.kent.edu
(2010)
6. Implement Google Search Appliance
Replace Google Basic Search with the Google Search
Appliance (2011)
7. Develop Kent State's mobile presence
Implement BlackBoard's mobile solution (2011)
Provide user-specific features (2012)
New / Revised Key Initiatives
Measures
1. Identify a new CMS
Replace Commonspot with new CMS and migrate all
websites to new CMS by summer 2014.
2. Improve Search Experience on
www.kent.edu
Implement advanced features of the Google Search
Appliance to offer both simple and advanced search options
to all users
3. Continue to enhance KSU Mobile for
advanced student, employee, and staff
functionality.
Provide parking information, bus routes, student events
(what's up KSU), textbook lookup, and housing information.
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1.4. Streamline and Improve University Processes. Continue to deploy and enhance an environment in
which systems, individuals, and communities interact seamlessly for learning, teaching, administration and
achievement.
Completed Key Initiatives
Measures
1. Provide a change of program workflow for
undergraduate students.
Completed the change of program workflow (2012).
2. Provide a timetabling workflow to track
schedule change requests after the class
schedule has been created in Banner.
Developed and implemented the timetabling workflow
(2011)
3. Implement digital imaging for payroll
documents.
Completed imaging of historical payroll documents (2010)
4. Implement HR improvements including
self service for sick leave to vacation
conversion, automated vacation cutback, new
talent/performance management system and
workflow for FMLA reporting.
Developed and implemented HR improvements (2012)
5. Simplify and improve university time
keeping system(s)
Developed, and implemented university time keeping
system improvements (2012)
New / Revised Key Initiatives
Measures
1. Implement Banner Transfer Articulation to
provide timely and accurate processing of
transfer student admissions
Complete the Banner TA Project in 2013
· Implemented an online process to convert sick leave to
vacation and an automated process to cut-back vacation
time.
· Worked with Benefits and Records to implement the use
of the Banner delivered FMLA INB form to process and track
FMLA usage.
· We did not implement a new talent/performance mgmt.
system but did see a demo of Ellucian’s Talent Mgmt Suite
(partnered with Corner Stone). HR elected not to pursue.
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1.5. Enhanced End User Services. End User Services consists of three distinct areas including the technical
Helpdesk primarily utilized by students and faculty, desktop support services for staff, and TechSpot – the
computer care center for home computers. With the recent partnership established for providing Helpdesk
services we not only reduce our cost structure but are able to provide enhanced support services including
live chat, Web ticketing and click-to-call (ability to schedule a Helpdesk call). This goal is aimed at the
continuous enhancement of support services offered to the university constituents.
Completed Key Initiatives
Measures
1. Finalize efficient and effective processes,
policies and procedures associated with the
continued improvement of the Kent State
Helpdesk.
2. Develop a comprehensive knowledge
management process that utilizes change
control, the auditing of escalated tickets and
Tier II review, to keep the knowledge base
current.
3. Expand the services of Tech Spot to meet
the changing needs of PC users across
campus.
New / Revised Key Initiatives
Review / replace current helpdesk operations
Completed 2010
Completed 2011
Completed 2010
Measures
Complete review / replacement by March 2014
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Strategic Goal #2: Empower Teaching and Improve Learning
Empower teaching and improve learning through technology. As noted within recent Gartner articles IT leaders
“must offer vision for investment in technology as well as management to both physical and virtual campuses”. The
Ohio Board of Regents (March 2009 Report), concluded that Ohio (universities) “must increase its use of
technology, aggressively grow E-Learning and promote greater student interface with technology as strategies to
increase success and improve efficiencies within administrative and academic functions”. As such Kent State
University must continue to develop and deploy educational technologies that include multiple forms of online and
blended learning. Outlined below are key initiatives that support this goal.
2.1 Course Management System and Related Applications Based on the strategy, goals and
requirements articulated by the Provost’s Office for technology enhanced learning and with collaborative input
from the University Council on Technology; select, implement and support an integrated suite of Educational
Technology (ET) software applications to develop and deliver online and blended courses for Kent State
University. This software will support course capture, synchronous learning, asynchronous learning,
assessments and course management.
Completed Key Initiatives
Measures
1. Select, implement, maintain and support
an Educational Technology (ET) Software suite
(course management, synchronous learning, and
course capture) that provides efficient and
effective support for developing and offering online
and blended courses.
New / Revised Key Initiatives
Completed implementation of new ET software suite by the
end of 2011.
Measures
1. Implement Course Signals and Cognos
Reporting in Blackboard
Complete implementation of Course Signals, including
integration with Cognos by the end of 2013
2. Implement Blackboard Effort integration with
Course Signals
Complete implementation of Blackboard Effort integration
with Course Signals by the end of 2013
3. Implement Blackboard Learn Community
Complete implementation by 2014
4. Implement Blackboard Collaborate
Complete implementation by 2015
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2.2 Classroom Technology Management Install and maintain technology enhanced classrooms;
provide support for the Kent Campus renovation project by ensuring that classroom technology solutions meet
the university’s future needs for advanced flexible learning spaces. In addition, provide ongoing support to the
faculty through individualized training, user instruction manuals and responding to classroom technology
issues as they arise.
Completed Key Initiatives
Measures
1. Support annual classroom upgrade project
Completed (annually)
2. Install centralized classroom equipment
monitoring system to improve maintenance and
support for classroom technology
Implement system to remotely manage classroom
technology by December 2010
3. Plan, design and install the classroom
technology for new and renovated spaces
related to proposed $200,000,000 bond to
replace / renovate buildings across campus.
in Progress
New / Revised Key Initiatives
Measures
1. Plan, design and install the classroom
technology for “Foundations of Excellence”
campus expansion and renovation.
Ensure classroom technology is installed in time for the
reopening of the building and / or the use of the new /
renovated classrooms for courses.
2. Support annual classroom upgrade project
Install new technology in 20 - 30 classrooms annually
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Strategic Goal #3: Ensure Reliable, Secure and Accessible Systems
Provide and maintain systems that are reliable, secure and accessible anytime, anywhere; thereby providing an
information technology infrastructure that enhances productivity and enables global access. IT security continues to
be a top strategic issue facing institutions of higher education and is ranked as one of the top three issues of CIOs
in higher education for the last three years. The prevalence of critical information available online makes securing
and protecting information resources paramount. Like all universities, we view this as a critical issue and have
dedicated strategic resources, processes and tools to this area. Following are key initiatives in support of this goal.
3.1. Identity and Access Management (IAM) System A comprehensive solution for identity and access
management, designed to solve the core challenge the university has with the management of thousands of
accounts across multiple applications. The goal of this effort is to improve the student and faculty experience
and reduce the risks, cost, and complexity of ongoing identity management. In addition, the University
endeavors to build a common IAM infrastructure framework for the deployment of new systems and applications.
Completed Key Initiatives
Measures
1. Define and implement an Identity
Management Solution fully integrated with
Banner environment to provide improved
account provisioning and de-provisioning,
timely access to systems by those who need
it, and password management.
·
First phase – infrastructure systems integrated and
deployed – Completed FY11.
·
Consolidate and streamline self-service password
system.
·
Reduce help desk calls regarding ID and Password reset
by 10%.
New / Revised Key Initiatives
Measures
1. Upgrade network access control systems
including wireless authentication and wired
authentication
• Provide seamless authentication to network resources with
KSU authentication (FY15)
• Remove legacy IP based security requirements and enable
user authenticated network identification for access"
• Enhance performance of the Kent State VPN (FY 14)
• Provide split tunneling capabilities to alleviate hairpin issues"
2. Upgrade campus vpn and ssl-vpn
technology
3. Upgrade datacenter firewall technology
• Enable integration of firewall management into single pane of
glass management software to speed up delivery of services in
the datacenter (FY 14)
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3.2. Unified Communications Replace the university’s messaging systems (email, instant messaging),
telephone PBX and network infrastructure to provide anytime, anywhere connectivity that is highly available and
reliable and provides flexibility and functionality in meeting end user needs.
Completed Key Initiatives
Measures
1. Develop and implement new WAN design
improving flexibility, bandwidth, redundancy,
and efficiency.
Implement new design by December 2010 - completed
2. Provide advanced, integrated and mobile
communication services: unified
communications. (voicemail system, replace
PBX).
New / Revised Key Initiatives
In progress - replace existing telephone system and voicemail
by June 2014
1. Provide detailed monitoring and delegated
management systems for the new Cisco
Unified Communications solution
2. Upgrade campus backbone equipment
• Implement Cisco Prime Collaboration suite for provisioning,
monitoring, and reporting (FY 14)
Measures
