Information & Technology Services
Initiatives for FY 10
Division: Provost
Office: Information & Technology Services
I. I&TS- AND CAMPUS-WIDE INITIATIVES
Initiative
A. Establish Annual Strategic Planning Process for I&TS
 Develop rolling multi-year projection of campus-wide technology &
information access needs
 Identify costs & benefits related to each; recommend next year’s priorities
 Submit to AIE Group for collation with planning and budget consideration for
Strategic Plan for the Administrative Information Environment (AIE Plan)
Persons Responsible
I&TS leadership team
B. Sustain I&TS Re-Structuring Initiative; Advance AIE Plan
 Establish organization development as continuous process
 Cultivate communication, collaboration, and planning as I&TS hallmarks
 Recruit head of Information Systems
 Recruit either new systems analyst or senior trainer
 Recruit systems administrator
 Build training, skills development capacity
 Begin implementation of a project management methodology
 Begin consolidation of enterprise applications development & support
 Begin web leadership framework and responsibility matrix
I&TS leadership team
C. Facilitate AIE Group Implementation of AIE Plan
 Review, finalize report & recommendations from the consultants
 Prioritize outstanding projects to be collated with master plan
 Implement web development and leadership framework
 Establish annual strategic planning process for technology & AIE
C. Ferguson
Mid-Year Review
End of Year

In process; expect
completion in January with
plan span of January 2010June 2011
Completed
 Conversations with
constituent groups have
begun
 2nd iteration to begin
soon

Org development program
finished
Recruitments completed
successfully
Training program
immanent
Project management nearly
in place
New web leadership
framework just beginning
Initiative completed
 Initial org development
finished
 Key personnel
appointments made
 Project management
process in place
 Web leadership
framework emerging





AIE Plan, including web
leadership framework, has
been implemented
 Strategic planning process
being finalized

Strategic Technology
Initiative is well
underway, AIE Plan has
been imple- mented, and
I&TS planning process
is in motion
II. LIBRARY SERVICES
Initiative
Persons Responsible
Mid-Year Review
A. Library Services unit development to enhance services, resources, and the
building for the PLU community
 Consolidate reference and circulation services
 Enhance the library, including the 1st floor study and circulation areas as well
as group and individual study space throughout the building
 Optimize access to the collection through collection maintenance and the
installation of additional shelving
F. Lane Rasmus and
Library Services
leadership team

B. Begin planning for the permanent retention of born-digital university records
K. Ringdahl and F. Lane
Rasmus

Consolidation of reference
& circulation successfully
completed
 1st floor study, circulation
areas enhanced and now
more heavily used
 New media equipment
installed in all group study
spaces; in response to
student requests,
computers installed in two
single-user study rooms
 Shifting of 3rd floor
collection onto new
shelving continues
Planning underway for
retention and storage of
born-digital records
End of Year
Completed
 Reference & circulation
consolidated
 Capital improvement
project proposal for
lobby facelift not
accepted
 Plan for refurbishment of
entire building interior
under development
 New media equipment
installed in group study
spaces
 Shelving and print
collection management
continues

Ongoing FY11
III. INFORMATION SYSTEMS
Initiative
A. Advance AIE Plan by
 Restructuring according to the guidelines in the plan
 Re-distributing responsibilities among end user departments, Systems &
Communications, User Services, and within Information Systems team.
 Recruiting to refill vacant positions
 Training new members in Information Systems team on Oracle and Banner
Persons Responsible
Information Systems
Team
Mid-Year Review


Restructuring completed
Training resource remains
in Information Systems,
but participates in larger
I&TS instruction program
 Have developed online
tools to move reporting
into end user hands, e.g.,
Campus Call load and
Population Selection via
Banner Self Service
 New systems analyst
begins Dec. 1; training
begins same day
End of Year
Completed
 Information Systems
restructured and new
leadership in position
 Data ownership &
management is flowing
to end user departments;
hardware support
shifting to Systems &
Communications; 1st tier
user support shift to Help
Desk under review
 Education plan for new
team member fully
implemented
B. Oracle Upgrade preparations to lay foundations for Banner 8
 Install Oracle 10.2.0.4 patch set to cocoa and upgrade those databases (6/5)
 After testing apply the patch set to mint and upgrade those databases
 Perform required data clean up in Banner production to facilitated move to an
international code set (UTF8)
 Update the production database to the UTF8 code set and install Banner8, these
tasks must occur together
C. Implement Banner 8.x
 Upgrade software on middle tier servers for Banner 8
 Install Banner 8 on Cocoa
 Coordinate with User Services and DATF the development and execution of
testing plans
 Install Banner 8 on Mint3
 Apply site specific customizations and modifications as appropriate
 Identify with User Services areas where additional training assistance is
required
O’Donnell/Sanders
Information Systems
Team

Completed successfully
over summer and during
fall semester

Completed smoothly and
ahead of schedule

Completed successfully
over Thanksgiving holiday
weekend

Completed smoothly and
ahead of schedule
IV. USER SERVICES
Initiative
Persons Responsible
Mid-Year Review
A. Provide Support for Email and Calendar Transitions to Google Apps
 Evaluate optimal data migration strategies for email, calendar, and contact lists
and identify key recommendations for users
 Communicate changes, timelines, and resources for transition
 Develop and publish local user support documentation and resources; provide
relevant workshops
 Provide support for individuals during migrations
 Transition from Uedit to Google Sites for personal and portfolio sites
User Support and
Digital Media Center
(for Google Sites)

