UMW IT STRATEGIC PLAN 2011 - 2014
(Pending Approval by the Board of Visitors November 18, 2011)
INTRODUCTION
The University of Mary Washington Strategic Plan 2009-2014 provides a vision for the
University we aspire to be. Included among the plan’s important strategic goals and
objectives is the recommendation to develop an iterative two- to five-year comprehensive
information technology plan and estimated cost for UMW’s Fredericksburg, Stafford, and
Dahlgren campuses that is aligned with the institution’s overall strategic plan and
operational budget. This document addresses that recommendation.
The UMW IT Strategic Plan 2011 has been collaboratively developed by the Information
Technologies division and the university’s Information Technology Advisory Committee
(ITAC). The ITAC meets monthly, with the CIO and the central IT management team,
throughout the academic year. The development of this plan began with the February 2011
ITAC meeting.
Academic excellence, the liberal arts and sciences, a student-centered learning
environment, and outstanding teaching are at the core of what the University of Mary
Washington has been and will continue to be. While this plan has been developed specific to
technology and infrastructure support needs at UMW, key overall technology trends and
issues in higher education have been considered and included (reference Appendix A –
Current Technology Trends and Issues in Higher Education).
GUIDING PRINCIPLES
I.
Technology innovation, resources and investments (staffing, funding, support
services) will be specifically and directly aligned to areas that are prioritized and
identified as strategically or operationally important to the university, with particular
focus on academics, teaching and learning, and research goals.
II.
The division of Information Technologies will serve as collaborative, strategic
partners with the university community, encouraging innovation and creativity in the
adoption and use of technology.
III.
Transparency, accountability, and responsible stewardship will be priorities in the
management of IT resources and projects.
We will continue to grow and maintain a superior information technology
infrastructure that enables a highly mobile, flexible, and collaborative instruction,
learning, and working environment.
IV.
We will promote continued exploration of new efficiencies and broader service
offerings in the provisioning of computing and information systems, including
virtualization, open source software solutions, and cloud services for software,
hardware, and infrastructure.
V.
We remain committed to responsible protection and safeguarding of university data
and information assets, ensuring appropriate information availability, confidentiality,
and integrity.
VI.
IT STRATEGIC PRIORITIES
1. Enable and Support Teaching, Learning and Library Activities
University Strategic Plan Objective 1.G: Build on the University of Mary Washington’s rich
engagement with academic technologies and the study of teaching and learning, and ensure
that UMW becomes a leader in the fields of pedagogical scholarship, library services and
information resources.
1.1 Include students, faculty, and staff in determining high priority services,
unmet technology needs, and user satisfaction with existing service
offerings.
1.2 Improve, standardize, and increase flexibility for physical and virtual
learning spaces that correlate to identified teaching and learning
needs.
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Analyze the university’s need for general purpose or departmental computer labs and
develop a comprehensive computer lab plan, to include virtual learning spaces.
Establish a standard baseline for technology within instructional spaces where
technology is required; budget and plan for instructional spaces where there are
enhanced or unique technology needs.
Partner with other departments, including DTLT, to explore and develop new virtual
spaces for teaching, learning, and research.
Support distance and blended learning initiatives established by the faculty.
1.3 Expand and improve support for information resources and libraries.
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Collaborate with academic departments, DTLT, and the University Libraries to
promote and support digital literacy and competencies in new media and other use of
technology in teaching and learning.
Enable and support the convergence of academic technologies, library services,
digital media services, and technology support services in the future Convergence
Center / Academic Commons.
2. Maintain and Improve the Core Infrastructure
University Strategic Plan Objective 5.E: Design, procure, install and maintain a superior
information and instructional technology infrastructure that supports all UMW organizational
functions and provides the technology, tools, training, and user support that allows all
members of the institution to use technology effectively and efficiently.
University Strategic Plan Objective 5.F: The University of Mary Washington will commit to
sustainability, managing its resources to meet the social, economic, and environmental
needs of the present without compromising the ability to meet the needs of future
generations.
2.1 Maintain and Improve the Core Infrastructure.
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Continually maintain and upgrade an appropriate infrastructure, keeping pace with
the rapid proliferation of information, software, devices, and emerging tools for
teaching and learning, including distance and blended learning.
Maintain accurate computing system inventories via the use of a comprehensive,
standards-based repository to identify current computer inventories and predict
replacement needs.