• Replace aging network backbone equipment (FY 15)
• Upgrade capabilities to 10 Gb or higher
• Reduce re-convergence delays with active/active node
configurations
• Document and resolve fiber bottlenecks on campus
• Replace aging datacenter network devices (FY 15)
• Enable fabric based computing for centralized management
and speed up delivery of services in the datacenter
3.3. Wireless Complete implementation of the wireless network throughout the remainder of campus buildings
and residence halls to provide anywhere, anytime accessibility to students, faculty and staff.
3. Upgrade datacenter network fabric
Key Initiatives
1. Complete implementation in remaining
academic and administrative buildings.
2. Develop implementation and costing model to
allow wireless installation in the remaining
Residence Halls.
Measures
 % of academic buildings with wireless – goal 100%
- Complete
 % of administrative buildings with wireless – goal
100% - Complete
 Increase number of concurrent wireless users Complete
 % of Residence Halls with complete wireless – goal
100%
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3.4. Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity. Continue to enhance and strengthen our ability to provide
continuous service and long term stability of core infrastructure environment.
Completed Key Initiatives
Measures
1. Develop a disaster recovery discipline and
processes in order to respond to major
disasters affecting technology service and
availability.
Completed 2011
2. Enhance and update DR solution focusing
on reduced recovery time and recovery points
for Tier 1 services including emergency web
site, email and other core applications.
Completed 2012
3. Maintain stability of the technology
infrastructure by purchase of best of breed
software and regular upgrades and
maintenance of hardware. Develop a model
for the availability of consistent up-to-date
technology.
New / Revised Key Initiatives
Ongoing
Measures
1. Enhance the DR solution by obtaining
managed recovery services, which will
reduce/eliminate dependence on KSU
resources for recovery activities.
Execute an agreement with our DR provider (IBM) to provide
managed recovery services by 2Q 2013.
2. Continue to improve the DR plan, focusing
on reduced recovery time and recovery points
for Tier 1 services and emergency web site.
Yearly improvements and testing of the DR plan for Tier 1
applications.
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3.5. Security. Continue to secure the environment through awareness, development standards and external
evaluation and assessment.
Completed Key Initiatives
Measures
1. Integrate effective application security
designs into the application development and
deployment methodology.
Completed training 2010
2. Complete External Security Audit and
Assessment
Complete 2011
3. Establish on-going Pen Test and
rd
Vulnerability assessment process with 3
party organization
Initial test completed 2011
4. Review, update and publish on an ongoing basis Security Policies. Promote
awareness amongst university constituents.
Deployed Security Awareness training module 2011
New / Revised Key Initiatives
Measures
1. Implement the Security Access Workflow.
Implement the Security Access Workflow in 2013
2. Conduct a privileged system audit on IT
systems and document processes to maintain
access records
• Interview system owners and document roles and access
rights
• Document access approval processes per system
• Identify where management of access permissions and
approval processes can be automated (FY 14)
• Identify and procure a PII scanning utility to discover sensitive
university information
• Identify and scan campus systems in scope
• Remediate gaps and secure systems with PII requirements
• Establish an ongoing process to monitor and remediate gaps
(FY 14)
3. Conduct a sweep of university systems to
identify personally identifiable information and
remediate any issues
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Strategic Goal #4: Manage Costs; Improve Business Processes and Service
Management
As noted in the Campus Computing Project 2009 survey, CIOs are struggling with the rising demand for IT
resources and services in the midst of significant budget cuts. Kent State is not exempt from these issues.
Significant focus must be placed on cost of service, Total Cost of Ownership (TCO), and improving administrative
and organizational efficiencies (resulting in reduced cost) through process improvement and organizational
alignment. Following outline the imperatives for reaching this goal.
4.1. Financial Controls Establish a financial framework that permits us to present the financial impact of our
decisions with greater clarity. Separate budget funds into three distinct categories, including capital, projects
and operating providing for improved planning and control of cost.
A Responsibility Center Management (RCM) methodology is used in support of university goals to define
service categories for the division and document the cost of the services identified. This allows us to aggregate
costs by the services we provide, which may be more meaningful to the clients we serve.
Completed Key Initiatives
Measures
1. Develop a sustainable financial model. Analyze
and define our current funding structure and
recommend improvements.
Created sustainable three-part annual budget with
funds allocate to the operating budget, capital refresh
and discretionary projects. (2011)
2. Implementation of IS department costing model
for all Information Services departments.
High level model created (2010)
New / Revised Key Initiatives
Measures
Develop detail cost of service model tied to service
catalog entries
Complete by 2014
Implement ongoing budget increases based on online
registrations and total network user count
Complete by 2013
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4.2. Post ERP Implementation/Optimization. Continue to enhance and integrate processes and functionality
within administrative offices. Optimize utilization and functionality of Banner ERP Solution.
Completed Key Initiatives
Measures
1. Continue to improve and streamline
processes by taking full advantage of core Banner
functionality
Upgraded to V8 in February 2010
Upgraded to V8.5 in May 2012
2. Ensure reliability, consistency, supportability
of Banner environment
Refresh hardware by end of FY11 on strategic
platforms
3. Reduce the number of “mods” (KSU home
grown) applications
Complete projects to reduce Banner “mods” by 2013
New / Revised Key Initiatives
Measures
1. Continue to improve and streamline
processes by taking full advantage of core Banner
functionality
Introduce Banner XE modules into production (Course
Catalog and Class Schedule) by end of FY14
2. Ensure reliability, consistency, supportability
of Banner environment
Refresh database hardware by end of 2014 on
strategic x86 platforms
3. Manage data growth in key systems in
compliance with University records retention
schedules
Complete key milestones in Data Management project
by end of 2013
4. Further leverage Ellucian Products.
Implement BRM, Course Signals, and SRP in 2013
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4.3. Storage Optimization. Anticipate the university’s increasing demands for additional storage by
implementing proactive storage allocation and capacity management, creating a new funding and chargeback
model and replacing old equipment to increase overall capacity. Control and manage storage growth
Key Initiatives
Measures
1. Backup Storage – Tier Based Retention
Architect
Reduced current 434 Tivoli Management classes
(retention policies) by 34% (2012)
2. Implement chargeback model for storage
(including Email, Personal File Storage and
Application Storage)
In Progress
3. Complete deployment of SAN Storage with
Tiered storage environment
In Progress
New / Revised Key Initiatives
Measures
1. Utilize the University Records retention rules to
shrink the Banner footprint.
Implement Banner delivered purge process to comply
with the records retention schedule by summer 2014
2. Reduce dependency on tape for backup data
storage.
Eliminate tape for all or most backup data storage
3. Reduce our storage footprint by employing
deduplication and compression technologies.
A reduction of physical storage by a ratio of 5:1 to
logical storage for backup data.
4. Implement a cost effective storage solution for onsite and off-site disk backup to migrate away from
legacy tape systems.
• Provide low performance, high density storage
• Decommission tape backup systems
• Provide mirrored offsite storage for emergency
recovery of data
(FY14)
• Provide low performance, high density storage
• Provide seamless management of dissimilar types of
storage infrastructure, including low performance, high
density disk
• Quickly respond to incremental demand with minimal
capital expenditure
(FY 14)
• Establish consistent cost for tiered storage using a
consumption cost model for price per GB allocated.
(FY 14)
• Provide a secure method for management of
university information in the cloud.
• Lower the requirements of on premise storage
hardware
(FY 15)
5. Implement a cost effective storage array for tier 2
file share systems
6. Implement chargeback model for storage (including
Personal File Storage and Application Storage)
7. Integrate cloud storage options for personal
and departmental storage
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4.4. Kent State Unified Desktop. Implement a single suite of desktop management tools and directory
services for use across the entire university. Continue to allow local control of desktops while moving the
university to a unified set of tools and procedures for managing the desktop environment.
1. Manage both Windows and Macintosh personal computers.
2. Bind to Kent Active Directory, with IS providing servers at each campus for redundancy.
3. Provide single authentication and similar user experience across all eight campuses,
resulting in higher user satisfaction than multiple logons per campus.
4. Use Active Directory to enable settings management, automatic shared drive and printer
assignment, and auditable security.
5. Encrypt university owned machines with full disk encryption software (Windows and Mac)
6. Use Altiris for inventory, security updates, and flexible software distribution
Completed Key Initiatives
Measures
1. Provide full disk encryption for all faculty and staff
personal computers (Windows and Macs)
Completed for windows machines 2010
2. Bind all faculty and staff personal computers to
Kent State’s active directory
Completed for windows machines 2010
3. Install a common software management
application (Altiris) on all faculty and staff personal
computers
4. Expand encryption, active directory and software
management to all campus PC’s as appropriate.(i.e.
encryption may not be required on Lab PC’s)

