Road to Information
Technology Excellence
THE UNIVERSITY
OF TENNESSEE,
KNOXVILLE
A strategy for the effective use
of information technology to advance
the core missions of the University of
Tennessee, Knoxville . . .
THE UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE,
KNOXVILLE
ROAD TO INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
EXCELLENCE
RITE
2002-2005
A strategy for the effective use of information technology to
advance the core missions of the University of Tennessee,
Knoxville
RITE
Release 2002-1
University of Tennessee, Knoxville
Road to Information Technology Excellence
Release 2002-01
This plan was initiated through and is sponsored by the University of Tennessee Office for
Research and Information Technology.
As explained herein, this is the University of Tennessee, Knoxville implementation of a
statewide and system-wide plan called “Road to Information Technology Excellence.” This
living strategy will be updated as needed.
The plan can be found on the Web at:
http://oit.utk.edu/rite/
Through a competitive selection process, the Science Applications International Corporation
(SAIC) was selected as a consultant and helped facilitate the planning process and the
development of the initial release of this plan.
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Foreword
The “Road to IT Excellence”
Information technology (IT) continues to affect our lives in fundamental ways—affecting
how we communicate, how we work, and how we learn. Nowhere is the impact of IT more
evident—or more important—than within a major university.
The University of Tennessee has a rich history in the innovative use of IT to enhance the way
we perform our core missions of academics, research, and public service, as well as serving
as a key enabling resource in achieving ongoing improvements in our operating performance.
Much of this progress has been achieved through the dedicated, grassroots efforts of
innovative groups distributed across the University.
We certainly want to encourage IT-enabled innovation at the local level as we move forward
into the new century. However, because IT has now become so pervasive in its reach and so
strategically important, we must take a fresh look at how we are managing this vital resource.
In particular, we must integrate the distributed IT operations and local innovation—important
as they are—and University-wide IT planning and management. Our goal is to optimize the
use of Information Technology for the University.
We have taken two important steps in this direction. The first was the establishment of a new
IT governance structure tha t is inclusive of all functional areas of the university. The second
is the development of a University-wide IT strategic plan, the “Road to IT Excellence” that
will guide implementation of our IT vision for the University. This document represents the
University of Tennessee, Knoxville implementation of the Road to IT Excellence.
These are important steps. Working together, we can position the University of Tennessee as
a nationally recognized leader among public universities in the effective management and use
of information technologies in the furtherance of our core missions. I strongly encourage
your active participation in and support for these initiatives.
T. Dwayne McCay,
Vice President for Research and Information Technology
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Executive Summary
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Part 1: Introduction
1.1
1.2
1.3
1.4
Purpose ..............................................................................................................................1
Scope .................................................................................................................................1
Format ...............................................................................................................................2
IT Planning Process ............................................................................................................3
Part 2: Institutional Guidance and Priorities
2.1: Strategic Guidance .............................................................................................................5
2.2: Office for Research and Information Technology (ORIT) Guidance ......................................6
2.3: Other Key IT Planning Guidance ........................................................................................7
Part 3: University of Tennessee IT Vision
3.1 Environmental Trends .........................................................................................................8
3.2 Current UT IT Environment .............................................................................................. 10
3.3 Vision Statement................................................................................................................ 11
Part 4: IT Governance Framework
4.1 IT Governance Context ...................................................................................................... 16
4.2 IT Governance Operating Assumptions .............................................................................. 19
4.3 IT Governance Structure .................................................................................................... 19
Part 5: Focus Areas
5.1 Excellence in Academics and Instruction ............................................................................ 24
5.2 Excellence in Research ...................................................................................................... 28
5.3 Excellence in Outreach and Service .................................................................................... 33
5.4 Excellence in Information Content Management ................................................................. 36
5.5 Excellence in Student Support Environment ........................................................................ 41
5.6 Excellence in Business and Management Operations ........................................................... 46
5.7 Excellence in IT Management and Operations...................................................................... 50
5.8 Excellence in IT Human Resources Management................................................................. 54
Part 6: Implementation Roadmap Summary
6.1 Introduction ...................................................................................................................... 57
6.2 Roadmap Summaries ......................................................................................................... 57
Attachment 1: Benchmarking Guidance ................................................................................ 64
Attachment 2: VolNET Implementation ............................................................................ 106
Attachment 3: SunSITE...................................................................................................... 116
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Executive Summary
Purpose and Goals
The Road to IT Excellence (RITE) defines an information technology (IT) vision and imple menting
strategy for the University of Tennessee. Collectively, these establish the master IT blueprint for the
use of IT to support the core missions of the University over the next several years. In addition to
painting an overall IT vision, this document defines the IT governance framework necessary to
achieve the IT vision and describes the key focus areas that support the IT Vision.
The Road to IT Excellence is the definitive source for IT strategic guidance across the University of
Tennessee system. Although the scope of RITE is statewide, implementation follows a federated
model. Each campus or institution implements RITE based on specific local requirements, while
adhering to key overarching focus areas and architectural guidelines. Appropriate governing bodies
help determine areas where statewide applicability exists and work with all affected stakeholders to
ensure that both statewide and local campus interests are served.
RITE is a strategic document, not a detailed implementation plan. RITE is designed to provide an
enduring and compelling sense of direction with enough focus and structure to ensure success. The
objective is to accommodate continuing changes in near-term or localized requirements, and
corresponding adjustments to detailed implementation strategies, without requiring wholesale
revisions to the RITE vision.
RITE will change and evolve as conditions change. However, the pace of change for the RITE Vision
and Focus Areas will not be as great as it will be for supporting implementation actions and various
tactical plans .
Current State
A survey of the University of Tennessee’s current IT environment reveals that much progress is being
made in meeting critical IT challenges. Some examples:
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Across the University, disparate networks are evolving into a digital, multimedia network
infrastructure—including wireless—capable of transmitting different kinds of data and
providing bandwidth and quality of service for the campus of the future.
Technology-rich teaching and learning methods are being researched and implemented.
Classrooms are being outfitted to use both electronic and audiovisual media easily and
effectively, with the ability to reach outside the bounds of the physical university.
Campus-wide, laboratories are offering students state-of-the-art facilities and providing
access to local and global information, collaboration, and research resources.
Instructional Technology personnel are working to help faculty make effective use of
technology in teaching activities, both online and in the classroom.
Project IRIS (Integrated R/3 Information System) is being implemented to improve the way
we perform the University’s financial and human resources functions.
The University is offering more and more online distance-learning classes, reflecting growing
demand from students. During the 2000-01 academic year, all UT campuses offered over 120
Internet-based courses involving 1,850 students. Another 95 courses were delivered via
videoconferencing and satellite technologies (THEC Summary, June 2001).
Virtual student portal services continue to evolve for the conduct of nonacademic business.
Implementation of the Student Information Systems upgrades plan will modernize student
records, curriculum, timetable, registration, and admissions systems.
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Our library resources are becoming more responsive to user needs for electronic print
services, accessible and searchable via integrated information systems.
Campuses have been able to establish innovative ways to fund network improvements,
upgrade of academic computing labs, and faculty support for using technology in the
instructional program.
Secure, reliable communications and rich resources for coordination and collaboration are
becoming ubiquitous.
Vision Statement
Through the effective use of technology, we will continue to develop methods for our students to
have access to world-class faculty and research facilities both on and off our campuses through a
variety of network structures. Students will be exposed to leading-edge scholarship integrated into
their curriculum through a variety of technology-enhanced individual, small, and large group
experiences. As we develop learning opportunities for our students beyond the classroom, we
envision the creation of a strong learning community, not limited by time and space, where students
will be challenged to advance, grow, and achieve.
We envision a university where our technology infrastructure supports the effective use, sharing, and
integration of all kinds of information, including text, data, image, video, and voice. Our information
environment also must provide seamless access to information and services for faculty, staff,
students, and other constituencies, to support all University activities, including teaching, learning,
research, administration, economic development, and outreach. As a student-centered research
university, we recognize that life-long learning is becoming increasingly important, if not vital to our
students.
Throughout our campuses, information technology will be integrated into all aspects of university
life, from our teaching and learning strategies, to our research practices, to our daily business dealings
with our students and business partners. Central and essential to our vision will be virtual view of our
“campuses,” which includes both traditional physical campuses and the geographically clustered
academic community. We envision a diverse community of experts freely exploring the possibilities
and constraints of new technology and sharing the results of these explorations within disciplinary
networks and with the broader public.
We envision building strong partnerships with industry to leverage the maximum benefits from
campus agreements, volume purchases, and community standards. From this strong intellectual hub
we envis ion benefits flowing out at great distance in support of such social goals as increased access
to higher education and increased services to support the economic and educational aspirations of all
citizens of the State of Tennessee.
Vision End-State Attributes
The key end-state attributes for the UT IT Vision can be summarized as follows:
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Our IT support environment will help the University rank high among peer institutions in
terms of overall effectiveness in the generation, evaluation, organization, preservation, and
dissemination of scholarly knowledge in teaching, research, and public service.
Our IT support environment will help advance teaching and learning by leveraging faculty
time and knowledge, by simplifying rather than complicating the faculty member’s job, and
by increasing research capacity and capabilities. Through innovative technology-based
academic and instruction support solutions, we will allow our faculty members to give more
attention and higher quality attention to teaching undergraduate students.
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Our IT support environment will help us develop a new understanding of what is possible
in terms of teaching and learning and of the possibility of new relationships among teacher,
learner, and institution.
Our IT support environment will help to provide our students a quality learning experience
while enrolled at the University (either on a UT system campus or a remote location), instill
within them the technological competence necessary to compete effectively in the market
place, and provide a means for life time learning and a continued association with the
University.
Our IT support environment will help expand the University’s capacity for outreach and
public service by overcoming traditional time and space constraints, providing access to the
traditionally disenfranchised, and opening up entirely new avenues of access to the
University’s people, knowledge, services, and resources.
Our IT support environment will enable beneficial changes in the traditional disciplinary
boundaries around which the University is organized, and through which our academicians
organize and access knowledge. The resulting benefits will accrue to our students, our
faculty, our staff, and all those we serve.
Our IT support environment will provide an easily accessible, intuitive, and helpful
gateway to the University, supporting student recruitment, attracting research projects and
funding, encouraging philanthropic support, and enabling and facilitating various forms of
partnerships and joint ventures, including technology and knowledge transfer.
Our IT support environment will support the process improvements, the quality of decision
support, and the operational planning support necessary for the University to adapt to low or
no-growth budgets. It will facilitate, as necessary, initiatives to substitute new sources of
income for old ones.
Our IT support environment will help the University become more immediately responsive
to the evolving changes in the higher education environment. This will, in turn, enable
University decision makers and strategists to become more selective and focused in the range
of the academic programs we offer and in finding ways to compete in the academic
marketplace through market differentiation and niche specialization.
Our IT support environment will make it possible to achieve a higher degree of crossdisciplinary, integrative scholarship.
Our IT support environment will not only continue to help us increase our effectiveness
and efficiency in established ways of doing things but, more importantly, enable radically
new ways of creating, organizing, authenticating, accessing, and disseminating knowledge
and of credentialing those who discover and teach.
Focus Areas
As the starting point for the development of the Road to IT Excellence, the missions of the University
of Tennessee and its campuses were reviewed to ensure alignment of this plan with the priorities of
the institution. Additionally, each goal and each objective defined in the most current five–year plans
of the campuses was assessed to determine its IT implications.
Questions asked as these materials were assessed included:
1. Is information technology essential to achieving this goal or objective?
2. Can information technology be used to help achieve this goal or objective in a better, faster, or
less expensive way?
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If the answer to either of these questions was “yes,” the specific nature of the IT implication (or
requirement) was documented. These implications were then grouped into eight logical clusters or
“Focus Areas.”
In keeping with the overall theme of the “Road to IT Excellence,” all eight Focus Areas were
designated as “achieving excellence” within the respective areas. Collectively, these Focus Areas
provide the guiding context and organizing structure for the Road to IT Excellence.
The heart of the RITE planning challenge, therefore, is to select and successfully execute those IT
strategies, investments, projects, and initiatives that optimize progress toward the Focus Areas that
comprise the University of Tennessee’s Common Requirements Vision.
The focus areas developed through the planning process outlined above are:
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Excellence in Academics and Instruction
Excellence in Research
Excellence in Outreach and Public Service
Excellence in Information Content Management
Excellence in Student Support Environment
Excellence in University Business and Management Operations
Excellence in IT Management and Operations
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Excellence in IT Human Resources Management
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Excellence in Academics and Instruction
The key elements of Excellence in Academics and Instruction include, but are not necessarily limited
to, the following:
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Flexible and dynamic distributed learning capabilities for UT
Centralized and coordinated IT training and services for the academic community
Centralized and coordinated 24 (hours) x7 (days a week) support for the academic
community
Innovative programs of study created through the utilization of effective and emerging
technologies in the design, development, and deliver y of courses and curricula
Electronic access to and distribution of course and supporting reference materials
Electronic access to and distribution of library and reference information
Advanced, multimedia tools easily accessible to, and usable by, the academic community
Utilization of technologies to establish intra- and inter-institutional library sharing
arrangements
Specialized, computer labs networked to university infrastructure(s)
Technology-enabled classrooms with Internet connectivity
Integration of IT literacy and competencies into course content and program curricula
Excellence in Research
The key elements of Excellence in Research include, but are not necessarily limited to, the following:
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Excellence in the conduct of high quality research across the full spectrum of academic
disciplines,
Excellence in collaborating with others, locally, nationally, and world-wide, in the conduct of
research,
Excellence in communicating and publicizing the results of research,
Excellence in the transfer of the results of research activities to productive uses within society
and industry, and
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Excellence in research administration.
Excellence in Outreach and Public Service
Within the context of the Road to IT Excellence, “Excellence in Outreach and Public Service” relates
to the use of advanced information technologies to allow the University to expand and extend its
ability to become fully engaged with its community. Leveraging research and instruction will meet
the needs not only of students, faculty, and partners/sponsors but constituents throughout the State of
Tennessee and beyond.
Excellence in Information Content Management
Within the context of the Road to IT Excellence, “information content management” refers to the use
of modern information technologies to enable new and more effective ways of creating, storing, and
accessing information. This includes information in any quantity (including vast collections, such as a
library) and any type of content—from documents and images to Web pages and audio and video
files.
More specifically, this Focus Area involves a coordinated, disciplined approach to integrating the
processes, information (both structured and unstructured), and information technologies—particularly
Web-based access/delivery mechanisms (or “portals”)—necessary to improve University functions,
and to provide improved access to information to all University constituents, regardless of the
physical location of the information or the constituent, or the format and structure of the information.
Universities present a special information content management challenge because they are
information-intensive institutions and because they typically operate in highly decentralized ways. As
a result, they spend a great deal of time and money creating many different kinds of content that are
rarely shared throughout the university. Schools, departments, functional organizations, and programs
typically use separate systems for managing individual documents, interactive Web pages, or
multimedia experiences. As a result, universities can make an enormous leap in effectiveness and
efficiency through even modest gains in information content management effectiveness.
Excellence in Student Support Environment
Within the context of the UT Road to IT Excellence, “Student Support Environment” refers to the
deployment of necessary information resources and technologies in ways that optimize the
educational, personal development, and life experiences of all University of Tennessee students.
As we apply technology solutions to help achieve and sustain Excellence in Student Support
Environment capabilities, University of Tennessee students will be able to optimize the time and
effort they put into obtaining a quality education. The key elements of this Focus Area include, but
are not necessarily limited to the following:
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Accessing educational and research information,
Participating in collaborative educational and research programs (often involving national
and international participants),
Receiving high quality academic and counseling support when and where needed, and
continuing their educational association and involvement with the University throughout their
lives.
Excellence in Business and Management Operations
This Focus Area deals with the processes and supporting technologies that facilitate the effective
execution of business and management functions across the University. Enabling integration and
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supporting the accessibility of business and management processes though the use of technology
enables “eBusiness.”
Excellence in IT Management and Operations
Excellence in IT Management and Operations includes excellence in all of the functions necessary to
provide quality information technology support and services across the University of Tennessee.
Excellence in IT Human Resources Management
Excellence in IT Human Resources Management includes excellence in all elements of human
resources management necessary to attract, maintain, challenge, and motivate an effective and stable
IT workforce across the University of Tennessee.
IT Governance Framework
An IT planning and management framework is only as good as the level of executive leadership and
stakeholder involvement that goes into its development and operation. The term “IT governance”
refers to the framework of roles, responsibilities, strategies, philosophies, methods, processes, and
tools used to manage an institution’s IT resources. Effective IT Governance is critical for the
University of Tennessee because of:
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The pivotal importance of information technology to important educational and operational
objectives across the University,
The large number of stakeholders involved in IT strategies and decisions campus-wide,
The need to effectively balance University-level information technology needs with the local
needs of colleges, departments, and programs, and
The sheer complexity of IT management issues inherent in a distributed learning environment
in an age of technology.
An effective IT governance framework will help leaders across UT come together systematically to
determine the appropriate roles for information technology in learning, teaching, research, outreach,
and management. Through this coordinated interaction, UT can more effectively predict how these
roles might change over time and plan accordingly.
A well-designed IT governance framework allows IT support organizations and various academic
units and campus departments to develop a shared understanding of how technology can support their
specific programs. Such a framework also makes clear the kinds of tradeoffs that have to be made in
the best interests of the University, and the kinds of methods and approaches (e.g., certain IT
architectural standards) that can mitigate the adverse implications of these tradeoffs.
The IT governance framework for the University of Tennessee is shown on the follow ing page.
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Executive Policy
Board
Academic and
Research
IT Council
HSC Faculty Senate
Computing and
Telecommunications
Subcommittee
Student IT
Council
Information
Technology
Steering Council
Statewide IT
Council
Administration IT
Council
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Part 1: Introduction
The evidence is overwhelming that the new century we have just entered into will be characterized by
unprecedented advances in information technology. With each day that passes, these new advances
are changing our lives, and just as we are changing the way we do things in our personal lives, so
must the University change the way it conducts its "life."
Emerson H. Fly, Acting President, University of Tennessee
1.1 Purpose
The above observation gets to the heart of the purpose of the “Road to IT Excellence” (RITE)—the IT
vision and IT Strategic Plan for the University of Tennessee (UT).
The “life” of the University of Tennessee, like the lives of all great universities, has already been
changed in fundamental ways by information technology. But as Dr. Fly suggests, we have entered
into a century where the changes we will experience in information technology—and the attendant
opportunities—will be unprecedented. No university can afford to leave the processes for responding
to these changes and optimizing emerging opportunities to chance. Proactive, focused strategies are
necessary, as well as sound governance processes for shaping, molding, communicating, and
implementing these strategies.
The Road to IT Excellence defines the University’s IT vision and serves as the master IT blueprint for
moving into the new century. This document represents the University of Tennessee, Knoxville’s
implementation of the statewide plan. In addition to painting an IT vision for the future, this
document:
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Defines the IT governance framework necessary to achieve the IT vision,
Defines the key focus areas that support the IT Vision (referred to collectively as the
“Common Requirements Vision”),
Summarizes major initiatives under way in each Focus Area, and
Identifies a leader for each Focus Area.
1.2 Scope
The scope of the Road to IT Excellence is discussed in terms of three key scope dimensions:
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Breadth,
Depth and level of detail, and
Focus
Breadth
With respect to breadth, the scope of RITE is statewide, with the expectation that each campus will
have implementations of RITE tailored to their specific requirements. This document represents the
University of Tennessee, Knoxville’s implementation of the statewide plan. Appropriate governing
bodies will determine areas where statewide applicability exists and will work with all affected
stakeholders to ensure that both statewide and local campus interests are served.
Depth and Level of Detail
With respect to depth and level of detail, RITE is a strategic document, not a detailed implementation
plan. RITE is designed to provide an enduring and compelling sense of direction with enough focus
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and structure to ensure success. The objective is to accommodate continuing changes in near-term or
localized requirements and adjustments to detailed implementation strategies without requiring
wholesale revisions to the RITE vision.
RITE will change as conditions change. However, the pace of change for the RITE Vision and
component Focus Areas will not be as great as it will be for supporting implementation actions and
various tactical plans. This approach is similar to that used at the University of California, Berkeley:
A compelling direction and winning strategies, not detailed operational plans, should be the
outcomes of a well designed strategic planning process. Many managers have unrealistic
expectations for their strategic planning process.
Others, having lost interest in the art of strategic planning as a result of lean budget years or
frustrating experiences, no longer engage in formal strategy formulation at all. Instead, they focus
on annual budget requests and short-term operational planning activities.
Understanding the differences between strategic and operational planning, establishing realistic
outcomes for each type of activity, and communicating the results of each are important
ingredients for formulating both good long-term strategies and successful operational plans.
What is important is developing strategies with multi-year viability to give direction and a sense
of stability to the organization. Managers should review, evaluate, and possibly modify these
strategies on a much more frequent basis as the environment changes.
Jack McCredie, CIO, University of California, Berkeley
Focus
The focus of RITE includes information, processes, relationships, and technologies. However, the
“focus within the focus” has to be on information, including the effective management of
information. The following excerpt makes this point very well.
Technology enables the transmission of information. But fundamentally, the critical process is
people interacting with other people. The world does not run on information; it runs on
relationships. However, information enables us to have different relationships. Information is the
currency of exchange in campus relationships. Information is exchanged in the classroom
between faculty and students. Information is exchanged among research teams. Information is
exchanged between the purchasing department and suppliers. Information is exchanged between
college applicants and the admissions department.
The potential quantities of information are staggering. But it is how the institution manages the
information to form relationships that can yield the competitive advantage.
What Business Wants From Higher Education, 1998, pp. 51-52.
1.3 Format
There are six main parts to this plan, as summarized below:
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Part 1: Introduction—Explains the purpose, scope, and format of the document.
Part 2: Institutional Guidance and Priorities—Documents the high-level guidance provided by
important strategy documents—such as the University of Tennessee Five-Year Plan—and
explains the IT planning processes used to translate this institutional guidance into IT
implications and related IT strategy focus areas and priorities.
Part 3: IT Vision—Summarizes the University’s current IT environment and defines a vision for
moving forward.
Part 4: IT Governance Framework—Defines the governing IT structure required to ensure that
the IT vision is achie ved.
Part 5: Focus Areas —Provides a detailed breakout of the eight major Focus Areas derived from
the University’s Five-Year Plan and other institutional guidance. Collectively, these Focus Areas
comprise a “common requirements vision” and represent the major building blocks and
implementation paths for the overall IT Vision.
Part 6: Implementation Roadmap Summary—Summarizes the major IT investments, projects,
and initiatives underway or planned in support of the University of Tennessee, Knoxville RITE
vision.
1.4 IT Planning Process
The Road to IT Excellence is a strategic document. Therefore, a strategically focused planning
process was used in its development, as opposed to a process more suited to developing tactical or
operational plans.
As shown in Figure 1.1, the RITE planning process cascaded down from an assessment of high-level
institutional strategy guidance (e.g., the University of Tennessee Five-Year Plan), as well as an
assessment of environmental trends (documented extensively in benchmarking information in
Attachment 1).
These steps were followed by an assessment of the IT implications of the institutional strategy
guidance, coupled with an assessment of the current IT environment. This information provided the
basis for the development of a “common requirements vision (embodied in this “Road to IT
Excellence”), which was then broken down into eight distinct but interrelated Focus Areas.
Planning Process Participants
The University of Tennessee Office initiated the planning process described above for Research and
Information Technology, which played the major coordination and support role in the development of
the Road to IT Excellence. Through a competitive selection process, the Science Applications
International Corporation (SAIC) was sele cted as a consultant and helped facilitate the process. As
the planning process moved forward, other key stakeholders were brought into the process.
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Benchmarking Data
and Environmental
Trends
University
Institutional
Guidance
IT Implications
and Requirements
UT Current IT
Environment
Analysis and
Synthesis
FA8
Road to IT
Excellence
FA1
FA2
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FA3
FA6
FA4
FA5
Road to IT Excellence Focus Areas
Figure 1.1: IT Strategic Planning Process
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Part 2: Institutional Guidance and Priorities
To state the obvious, an overall institutional strategic plan should drive the information technology
(IT) strategic plan and budget decisions—whether that means increasing distributed-learning
courses, making transactions from billing to registration available on the Web, or offering advising
via videoconferencing, all of which we’ve done at Kent State. Our Board of Trustees adopted the
university’s most recent strategic plan in 1999 after a broad-based planning effort that involved more
than one thousand faulty, staff, and students. The plan leaves no doubt about the integral role of IT
throughout the university.
Carol A. Cartwright, President, Kent State University
The greatest responsibility for colleges and universities today is to create a solid, consistent link
between the changes that are needed and the mission and basic values of the institution.
Billy E. Frye, Recently Retired Chancellor, Emory University
As suggested by the above statements, IT strategic plans are much more effective when they are
aligned with and driven by the strategic plans of the institutions they support. When effective linkage
is achieved and maintained, optimal strategic leverage is obtained from the institution’s IT strategies
and investments. When this linkage is weak or nonexistent, there is no guarantee—and in fact serious
doubt—that the institution’s technology investments will support mission priorities and take the
institution to where it needs to be. This can, in turn, place the institution in a condition of risk. The
more important IT is to the mission of the institution, the more serious the risk.
Increasingly, information technology is vital to all missions of the University of Tennessee.
Therefore, the University’s IT strategies, investments, projects, and related init iatives must be well
aligned with the strategic objectives and priorities of the University.
This part of the plan summarizes the highest-level University institutional guidance that serves as the
foundation for the Road to IT Excellence.
2.1 Strategic Guidance
University of Tennessee, Knoxville Mission Statement
“UT, Knoxville is committed to the development of individuals and society as a whole through the
cultivation and enrichment of the human mind and spirit. This is accomplished through teaching,
scholarship, artistic creation, public service, and professional practice.”
University of Tennessee, Knoxville Vision Statement
“UT, Knoxville aspires to be a university of choice by being value driven, customer oriented and
learning focused.”
UT Five-Year Plan
The University of Tennessee maintains a Five-Year Plan that defines the priority goals and objectives
for the University over a specified planning period.
The most recent release of the Five-Year Plan organizes goals and objectives into Sections:
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Campus Climate Goals
Student Environment Goals
Faculty Goals
Staff Goals
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Instructional Goals
Research Goals
Outreach Goals
Information/Computing Goals
Institutional Enhancement Goals
International Education Goals
As the starting point for the development of the Road to IT Excellence, each goal and each objective
defined in the Five-Year Plan was assessed to determine its IT implications. The key questions asked
were these:
Ø Is information technology essential to achieving this goal or objective?
Ø Can Information technology be used to help achieve this goal or objective in a better, faster,
or less expensive way?
If the answer to either of these questions was “yes,” the specific nature of the IT implication (or
requirement) was documented. These implications were then grouped into logical clusters or “Focus
Areas.” All eight Focus Areas were named within the context of “achieving excellence,” which is in
keeping with the overall theme of the “Road to IT Excellence.” (See the document “IT Strategic
Mapping” for the detailed results of this process.)
Collectively, these Focus Areas provide the guiding context and organizing structure for the Road to
IT Excellence. The heart of the RITE planning challenge is, therefore, to select and successfully
execute those IT strategies, investments, projects, and initiatives that optimize progress toward the
Focus Areas that comprise the University’s Common Requirements Vision. The Focus Areas arrived
at through this process are listed below and described in detail in Part 5.
Focus Areas
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Excellence in Academics and Instruction
Excellence in Research
Excellence in Outreach and Service
Excellence in Information Content Management
Excellence in Student Support Environment
Excellence in University Business and Management Operations
Excellence in IT Management and Operations
Excellence in IT Human Resources Management
2.2 Office for Research and Information Technology (ORIT) Guidance
The coordinating sponsor for the Road to IT Excellence, Knoxville is the Office for Research and
Information Technology (ORIT). Therefore, ORIT guidance and operating priorities are also vital
considerations in the development of the Road to IT Excellence.
Message from Vice President for Research and Information Technology
“To emphasize the important role that research and information technology is playing in the future of
Tennessee, The University of Tennessee has created the Office for Research and Information
Technology (ORIT). The office has the goal of increasing the prominence of UT as a nationally
recognized leader in these vitally important areas. Accomplishing this goal will improve the
educational experience for all students, enhance the economy of the State of Tennessee, and place UT
in a national leadership position as Tennessee moves forward into the new century.
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“ORIT was created in January 2000. It was assigned two simple goals; double the value of federal
grants and contracts, and achieve a top 25 public university ranking in information technology (IT)
within 5-7 years. The IT focus is to be the use of educational technologies to enhance the quality of
on-campus classroom teaching and learning. This tall order requires a change in culture and
environment within the University, and our efforts have been directed toward those changes.”
ORIT Mission Statement
“Provide leadership and quality service in all research and information technology endeavors
throughout The University of Tennessee.”
ORIT Vision
“The University of Tennessee has always prided itself on being a leader in the utilization of
Information Technology. The creation of ORIT has sharpened our focus on providing excellent
statewide IT services. Among the elements of our vision for achieving this goal are the following:
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Highly reliable and available network infrastructure,
100% web-assisted courses within 5 years,
Seamless, wireless campus architecture,
Advanced computational facilities,
Desktop computer refresh program, and
Maintain a highly skilled workforce.”
These vision objectives are entirely consistent with, and will be addressed by actions taken within,
each of the Road to IT Excellence Focus Areas.
2.3 Other Key IT Planning Guidance
A number of other important guidance documents were reviewed as a part of the Road to IT
Excellence planning process.
One important document used in the planning process was the “Information Technology Task Force
Report,” issued on August 23, 2000. This report is important because it represents the synthesis of a
number of IT-related reports and studies, interviews and discussions with key stakeholders across the
University, as well as external benchmarking information. This report identified “nine areas important
to strategic planning for information technology infusion on the Knoxville Campus of the University
of Tennessee: Infrastructure, Support Services, Academic Policy, Curriculum, Organization, Faculty
Governance, Intellectual Property, Access and Dissemination of Electronic Materials, and
Partnerships and Marketing.”
The detailed recommendations supporting these areas can be mapped to the Focus Areas that
comprise the RITE Common Requirements Vision and also provide important supporting detail
information. Therefore, this document will be used as a key resource document to support
implementation of the Road to IT Excellence.
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Part 3: University of Tennessee IT Vision
3.1 Environmental Trends
Many of the major trends in higher education are directly or indirectly related to information
technology. Most are well known. Many are controversial. All present challenges.
A good summary of some of the more important key trends in higher education is presented in the
paper, “Looking Beyond the Horizon: Trends Shaping Student Affairs” by M. Lee Upcraft, Professor,
Center for the Study of Higher Education Pennsylvania State University, and Patrick T. Terenzini,
Professor, Center for the Study of Higher Education Pennsylvania State University. These trends
(summarized below) have been assessed, directly or indirectly, in the development of the Road to IT
Excellence, and have affected the IT Vision and Focus Areas defined in this document.
Trend 1: An increased reliance on technology in students' classroom experiences.
Item: With classroom technologies such as desktop groupware conferencing,
teacher/student interaction may take place in real time, asynchronously, or both.
Item: At many institutions, large classes are being technologically "downsized" through
guided discussion software and campus computer network applications.
In spite of the fact that a majority of today's college classrooms are still dominated by the
traditional lecture/ discussion method, more and more technological innovations are
gaining hold in the classroom. They range from very basic but limited use of technology
(using e-mail for communication and feedback, course Web pages, and course chat rooms)
to enhancements of the traditional classroom (using presentation software such as
PowerPoint, and computer simulations) to virtual classrooms using one-way and two-way
audio-visual techniques, computer groupware conferencing, computer video and
asynchronous computer conferencing, and asynchronous/CD-ROM hybrids. Technology
also provides an opportunity to cross inter-institutional barriers to allow for an open class
discussion across the Internet with students from other campuses, or in other countries. In
all these cases, however, students' face-to-face contact with faculty, student affairs
professionals, and peers is altered, reduced, or eliminated, with at present unknown
consequences for student learning and development.
Trend 2: Increased reliance on technology in students' out-of-class experiences.
Item: A university on the cutting edge of technology proudly announces a plan to place
two computers in every residence hall room, enabling residents to pursue their education
through the vast potential of the Internet.
Item: A leading educator warns of the dire, negative consequences of "cocooning":
students retreating to the isolation of their computers to avoid campus and course
involvement, and instead sinking into self-gratifying Internet entertainment and addiction.
The impact of technology on student life is no less impressive. Students have come to
expect computer accessibility on their campuses and in their lives. Accessibility ranges
from campus computer labs to computers in every residence hall room to requiring or
providing computers for all students. The technology is rapidly moving toward wireless
telecommunications networks on campuses (like cellular networks) that will permit laptop
access to all computer services literally from anywhere in the world anytime. Using
computers for information retrieval for course preparation, reading assignments, and
assigned papers is now possible, not to mention the entertainment, chat rooms, web pages,
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and social communication that computers provide. One's circle of friends is now easily
expanded electronically to include literally the world. Opportunities now exist for live,
real-time Internet discussions of significant campus issues and controversial campus
speakers.
Trend 3: Increased reliance on technology in administrative and support services.
Item: At California State University's newest campus at Monterey Bay, one building is
conspicuously absent from their blueprints: the library. This campus will instead rely
instead on technology for information retrieval.
Item: The University of Wisconsin System Collaborative Nursing Program offers most of
its programs, including academic advising, through distance education technology. When
asked to evaluate the quality of advising they received, 71% said the quality of distance
education advising was the same as other advising they had previously received; the other
29% said it was better.
Hardly any aspect of student support services remains untouched by technology. For
example, it is now possible at some institutions for students to seek admissions
information, apply for admission, and be admitted entirely on-line. Telephone, on-line, or
web registration for courses is now commonplace on many campuses. As cited above,
academic advising can now be done with multiple technologies. E-mail has revolutionized
our day-to-day work communications. Information needed for administrative functions
that were once carefully secured and mostly unavailable are now only a keystroke away
for most of us. Budgets are projected, administered, and accounted for by computerassisted technology.
Trend 4: The growth of distance/virtual education.
Item: The Western Governors' University, with its cyberspace campus and virtual
classrooms, has taken the first steps toward full accreditation. Many campuses, states, and
regions are developing "virtual" campuses.
Item: The former president of a major research university predicts that within ten years,
students will spend only about half their time on his campus; the rest will be spent in field
experiences combined with distance education courses.