Actively engage in capital outlay projects and physical renovations to facilitate
proper, supportable implementation of technology and identify potential
opportunities for innovation.
Identify, track, maintain, and report on physical equipment for faculty, staff,
students, classrooms and labs.
Maintain an ongoing computer replacement cycle, ensuring an adequate computing
environment for all faculty, staff, classrooms and labs under a 5-year service
lifecycle.
2.2 Improve Accessibility through Expanded Wireless Access, Mobile Device
Support and Virtual Computing Infrastructure.
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Improve and expand wireless (data and voice) access to promote ubiquitous, mobile
access to resources, systems, services, and tools for learning and productivity.
Expand accessibility to software and systems through application virtualization
computing.
2.3 Build and manage appropriate supporting infrastructure for the storage and
operation of servers, applications, and data.
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Design and build a new university data center that addresses current deficiencies to
provide a safe and fault-tolerant environment for mission-critical information
technology assets. (See UMW Data Center Analysis 2011 report link in Appendix.)
Devise a comprehensive strategy, with an appropriate hosting/sourcing mix, for
storing data, information and digital assets on behalf of faculty, academic
departments, administrative departments, and students.
Expand virtualization efforts, for both data center servers and desktop computing.
Continually evaluate opportunities for improved efficiencies, enhanced services, and
reduction in costs associated with cloud computing.
2.4 Support sustainability efforts through reduced energy consumption,
reduced physical footprint, reduction of paper and other increased
efficiency opportunities.
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3.
Continue to reduce the overall IT footprint and energy consumption through
virtualization and mechanisms that support reduced power consumption.
Support efforts such as electronic forms and documents that eliminate or reduce
paper.
Increase awareness of sustainability options through training and communication.
Support and Enable Administrative Information Systems and
Business Intelligence
University Strategic Plan objective 2.D: Develop and implement administrative policies and
services that directly support students’ initiatives and programming; review and, as
necessary, modify administrative policies to reduce red tape, redundancy and obstacles;
ensure that staff are informed about and responsive to student needs, that student services
are high-quality, and that communication between staff and students is meaningful, timely,
and effective
University Strategic Plan Objective 5.C: Create a culture of excellence, one that ensures a
high-quality business and administrative infrastructure that promotes organizational
effectiveness and efficiency, enhances cross-unit communication and collaboration,
maintains meaningful and productive professional and interpersonal relationships, and
enhances individual learning and growth.
3.1 Maximize university investments in enterprise software and application
development efforts.
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Increase business processing efficiencies through the application and adoption of
existing technology owned by the institution.
Identify opportunities to implement systems like electronic workflow to afford
reduction in paperwork/forms.
Promote continual Business Process Analysis (BPA) efforts across the institution.
3.2 Seize opportunities to reduce costs through collaborative, communitybased technology implementations (Commonwealth of Virginia cooperative
agreements, open source software, cloud-based solutions).
3.3 Improve and expand enterprise data reporting solutions, enabling
faculty/staff access to information to allow data-informed decision
making and analysis.
4. Support and Train Technology Users
University Strategic Plan Objective 5.A: UMW will become an employer of choice.
University Strategic Plan Objective 5.E: Design, procure, install and maintain a superior
information and instructional technology infrastructure that supports all UMW organizational
functions and provides the technology, tools, training, and user support that allows all
members of the institution to use technology effectively and efficiently.
4.1 Maintain Highly Qualified IT Support Staff.
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Recruit, develop, and retain high quality IT professionals to support all aspects of the
university’s technology offerings and services.
Provide professional development for staff to foster their ability to support the rapid
proliferation and adoption of software tools, computing devices and emerging
technologies.
Increase the efficient use of highly trained and skilled student aides to augment
technical support services (classroom/lab support, development of online training
materials, desk-side support).
4.2 Provide Quality Customer Service and Technology Support.
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Solicit and respond to feedback from the user community including students, faculty
and staff.
Prioritize technology support and Help Desk incident response for classroom and lab
issues that potentially impede instruction and learning.
Conduct routine surveys of faculty, staff and student technology training and
information needs.
4.3 Increase Proficiencies in Technology.
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5.
Enhance, promote, and expand technology through training offerings for students,
faculty and staff.
Increase training in the following areas:
o Web-based instructional information (FAQs, How-To’s, Instructions) for
individual self-service and self-help.
o In-person, role-based training as identified and prioritized to increase
technical proficiency across the institution.