Completed for windows machines 2011
New / Revised Key Initiatives
Measures
1. Provide full disk encryption for all faculty and staff
personal computers (Macs)
Complete by 2014
2. Bind all faculty and staff personal computers to
Kent State’s active directory (Macs)
3. Install a common software management
application on all faculty and staff personal computers
(Macs)
Determined not appropriate - cancelled
Complete by 2014
Complete by 2014
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4.5. Data Center Optimization and Efficiencies Improve operating and environmental efficiencies within data
center. Implement server and storage optimization strategy; – virtualize and consolidate.
Completed Key Initiatives
Measures
1. Continue to refine and focus resources to
increase efficient resolution of problems and ongoing
maintenance and support of systems.
·
Documented DC resource requirements and
update job descriptions and roles to reflect those
requirements 2Q 2010
2. Optimize structure of computer room for more
efficient cooling and power usage, as well as
expansion of servers and machinery as required.
·
Documented current DC cost structure by
3Q2010
3. Continue to deliver efficiencies in DC operations
such as, but not limited to remote monitoring, shift
eliminations, and “green” operations
·
Complete initial evaluations and make
recommendations for efficiency improvements by
3Q2010
4. Develop and implement server optimization
strategy utilizing blade and virtualization technology.
Virtualize and consolidate servers where feasible.
·
·
New / Revised Key Initiatives
Measures
1. Implement an Enterprise Monitoring Solution to
provide a single pane of glass for system and service
status monitoring.
• Document monitoring requirements for KSU critical
systems and processes
• Implement monitoring requirement processes
• Upgrade centralized monitoring tools providing
enterprise capabilities
• Reduce disparate monitoring systems
• Train personal on maintenance and development of
product monitoring agents
• Develop dashboards to accurately report the state of
the KSU environment
(FY 14)
• Establish policy for cloud service usage
• Consolidate cloud services to maximize cost savings
• Leverage available cloud capacity to speed up the
time to deliver on request
• Enable auto scaling of services to meet bursting load
demands
• Provide a seamless DR model for virtual services
(FY 14)
2. Enhance compute and storage solutions by
providing cloud brokering as an extension of the
datacenter
Implement quarterly tracking of servers
Server chargeback model by FY11
• Decommission on premise services for SharePoint
3. Migrate on premise SharePoint to the hosted Office (FY 13)
365 service
4.6. Service Management: Improve client understanding of access to, and usability of IT Services.
New / Revised Key Initiatives
Measures
1. Create detailed IT Service Catalog that defines
service, who is eligible for service and method to
access service.
Complete by 2014
2. Perform usability studies on select IT Services and
Applications
Complete by 2015
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Strategic Goal #5: Plan and Manage Information Services
Critical to the efficient execution of the IS mission are the organization, people and processes. We must have fully
engaged and visionary teams in order to facilitate university wide information technology strategies, priorities and
decisions. Equally, we must deploy processes and disciplines that enhance organizational efficiency, and reliable
systems and environments. Following outline the critical projects that are fundamental to our strategic success.
5.1. IS Leadership. Develop and recognize our people
Completed Key Initiatives
Measures
1. Promote leadership skills of IS
management staff through group professional
development sessions
Implemented 2009 - Ongoing - conduct management
professional development programs at least twice annually. 
2. Encourage a culture of diversity and
inclusion in which all employees can
contribute fully
Implemented 2010 - Ongoing - ensure all employees attend at
least two diversity related training programs or events each
year
3. Implement a Training Reporting
Application to consolidate staff training
information
4. Support and promote the certification and
continuing education of staff
Cancelled
Implemented 2010 - Ongoing - ensure support education and
certification of IS staff
New / Revised Key Initiatives
Measures
1. Promote leadership skills of IS
management staff through group professional
development sessions
Ongoing - conduct management professional development
programs at least twice annually. 
2. Encourage a culture of diversity and
inclusion in which all employees can
contribute fully
Ongoing - ensure all employees attend at least two diversity
related training programs or events each year
3. Promote technical and leadership skills of
individual contributors through group
professional development sessions
4. Support and promote the certification and
continuing education of staff
Implement by 2013 maintain ongoing
Ongoing - ensure support education and certification of IS staff
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5.2. Strategic Planning. Develop and implement a university wide information technology strategic plan with
means for continuous improvement.
Completed Key Initiatives
Measures
1. Establish and implement an ongoing
information technology planning process that
continually assesses and evaluates
information technology at KSU
Strategic plan process; published and delivered by FY10
revised 2013
2. Develop quantitative measures and KPIs
that will assess the accomplishments and
drive continuous improvement within the
division
Quality Metrics developed for Helpdesk Services (2010) and
time tracking implemented for projects (2012), additional
metrics in progress
New / Revised Key Initiatives
Measures
1. Develop new Strategic plan by 2016
Complete by 2016
2. Develop quantitative measures and KPIs
that will assess the accomplishments and
drive continuous improvement within the
division
Complete by 2015
5.3. Project Management and Prioritization. Strengthen advisory, governance and communication
structure, providing coordination and prioritization process.
Completed Key Initiatives
Measures
1. Review all current advisory structures
and design for an interdependent function i.e.
IT steering committee.
2. Clarify IT priority setting process
3. Determine how to increase
communication and engagement with key
stakeholders
Key stakeholders determined existing process should continue
to be followed (2010)
PM for Infrastructure and Operations FY10
4. Further expand the PMO and disciplines
to IS centered projects.
Implement Project Management methodology and discipline
including templates, reporting and time tracking by FY11
New / Revised Key Initiatives
Measures
1. Further expand the PMO and disciplines to
Service Management and Educational
Technology projects.
Currently in progress (helpdesk project) implement for all major
projects by 2015
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5.4. Communication and Collaboration: Improve communication and capitalize on collaboration
opportunities within IS organization and across university divisions
Completed Key Initiatives
Measures
1. Ensure effective communication through
regular division wide meetings
Implemented in FY10
2. Implement center of excellence by
moving optimum/maximum number of IS
resources into one facility
Completed by 2011
3. Develop and implement ongoing
coordinated information services
communications and feedback mechanisms
for students faculty and staff
4. Hire communication person for division,
develop more effective IS communication
program within division and across university
Monthly insight publications and board book contributions
completed 2010
In Progress - Person hired but moved to University
Communications need replacement
5. Encourage participation in appropriate
national, regional and statewide collaborative
efforts to maintain competitive advantage,
maximize economies of scale and capitalize
on best practices.
Ongoing
New / Revised Key Initiatives
Measures
1. Ensure effective communication through
regular division wide meetings
Ongoing
3. Develop and implement ongoing
coordinated information services
communications and feedback mechanisms
for students faculty and staff
Ongoing
4. Hire communication person for division,
develop more effective IS communication
program within division and across university
Complete in 2013
5. Encourage participation in appropriate
national, regional and statewide collaborative
efforts to maintain competitive advantage,
maximize economies of scale and capitalize
on best practices.
Ongoing
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III. External Environmental Analysis – Trends in Higher Education