More and more students can now access courses or even entire academic programs
without ever setting foot on a campus. The Western Governors' University, cited above, is
one of many well-known attempts to create a virtual university, although some individual
institutions are proceeding with their versions of a "World University." Advocates suggest
that as time and space barriers to an education are removed, it is no longer necessary for
students, faculty, and administrators to gather at the same time or in the same place for
teaching and learning to occur. Accessibility to higher education will be expanded
because, according to these advocates, any person who is qualified will no longer be
excluded because of time and place constraints. On the other hand, no one seems to be
asking the questions, what student services and programs are necessary in distance
education and how if at all, should they be delivered differently than in more traditional
educational settings?
Trend 5: The virtual impossibility of keeping up with technological innovations.
Item: A leading computer expert estimates that today's state of the art desktop computer
will be obsolete within 2 years; for laptops, obsolescence comes within 9 months.
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A few of us believe that advances in computer technology are a vast conspiracy by
computer and software manufacturers to maintain a steady and increasing revenue stream.
Even if that's a bit cynical, all of us have experienced the frustration of installing computer
hardware and software only to find that within what seems to be a very unreasonable time,
what we purchased is obsolete or outdated. Today's Cadillac is tomorrow's Edsel. And
there seems to be no end in sight, creating enormous problems for students and their
institutions. Students without state of the art technology are disadvantaged; institutions
without resources to upgrade cannot compete.
At least one thing seems clear: Information technologies are dramatically reshaping the
way instruction is delivered and business is done on college and university campuses.
Whether we realize it or not, they are also reshaping the world of student affairs—for
better or worse. The nature of those effects, however, remains unclear. Distance education
may represent the most dramatic force for change, but other technologies will also have
their impact.
3.2 Current UT IT Environment
According to the Information Technology Task Force Report, “The University of Tennessee has
made progress in establishing itself as a technologically vibrant institution.” A survey of the current
IT environment does in fact reveal that much progress has been made, and continues to be made.
Some examples:
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Across the University, disparate networks are evolving into a digital, multimedia network
infrastructure—including wireless—capable of transmitting different kinds of data and
providing bandwidth and quality of service for the campus of the future. The VolNet Project
is an umbrella term for an interrelated portfolio of projects to provide a robust
communications infrastructure in Knoxville.
Technology-rich teaching and learning methods are being researched and implemented.
Classrooms are coming online, outfitted to use both electronic and audiovisual media easily
and effectively, with the ability to reach outside the bounds of the physical university.
Campus-wide, laboratories are offering students state-of-the-art computing facilities and
providing access to local and global information, collaboration, and research resources.
The Innovative Technology Center (ITC) is helping University of Tennessee, Knoxville
faculty, graduate teaching assistants, and academic staff make effective use of technology in
their teaching activities, both online and in the classroom.
A new, fully integrated academic portal called Online@UT integrates numerous University of
Tennessee, Knoxville -specific features to provide students, faculty, and staff members with
personalized views of pertinent academic and extra-curricular information relevant to their
particular role(s) at the University.
Project IRIS (Integrated R/3 Information System) is being implemented to improve the way
we perform the University’s financial and human resources functions.
The University is offering more and more online distance-learning classes, reflecting growing
demand from students. During 2001, there were over 60 Internet-based courses for credit and
professional development with some 1,100 participants. These numbers are expected to
double in 2002.
Circle Park Online continues to evolve as a virtual student services portal for the conduct of
nonacademic business. Implementation of the Student Information Systems Upgrade plan
will modernize the Student records, Curriculum, Timetable, Degree Audit, Registration, and
Admissions systems
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Our library resources are in the process of becoming a model for electronic and print
resources, accessible and searchable throughout the Knoxville area via integrated information
systems. The IRIS catalog, which represents the holdings of the libraries of the University of
Tennessee, Vanderbilt University, and the University of Kentucky, has been augmented by
twelve additional southeastern research libraries in the Kudzu project.
The Student Technology Fee has funded network improvements, upgrade of academic
computing labs, student support serves for expanded utilization of technology, and faculty
support for using technology in the instructional program.
Finally, across the University, secure, reliable communications and rich resources for
coordination and collaboration are becoming ubiquitous.
Excellent Progress, But More is Required
These and numerous other information technology developments and capabilities demonstrate clearly
a dedication to the proposition that UT must become a leading, technologically vibrant institution.
But as the Information Technology Task Force Report concludes, “However, it is clear that much
remains to be done if the University is to be competitive in meeting the education, research, and
outreach needs of the State and the Nation.”
The challenges we face in moving forward do not include a lack of commitment, dedication, skills, or
capabilities. There are two major, interrelated challenges we must overcome if UT is to take its place
among the leading institutions in the world in the use of technology in the conduct of academic,
research, and outreach missions.
The first challenge is to develop a more coherent and more universally accepted technology vision
and focus, UT-wide. This will help ensure that we make optimal use of available resources and do the
best job possible of matching technology-based innovations, investments, and solutions to emerging
priority requirements and opportunities. The Road to IT Excellence is designed to provide that vision
and focus.
The second challenge we must meet is to establish the information technology governance and
coordination framework essential to ensuring that the UT vision—including its priority focus areas—
is achieved. Sound IT governance is vital in an era when the seamless integration of processes,
systems, and infrastructure is fast becoming the hallmark of excellence in the application of
technologies to the core mission requirements of a university. This challenge is even more critical in
an environment where the forces of academic freedom and sound IT infrastructure planning and
management can come into conflict if not well managed. The Road to IT Excellence defines an IT
governance framework for meeting this challenge.
The following section presents a concise IT Vision Statement for UT. Part 5 of this document
describes in detail the “Focus Areas” that are the building blocks of this vision, and comprise the IT
“Common Requirements Vision” for UT.
3.3 Vision Statement
Vision Context
When articulating any vision, especially a technology vision, there is a temptation to make sweeping,
grandiose statements that may have little basis in terms of their reality or feasibility. This is true even
for the kind of “stretch” reality we like to associate with visions.
The UT Road to IT Excellence is designed to be a proactive, aggressive, and bold IT vision. But it
must also be comprised of elements that are feasible.
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To establish the tone and context for the RITE vision, included below are relevant observations made
by Billy E. Frye. Dr. Frye retired in June 2001 as Chancellor of Emory University. He was previously
with the University of Michigan for twenty-five years, serving as Provost for six years. During his
years in the administration of these two universities, he developed a particular interest in libraries and
in issues relating to information management in research universities. The following excerpts are
from the article “Reflections” published in EDUCAUSE Review, January/February 2002.
“Colleges and universities are not just manufacturing centers of knowledge, churning out
new information or solutions to social problems or even graduates. They are complicated
communities of learning, and the essential dynamics by which these communities function
is inadequately understood. In an era of technological transformation, the distinction
between products and processes is critical.
“Other critical challenges being accelerated by the technological changes are globalization
and the evolution of the academic disciplines themselves as knowledge has expanded and
become interconnected at an unprecedented rate. And of course information technology is
dramatically changing how those of us in higher education handle information and how we
generate, evaluate, organize, preserve, and disseminate scholarly knowledge in teaching
and research. Perhaps most significant of all, information technology is quickly rendering
obsolete the traditional disciplinary boundaries around which the college or university is
organized and through which academicians organize and access knowledge.
“These pressures are forcing many changes. I won’t try to recount all of these, but two
statements can be made about where things now stand. First, no one as yet can say with
any certainty what the “new paradigm” of the college or university will be. According to
many observers, the successful institution of higher education will likely learn to live with
low or no-growth budgets, substitute new sources of income for old ones, and increase
productivity without the benefit of governmental beneficence; give more attention to
teaching undergraduates and provide stronger incentives and better rewards for good
teaching and for those who give more time and attention to students; develop a new
understanding of teaching and learning and of the relationship among teacher, learner, and
institution; be more selective and focused in the range of its academic programs and find
ways to compete in the academic marketplace through market differentiation and niche
specia lization; reduce the hegemony of the traditional departments and schools in favor of
a greater degree of cross-disciplinary, integrative scholarship and greater prominence of
collegiate objectives; and use information technology not just to increase the effectiveness
and efficiency in old ways of doing things but to find radically new ways of creating,
organizing, authenticating, accessing, and disseminating knowledge and of credentialing
those who discover and teach.”
These observations—which are simultaneously progressive, sensitive to the IT-enabled
transformation that is taking place within universities, and pragmatic —provide sound guidance for
articulating an IT vision for the University of Tennessee.
An Example from MIT
An excellent example of a concise and pragmatic, yet bold, statement of IT direction is presented
below. These comments were made by MIT President, Charles M. Vest, in the document, “MIT—The
Path to Our Future.”
“Our greatest challenge is to bring to MIT the best students, the best faculty, and the
people and infrastructure to support them. And we must provide the physical facilities and
information infrastructure that enable them to live, learn, and work within an effective and
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inspirational environment. Recruiting and retaining the very best faculty remains one of
our greatest challenges. To do so, we must be able to offer competitive salaries, state-ofthe-art research and teaching facilities, and opportunities to work with the very best
students.
“We must clearly define our place in the changing galaxy of educational institutions,
activities, and alliances. There can be no doubt that emerging information technologies
with enormous storage, bandwidth, and display capabilities will profoundly affect the way
we all work, live, and learn. Institutions and groups of institutions will provide various
educational services, from specific training and the updating of skills to high-quality
degree programs. MIT will define an appropriate balance between using these new
capabilities to help educate those beyond our immediate geographic area and bringing a
wealth of information and interaction to those on our campus.”
A key point to observe in these kinds of vision statements is that the vision is expressed in
terms of educational, research, outreach, and operational benefits and capabilities that will
accrue to the institution. The visions are not expressed in terms of technology developments
themselves. (In fact, IT visions might best be expressed as “IT-enabled visions.”)
This point has been made by Paul J. Kobulnicky, Vice Chancellor for Information Services at
the University of Connecticut.
“Fundamental to IT strategic planning is the premise that the increased adoption of
information technology is a strategy towards a larger institutional vision and not an
objective in and of itself.”
Common Requirements Vision
A “Common Requirements Vision” represents the synthesis of important planning input from a
variety of sources translated into a summary view of where UT is headed in terms of its IT support
environment over the next several years. According to the Context Section of the UT Five-Year Plan,
“UT is a community of scholars that aspires to create an environment in which every member of that
community has the opportunity to achieve his or her full potential.” Therefore, creating, and nurturing
this kind of learning environment is a key aspect of the University's mission and is integral to the
Common Requirements Vision.
University of Tennessee Information Technology Vision
Through the effective use of technology, we will continue to develop methods for our students to
have access to world-class faculty and research facilities both on and off our campuses through a
variety of network structures. Students will be exposed to leading-edge schola rship integrated into
their curriculum through a variety of technology-enhanced individual, small, and large group
experiences. As we develop learning opportunities for our students beyond the classroom, we
envision the creation of a strong learning community, not limited by time and space, where students
will be challenged to advance, grow, and achieve.
We envision a university where our technology infrastructure supports the effective use, sharing, and
integration of all kinds of information, including text, data, image, video, and voice. Our information
environment also must provide seamless access to information and services for faculty, staff,
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students, and other constituencies, to support all University activities, including teaching, learning,
research, administration, economic development, and outreach. As a student-centered research
university, we recognize that life-long learning is becoming increasingly important, if not vital to our
students.
Throughout our campuses, information technology will be integrated into all aspects of university
life, from our teaching and learning strategies, to our research practices, to our daily business dealings
with our students and business partners. Central and essential to our vision will be virtual view of our
“campuses,” which includes both traditional physical campuses and the geographically clustered
academic community. We envision a diverse community of experts freely exploring the possibilities
and constraints of new technology and sharing the results of these explorations within disciplinary
networks and with the broader public.
We envision building strong partnerships with industry to leverage the maximum benefits from
campus agreements, volume purchases, and community standards. From this strong intellectual hub
we envision benefits flowing out at great distance in support of such social goals as increased access
to higher education and increased services to support the economic and educational aspirations of all
citizens of the State of Tennessee.
Vision End-State Attributes
The key end-state attributes for the UT IT Vision can be summarized as follows:
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Our IT support environment will help the University rank high among peer institutions in
terms of overall effectiveness in the generation, evaluation, organization, preservation, and
dissemination of scholarly knowledge in teaching, research, and public service.
Our IT support environment will help advance teaching and learning by leveraging faculty
time and knowledge, by simplifying rather than complic ating the faculty member’s job, and
by increasing research capacity and capabilities. Through innovative technology-based
academic and instruction support solutions, we will allow our faculty members to give more
attention and higher quality attention to teaching undergraduate students.
Our IT support environment will help us develop a new understanding of what is possible
in terms of teaching and learning and of the possibility of new relationships among teacher,
learner, and institution.
Our IT support environment will help to provide our students a quality learning experience
while enrolled at the University (either on a UT system campus or a remote location), instill
within them the technological competence necessary to compete effectively in the market
place, and provide a means for life time learning and a continued association with the
University.
Our IT support environment will help expand the University’s capacity for outreach and
public service by overcoming traditional time and space constraints, providing access to the
traditionally disenfranchised, and opening up entirely new avenues of access to the
University’s people, knowledge, services, and resources.
Our IT support environment will enable beneficial changes in the traditional disciplinary
boundaries around which the University is organized, and through which our academicians
organize and access knowledge. The resulting benefits will accrue to our students, our
faculty, our staff, and all those we serve.
Our IT support environment will provide an easily accessible, intuitive, and helpful
gateway to the University, supporting student recruitment, attracting research projects and
funding, encouraging philanthropic support, and enabling and facilitating various forms of
partnerships and joint ventures, including technology and knowledge transfer.
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Our IT support environment will support the process improvements, the quality of decision
support, and the operational planning support necessary for the University to adapt to low or
no-growth budgets. It will facilitate, as necessary, initiatives to substitute new sources of
income for old ones.
Our IT support environment will help the University become more immediately responsive
to the evolving changes in the higher education environment. This will, in turn, enable
University decision makers and strategists to become more selective and focused in the range
of the academic programs we offer and in finding ways to compete in the academic
marketplace through market differentiation and niche specialization.
Our IT support environment will make it possible to achieve a higher degree of crossdisciplinary, integrative scholarship.
Our IT support environment will not only continue to help us increase our effectiveness
and efficiency in established ways of doing things but, more importantly, enable radically
new ways of creating, organizing, authenticating, accessing, and disseminating knowledge
and of credentialing those who discover and teach.
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Part 4: IT Governance Framework
Despite all the rhetoric to the contrary, institutions seem unable to take concerted steps toward the
conception of the “new university” that so many have insisted is needed to accommodate a full
flowering of the technological and knowledge revolution.
Billy E. Frye, Recently Retired Chancellor, Emory University
4.1 IT Governance in Context
There are many reasons for the IT coordination challenge referenced in the above observation.
Perhaps none is more important than the tensions that can sometimes exist between the dynamics of
academic freedom and the challenge of developing an integrated IT infrastructure that spans
academic, functional, and organizational boundaries.
This is not an uncommon problem for universities. For example, UCLA—a highly distributed
institution—has labeled this IT governance challenge as being one of achieving “coordinated
autonomy.” The fact that “coordinated autonomy” is basically an oxymoron conveys the complexity
and difficulty of sustaining effective IT governance in a university setting.
Achieving Coordinated Autonomy Through Integrated IT Governance
An IT planning and management framework is only as good as the level of executive leadership and
stakeholder involvement that goes into its development and operation. The term “IT governance”
refers to the framework of roles, responsibilities, strategies, philosophies, methods, processes, and
tools used to manage an institution’s IT resources. Effective IT Governance is critical for the
University of Tennessee because of:
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The pivotal importance of information technology to important educational and operational
objectives across the University,
The large number of stakeholders involved in IT strategies and decisions throughout the
Knoxville area and across the State of Tennessee,
The need to effectively balance University-level information technology needs with the local
needs of colleges, departments, and programs, and
The sheer complexity of IT management issues inherent in a distributed learning environment
in an age of technology.
An effective IT governance framework will help leaders across UT come together systematically to
determine the appropriate roles for information technology in learning, teaching, research, outreach,
and management. Through this coordinated interaction, UT can more effectively predict how these
roles might change over time and plan accordingly.
A well-designed IT governance framework allows IT support organizations and various academic
units and departments to develop a shared understanding of how technology can support their specific
programs. Such a framework also makes clear the kinds of tradeoffs that have to be made in the best
interests of the University, and the kinds of methods and approaches (e.g., certain IT architectural
standards) that can mitigate the adverse implications of these tradeoffs.
The IT governance process must include ways of communicating these strategies across the
university. This process brings discipline and collective wisdom to issues such as deciding where and
when new technologies and processes should be introduced and where smoothly running processes
should be left alone.
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Internet2, pervasive wireless personal digital assistants, portals, and a number of developments not
yet foreseen are examples of technology advances that will continue to change higher education (and
society at large) in the decades to come. Despite many unknowns, a well-organized IT strategic
planning process based on a sound IT governance framework can, in a timely and effective way:
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Define the role of technology in supporting or enabling the University’s vision and strategic
plan,
Outline specific technology directions for the University,
Identify key strategies for implementing these technology directions,
Clarify the actions needed to support individual departments, programs, colleges, and the
university as a whole in achieving their missions and goals, and
Define the kinds of services and support the University requires from its various IT support
organizations.
Achieving Excellence
The IT vision defined in the “Road to IT Excellence” centers on the pursuit of excellence across all of
the University’s IT operations. Excellence in IT governance is achieved when the following are
integrated into a well-orchestrated, cohesive, and broadly supported framework for action:
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Executive management
Functional (academic, research, outreach administration) stakeholders across the University
Students
IT leadership, university-wide
IT boards and councils, university-wide
IT shared or special interest groups, university-wide
Liaison among central IT and school or program IT functions, university-wide
IT management policies
IT principles
IT Vision and Strategic Plan
IT budgeting and funding strategies and priorities
IT architectures and standards (and their use)
IT service delivery requirements, goals, and related organizational strategies
IT investment management methods and criteria
IT project and program management.
IT Governance Includes Process Improvement and Innovation
Most of the functions and processes performed across today’s universities are enabled or otherwise
supported by information technologies. Therefore, IT governance often extends beyond a limited
focus on IT issues and includes process governance issues as well.
For example, a university assessing an upgrade to its student records management system will not
only look at the information technology aspects of this challenge but the process implications as well.
This broader view of IT governance is critical because it defines the nature of the governance
structure that must be established (participants, policies, methods) to meet the full needs of the
University.
Expected Outcomes
As we achieve and sustain excellence in IT governance, we will see the following outcomes:
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Improved alignment of IT investments with the mission, vis ion, and strategic objectives and
priorities of the University,
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Broader, more inclusive, and better coordinated stakeholder involvement in IT strategies,
decisions, and priorities,
Improved support and buy-in for IT policies, strategies, and initiatives,
Improved working relationships among IT service providers and the various user
communities that depend on quality IT support,
Improved leverage and return from the funds invested in the University’s IT infrastructure,
Improved integration of information, systems, and technologies across the University’s IT
infrastructure,
Increased emphasis on process improvement in conjunction with IT investments and
deployments,
Faster and more definitive resolution of IT issues,
Improved performance across the full range of functions that comprise the University’s core
missions of Education, Research, and Outreach, and
More rapid and effective realization of the strategic objectives of the University.
Guidance Provided by the UT Five-Year Strategic Plan
The following guidance for IT governance across the University of Tennessee is taken from the FiveYear Strategic Plan:
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Objective 1.1.1: Create the means for shared governance.
Goal 1.2: Enhance the expectation that all members of the University community share
responsibility to support the development and improvement of programs.
Objective 1.3.4: Encourage the expression of different viewpoints on campus issues.
Objective 1.6.1: Develop models for change so that steps and procedures are clear to the campus
community.
Objective 2.2.4: Encourage technological advances and initiatives that improve academic and
support services.
Goal 8.1: Provide customer-driven support services and the infrastructure to empower students,
faculty, and staff, independent of location, to fulfill the mission of the University.
Goal 8.2: Promote the creative and effective utilization of the information infrastructure by
students, faculty and staff.
Objective 8.2.5: Participate in policy formulation for the use of information technology in the
distributed campus environment.
Objective 8.3.1: Assess the (IT) needs of the campus community systematically and continuously.
Objective 8.3.4: Define and promote standards for technology-enhanced classrooms and facilities.
Objective 8.3.5: Support the integration of information technology with the academic focus areas
of the UTK campus.
Guidance Provided by the University of Tennessee, Knoxville “Information Technology
Task Force ”
The following excerpts from “Information Technology Task Force Report” (August 23, 2000) relate
specifically to IT governance for the University:
q
q
It is essential that investment in technology infrastructure be guided by academic as well as
administrative priorities and be driven by the overall vision and strategy of this University for its
teaching and research. It must recognize, along with centralization, the need to decentralize many of
the functions for technology development and allow broader latitude for academic units to develop,
support, and maintain dedicated facilities to support teaching materials and classrooms for deliver of
courses and technology. Faculty and student support are critical within the context of departmental
efforts.
A committee with broad representation from the University community, jointly supported by the
Chief Academic Officer and the Vice President for Information Technology Research, should be
formed to review the task Force recommendations, advise on strategic academic planning, and
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ensure that educational uses of technology best serve the University’s core values of teaching,
research, and public service.
A structure and a funding model must be established that supports the creation and delivery of
high quality, technology-based offerings in a user-oriented and cost-effective manner.
4.2 IT Governance Operating Assumptions
Before defining the IT governance structure for the University of Tennessee, the key operating
assumptions for the structure must be defined.
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The highest officials of the University must play an important and appropriate role in the IT
governance framework.
The three cornerstone missions of the University—Instruction, Research, and Outreach—
must play key roles in the IT governance framework.
The management, administration, and operational functions of the University must be well
represented in the IT governance framework.
Students must have adequate representation in the IT governance framework.
To the extent possible, existing IT planning, advisory, and shared interest groups should be
included in the framework.
The IT governance framework must be structured so that it can make timely, effective
decisions, while at the same time ensuring that all key stakeholders have the opportunity to
provide input into the decision making process.
The IT governance framework must include an enduring, stable core of leaders and decision
makers, yet accommodate a shifting and changing collection of stakeholders and interest
groups.
4.3 IT Governance Structure
The IT governance framework for the University of Tennessee is shown in Figure 4.1.
Executive Policy
Board
Academic and
Research
IT Council
HSC Faculty Senate
Computing and
Telecommunications
Subcommittee
Student IT
Council
Information
Technology
Steering Council
Statewide IT
Council
Administration IT
Council
Figure 4.1: IT Governance Structure
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The following is a brief description of each component of the framework.
Executive Policy Board
The Executive Policy Board (EPB) addresses one of the key operating assumptions listed above: “The
highest officials of the University must play an important and appropriate role in the IT governance
framework.” This board, which is chaired by the University of Tennessee CIO, is comprised of vicepresidents from Alumni/Development, Health Science Center, Business and Finance, Provost, and
Agriculture.
The EPB provides “Board of Director” oversight for UT’s IT activities, ensuring that sound strategies
and practices are in place, are being followed, and are being effectively managed. Specific areas
where the IT Policy Board will become engaged in IT governance for UT include:
q
q
q
q
q
q
q
Communicating the key priorities and objectives of the University
Establishing relevant IT policy
Resolving major impasses and issues
Communicating the importance of IT and effective IT governance as matters of strategic
importance to the University
Monitoring overall IT performance and effectiveness
Approving major IT strategies, initiatives, and investments, and
Providing guidance and consultation to other IT governance components, as needed.
IT Steering Council (ITSC)
The IT Steering Council (ITSC) is the IT governance component primarily responsible for overseeing
the implementation and evolution of the “Road to IT Excellence.” The ITSC is chaired by the Vice
President, Office of Research and Information Technology and includes as members the co-chairs
(one functional, one IT) from each the four oversight councils, plus two additional functional
members from the Academic and Research Council.
Cross-representation from the four IT oversight councils is essential because one of the primary roles
of the ITSC is to integrate IT requirements and priorities across the University’s core mission areas
(academics, research, and service), as well as the University’s business and management operations.
Through this ongoing process of integrating and balancing IT requirements and proposals, the ITSC
maintains an optimal IT project and investment portfolio for the University.
The ITSC serves as the “action arm” of the ITPB, receiving policy guidance and priorities from the
EPB and applying these to the development and implementation of the University’s IT strategies and
implementation plans. The ITSC provides regular status reports to the EPB and presents wellresearched, concise decision briefs for EPB action, as required.
The ITSC is responsible for all strategies and IT investment decisions that affect the UT-wide shared
IT infrastructure. The ITSC delegates authority for many day-to-day decisions as it deems
appropriate.
Even though the implementation strategies for the Focus Areas that comprise the RITE vision are
approved and controlled by the ITSC, the ITSC delegates day-to-day oversight authority for specific
Focus Areas to the appropriate coordinating council. For example, the Academics and Research IT
Council is responsible for managing the Excellence in Academics and Instruction Focus Area.
While the ITSC oversees, at a high level, each individual RITE Focus Area, it also oversees the total
collection of Focus Areas. In this oversight role, the ITSC manages interdependencies among Focus
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Areas, identifying overlaps and gaps, resolving issues and impasses, advocating funding (or funding
reallocation), and otherwise ensuring that the University’s total IT investment is well managed.
One of the primary responsibilities (and challenges) for the ITSC is to help the University manage
and sustain the “coordinated autonomy” method of operation that is necessary in a highly distributed
University. In this role, the ITSC helps manage the inevitable conflicts that can arise when academic
freedom and local innovation initiatives appear at odds with the need for central IT infrastructure
management. The systematic resolution of these issues requires effective communications and
appropriate integrating mechanisms—such as enterprise information architecture standards—that can
meet both UT-wide and local needs. In many institutions, maintaining a balance between local and
University-wide needs is referred to as a “federated” approach, which is the solution to the
“coordinated autonomy” challenge.
To summarize, the ITSC is responsible for the following:
q
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Serves as the action arm for the EPB.
Maintains IT operating principles, policies, strategies, and priorities for the UT-wide shared
information infrastructure.
Oversees implementation of the Road to IT Excellence.
Manages the IT investment processes for the University.
Integrates IT requirements defined by the four IT coordinating councils.
Oversees the UT Enterprise Information Architecture.
Academic and Research IT Council
The Academic and Research IT Council (ARITC) provides University-wide oversight and integration
of all IT requirements related to academics, instruction, learning, and teaching (for both resident
student and distance applications), and for research. The ARITC has day-to-day oversight
responsibility for the following RITE Focus Areas: “Excellence in Academics and Instruction,”
“Excellence in Research”, and “Excellence in Student Support Environment.”
Membership on the ARITC is determined by the co-chairs (one functional, one IT). The co-chairs of
the ARITC also serve as members of the IT Steering Council. The ARITC establishes as many
relationships with other instruction-related groups, councils, boards, and individual stakeholders as it
deems necessary to gather all relevant issues, requirements, and priorities.
The ARITC works with the IT Steering Council to reach consensus on areas within which UT-wide
solutions are most appropriate and those where ARITC autonomy is appropriate.
Statewide IT Council
The Statewide IT Council (SWIC) is best thought of a “council of CIOs” because it brings together
key stakeholders in the IT affairs of the University from across the state. These stakeholders include
the CIOs of various academic units across the State, as well as key functional users from these
academic units.
Membership on the SWIC is determined by the co-chairs (one functional, one IT). The co-chairs of
the SWIC also serve as members of the IT Steering Council. The SWIC establishes as many
relationships with other instruction-related groups, councils, boards, and individual stakeholders as it
deems necessary to gather all relevant issues, requirements, and priorities.
Included in the membership of the SWIC are administrative representatives from Agriculture and
Outreach.
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The SWIC works with the IT Steering Council to reach consensus on areas within which UT-wide
solutions are most appropriate and those where local autonomy is appropriate.
Student IT Council
The Student IT Council (SITC) provides an avenue for the students of the University to provide input
in to the University’s IT plans, priorities, and operating strategies
Administration IT Council
The Administration IT Council (AITC) provides University-wide oversight and integration of all IT
requirements related to business and administrative functions necessary to operate the University
(e.g., finance, budget, human resources, procurement, facilities, planning, etc.) The AITC has day-today oversight responsibility for the following RITE Focus Area: “Excellence in University Business
and Management Operations.”
Membership on the AITC is determined by the co-chairs (one functional, one IT). The co-chairs of
the AITC also serve as members of the IT Steering Council. The AITC establishes as many
relationships with other instruction-related groups, councils, boards, and individual stakeholders as it
deems necessary to gather all relevant issues, requirements, and priorities.
The AITC works with the IT Steering Council to reach consensus on areas within which UT-wide
solutions are most appropriate and those where AITC autonomy is appropriate.
HSC Faculty Senate Computing and Telecommunications Subcommittee
The Faculty Senate Computing and Telecommunication Subcommittee provides oversight and
integration of all IT requirements related to the missions and operations of the Health Sciences
Center.
The Computing and Telecommunications Subcommittee establishes as many relationships with other
instruction-related groups, councils, boards, and individual stakeholders as it deems necessary to
gather all relevant issues, requirements, and priorities.
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Part 5: Focus Areas
Part 5 of the Road to IT Excellence, Knoxville defines the eight focus areas that were derived through
the IT strategic planning process. A Focus Area is a logically bounded collection of processes,
functions, and activities that is strategically important to the University, serves a particular
constituency group, and has distinctive information technology requirements.
The Focus Areas defined in Part 5 are defined in terms of scope and expected outcomes. Also
identified for each Focus Area are relevant institutional guidance, key stakeholders, and a Focus Area
team. The Focus Area teams are vital, not only to achieving the objectives and expected outcomes for
their respective Focus Areas, but for effectively implementing the overall Road to IT Excellence.
By design, the Focus Areas as outlined below represent strategic objectives. Implementation details
are the responsibility of the Focus Area teams, working in cooperation with the IT governance
structure defined in Part 4.
The eight focus areas defined in Part 5 have important interdependencies. Therefore, Focus Area
teams must proactively coordinate with each other, in addition to communicating and workin g with
the stakeholders affected by IT strategies and investments within their respective Focus Areas.
The eight Focus Areas described below are listed below.
IT FOCUS AREAS
5.1: Excellence in Academics and Instruction
5.2: Excellence in Research
5.3: Excellence in Outreach and Service
5.4: Excellence in Information Content Management
5.5: Excellence in Student Support Environment
5.6: Excellence in Business and Management Operations
5.7: Excellence in IT Management and Operations
5.8: Excellence in IT Human Resources Management
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5.1 Excellence in Academics and Instruction
Challenge
The challenge is to develop, implement, evaluate, and continuously refine the systems, processes,
tools, and resources necessary to support “Excellence in Academics and Instruction” across the
University of Tennessee, Knoxville. This challenge will be met through the collaborative efforts of
the University’s IT governance structure, the UT Office of Information Technology, and associated
stakeholders across the University. Results will be achieved through an “implementation roadmap”—
a well-coordinated and carefully phased portfolio of projects and investments that support Excellence
in Education and Instruction goals, while supporting, where appropriate, the goals of all other RITE
Focus Areas.
Key Elements
The key elements of Excellence in Academics and Instruction include, but are not necessarily limited
to, the following:
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Flexible and dynamic distributed learning capabilities for UT
Centralized and coordinated IT training and services for the academic community
Centralized and coordinated 24 (hours) x7 (days a week) support for the academic
community
Innovative programs of study created through the utilization of effective and emerging
technologies in the design, development, and deliver y of courses and curricula
Electronic access to and distribution of course and supporting reference materials
Electronic access to and distribution of library and reference information
Advanced, multimedia tools easily accessible to the academic community
Utilization of technologies to establish intra- and inter-institutional library sharing
arrangements
Specialized, computer labs networked to university infrastructure(s)
Technology-enabled classrooms with Internet connectivity
Integration of IT literacy and competencies into course content and program curricula
Expected Outcomes
As the University achieves and sustains Excellence in Academics and Instruction, expected benefits
include, but are not limited to:
q
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q
q
q
Emergence of new, more effective models of teaching and learning built upon the tenets of
effective teaching and enhanced through access to traditional and emerging technologies and
networked resources
Improved access to the academic resources and support services of the University of
Tennessee
Mitigation of the constraints on instruction imposed by time, place, delivery method, or
format of traditional university curricula or calendars
Support and promotion of quality instructional content and varied instructional formats
utilizing advanced information technologies
Increased interaction between faculty and learners fostering greater active learner
engagement
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Increased and improved access to information resources through the libraries and other
networked resources
Effective provision of UT-wide IT support services in support of teaching and learning
Development of a flexible, distributed learning community that is seamless for both students
and faculty
Graduates who are well prepared to succeed in a world increasingly driven by technologybased competition and processes
Guidance Provided by the UT Five-Year Strategic Plan
A basic premise of the Road to IT Excellence is that IT strategies and investments must be aligned
with and supportive of the strategies and priorities of the University. At the highest level, these are
defined in the University’s Five-Year Strategic Plan. (A complete analysis of the mapping of FiveYear Strategic Plan objectives to the Focus Areas that comprise the Road to IT Excellence is
available from the Office of Information Technology.) The following relevant guidance is taken from
the “Context” section of the Five-Year Strategic Plan:
UT is a community of scholars that aspire to create an environment in which every member of that community
has the opportunity to achieve his or her full potential. Students should expect a quality education that
empowers them as individuals by introducing new ideas, deepening understanding of complex issues, and
presenting opportunities to work with people from many different cultures and backgrounds. Faculty should
expect a professionally and personally satisfying place to work, colleagues who are challenging and supportive,
and facilities that enhance teaching and research.
Guidance Provided by the UT “Information Technology Task Force”
A thoughtful analysis of the University’s status and requirements in the application of information
technology to educational and learning processes is documented in the “Information Technology Task
Force Report” (August 23, 2000). The following excerpts from this report relate specifically to the
Excellence in Academics and Instruction Focus Area:
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As technology increasingly permeates and changes the teaching environment, current academic
policies and procedures need to be reviewed and changes approved where appropriate to
accommodate electronic delivery of courses and programs.
Traditional instruction at UT has been largely a face-to-face, synchronous, classroom educational
process. Learning in the online environment should emulate the most powerful elements of classroom
teaching. It should be primarily cohort-based, not conceptualized as a single student activity; it should
be communications based, not self-study with a tutor on call. Personal interaction between faculty and
students, a core component of the teaching and learning process, should be facilitated and enhanced
by the use of new technologies.
