The Changing Face of Higher Ed
and the Role of IT as a
Strategic Enabler
Dave Wallace
Chief Information Officer
University of Waterloo
December 4, 2012
Topics
• Challenges and Opportunities for Higher
Education – and the role for IT
• Context – Planning, Planning, Planning!
• Strategic Initiatives
– Strategic Plan
– Enterprise Architecture
– Organize for Success
• A View Forward
#watitis2012
Trends in Higher Ed
#watitis2012
Massive Open Online Courses
(MOOCs)
• What it is (versus WATITis)
–
–
–
–
Online/e-Learning Learning
Open Access
Large Scale Participation
Non-credited
• Interesting
– Started in the University of Prince Edward Island in 2008!
• Now
– MIT, Stanford, Havard, U of T and others jumping on board
– Have spawned Coursera, Udacity and Edx – but just the beginning
#watitis2012
Challenges and Opportunities
• Challenges
–
–
–
–
Rapid change
Higher Ed institutions are transforming
Students – expectations
Fiscal challenges
• Opportunities
– uWaterloo’s Co-op strength
– IP Rule
– Innovation
#watitis2012
Context at uWaterloo
• Lots of Planning!
–
–
–
–
–
–
Government of Ontario
University-wide
Faculty
Academic and Administration Support
Ancillaries
Students
#watitis2012
6 Pillars
•
•
•
•
•
•
Academic excellence
Research excellence and impact
Co-operative education
Graduate studies
Internationalization
Entrepreneurship
#watitis2012
“The Big Picture” – Updated
• Mid Cycle Review (MCR)
– Review goals delivered in 2006 – 6th Decade Plan
– Reflect on our progress and engage students, faculty,
staff, alumni
– Create actionable goals for the next five years
– Introduce an accountability framework with action
plans and measures of success
#watitis2012
Alignment with Foundational Pillars
Advance Quality of
Education
Advance Research
Excellence and
Impact
Enhance Student
Opportunities and
Experience
Increase Visibility
and Outreach
Improve uW
Environment
Improve Resources
and Funding
Advance Image and
Philosophy
Student
Opportunities and
Experience
Resources
Visibility and
Outreach
Image and
Philosophy
Quality Education
Clear and Effective
Leadership
Key Goals
Enabling Goals
MCR Priorities
Pillars
University of Waterloo Environment
Academic excellence
Research excellence and impact
Co-operative education
Graduate studies
Internationalization
Entrepreneurship
Source: IAP
The IT Strategic Plan Project
To create an Information Technology (IT)
Strategic Plan to advance the state of IT to
meet the opportunities for University of
Waterloo over the next 5 years.
A uWaterloo IT Strategic Plan for the whole IT
Community – it is not an IST plan!
Overview of IT Strategic Plan Project
University
Leadership/
6 Pillars
Students/
Potential Students
National/
International
Opportunities
Government
Faculties/Strategic Plans
Vision
Mission
Colleagues
Principles and Values
IT Trends
Architecture
/Blueprint
(Direction/Evolution)
Project
Portfolio/
Budget
Performance
Measures
Priorities, Risks and Timing
Information/
Knowledge
Optimized
Applications
Integration
Secure,
Common Infra.
Standards/
Interfaces
Services/
Budget
Project Stages
Project kick
off
Aligning
campus IT
Building the
plan
#watitis2012
Refining
the plan
Implementation
& Initiatives
Evaluation
& Adaption
Approach
• Using a method called “IT Strategy Map”
…Not Quite!
#watitis2012
Our Purpose (Mission):
Strategy
Map
Framework
Our Goal for 2018 (Vision 2018):
.
Our Promise to Our Stakeholders:
Stakeholder
Internal
Process
Organizational
Capabilities
CORE VALUES
Resource
Management
Our Purpose (Mission):
Evolve an exceptional, innovative IT environment to enable
engagement, creativity, and impact.
V4.1 Draft
uWaterloo
IT Community
Our Goal for 2018 (Vision 2018):
Enable the University’s mission through exceptional
learning, teaching and research environments.
Our Promise to Our Stakeholders: Inspiring and supporting the University of Waterloo through technology leadership and excellence.
Stakeholder
Enable the achievement of uW
research and scholarship objectives
Enable the achievement of uW teaching and
student life-learning objectives
Enable the optimization of administrative
processes across campuses
Enable University
outreach activities
Optimize the user experience
Exchange accessible, high quality data and information when,
where, and how needed
Internal
Process
Be easy to do
business with
Maintain a secure, reliable, and useable
information and technology environment
Continuously improve and
optimize IT processes,
workflow, and platforms
Define IT accountabilities, responsibilities and
authorities, available resources, and supports, and
clearly communicate this to our Stakeholders
Organizational
Capabilities
CORE VALUES
Enable timely access to the right integrated,
cutting-edge information technologies
Ensure data
security, integrity,
and privacy
Understand
the needs of our Stakeholders
Take a design approach to IT
development and implementation
Provide knowledgeable,
pro-active insights, advice,
and solutions through
effective governance
Understand, foster and
leverage trends and
innovations in information
technologies
Build a culture of pro-active support
and technology leadership
Take an University-wide perspective to IT
Make the necessary technology infrastructure
and resource investments
Build a cohesive, knowledgeable IT
community across the campus
Build collaborative relationships with our
Stakeholders and each other
Optimize the allocation and use of our financial,
technology, and human resources
Service
Openness & Collaboration
Knowledge & Creativity
Resource
Management
Operational Excellence
Our Purpose (Mission):
Evolve an exceptional, innovative IT environment to enable
engagement, creativity, and impact.
V4.1 Draft
uWaterloo
IT Community
Our Goal for 2018 (Vision 2018):
Enable the University’s mission through exceptional
learning, teaching and research environments.
Our Promise to Our Stakeholders: Inspiring and supporting the University of Waterloo through technology leadership and excellence.
Stakeholder
Internal
Process
Organizational
Capabilities
CORE VALUES
Resource
Management
Balanced Scorecard
Strategy Map
Internal
Processes
Vision
And
Strategy
Stakeholders
Resources
#watitis2012
Organizational
Capabilities
Bottom up: What We Know
MCR
Faculty and Admin
Strategic Plans
CIO
Search
Interviews
Student
Feedback
Consultations
#watitis2012
Project Stages - Timing
Feb – Mar
2013
Jan 2013
Project kick
off
Aligning
campus IT
Building the
plan
#watitis2012
Refining
the plan
Apr 2013
Implementation
& Initiatives
Ongoing
Evaluation
& Adaption
Enterprise Architecture
Organize for Success
View Forward
• Lots of change for Higher Ed – and lots of
opportunities – Just look at the WATITis Agenda!
• Planning is critical but delivery is essential
–
–
–
–
IT Strategic Plan
Enterprise Architecture
Organize for Success
Critical IT Projects – Right Across Campus
• I look forward to working with all of you!
#watitis2012
How to get involved!
• Contact us:
– dave.wallace@uwaterloo.ca (CIO)
– andrea.chappell@uwaterloo.ca (Project lead)
• Web site:
– https://uwaterloo.ca/it-strategic-plan (Survey
on site)
• Open House tomorrow: DC1302, 10:30
Questions
#watitis2012