The information technology strategy and tactical plans of approximately 10 institutions were reviewed as well as
technology related higher education resources. These documents provided additional insights and perspectives as
to current trends, issues and concerns relative to technology and higher education. Excerpts from the various
sources are included below.
A. EDUCAUSE Top 10 IT Issues, 2012
Since 2000, EDUCAUSE (nonprofit association whose mission is to advance higher education by promoting the
intelligent use of information technology) has conducted its Current Issues Survey to identify what campus
information technology leaders see as their most critical IT challenges. General conclusions
1. Updating IT professionals' skills and roles to accommodate emerging technologies and changing IT management and
service delivery models
2. Supporting the trends toward IT consumerization and bring-your-own device
3. Developing an institution-wide cloud strategy
4. Improving the institution's operational efficiency through information technology
5. Integrating information technology into institutional decision-making
6. Using analytics to support critical institutional outcomes
7. Funding information technology strategically
8. Transforming the institution's business with information technology
9. Supporting the research mission through high-performance computing, large data, and analytics
10.Establishing and implementing IT governance throughout the institution
As noted previously, the KSU IS plan incorporates and attacks most of these critical issues.
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B. The ECAR Study of Undergraduate Students and Information Technology, 2012
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C. Gartner Group, Agenda Overview for Higher Education, 2013
Table 1. Priorities for Higher Education
Key Initiative
Focus
IT Governance
IT governance is the set of processes that ensure the effective and efficient use of IT in
enabling an organization to achieve its goals.
IT Strategic Planning
Strategic planning is the process of translating the enterprise's vision and mission into how
resources, including IT's capabilities, are deployed to generate maximum value for
stakeholders.
Innovation
Management
Successful innovation must combine creativity with process to transform novel ideas into
business value. Innovation management requires a clear strategy, a business focus and a
defined process model.
Enterprise Application Enterprise application suites and ERP improve business processes and information usage
by integrating functions such as finance, order management and purchasing into a set of
Suites and ERP
interconnected modules.
Cloud Computing
Innovation
Cloud computing is a style of computing where scalable and elastic IT-related capabilities
are provided as a service to customers, using Internet technologies.
Vendor Management Vendor management is the discipline of managing, administering and guiding vendors in
an organized way to drive the right behaviors (product or service elements) to IT or
business outcomes.
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D. Campus Computing Project: The 2012 Campus Computing Survey
The 2012 survey also confirms big gains in the proportion of institutions that are activating mobile apps and
services for their students. Additionally, the 2012 data document the continuing decline in the number of
campuses that continue to experience IT budget cuts as a consequence of the economic downturn that began
in 2008.
Assessing the Effectiveness of Campus IT Investments
The 2012 Campus Computing Survey reveals that senior campus IT officials offer a very mixed assessment
about the effectiveness of various institutional investments in information technology. For example, threefifths view the institutional investment in IT for library resources and for administrative information systems to
be “very effective,” while just over half (55.2 percent) cite the investment in IT for on-campus instruction as
“very effective.” In contrast, less than a fourth (22.7 percent) view the IT investment in “data analysis and
managerial analytics” as very effective. Among CIOs at research institutions, only a two-fifths (41.7 percent)
at public universities and a third (32.6 percent) in private universities assess current IT investments to support
research and scholarship as “very effective.”
More Colleges Go Mobile
Across all sectors of higher education, the 2012 survey documents another year of big gains in the proportion
of colleges and universities that have activated mobile apps. Three-fifths (60.2 percent) of the campuses
participating in this year’s survey have activated mobile apps as of fall 2012 or will do so in the coming
academic year, compared to two-fifths (41.5 percent) in fall 2011 and 23.1 percent in fall 2010. Across
sectors, public universities lead the move to mobile: more than three-fourths (77.8 percent) report active or
impending mobile apps for fall 2012, compared to 67.5 percent for private universities, and a range of 50-60
percent for public and private four-year colleges and also for community colleges.
Fewer Campuses Experience Budget Cuts
The 2012 data indicate that just over a fourth (27.0 percent) of the surveyed institutions experienced cuts
affecting the current (A/Y 2012-13) budget for central IT resources and services, down from more than a third
(35.8 percent) in fall 2011, 41.6 percent in 2010, and fully half (50.0 percent) in fall 2009.
Small Gains in Cloud Computing
Despite the continuing discussion in both the campus and the corporate sectors about the operational and
financial benefits of Cloud Computing, the 2012 survey data show only small gains in the movement of
mission-critical campus operations to the Cloud. Just 5.9 percent of the survey participants report that their
campus has moved or is converting to Cloud Computing for ERP (administrative system) services, up from
4.4 percent in 2011 (range: from 10.2 percent for private universities to 2.1 percent for private four-year
colleges).Similarly, just 9.8 percent have moved to Cloud Computing for storage, archiving, or business
continuity services as of fall 2012, compared to 6.5 percent last year. And although Cloud Computing should
offer significant benefits for research and high performance computing (HPC) activities, just 8.3 of public
universities have migrated these activities to the Cloud as of this fall, compared to 6.6 percent in 2011; among
private universities, 7.0 percent report cloud-based HPC activities, compared to 1.1 percent last year.
Continuing Shifts in the LMS Market
The 2012 data also document an increasing competitive campus market for Learning Management Systems (LMS).
The proportion of survey participants reporting that their institution uses various versions of Blackboard (including
Angel and WebCT) as the campus-standard LMS fell to 44.8 percent in fall 2012, down from 50.6 percent in 2011,
57.1 percent 2010, and 71.0 percent in fall 2006. Concurrently, Blackboard’s major LMS competitors –
Desire2Learn (11.1 percent in fall 2012), Moodle (20.1 percent), and Sakai (6.1 percent) - have all gained share
during this period. Additionally, Canvas by Instructure has emerged as an aggressive new competitor: 4.6 percent
of the 2012 survey participants report that their institution has selected Canvas as the campus-standard LMS
application, up from zero percent just three years ago.
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IV. Internal Assessment (2010)
Organization Profile
The division of Information Services is composed of approximately 150 persons from a diverse background of
experiences and skill sets. The organization currently consisting of six organizational units, is aligned across
traditional IS boundaries including Infrastructure and Operations, Applications Development and Support and EndUser Services. In addition the Educational Technology team services the academic community providing end-user
support, course management software and tools and classroom technology support. In September 2008 a Project
Management Office (PMO) with seasoned managers and business analyst was established. Finally in the fall of
rd
2009 the end user university help desk was outsourced to a 3 party organization.
Several members of the organization have taken additional training and education and achieved the following
certifications.
KSU IS Personnel Certifications
CPA
CFP
PMP
CISCO
Certifications
Microsoft
Certifications
Dell Warranty
Apple Warranty
ITL Certifications
Red Hat Linux
Sun Solaris
VM Ware
AMX
Programming
and Design
Video Bridge
Operations
Oracle
Certifications
Dell EMC Storage
CNA
Microsoft
Windows/IIS/AD
Linux
In addition, the SWOT analysis as framed by the IS management team, highlights areas of strengths and
opportunities to leverage and weaknesses and threats to address and mitigate.
Strengths
Weaknesses