This principle is consistent with the definition of distributed learning provided by the Institute for
Academic Technology, University of North Carolina (DEOS-L Listserv, 1995, A.W. Bates, Managing
Technological Change, 2000). ‘A distributed learning environment is a learner-centered approach to
education, which integrates a number of technologies to enable opportunities for activities and
interaction in both synchronous and real-time modes. The model is based on blending a choice of
appropriate technologies with aspects of campus-based delivery, open learning systems, and distance
education. The approach gives instructors the flexibility to customize learning environments to meet
the needs of diverse student populations, while providing both high-quality and cost-effective
learning.’ Distributed learning thus encompasses the full range of technological applications to
teaching, from its use as an audiovisual aid in the traditional classroom, through delivery using mixed
modalities with classroom presentation, to full offering of a program to remote learners.
All traditional academic policies and procedures should be reviewed to determine
what changes are needed to accommodate the distributed learning environment.
Information literacy should be recognized as a basic skill in the general education
program for undergraduate curricula.
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Course content and curricula should be reviewed to assure that all students graduate
with the set of skills and capabilities specific to their areas.
To provide access and dissemination of electronic materials for remote users, the
Library should substitute networked materials for locally shelved materials
whenever possible.”
Focus Area Team
Operating under the overall direction of the University’s IT governance structure, the following
project team will manage the implementation of the Excellence in Academics and Instruction Focus
Area:
q
q
q
Focus Area Manager: [To be named]
Functional Lead: [To be named]
Technical Lead: [To be named]
The key responsibilities of the Focus Area Team are as follows:
1. Serve as the primary interface with the University’s IT governance structure for all IT matters
related to Excellence in Academics and Instruction.
2. Serve as a focal point for coordinating with Excellence in Academics and Instruction stakeholders.
3. Gather and organize Excellence in Academics and Instruction requirements, suggestions, and
priorities.
4. Ensure that an IT project plan exists for Excellence in Academics and Instruction, including the
articulation of goals, milestones, and priorities for specified planning periods.
5. Oversee the progress of the project plan and help resolves issues affecting the project plan
implementation.
6. Refresh the project plan as necessary and communicate progress and major developments across
the University.
7. Coordinate with other Focus Area Teams as necessary.
Current Projects and Initiatives
The projects, initiatives, and/or proposals listed below are relevant to Excellence in Academics and
Instruction and must be factored into the implementation strategy and project blueprint for this Focus
Area. (These are known initiatives; others might be identified.) Certain entries listed below might be
listed under other Focus Area descriptions as well. This is because the missions of the University
overlap. The University’s IT governance structure provides the coordination and direction necessary
to ensure that all projects and initiatives are well coordinated.
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VolNet Network
Nomad Wireless Initiative
Blackboard Academic Enterprise System
Collaborating in the purchasing and integration of a new library system into the community.
ITC Faculty Development Initiatives (Wireless Instructional Strategies projects, Teaching
with Technology, Faculty First, PDA)
Faculty Senate Instruction with Technology Subcommittee Initiatives (6 goal areas)
College of Engineering Distance Education Working Group
General Education Program Revision
Course Classifications: Technology-Enhanced Course (TE); Tennessee Online Course (TN);
Correspond Online Course (CO)
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Circle Park On-Line
Proposed Digital Library Center (DLC) for Excellence; collaborating with the purchasing and
integrating a new library system into the community
University Reallocation – Communications and Information Sciences “Confederacy”
CARS/Classroom Scheduling
Key Stakeholders
The following individuals, organizations, or groups are key stakeholders in the Excellence in
Academics and Instruction Focus Area. The University’s IT governance structure must ensure that the
requirements and interests of these stakeholders are taken into account as actions are taken in this
Focus Area.
q
OIT
o
o
o
o
o
Innovative Technology Center
Customer Technology Support
IT Infrastructure
IT Engineering
Computing Systems
q
Academic Affairs
o Provost’s Dean’s Council
o Faculty Senate Education Policy Committee and Instruction with Technology
Subcommittee
o Registrar
o Advising
o Libraries
o Outreach and Continuing Education
o Graduate and Undergraduate Councils
q
Students
o Technology Fee Advisory Board
q
Ad Hoc
o
IT Roundtable
Benchmarking Guidance
A number of leading Universities are engaged in strategies that correlate well with all Focus Areas
that comprise the Road to IT Excellence. Benchmarking information relevant to the Excellence in
Academics and Instruction Focus Area is presented in Attachment 1.
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5.2 Excellence in Research
Challenge
The challenge is to develop, implement, evaluate, and continuously refine the systems, processes,
tools, and resources necessary to support “Excellence in Research” across the University of
Tennessee. This challenge will be met through the collaborative efforts of the University’s IT
governance structure, the UT Office of Information Technology, and associated stakeholders across
the University. Results will be achieved through an “implementation roadmap”—a well-coordinated
and carefully phased portfolio of projects and investments that support Excellence in Research goals,
while supporting, where appropriate, the goals of all other RITE Focus Areas.
Key Elements
The key elements of Excellence in Research include, but are not necessarily limited to, the following:
q
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q
q
q
q
Excellence in the conduct of high quality research across the full spectrum of academic
disciplines,
Sustained funding of research programs,
Excellence in collaborating with others around the world in the conduct of research,
Excellence in communicating and publicizing the results of research,
Excellence in the transfer of the results of research activities to productive uses within society
and industry, and
Excellence in research administration.
Achieving Excellence
To achieve Excellence in Research, IT strategists and planners must work closely with key
stakeholders engaged in research activities across UT, as well as the University’s IT governance
framework. The objective is to identify and develop the shared IT infrastructure strategies and
investments necessary to support world-class research, as well support the local infrastructure and
technology needs of research programs.
The Second Mission: Research
Research is a hallmark of the great public and private universities. The University of Tennessee is the
premier land grant institution in Tennessee, with a strong historical tradition of active research in
agricultural sciences. The research agenda has expanded dramatically in the over 200 years of
institutional history and includes a breadth of programs in the sciences and engineering, humanities,
social sciences and medicine.
Information Technology plays an integral role in achievement of the Mission of the Office of
Research.
As an integral component of scholarship, the research enterprise at the University of Tennessee is
central to the educational values of the University of Tennessee. Thus, the foremost aim of the
University’s research and creative activity endeavors centers on the creation and dissemination of
new knowledge and the enrichment of the undergraduate and graduate teaching and learning
experience across all of the academic discip lines represented within the University.
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The University of Tennessee had $165.8 Million in sponsored research awards in FY 2000, the most
recent period for which data is available. Over $90 million was sponsored by agencies of the Federal
government, and over $34 million was provided by the state of Tennessee. The research organization
was extensively reorganized in response to the recent merger of campuses, and the data reflect a
combined total of activity at UT campuses in Knoxville, Memphis and Tullahoma.
The public research university model is clear: On the road that starts with new discoveries and
reaches out to new companies and new industries, universities have a major role to play in the
research that produces the new discoveries and a critical role to play in the development of those
discoveries for transfer to private-sector companies.
The University of Tennessee formed the University of Tennessee Research Corporation (UTRC) as
an independent non-profit foundation for the purpose of managing intellectual property produced by
the faculty and for the purpose of area economic development. UTRC was chartered on December 24,
1934, for the purpose of promoting research and encouraging the utilization of research results. In
FY 2000, 20 patents were issued to University faculty members, and UTRC maintains an extensive
portfolio of patents, copyrights and trademarks in support of the research and creative activities of the
faculty.
The University of Tennessee has developed a plan for academic excellence that involves investment
of approximately $56 Million in new research centers of excellence. Wise investment of these funds
is critical to meeting the institutional goal of moving UT into the ranks of the top 25 US public
research universities. To help identify strategic areas for investment, a Strategic Research Forum was
held in Knoxville on Monday, August 28, 2000. The Forum consisted of presentations from a select
group of leaders from industry, government, and academia describing their respective research
priorities and trends. UT faculty and the UT Advisory Panel on Research and Economic
Development Strategies then used those inputs to frame discussions of how to build upon the
university’s research strengths. Presentations included the vision for the University of Tennessee,
opportunities arising from UT-Battelle’s new contract to manage and operate Oak Ridge National
Laboratory, along with other major research developments in Tennessee.
Following the Strategic Research Forum, five areas of emphasis were identified, and faculty
proposals for the formation of research centers in those topical areas were evaluated. In November of
2000, nine new research centers were announced, with funding from $5M to $10M provided from a
mixture of internal sources over a five-year period. Each center developed an independent business
plan for the utilization of those funds with emphasis on leveraging the state funds for maximum
external support. The Centers received funding in February of 2001, and in less than one year have
received notification of over $50 Million in additional external funding. The centers of excellence
are:
q Center for Environmental Biotechnology
q Center for Information Technology Research
q Center of Excellence for Diseases of Connective Tissues
q Center of Excellence for Structural Biology
q Neurobiology of Brain Diseases
q Tennessee Advanced Materials Laboratory
q UT Center for Genomics and Bioinformatics
q UT Food Safety Center of Excellence
q Vascular Biology Center of Excellence
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Moving Forward
Specific issues to be managed in the pursuit of technology infrastructure support for Excellence in
Research for the University of Tennessee can be divided into two broad areas: (1) defining priority
applications, and (2) developing supporting infrastructure.
Priority Applications
The challenge here is to continuously engage the UT IT governance structure and major research
programs to identify the priority zones or areas where investments in the UT research environment
must be made. Examples of priority investment areas might include:
q
q
q
q
q
q
q
q
q
q
q
q
q
q
q
q
High-performance computing resources
Collaboration capabilities, e.g. audio, video, data exchange, etc.
Internet 2 access
Network data security
24x7x52 IT support
Web site support
Training, e.g. computer usage, applications, parallel computing, etc.
Database application support
Data storage capacity
Data Warehouse for administrative information
Communication tools, e.g. listservs, E-mail, etc.
Administrative applications, e.g. pre-award, post-award, budget, etc.
Computing system support, e.g. desktops, UNIX, Linux, etc.
Computing application support, e.g. GIS, Statistics, etc.
Functional areas, e.g. visualization, digital media services, etc.
Coordination of software licensing
Supporting Infrastructure
Actions are already underway to develop and expand the supporting infrastructure that makes
Excellence in Research possible (See “Current Projects and Initiatives” below). These actions should
continue to receive priority support.
Expected Outcomes
As we apply technology solutions to help achie ve and sustain Excellence in Research, the University
of Tennessee will have the opportunity to expand its overall base of research programs and improve
overall research results. This will lead to improved public image and credibility, the ability to attract
and broaden the University’s base of outstanding faculty members, the ability to attract the best and
brightest students, and an increase in the number and size of research grants and partnerships. But
above all, Excellence in Research will allow the University to make outstanding contributions to
society in the form of the application of research results, thereby fulfilling, in an exemplary way, the
University’s cornerstone research mission.
Guidance Provided by the UT Five-Year Strategic Plan
A basic premise of the Road to IT Excellence is that IT strategies and investments must be aligned
with and supportive of the strategies and priorities of the University. At the highest level, these are
defined in the University’s Five-Year Strategic Plan. (A complete analysis of the mapping of FiveYear Strategic Plan objectives to the Focus Areas that comprise the Road to IT Excellence is
available from the Office of Information Technology.) The following relevant guidance is taken from
the “Context” section of the Five-Year Strategic Plan:
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From “Designation of Responsibility” statement: The central mission of the University of Tennessee,
Knoxville (UTK), the state’s leading public research university . . .
Context Section: Faculty should expect a professionally and personally satisfying place in which to
work . . . and facilities that enhance teaching and research. The citizens of Tennessee, the nation, and
the world should expect the University to be a valuable resource in addressing the problems of society
within the global as well as the local community. This community of scholars should perform at such a
high level of commitment to . . . scientific research, discovery, and learning that UTK will increasingly
be the University of choice not only for people in the State of Tennessee but for citizens of the world at
large.
Goal 6.4: Develop an organizational structure that removes impediments to successful proposals and
excellent research.
Goal6.5: Improve the monitoring of research outcomes, productivity, and impact.
Goal 6.6: Communicate research discoveries and triumphs more visibly and effectively to the
University, administration, and the public.
Goal 6.7: Establish new research ventures consistent with the thematic area identified in the Dean’s
Report to the APEC.
Guidance Provided by the University of Tennessee, Knoxville “Information Technology
Task Force”
A thoughtful analysis of the University’s status and requirements in the application of information
technology to educational and learning processes is documented in the “Information Technology Task
Force Report” (August 23, 2000). The following excerpts from this report relate specifically to
Excellence in Research:
For this University to realize its vision of becoming a model Research I, land-grant university of the 21st
century and meet the challenges of providing the vast and valuable resources of the institution to current and
new constituents in new dimensions, there must be effective use of information technologies.
Focus Area Team
Operating under the overall direction of the University’s IT governance structure, the following
project team will manage the implementation of the Excellence in Academics and Instruction Focus
Area:
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Focus Area Manager: [To be named]
Functional Lead: [To be named]
Technical Lead: [To be named]
The key responsibilities of the Focus Area Team are as follows:
1. Serve as the primary interface with the University’s IT governance structure for all IT matters
related to Excellence in Research.
2. Serve as a focal point for coordinating with Excellence in Research stakeholders.
3. Gather and organize Excellence in Research requirements, suggestions, and priorities.
4. Ensure that an IT project plan exists for Excellence in Research, including the articulation of goals,
milestones, and priorities for specified planning periods.
5. Oversee the progress of the project plan and help resolves issues affecting the project plan
implementation.
6. Refresh the project plan as necessary and communicate progress and major developments across
the University.
7. Coordinate with other Focus Area Teams as necessary.
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Current Projects and Initiatives
The projects, initiatives, and/or proposals listed below are relevant to Excellence in Research and
must be factored into the implementation strategy and project blueprint for this Focus Area. Certain
entries listed below might be listed under other Focus Area descriptions as well. This is because the
missions of the University overlap. The University’s IT governance structure provides the
coordination and direction necessary to ensure that all projects and initiatives are well coordinated.
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Upgrade of Knoxville area network - VolNet
Development and implementation of a new Web architecture
Implementation of COEUS Pre- and Post-Award Tracking
Community of Science Database
ORNL SP2 Super Computing access
Stakeholders
The following individuals, organizations, or groups are key stakeholders in the Excellence in
Research Focus Area. The University’s IT governance structure must ensure that the requirements
and interests of these stakeholders are taken into account as actions are taken in this Focus Area.
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Associate Vice President for Research
The Associate Deans for Research,
The Faculty Senate Research Council.
Benchmarking Guidance
A number of leading Universities are engaged in strategies that correlate well with all Focus Areas
that comprise the Road to IT Excellence. Benchmarking information relevant to the Excellence in
Research Focus Area is presented in Attachment 1.
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5.3 Excellence in Outreach and Service
Challenge
The challenge is to develop, implement, evaluate, and continuously refine the systems, processes,
tools, and resources necessary to support “Excellence in Outreach and Service” across the University
of Tennessee. This challenge will be met through the collaborative efforts of the University’s IT
governance structure, the UT Office of Information Technology, and associated stakeholders across
the University. Results will be achieved through an “implementation roadmap”—a well-coordinated
and carefully phased portfolio of projects and investments that support Excellence in Outreach and
Service goals, while supporting, where appropriate, the goals of all other RITE Focus Areas.
Key Elements
Within the context of the Road to IT Excellence, “Excellence in Outreach and Service” relates to the
use of advanced information technologies to allow the University to expand and extend its ability to
become fully engaged with its community, leveraging research and instruction to meet the needs not
only of students, faculty, and partners/sponsors but constituents throughout the State of Tennessee
and beyond.
The key elements of this Focus Area include, but are not necessarily limited to, the following:
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Processes and supporting technologies that facilitate information exchange between the
University and our constituents statewide, including library resources, across all University
colleges and programs, overcoming traditional time and space constraints.
Processes and supporting technologies that facilitate open communications and the delivery
of University resources and services statewide, across all University colleges and programs,
overcoming traditional time and space constraints.
Processes and supporting technologies that facilitate open communications and access to
University information, resources, and services to traditionally disenfranchised and
educationally and economically disadvantaged groups.
Expected Outcomes
Perhaps in no other area of the University’s operations is the power of technology to enable
boundaryless, virtual organization and operation more important than in the area of outreach and
service. In no other area are the advantages of overcoming time and space constraints through
technology more important, both to the University and to the University’s constituents.
Therefore, as we achieve and sustain Excellence in Outreach and Service, we will see the University
become more agile, facile, and effective in meshing its operations with those of its constituents to the
benefit of all concerned. Through exceptional technology-enabled outreach capabilities, the
University of Tennessee will become an admired, vibrant player in advancing research and in solving
problems through effective, virtual teaming arrangements with constituents, partners, sponsors, and
colleagues around the world.
Guidance Provided by the UT Five-Year Strategic Plan
A basic premise of the Road to IT Excellence is that IT strategies and investments must be aligned
with and supportive of the strategies and priorities of the University. At the highest level, these are
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defined in the University’s Five-Year Strategic Plan. A complete analysis of the mapping of FiveYear Strategic Plan objectives to the Focus Areas that comprise the Road to IT Excellence is
available from the Office of Information Technology. The following relevant guidance is taken from
the “Context” section of the Five-Year Strategic Plan:
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UTK’s revitalized commitment to outreach and the fulfillment of its goal to become an institution fully
engaged with its community will require the leadership of UTK’s senior administration who must
demonstrate, specifically and continuously, their commitment to this goal by securing funding for the
outreach mission and those services which support the institution’s capacity to execute the outreach
mission (e.g., library services, information infrastructure, and projects and exchanges on the local,
national, and international levels).
Relationships must be approached in a spirit of partnership grounded in the sharing of information
and resources for the mutual benefit of both UTK and its constituents.
Objective 7.1.1: Provide leadership at all levels for the outreach effort by demonstrating a commitment
to UTK’s goal to become an engaged institution, committed to serving its constituencies through an
aggressive outreach program.
Objective 7.1.3: Provide access to UTK resources for all constituents, including the traditionally
disenfranchised and educationally and economically disadvantaged groups.
Objective 7.1.6: Seek opportunities to use emerging technologies to remove constraints of time and
distance in outreach activities.
Objective 7.4.1: Establish a system for aggressive external communication of UTK outreach resources.
Goal 7.5: Expand and increase partnerships, networks, and coalitions with government agencies,
elementary and secondary schools, industry, business, and other higher education institutions to
strengthen outreach and research programs.
Guidance Provided by the UTK “Information Technology Task Force”
A thoughtful analysis of the University’s status and requirements in the application of information
technology to educational and learning processes is documented in the “Information Technology Task
Force Report” (August 23, 2000). The following excerpts from this report relate specifically to the
Excellence in Outreach and Service Focus area:
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Partnership opportunities for consortial arrangements with business, industry, and other universities
in the virtual environment should be explored.
UT should continue to explore partnerships at all levels both internally and externally with other
institutions and private industries in efforts to expand program marketing.
A process should be established, and guidelines approved, for processing proposed collaborative
arrangements.
In collaborative arrangements involving the sharing of electronic course content or degree programs
with other institutions or private companies, the University should retain academic and administrative
control overall all offerings with credit awarded by this institution.
UT should explore opportunities for participating with core supporting institutions in the proposed
UT-Battelle Center for Advanced Studies.
The University should continue to explore opportunities with Tech 2020 and area companies to meet
the increasing demand of business for information technology professional training programs in
electronic format.
Focus Area Team
Operating under the overall direction of the University’s IT governance structure, the following
project team will manage the implementation of the Excellence in Outreach and Service Focus Area:
q
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Focus Area Manager: [To be named]
Functional Lead: [To be named]
Technical Lead: [To be named]
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The key responsibilities of the Focus Area Team are as follows:
1. Serve as the primary interface with the University’s IT governance structure for all IT matters
related to Excellence in Outreach and Service.
2. Serve as a focal point for coordinating with Excellence in Outreach and Service stakeholders.
3. Gather and organize Excellence in Outreach and Service requirements, suggestions, and priorities.
4. Ensure that an IT project plan exists for Excellence in Outreach and Service, including the
articulation of goals, milestones, and priorities for specified planning periods.
5. Oversee the progress of the project plan and help resolves issues affecting the project plan
implementation.
6. Refresh the project plan as necessary and communicate progress and major developments across
the University.
7. Coordinate with other Focus Area Teams as necessary.
Current Projects and Initiatives
The projects, initiatives, and/or proposals listed below are relevant to Excellence in Outreach and
Service and must be factored into the implementation strategy and project blueprint for this Focus
Area. (These are known initiatives; others might be identified.) Certain entries listed below might be
listed under other Focus Area descriptions as well. This is because the missions of the University
overlap. The University’s IT governance structure provides the coordinatio n and direction necessary
to ensure that all projects and initiatives are well coordinated.
q
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VolNet
Next Generation EdNet
New College
New Library System
Institute of Agriculture IT Outreach Initiatives
Stakeholders
The following individuals, organizations, or groups are key stakeholders in the Excellence in
Outreach and Service Focus Area. The University’s IT governance structure must ensure that the
requirements and interests of these stakeholders are taken into account as actions are taken in this
Focus Area.
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Faculty Senate Instruction with Technology Subcommittee,
Dean of Outreach and Continuing Education,
Vice President for the Institute of Agriculture,
Dean of Libraries,
Vice President for Public and Governmental Relations.
Benchmarking Guidance
A number of leading Universities are engaged in strategies that correlate well with all Focus Areas
that comprise the Road to IT Excellence. Benchmarking information relevant to the Excellence in
Outreach and Service Focus Area is presented in Attachment 1.
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5.4 Excellence in Information Content Management
Challenge
The challenge is to develop, implement, and evaluate the systems, processes, tools, and resources
necessary to support “Excellence in Information Content Management” across the University. This
will be achieved and sustained through the purposeful, collaborative efforts of the University’s IT
governance structure, the UT Office of Information Technology, and associated University
stakeholders. These efforts will be guided by a well coordinated, carefully phased, and resourceloaded set of roadmap projects that are appropriately coordinated with those of the other RITE Focus
Areas.
What is “Excellence in Information Content Management”?
Within the context of the UT Road to IT Excellence, “information content management” refers to the
use of modern information technologies to enable new and more effective ways of creating, storing,
and accessing information. This includes information in any quantity (including vast collections, such
as our library resources) and any type of content—from documents and images to Web pages and
audio and video files.
More specifically, this Focus Area involves a coordinated, disciplined approach to integrating the
processes, information (both structured and unstructured), and information technologies—particularly
Web-based access/delivery mechanisms (or “portals”)—necessary to improve University functions,
and to provide improved access to information to all University constituents, regardless of the
physical locatio n of the information or the constituent, or the format and structure of the information.
The Special Case of Workgroup Collaboration
Perhaps best thought of as a “Sub-Focus Area” within Excellence in Information Content
Management, “workgroup collaboration” means simply the ability to leverage information technology
to facilitate groups working together in a distributed environment, ideally accumulating, organizing,
refining, expanding, and sharing knowledge in the process.
This capability is extremely important for the University of Tennessee in all three of its core
missions: Education, Research, and Outreach.
Throughout industry, and especially within modern universities, a broad range of technologies is
being used to facilitate worker and workgroup communication, collaboration, coordination and
knowledge reuse within and among enterprises. Aside from clear research and academic implications,
these technologies serve as the foundation for ad hoc and formal process automation across
universities.
The Excellence in Information Content Focus Area team will assist University faculty, students, staff,
and IS managers with understanding and evaluating the changes occurring in the organizational,
architectural, process and market dimensions of technologies for enterprise and workgroup
collaboration. This includes emerging technologies and processes, such as knowledge management.
The team will help compare and contrast Intranets with traditional groupware and workgroup
systems, and develop tactical directions for effective selection. The end objective will be for the
University to invest in the architectures that will complement existing investments and provide the
necessary flexibility and longevity.
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Achieving Excellence
“Excellence” in information content management means sustaining an infrastructure of methods,
tools, support services, and architectural guidance that leads to consistently effective results in
creating and storing information and providing access to whoever needs it, whenever and however
they choose to access it, no matter where they are located. These are particularly vital requirements
for achieving the “Road to IT Excellence. No other Focus Area has such a pervasive, enabling impact
or touches as many other Focus Areas in so many important ways.
Most Focus Areas that comprise the IT Road to Excellence are predicated on the assumption that
complex data collections and workflows can be accessed and used by constituents across the
University (and beyond) in innovative and highly productive ways. The ability to integrate dynamic
content, complex business processes, and people everywhere enables seamless collaboration,
communication, and knowledge sharing on a scale required by a great public university.
Focus on “Portals”
Presently, much of the focus of “information content management” is on the concept of “portals.”
Portals integrate for particular constituents specific information relevant to their needs, including
transactional data, dynamic content, and complex business processes, in addition to more traditional
static content. Portal-based systems exhibit the features and functionality of both document
management and transactional systems. Whether the needed information flows from fixed or
transactional sources, or results form static or dynamic content, the management of data, information,
and content is central to any major university’s “Enterprise Web” and University-wide portal
strategies and initiatives.
The following excerpt from the Louisiana State University Benchmarking section describes their
view of a portal:
Personal Access Web Services (PAWS) is a Web-based environment that delivers 61,000 unique Intranet
portals to members of the LSU community. Each portal is customized to reflect the individual's relationship to
the university and dynamically adapts in real-time when this relationship changes. Services accessed through
the PAWS portal include enterprise, workgroup, and personal applications that meet the specific
administrative, academic, and research needs of each PAWS user. Some of the most widely used PAWS
applications include e-mail, registration, degree audit, grade inquiry, financial aid inquiry, library collections,
and course tools.
Moving Forward
Specific issues to be managed in the pursuit of Excellence in Information Content Management can
be divided into two broad areas: (1) defining priority applications, and (2) developing supporting
infrastructure.
Priority Applications
The challenge here is to work with the UT IT Governance structure to identify the priority University
functions or processes that need to be improved through information content management advances.
These can be major functional areas, such as Student Records Management, Libraries, or Human
Resources, or they can be smaller, quick-hit pilot areas, such as “portfolios” (see Penn State
benchmarking guidance below.)
Supporting Infrastructure
Actions are already way to develop and expand the supporting infrastructure that makes Excellence in
Information Content Management possible. These actions should receive priority support. Among the
specific areas that must be addressed are the following:
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Web and intranet content management
Library system
Data and content integration
Content and data categorization, dynamic assembly, and sharing
Document management
Document imaging
XSL and XML and content reuse
Selecting content management technology
Database integration
Content production, assembly, and validation
Indexing and searching
Dynamic publishing and page generation
Personalization
Site management
Content storage, access and retrieval
Integration of e-mail, with attention to “push” capability
Workflow
In addition to the above areas (i.e., (1) determining priority focus areas, and (2) developing
infrastructure), there is a third general information content management area the Focus Area team
might want to examine, an area which can help bridge the other two. This area is sometimes called
“workflow.” The principle behind workflow is simple: Any high-level task is easier to understand and
perform when it's broken down into a series of orderly, pre-defined steps. Similarly, information
content issues and requirements can be better understood through workflow analysis. Highly
simplified, workflow analysis is based on a few basic questions:
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What needs to be done?
Who needs to do it?
Who needs to approve it?
When must it be completed?
The answers to these questions provide the information needed to construct a workflow, which can be
as simple as a quick "to-do" list jotted down on a piece of paper or as comple x as a coordinated,
multi-step, automated process performed simultaneously by many people. A standard workflow
design methodology can help the University connect process improvements to an advanced
information content management infrastructure more quickly , more efficiently, and more effectively.
Expected Outcomes
Universities present a special information content management challenge because they are
information-intensive institutions and because they typically operate in highly decentralized ways. As
a result, they spend a great deal of time and money creating many different kinds of content that is
rarely shared throughout the university. Schools, departments, functional organizations, and programs
typically use separate systems for managing individual documents, interactive Web pages, or
multimedia experiences. As a result, universities can make an enormous leap in effectiveness and
efficiency through even modest gains in information content management effectiveness.
As the University of Tennessee achieves Excellence in Information Content Management, we well
see:
q Powerful new tools for learning, research, outreach, University operations, public relations,
and alliances and partnerships,
q New library system and associated capabilities and benefits,
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Improved decision support capability across the University,
Improved access to the information you need, when you need it, irrespective of location,
More streamlined and efficient administrative and operational processes across the
University,
Smoother, more effective Information flow across the University, with appropriate security
safeguards built in,
A more efficient, effective, and agile University, and
An enhanced public image for the University.
Guidance Provided by the UT Five-Year Strategic Plan
A basic premise of the Road to IT Excellence is that IT strategies and investments must be aligned
with and supportive of the strategies and priorities of the University. At the highest level, these are
defined in the University’s Five-Year Strategic Plan. The following is a summary of relevant
guidance taken from the Five-Year Strategic Plan:
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Goal 8.2: Promote the creative and effective utilization of the information infrastructure by
students, faculty, and staff.
Objective 8.2.1: Provide to students, faculty, and staff educational and training opportunities
for developing and using information technology.
Objective 8.2.2: Provide timely information access, utilizing network-based tools, such as the
World Wide Web and data warehousing technologies.
Objective 8.2.3: Facilitate technology-driven instruction utilizing Web delivery and
multimedia.
Goal 8.3: Provide technical leadership for the development of the information infrastructure
in the distributed campus environment.
Guidance Provided by the UT “Information Technology Task Force”
A thoughtful analysis of the University’s status and requirements in the application of information
technology to educational and learning processes is documented in the “Information Technology Task
Force Report” (August 23, 2000). The excerpts from this report that relate specifically to the
Excellence in Information Content Management Focus Area are:
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q
By placing campus-wide emphasis on information technology, and by reengineering
processes, changing policies to reflect the greater f lexibility required in a distributed
learning environment, decentralizing many functions for technology deployment, and
using emerging technologies more strategically, UT will be better positioned to respond
to future challenges in higher education.
As the University invests in information technology, issues on access and dissemination
of electronic materials must be addressed. These issues for providing information
resources for remote users include authentication, submission and dissemination,
archiviability and preservation of student research in electronic format, and copyright
and intellectual property rights.
The University needs to create the data marts and warehouses necessary to for more
complete and efficient access to data and reporting by the individual units.
Focus Area Team
Operating under the overall direction of the Road to IT Excellence Implementation Council, the
following project team will manage the implementation of this Focus Area 1, Excellence in Business
and Management Operations:
q
Focus Area Manager: [To be named]
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Functional Lead: [To be named]
Technical Lead: [To be named]
Current Projects and Initiatives
The following projects, initiatives, concepts, and/or proposals are relevant to this Focus Area and
must be factored into the implementation strategy and blueprint. (These are known initiatives; others
might be identified.)
q
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q
VolNet
New library system
Development and Implementation of a New Web Architecture
Circle Park On-Line
Benchmarking Guidance
A number of leading Universities are engaged in strategies that correlate well with all Focus Areas
that comprise the Road to IT Excellence. Benchmarking information relevant to the Excellence in
Business and Management Operations is presented below.
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5.5 Excellence in Student Support Environment
Challenge
The challenge is to develop, implement, evaluate, and continuously refine the systems, processes,
tools, and resources necessary to support “Excellence in Student Support Environment” across the
University of Tennessee. This challenge will be met through the collaborative efforts of the
University’s IT governance structure, the UT Office of Information Technology, and associated
stakeholders across the University. Results will be achieved through an “implementation roadmap”—
a well-coordinated and carefully phased portfolio of projects and investments that support Excellence
in Student Support Environment goals, while supporting, where appropriate, the goals of all other
RITE Focus Areas.
What is “Excellence in Student Support Environment”?
Within the context of the UT Road to IT Excellence, “Student Support Environment” refers to the
deployment of necessary information resources and technologies in ways that optimize the
educational, personal development, and life experiences of all University of Tennessee students.
Achieving Excellence
To achieve Excellence in Student Support Environment, we must rethink the overall student
experience within the context of what modern technologies can make possible. For example, time and
space constraints have often limited student programs in the past by:
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Complicating scheduling and participation in classes, programs, and events,
Limiting access to instructors, labs, and research resources, and
Limiting the provision of student support services (e.g., counseling and tutoring) to certain
time intervals, certain locations, or both.
Today, these constraints can be overcome. It is now possible to think in terms of a vibrant, 24-hour a
day, highly accessible student support environment, and one that opens up new models for providing
education and life experiences for University students. These new opportunities apply both to resident
students and distance students, even students located around the globe.
We must keep these new models in mind as our guiding vision. We must develop the IT strategies
and make the IT investments that move us steadily—in a disciplined, phased way—toward these
goals.
Moving Forward
Specific issues to be managed in the pursuit of an Excellence in Student Support Environment can be
divided into two broad areas: (1) defining priority applications, and (2) developing supporting
infrastructure.
Priority Applications
The challenge in defining priority applications is for the Focus Area Team to work with the
University’s IT Governance structure to identify priorities for advancing the University’s student
support environment.
For example, in the benchmark documentation for the “Excellence in Information Content
Management” Focus Area (see Attachment 1), web-based, multimedia -oriented “portfolios” are
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mentioned as a capability that many students are finding extremely useful in Universities across the
country. An on-line portfolio capability could be a simple, near-term application to enhance the UT
student support environment.
Larger applic ations might involve the ongoing upgrade and evolution of student residence centers
with the latest, IT-enabled educational models in mind. This would involve more than simple network
or Internet connections, which are common for most universities today (frequently referred to as
“ResNets”). The University of Tennessee will think more holistically and look toward integrated
student support solutions (possible based on information “portals”) that address specific curricula,
programs, student educational support services, distance learning, and other factors that must be
blended effectively to create the exceptional Student Support Environment of the future.
The current Student Information System is a collection of systems ranging anywhere from 3 to 30
years old. Steps are being taken to consolidate the majority of these systems to a common integrated
platform.
There are several support services and support models that should be considered as we move forward.
These include expanded HelpDesk hours, Residence Halls Support Program, expanded support
services in the Walk-in Consulting Center, and IT support and consulting in the public labs.
Supporting Infrastructure
Actions are already underway to develop and expand the supporting infrastructure that makes
Excellence in Student Support Environment possible (See “Current Projects and Initiatives” below).
These actions should continue to receive priority support.
Expected Outcomes
As we apply technology solutions to help achieve and sustain Excellence in Student Support
Environment capabilities, University of Tennessee students will be able to optimize the time and
effort they put into obtaining a quality education. Our students will be second to none in the
opportunities made available to:
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Access educational and research information,
Participate in collaborative educational and research programs (often involving national and
international participants),
Receive high quality academic and counseling support when and where needed,
Present themselves to the job market in the best possible light, and
Continue their educational association and involvement with the University throughout their
lives.