Maintain and Enhance Information Security
5.1 Proactively protect university technology and data assets.
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Develop and continually improve a “best fit” security program (policies, procedures,
and training) for the environment to address confidentiality, integrity and availability
of information.
Work collaboratively with faculty, staff, DTLT, and the University Libraries to foster
collaboration and innovation in technology, while ensuring that the institutional
security posture is maintained.
Maintain internal IT Security skills to support and manage information security within
environment (examples include: systematic protection of data, preservation of
records, logging and auditability of infrastructure, data and records retention, and
security patching of systems.)
Establish a recommended approach for federated authentication of applications
internal and external to the university environment (Library resources, course
management systems, partnering institutions, research centers).
Maintain the institutional data stewardship model and routinely educate and train
data stewards on relevant information security program policies, procedures and
highly sensitive data handling practices.
Continually improve security awareness within the university via training and
communication opportunities directed at students, faculty and staff.
APPENDIX A - CURRENT TECHNOLOGY TRENDS AND ISSUES IN HIGHER
EDUCATION
The twelfth annual EDUCAUSE Current Issues Survey is result of an electronic survey was conducted in
December 2010. Survey participants include CIOs of EDUCAUSE member institutions, including UMW.
EDUCAUSE is a nonprofit association whose mission is to advance higher education by promoting the
intelligent use of information technology.
The 2011 EDUCAUSE Current Issues Committee
(http://www.educause.edu/EDUCAUSE+Review/EDUCAUSEReviewMagazineVolume46/TopT
enITIssues2011/228654) cites the following as the top-four issues as critical to strategic
success:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Funding IT
Administrative/ERP/Information Systems
Teaching and Learning with Technology
Security
The Horizon Report, issued annually since 2005, is the result of collaboration between the EDUCAUSE
Learning Initiative (ELI) and the New Media Consortium which identifies and describes emerging
technologies likely to have a large impact over the coming five years.
The Horizon Report – 2011 (Horizon Report:
http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/HR2011.pdf) cites the following key trends in regard
to emerging technologies and their likely impact on the higher education environment:
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The abundance of resources and relationships made easily accessible via the Internet
is increasingly challenging us to revisit our roles as educators in sense-making,
coaching, and credentialing.
People expect to be able to work, learn, and study whenever and wherever they
want.
The world of work is increasingly collaborative, giving rise to reflection about the way
student projects are structured.
The technologies we use are increasingly cloud-based, and our notions of IT support
are decentralized.
The Measuring Information Service Outcomes (MISO) Survey tracks changes in the IT and library
landscape across higher education. The report is developed by the EDUCAUSE Center for Applied
Research (ECAR).
ECAR Research Bulletin 10, 2011, IT and Library Services with the MISO Survey
(https://eaglenet.umw.edu/sites/departments/it/AdvisoryCommittee/Shared%20Documents
/2011_ECAR%20Bulletin%2010_MISO_Survey.pdf), highlights trends per faculty and
student rankings of important IT and Library services. According to this 2011 Bulletin:
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Students rank campus computing labs as having diminishing importance, while public
computing labs in libraries are experiencing an increase in importance.
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Students rank IT Help Desk operations as having diminishing importance for student
computing support. However, computing web sites (with tutorials and how-to
information) are increasingly important to students.
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Both faculty and students rank the importance of wireless access and availability
very highly.
Global trends within the realm of Information Technology and Security are emerging
[referenced sources include Gartner, SANS, Information Week], to which the university and
the division of Information Technologies must adapt and be poised to respond. Some of
these include:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
“Cloudification” and the adoption and implementation of web-based solutions (over
traditional client based applications or internally housed solutions) continues to
increase.
The emerging and expanding consumer and mobile market presents an exponentially
increasing number of challenges and security risks to be understood and addressed.
Greater adoption of federated, token-based authentication (SAML – Security
Assertion Markup Language, for example) to coincide with expansion of web-based
offerings.
Increased Threats and breaches - hacking, phishing, spam, spoofing, social
engineering and other attempts to gain access to protected or private information
continue to increase, improve and appear more authentic.
Compliance requirements and expectations from governing organizations are
increasing – examples include VITA (SEC 501), PCI Compliance, APA audit
recommendations, and other technology industry best practices.
UMW Data Center Analysis 2011 Report (LINK HERE)