Talented dedicated staff

Communication

Reliable Services

Lean Staff

Strong Problem Resolution

Need to improve/streamline processes

Relationship with administrative and staff

Relationship with faculty
Opportunities
Threats

Collaboration with other universities

Financial constraints/budget

New Technology

Resource burnout

Communicate more with groups outside of IS

Poor morale

Improve Relationships

Need to work more with Faculty
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Survey Results
University constituents were surveyed to assess current state and perspectives of services offered as well as
gather feedback and direction as to strategic imperatives and university needs. Over one thousand (1060) persons
– student, faculty and staff responded to a detailed online survey. The first section of the survey allowed
respondents to rate specific services and tools (Help Desk, Desk Top Support, Multimedia and Course
Development, Training, Internet and Wireless Services, etc) on a scale from 1 to 5.
Results from the Campus Wide Survey indicate that most students and staff are very satisfied with the technology
services provided. Over 58% of respondents rated the Helpdesk and End-User Servers Above Average.
Figure 1: Campus Wide Survey Results
This is closely coupled with the Desktop Support and Services provided by the LAN Administrators and Federated
Team receiving 61% Above Average. Course Management Tools and Support received high-marks with over 56%
of the respondents rating the services Above Average. While the Internet and Wireless Services received a rating
of 54% Above Average, numerous comments about service in residence halls were embedded within the
comments sections. Of note also were the high marks received per the E-Mail environment (73% Above Average)
and the Computer Labs and Workstations (61% Above Average).
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Similar responses and ratings were received in the surveys targeted toward faculty and staff.
Figure 2: Survey Results Faculty and Staff
Of note were the ratings pertaining to Course Management Tools and Support. Twenty-Two percent of those
respondents rated this below average. This rating may be attributable to the recent upgrade of the Vista CMS tool
and perhaps additional training is needed to facilitate adoption and acceptance. The December audit on Learning
Management Tools conducted by the UCT provides additional input and direction as to strategic initiatives in this
area.
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UCT Faculty Audit Summary – Learning Management Systems and Tools
 Summary provided by Pam Grimm – University Council on Technology Chair
In December of 2009 the UCT sent out an Educational Technology Audit to all instructors teaching a Fall 2009
course section at Kent State University. Twelve percent of the instructors (316) responded to the audit request. The
audit focused on several key educational technologies; Course Management Systems, Synchronous Learning
Systems, E-Portfolio Systems, Course Recording Software, and Survey Software.
The audit covered a wide variety of topics related to each type of software; usage, availability and quality of
support, ranking of specific vendor software, preferred vendor software and confidence in learning a new software
package. In addition the instructors were asked if they would be interested in participating on “Rapid Response
Tech Teams” to provide feedback on different types of educational technology software.
Some of the key findings are:
1. Except for the Course Management System other technologies are not widely used, though it should be
noted that individuals using the synchronous learning systems and course recording software are probably
leading edge user of tools to make distance learning more accessible and as such need to be supported in
their efforts.
2. The respondents were confident in their ability to learn a new software package.
3. The respondents did not strongly support choosing any specific vendor packages. The strongest support
for choosing a specific package was for Camtasia under course recording software with 15 responses
(31%). This probably reflects the availability of site licenses for this software and some support available for
it on campus.
4. Through a combination of responses to questions regarding resources available for training and open
ended comments it is clear that many member of the faculty feel that the resources available to support
technology are insufficient. More specifically, there seems to be a sense that the investment being made to
support faculty use of technology doesn’t’ match the stated goals of the provost and president with regard
to rapid escalation in the availability of web enhance or fully online courses.
Currently Using
Software Package
Somewhat or Very
Confident in Learning
new software
#
Responses Percent
Don't Know / Not
Sure of one brand of
software to choose
#
Responses Percent
#
Responses
Percent
262
73%
255
92%
191
70%
30
9%
57
85%
50
79%
E-Portfolio
Course Recording
Software
94
28%
113
93%
86
73%
38
11%
46
92%
22
45%
Survey Software
69
21%
102
94%
50
79%
Course Management
System
Synchronous Learning
System
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SunGard Banner ERP Implementation Assessment
In 2008 the SunGard Banner ERP system was implemented for the University. This was a major implementation
and migration from a system that had been highly customized and in place since for several years. Key modules
supporting the university’s primary operations were installed including Finance, Student, Financial Aid and Human
Resources. As a means of providing constructive feedback and gaining maximum utilization of the system a post
implementation assessment was conducted by SunGard Higher Education Consultants. Results of this assessment
are documented below:
Successes:




Based upon survey responses and interview discussions, the University has developed and is successfully
utilizing integrated workflows to automate business processes, approvals, notifications, and form
processing.
Business units have incorporated imaging technology to great advantage reducing the need for physical
storage, improving access to information for reviews of application and supporting materials, and
automating and reducing the paper processing typically involved in admissions checklist management.
The concurrent implementation of the Operational Data Store along with the Cognos Business Intelligence
Suite resulted in significant improvement in the number of end users able to develop their own ad hoc
queries and reports.
A new and improved FlashLine was unveiled January 1, 2007. With the updates to the technology behind
FlashLine, many of the University’s services were available in one place, and accessible with a single signon – providing the foundation for Kent State’s Unified Digital Campus.
Areas for Improvement:


Relationship Management - Each admissions area is recruiting and tracking prospects using their own
processes, with the exception of Kent State UG Admissions, Stark UG Admissions, and Geauga UG
Admissions who are using Hobsons’ EMT Connect and EMT Retain for their key interaction with prospects.
Admissions Centers would benefit from the utilization of a single solution and database supporting
recruiting and admissions activities.
EDW Reporting Strategy - Trend analysis is difficult to manage with the operational data from the ODS
without the ability to define extracts and the capture of point in time data on a prescribed frequency.
Recommended New Solutions:




Banner Relationship Management and Banner Recruitment and Admissions Performance - Admissions
Centers would benefit from the utilization of a single solution and database supporting recruiting and
admissions activities.
Enterprise Data Warehouse (EDW) component of Banner Performance and Reporting Analytics (BPRA) Kent State will take full advantage of the data stored across the Banner ERP, turning it into applied
knowledge to support making informed decisions, and guide strategic institutional planning.
Banner Flexible Registration – Registration and continuing education processing requires much oversight
and management on the part of staff regarding both registration and payment processing and billing.
CASS Certified ™ software - With CASS (Coding Accuracy and Support System) Certified™ software, Kent
State can standardize addresses and obtain the correct ZIP + 4® assignments and associated delivery
point codes (DPC).
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External Assessment – CIO Analysis and Recommendation
A comprehensive external review was conducted with the purpose of providing an independent assessment and
evaluation of the IS organization and the strategic plan. The review was conducted by a visiting committee of
experienced higher education CIO’s and an independent higher education consultant. The review team conducted
a two day visit to the Kent campus in March 2010. The review focused on two broad questions;