Guidance Provided by the UT Five-Year Strategic Plan
A basic premise of the Road to IT Excellence is that IT strategie s and investments must be aligned
with and supportive of the strategies and priorities of the University. At the highest level, these are
defined in the University’s Five-Year Strategic Plan. (A complete analysis of the mapping of FiveYear Strategic Plan objectives to the Focus Areas that comprise the Road to IT Excellence is
available from the Office of Information Technology.) The following relevant guidance is taken from
the “Context” section of the Five-Year Strategic Plan:
q Context Section: UTK is a community of scholars that aspires to create an environment in which every
member has the opportunity to achieve to his or her full potential. Students should expect a quality
education that empowers them as individuals by introducing new ideas, deepening understanding of
complex issues, and presenting opportunities to study and work with people from many different
backgrounds and cultures.
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q Objective 2.2.4: Encourage technological advances and initiatives that improve academic support
services.
q Objective 2.2.5: Expand opportunities for increased interaction between faculty and students in
teaching, research, and service learning.
q Objective 5.2.5: Create opportunities for faculty and academic units to learn about and adopt new
instructional modes and approaches that add to the value and excitement of student learning.
q Goal 8.1: Provide customer-driven IT support services and the infrastructure to empower students,
faculty, and staff independent of location, to fulfill the mission of the University.
q Goal 8.2: Promote the creative and effective utilization of the information infrastructure by students,
faculty, and staff.
q Goal 8.3: Provide technical leadership for the development of the information infrastructure in the
distributed campus environment.
Guidance Provided by the “Information Technology Task Force”
The following excerpts from the “Information Technology Task Force Report” (August 23, 2000)
relate specifically to the Excellence in Student Support Environment Focus Area:
q The Focus group on Computational and Information Sciences has documented the importance of fast
access to information and computing resources in a university setting and the importance it has for
strong educational programs and research.
q See page 4 of the above report for a detailed listing of “Infrastructure” recommendations.
q The plan to deliver student credit hours electronically must include a strategy for providing the same
academic services for those involved in technology-enhanced or online courses that are made
available to students, faculty, and staff on-campus.
q There must be a well-integrated approach to key functions such as admissions, advising, registration,
fee payment, financial aid, and other student auxiliaries. All academic support services should be
migrated to the Web. Student processes, from recruitment to becoming active alumna, should be
seamless. The University needs to integrate these student transactions as a single online portal. It is
imperative that this virtual 24 by 7 student services portal be designed so all students can conduct
non-academic business from on or off campus. Adequate computing power, connectivity, disk space
and personnel to support this migration and maintenance must be provided.
See both page 5 and Appendix 1 of the above report for a more detailed list of student service and
support recommendations and issues.
Focus Area Team
Operating under the overall direction of the University’s IT governance structure, the following
project team will manage the implementation of the Excellence in Student Support Environment
Focus Area:
q
q
q
Focus Area Manager: [To be named]
Functional Lead: [To be named]
Technical Lead: [To be named]
The key responsibilities of the Focus Area Team are as follows:
1. Serve as the primary interface with the University’s IT governance structure for all IT matters
related to Excellence in Student Support Environment.
2. Serve as a focal point for coordinating with Excellence in Student Support Environment
stakeholders.
3. Gather and organize Excellence in Student Support Environment requirements, suggestions, and
priorities.
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4. Ensure that an IT project plan exists for Excellence in Student Support Environment, including the
articulation of goals, milestones, and priorities for specified planning periods.
5. Oversee the progress of the project plan and help resolves issues affecting the project plan
implementation.
6. Refresh the project plan as necessary and communicate progress and major developments across
the University.
7. Coordinate with other Focus Area Teams as necessary.
Current Projects and Initiatives
The projects, initiatives, and/or proposals listed below are relevant to Excellence in Student Support
Environment and must be factored into the implementation strategy and project blueprint for this
Focus Area. (These are known initiatives; others might be identified.) Certain entries listed below
might be listed under other Focus Area descriptions as well. This is because the missions of the
University overlap. The University’s IT governance structure provides the coordination and direction
necessary to ensure that all projects and initiatives are well coordinated.
q Upgrade of Knoxville area network - VolNet
q Development and implementation of a new Web architecture
q Development and Implementation of a New Web Architecture
q Circle Park On-Line
- On-line/Phone Registration
- On-line Address Information
- On-line Financial Aid Application/Acceptance
- On-Line Fee Payment
- On-line Confirmation To Attend
- On-line Admission Application/Processing
- On-line Grade Check
q CourseInfo Enterprise
q Central Services Accounting
- One Stop Fee Payment
- Direct Deposit of Excess Financial Aid
q New Student Training Lab
q IT Training Classes
q Over 500 CBT Courses available to Students
q Statistical Consulting Services
q Telephone Support for Problem Resolution
q OIT Walk-In Consulting Center
q Provide Student Lab Services with 480 public computers located in 25 sites
q Network Support for Residence Hall Students
q Network Card Installation and System Check-out for New Residence Hall Students
q Wireless Networking Support for Students
Stakeholders
The following individuals, organizations, or groups are key stakeholders in the Excellence in Student
Support Environment Focus Area. The University’s IT governance structure must ensure that the
requirements and interests of these stakeholders are taken into account as actions are taken in this
Focus Area.
q Students—Undergraduate and Graduate
q OIT
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q
q
q
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- Computing System Services
- IT Infrastructure
- Administrative Applications and Systems Development
- Customer technology Support
- Educational Technology/Innovative Technology
Student Information Systems Task Force
University Libraries
University Bursar
Dean of Admission and Records
Benchmarking Guidance
A number of leading Universities are engaged in strategies that correlate well with all Focus Areas
that comprise the Road to IT Excellence. Benchmarking information that is relevant to the Excellence
in Student Support Environment Focus Area is presented in Attachment 1.
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5.6 Excellence in Business and
Management Operations
Challenge
The challenge is to develop, implement, evaluate, and continuously refine the systems, processes,
tools, and resources necessary to support “Excellence in Business and Management Operations”
across the University of Tennessee (including “eBusiness). This challenge will be met through the
collaborative efforts of the University’s IT governance structure, the UT Office of Information
Technology, and associated stakeholders across the University. Results will be achieved through an
“implementation roadmap”—a well-coor dinated and carefully phased portfolio of projects and
investments that support Excellence in Business and Management Operations goals, while supporting,
where appropriate, the goals of all other RITE Focus Areas.
Key Elements
The key elements of Excellence in Business and Management Operations include, but are not
necessarily limited to, the following:
q The processes and supporting technologies that facilitate the effective execution of business
and management functions across the University. When business or management processes
are integrated and made more easily accessible trough the use of technology, they are often
described as being supportive of “eBusiness.”
q At the highest level, the business and management functions that could fall into this focus
area include:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Institutional planning and decision analysis
Finance and budget management
Student records management
Human resources management
Materials and procurement management
Alumni and development activity management
Facilities programming, utilization, and management
Safety, security, and University police management
Auxiliary process management
Library resources management
Legal services
Privacy and intellectual property management
Interfacing and integrating among all the above areas
Expected Outcomes
As we achieve and sustain Excellence in Business and Management, the University’s administrative,
management, and operational processes will reflect industry “best practices” and will be appropriately
integrated, effective, streamlined, efficient, and flexible enough to accommodate inevitable change.
Members of the University community who are responsible for, affected by, or interested in these
processes will have convenient access to information that is relevant, timely, and accurate.
Information flows across the University will be smooth and effective, with appropriate security
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safeguards built in. As a result, the University will operate as a more efficient, effective, and agile
institution.
In the benchmarking guidance provided in Attachment 1, the University of Virginia has defined a
number of benefits associated with a major initiative to modernize its business and management
systems. These benefits, which will also accrue to the University of Tennessee, include:
q
q
q
q
q
q
q
q
q
q
q
q
q
q
Greater access to the data contained within the system through the use of better reporting
tools
Greater access to the system’s functionality through the Internet
A better trained workforce
Easier and faster response to changes in state and federal regulations
Improved integration among systems
Simpler policies and procedures
Fewer steps from start to finish
Streamlined roles and responsibilities for all personnel
Improved reliability and dependability of service
Improved project coordination between functional and technical areas
An opportunity for fewer approvals per transaction
Less pre-audit and more post-audit of transactions
Minimized submission of inaccurate transactions
Economic and intangible benefits
The third bullet listed above (better trained workforce) is especially important to the University
because of the commitment, as outlined in the Five-Year Strategic Plan, to provide an operating
environment that encourages University employees to develop to their full potential and supports
them in doing so.
Guidance Provided by the UT Five-Year Strategic Plan
A basic premise of the Road to IT Excellence is that IT strategies and investments must be aligned
with and supportive of the strategies and priorities of the University. At the highest level, these are
defined in the University’s Five-Year Strategic Plan. The following is a summary of relevant
guidance taken from the Five-Year Strategic Plan:
q
q
q
q
q
q
q
q
Provide resources and programs that help meet the needs of all members of the UT community,
such as flexible work schedules, flexible benefits packages, and emergency leaves of absence.
Raise awareness of environmental safety issues.
Create and maintain a safe and healthy work environment through preventive programs, on-site
inspections, and departmental consultation.
Develop models for change so that steps and procedures are clear to the campus community.
Encourage technological advances and initiatives that improve academic and support services.
Explore a compensation plan that includes merit-based pay and is market-driven.
Use data collected in exit interviews and other sources to assist the decision making process for
decreasing staff turnover rate.
Institute a documented performance review system that is followed up with each employee.
Guidance Provided by the UT “Information Technology Task Force”
The following excerpt from the “Information Technology Task Force Report” (August 23, 2000)
relates specifically to the Excellence in Business and Management Focus Area:
A plan must be formulated to streamline academic support process and to migrate all student support
services or applications to the Web to allow the full range of business transactions for students online
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Focus Area Team
Operating under the overall direction of the University’s IT governance structure, the following
project team will manage the implementation of the Excellence in Business and Management
Operations Focus Area:
q
q
q
Focus Area Manager: [To be named]
Functional Lead: [To be named]
Technical Lead: [To be named]
The key responsibilities of the Focus Area Team are as follows:
1. Serve as the primary interface with the University’s IT governance structure for all IT matters
related to Excellence in Business and Management Operations Focus Area.
2. Serve as a focal point for coordinating with Excellence in Academics and Instruction stakeholders.
3. Gather and organize Excellence in Business and Management Operations requirements,
suggestions, and priorities.
4. Ensure that an IT project plan exists for Excellence in Business and Management Operations,
including the articulation of goals, milestones, and priorities for specified planning periods.
5. Oversee the progress of the project plan and help resolves issues affecting the project plan
implementation.
6. Refresh the project plan as necessary and communicate progress and major developments across
the University.
7. Coordinate with other Focus Area Teams as necessary.
Current Projects and Initiatives
The projects, initiatives, and/or proposals listed below are relevant to Excellence in Business and
Management Operations and must be factored into the implementation strategy and project blueprint
for this Focus Area. (These are known initiatives; others might be identified.) Certain entries listed
below might be listed under other Focus Area descriptions as well. This is because the missions of the
University overlap. The University’s IT governance structure provides the coordination and direction
necessary to ensure that all projects and initiatives are well coordinated.
q
q
q
q
q
q
q
q
q
q
q
q
q
VolNet
Future library
IRIS (SAP)
Blackboard
Business Warehouse
ANDI (BSR)
SIS Improvement Project
NOMAD (wireless network)
Consolidated Server Initiative
E-mail/Calendaring Consolidation
Network/Server Security Review
E-commerce initiatives
Web Portal Project
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Key Stakeholders
The followin g individuals, organizations, or groups are key stakeholders in the Excellence in
Business and Management Operations Focus Area. The University’s IT governance structure must
ensure that the requirements and interests of these stakeholders are taken into account as actions are
taken in this Focus Area.
q
q
q
q
Vice-Presidents and the Provost
IT Administrative Advisory Council
University administrative offices
IRIS project
Benchmarking Guidance
A number of leading Universities are engaged in strategies that correla te well with all Focus Areas
that comprise the Road to IT Excellence. Benchmarking information relevant to the Excellence in
Business and Management Operations is presented below.
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5.7 Excellence in IT Management and Operations
Challenge
The challenge is to develop, implement, and continuously refine the structures, processes, methods,
and practices necessary to sustain “Excellence in IT Management and Operations” across the
University of Tennessee. This challenge will be met through the collaborative efforts of the
University’s IT governance structure, the UT Office of Information Technology, and associated
stakeholders across the University.
Key Elements
Excellence in IT Management and Operations includes excellence in all of the functions necessary to
provide quality information technology support and services across the University of Tennessee.
Examples of these functions include:
q
q
q
q
q
q
q
q
q
q
q
q
q
q
q
q
q
q
q
q
q
q
IT strategic and tactical planning
Enterprise architecture planning / standards for University-wide IT resources
IT infrastructure management (servers, networks, desktops, mainframes, etc.)
Application systems development and maintenance
Commercial software acquisition, implementation, integration, and support
Intranet and web services and support
Data management / data warehousing / data architecture
IT procurement agreements and strategies
IT cost allocation and recovery strategies
Helpdesk services
IT education and training
Support for IT laboratories / IT-enabled classrooms
IT back-up, disaster recovery, business continuity planning
IT and information security
IT support for process redesign and innovation initiatives across the University
IT consulting support for distributed / decentralized IT operations
Centrally coordinated technology assessment and assimilatio n for the University’s generaluse IT infrastructure
Marketing and communications to customers— University of Tennessee, Knoxville intracampus
Network support for students
Market-driven employment and retention strategies
Accurate IT asset and license tracking
Accurate IT accounting and budgeting to aid in making operating decisions
Relationship to IT Governance
In a university environment, the goal of excellence in IT management and operations is made more
complex by the fact that there are typically “multiple tiers” of IT responsibility and leadership.
In most universities, including UT, a senior university official (e.g., a CIO or VP of Information
Technologies) is typically responsible for campus-wide IT resources and services, including IT
strategic planning for the university. But in a distributed university environment, there will always be
academic units, research programs, and other university entities that have considerable autonomy in
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managing their own IT resources. Ideally, all of these stakeholders work closely to optimize the
overall benefits to the university. (This is sometimes called a “Federated” approach, and is necessary
for the effective management of IT resources within a large university.)
Therefore, these multiple layers of involvement and responsibility in IT management activities add a
complex dimension to sustaining Excellence in IT Management and Operations for the University of
Tennessee. The challenge is how to optimize the critical need to have central services, infrastructure,
policies, architectures, and standards where they are needed, yet foster and support local autonomy
and innovation when and where needed. This “balancing” dimension—or devising ways to optimize
these sometimes opposing forces—is addressed in Section 4.
Expected Outcomes
Information technology has become essential to most, if not all, of the major operating strategies and
objectives of the University Tennessee. In addition, information technology has become so integral to
the day-to-day operating processes of the University, the distinctions between processes and enabling
or supporting technologies are often difficult to make. Therefore, as we achieve and sustain
Excellence in IT operations and Management, we will derive both direct and indirect positive
outcomes.
The direct positive outcomes will include:
q
q
q
q
q
q
q
Optimal leverage and efficiency from funds invested in IT resources and services
Highly responsive and effective central IT support functions
Highly responsive and effective central IT infrastructure
Excellent relationships among all IT groups, both centralized and decentralized, and their
constituents
Improved morale, stability, retention, and career development opportunities for IT personnel
IT strategic and tactical plans that are appropriately focused, flexible, effective, continuously
evolving, and broadly supported
IT architectural guidance that is relevant, helpful, easily understood, and “friendly” in terms
of compliance requirements (e.g., favorable, architecturally-compliant purchase order
agreements save constituents time and money, while providing quality IT products and
services)
The indirect positive outcomes will include:
q
q
q
q
Improved results from any University process, program, or activity that depends upon IT for
its success
A university community that is not only pleased with the University’s IT resources, services,
and infrastructure, but views the University’s IT infrastructure as services as a positive
discriminator for the University
Improved success for the University in performing its core missions
Enhanced public image of the University
Guidance Provided by the UT Five-Year Strategic Plan
A basic premise of the Road to IT Excellence is that IT strategies and investments must be aligned
with and supportive of the strategies and priorities of the University. At the highest level, these are
defined in the University’s Five-Year Strategic Plan. The following is a summary of relevant
guidance taken from the Five-Year Strategic Plan:
q
Goal 8.1: Provide customer-driven support services and the infrastructure to empower students,
faculty, and staff, independent of location, to fulfill the mission of the University.
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q
q
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Goal 8.2: Promote the creative and effective utilization of the information infrastructure by
students, faculty, and staff.
Goal 8.3: Provide technical leadership for the development of the information infrastructure in
the distributed campus environment.
Goal 8.4: Develop relationships and provide leadership at the local, state, and national level to
enhance the information infrastructure that supports students, faculty, and staff.
Guidance Provided by the University of Tennessee, Knoxville “Information Technology
Task Force”
A thoughtful analysis of the University’s status and requirements in the application of information
technology to educational and learning processes is documented in the “Information Technology Task
Force Report” (August 23, 2000).
This entire report should be viewed as critical supporting/guidance material for the Excellence in
IT Management and Operations Focus Area.
Focus Area Team
Operating under the overall direction of the University’s IT governance structure, the following
project team will manage the implementation of the Excellence in IT Management and Operations
Focus Area:
q
q
q
Focus Area Manager: [To be named]
Functional Lead: [To be named]
Technical Lead: [To be named]
The key responsibilities of the Focus Area Team are as follows:
1. Serve as the primary interface with the University’s IT governance structure for all IT matters
related to Excellence in IT Management and Operations.
2. Serve as a focal point for coordinating with Excellence in IT Management and Operations
stakeholders.
3. Gather and organize Excellence in IT Management and Operations methods, suggestions, and
priorities.
4. Ensure that an IT project plan exists for Excellence in IT Management and Operations, including
the articulation of goals, milestones, and priorities for specified planning periods.
5. Oversee the progress of the project plan and help resolves issues affecting the project plan
implementation.
6. Refresh the project plan as necessary and communicate progress and major developments across
the University.
7. Coordinate with other Focus Area Teams as necessary.
Current Projects and Initiatives
The actions and initia tives listed below are relevant to Excellence in IT Management and Operations
and must be factored into the implementation strategy for this Focus Area. (These are known
initiatives; others might be identified.) Certain entries listed below might be listed under other Focus
Area descriptions as well. This is because the missions of the University overlap. The University’s IT
governance structure provides the coordination and direction necessary to ensure that all projects and
initiatives are well coordinated.
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q
q
q
q
q
q
q
q
q
q
q
q
q
q
RITE
Road to IT Excellence
Revised IT Governance framework
VolNet Knoxville area Network
New library system and associated capabilities and benefits
Nomad Wireless Initiative
Student Information System Upgrade (also supports Excellence in Student Support
Environment)
DARS Upgrade (also supports Excellence in Student Support Environment)
IRIS (also supports Excellence in University Business and Management Operations)
ANDI (also supports Excellence in University Business and Management Operations and
Excellence in Outreach and Service)
Consolidated server initiative
Cluster computing and storage project
IRIS financial and HR systems project
Business information warehouse project
HP Openview monitoring project
Office product consolidation project
Key Stakeholders
The following individuals, organizations, or groups are key stakeholders in the Excellence in IT
Management and Operations Focus Area. The University’s IT governance structure must ensure that
the requirements and interests of these stakeholders are taken into account as actions are taken in this
Focus Area.
q OIT
o Educational Technology
o Customer Technology Support
o IT Infrastructure
o IT Engineering
o Computing Systems
q Academic Affairs, Student Affairs
q Research Council
q Business and Finance
q Library System
Benchmarking Guidance
A number of leading Universities are engaged in strategies that correlate well with all Focus Areas
that comprise the Road to IT Excellence. Benchmarking information relevant to the Excellence in
Academics and Instruction Focus Area is presented in Attachment 1.
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5.8 Excellence in IT Human Resources Management
Challenge
The challenge is to develop, implement, and continuously refine the structures, processes, methods,
and practices necessary to sustain “Excellence in IT Human Resources Management” across the
University of Tennessee. This challenge will be met through the collaborative efforts of the
University’s IT governance structure, the UT Office of Information Technology, the University’s
Human Resources organizations, and associated stakeholders across the University.
Key Elements
Excellence in IT Human Resources Management includes excellence in all elements of human
resources management necessary to attract, maintain, challenge, and motivate an effective and stable
IT workforce across the University of Tennessee. Examples of key elements include:
q
q
q
q
q
q
q
Recruitment
Compensation
Retention
Training and development
Career paths and career planning
Staffing levels and organization
Culture and operating environment
Expected Outcomes
Information technology has become essential to most, if not all, of the major operating strategies and
objectives of the University Tennessee. In addition, information technology has become so integral to
the day-to-day operating processes of the University distinctions between processes and their
enabling or supporting technologies have become blurred.
Therefore, IT personnel skilled in developing and supporting information system solutions, and the IT
infrastructure upon which these solutions operate, play a distinctive new role in today’s universities.
Collectively, their contributions are now more strategic than in prior eras (where IT was more of a
back-office function dedicated to achieving improved operating efficiencies). In addition, the
corporate knowledge possessed by many IT personnel includes process, functional, and domain
expertise, in addition to IT expertise.
As true technical partners in achieving the vision and goals of the University, our IT personnel must
be highly skilled technically, effective in their new partnership roles, and motivated to spend a
substantial portion of their careers with the University. Heavy turnover and lack of motivation among
IT personnel not only compromises progress in achieving the vision and goals implicit in the Road to
IT Excellence, this condition poses an unacceptable risk for the University because of critical day-today support continuity issues
The positive outcomes from progress in this Focus Area will include:
q
q
q
Ability to attract and retain highly qua lified IT professionals
A more skilled, stable, motivated, and effective IT work force.
Highly responsive and effective central IT support functions
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q
q
q
q
q
q
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Highly responsive and effective central IT infrastructure
Excellent relationships among all IT groups, both centralized and decentralized, and their
constituents
Improved morale, stability, retention, and career development opportunities for IT personnel
Improved performance by any University process, program, or activity that depends upon IT
for its success
A university community that is not only pleased with the University’s IT resources, services,
and infrastructure, but views the University’s IT infrastructure as services as a positive
discriminator for the University
Improved success for the University in performing its core missions
Enhanced public image of the University
Guidance Provided by the UT Five-Year Strategic Plan
A basic premise of the Road to IT Excellence is that IT strategies and investments must be aligned
with and supportive of the strategies and priorities of the University. At the highest level, these are
defined in the University’s Five-Year Strategic Plan:
q
q
q
q
Goal 8.1: Provide customer-driven support services and the infrastructure to empower students,
faculty, and staff, independent of location, to fulfill the mission of the University.
Goal 8.2: Promote the creative and effective utilization of the information infrastructure by students,
faculty, and staff.
Goal 8.3: Provide technical leadership for the development of the information infrastructure in the
distributed campus environment.
Goal 8.4: Develop relationships and provide leadership at the local, state, and national level to
enhance the information infrastructure that supports students, faculty, and staff.
Guidance Provided by the University of Tennessee, Knoxville “Information Technology
Task Force”
A thoughtful analysis of the University’s status and requirements in the application of information
technology to educational and learning processes is documented in the “Information Technology Task
Force Report” (August 23, 2000).
This report outlines an integrated set of requirements and a vision for the University that is heavily dependent
on a world-class information infrastructure and related support services. The realization of this vision, or any
similar vision, in today’s information age presupposes the existence of an IT support staff that can help make it
happen. An IT support staff that faces constant turnover and morale problems, does not provide adequate
training and development opportunities, and is unable retain a sound nucleus of highly qualified personnel, can
not sustain the level of support these visions demand.
Focus Area Team
Operating under the overall direction of the University’s IT governance structure, the following
project team will manage the implementation of the Excellence in IT Human Resources Management
Focus Area:
q
q
q
Focus Area Manager: [To be named]
Functional (Human Resources) Lead: [To be named]
Technical Lead: [To be named]
The key responsibilities of the Focus Area Team are as follows:
1. Serve as the primary interface with the University’s IT governance structure for all IT matters
related to Excellence in IT Human Resources Management
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2. Serve as a focal point for coordinating with Excellence in IT Human Resources Management
stakeholders.
3. Gather and organize issues, approaches, and strategies supporting Excellence in IT Human
Resources Management.
4. Ensure that an IT project plan exists for Excellence in IT Human Resources Management,
including the articulation of goals, milestones, and priorities for specified planning periods.
5. Oversee the progress of the project plan and help resolves issues affecting the project plan
implementation.
6. Refresh the project plan as necessary and communicate progress and major developments across
the University.
7. Coordinate with other Focus Area Teams as necessary.
Current Projects and Initiatives
The actions and initiatives listed below are relevant to Excellence in IT Human Resources
Management and must be factored into the implementation strategy for this Focus Area. (These are
known initiatives; others might be identified.)
q
q
q
q
Road to IT Excellence
Revised IT Governance framework
IT Salary Survey
IT Titling Project
Key Stakeholders
The following individuals, organizations, or groups are key stakeholders in the Excellence in IT in IT
Human Resources Management Focus Area.
• OIT
o Innovative Technology Center
o Customer Technology Support
o IT Infrastructure
o IT Engineering
o Computing Systems
• Human Resources
Benchmarking Guidance
A number of leading Universities are engaged in strategies that correlate well with all Focus Areas
that comprise the Road to IT Excellence. Benchmarking information relevant to the Excellence in IT
Human resources Management Focus Area is presented in Attachment 1.
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Part 6: Implementation Roadmap Summary
6.1 Introduction
The part of the plan provides summaries of the projects, actions, and initiatives planned or underway
that will lead to progress in each of the eight Focus Areas that comprise the Road to IT Excellence.
Although the roadmap summaries are broken out by Focus Area, many current or planned initiatives
might relate to or support multiple focus areas. The Focus Area teams are aware of these crosscutting
relationships and maintain necessary levels of coordination.
6.2 Roadmap Summaries
Focus Area 1: Excellence in Academics and Instruction
Project or
Initiative
Description
Status and
Milestones
Online@UT
(Blackboard Level 3
Implementation)
Online@UT provides faculty, staff, and students with a
single point of entry, a single user ID and password to
access UT courses, organizations, campus-based
resources and services with an online presence.
Initiated 1998 with CourseInfo
v.1; Level 3 launched Jan’02;
upgrade to v6 planned Jan’03.
Status: ongoing
http://online.utk.edu
Julie Little
ITC Courses and
Workshops
A specific curriculum of courses offered without
charge to UT faculty, graduate students, and staff
directly involved in teaching.
Julie Little
Wireless Instructional
Initiatives
Leveraging the university’s new wireless network, this
project strives to establish innovative teaching
practices and explore research possibilities related to
implementing wireless computing in a classroom
setting.
Faculty First
This grant program provides faculty with the collective
experience, expertise, and assistance of the ITC staff to
reshape a course to include a technological component
This grant program is for departments and focused on
the creation of modular instruction that is
interdisciplinary and delivered on the Web.
Initiated Spring 1997 courses
offered every Spring, Summer
and Fall.
Status: ongoing
http://itc.utk.edu/courses
Initiated in 2002 through
WISH’02 (Wireless
Instructional Strategies for the
Humanities); WISE’03 (for
Engineering and Biology).
Status: CFP for FY04
recipients issued Feb 03.
http://itc.utk.edu/grants/
Initiated in 2000. Status: CFP
for FY03 issued Jan’03.
http://itc.utk.edu/grants/
Initiated in 2000. Status: CFP
for FY03 issued July 02.
http://itc.utk.edu/grants/
Initiated 2001. Status: CFP for
FY03 issued September 2002.
http://edtech.tennessee.edu
Julie Little
PDA Symposium held 4/16/02.
Status: Looking for grant
and/or internal funding to
initiate pilot project.
http://itc.utk.edu/pda
Grant awarded Fall 1999;
project initiated 2000; to be
completed Dec. 02.
http://itc.utk.edu/grants/pew
Julie Little
Teaching with
Technology
Project SET (Sharing
Educational
Technology)
PDAs in Education
Project and Symposium
PEW Grant in Course
Redesign
This statewide initiative sponsored by the Educational
Technology Collaborative (ETC) is a grant program
and model for collaboration and professional
community building among University of Tennessee IT
staff for faculty development.
The focus of this project is to develop a model of
implementation for classroom and clinical uses of
Personal Digital Assistants.
The focus of the PEW grant project is to redesign a
course with the goals to increase student enrollment by
one third while significantly decreasing labor cost;
reduce the grading time of the teachers; and ascertain
the effectiveness of on-line instruction, as opposed to
in-class instruction.
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Julie Little
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Focus Area 1: Excellence in Academics and Instruction
Project or
Initiative
Description
Status and
Milestones
Departmental
Curricular Redesign
Utilizing the models of teaching with technology
developed through the PEW Grant in Course Redesign
project, this new grant program works with
departmental faculty to redesign an undergraduate,
general education course using appropriate and
effective instructional technologies.
Funded for FY03 with course
development FY02; delivery
Spring 03; assessment Summer
03.
Julie Little
Consulting and Contract
Services (for free and
for fee)
Consult ing services include the development of
instructional technology applications, design and
evaluation of training curricula and programs, advice
on the inclusion of instructional technology
components in grant applications, and advice on the
design and management of smart classrooms and
teaching/training laboratories. Contract services are
available to users who have more intensive or
customized needs.
The showcase enables members of the UT community
to exchange ideas and view model examples of
technology use at its best, while recognizing excellence
in using technology to support teaching and learning at
the University of Tennessee.
Initiated Fall 1996. Status:
Ongoing.
http://itc.utk.edu/contract/
Julie Little
Initiated in 2000; Offered in
conjunction with OIT
Computer Fair.
Status: Showcase 02 scheduled
for 9/23/02
http://itc.utk.edu/showcase/
Julie Little
The focus of this colloquy is on the effect of
educational technology on teaching, learning and
research. Based on readings and case studies, the group
will debate issues related to intellectual property,
promotion and tenure, shift in job responsibilities, the
commercialization of the academy, the transformation
of the traditional classroom experience, student
expectations, etc.
A training program for faculty, in collaboration with IT
Engineering Services, focused on using the
technology -enhanced learning environment available
for instructional purposes at the University of
Tennessee.
A parallel support program of courses and consultation
for the university’s graduate teaching
associates/assistants facilitated by ITC’s graduate
assistants.
Biannual survey of all UT full-time, regular faculty to
determine their needs regarding what instructional
technologies they are using and ways they need support
with using instructional technologies.
Every month, ITC spotlights a faculty member who is
using technology in an innovative way to enhance
student learning.
Initiated F’01; extended
Spr’02. Status: Ongoing,
reconvene F’02
http://itc.utk.edu/colloquy/
Julie Little
Initiated 1999. Status:
Ongoing.
http://itc.utk.edu/resources/sma
rtclassrooms/
Julie Little
Initiated 1999. Incorporating a
pilot grant project for FY03.
Status: Ongoing
http://itc.utk.edu/acad/gta.shtml
Initiated 1999. Conducted
every two years.
Status:
Developing Spr’03 survey.
Julie Little
Initiated 1998. Offered bimonthly. Status: Ongoing
http://itc.utk.edu/showcase/spot
light/
Julie Little
Best Practices
Showcase
Educational
Technology Colloquy
Smart Classroom
Training
GTA@ITC Mentoring
Program
Faculty Statewide IT
Survey
Faculty Spotlight
Contact
Julie Little
Focus Area 2: Excellence in Research
Project or
Initiative
Description
Status and
Milestones
High Performance
Computing Initiative at
ORNL
Through the UT-Battelle partnership which manages
ORNL, UT faculty have access to major computational
resources. The Joint Institute for Computational
Science serves as the vehicle for utilization of available
cycles.
Agreement for 20% of the
machine time reached in 2001.
Status: ongoing
http://www.jics.cs.utk.edu/
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Dwayne McCay
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Focus Area 2: Excellence in Research
Project or
Initiative
Description
Status and
Milestones
The Coeus data system, developed by MIT, is used to
manage proposals and awards for all UT units and is
used in generation of reports regarding research at UT.
Data from the legacy SP system that was replaced is
planned for inclusion in the business warehouse.
A central database is used for information regarding
research activities that require oversight due to the use
of human subjects, animals, radioactive materials, or
specified biohazards.
System implemented in 2000.
Currently running version 4.6.
Coeus data is planned for
inclusion in the business
warehouse.
Status: See
http://research.utk.edu/ora/secti
ons/compliances/
Joel Muehlhauser
Office of Research web
site
Information for researchers, including most forms, is
available on the Office of Research and Controller’s
web sites. A development project is underway to
upgrade the Office of Research site to make it
searchable and more easily maintainable through use of
web portal technology.
Bill Dockery
Community of Science
The University of Tennessee joined the Community of
Science in 2000. This service provides information on
grant opportunities through email alerts and custom
desktops for individual faculty.
A cluster will be added to the Scalable Infrastructure
Research Grid for general user access to computational
resources. The node will include 32 computational
nodes in a SUN 280R with 1 GB memory, and a
SUN280R file server with 4 GB memory and 1 TB of
usable disk space.
- Work with researchers to determine needs for data
storage that may be needed to fulfill the requirements
of a research grant or as a means of collecting data for
distribution to the world.
- Develop and maintain a flexible data storage
architecture that can be used for all kinds of data
storage needs.
- Provide cost effective software that can be used to
optimally manage data as required by the research
community.
- Provide the technical expertise needed to define,
develop, and maintain databases.
- Implement web interface to microarray data (Stanford
Microarray database) for data mining and analysis.
Current sites with information
are
http://research.utk.edu/ora/nd
http://admin.tennessee.edu/uwa
/to/co/. The developmental site
should be in testing in the
summer of 2002.
Status: ongoing
http://www.oars.utk.edu/cos/ut
cosservices/
Hardware delivery is expected
in Summer 2002, with user
access scheduled for October
2002.
Mike McNeil
Under way
Brice Bible
Coeus
Compliance data
Scalable Infrastructure
Research Grid Project
(SinRG)
Provide database
resources to support the
research efforts of The
University.
Contact
Brenda Lawson
Bill Dockery
Focus Area 3: Excellence in Outreach and Service
Project or
Initiative
Description
Provide interactive
video services to faculty
for teaching and
research interactions
with other colleges,
businesses, and
institutions across the
U.S. and abroad.