B. Enhance Strategic Planning
 Develop Catalog of Services and Product Map; coordinate with Systems &
Communications and with Information Systems
 Implement project management methodologies for all projects
 Develop service transition plans for projects as they come to User Services;
provide smooth transitions for clients from implementation to ongoing support
All units of User
Services

Transition communication
and support complete.
 Web presence at
www.plu.edu/google-apps
 Additional workshops
being offered next
semester and at HR
Development Day
 Uedit transition
communication and
workshops on shift to
Google Sites completed
Service catalog & product
maps in development
 Project management
methodologies in process
for all new projects
End of Year

Broad communication
plan and extensive initial
training program
completed in timely
fashion; ongoing
instructional program
has been launched
In process:
 Service catalog to be
completed by FY end
 Service transition plans
in progress for projects
like Google Groups
C. Consolidate Service Entry Points to Help Desk
 Evaluate request queues, workflows, and communication to clients
 Explore web-based communication and support tools
 Develop request referral trees, escalation rules, and target performance metrics
 Accumulate knowledgebase content to develop web-accessible help resources
All units of User
Services





D. Develop Learning Opportunities for Students, Faculty, and Staff
 Develop and promote expanded service catalog of I&TS learning opportunities
 Develop quick overview videos of key support information for new students,
faculty, and staff
 Cultivate and provide learning opportunities for Banner power users
 Leverage knowledgebase and staff training materials to develop and publish
online tutorials and quick-starts
 Enhance skills of User Services support staff and provide cross-training
User Services with other
I&TS units

E. Enhance Learning Spaces and Event Support
 Conduct faculty and staff focus groups to identify areas of concern
 Develop responsive, multi-disciplinary support team to improve learning
spaces support
 Integrate Arrivo software for requests, equipment inventory, and billing
 Install equipment in University Center CK East and West; upgrade sound
system in Scandinavian Cultural Center
Multimedia Services and
User Services Team

Process and workflow
analysis complete for
request intake process.
Next Generation Help
Desk Software project in
progress to select and
upgrade software tools.
Classroom issue escalation
process analysis complete
and improvements
implemented.
Request referral trees
defined in process analysis.
Knowledge-base content
development in progress.
I&TS Learning
Opportunities brochure
completed and distributed
 Outlines of overview video
completed
 Banner power user
learning shifted to
Information Systems
Classroom response team
in place to respond rapidly
as issues arise
 Arrivo software installed
and populated with data
 UC CK equipment
installation complete
In progress:
 In-depth action on all
four bullets continues
through implementation
teams for new help desk
software

Comprehensive
workshop curriculum
developed in I&TS
Workshop web site
along with learning
materials linked to
workshop pages
 Video storyboards in
progress
 Many workshops teamtaught for staff crosstraining

Several focus group
consultations completed
with Conferences &
Events
 Scan Center audio
system upgrade, selfservice multimedia for
UC on hold with budget
freeze
F. Migrate to DSpace Institutional Repository
 Migrate content from Digital Asset Manager
 Develop administrative workflows and skins for the user interface
 Develop import and export pathways among other systems
 Standardize workflows for storing, publishing, and displaying video and audio
on the web
Digital Media Center,
Web Development

Development version in
place, awaiting Shibboleth
SSO implementation

Project restarted in April
following Shibboleth
implementation
V. SYSTEMS & COMMUNICATIONS
Initiative
Persons Responsible
Mid-Year Review
A. Continue Network Upgrade and Expansion Program
 Wireless network: expand and upgrade wireless zones for more extensive and
robust coverage primarily in Residence Halls.
 Network core and Internet connectivity: establish redundancy to increase
overall reliability of network and networked resources
D. Allen and Systems &
Communication staff

B. Team alignment, responsibility shifts and staffing
 Fill Unix systems administrator vacancy (existing position)
 Realign team and individual responsibilities in conjunction with AIE
recommendations. This includes taking more responsibility for “Banner”
servers and offloading responsibilities such as copyright infringement
enforcement
D. Allen, C. Ferguson,
and Systems &
Communication staff

C. Implement Google Apps for Education
 Develop & implement a technical migration strategy
 Coordinate the timeline and transition plan with User Support
D. Allen and Systems &
Communication staff


Effectively completed
Minor tweaking continues
until old system is
completely removed.
D. Continue Shift From “1 server = 1 service” Resource Allocation to Resource
Need-Based Model
 Perform capacity assessments and capacity planning of systems and services,
particularly mission critical applications
 Establish procedures for providing services that use new dynamic resource
pools, including Processor/Memory (VMWare), Storage, (SAN), and
redundancy (MCLT & LIBR Data centers)
 Begin developing multi-year service and capacity plan focusing on more
proactive system architecture & sizing strategies
D. Allen and Systems &
Communication staff

In progress; more to be done
in this area as new UNIX
Systems Administrator
comes on board and we
complete I&TS strategic
planning
In progress: Summer
installations in Foss, Hong,
and Stuen; more installations
and fine-tuning underway
UNIX Systems Admin
position filled
 More to come as balance
found among new team
member combinations
End of Year

Progress made: Most of
the planned work is
complete with more
schedule and planning
underway for next year.

Much progress on
determination of path to
follow
 Beginning to detail new
roles.



Final work underway to
remove old system,
anticipated completion is
late Summer/early Fall.
Ongoing: Utilizing the
new virtualized
environment, but still
need to develop cost
accounting & capacity
planning model to avoid
over committing
resources without funds
and time to expand.