Is the IS strategy well aligned with the needs and priorities of the institution
How can KSU use and manage technology more effectively
The Division is extremely grateful for the participation of approximately 40 faculty, staff members and students who
participated in the review process. The Division is especially appreciative of the efforts of Larry Conrad, Phil
Goldstein, Kathy Lang, Polley McClure and Jack McCredie in identifying IS’s strengths as well as opportunities for
improvement.
Highlights of the external review are included below. Additionally included is IS’s response to the review and plan
for implementing the review recommendations.
Summary of Findings
1. The University enjoys a reliable and solid technology foundation. The IS team is recognized for their
dedication effort and willingness to collaborate. There were few concerns expressed with the quality of IS
services.
2. IT is viewed as strategic across campus. As such, it is an opportune time to engage in a conversation
about how technology can support broad institutional goals in teaching, research and outreach. An
opportunity for IS to rebalance its focus, ask what comes next?
3. Clarified and more structured IT priority setting within and between the different missions technology
support will continue to build even greater confidence in IT decisions and will improve the utilization of
scarce resources. Additionally it is very important that IS increase its communication and engagement with
key stakeholders.
4. While advisory groups exist on campus (UCT, Banner User Groups, etc.) their current role and impact
needs to be strengthened.
5. IS needs to lead a conversation to establish a shared understanding of the optimal division of responsibility
for technology between its own organization and colleges and other administrative units.
6. Consider a broader set of options for addressing the challenges of managing the workload of maintaining
and enhancing Banner
Response
In response to the external review several initiatives are underway and or reenergized with further clarity and
direction.
1. Strengthen advisory, governance and communication structure, providing coordination and prioritization
process.
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
Review all current advisory structures and design for an interdependent function i.e. IT steering committee.

Clarify IT priority setting process

Determine how to increase communication and engagement with key stakeholders

Assess how desktop and laptop computer standards are established

Identify gaps in research computing support

Hire communication person for division, develop more effective IS communication program within division
and across university
2. Evaluate complete IT services with an eye toward re-balancing the services toward teaching and learning.
3. Review division of responsibility between central IT organization, colleges and other administrative units.
 Fully engage Provost Office, Deans and Departments Chairs to assess tradeoffs associated with cost
of IT services in a RCM model.