- Maintain Engineering Services as the “one-stop shop”
for the University of Tennessee for local and remote
video connectivity on all ISDN (phone line) and IP
(internet) based networks.
- Support a robust H.320 and H.323 interactive video
network among the University of Tennessee campuses
and affiliated institutions.
- Insure high quality services through appropriate
technical personnel to support and certify connectivity
to remote locations across the US and abroad. This will
require maintaining a fair and effective cost recovery
model.
Technology Supporting Excellence in Education
Status and
Milestones
Under way
Contact
Brice Bible
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Focus Area 3: Excellence in Outreach and Service
Project or
Initiative
Description
Utilize the new
University web
architecture to support
the Dean of Admissions
in enhanced
connectivity to P -12
Tennessee schools.
Create a personalized “portal” for K-12 guidance
counselors to monitor local student enrollment and
status at The University. These portals will be used to
“push” pertinent University admissions, academic, and
community information out to the primary and
secondary institutions across Tennessee.
Status and
Milestones
Under way
Contact
Brice Bible
Focus Area 4: Excellence in Information Content Management
Project or
Initiative
Description
Status and
Milestones
Contact
Maintain robust video
services for interactive
and retrievable (webbased) delivery of
course content, research
interactions, and
collaborations within
the University of
Tennessee system and
to organizations across
the US and abroad.
- Maintain the EDNET interactive video network
connecting all UT campuses and affiliates.
- Insure efficient and robust support through
maintaining adequate technical personnel and
equipment for video operations.
Under way
Brice Bible
Implement and maintain
a robust dynamic web
presence for the
University of Tennessee
for efficient and
effective near real-time
electronic
communications to all
internal and external
constituents.
Create a database-driven web infrastructure for an
efficient and targeted web presence for The University
of Tennessee.
- Work with Public Relations and the University
Community to create standards and templates to insure
effective presentation of The University of Tennessee
to via electronic means.
- Provide real time accessibility to all University
information via the web and as appropriate for each
constituent (internal and external).
Under way
Brice Bible
Focus Area 5: Excellence in Student Support Environment
Project or
Initiative
Description
Status and
Milestones
Contact
Technology Training
Classes
Face-to-face technology training for graduate and
undergraduate students. Over 33 different course titles
offered.
Ongoing.
Stan Pinkleton
New Technology
Training Facility
IT HelpDesk
New 15 seat Technology Training Lab located in
Presidential Court.
IT support via telephone and email to graduate and
undergraduate students
Work performed on students’ personally owned
computers for a variety of support issues such as
Enhanced Remote Access, Wireless Networking, and
Ethernet.
OIT offers 500 Computer Based Training Courses on
Information Technology subjects. These courses are
offered to both graduate and undergraduate students.
These courses are available for download or can be
taken on-line from a centrally managed CBT server.
Opening Date targeted for
October.
Ongoing.
Stan Pinkleton
Ongoing.
Stan Pinkleton
Ongoing.
Stan Pinkleton
Walk -In Consulting
Computer Based
Training Courses
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Focus Area 5: Excellence in Student Support Environment
Project or
Initiative
Description
Status and
Milestones
Contact
Residence Halls
Support
On-site network troubleshooting and problem
resolution for students living in the Residence Halls.
Ongoing.
Stan Pinkleton
Dorm Storm
During the beginning of the Fall Semester OIT sets up
a temporary service center for a 5 day period. This is
done in order to meet the demand for the installation
and configuration of network cards for students living
in the Residence Halls. On average 1,200 - 1,400
network cards are installed in students computers
during Dorm Storm.
Ongoing.
Stan Pinkleton
Statistical Consulting
Services
Statistical consulting and statistical software support
services are offered to graduate and undergraduate
students. The majority of our customers are graduate
students. These services are offered by appointment,
walk-in, email, and telephone.
Ongoing.
Stan Pinkleton
Focus Area 6: Excellence in University Business and Management Operations
Project or
Initiative
IRIS
ANDI
Business Information
Warehouse
Description
Status and
Milestones
Contact
Support effort of Business and Finance to implement
SAP software package. The Financial system went live
in 5/2001 and HR/Payroll went live in 1/2002.
Ongoing effort includes enhancements (Budget,
Facilities, Document Imaging, Business Warehouse),
interfaces with legacy systems (Retirement,
Investments), and a multitude of reports.
Support effort of Alumni/Development to implement
BSR Advance and Smartcall products. Scheduled to go
live 7/2002.
A project that was initiated as a subset of the IRIS
project that will provide data to users using the SAP
Business Information Warehouse product.
The Financial syst em went live
in May 2001 and HR/Payroll
went live in January 2002.
Support is ongoing.
Joel Reeves
Mike McNeil
Partially implemented at this
time. Complete rollout
scheduled for July 2002.
Several million rows of legacy
financial and HR data are
currently available. Automated
interfaces to the SAP system
are being investigated as are
other data sources such as
student data and research
administration data
Scheduled for implementation
June 2002.
Joel Reeves
Currently in design phase. First
parts should roll out in
February 2004.
Joel Reeves
Mike McNeil
Alumni
Development Online
Credit Card Processing
Student Information
System Upgrade
Front-end system to accept credit card donations via
the web. Transaction will ultimately deposit donation
in appropriate UT accounts.
Begin in -house development effort to replace following
SIS modules: Student Records, Curriculum, Timetable,
Registration and Admissions.
Visual Age
Implementation
Upgrade obsolete CSP development toolkit with IBM
Visual Age software in our existing SAMS and CSA
applications.
Scheduled to begin May 2002.
Joel Reeves
Orientation Data
Manager
Student Assessment of
Instruction - Tennessee
101
Labtrack
In-house, web-enabled system to facilitate Student
Orientation processing.
Instructor Evaluation system and Course Evaluation
system as requested by the faculty and students of the
University.
Laboratory Animal Tracking System for the
Department of Nutrition
Degree Audit system used for verifying graduation
status and advising.
Implemented all processes in
February 2002.
In production.
Joel Reeves
In production.
Joel Reeves
Implemented in 1992.
Currently upgrade project
scheduled for complet ion in
June 2002.
Joel Reeves
Degree Audit (DARS)
Upgrade
Technology Supporting Excellence in Education
Joel Reeves
Joel Reeves
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Focus Area 6: Excellence in University Business and Management Operations
Project or
Initiative
Description
Business Services
Charge Tracking system for multiple areas such as
Warehouse, Copiers, etc. Will interface with IRIS.
Status and
Milestones
1 st module implemented in
May 2002.
Contact
Joel Reeves
Focus Area 7: Excellence in IT Management and Operations
Project Name
VolNET
communications
infrastructure
Description
Status and
Milestones
Contact
The VolNET project is an umbrella term for
interrelated projects to provide a robust
communications infrastructure at Knoxville.
Establish a communications utility that provides a
robust and scalable infrastructure for the University.
Establish an 802.11b wireless infrastructure in all
academic and administrative buildings on the
Knoxville campus.
Establish an 802.11b wireless infrastructure in all
auxiliary and student/residential areas on the Knoxville
campus.
VolNET core installed. All
buildings connected.
Hardening of infrastructure to
ensure 7x24 operations.
Dewitt Latimer
All buildings not under
construction are completed.
Dewitt Latimer
Under consideration for Fall
2002 implementation.
Dewitt Latimer
Nomad Upgrade from
802.11b to 802.11a
Redundant Commodity
Internet Connections
Add 802.11a functionality to the existing 802.11b
wireless network.
Install a series of WAN connections to ensure fault
tolerance of off-campus communications.
Dewitt Latimer
Internet 2 Connection to
VolNET Core
The DS-3 point-to-point circuit to the Southern
Crossroads (SoX) Abilene POP in Atlanta will be shut
down when the new OC-12 circuit to SoX is turned up
in the late summer of 2002. See OC-12 upgrade to
SoX below.
The DS-3 circuit to SoX and the DS-3 Atlanta DIA
circuit will be folded into the OC-12 circuit to the
Atlanta Qwest POP and in unison will deliver 90 Mbit
DIA service and 540 Mbit Internet 2 service. This sixfold increase in performance will be delivered at 60%
of the current cost for the two DS-3 services separately.
Create authoritative central directory of HR and SIS
information across all UT campuses.
Targeted for Spring 2003
implementation.
Installed Spring 2002 and
being tested through various
scenarios.
Targeted for Summer 2002.
All contracts have been signed
and orders placed. The OC-12
circuit will be connected to the
VolNET core by August of
2002.
Dewitt Latimer
Knoxville and Memphis
completed. Other campuses
pending.
Dewitt Latimer
Completed for Knoxville
campus.
Currently in design and test
phase for Fall 2002
deployment.
Implemented for all UT
employees and Knoxville area
students. Pending for other
campus students. Loaded into
central directory.
In test. Scheduled for August
2002 implementation.
Dewitt Latimer
Design completed during late
Spring 2002. Slated for Fall
2002 finish.
Dewitt Latimer
Nomad Wireless
Network Phase I
Nomad Wireless
Network Phase II
OC-12 Upgrade to SoX
LDAP Central
Directory
DHCP/Dynamic DNS
Microsoft Active
Directory
Create an environment for mobile computing, network
registration, and dynamic IP assignment.
Integrate Active Directory schema into master
directory structure.
Common Network ID
(NetID)
Develop a common naming convention for
network/computer username across all applications and
all campuses.
Central E-mail Upgrade
Upgrade of server farm and disk systems. Install v5 of
iPlanet’s message store. Increase inbox quota to 80
Mb for employees.
Complete system for monitoring all network devices,
central servers, and key applications.
Net work and System
Management and
Performance
Monitoring System
Technology Supporting Excellence in Education
Dewitt Latimer
Dewitt Latimer
Dewitt Latimer
Dewitt Latimer
Dewitt Latimer
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Focus Area 7: Excellence in IT Management and Operations
Project Name
Description
IT Security
Provides a campus-wide assessment of IT security on
the Knoxville campus.
Intra-Building Wiring
Project
Bring all academic and administrative buildings up to
horizontal wiring specifications.
Telephone Switch
Upgrade – Phase I
Telephone Switch
Upgrade – Phase II
Consolidated Server
Initiative
Legacy PBX switch replaced with new Class 5 central
office switch.
Cutover of buildings and replacement of desktop phone
instruments.
A project to provide improved Novell file and print
services through the use of clust ered computing
techniques.
Cluster Computing and
Storage
A project to implement a new architecture for UNIX
support. This project will incorporate server clustering
technologies as well as SAN technologies for data
storage to maximize flexibility of our hardware.
Office Product
Consolidation
Student Information
System Upgrade
Mainframe Upgrade
Virtual Tape System
Open Systems
Backup/Recovery
Enhancement
Status and
Milestones
Contact
Assessment completed and
comprehensive plan being
drawn up for Fall 2002
implementation.
70% Complete. Should finish
by FY 2006.
Dewitt Latimer
Completed and testing during
summer 2002.
To be started in Fall 2002.
Steve Keys
A prototype is currently being
implemented, but the final
product is waiting on a Novell
license agreement.
The initial hardware has
arrived and is being
implemented. The initial use
will be support of the WEB
services portal project and
Oracle data storage for Biology
research data.
Mike McNeil
A project to review functional requirements of various
University offices to determine what functions are
critical to office operations within the University.
This project has just begun.
Mike McNeil
A project to reduce the current risk found in the current
student information system to allow us time to review
other SIS solutions in the 2-3 year timeframe.
A project is required to support the SIS upgrade
project. This project will keep the core student system
running on the mainframe for 3-5 years.
A project to enhance the operations capability of the
mainframe computer. This effort will also improve our
ability to rely on data stored on tapes and make more
optimum use of tape resources.
A project to expand our ability to backup the vast
amount of data currently being housed on UNIX, and
other non-mainframe platforms.
This project has been scoped
and a final design is currently
being developed.
Specifications are being
developed to acquire a
machine.
Research is being done and
specifications are being
developed to acquire the
hardware.
Research has been done and
specifications are being
developed to acquire the
hardware.
Mike McNeil
Steve Keys
Steve Keys
Mike McNeil
Mike McNeil
Mike McNeil
Mike McNeil
Focus Area 8: Excellence in IT Human Resources Management
Project or
Initiative
Description
Status and
Milestones
IT Titling Project
A subset of the University Human Resources effort to
normalize and reduce the number of titles.
IT Salary Survey
A market survey of IT Compensation Practices.
The evaluation is complete for
all IT staff members and new
titles assigned.
Implementation is planned for
July 1, 2002.
The survey report was
submitted on February 4, 2002.
Plans for implementation are
being considered.
Technology Supporting Excellence in Education
Contact
Gayle Mathews
Judy Huddleston
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Attachment 1: Benchmarking Guidance
Excellence in Academics and Instruction
University of Georgia
The Strategic Plan for the University of Georgia contains in its opening section a discussion of “The
Three Revolutions of Higher Education.” One of the three revolutions discussed relates specifically to
this Focus Area.
Information Technology and the New Learning Environment
The revolution in learning, teaching, research, service and communications created by information technology
has already begun to transform both the practice of and planning for higher education. It is anticipated that
higher education will change more over the next decade than it has over the past millennia. The paradoxical
result of the new capabilities of "distance education" is that distance is no longer an issue: Both traditional
higher education and the "lifelong" learning required by the rapidly changing world of contemporary
professional life are being reshaped and transformed by the new communications technologies and the Internet.
With the accelerated move to high-tech interactivity comes the accelerated requirements for a more personal,
"high-touch," strongly residential, educational environment. Great universities are finding myriad new ways to
develop and combine the human and technological resources now available to create an entirely new
environment for learning, an environment that is richer, more effective, more stimulating and more continuous
than ever before. This environment must be both personally customized and globally relevant, both
technologically sophisticated and intellectually contemplative.
The learning environment must, in class and out, foster engagement with both the traditional disciplines of
liberal education and the key issues of the day and the future, including those related to the environment, the
global economy and culture, and the responsibilities of the educated person in the community.”
In the University of Georgia’s Strategic Plan, the first “Strategic Direction” is defined as follows:
Strategic Direction 1
BUILDING THE NEW LEARNING ENVIRONMENT
In order to provide our students with opportunities for success in the digital age and to provide Georgia with a
steady stream of highly educated, flexible, diverse, culturally sensitive, emotionally as well as academically
intelligent, and technologically sophisticated citizens for the 21st century economy, UGA must develop the
highest level of information technology, access and support, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for students, faculty
and staff. It must create new academic and certification programs to support the many ways in which the new
information technologies are transforming traditional academic disciplines, such as the New Media Institute and
its New Media Certification Program, the Department of Computer Science and its Certificate in Computing,
the Masters in Internet Technology, the Digital Media Lab and the Electronic Teaching Library. It must
strengthen programs and facilities for the digital age, including the reengineering of the King Law Library to
become a state-of-the-art facility for law students and current members of the bench and bar, and the
establishment of a Center for Information Technology to house and showcase UGA's computing and
information technology-based teaching, learning and research initiatives.
Indiana University
Like many universities, one of the cornerstone tools supporting advances in academics and
instructions at Indiana University is its Digital Library Program. (See
http://www.dlib.indiana.edu/aboutus/#mission.)
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MISSION STATEMENT: The Indiana University Digital Library Program (DLP) is dedicated to the
production and maintenance of a wide range of high-quality networked resources for scholars and students at
Indiana University and elsewhere. The Digital Library Program is a collaborative effort of the Indiana
University Libraries, the Office of the Vice President for Information Technology, and the university research
faculty with leadership from the School of Library and Information Science. This collaboration will capitalize
on the institutional capabilities of this university, focusing university resources on digital library projects that
support the teaching and research of IU faculty, support the learning and research of IU students, and foster
research about the digital library.
BENEFITS OF THE PROGRAM: The overarching benefit for the students, faculty, and staff of Indiana
University will be access to an ever-widening range of digital library resources and services, including full-text
online databases, faculty research, classroom materials, multimedia digital resources, electronic journals , and
digital libraries from all over the world.
GOALS: To increase the number and range of digital resources available for faculty and students; To offer
digital library services and supporting technologies that are sustainable, scaleable, compatible with the
university's technology infrastructure, and interoperable with national and international digital library
initiatives; To promote and support the scholarly use of digital content and networked information resources by
students and faculty at IU; To d iscover and promote currently available digital technologies that can revitalize
teaching and enhance learning; To address key research questions from user-centered, collections-centered, and
system-centered perspectives, their inter-relatedness and the importance of their balance; To conduct a program
of research to advance the state of knowledge and practice in digital libraries, and the social, organizational,
technological, and human factors involving the uses and users of digital libraries; To establis h a national and
international reputation for developing a premier digital library at Indiana University; To collaborate with
colleagues at other colleges, universities, and research libraries, nationally and internationally in the
development of an inter-institutional and international federation of distributed digital libraries.
PARTICIPANTS: The Digital Library Program encompasses all campuses of Indiana University. The program
is directed through the steering committee comprised of three partners, the Libraries, University Information
Technology Services (UITS), and the School of Library and Information Science (SLIS). The current
Administrative Team includes librarians, staff and information technologists from the Bloomington and
Indianapolis Libraries and UITS.
University of Pennsylvania
As its blueprint for the future, the University of Pennsylvania is pursing a vision the call “Agenda for
Excellence.” The following excerpts from the Agenda are relevant to this Focus Area:
Strategic Goal 7: The University will creatively deploy new technologies, recognizing that technology is
revolutionizing the ways in which knowledge is acquired, created, and disseminated. We will make the
implementation of new teaching technologies a University priority. We will ensure that there is sufficient
support for training faculty, students, administrators, and staff in the use of these technologies.
Penn is keeping pace with our institutional peers on most fronts of technology and, in a number of areas, Penn is
in the vanguard. For example, Penn’s Classroom Technology Services (CTS) is considered a model of
excellence among our peers in the New Media Centers Consortium. CTS supports faculty in the use of
technology to enhance teaching and learning and maintains and improves the equipment available for classroom
use.
In support of “PennAdvance” (a web-based distance learning project), and other distributed learning initiatives,
key stakeholders from across the University have collaborated to develop the “Innovative Learning Space.”
This multimedia classroom was designed for flexibility in both the layout and the application of educational
technology.
The Blackboard pilot, designed to help launch course support tools university-wide, produced positive results
leading to expanded deployment. In a survey of effectiveness, 83% of the students who used Blackboard
indicated that Blackboard CourseInfo “enhanced the quality of their courses.”
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The Penn library has built one of North America’s leading academic digital libraries, providing desktop access
to the electronic equivalent of a multimillion volume print collection. The internationally recognized
Schoenberg Center for Electronic Text and Image was established. The library also partnered with Endeavor
Information Systems in the development of the web-based online library catalog and Liberty Management
System. The resulting system, Voyager, bear Penn’s imprint, and has influenced the development and
acceptance of web interfaces as the norm for library catalogs.
BorrowDirect is a collaborative lending service among Yale, Columbia, and Penn that allows our users to
request books directly from Penn’s online catalog, and fulfills requests in about half the time of Interlibrary
Loan.
With the Oxford University Press, Penn began an internationally recognized e-book project to study the
scholarly uses and benefits of full-text e-books, and assess their impact on traditional publishing. This initiative
has been reported on in Knight-Ridder newspapers worldwide.
A chat reference service was implemented in Wharton’s Business Digital Library to provide real-time online
access to reference help 24 hours a day/7 days a week.
Penn ranked 15th overall and top in the Ivies in the in the 1999 Yahoo’s Top 100 Most Wired Colleges. This
survey covers major aspects of a school’s wired life, including student web usage, network speed, network
resources available, and number of laptop ports.
University of North Carolina
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has adopted multiple, integrated strategic focus areas
that relate to the use of technology to enhance academics and instruction. One of these is the “UNC
Teaching and Learning with Technology (TLT) Collaborative.”
Overview: The (TLT) is a consortial organization, created by the President of the University of North Carolina
that provides vision and shared resources in support of TLT programs and initiatives throughout the 16
campuses of The University of North Carolina.
Vision Statement: The TLT Collaborative will unite the collective interests and goals of the sixteen campuses
of The University of North Carolina to serve as a catalyst for, and nurture excellence in, the productive
application of technology for teaching and learning.
Mission: The TLT Collaborative will manifest the following characteristics:
q
q
q
q
q
q
q
q
Shared vision
Compelling need
Mutual benefits derived with proportional value
Broad-based support
Well-defined governance structure
Established rules of engagement and disengagement
Trust relationships
Cost effectiveness (cost savings, cost containment, cost avoidance) through shared
risk, shared resources, mutual services, and joint bargaining power.
The mission of the TLT Collaborative is to embody the above characteristics in support of TLT programs and
initiatives throughout the 16 campuses of The University of North Carolina. The Collaborative actively explores
collaborative opportunities and assists in defining and implementing best practices, common services, and
shared resources.
Recognizing the broad range of issues associated with Teaching and Learning with Technology, the
Collaborative functions variously as a think tank, research and testing service, strategic planner, information
portal, professional development resource, resource development instrument, and a host for collaborative
activities.
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Excellence in Research
UCLA (Research Administration)
UCLA has developed an end-to-end administrative system to support on-campus research activities,
as described below. See http://www.rnet.ucla.edu/ for more details.
Overview
The mission of the R-Net project is to develop and implement an end-to-end administrative system in support of
the research effort on campus. Having completed the 1st phase of this implementation, the project team has
taken a major step toward accomplishing this goal by establishing one proposal and award database, and
making the data accessible to all departments on campus via the R-Net Query Database (R-Net QDB) and new
online Web reports.
To initially capture the data and monitor every aspect of sponsored projects, from the development of a proposal
to the final closeout of an award, the project team has modified and installed MIT’s Coeus Proposal and Award
Management System. The R-Net project implementation plan calls for three distinct phases:
Phase 1
On May 1, 2000, the Coeus’ institutional proposal and award management modules were implemented in the
Office of Contract and Grant Administration (OCGA) and Extramural Fund Management (EFM) in place of the
old RMS, CG1 and CG2 processes. During this phase, campus departments continue to be responsible for
preparing and submitting hard copy proposal documents to OCGA. However, they are now afforded new web
reporting tools and ad-hoc query access to the new R-Net QDB model.
Phase 2
Beginning in early 2001, the pilot deployment of the Coeus’ Electronic Proposal System (EPS) module in
several campus departments is scheduled to begin. This will offer departments an electronic alternative to the
manual processes and local shadow systems presently used to prepare, approve and submit proposals for
consideration. During this phase, OCGA will be able to submit electronic proposals to agencies ready to receive
such transmission.
Also, a pilot deployment of the Community of Science System (COS) will begin to add important academic
profile information to R-Net QDB. EFM will also begin the implementation of a new Cash Management
System. This new process will provide a more timely and efficient issuance of invoices and financial reports to
sponsoring agencies, automate support for preparing letter of credit draw downs to sponsors, and more closely
monitor cash received, accounts receivable balances and related collections.
Phase 3
In the Fall of 2001, the EPS and COS process will be rolled out to all departments on campus. Also, further
enhancements to Coeus will be added to include automated interfacing with certain other systems like those
maintained in the Office of the Protection of Research Subjects (OPRS).
Indiana University
Indiana University is in the process of developing a “new and improved” Research Gateway, as
described below.
A new and greatly improved Research Gateway is in development. A university committee has been formed
representing key departments in the research services area. Staff from the Advanced Research & Technology
Institute, Contract & Grant Administration, Research & Graduate Education, Research & Sponsored Programs
at IUPUI, and Sponsored Research Services at IUB are nearing completion of a comprehensive web site
presenting information in the following categories:
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Educational Opportunities (with training modules)
Electronic Research Administration
Forms & Samples
Funding Opportunities & Proposal Development
Policies, Regulations & Procedures
Research Risk Compliance
Resources & Reference Materials
We hope that the new web site, at this current location, will be a valuable resource for *all* information related
to research at Indiana University. A formal announcement will be made when the update is completed, but
please visit this page often to see any new developments. If you have any suggestions or comments for the
Research Gateway committee please e-mail jyoung@indiana.edu. Your input will be greatly appreciated!
University of Illinois (Tech Transfer)
The University of Illinois has an active and successful program of transferring research results to the
community. The following is a recent example.
Abbott Laboratories buys UI-licensed virtual biotechnology company
Jeff Unger, News Editor
(217) 333-1085; j-unger@uiuc.edu
12/21/01
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign today announced the sale of a UIlicensed virtual biotechnology company to Abbott Laboratories for $7 million. The company, BioDisplay
Technologies Inc., was founded to commercialize technology that dramatically shortens the time it takes to
discover various drugs that can be tested for their potential therapeutic application.
The technology was developed by former UI chemical engineering professor K. Dane Wittrup (now at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology), UI biochemistry professor David M. Kranz, and their graduate students
beginning in 1996.
"We are delighted that Abbott Laboratories is our partner in this venture," said Chancellor Nancy Cantor.
"Abbott has more than 1,000 Illinois alumni on its roster and the world-class expertise to realize the potential of
yeast-display technology. The university looks forward to further collaboration with Abbott."
The yeast-display methodology uses a process called flow cytometry that provides high-through-put screening,
which in turn speeds the process of directed drug discovery.
"Yeast display allows us to genetically engineer improved proteins and antibodies as candidate pharmaceuticals
that can target specific diseases with far fewer side effects," Kranz said. "By expressing the antibody on the
surface of a yeast cell, we can create a library of a million different mutated antibodies in days, and then pull
out the best ones."
The researchers incorporated BioDisplay Technologies in 1998 to further develop and license the patented
technology. Under the terms of the purchase agreement, Abbott will also sublicense the technology to other
companies for various applications, including human health, agriculture and industrial enzymes.
University of Texas
The University of Texas is widely recognized as one of the nation’s leading public research
universities. The following describes a recent addition to Austin campus. The focus is on achieving
advanced visualization capabilities in support of research.
The Applied Computational Engineering and Sciences (A.C.E.S.) Building is the newest addition to The
University of Texas at Austin campus. This state-of-the-art facility supports interdisciplinary research and
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graduate study in computational science and engineering, mathematical modeling, applied mathematics,
software engineering and computer visualization.
Incorporating cutting-edge, user-friendly technology with the capacity for continual upgrading, the building is
located in the heart of UT's engineering and natural sciences complex.
Designed to attract outstanding students, scientists and engineers from around the world, the facility houses a
2900-square-foot visualization lab, bandwidth-intensive research space for 300 graduate students, electronic
seminar and videoconferencing rooms and fully equipped offices for visiting researchers.
Another University of Texas IT center dedicated to the furtherance of research is described below:
The Texas Advanced Computing Center (TACC) develops and deploys advanced computing infrastructure to
enhance the research and education activities of the faculty, staff, and students at the University of Texas at
Austin. This infrastructure includes high performance computing (HPC), advanced scientific visualization
(SciVis), and massive data storage/archival systems and software. Through its participation in the National
Partnership for Advanced Computational Infrastructure (NPACI), TACC also provides these resources and
services to the national academic community.
TACC also conducts research and development activities to enhance research capabilities through new and
improved advanced computing technologies. TACC research focuses on HPC, SciVis, and Grid Computing
technologies, and TACC partners with researchers who are developing data-intensive computing and network
technologies. TACC collaborates with researchers at UT, at other Texas universities, at NPACI partner sites,
and at universities and government laboratories around the country.
TACC is a unit of the University of Texas at Austin and reports to the Office of the Vice President for Research.
TACC also receives financial support from the National Science Foundation (NSF) through the Partnership for
Advanced Computational Infrastructure (PACI) program, and for research and development activities from
various funding agencies including NSF and the Department of Defense HPC Modernization Office (DoD
HPCMO) Programming Environments & Training (PET) program.
Excellence in Outreach and Service
The important issue to consider in reviewing the benchmarking information is how information
technology plays (or could play) a vital role in enabling, enhancing, and extending these programs
and initiatives to new levels of capability.
Georgia Tech
Georgia Tech has a major institutional focus on outreach, a significant portion of which is
coordinated through an organization called “Department of Distance Learning, Continuing Education,
and Outreach,” or DLCEO. This department includes the traditional. The Continuing Education
component is similar to what the University of Tennessee has been engaged in for years. The other
two components are described below, following a message from the Vice Provost in charge of
DLCEO.
A Message from the Vice Provost
The Georgia Institute of Technology makes the educational resources of its academic and research units
accessible to working professionals throughout the state and the nation through its Department of Distance
Learning, Continuing Education, and Outreach. Tech is committed to offering you the highest quality
professional development programs available anywhere in the world. Our continuing education short courses,
workshops, conferences, and on-site programs help keep you abreast of the latest developments and innovations
in your professional field, while our distance learning program provides you with access to Tech's vast
educational resources from your home or job site.
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Our professional development programs are available to you in the classroom at our Atlanta campus or at your
location, via v ideotape, satellite, interactive compressed video, microwave, or desktop technologies. We offer
nearly 900 such courses each year, not only in Atlanta, but also in all 50 states and several countries abroad.
More than 17,000 working professionals have participated in Tech's distance learning, continuing education,
and English-as-a-second-language programs over the past year. We will continue to grow to satisfy your
changing educational needs for non-credit courses, workshops, conferences, credit courses, and degree
programs.
Our web page is intended to acquaint you with the wide variety of professional development programs and
distance learning opportunities available to you from Georgia Tech. You can obtain an individual brochure or
flyer from our department for each program described in this web page. We will periodically update this web
page as we develop new programs to meet your specific educational needs. Please let us know how we can
assist you and your organization in planning and budgeting your professional development program.
Dr. Joseph S. DiGregorio
Vice Provost
Distance Learning, Continuing Education, and Outreach
The Georgia Institute of Technology
http://www.conted.gatech.edu/welcome.html
Language Institute
Our Mission Statement: The mission of the Language Institute is to increase the English language proficiency
and cultural understanding of our students to help them meet their academic, professional, and social needs.
Distance Learning
Georgia Tech's Center for Distance Learning (CDL) provides a way for you to advance professionally and stay
on the cutting edge in your area of specialty. The program is available internationally and delivers high-quality,
graduate-level courses in the fields of engineering listed below. If you have been accepted into a Georgia Tech
graduate program, courses can be applied toward a master's degree in the following areas:
Electrical and Computer Engineering - with options in Computer Engineering; Telecommunications/Digital
Signal Processing; and Electric Power/Systems and Controls.
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Health Physics/Radiological Engineering
Industrial Engineering
Mechanical Engineering
Utilizing several distance learning delivery systems, Georgia Tech electronically extends its classroom walls to
serve students who cannot attend campus classes. Busy professionals have the opportunity to earn an advanced
degree or simply take a sequence of courses while still working at a full-time job. Students in the program have
the flexibility to view classroom lectures at times that fit their schedule.
Video cameras record instructor presentations and student/instructor interactions during regular Georgia Tech
graduate classes. The videotape and supporting materials are sent to off-campus students, who participate in
classroom activities by watching the taped classes on video monitors at their place of work, their homes or at a
designated location. Class tapes along with supplemental material will reach off-campus U. S. students within
two to three days and international students within three to four days.
Courses in Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering and Environmental Engineering are now being
offered over the Internet and CD-ROM. Consult the website each semester to find the courses offered via the
Internet.
Students admitted to Georgia Tech for graduate study through the distance-learning program are assigned an
academic advisor, who is their consultant on academic matters. Students communicate with their advisor and
the course instructors by telephone, FAX, and/or electronic mail. Routine administrative matters are handled
through the Center for Distance Learning office. Students are encouraged to telephone for guidance and advice.
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Courses are offered during the fall and spring semesters each year. A fe w courses are offered during the
summer term each year. The fall semester begins in August; the spring semester begins in early January, and the
summer term in May. A bulletin listing courses being offered each term and other pertinent information is
available on our web site about two months prior to the beginning of the term.
University of North Carolina
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has adopted multiple, integrated strategic
focus areas relating to outreach and service. An example is summarized below.
About the UNC-CH SBRP Outreach Core
The purpose of this core is to increase public awareness of the research conducted at the UNC-CH Superfund
Basic Research Program (SBRP) and, more generally, to improve awareness of public health issues arising from
the release of hazardous substances into the environment.
The Outreach Core’s focus has been expanded beyond the professional outreach of years past to include a
number of activities for North Carolina citizens and communities. These include teacher professional
development and responding to communities that need technical assistance. In addition, the Core is developing
a guide to citizen participation in the technical issues involved in cleaning up Superfund sites and is using North
Carolina cases to illustrate effective practices.
As a first step at helping citizens understand the research being conducted at the UNC-CH SBRP, the Core staff
worked with the Center's scientists to provide less technical descriptions of the Center's key research projects. In
spring 2001, the Core published the first issue of its newsletter, Superfund Scoop, which will keep the public
up-to-date on the activities of the Center with in-depth descriptions of selected research projects, including the
relevance of the research for clean up and public policy. Core staff also maintain the Center's website.
The Outreach Core continues to publicize Center activities to the professional community through an annual
newsletter, Center for the Advanced Study of the Environment (CASE) News, and through ESE Notes (the
UNC-CH Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering's newsletter).
University of Georgia
The University of Georgia has a vast array of outreach and service programs and initiatives spanning
the university. Examples are listed below.
Public Services & Outreach
The Office of Public Service and Outreach at The University of Georgia welcomes Dr. Arthur N. Dunning as
the third Vice President for Public Service and Outreach, and Associate Provost. Pubilc Services & Outreach is
the largest campus-based outreach program in the nation, delivering more than six million contact hours
annually to the citizens of Georgia. Currently Vice Chancellor for Human and External Resources for the
University System of Georgia, Dr. Dunning brings to Athens all the experience of an influential and
distinguished career in collegiate education, academic administration, public service, economic and rural
development, technological partnerships, and international collaboration.
Information Technology Outreach Services
MISSION: To further the University of Georgia's outreach mission, Information Technology Outreach Services
helps nonprofit groups, University Public Service and Outreach units, and state, local, and national governments
to expand and improve their use of information technology.
Georgia 2000 Information System: The Georgia 2000 Information System allows users to view and print
customized maps and statistical reports. Users can pan, zoom, and select themes for display to create a
customized map view, then choose from a variety of reports for the selected area. Reports include basic
demographics from the U.S. Census Bureau and Wessex, as well as other statistics provided by Georgia´s
Departments of Education, Labor, and Industry, Trade, and Tourism.