Evaluate and determine optimal division of responsibility for providing technology services.
4. Utilize newly structured steering committee to finalize draft strategic plan.
5. Await options and recommendations of recently commission team tasked with increasing efficiencies of the
software development and maintenance teams.
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2015
V. Additional Information (2010)
External Environmental Analysis References
1. EDUCAUSE and ECAR surveys and research: (2008 and 2009)
a. http://www.educause.edu/EDUCAUSE+Review/EDUCAUSEReviewMagazineVolume44/TopTenITIssu
es2009/174191
b. http://www.educause.edu/ers0808
c. http://www.educause.edu/Resources/TheECARStudyofUndergraduateStu/187215
d. http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/EKF/EKF0906.pdf
2. Gartner Group’s research : http://wistechnology.com/articles/5129/
3. Campus Technology : http://www.campustechnology.com/Articles/2009/04/15/Why-Web-2.0-is-Important-toHigher-Education.aspx?Page=1
4. Insider Higher Ed – various articles:
a. http://www.insidehighered.com/views/2009/01/06/gonick
b. http://www.kuali.org/faqs/
c. http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2009/07/06/kuali
5. Ohio Board or Regents Report: http://www.uso.edu/downloads/reports/ConditionReport2009.pdf
6. The Campus Computing Survey 2008 – prepared by the Campus Computing Project:
http://www.campuscomputing.net/content-item/new-2008-campus-computing-survey-executive-summary-29oct-2008
7. The Campus Computing Survey 2009 – prepared by the Campus Computer Project:
http://www.campuscomputing.net/sites/www.campuscomputing.net/files/CampusComputing2009.pdf
8. Miami University Information Technology Strategic Plan (Debra Allison, CIO)
(http://www.units.muohio.edu/mcs/ITStrategicPlan/Renewal/Mar09.pdf
9. Ohio State University Information Technology Strategic Plan (Kathleen Starkoff, CIO)
http://cio.osu.edu/planit2009/planit_2010_14.pdf
Internal Assessment Statistics
1. UCT Faculty Audit Results: Conducted December 2009, 12% 316 Respondents.
2. Campus Wide Survey Results: Conducted September 2009, Student(88%), Faculty(5%) and Staff (7%) – 1040
Respondents – Primarily Kent Campus
3. SIS Academic Advisory Survey Results: Conducted September 2009, Staff and Administrations : 39%
response rate
4. University Banner User Groups Results: Conducted September 2009, Staff and Administration: 62% response
rate
CIO Assessments - Participants
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Information Services Strategic Plan
2015
1. Larry D. Conrad, Vice Chancellor for Information Technology & CIO - University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
2. Phil Goldstein - Cap Gemini Ernst & Young and ECAR Consultant
3. Kathy Lang, CIO - Marquette University
4. Polley McClure, Vice President for Information Technologies, Emeritus, - Cornell University
5. Jack McCredie, Associate Vice Chancellor and CIO Emeritus - University of California, Berkeley
Strategic Plan Team
1. Jennifer Goings Smith – Strategic Plan Chair – Infrastructure and Operations
2. Francine Murphy – Training Coordinator – Survey Administration
3. Information Services – Senior Staff
a. Paul Albert –Educational Technology
b. Tom Beitl – Network Services and Telecommunications
c.
Annette Frye –End User and Business Services
d. Ed Mahon – CIO, VP Information Services
e. Andrea Nunley – Enterprise Application Services
f.
Coleen Santee – Project Management
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2015
VI. Mapping IS Projects to Academic Affairs Strategy (2013)
IS Hours
Spent
Remaining
IS 1.1 Graduation Planning System (GPS) Implemented
DegreeWorks, to enable students to review their degree
progress and plan their coursework with a goal of
graduation.
IS 1.1 Graduation Planning System (GPS)
Currently building an Advising Scheduling System, that is
integrated with Banner, to allow students to easily
connect with their advisor.
18,600
6,000
260
1,500
IS 1.1 Graduation Planning System (GPS)
Implement Course Signals to provide early indicators
based on class engagement and performance criteria, to
allow faculty to identify and remediate student
challenges.
500
750
3.a. Consult with students to determine
the most effective ways to provide
critical information regarding dates,
resources, and opportunities (including
traditional communication channels,
non-traditional communication channels
such as social media, combinations of
other channels).
3.b. Use effective 21st-century methods
for connecting faculty and advisors to
their students.
IS 1.5 Enhanced End User Services
Continue to roll out the Dynamic Student Checklist to
various student groups (freshmen, adults, regional
campuses, international, graduate, etc.) to provide oneclick access to required activities.
5,000
1,700
IS 1.1 Graduation Planning System (GPS)
Implemented an Automated Advisor Assignment system
to allow colleges to quickly match incoming students to
advisors.
1,270
150
4.b. Expand Kent State’s more
successful retention and graduation
strategies and evaluate the fit of
evidence-based best practices that
improve retention and graduation.
IS 4.2 Post ERP Implementation/Optimization
Implemented Banner Relationship Management (BRM)
to manage and track student communication campaigns
based on any criteria in Banner.
1,100
500
4.c. Build well defined articulation
agreements and foster strong
relationships with community colleges
and other higher learning institutions to
ensure clear transition pathways for
students.
IS 1.4 Streamline and Improve University Processes
Implement the Banner Transfer Articulation module, the
Transfer Student Transcript Notification and a Dynamic
Student Checklist for transfer students to allow accurate
and quick admission of transfer students.
1,350
3,000
4.e. Use retention and time-to-degree
data to identify where resources should
be targeted.
IS 1.1 Graduation Planning System (GPS)
GPS Tracking will be implemented in Fall 2013 to identify
and remediate students that are off track. Also GPS