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National Human Dimensions Framework: The National Human Dimensions Framework (NHDF) Web site —
developed by ITOS, the UGA Department of Instructional Technology, and Infomark Software Corporation —
uses social science principles to help forest planners manage national forests. The site allows district planners to
query a relational database containing social and natural resource variables which may affect an area's forests.
Many of the problems and issues in forest planning are fundamentally social or human in nature; i.e., they are
caused by, or reflect, human values, interests, and conflicts. Social information therefore has a fundamental role
in public participation, in agency decision-making, and in creating baseline information for monitoring trends
and actions in forest management. This Human Dimensions Framework brings together social concepts from a
variety of social science disciplines, categorizes them into basic social dimensions, and connects the concepts
with measurable indicators of practical use to forest managers.
Parking Services: ITOS, in cooperation with UGA's Parking Services Division and Office of Auxiliary
Services, has developed and implemented one of the University of Georgia's first e-commerce applications. In
its initial phase, the Online Permit Ordering System enables the purchase of student parking permits via the
Internet. By reducing queues, wait-times, and the need to travel to Parking Services, this system not only
benefits students who must deal with numerous purchases and forms during registration, but also helps reduce
and regulate the workload of the Parking Services staff during “crunch time”. Pending verification of successful
performance in the initial phase, the system will be expanded to include faculty and staff permits as well. This
project is the beginning of an effort to bring e-commerce technology to other UGA units, such as Food Services,
the Campus Bookstore, and UGA Printing, with plans to eventually integrate these and other programs into a
single-source online mall.
Georgia GIS Data Clearinghouse: The Georgia GIS Data Clearinghouse provides access to Geographic
Information Systems (GIS) resources of Georgia for use by government, academia, and the private sector. Here
you can view and obtain GIS data, maps, information, and much more to help you build effective GIS
applications.
State Legislative Reapportionment: As part of our service mission, ITOS manages the technical side of
Georgia's political redistricting process through the State Legislative Reapportionment Office. In 1985, Ray
Argo - then with UGA's Office of Computing Services, and later director of ITOS - along with Linda Meggers head of Reapportionment - introduced GIS technology to the state's redistricting system. As a result of this
technological innovation, maps may be drawn and updated in a fraction of the time required by the old system,
while comparative studies and "What if?" scenarios have become much more simple to produce.
University Software Site License: In September of 1995, the Board of Regents of the University System of the
State of Georgia signed an agreement with Environmental Systems Research Institute, Inc for the use and
distribution of their software. Our site license is available to any college/university within the University
System of Georgia. Installation of the software is limited to computers in the USG administrative, academic,
research, and service units only.
CIAT Satellite Link: The International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) is a nonprofit, nongovernmental
research organization headquartered in Palmira, Colombia, dedicated to alleviating hunger and poverty, and to
preserving natural resources in developing nations. It is one of 16 centers supported by the Consultative Group
on International Agricultural Research. During the last 5 years, CIAT relied on a satellite link from Colombia to
Homestead, Florida, and then on a last-mile -solution from Florida to California involving more than a dozen
separate providers. As a result, any service interruption required contacting each individual provider to pinpoint
the source of difficulty. In July of 2000, a new satellite link was established between CIAT in Colombia and
ITOS in Athens, GA, providing 640kb/sec IVDN (Integrated Voice and Data Network) connectivity. Now, the
Center has faster, more reliable, one-hop access to the Internet, and enjoys communication with over 100
countries at the price of a local phone call.
GAP: In 1999, ITOS began assisting the Georgia Assessors Program in migration of the 10-year old, DOSbased GAP program to a Windows version (WinGAP) by developing a sketching tool with functionality for
drawing building footprints and by converting existing sketch data in both GAP and third-party formats to the
new WinGAP format. ITOS has also recently begun work developing a Windows-based GIS browser to
integrate GIS parcel data with WinGAP data for querying, reporting, and cartography.
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Georgia DOT State Map Update: Until recently, the Georgia Department of Transportation managed its
thousands of miles of road network by using a database and four filing cabinets worth of hand-drawn city,
county, and state paper maps. These maps became quickly outdated and had to be redrawn continually to
incorporate changes in the road base. Through Georgia DOT's initiative and funding, ITOS completed work in
1997 on a new statewide transportation database. With ITOS's assistance, GDOT used this new database to
develop updated city, county, and state highway maps. The official 1998-99 State of Georgia Highway Map,
distributed to Visitor Centers across the state in April of 1998, was the first of its kind to be developed by all
digital sources by a state department of transportation. ITOS provides ongoing updates to this database.
Georgia Education Information System: In 1994, ITOS (then a division of UGA Carl Vinson Institute of
Government) started as in-house project to explore the feasibility of building a single information system that
would house data on all aspects of education in Georgia and employ GIS technology to analyze and present
these data. The aim then as now was to provide the public and education decision makers with reliable and
readily accessible data -- on K-12 and post-secondary enrollment, performance, finance, certified personnel,
curriculum, and facilities: and related social and economic indicators -- that would support planning, policy
analysis, program evaluation and applied research. The idea proved feasible, and with support of UGA
administration and cooperation of state education agencies, which provided source data sets, the project -named GEIS -- built annual files of school-level and college-level data and created annually-updated digital
maps of Georgia that locate every DOE public school, DTAE technical institute (college), and USG.
Georgia Forestry Commission Fire Locator Maps:
Until recently the Georgia Forestry Commission located fires and directed response teams with Georgia DOT
maps, which did not include small, unpaved service roads or other forestry-specific information. After
converting the GDOT maps to a digital database, ITOS was able to integrate forestry roads, contours, and
helicopter landing sites to create a customized series of fire locator map books and dispatch wall maps. The
Forestry Commission pilots not only pinpointed fires, but also directed ground teams to fires by sight, an
inefficient process referred to as "dead reckoning" by Alan Dozier, Associate Chief of Forest Protection. With
these updated maps, flight crews can now relay a fire's GPS location to ground teams and leave the scene.
Georgia P16 Council Multi-Agency Linked Student Database: Since June 1998, the Georgia P-16 Council (an
ad hoc state agency) has contracted with ITOS to establish the state's first centralized information system of
student enrollment and performance data, encompassing all levels and systems of public education in Georgia.
Project work is focused on linking data from student information systems within state education agencies via a
relational database housed at ITOS. To generate the most robust information that can be derived from source
datasets, the project matches individual-level records across agencies and from year to year. Confidentiality of
student data is safeguarded by the federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act and applicable state laws
and regulations. Project work, including handling, using, and distributing data, is governed by bilateral
agreements between state agencies to share student data. ITOS may release only data aggregated for at least five
students and only to P-16 Council and state agency partners.
Oconee County Parcel Mapping: ITOS is currently upgrading tax parcel information for Oconee County,
Georgia, from AutoCAD drawings into a GIS. Using a variety of sources - including aerial photographs
(DOQQs), Georgia Department of Transportation records, hand-drawn tax maps, and US Census Bureau
TIGER (Topologically Integrated Geographic Encoding and Referencing) data - ITOS will produce a seamless
parcel polygon coverage for the county. The resulting digital tax maps will not only be spatially accurate, but
will allow much easier access to associated data, such as road names, road surface types, right-of-way widths,
address ranges, and parcel ownership information.
Q3 Flood Plain Mapping: Inland flooding poses considerable risk to life and property in the State of Georgia.
As recently as 1994, one-third of the state was inundated by floods in the wake of Tropical Storm Alberto. To
better manage this risk, ITOS is involved with Q3 flood plain mapping efforts. The outcome will be some 81
county-level maps depicting 100- and 500-year flood plains for the state's primary river systems, based on
corrected and enhanced digital conversions of existing hardcopy data. Because better information yields better
decisions, these digitally produced maps will make hazard mitigation a more accurate process statewide. [For
more information on Q3, see this FEMA Web site: http://www.fema.gov/MSC/q3flooda.htm.]
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State Legislative Reapportionment: The founding project leading to the establishment of UGA's Data Services
Unit - which merged with the GIS division of the Carl Vinson Institute of Government to form ITOS in 1996 modernized Georgia's political redistricting process through GIS (geographic information systems) technology.
By rendering data in digital format, it can be more easily updated to account for changes over time or can be
modified to simulate "what if" scenarios. By using GIS to improve the efficiency of the Congressional
redistricting process, the Reapportionment Office was able to generate maps of multiple districts much more
rapidly than with traditional hand-drawn maps, allowing a quick comparison of the many demographic
variables that define the size and shape of a voting district. ITOS staff continues to manage and maintain these
processes.
USGS State Hydrography Basemap: The State Hydrography Basemap is being created at a scale of 1:24,000 by
ITOS in cooperation with the Internet Technology Policy Council and the U.S. Geological Survey. The
development process involved scanning Mylar separates of the USGS 7.5 minute quadrangles for the entire
state to create the 1:24,000 vector dataset. Then the area features are photo revised using 1993 aerial
photography (DOQQs), and line features are corrected using the USGS topographic imagery (DRGs). Georgia's
Hydrography Basemap will combine a high degree of spatial accuracy with a broad range of area and line
hydrologic features, such as lakes, reservoirs, swamps, rivers, perennial and intermittent streams, and artificial
flow paths. Entries from the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) and several other sources further
enhance the attribute accuracy of the basemap.
USGS State Transportation Basemap: ITOS is currently completing production of a digital statewide
transportation basemap in cooperation with the Georgia Department of Transportation and the U.S. Geological
Survey. The process began with conversion of hand-drawn GDOT Mylar maps into digital format. The resulting
[datasets] were then photo revised using 1993 aerial photography (DOQQs) to ensure a spatially correct roads
layer. Additional feature layers - such as railways, airports, and helipads - were added using a variety of
sources. Through the process of dynamic segmentation, road sections (arcs) were assembled into routes (the
streets and highways of our everyday experience). Finally, TIGER data from US Census Bureau was utilized for
the process of road name enhancement, ensuring the greatest possible accuracy of nomenclature. This state core
base map, which conforms to the latest standards of map accuracy, can easily be shared with other state
agencies, other states, and the general public.
Warnell Scholl of Forest Resources Outreach
The Warnell School of Forest Resources has an array of outreach programs serving the State of Georgia, the
U.S., and the world, educating in the areas of forestry and forest products, wildlife, fisheries, aquaculture and
fisheries, water resources, and related natural resources.
Information Library : Visit our information library, a knowledge database of over 300 enlightening publications.
PDF versions are supplied for easy printing. Browse the library or search below:
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Aquaculture and Fisheries
Community Forestry
Conservation Reserve Program
Drought Information
Environment
Forest Economics and Taxes
Forest Entomology
Forest Recreation
Intensive Forest Management
Sustainable Forestry
Timber Harvesting
Tree Health Care
Wildlife Management
Wood Products
Youth
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Armenia
Australia
Brazil
China
Central America
Colombia
Czech Republic
England
Finland Germany
Honduras
Ireland
Japan
Malaysia
Mexico
New Zealand
The Netherlands
Norway Peru
The Philippines
Portugal
Russia
South Africa
South Korea
Spain
Ukraine
Zimbabwe
School of Family Support and Services
Outreach Mission: To advance the well being of individuals and families over the life span and strengthen
Georgia communities.
We work with:
• Individuals and families
• Consumers
• Professionals
• Policy-makers
• Related agencies, business and industry
We achieve our outreach mission by:
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Engaging in collaborative problem-solving
Providing research-based programs and materials
Offering continuing education experiences
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Families as the fundamental social unit;
The interdependence between families and communities;
A lifespan approach to individual well-being and family development;
The role of diversity in strengthening individuals, families, and communities;
The empowerment of people and groups to set and achieve goals and make effective decisions;
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Developing partnerships with organizations and individuals to identify and address needs;
Education as a life-long process with accessible educational opportunities for all;
The integration of teaching, research, and outreach activities through service learning opportunities;
the reciprocal nature of research and outreach;
An interdisciplinary approach in programs and problem-solving;
Diverse modes of inquiry and scholarship;
Using a variety of methods to reach audiences;
Using program evaluation results to improve our outreach efforts.
Excellence in Information Content
Management
Louisiana State University
Louisiana State University (LSU) has been actively engaged for a considerable period of time in a
major “information content management” initiative they call Personal Access Web Services (PAWS).
The LSU description of the initiative and its evolution follows.
Personal Access Web Services (PAWS)
Electronic Records Management, Integrated Systems, Portals, Web-based Information Systems
Personal Access Web Services (PAWS) is an environment designed to deliver a suite of services to students,
faculty and staff through the World Wide Web. The requirements for PAWS were drafted in 1996, before the
concepts of digital infrastructures or portals came into vogue. The overall goal of the PAWS project was to
make technology relevant to students, faculty and staff by giving them direct access to data previously locked
behind mainfra me information systems. As such, immediate emphasis was placed on legacy systems
integration. Requirements were outlined from three perspectives: end user, administrative, and technical.
From the end user's perspective, the system had to provide a user-friendly, real-time interface to data stores
previously available only through administrative offices. In addition, because of limited financial resources and
personal preferences, this interface had to be accessible from a variety of platforms.
From an administrative perspective, technologies used to build the infrastructure had to be easily learned by
analysts without experience in client/server or Web-based technologies. These technologies had to position LSU
to take strategic advantage of existing assets such as in-house legacy systems and existing business data.
From a technical perspective, the infrastructure also had to allow for upgrades of data stores without requiring
major rewrites of existing applications. In addition, the infrastructure had to present data without regard to how
or where the data were actually stored.
Since PAWS was implemented on September 2, 1997, the terms "digital infrastructure" and "portal" have come
into vogue. Today, these terms would be used to classify the PAWS service.
Today
Personal Access Web Services (PAWS) is a Web-based environment that delivers 61,000 unique intranet
portals to members of the LSU community. Each portal is customized to reflect the individual's relationship to
the university and dynamically adapts in real-time when this relationship changes. Services accessed through
the PAWS portal include enterprise, workgroup, and personal applications that meet the specific administrative,
academic, and research needs of each PAWS user. Some of the most widely used PAWS applications include email, registration, degree audit, grade inquiry, financial aid inquiry, library collections, and course tools.
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The PAWS infrastructure was developed at LSU using Lotus Domino, MQ Series, and legacy technology. The
two features that distinguish PAWS from other self-service applications are its plug-and-play framework and its
sophisticated, real-time integration with legacy systems.
The implementation of a plug-and-play framework allowed LSU to provide a common, cost-effective solution
to problems characteristic of portal applications: automated account creation, legacy integration, credentials
mapping, session management, and single sign on. Because these problems were resolved once and services are
"plugged" in, minimal investment in personnel resources is needed. Further, this architecture allows developers
to focus on content, not delivery, reducing the development time for services from months to days. The
framework also makes the application scaleable to a large number of users. The framework is implemented in
Domino.
The most popular PAWS services require real-time integration with legacy systems residing on an IBM S/390.
Integrating the PAWS framework with these systems at the transaction level unlocked data stored in legacy
databases and allowed LSU to leverage its extensive code base. In the PAWS environment, real-time
communication between Domino and the IMS transaction manager is accomplished via MQ Series.
Benefits
The effectiveness of PAWS has been measured by conducting a survey, tracking requests for accounts, tracking
utilization of the portal, and tracking utilization of portal applications.
Student Government Support. In fall 1997, the student government passed a resolution recommending that
freshman classes include an Internet assignment using PAWS. In spring 1998, the student government passed a
second resolution endorsing PAWS as the virtual one-stop shop for university services.
Survey Results. Of the 1,900 users responding to a February 1999 survey of visitors to the LSU web site,
ninety-four percent indicated that they used one or more items available through PAWS.
Account Growth. Initially, a PAWS account was created only when an individual requested one.
Approximately 35,000 accounts were created on demand. Today, PAWS accounts are created for all incoming
students. The number of PAWS accounts has increased to more than 61,000.
Account Utilization. During a typical week the number of legacy transactions issued through PAWS represents
20 percent of all legacy transactions issued or 136,208 transactions. These transactions are exclusive of the
legacy transactions now issued to create the PAWS desktop
Registration. The schedule-request application was the first component of the registration process made
available to students through PAWS. In its first semester—fall 1998—20 percent of requests to add or drop
courses were initiated through PAWS. Such requests increased to 30 percent the following semester and to 40
percent one year after implementation. In fall 1999 students were also allowed to complete additional
registration transactions, including requests for parking permits. Within two weeks, 20 percent of the requests
for additional services were being initiated through PAWS.
Grade Posting. The Grade Posting application developed in cooperation with university registrar allows
instructors to post both midterm and final grades through the Web. In spring 1998, approximately 166
instructors posted their grades via PAWS. In spring 2001, the number of instructors using PAWS to post their
grades grew to 1,316.
Semester Book. Semester Book is a course-management tool. At the end of September 1999 (one month after it
became available campus-wide), the Semester Book application was used by 280 classes with a total enrollment
of 9,886 students. In spring 2001, 900 classes with a total enrollment of 19,323 students used this application.
Cost
International Data Corporation (IDC) projected that LSU would obtain a 78 percent ROI on PAWS in three
years. IDC indicated that, in 1999, LSU provided $1,134,055 in services through PAWS that it would not have
been able to provide through traditional methods. In 2000, IDC projected that LSU would provide $2,489,787 in
services. This projection was based on an average of 50,000 PAWS transactions per week. In 2000, LSU
averaged 136,000 PAWS transactions per week.
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Approximately, four FTE were assigned to the PAWS project when it was initiated. Over the next two years,
the number of FTE increased to twelve. Today, approximately eight FTEs are assigned to maintain the PAWS
infrastructure as well as the services available through PAWS.
The number of analysts assigned to the Enterprise Solutions Group, responsible for all major application
development at LSU including PAWS, has not changed since the implementation of this project.
Notes
AWS won an EDUCAUSE Exemplary Practices Award in 2000.
University of Texas
The University of Texas at Austin faced a similar challenge to the one addressed above by LSU. They
summarized their approach in a 2001 submission to EDUCAUSE.
Subject
Administrative Systems, Enterprise Portals, Web Content Management
Challenge
Our Web services pages to the campus were all individually branded by the offices providing the services, and
the Web services were each discrete piece rather then a coherent business process spanning departments.
Solution
We formed an e-University task force and steering committee to encourage campus-wide projects that span
departments, and we developed a UT Portal called UT Direct that gives the same look and feel and navigation
to all the Web services.
Benefits
Departments are working more closely together on things that were formerly discrete processes -- e.g., purchase
requisitions / accounts payable, registration / fee billing, job postings and resume searches for all colleges and
students and employers; financial aid deferment in fee billing; class Web sites that include academic info on the
syllabus; financial and biographical summary pages that show all info from all campus systems relating to
finances and biographical information; single sign on.
Cost 10,000 man-hours. This included the development of new services that would have been done anyway.
Notes This is an on-going process. We concentrated on student services last year and are moving to services for
faculty and staff this year, in addition to continuing to enhance student services.
Indiana University
Indiana University (IU) provides a god, representative example of a university’s approach to coming
to grips with the requirement for a well-integrated, responsive, and effective business and
management infrastructure. IU chose to pursue an approach that focuses initially on the Human
Resources and Student Information Systems functions, for which they are adopting a PeopleSoftbased solution. Extensive detail on the “HRMS/SIS” project can be found at
http://www.indiana.edu/~hrsis/overview.html.
An important component of this large initiative is the information content management component,
summarized below.
Indiana University Information Environment (IUIE)
A significant effort is underway to create an enterprise-wide information delivery environment at Indiana
University. This effort, led by the IARS team at UITS, will develop the consolidated and integrated
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environment for all faculty, staff, and administrators at IU. The benefits of the Indiana University Information
Environment (IUIE) will provide:
•
•
•
One-stop shopping for information delivery
Access to all subject area data and reports
Supported set of reporting and analysis tools
Human Resource and Student Data Modeling
The Information Environment project team will model and design data to support ad-hoc data access and ad-hoc
reporting for users of employee and student data. Data managers and UITS programmers will develop standard
reports that can be published in the IUIE for widespread distribution. Additionally, the development of predefined queries, which allow parameter-driven extracts from modeled data groups, will facilitate the ability to
extract raw data.
Data Warehouse
Data and information collected for all of the subject areas at Indiana University will be stored in a single,
integrated data warehouse. The data warehouse will contain information that is part of the operational data store
(ODS) and the decision support database (DSS) and will be accessible by the IUIE.
The ODS is a copy of the production database stored in a staging area in the warehouse. Access to the ODS
tables is limited to the data managers within the operational units and is used primarily to support quality
assurance and operational type reporting. The ODS also serves as the staging area for the development of the
modeled views and data groups that will be stored in DSS.
The decis ion support data warehouse will support the majority of reporting and data access to the Student and
Human Resources information. Information in the DSS tables will be modeled to support the needs for ad-hoc
reporting, standard reporting, and ad-hoc data access. Data groups will be developed for the student and human
resources areas for specific application areas as well as those that cross subject area boundaries. The ability to
answer questions that require data from multiple subject areas will be provided as we combine student, human
resources, financial, and other types of information.
Define and Select Reporting Toolset
Efforts are underway to evaluate and recommend a standard set of reporting tools that can be supported by
UITS. Tools that are not on the supported list may still be used; however, it is not feasible for UIS to provide
formal support for every possible reporting tool available today
Penn State University
Penn State was selected as a benchmark institution for this Focus Area because of its interest in an
important, “quick hit” win application that is enabled by advanced information content management.
That application is the online “portfolio.” These can be thought of as multimedia, content rich
“resumes” that can be fare more effective in demonstrating skills, competencies, and accomplishments
that traditional static models can. Online portfolios offer a potentially authentic means to assess the
competencies of students, teachers, academic programs, and even entire universities. Portfolios also provide an
opportunity to help students develop valuable information technology skills. Most important, under the right
conditions, portfolios facilitate the reflective approach to learning that is a necessary condition for critical
thinking.
In preparation for an online portfolio strategy, Penn State studied a number of universities, including all of the
schools in the “Big Ten.” The results of the Penn State study follow.
PURPOSE
This study was performed in order for Penn State to learn what portfolio programs are being implemented at
comparable institutions. From the results of this study, Penn State can build upon existing portfolio programs
and gain a better understanding of portfolios as an assessment tool.
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METHODOLOGY
This study was performed in May 2001 by searching the web sites of Big 10 Universities to determine what
portfolio programs they have in place for students. In the search engine from each University, the keywords
"online portfolio" were used. If these were unsuccessful "portfolio program" was used. On the pages found
through this search, there were sometimes additional links to other portfolio programs. This is how other
institutions in addition to the Big 10 schools were initially found. After finding Universities outside the Big 10
that had portfolio programs, a search in www.google.com was done with the keywords "portfolio program."
RESULTS
University of Iowa: Iowa Advantage is a program that allows students throughout the university to create online portfolios. The program costs $50 per semester and guides students as they build their portfolios. This
program requires four semesters. Each semester consists of two group sessions and two meetings with a career
advisor. It also includes a mock interview with an Iowa alumnus. First year students are encouraged to take part
in this to get off to an early start.
www.uiowa.edu/~careers/iadvan/visitors/index.html
The Educational Placement Office at the University of Iowa has a program for future teachers to create on-line
portfolios. This program uses information from a study that surveyed hiring officials from 49 states in regards to
portfolio materials. The students have access to this study when creating portfolios for themselves.
www.uiowa.edu/~edplace/EmpRes/port.htm
University of Mi nnesota: The University of Minnesota has a program called Portfolio 2.0 that allows students,
faculty, and staff to create their own on-line portfolios. It includes a showcase of portfolios to promote the best
portfolios, although it is currently under construction. The students, faculty, and staff have the ability to
authorize people to view their portfolios so they can remain private.
portfolio.umn.edu/index.html
University of Wisconsin: Educational Placement and Career Services at the University of Wisconsin has an
on-line portfolio system for Education students. It includes a template for beginner students to get started. It
includes portfolio workshops for students to attend. It also provides portfolio consultants who can be contacted
when needed.
careers.soemadison.wisc.edu/Services/Portfolio.htm
Purdue University: The School of Education at Purdue University has a program designed for future teachers
that includes the creation of their own on-line portfolios. The program is centered on the importance of
technology and the design of their portfolios is focused on self-assessment. With this program, Purdue has
addressed the need for traditional teaching portfolios to become on-line portfolios.
http://p3t3.soe.purdue.edu/portfolio.htm
Pennsylvania State University: Although there is not currently an on-line portfolio program at Penn State,
there are many plans for a program. Many colleges are supporting on-line portfolios such as Earth and Mineral
Sciences, Information Sciences and Technology, Education, Engineering, and the Smeal College of Business.
On-line portfolios are rapidly gaining popularity at Penn State. A seminar hosted by the e-Education Institute
met to discuss on-line portfolios.
www.e-education.psu.edu/documents/seminar.pdf
The e-Education Institute is also preparing a web site for the portfolio program when it's ready for students.
www.e-education.psu.edu/portfolios/
There are courses that are assigning on-line portfolios such as Instructional Systems 497B, Geography 121, and
Business Admin istration. There is also a program called Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching
designed to help anyone affiliated with educating students. It has a section about teaching portfolios.
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Michigan State University: Although there is no evidence of an on-line portfolio program at Michigan State
University, there are courses that require the creation of on-line portfolios and an Online Masters Degree
Program in the College of Education that also requires them. There are also MSU students who have created
portfolios, although there is no evidence if they were created independently or for a course requirement.
www.msu.edu/~miazgama/professional.htm
www.msu.edu/~rembiesa/david/about.html
University of Michigan: The University of Michigan does not have a university wide portfolio program. There
is a class that assigns on-line portfolios, and one student created her portfolio as a resume. This is similar to the
resume as a portfolio approach that Penn State hopes to do.
www-personal.umich.edu/~prestonc/acadcar.htm
Indiana University: The University of Indiana does not show evidence of an on-line portfolio program, but
there are a few students who have created portfolios with a resume as the homepage. This is similar to the
format of Penn State's program.
php.indiana.edu/~ccarriga/
php.indiana.edu/~jmonson/
Additional Universities: There are other institutions that are not part of the Big 10 that have on-line portfolio
programs. One such school is Kalamazoo College in Kalamazoo, Michigan. This program begins before
orientation and ends when the student is a senior. All students are required to create on-line portfolios and the
whole institution supports the "K" Portfolio. One student used the resume as a portfolio approach. Here is the
link to his site.
www.kzoo.edu/pfolio/Example/fanson/home.htm
The School of Business at the University of Richmond is another institution that has an on-line portfolio
program. It includes a portfolio contest, which is sponsored by companies such as Cigna and Deloitte and
Touche.
CONCLUSION
Portfolios are gaining popularity quickly, especially portfolios published on-line. There are many other colleges
and universities that are institutionalizing portfolios in their curriculum. Although the programs have
differences with the hopes of Penn State, the focus is still the same: to give students technological experience
and the ability to demonstrate relevant competencies. Portfolios go beyond a standard resume because they have
the ability to show projects and assignments completed by students. They also allow for self-assessment of the
student's work. The portfolio programs at these institutions provide students with an excellent resource to show
potential employers.
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Excellence in Student Support Environment
Stanford University
Stanford has a long history of applying technology to improve the support environment for Stanford
students. The following describes the Stanford philosophy and approach to residential computing.
(For more information, see: http://rescomp.stanford.edu/about/index.html)
RESIDENTIAL COMPUTING PROGRAM
The Residential Computing program aims to enable students to make effective use of information technologies.
With its commitment to four years of guaranteed undergraduate housing and its high percentage of housed
graduate students, Stanford has a special opportunity to bring computing resources to a majority of students
where they live. The residential computing program has undertaken, over the past decade, to take advantage of
this opportunity.
Residential Computing coordinates with the Residential Education and Academic Computing organizations to
provide a full spectrum of training, computing, and networking services to Stanford students.
Mission
The mission of the Residential Computing program is to enable students to make effective and efficient use of
information technologies in education. Central to the program is the belief that such technologies are best
provided in the residence halls that serve as students' homes and are most effectively supported by student staff
who live in these residences. Input from students and faculty as well as constant evaluation of high tech industry
are the driving forces of future planning.
With its commitment to four years of guaranteed undergraduate housing and its high percentage of housed
graduates, Stanford has a special opportunity to bring computing resources and support to a majority of students
where they live. The residential computing program has undertaken, over the past decade, to take advantage of
this opportunity.
Our basic assumption is that information technologies will continue to be a critical and growing part of
academic, administrative, and residential life at Stanford. The following principles have helped us to plan our
support strategy regarding our student comp uting environments.
Principle #1: The University should provide adequate resources for those students who do not own computers.
Providing a computer cluster in each living group helps ensure equitable access to information technology by
making computing resources available in a way that simulates, as closely as possible, the convenience of
owning a computer.
Principle #2: The University should leverage off of and add value to the computers that students own by
providing resources in residences, such as in-room internet connections and laser printing, that support those
computers.
Principle #3: We believe that the most effective way to provide computer resource management, consulting,
and education, both with respect to cost effectiveness and quality of support, is through student mentors who
live in each house.
In support of these principles, the Residential Computing program now provides an extensive computing
environment in residences and a staff of live-in Resident Computer Coordinators who support information
technologies in a timely way, and with respect to changing technologies and the special needs of each house.
At this time, residentially based computer clusters are available in all of Stanford's living groups. These clusters
provide over 350 computers in 72 locations, and serve all of Stanford's approximately 9,000-housed students.
The clusters consist Power Macintosh computers and some PCs running Windows, with laser printers, color
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scanners, CD ROM drives and limited multimedia capability. All clusters are connected to the Internet via the
Stanford University Network (SUNet).
All of Stanford's 9,000-housed students can also access the Internet from their rooms. Besides allowing students
to use SUNet and Internet resources, these connections provide access to resources such as laser printers
conveniently located in residence computer clusters.
Resident Computer Coordinators are house staff members (along with RAs, Head AAs, TAs etc.) who manage
computer clusters, provide computer skills education, and consult with residents on any and all computer related
problems. RCCs teach the CS1c, Introduction to Micro Computing, course in each house with freshman
residents, and provide other types of educational programs as necessary. Those RCCs are also responsible for
supporting in-room connections. RCCs have become the primary campus consulting resource for Stanford's
housed students, especially for undergraduates. Our reliance on these expert students is the key to the efficiency
and effectiveness of the program. They comprise over 90% of all ResComp staff.
Acceptable Use Policy
Residential Computing at Stanford University provides computer clusters and in-room connection services in
selected on-campus residences in support of the educational mission of the University. It is the responsibility of
each resident to use these services appropriately and in compliance with all University, City, County, State, and
Federal laws and regulations. Failure to comply with any of the policies may result in termination of in-room
network services, loss of computer cluster use privileges, prosecution by the University based on Fundamental
Standard violations for students, standard disciplinary procedures for faculty and staff, and/or criminal
prosecution.
Clemson University
Clemson University has a program similar to Stanford’s, as described below. For more information,
see: http://rescom.clemson.edu/about.html#overview
Welcome to Residential Computing
Overview
Residential Computing is a part of ITS (Information Technology Services) within the Division of Student
Affairs that provides students with access to the University network as well as the Internet. Residential
Computing handles problems with the students' connections in their rooms, software distribution, and
residential labs as well as providing a one on one tutorial session for almost any given subject. We should not
be confused with the Division of Computing and Information Technology (DCIT). ResCom works from the
students' computers to the jack in the wall. DCIT works from the jack to the resources behind it that make up
the university network.
History
Residential Computing was started in the Fall Semester of 1995 courtesy of a grant received in the spring of that
year. Holmes Hall was the first building with networking capabilities and came online in the fall of 1995. Over
the summer of 1996, a massive expansion of the campus network took place. McCabe, Byrnes, Lever, Manning,
Smith, Barnett, Mauldin, Cope, Sanders, Geer, Young, and Benet all went online. Shortly after, in the spring of
1997, the Fraternity Quad received service. The Fall Semester of 1998 saw all sections of Johnstone, Clemson
House, Calhoun Courts, and Lightsey Bridge come online. The final residence area to get online was Thornhill
Village. It was turned on over Christmas break of 1998. As of the spring semester of 2001, all buildings are still
active. Each dorm room has two ports in it and each apartment has two per room and one or two in the living
room, depending on the apartment.
Funding for Residential Computing has evolved a bit. When Residential Computing was started in 1995, then
called Residential Networking (ResNet), a fee of $40 was charged to the student. The student also had to sign a
contract. The port was then made "active" and the student was free to use it all semester. This continued until
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the fall semester of 1998 when housing increased the rates to include the fee for this service. Since the rate
increase affected everyone, all ports were made "active".
Software
Software for the service has also changed. At first, a 3 ½" floppy disk had to be checked out at the front desk of
the residence area to help you set up the connection. The fall semester of 1998 saw the first ResNet CD. The
CDs could be checked out at the front desk and returned when the student was finished using them. In the fall of
1999, the newly renamed ResCom (Residential Computing), made enough CDs to distribute one in each dorm
room and two in each apartment. This same process was used the following fall semester in 2000 and will
continue to be used each year. So when the students arrive in their rooms, there will be a CD waiting for them
with all of the software we offer. Aside from the CD, software is also available from this web site.
Support
Support for the service provided by Residential Computing has been ongoing since it started in 1995. Early on,
students had to sign a release waiver before the consultant could help them with their computer. This has been
phased out. Since it was done away with, the support system has remained fairly constant. If a student has
problems with their computer, they may call and make an appointment for a trained consultant to come to their
room and fix the problem. Our consultants can address most problems. However, Residential Computing does
not install any hardware except for Ethernet cards (Network cards).
Computer Labs
Residential Computer labs have been coming online over the years. In order of appearance, there are now labs
in Johnstone E, Wannamaker, Lever, Thornhill Village, Clemson House, Johnstone A, Lightsey Bridge, Benet,
and The Hendrix Center. Residential Computing maintains these labs. They are exactly the same as the
computers in the DCIT supported labs. The only difference is that since the labs are in a residence hall (the
Hendrix Center is not a residence hall), Residential Computing supports them.
Mission Statement
Residential Computing's mission statement is consistent with Clemson University Housing's mission statement
and that is to promote academic success within the Clemson University residential community by providing
efficient, effective, and innovative technological support.
UCLA
A good example of how the “Excellence in Student Support Environment” concept can be extended
to arts is provided in the following from UCLA.