Reporting will be built to provide student retention and
graduation measures and metrics.
300
1,250
AA Strategic Plan Goal
1. Ensuring Student Success
1.a. Define elements of a graduationoriented academic culture.
2.b. Identify and require critical activities
that benefit all students (e.g., required
advising, peer-mentoring, career-related
coursework and activities, experiential
and problem-based learning, graduate
school guidance and assistance,
academic support offerings).
2.c. Provide increased assistance with
difficult classes (i.e., those with large
numbers of D, F, and W grades).
Information Services Strategic Plan Goal
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AA Strategic Plan Goal
Information Services Strategic Plan Goal
2. Enhancing Academic Excellence and Innovation
1.a. Review and update curricula to
IS 1.4 Streamline and Improve University Processes
further stress critical thinking.
Currently implementing CurricuNET to provide
efficiencies with curriculum development.
2015
IS Hours
Spent
Remaining
150
220
1.d. Renovate and expand the services
offered by the Faculty Professional
Development Center.
IS 1.4 Streamline and Improve University Processes
The FPDC Productivity Database project has been
requested to monitor and evaluate FPDC productivity
indicators.
0
300
2.c. Expand alternate pathways to
degree completion (e.g., advanced
placement, dual enrollment, etc.).
IS 1.1 Graduation Planning System (GPS)
GPS will be enhanced to allow students to run What If
Scenarios, showing the affect on their pathway to
graduation.
0
100
2.d. Increase student opportunities for
and meaningfulness of advising and
faculty/peer mentorship.
IS 1.1 Graduation Planning System (GPS)
Currently building an Advising Scheduling System, that is
integrated with Banner, to allow students to easily
connect with their advisor, and allows the advisor to track
student interactions.
260
1,500
3.b. Further align professional course
offerings to ensure applicability to
current projected job opportunities and
contemporary knowledge and skill
requirements.
IS 1.5 Enhanced End User Services
Implementing Banner Flexible Registration to provide a
familiar shopping cart interface for continuing education
students.
600
400
6.c. Incorporate best DL practices in
hybrid course delivery.
IS 1.5 Enhanced End User Services
Will provide integration with Banner, DegreeWorks,
Blackboard, and the IT helpdesk to support the
Everspring Integration project. Flashline and GPS will be
enhanced to handle Everspring DL students, and data
will be provided to the external Everspring recruiting,
enrollment, mobile, and CRM applications.
0
2,000
7.c. Develop training and support
IS 1.2 Business Intelligence and Reporting
programs that assist faculty and
Currently building the EDW Diversity Scorecard to
administrators with recruiting and
provide real-time analysis of campus diversity.
retaining AALANA faculty.
3. Expanding Breakthrough Research and Creative Endeavors
1.b. Track the value of research/creative IS 1.4 Streamline and Improve University Processes
activities at the college level so that its
Development of the Faculty Information System will
impact is communicated to the
begin in Fall 2013 to provide management of faculty
university and the general public.
portfolio information.
200
200
100
1,000
3.a. Verify that outstanding peerreviewed teaching and
research/creative activities are
recognized in the reappointment,
tenure, and promotion standards of the
department.
0
400
IS 1.4 Streamline and Improve University Processes
The Promotion/Tenure Review project has been
requested to facilitate the collection of data and
streamline processes for promotion and tenure review.
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2015
IS Hours
Spent
Remaining
750
0
IS 1.4 Streamline and Improve University Processes
fsaAtlas was implemented in April 2012 and upgraded in
March 2013 to streamline processing of international
students.
600
0
IS 1.4 Streamline and Improve University Processes
Banner Fee Assessment must be enhanced to support
differential tuition rates.
IS 1.4 Streamline and Improve University Processes
Implemented the Banner Faculty Load and
Compensation Module in Jan 2013 to provide an
integrated, efficient process for determining faculty
assignments and workload.
0
240
2,000
0
IS 1.2 Business Intelligence and Reporting
The Electronic Data Warehouse (EDW) contains
historical trending information to allow for flexible
analysis and timely decision making about course
enrollment.
6. Developing and Recognizing Our People
4.a. Recognize and use faculty and
IS 1.1 Graduation Planning System (GPS)
student needs for scheduling courses
Timetabling was implemented, and continues to be
and meetings more effectively (family
enhanced with the growing capability of GPS, to provide
friendly, research needs for faculty /
efficient scheduling of the courses students need, when
employment needs of students).
they need them.
3,000
550
1,000
200
Total Hours
37,040
21,960
AA Strategic Plan Goal
Information Services Strategic Plan Goal
4. Engaging the World Beyond Our Campuses
1.a. Investigate the costs to colleges
IS 1.4 Streamline and Improve University Processes
when they encourage domestic
Cognos RCM Reports and Extracts were developed to
students to study abroad, and build in
provide detailed cost information, and the ability to
RCM incentives for such study
perform analysis of changes in spending or funding.
experiences.
1.c. Investigate the programmatic costs
and revenue to colleges when they
recruit and attract international students.
5. Securing Our Financial Future
2.a. Explore the possibility of differential
tuition rates for targeted academic
programs.
3.a. Evaluate current academic
processes to identify areas for
increased efficiencies (resource
allocation, load assignments, time, and
financial savings).
4.c. Evaluate low enrollment courses
and sections to find and implement
greater efficiencies.
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