Technology and Theater Unite to Boldly Retell Homer's 'Iliad' at UCLA
Date: December 19, 2001
Contact: Teri Bond Michael (teri@tft.ucla.edu)
A group of innovative artists at the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television, armed with groundbreaking
computer software, is poised to retell one of the oldest stories in Western literature — Homer's "Iliad" — in a
bold new way. The team at UCLA's HyperMedia Studio is targeting all of their resources, both artistic and
technological, into a tactile and chilling retelling of Homer's bloody tale of war, pride and misplaced political
alliances. "The Iliad Project," as it is currently called, will culminate this summer in a series of events including
interactive performances with audience participation, seminars and discussions.
Led by digital media artist and professor of film Fabian Wagmister, the group is busy experimenting with
advanced sensing technologies, distributed networks, show control, automated production systems and digital
multimedia software. Wagmister's cutting-edge work has already been seen internationally in Germany, France
and Central and South America.
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Also involved in "The Iliad Project" is stage and film director and professor of theater Jose Luis Valenzuela —
known to Los Angeles audiences for his work at Los Angeles Theatre Center (LATC) and The Mark Taper
Forum, as well as for his film, "Luminarias."
Consulting on the text for "The Iliad Project" is playwright, screenwriter, professor and current chair of the
UCLA Master of Fine Arts Playwriting Program, Edit Villarreal, whose credits include the PBS-produced
"Foto-Novelas" series, Part One and Two, as well as the "American Playhouse" production of "La Carpa."
Wagmister, Valenzuela and Villarreal will be working closely with a select group of UCLA graduate students
chosen specifically for the project. Playwright Jared Stein and director Adam Shive, both recent graduates of
UCLA's M.F.A. programs in theater, will be returning to the Westwood campus as resident artists to reshape
and retell the story of the "Iliad." Stein and Shive first collaborated during the Francis Ford Coppola One-Act
Marathon, held every fall at the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television. Besides "The Iliad Project,"
they are scheduled to work together at LATC in early 2002 on a production of Stein's "Somewhere in Utopia"
and two other new pieces.
For "The Iliad Project," Stein and Shive will be joined by systems designer and HyperMedia Studio Research
Fellow Jeff Burke. A recent graduate of UCLA's Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science
with a degree in electrical engineering, Burke will be developing and creating cutting-edge hardware and
software systems that will be used for this production and pave the way for further productions.
For more information on this groundbreaking new project, visit the UCLA HyperMedia Studio at
hypermedia.ucla.edu/iliad/info/ or contact Teri Bond Michael at (310) 206-3235 or teri@tft.ucla.edu, or Jeff
Burke at (310) 794-5358 or jburke@hypermedia.ucla.edu.
Purdue University
The following is a description of the Purdue approach to providing access to information technology
resources. See: http://www.purdue.edu/resnet/
RESNET
A primary objective in the University's strategic plan for developing information technology facilities is to
create a state-of-the-art data network that is fully accessible to all members of the University community. Over
the past several years we have undertaken and completed several major network development projects to
provide network access from all university buildings, including the ResNet system in the on-campus student
residences. Now the ResNet system provides access to the campus data network from the off-campus, private
residences of students, faculty, and staff via dial-up modems. Higher speed ADSL connections are also
available through Verizon Network Services.
For set-up information, please select On-campus or Off-campus
Undecided? Click here.
Stetson University
Similar to many other institutions, Stetson has a ResNet program. See
http://www.stetson.edu/departments/cit/resnet/overview.html
ResNet
What is ResNet? ResNet allows all students who live in University-owned residence halls to be directly
hardwired to the Stetson network. There is a network connection for every student, so that students sharing a
room may have their own personal connection and be connected simultaneously!
Why ResNet? Being directly connected allows students to access the Internet at speeds of 10 megabits per
second, versus the 28,800 bits that most modems provide. This means web pages load faster and files will
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download more quickly. Also, being directly connected to a network leaves phone lines free, allowing you to
talk on the phone and surf the Web or read your email at the same time.
University of Illinois
A long-time leader in a technology-based support environment for students is the University of
Illinois. See http://www.online.uillinois.edu/about/index.html. The primary mechanism is called U of
I Online.
U of I Online
Welcome to U of I Online, your central source for information about the online courses, programs, and public
service activities offered by the three campuses of the University of Illinois. All of the courses and programs
listed in our catalog are conducted mostly or completely over the Internet, which means you "attend" lectures
and complete your assignments whenever and wherever it's most convenient for you.
About U of I Online
Established in winter of 1997, the University of Illinois Online (U of I Online) is a university-wide initiative
providing coordination and support to the three campuses of the University of Illinois (Chicago, Springfield,
and Urbana-Champaign) in the area of Internet-based education and public service. Its primary goal is to
increase the number of high-quality educational programs available to place-bound and time-restricted citizens
in Illinois.
During its brief history, U of I Online has supported the development of over thirty new online programs
(including one professional degree, ten complete master's degrees, and a baccalaureate completion program),
twenty-six of which are already enrolling students. Several U of I Online master's programs have already had
two or more graduating classes.
U of I Online is administered through the Office of the Vice President for Academic Affairs. A fourteenmember Steering Committee with representatives from all three campuses serves as the core-planning group for
U of I Online programs and services. In addition, a small administrative staff attends to intercampus
coordination, public relations and outreach, program development, support, research, and evaluation.
U of I Online does not admit and register students nor does it develop and deliver online courses; rather it
facilitates these activities by providing the following services to the University community and to prospective
students:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Publishing an online catalog of all U of I education and public service programs conducted largely or
wholly over the Internet
Responding to inquiries about the University's online courses and programs
Helping the three campuses to develop appropriate support services for off-campus students
Supporting research on the effectiveness of online instruction
Providing an outreach mechanism to identify and cultivate general and specialty markets for Internetbased education and public service
Offering consulting and training to faculty who are developing and teaching online courses
Providing oversight and ensuring University-level attention to issues of special concern to faculty, such
as quality control, ownership of materials, workload, and recognition
Offering grants to units developing Internet-based programs; these awards are intended to cover the
one-time costs of converting existing course materials to a pedagogically sound online format.
Promoting the benefits and potential of Internet-based instruction to faculty and administrators on the
three campuses
Marketing the University's online programs
U of I Online has received over one million dollars in grants from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation to support the
development of new online programs and is a member of the Sloan ALN Consortium. All funds from the Sloan
Foundation have been reallocated to campus departments in the form of program development grants.
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Online Catalog
Check out our online catalog to learn more about our courses and programs. If you can't find what you're
looking for at the University of Illinois, try visiting the Illinois Virtual Campus.
If you have questions about U of I Online, please complete our online inquiry form and we'll get back to you as
soon as possible. If you'd like to know more about specific courses or programs in our catalog, contact the
person or department listed in the corresponding catalog entry.
The U of I Online Catalog contains detailed descriptions of individual courses and complete degree and
certificate programs. To find the courses or programs that interest you, choose one of the following options:
Course Catalog
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Simple Search for Online Courses
Advanced Search for Online Courses
Browse Courses by Subject Area
View the Current Schedule of Online Courses at:
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Chicago
Springfield
Urbana-Champaign
Program Catalog
Search Online Programs
Complete List of Online Programs
Admissions and Registration
Click on the links below for general information about admissions and registration for online courses. Note that
procedures and requirements vary from campus to campus and, in some cases, from program to program.
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Admissions Requirements and Procedures - how to apply for admission to U of I Online programs
Registration Procedures - how to enroll in U of I Online courses
Intercampus and Concurrent Registration - for current U of I students; how to enroll in an online
course offered by a U of I campus other than your home campus.
Tuition and Fees - an explanation of the tuition and fee rates for U of I Online courses and programs
Financial Aid - information about availability and eligibility for grants and loans
Academic Calendars - important dates and deadlines for credit-bearing classes and programs
Technical Requirements - minimum hardware and software requirements for U of I Online classes
Public Service Programs
The University of Illinois is among 88 national universities charged with doing basic and applied research. Its
discoveries, past and present, have a positive impact on the lives of Illinoisans, from engineering and agriculture
to clinical medicine, from informing public policy considerations to urban planning and renewal, and from
educational assistance and innovation to new applications in computer technologies. Besides its practical value,
U of I research attracts some $300 million in federal contracts every year, helping to return Illinois tax dollars to
the Prairie State.
From its beginning, the University has served literally million of Illinois residents. U of I Extension not only
helps farmers and agribusiness interests, but 4-H has moved into public housing in metropolitan areas and
suburban homeowners benefit from lawn and garden advice. U of I faculty and staff reach out in hundreds of
ways every day in areas that they are best at: business and management, education, natural resources, health,
engineering, the arts.
The campuses organize and run more than 650 public services activities around the state, all of which are
cataloged in the University's public service database. The public service database is dynamic, always changing,
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and we encourage you to browse. Many of the public service activities described in the database have a
significant online component.
Program Areas
Click on one of the program areas below and you will get a list of program titles that you can further search for
more information and, we hope, find the expertise or help you want:
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Agriculture & Veterinary Environment & Natural Resources
Athletics & Recreation Health
Arts & Culture Housing
Business & Management Law & Government
Economic Development Public Safety
Education - Elementary & Secondary Social Policy
Education - Post-Secondary & Continuing Transportation
Engineering, Science & Technology Youth, Family & Children
Search Form
The form below is designed to help you narrow your search to find a specific program. Click on the keyword,
geographic area served or population served - or any combination.
Student Resources
Click on the links below for general information about student resources. Note that resources and services vary
from campus to campus and, in some cases, from program to program.
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About Online Courses
What Is an Online Course?
Is Online Learning for You?
Student Testimonials
Academic Resources and Services
Admissions and Registration Information
Academic Calendars
Academic Advising
Financial Aid Information
Library Support and Services
Where to Buy Textbooks
Student Support Resources and Services
i-cards and Network IDs
Technical Support
Women's Programs
Minority Programs and Services
Services for Students with Disabilities
Mediation and Conflict Resolution
Alumni Association
Faculty Resources
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U of I Online Development Grant Information - request(s) for proposals and information related to
special funding for online course and program development
Instructional Technology Support and Training - where to go for information and help with developing
online instructional materials
Intellectual Property Policies, Procedures, and Resources - what every online instructor needs to know
about intellectual property ownership and fair use
U of I Online Events - retreats and workshops sponsored by the U of I Online office
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Excellence in University Business and
Management Operations
University of Virginia
The University of Virginia is embarking on a five-year effort to replace obsolete core technology and
business systems in the areas of financial, human resources and student services with an Enterprise
Resource Planning (ERP) system. “This will be a state-of-the-art group of integrated software
applications that will effectively and effic iently support the core missions of the University: teaching,
research and public service.”
BACKGROUND AND RATIONALE
The University of Virginia is recognized as one of the country’s premier public universities. Its goal is to
maintain this position through its ability to attract and retain top quality students, faculty and staff. The
University also has engaged in a long-range strategic planning process, setting the agenda for the third century
at the University. The strategic plan recognizes that the quality of the University’s administrative services and
information systems must support its strategic vision.
The University’s strategic vision cannot be met with current administrative systems or processes. The
University now supports 24 core information systems and 26 programming languages. This is in addition to
more than 120 shadow and supplemental systems throughout the University. Many of the systems and the
business practices they support are twenty to thirty years old. Replacement is past due in some cases, and the
risk of system failure in others increases with time. In 1994 the University began modifying its processes,
policies and procedures as part of its new Process Simplification initiative. This effort has been hampered by the
current technology base, which cannot accommodate the technological requirements of many best business
practices.
In 1996, a three-year process was begun through which the University community determined that the
University should purchase and implement a group of integrated software applications and solicited proposals
from software and consulting companies.
Oracle has been awarded a contract for the software applications. Their experience in the higher education arena
and their product depth in the area of grants management were critical factors. KPMG Consulting was awarded
a contract for assistance with project implementation. The major reason for selecting KPMG was their recent
experience implementing ERP software (particularly Oracle) in institutions comparable to the University.
KPMG also has an established relationship with Oracle in product development. The experience of KPMG in
higher education reduces the risk of encountering difficulties during the implementation.
PROJECT OBJECTIVES
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Increased efficiencies and effective operations
Improved customer service
Better ability to adapt to growth and change
Project Strategies
Install and implement an Enterprise Resource Planning system
Modify and simplify the University’s administrative processes, consistent with the capabilities of the
software
AN INTEGRATED SYSTEM FEATURES
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Integrated database;
Web-enablement;
On-line processing;
Automated routing and approvals;
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On-line status checks;
A common “look and feel” across systems;
More self-service features to employees and students;
Remote access to information;
Electronic commerce capabilities;
Conversion to modern client-server technology;
An established migration path to new technology as it becomes available on the marketplace;
Flexibility which allows the University to adapt its information systems to meet requirements caused
by changing programmatic needs and program growth; and
Enhanced ability to meet compliance requirements.
BENEFITS
If processes and technology are changed simultaneously, faculty, staff and students can expect the following
benefits:
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Greater access to the data contained within the system through the use of better reporting tools;
Greater access to the system’s functionality through the Internet;
A better trained workforce;
Easier and faster response to changes in state and federal regulations;
Simpler policies and procedures;
Fewer steps from start to finish;
Streamlined roles and responsibilities for all personnel;
An opportunity for fewer approvals per transaction;
Less pre-audit and more post-audit of transactions;
Minimized submission of inaccurate transactions;
Economic and intangible benefits.
In addition, the technical architecture will be dramatically simplified by reducing the number of diverse systems
and associated interfaces.
CRITICAL SUCCESS FACTORS
Commitment of the University leadership ( President Casteen and all of the vice presidents have expressed total
commitment to the success of the project.
Full-time project personnel (the project has a core team dedicated full-time to the project). In addition,
personnel from all academic and other business units will have an opportunity to help design, guide and
implement the new systems. This will truly be a team effort that will require the talents, expertise and time of all
members of the University community.
Communications and training are critical – One of the basic tenets of this project is that extensive training must
be provided if this effort is to be successful. All University faculty and staff will be given amp le opportunity to
be successful when operating the new system. Excellent and accessible training will be vital to achieving this
goal.
PHASES
The integrated systems will be implemented in phases over a five-year period:
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Phase 2 Human Resources and Payroll Applications
Phase 3 Student Information System (currently under development by Oracle)
University of Pennsylvania
As its blueprint for the future, the University of Pennsylvania is pursing a vision the call “Agenda for
Excellence.” The following excerpts from the Agenda are relevant to this Focus Area. A more indepth review of the interim assessment of the progress of the University’s progress against its Agenda
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for Excellence goals makes it clear that most of these obje ctives are being achieved, and IT
investments in conjunction with process innovation are among the major success factors.
Strategic Goal 3: The University will manage its human, financial, and physical resources effectively and
efficiently to achieve its strategic goals.
Subgoal 3(a): Penn will create a more responsive and effective planning, budgeting, and outcomes evaluation
process to ensure that its resources support its academic mission.
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Develop an integrated process of planning and budgeting
Complete the integration of the operating budget and the capital planning process
Support school-based efforts to better integrate academic planning and budgeting
Formulate University-wide financial policy, annual budgets, and operating plans for academic and
administrative units
Enhance institutional research to support the planning and budgeting process
Coordinate school and program evaluations, linking the process with long-term resource planing
Seek to improve Penn’s system of responsibility center management to achieve the most effective
allocation of financial resources.
Subgoal 3(b): Penn will broaden its administrative restructuring initiative to encompass all major
administrative activities and processes, both in the central administration and in the schools.
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Improve the quality and cost-effectiveness of service across the institution and establish appropriate
measures to evaluate those services delivered on a regular basis.
Reduce the cost of central and school administration by $50 million over the next five years and
reinvest these savings in support of University and school-based strategic priorities.
Standardize Penn’s disparate procurement systems to achieve economies of scale and maximize
savings on goods and services purchased annually.
Generate $10 million at the central level in new revenues through entrepreneurial business ventures
and better management of existing auxiliary enterprises.
Restructure Penn’s Human Resources plans and programs.
Provide administrative employees with greater opportunities to improve their skills, grow
professionally, and enhance their careers within the University.
Strengthen the system of human resources development and performance review.
Work with all units of the University to ensure the maintenance of a humane and fair workplace
environment for all employees.
Streamline, improve, and reduce the costs of Penn’s benefit system while maintaining total
compensation at levels consistent with those of peer institutions.
Restructure computing and telecommunications at Penn into a state-of-the art system to improve the
University’s ability to generate, use, and share data.
Implement a University-wide Public Safety Master plan to reduce crime and enhance the security of
people and property on campus and in adjacent neighborhoods.
Upgrade the University’s internal controls and compliance mechanisms to better manage risks and
increase accountability at all levels.
Systematically implement measures to reduce the costs of building new facilities and maintaining
existing ones, while improving the quality and timeliness of maintenance and housekeeping services
on campus.
Indiana University
Indiana University (IU) provides a god, representative example of a university’s approach to coming
to grips with the requirement for a well integrated, responsive, and effective business and
management infrastructure. IU chose to pursue an approach that focuses initially on the Human
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Resources and Student Information Systems functions, for which they are adopting a PeopleSoftbased solution. Extensive detail on the “HRMS/SIS” project can be found at
http://www.indiana.edu/~hrsis/overview.html.
Highlights are provided below.
Mission: The mission of the HRMS/SIS Project is to create an integrated information technology environment for students,
faculty, and staff. Our goal is to focus on customers, services, and integration for end users. Specific deliverables include:
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A Web-based self-service environment for students, parents, prospective students, and employees
An administrative transaction processing environment for university staff to conduct day-to-day
business an information environment for all levels of IU faculty and staff to do reporting, data
extraction, and information analysis, and
The implementation of the PeopleSoft Student Administration and HRMS products. Self Service on
the Web: Students, parents, faculty, and staff will access information about their own records and
conduct business with the university through a web interface.
Self-Service for Students and Parents: Students and parents will access information and conduct university
business when they want, from wherever they want. As we develop a new student and parent self-service
environment this "no-stop" shopping is our goal. The student self-service environment will serve the population
of some 90,000 matriculated students on all campuses as well as applicants to Indiana University. The project
will initially focus on the delivery of new services for prospective and current students, their parents and
alumni. A particularly exciting deliverable will be to provide applications to students and parents. We will be
working with the Self-Service Advisory Group to further define deliverables in this area.
Insite: Insite (Indiana Student Information Transaction Environment) currently serves students on all eight
campuses, as well as the Columbus branch, and provides secure access to student information. Students use this
self-service environment to handle routine administrative transactions and perform record inquiries. Added
functionality is being considered, and specific requests are being prioritized, including the addition of
enrollment capability and an increase in the hours of availability for Insite.
Some of the requirements for the new self-service environment include:
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Create an integrated technical architecture for students and employees by utilizing one standard
development tool for the new web self-service environment
Expand the hours of availability, with as close to 24 x 7 operation as possible
Allow students and parents to access the web services from any location
Provide appropriate security
Include student participation on the self-service project team to help define new services and perform
usability testing
Recommend and prioritize the delivery of services with student convenience as the overarching goal
Prepare a plan to maintain the present services available in Insite as we migrate to the new technology
Self-Service for Employees: The implementation of Phase I of the project will provide the base on which new
services will be offered for employee self-service. The opportunity to provide web-based services for 14,000
full-time appointed staff and 6,000 retirees will add tremendous value to Indiana University. Services developed
for the Human Resource, Dean of Faculties, and University Benefits and Payroll offices will benefit staff and
faculty in convenience and result in lower processing costs for the university.
Discussions are underway to discuss the implementation strategy for the employee self-service environment.
The following phased-in approach is one possible way for us to make new services available to the employees:
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The first set of deliverables that might be targeted for consideration by the project team would support
record inquiries fro m the Human Resource Information System. While development for a new system
is still underway, possible deliverables might be to allow employees view their enrollment status;
define payroll deduction codes; and update name, address, and marital status information.
The next level of deliverables would provide inquiry into the new PeopleSoft HRMS system for
information that is not currently available in the HRIS system—for example, beneficiary and insurance
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information. The ability for employees to validate their own records and perform "what if" processing
would also be considered during this phase.
The next phase might allow employees to update their records within HRMS, in addition to providing
all of the above services.
The final phase of the implementation strategy would continue to expand upon the services available in
all of the categories listed above. Another goal is to make available information provided by outside
vendors in the health care and Benefits areas. Management for some of this information is currently
outsourced to third party vendors and would make this a joint venture project.
Self-Service Technology: A significant aspect of the project will focus on the delivery of a new and improved
web development technology. Efforts to design and develop an integrated technical architecture to support the
growing demand for new student and employee services are underway. Additionally, IVR, or touch-tone,
services will continue to be developed as we move forward with the Student Administration imple mentation. As
our core business processes are developed in PeopleSoft, student self-service applications will be identified to
support the Contact/Recruiting and Admissions processing that can be off-loaded to students.
Administrative Transaction Processing (ATP)
The objective of the Administrative Transaction Processing (ATP) environment is to provide a uniform method
for faculty & staff to access and conduct administrative activities. Specifically, the environment will offer the
electronic replacement of paper forms, which currently drive actions across Indiana University's administrative
systems. Further, the ATP environment will facilitate electronic routing and approval (workflow) of electronic
documents. The ATP environment will provide access to the Financial Information System, Human Resource
Management System, Purchasing System, Student Systems, Travel, and Facilities. This approach to document
initiation and workflow will simplify the diverse nature of these systems and allow users to perform a variety of
actions under one umbrella. Objectives of the ATP environment include:
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A common place for users to sign-on and conduct a variety of administrative activities
A common point of entry for initiating electronic documents across all administrative systems
A common workflow to facilitate electronic approvals & review of electronic documents
A suite of rules-based editing upon document initiation; on-line inquiries to financial data and
reference tables; and dynamic routing and approval.
Some of the administrative activities and associated systems offered under the ATP umbrella include:
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Personnel Action Document – Human Resource Management System
Payroll Voucher – Human Resource Management System
Purchase Order – Purchasing System
Accounts Payable Invoice – Purchasing System
Accounting Adjustments – Financial Information System
Internal Service Request and associated billings – Financial Information System
SUPPORT FOR CORE BUSINESS PROCESSES
PeopleSoft software will store the day-to-day data required by the university, and will process the business rules
to ensure that data has integrity and is meaningful. PeopleSoft software will also conduct the necessary
processing to support the daily business of the university.
Campus Community: Campus Commu nity is the core of Peoplesoft's student administration and HRMS
solution. The campus community can:
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Centralize data for student administration and HRMS
Capture and disseminate student and employee biographic and demographic data
Use global access and shared searches to eliminate duplicate records
Create checklists to monitor and automate specific activities
Admissions: The Admissions component provides tools to automate and streamline recruiting and admissions:
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Tailor admissions requirements to individual academic programs
Measure success in recruiting events and activities
Measure success of admissions decisions
Student Financials (Bursar): PeopleSoft Student Financials tracks student disbursements, charges, and payments
and will offer:
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Improved student access
Processing of single accounts for billing purposes or split accounts for payment allocations
Simplified tuition calculation
Versatile billing features
Various payment plans
Increased collections efficiency
Financial Aid: PeopleSoft provides instant access to student financial information, while keeping data secure,
and can be adapted to support the rules and practices of Indiana University
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Automatically match financial aid sources to eligible students
Automatically assign budgets to students
Use workflow for electronic data application and fund disbursement
Integrate financial aid information with student financials (Bursar) and human resources
Accurately post financial aid to student bills
Easily manage work study programs
Student Advising: The Academic Advising component will allow advisors to automate many of the routine
tasks associated with degree tracking and auditing. Highlights include:
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Simplified degree auditing process
Degree tracking based on institutional and individual requirements
Tailored academic programs
Analysis tools for academic progress
Perform “what-if” analysis of degree progress vs. proposed academic program
Perform “what-if” analysis to customize academic programs for individual students
Comprehensive reporting and information access
Payroll & Benefits: The Payroll component of the PeopleSoft HRMS system will help IU to run a more
efficient payroll operation, including:
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Payroll processing, including retroactive pay, wage garnishment, direct deposits
Tax computation, including automatic updates to incorporate new tax regulations
Online timesheets
Multifaceted payroll reporting
Human Resources: IU will use the PeopleSoft human resource component to:
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Manage positions and compensation
Recruit, hire, and train employees
Promote, allocate, and retire personnel
Comply with local regulatory requirements
Benefits Administration: PeopleSoft HRMS can manage a wide range of benefit options, including medical,
dental, life, profit sharing, and pensions. Components of the Benefits Administration include:
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Automatic retroactive benefits and deductions
Benefits billing management
Expanded COBRA administration
Automated event maintenance—monitors personnel status changes or events
Automated benefits enrollment
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Flexible spending account (FSA) claims management
Internet access to benefits information
Comprehensive reporting and analysis
Time & Attendance Processing: Although IU will not be implementing the PeopleSoft HRMS Time & Labor
Product, the University is in the process of developing a custom TimeKeeping system with a high level of
integration with HRMS/SIS. Some advantages of this system will include:
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Hours Collection via real-time or retrospective interfaces available on the Web or at interactive
TimeKeeping kiosks.
Elimination of Paper Timesheets for both Hourly and Biweekly employees.
Elimination of the manual calculation for pay period totals.
Automatic application of certain business rules, including shift differentials and premiums.
Electronic submission and approval for time records.
Automated Feed of TimeKeeping information into the payroll voucher.
Washington State University
Washington State University, like many universities, found itself struggling with a cumbersome but vital
process, the Admissions process. This is the approach they took.
Streamlining the Admissions Process with Imaging and Workflow
Before the imaging and workflow project began, WSU's admission processing was based on paper application
materials kept in each student's file folder and data kept in the mainframe student information system. Multiple
staff members in Admissions and other offices needed to see the documents in the folders to do their work, and
these pieces of paper could only be shared by making copies or passing the folder from desk to desk.
Admissions Office file cabinets were burgeoning with folders and taking up valuable floor space. Loose
documents and file folders were piled high on staff members' desks. Frantic e-mails were sent many times a day
to the entire office to try to locate "missing" files, transcripts, or applications. Admissions Office staff
answering questions from students and parents on the telephone and at the front desk effectively removed a
student's file from the processing flow when they retrieved it for information. Staff members from other offices
prowled from desk to desk in search of files for students they were trying to process. Copies of every transcript
and transfer credit report were routinely made and sent to academic advisors via the campus mail system. We
desperately needed a way out of the paper pandemonium!
WSU's desire to enhance enrollment was also a major consideration in the initiation of the project. By becoming
more efficient and reducing the time necessary to process applications, WSU hoped to increase its success in
national and regional competition for high quality students. Enrollment statistics show that the quicker
applications are processed and students are offered admission, the more likely they are to enroll. University
enrollment enhancement initiatives were expected to increase the number of applications submitted into the
process, and the existing model simply did not have the capacity to handle them efficiently.
Solution: The business needs pointed to a paperless, shared admissions process to improve efficiency, expand
capacity, and enhance customer service. The solution explored and then implemented was a university-wide
electronic document management system with automated workflow. The Admissions Office was selected for
the initial implementation of the new system, including document archive and retrieval functionality and
automated workflow processing, with plans to extend it to meet similar needs of other university offices over
time.
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Benefits:
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The most noticeable benefit of document imaging is the absence of piles of paper in the Admissions
Office. Paper admission file folders are a thing of the past, and substantial savings have been realized
because staff members no longer spend time tracking down "lost" folders or documents.
Images submitted to the system are immediately available for offices across the university to view or
annotate. This has provided an enormous customer service benefit. A staff member taking a call from a
student or parent is able to use a query tool to see a list of documents received for the student in
question without having to search for a file folder that might be anywhere in the office.
Automated workflow has had a huge impact on the Admissions Office. Staff members no longer need
to pass file folders from desk to desk. Workflow packages can be located by anyone using the
software; journal entries and comments can be reviewed; package history reveals exactly what
processing steps have been completed.
Before the system was implemented, procedures were difficult to standardize. Now an automated
process and a single set of rules drive procedures and events at the main campus and all branches.
When management decides to give priority to processing applications in a particular status, automated
filters enable quick queries to find them, instead of researching and locating individual files.
Seven custom forms and a workflow database were developed to display and hold all data necessary to
process a student's application. Each of the forms is designed to address the needs of staff members
during a particular step of the processing. For example, one form holds information for answering
status questions on the telephone, one contains transcript evaluation items, and one includes items
pertinent to international students.
A custom module supplied by our system integrator produces all letters mailed to applicants, replacing
the cumbersome mainframe merge and print process.
A locally developed module automatically formats the data from an application submitted on the Web into an
image and sends it to the system, while simultaneously initiating a workflow package. So a Web application
enters the processing cycle as soon as it's received, with no manual steps required.
Excellence in IT Management and Operations
University of North Carolina
The University of North Carolina is provides a good representative example of a large, successful
university attempting to effectively manage its information resources and services. The central IS
structure for UNC (Information Technology Services) is shown below. The web page
(http://www.unc.edu/campus/its/) should be referenced for more detail.
ITS provides both administrative and academic technology-based services to the UNC-CH community.
Available services include technical assistance, training, and documentation for faculty, staff, and students
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using a wide variety of computing and networking resources, including Internet access, desktop support, and
research and administrative services.
General Services
Email and Internet
Computer Labs
Shareware
Assistance
Online Technical Assistance
Current System Status
Training and Documentation
Computer Training Center
Computer-Based Training
Online Documentation
Services for Students
ResNet
Forgotten Passwords
Email and Web Pages
Instructor Services
Center for Instructional
Technology
Instructional Materials
Classroom Resources
Exam Scanning
Research Services
Bioscience Computing
Scientific Computing
Statistical Computing
Other Re
The Focus Area team should review the following link to get a good idea of how UNC communicates
its architectural standards: http://www.unc.edu/atn/techsupp/
University of Virginia
The University of Virginia is another university that appears to be successful in the management and
use of information resources. The following information relates to important facets of UVA’s
approach to IT management and operations that might be relevant to the Focus Area team.
GENERAL STRUCTURE
The Office of Information Technologies (OIT) is the office of the Vice President and Chief Information Officer
for the University of Virginia. The VP/CIO's responsibilities include:
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Working with the University community and its leaders to define a vision for the role of information
technology at U.Va. and in higher education,
Making specific proposals --and advocating for resources --to realize that vision,
Facilitating the effective coordination of information technology-related activity across the Grounds, and
Serving as the chief executive officer of the Department of Information Technology and Communication
(ITC).
The staff at OIT manages functions ranging from strategic planning to policy development and from exploring
new technologies to exploring new funding models to help the University afford to acquire the technology it
needs.
Highlights of the activities of OIT and ITC are in their annual progress report. The report tracks the
organizations' progress against the multi-year strategic plan. Records of meetings by OIT/ITC directors can be
found in Senior Management minutes.
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OTHER IT ORGANIZATIONAL UNITS
Applications & Data Services' Organization
Applications and Data Services is a Division of the University of Virginia's Department of Information
Technology and Communication.
For more information or to initiate a work request contact ads-web@virginia.edu or ADS Director Don Reynard
at reynard@virginia.edu
Objectives
The goal of Applications and Data Services is to support the instruction, research, and administrative functions
of the University by providing a set of integrated information systems and easily accessible databases of
institutional data to the user community. To learn more, read the Objectives.
ITC Budget and Administration
The Budget and Administration Division (BA) serves as an internal service unit to the Department of
Information Technology in the following areas:
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Administrative
Budget and Planning
Human Resources
Purchasing
Communications and Systems Division
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Communication Services
Mainframe Systems
Micro Systems
Network Operations
Network Systems
Operations
Unix Systems
The Communications and Systems Division is responsible for providing a broad range of modern computing
and communications services ranging from the support of high performance research computing environments
to the provision of cable television services and phone systems for students in their dormitory rooms. The
primary goal of CSD is to provide existing services in a highly reliable and cost-effective manner while
working to develop, test and deploy the next generation of technology services.
To support the exchange of information, Communications and Systems maintains a network of cable (copper
and optic fiber), telephone switches, high-speed routers, and other network equipment. The division has recently
been involved in a major expansion of the University's fiber optic network infrastructure. The major services of
the division to the University community are:
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Computing Infrastructure
Network Infrastructure
Messaging Services
Research Computing and Communications
Student Dormitory Network Services
Voice Services
Technology Service Development Projects
The groups of CSD provide consulting and some fee-based services in their respective areas of responsibility.
CSD also manages network interconnections with local high-speed network providers that provide services to
apartments and homes in the Charlottesville area.
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Computing Support Services
The Division of Computing Support Services provides a wide variety of services that enable computer users at
the University of Virginia to better accomplish their computing goals. Some services are targeted toward
specific user populations; others are broad-based, serving the needs of many user groups. The groups
performing these services are:
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Academic Computing Health Sciences (ITC-ACHS), Tom Spraggins, Manager
Customer Communications and Publishing, Sandy German, Manager
Departmental Computing Support, Sue Ellen Breeden, Manager
Desktop Computing Support, Mark Smith, Manager
Director's Office, Terry Lockard, Director
Help Desk, George Payne, Manager
Instructional Technology, John Alexander, Manager
Labs and Classrooms, Mary Hanna, Manager
Research Computing Support, Tim Tolson, Manager
Student Services, Janet Belew, Manager
Training, Antonio Rice, Manager
The division's director is Terry Lockard. Staff are located in Wilson Hall, Carruthers Hall, Hospital West
(Multistory), and 530 McCormick (Astronomy (formerly Forestry) Building).
MISSION, VISION, VALUES
The ITC Mission Statement
We provide and promote the information technology and communication bridge between the University
community and its goals.
The ITC Vision
ITC will be an organization of dedicated, energetic professionals inspiring and guiding the members of the
University community as they prepare for a world of rapidly developing technological innovations, thus
furthering our founder's vision of the University as a preeminent institution of learning and research.
ITC Values
Our work is guided by these values:
Commitment to Excellence
Our standard for individual and organizational performance is excellence in service to the University
community.
We take pride in our ability to contribute to fulfilling the University's mission.
Commitment by the Individual
All individuals should be ascribed equal worth. Relations both among our staff and with members of the
University community should be characterized by respect, helpfulness, sharing, tolerance, openness, honesty
and good humor. Growth and change lie at the heart of our endeavor and entail risk; errors will be resolved
openly and with tolerance. Disagreement will be used as a dynamic, positive force in our work.
Each of us is entrusted with our own well being. We strive for a pace and routine of activity that will maximize
productivity and minimize stress. We do our best to respect and support each individual's needs in this area.
Each will contribute a full measure of effort.
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Commitment Between Individuals
We should access available resources, building on the experience, expertise and success of our peers, here and
elsewhere, cultivating our individual and collective professional contacts to increase our productivity and
extend our organization's resources.
We should develop our personal expertise by actively pursuing new knowledge and abilities, applying
technology to our work and freely exchanging this knowledge with others.
Commitment to the Organization
•
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•
We share in the ownership of ITC; its improvement and success is our on-going responsibility.
We promote open distributed decision-making and the related acceptance of responsibility.
Each of us owns problems until they have been solved.
Teamwork and cooperation are essential. We are viewed as members of the same team.
Commitment to Ethical Conduct
As computing professionals, we are entrusted with the safekeeping of a wide range of sensitive information.
Each of us is obliged to support and abide by the legal and ethical standards that apply to information
processing, including copyright law and rights of authorship, confidentiality and privacy.
We seek to use technology to enhance personal liberty rather than to compromise it.
We value the deep professional commitment we make to our vision, mission and goals. Our individual staff
members are our most valuable resource.
IT POLICIES
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http://www.itc.virginia.edu/policy/Policies/
University-wide Computing Policies and Related Information
Administrative Data Access
Adminis trative Data: Processing and Control of Distributed Data
Ethics in Computer Usage
Grounds-Wide Information System (GWIS) Mission: Includes Rules for Appropriate Publishing of
Official University Web Pages
Information Access through Computer Networks
Monitoring/Review of Employee Electronic Communications or Files
State Internet Use Policy (applies to all University employees, including faculty and staff)
Privacy, Access and Retention of Computer Files
Respect for Copyrights of Digital Materials and Software
How the University Deals with Claims of Copyright Infringement
Peer-to-Peer File Sharing (information update for University community)
Responsible Computing: A Handbook for Faculty and Staff
Responsible Computing: A Handbook for Students
Responsibilities for Computing Devices Connected to the University of Virginia Network
Obscene Materials
Restrictions on State Employee Access to Information Infrastructure (especially to information of a
sexually explicit nature)
Use of University Equipment
Using Electronic Communications for Large-scale Notifications and Distribution of Information
(policy)
How to use electronic communications for large-scale notifications and distribution of information
(procedure)
ITC General Policies
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Accounts (Issuance and Expiration of ITC Computing Accounts)
Centrally Provided Disk Storage Space
Proxy Server Policy and Procedure
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ITC Security Policy
ITC Security Policy: Supplement
Public Computing Resources
Public Computing Resources Policy: Implementation
Revocation of Network Access
Site Licenses
Audio/Video Streaming Services Policy
ITC Special or Technical Policies
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Network Access for Third Parties Providing Technical Services to the University
ITC Press Policy
ITC Notification of Potential Service Interruptions (Downtimes) Policy
CAVALIER COMPUTERS
Welcome to Cavalier Computers, a division of the University of Virginia Bookstore, owned and operated by the
University of Virginia. Cavalier Computers has two convenient locations. Our Bookstore Branch is located
within the UVA Bookstore on Emmet Street atop the Central Grounds Parking Garage. Our Hospital Branch is
located on the ground floor of the West Hospital Parking Garage, across from the Primary Care Center on Lee
Street.
A portion of every sale from Cavalier Computers is returned to the University in support of its Endowment for
Excellence, student programming, and need-based scholarships. When you shop at UVA's Cavalier Computers
in person, or at our website, everyone at the University benefits.
We are the only computer store that can say that.
Excellence in IT Governance
UCLA
In recognition of the increasing importance and pervasiveness of IT to its core missions, UCLA
recently adopted new IT Governance framework. UCLA operates a highly distributed campus, but
nonetheless recognizes the need for University-wide oversight of and participation in IT strategy
formulation and implementation. The driving entity for the UCLA IT Governance framework is the
Information Technology Planning Board (ITPB). The charter statement for this Board (below)
provides an excellent model for others to follow. (See http://www.itpb.ucla.edu/about/charter.htm.)
Charter for the Information Technology Planning Board
The Information Technology Planning Board (ITPB), a joint Administration-Senate committee, is the
primary governance and oversight body for information technology and services at UCLA. The Board has
purview over UCLA’s information technology strategies, which include consideration of technology
infrastructure, the increasingly interrelated realms of academic and administrative computing, and central
vs. distributed deployment of resources. It is the successor organization to the Academic Information
Technology Board (AITB). This charter will be incorporated into the formal charge letter to the ITPB.
Responsibilities
The ITPB will inform and advise UCLA’s executive management and Senate leadership regarding
information technology, including budget and policy matters, and strategic opportunities regarding
investment in and deployment of information technology. In furtherance of these responsibilities, the Board
will review and make recommendations concerning technology-related budget requests and opportunities
stemming from a variety of corporate and industrial relationships. The Board’s oversight activities—
concerning local, central and partnership technology plans, budgets, policy, and progress—will both inform
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decision-making and ensure internal coordination. The ITPB will take leadership in establishing UCLA's
information technology (IT) vision, strategic plan, and policy guidelines. Broad-based consultation should
underpin these efforts.
Consonant with its responsibilities, the following specific accomplishments are expected of the Board:
q Define a strategic vis ion and plan for IT deployment that supports UCLA's overall strategic vision.
q Establish a comprehensive and academically based policy framework for IT, including local,
consortium, and central organizations and their interrelationships.
q Position UCLA for continued technology renewal and technology-enhanced research, instruction,
and service.
q Ensure that within UCLA’s Strategic Planning Process and budget environment, a budget strategy
is developed that reconciles the overall IT plan with the distributed goals of the academic and
administrative units.
q Establish metrics by which UCLA’s progress and accomplishment in IT can be measured and a
process by which the vision and plans are regularly reviewed and updated.
In pursuing these goals, the Board must ensure that its actions support and are consistent with academic based decision-making and joint governance as these concepts have evolved at UCLA. In this regard, the
Board will create an environment conducive to broad-based consultation among UCLA’s faculty,
administrative leadership, Academic Senate leadership, students, and staff. The emphasis on such broadbased consultation is to ensure that within the changing IT context, UCLA continues to preserve, support
and enhance those activities that are fundamental to a research university. All ITPB reports should be
directed to both the Executive Vice Chancellor and the Academic Senate Chair. At the end of each
academic year, the Board will prepare and submit a report summarizing its activities and actions during the
course of the year.
Chair, Membership, and Duration
The Board will be chaired by a member of the faculty. He or she will be selected jointly by and maintain
regular communication with the Executive Vice Chancellor and the Chair of the Academic Senate. The
ITPB Chair should have strong leadership skills, demonstrated institutional perspective, high academic
standing, and a deep understanding of and commitment to the strategic and tactical importance of IT to
UCLA’s vision and mission. Because of the time-consuming nature of the position, some relief (e.g.,
release time, research assistance) will be provided to the Chair following consultation with the Chair
designate. The Associate Vice Chancellor – Information Technology, in consultation with the Chair, will
assign appropriate and necessary staff as support for the Board. This will be done in order to ensure the
independence and impartiality of the Board.
The Chair will:
q Work closely with the Associate Vice Chancellor – Information Technology, who will support the
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board by coordinating IT planning, policy development, and assessment, and by providing
support, analyses and recommendations to the Board.
Work directly with deans, other senior academic administrators, and administrative leaders.
Work directly with the leadership and agencies of the Academic Senate, as well as with ad hoc
groups of faculty.
Work directly with department chairs and faculty on information technology related matters.
Appoint and guide workgroups and subcommittees composed of faculty and/or administrators to
carry out specialized analyses and activities.
In addition to the faculty Chair, the Board will be composed of current senior academic administrators,
administrators, and additional faculty, with the faculty predominant. The Chair and members will be jointly
determined by the Executive Vice Chancellor and the Chair of the Academic Senate. The vice chair of the
Academic Senate will serve as a voting, ex officio member of the Board. The Associate Vice Chancellor –
Information Technology will be a non-voting, ex officio member. All members should have an institutional
perspective and demonstrated interest in the use of technology to support UCLA's mission. The term of
service of the initial members is through June 30, 2003. The undergraduate and graduate student
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associations will each be invited to identify one representative to serve as a member of the Board,
preferable students who can serve through at least two academic years.
The ITPB has the important responsibility of guiding the development of a budgetary, policy, and
procedural framework that will move the campus to a mature governance structure for information
technology matters. This, in turn, will support the creation of a hospitable environment in which latent
synergies among UCLA’s various academic units can emerge and prosper. Such an environment is a
prerequisite for the campus to realize its full academic potential from information technology and digital
media. Because of the dynamic nature of information technology, the ITPB’s role, mission, composition,
and reporting relationships will be reassessed, at or near the end of its members’ terms in 2003. On the
basis of the assessment, the Executive Vice Chancellor and the Chair of the Academic Senate will again
consult regarding the appropriate governance structure to follow.
University of California, Berkeley
The IT Governance framework for Berkeley is interesting because it is designed around a common
there, “e-Berkeley.” (See http://cio.berkeley.edu/governance.html.)
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The CIO is a member of the Chancellor's Cabinet, the campus's top-level governing and policymaking body.
The CIO is one of the lead members of the e-Berkeley Steering Committee, which, as of January 2001, replaces
the CCCPB (Campus Computing and Communications Policy Board) as the body responsible for campus IT
planning and policymaking. The following subcommittees and workgroups now report to the e-Berkeley
Steering Committee:
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Administrative & Student Services Computing Subcommittee (ASSCS). The ASSCS is advised on
technical matters by ASOC [PDF] the Administrative Systems Operations Committee of IST's
Administrative Systems Department.
Information Technology Architecture Committee (ITAC).
Educational Technology Committee (ETC).
Campus Information Security Committee (CISC).
Also reporting to the e-Berkeley Steering Committee is the e-Berkeley Implementation Task Force (eBITF),
which develops processes, goals, and timelines for implementing campus e-business initiatives, including
enterprise information portals, learning management systems, campus home page, goods and services portals,
and campus e-business policy. See e-Berkeley Initiative. The eBITF has the following subcommittees:
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e-Commerce Working Group.
e-Procurement Work Group.
e-Learning Policy Task Force.
Policy Work Group.
Learning Management Systems Working Group.
Communications Work Group.
The e-Berkeley Steering Committee is also advised by the Berkeley Division of the Academic Senate's
Committee on Computing & Communications on all matters relating to computers, information systems, and
communications.
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Berkeley has focused all of its IT strategies around a core theme called “e-Berkeley.” The primary IT
Governance working entity is the e-Berkeley Steering Committee described below. (See
http://ebsc.berkeley.edu/Charter3.2.htm.)
University of California, Berkeley, e -Berkeley Steering Committee Charter
Version 3.2 - Approved September 28, 2001
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Transforming Our Community through Technology-Enabled Learning, Discovery, and Engagement
Making all transactions for students, faculty, staff, alumni, business partners and the general public
available over the Internet
The e-Berkeley Steering Committee provides overall leadership for campus information technology policy and
for the e-Berkeley initiative, ensuring that e-Berkeley activities are aligned with the campus vision and mission
and with UC 2010 - A New Business Architecture for the University of California. The Steering Committee,
chaired by Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost Paul Gray, reports to the Chancellor's Cabinet. The Steering
Committee's charter is to:
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Identify key policy areas, develop and approve specific campus information technology (IT) policies,
and participate in UC system wide IT policy formulation;
Coordinate policies and projects with the Berkeley Division of the Academic Senate;
Review budget requests for new projects and make recommendations to the Chancellor's Cabinet, set
priorities among proposed projects and activities, and approve e-Berkeley project plans;
Monitor campus "net readiness" (leadership, governance, competence, technology);
Ensure that electronic communications and transactions have adequate mechanisms in place to protect
the privacy of individuals;
Establish a framework for implementing, managing, and coordinating e-Berkeley projects to ensure
integration, collaboration, and compatibility with the new UC 2010 business architecture;
Develop strategies for seeking external funding to help support e-Berkeley initiatives.
Subcommittee structure
The e-Berkeley Implementation Task Force is the "action arm" of the Steering Committee. Chaired by Vice
Chancellor and Chief Financial Officer Jim Hyatt, it is responsible for developing the master roadmap, timeline,
and communication plan for building e-Berkeley and for coordinating implementation among multiple campus
units. The EBITF forms working groups as needed to focus on current issues, such as the Communications
Working Group and the Policy Working Group.
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The Educational Technology Committee provides leadership and guidance on educational technology
policy, programs and projects.
The Administrative and Student Services Computing Subcommittee reviews and examines computing
needs and priorities for administrative and student support units.
The Information Technology Architecture Committee develops and coordinates campus wide
technology standards and architecture.
The Campus Information Security Committee develops and coordinates network and departmental
computer security programs and policies.
University of Texas
The University of Texas IT Governance structure, like Berkeley, is organized around a common
theme, “eUniversity.”
eUniversity Steering Committee (eUSC)
Mission
The role of the e-University Steering Committee, serving at the discretion of the Provost's Office, is to provide
an effective interface for the campus community to the IT staff, by giving leadership in the identification and
prioritization of IT projects and by facilitating the campus-wide implementation of new e-University
initiatives."
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University of Alabama
Similar to UCLA, the University of Alabama features a senior-level board (“Information technology
Committee”) at the apex of its IT Governance structure. Also, similar to UCLA, this board is chaired
by a faculty member.
Information Technology Committee
Duties: Study, review, and recommend to the Provost/Academic Vice President policies and implementation
plans related to the installation and operation of information technology hardware and software on the campus.
Composition: The committee members shall be recommended by the Assistant Academic Vice President for
Computing and Interdisciplinary Programs, who will be a liaison member. The committee shall consist of
seventeen members representing the Seebeck Computer Center, the Office of Systems Development,
Telecommunications, University Libraries, the Office for Student Affairs, the Office for Financial Affairs, the
Registrar's Office, the Faculty Senate, six faculty members from different academic divisions, and a student
representative. Ex officio members will be two deans' office representatives selected by the Provost/Academic
Vice President. The committee chairperson will be a faculty member.
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Attachment 2: VolNET Implementation
The VolNET project is an umbrella term for interrelated projects to provide a robust communications infrastructure at
Knoxville.
Project Name
% Complete
Project Description
VOLNET BACKBONE
VolNET Core switch
installation
100%
Fiber-optic cable plant
90%
70% of buildings
Building cut-over to
VolNET
98% of network
attached devices
The core network nodes in SMC and Humanities are completely built out consisting of
2 Cisco 6509 catalyst routers in each core capable of supporting 96 gigabit Ethernet
connections per core site.
Each building has a minim um of a 12 single-mode fiber (SMF)/8 multi-mode fiber
(MMF) hybrid cable pulled back to the fiber vault located near Neyland stadium.
Larger buildings have a 24/12 SMF/MMF cable pulled back to the vault. A 144-pair
SMF run is installed between the vault and each network core. The two network cores
are interconnected via an alternate, redundant route using a 72-pair SMF cable. A 72pair SMF run is installed between the vault and the Ag campus fiber vault.
The remaining 30% will be connected by the end of March, 2002. Every major
building on campus is tied into the core with a GigE fiber connection. Minor buildings
and houses located on Lake/Terrace avenue are connected to the core using either DSL
or Long-range Ethernet (LRE) or 100meg over copper technology. See Appendix A for
list of buildings remaining to be cutover to VolNET.
•
•
•
VOLNET BACKBONE
EXPENSE SUMMARY
Total Project Budget
To Date Expenditures
Projected Expenditures
$5,000,000
$3,393,445
$1,606,555
WIRELESS NETWORK
Nomad Wireless
Network Phase I
90%
Nomad Wireless
Network Phase II
0%
The remaining 10% of buildings are under construction in one form or another. See
Appendix B or http://wireless.utk.edu for up -to-date information as to the Phase I
completion progress.
Phase II buildings have no wireless presence at this time. See Appendix B or
http://wireless.utk.edu for a list of buildings in Phase II.
Nomad Upgrade from
802.11b to 802.11a
0%
It is expected that the installation of 802.11a, to run concurrently with 802.11b, will
take place during the early Spring of 2003.
WIRELESS
EXPENSE SUMMARY
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Total Project Budget
To Date Expenditures
Projected Expenditures
Reallocated Funds
$4,300,000
$1,799,900
$ 878,200
$1,621,900
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Project Name
% Complete
Project Description
INTERNET 1 AND 2
Redundant
Commodity Internet
Connections
100%
Internet 2 Connection
to VolNET Core
0%
OC-12 Upgrade to
SoX
0%
The second 45 Mbit/sec DS-3 direct -Internet access (DIA) circuit is installed to the
Chicago Qwest POP and now serving the ResNet community. The original DS-3 DIA
to the Qwest Atlanta POP is now dedicated to main campus. The failover connection
between both DIAs is fully functional and will kick in should either circuit fail. Both
DIA services are connected directly into the VolNET core for optimal performance.
See OC-12 upgrade to SoX below.
The DS-3 point-to-point circuit to the Southern Crossroads (SoX) Abilene POP in
Atlanta will be shut down when the new OC-12 circuit to SoX is turned up in the late
Spring of 2002. See OC-12 upgrade to SoX below.
The DS-3 circuit to SoX and the DS-3 Atlanta DIA circuit will be folded into the OC12 circuit to the Atlanta Qwest POP and in unison will deliver 90 Mbit DIA service and
540 Mbit Internet 2 service. This six -fold increase in performance will be delivered at
60% of the current cost for the two DS-3 services separately. The OC-12 circuit will be
connected to the VolNET core by late Spring of 2002.
NETWORK SYSTEMS
LDAP Central
Directory
100%
DHCP/Dynamic DNS
100%
Microsoft Active
Directory
30%
Common Network ID
(NetID)
100%
Central E-mail
Conversion
100%
Central E-mail
Upgrade
0%
Central Calendar
Server
75%
The central LDAP directory (tennessee.edu) is comprised of subdirectories from
utk.edu, utmem.edu, utsi.edu, utm.edu, and utc.edu. The main directory has all entries
from the IRIS HR database and student information from all campuses. Forwarding email addresses from tennessee.edu for all campuses are being cross-validated and
updated where necessary. The utk.edu directory is fully functional and integrated into
the main directory including SIS information from the Knoxville/UTSI campus. The
utmem.edu directory will be integrated by the Spring 2002. The utc and utm
directories are under review.
The new DHCP/DDNS system was turned-up in October 2001 and is currently serving
IP numbers to all buildings that have been cutover to VolNET.
The completion of the Microsoft Active Directory (tied to both the LDAP and DDNS
systems) is expected for the late Spring 2002.
Every employee in the UT system and every student at Knoxville receives an
automatically generated NetID and default password that is used as the entry-point to
many campus applications. This information is contained in the tennessee.edu
directory.
The conversion from a legacy Unix mail store to iPlanet v4 (a.k.a. SIMS) mail store is
complete. Installation of redundant SMTP servers to process incoming/outgoing mail
and installation of virus-scanning software on central SMTP servers is complete as
well.
The upgrade from iPlanet V4 to iPlanet V5 mail store will be undertaken in the
Summer, 2002. Upgrade of hardware to add improved fault tolerance, address
performance bottlenecks and add more on-line storage will also be completed at the
same time.
The central calendaring system from Steltor has been installed and running at Knoxville
for three years. The calendar server needs to be upgraded to the latest version and tied
to the central directory as its source of account information. The upgrade will be
completed late summer 2002, after the Memphis Steltor upgrade is complete.
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Project Name
% Complete
Project Description
OPERATIONS AND MANAGEMENT
Network and System
Management and
Performance
Monitoring System
0%
IT Security
66%
End-to-End
Performance Initiative
0%
SMC Operation
Center
90%
Humanities –
Network Core #2
50%
Humanities –
Telephone Switch
Room
Hoskins – Remote
Tape Libraries
Hoskins – Relocation
100%
Conversion of the legacy network management and consolidation of ad-hoc
performance monitoring efforts into a single enterprise-wide HP Openview
management system and the ability to monitor layer 3 net flows on every subnet on
campus is planned for completion by late Summer, 2002. IBM will complete the initial
design and gap analysis by April 2002.
UT’s vulnerability to network-based attacks on its information resources is a growing
concern – perhaps the single most important area for OIT to focus on for FY2002-2004.
This initiative will entail a detailed security audit, installation of intrusion-detection
systems (IDS), vulnerability assessment tools, firewalls, etc.
One of the fundamental premises behind VolNET was both a design and operational
commitment towards end-to-end performance. Working with the I2/NLANR E2Epi
workgroup, steps will be taken to tune VolNET for optimal performance.
During the last 3 years, there have been substantial upgrades to the SMC Operations
Center. These include a new 600 KVA UPS system (FY2000), new raised floor and
lighting (FY2000), new 860 KVA continuous-run diesel generator (FY2001), upgrades
to power distribution and switch-gear (FY2001), new chill-water cooling system tied
into the central switch-gear and subsequently generator (FY2001). A central firesuppression system is in process and expected to be completed by summer 2002.
This un -staffed Satellite Equipment Room (SER) has received upgrades to the lighting
and UPS systems during FY 2001 and 2002. Upgrades to the electrical and HVAC are
on the project list for Physical Plant to complete.
The machine room has received upgrades to its floor, lighting, electrical, HVAC, and
UPS systems during FY 2001.
100%
The unstaffed machine room has received upgrades to its electrical and UPS systems
during FY 2000
0%
The Space Planning Committee has requested the relocation of the Hoskins machine
room from Room 114 to a different interior space.
INTRA-BUILDING WIRING (FY 02)
As of July 2002, t here will be 80 buildings with intra-building wiring that is within the
minimum specification of 100 Mbps bandwidth per port.
Intra-building
Wiring Summary
69%
Nursing Building
100%
Nielsen Physics
Hodges Library
Stokely Management
Center
Music
Vet Med
100%
100%
100%
100%
100%
There are 36 buildings that need to be rewired, and approximately 30 minor buildings
with no network connectivity to the core and therefore intra-building wiring is not
applicable.
See Appendix C, D, and E for a list of buildings in each category.
Intra-building wiring of Nursing building with 520 circuits and 120 activated ports
Intra-building wiring of Physics building with 813 circuits and 264 activated ports
Intra-building wiring of Hodges Library with 1245 circuits and 1089 activated ports
Intra-building wiring of SMC building with 741 circuits and 312 activated ports
Intra-building wiring of Music building with 292 circuits and 133 activated ports
Intra-building wiring of Vet Med building with 953 circuits and 383 activated ports
Circle Park and
Student Services
85%
Intra-building wiring of student services building with 1130 circuits and 650 activated
ports
Walters Life Science
75%
Intra-building wiring of Walters Life Science building with 480 circuits and 300
activated ports
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Project Name
% Complete
Andy Holt Tower
Project Description
Intra-building wiring of Andy Holt Tower administrative building
0%
TELEPHONE SWITCH
Phase I of the new phone switch upgrade was finished in August 2002. The timeframe
for acceptance completion is April 2002.
Telephone Switch
Upgrade –
Phase I
90%
All residence halls and off campus housing are now cutover to the new system. All
inbound and outbound trunking to the University now is processed through the new
system feeding the existing PBX's. This has allowed inbound and outbound delivery of
caller id information and new monitoring capabilities for malicious calls.
Included in the system is a calling card platform which will allow the University to use
it's own system instead of an outside source. This system is currently being tested
before rollout and is expected to be in use by the middle of February 2002.
Using the system's DSL capability the University has extended the option of high-speed
data connectivity to the off campus residents.
Telephone Switch
Upgrade –
Phase II
10%
Phase 2 of the system will begin to change out existing administrative and faculty sets.
Telephone Services is currently evaluating several options for the sets that will replace
the current RolmPhones. We expect to have a vendor chosen, begin training
technicians, and start replacing departmental systems within 120 days. Given the
complexity of this task and the people-power available it is expected to take 18 to 24
months for completion. Each department will be contacted by a Telephone Services
Design representative to evaluate needs before replacing equipment.
TELEPHONE SWITCH
EXPENSE SUMMARY
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•
To Date Expenditures
Projected Expenditures
Total Project Budget
$3,686,680
$2,150,000
$5,836,680
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Buildings scheduled for connection to VolNET
Building
Scheduled Date
1852 Terrace Ave
2000 Lake Ave
2008 Terrace
02/26/02
02/12/02
02/12/02
2019 Terrace Ave (ELI)
2046 Terrace Lit Studies
2100 Terrace Ave
02/20/02
02/20/02
02/25/02
2101 Terrace Ave
2110 Terrace Ave (DRES)
2111 Terrace Ave
02/25/02
02/11/02
02/11/02
2124 Terrace Ave (DRES)
916 22nd Street
905 Mountcastle
02/13/02
02/13/02
02/19/02
907 Mountcastle (ELI)
909 Mountcastle
1840 Melrose (Facilities Planning)
02/19/02
02/26/02
02/05/02
Laurel Apts
Sutherland Apts
Taliwa Court Apts
02/11/02
02/13/02
02/18/02
Woodlawn Apts
Pellissippi Bldg A
Pellissippi Bldg B
02/18/02
03/04/02
03/04/02
Knoxville Center
Middlebrook
NTRC
Dunford
03/18/02
03/11/02
TBD
03/18/02
ERA Modem Pool
Humanities Machine Room
Tennis Facility
03/18/02
03/18/02
03/25/02
Tyson Alumni
White Ave
AGR House
03/25/02
03/11/02
03/18/02
Buildings scheduled for wireless networking access
Building
Scheduled Date
Dunford
1840 Melrose (Facilities Planning)
(03/20/02)
(02/25/02)
Graphic Arts
Paycash-Stephenson Dr.
Tyson Alumni
(02/20/02)
(02/20/02)
(03/25/02)
White Ave. Building
(04/01/02)
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Buildings on hold and why
Building
Reason for Hold Status
Alumini Memorial
Austin Peay
Under construction
Under construction
Clarence Brown Theatre
Claxton
no network
Will remain on the pre-Nomad wireless network until Linux
AS2000 client released
East Stadium
Hearing and Speech
Hesler
Needs rewiring
Under construction
Under construction
Human Ecology Graduate Center
South Stadium
Walters Life Science
No network
Needs rewiring
Rewiring underway
Phase II buildings for Nomad project
Building
Location
Center for International Education
Engineering Annex (engineering part only)
905, 907, 909 Mountcastle
1819 Andy Holt (Architecture)
Hesler Surge Buildings (Neyland Dr. & White Ave)
Melrose Hall (Honor Student Program only)
Middlebrook Warehouse (offices only)
2000 Lake Ave
2008 Lake Ave
2019 Terrace Ave
Pellissippi A
Pellissippi B
Police Department
2101 Terrace Ave
2110 & 2124 Terrace Ave
2111 Terrace Ave
Presidential Court (near OIT computer lab).
916 22nd Street
VolNet Buildings that will not receive wireless
Buildings or Locations
1201 Oak Ridge Turnpike
Panhellenic
1852 Terrace Ave.
2046 Terrace Ave.
2100 Terrace Ave.
Physical Plant & Plumbing Shop
Rental Properties
Stokely Athletic Center
Biotech Research Facility
Football Facility
Knoxville Center
Tennis Facility
Thompson Boling Arena
Tom Black Track
Lindsey Nelson Stadium
NTRC
University Housing (except: Melrose-University Honors)
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Intra-building Wiring List – Sorted by Project Date
Building Name
Projected Date
Project Size
Andy Holt Tower
FY 02
Large
Clarence Brown Theatre
FY 02
Small
Hodges Library
FY 02
Large
Music
FY 02
Medium
Nursing
FY 02
Medium
Physics
FY 02
Large
Stokely Management Center
FY 02
Large
Student Services and Communications
FY 02
Large
Veterinary Teaching Hospital
FY 02
Large
Walters Life Science
FY 02
Medium
White Ave.
FY 02 - 03
Medium
Alumni Memorial Gym
FY 02 - Capitol Project
Medium
Minority Student Affairs
FY 02 - Capitol Project
1201 Oak Ridge Turnpike
FY 02 - Capitol Project
Conference Center
FY 02-FY03 (Partially complete)
Large
Austin Peay
FY 03
Medium
Dabney/Buehler
FY 03
Medium
Estabrook
FY 03
Medium
Geology and Geography
FY 03
Medium
Henson
FY 03
Large
Temple Court
FY 03
Small
Hesler
FY 03 - Capitol Project
Aconda Court
FY 04
Small
Hearing and Speech
FY 04
Medium
Dunford
FY 04 (Partially complete)
Large
Police Dept
On hold pending new office location
Ayres
On hold pending renovation
Large
Glocker
On hold pending renovation
Large
1819 And Holt Ave
1840 Melrose, Facilities Planning
2046 Terrace Lit Studies
905 Mountcastle
Andy Holt Apartments
Aquatic Center
Berry
ELI (907 Mountcastle)
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Building Name
Projected Date
Project Size
Football Facility (NT Sports Center)
Graphic Arts
Hoskins
McClung Tower
Morgan
Pay Cash (Parking Services)
Pellissippi A
Pellissippi B
Physical Plant
Presidential Court
South Stadium Hall
Stokely Athletic Center
Thompson-Boling Arena
Buildings with Intra-building Wiring - Within Specification*
Building, Sites, or Locations
2000 Lake Ave
Dougherty
Plant Science
2008 Terrace
East Stadium
Physics
2101 Terrace
Faculty Club
Plant Science
2110 Terrace Ave
Ferris
Plant Science Annex B
2111 Terrace Ave
Gibbs
Plumbing Shop
2019 Terrace (ELI)
Golf Range
Print Shop
2124 Terrace Ave
Greve
Reese
916 22nd Street
Health Clinic
Science and Engineering
909 Mountcastle
Hesler Surge - White Ave
South College
Ag Engineering
Hesler Surge - Neyland Drive
Steam Plant
AGR House
Hodges Library
Stokely Management Center
Alumni Memorial Gym
HPER
Strong
Andy Holt Tower (FY 02)
Human Ecology
Student Counseling Center
Art and Architecture
Humanities
Student Services (FY 02)
Biotech Research Facility
Hu mes
Sutherland Apartments
Black Cultural Center
International House
Taliwa
Brehm Animal Science
Kingston Apartments
TANDEC
Burchfield Geography
Tennis Facility
Carrick, North
Middlebrook
Minority Student Affairs (FY
02)
Carrick, South
Morrill
Tom Black Track
Child Devel. Lab, White Ave
Music
Transportation Services
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Building, Sites, or Locations
Clarence Brown Theatre (FY
02)
Nuclear Engineering
Tyson Alumni Center
University Center
Claxton Addition
Nursing
1201 Oak Ridge Turnpike (FY
02)
Clement
Panhellenic
Walters Life Sciences (FY
02)
Communications (FY 02)
Perkins
Woodlawn Apartments
Creamery
Physics
Claxton
Veterinary Teaching Hospital
* The wiring specification requires delivery of a minimum of 100 Mbps bandwidth per port.
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Buildings without VolNET Connectivity
and Intra-building Wiring
Main Campus
Ag Campus
1218 White Ave
Animal Science Lab
1838 Terrace Ave
Crops Genetics Lab
1900 Terrace (Women's Studies)
Greenhouse A
1912 Terrace (Women's Studies)
Greenhouses
2016 Lake Ave
Growth Chamber Lab
2020 Terrace Ave
Power Plant
2106 Terrace Ave
Racheff Research Building
2106 Terrace Ave
Tennessee Division of Forestry
2121 Stephenson Dr.
2123 Stephenson Dr.
2146 Terrace Ave
701 Sixteenth Street
908 Twenty-First St
Army Reserve Training Center
Art Studio Annex
Carousel Theatre
Faculty Club
Grad House @ JHB
Hopecote
Textiles Processing Lab
Textiles Research Materials Lab
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Attachment 3: SunSITE—A New Paradigm for
Technological Innovation
SunSITE was established in 1995, with the support of Sun Microsystems, in order to encourage the
adoption and implementation of emerging technologies with the University and in the communities it
serves. SunSITE has been guided by three main goals: to promote an infrastructure in which new
technologies can develop and thrive; to identify, test and deploy specific technologies that meet the
academic community's demand for new services, or that expand services already offered by ORIT;
and to promote a better understanding of how emerging technologies are changing the nature of the
University and its relationship with the community
The principal challenge implicit in SunSITE's mission turned out to be not the technologies
themselves, nor the need for greater expertise, or resources, or funding. The greatest challenge was
how an intrinsically conservative institution like a university, whose own mission is to conserve and
pass on knowledge slowly accrued over time, how such an institution adapts to rapid and continuous
change. Clearly, what was needed was a new way of organizing and empowering the University's
talent.
SunSITE early adopted an organizational model that has grown more and more popular in the
business world: the idea of communities of practice. Communities of practice are groups of people
informally bound together by their shared expertise and their passion for a joint enterprise. In the
words of Etienne Wenger, communities of practice "fulfill a number of functions with respect to the
creation, accumulation, and diffusion of knowledge in an organization:
•
•
•
•
They are nodes for the exchange and interpretation of information. Because members have a
shared understanding, they know what is relevant to communicate and how to present
information in useful ways.
They can retain know ledge in 'living' ways, unlike a database or manual . . . Communities of
practice preserve the tacit aspects of knowledge that formal systems cannot capture . . . they
are ideal for initiating newcomers into a practice.
The can steward competencies to keep the organization at the cutting edge. Members of these
groups discuss novel ideas, work together on problems, and keep up with developments
inside and outside a firm.
They provide homes for identities. They are not temporary as teams, and unlike business
units, they are organized around what matters to their members. Identity is important because,
in a sea of information, it helps us sort out what we pay attention to, what we participate in,
and what we stay away from. Having a sense of identity is a cruc ial aspect of learning in
organizations."
SunSITE identified broad areas in which technologies would have the greatest impact on higher
education, and began to develop partnerships throughout the University's IT structure and across
academic disciplines.
The Development and Distribution of Open Source Software
SunSITE's greatest contribution to the development of a robust and dynamic infrastructure is in its
distribution of open source software and documentation. SunSITE has grown to become one of the
major hubs for open source software, not only for the research communities on the UT campuses and
in Oak Ridge, but also to other major research and educational institutions nationwide. Over one
million users visit SunSITE every week to take advantage of our repository. SunSITE regularly
consults with colleagues on the UT campuses, at ORNL, and at other federal agencies, like OSTI, to
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expand its collections as needs change and grow. SunSITE is also an important means of promoting
open source software developed by the University.
The adoption of open source software in higher education makes perfect sense. Open source software
is developed collaboratively, in full public view, and freely distributed for all to use. In other words, it
mirrors perfectly the research model academic institutions have followed for centuries. Moreover,
open source software is an important example of how universities can leverage their own expertise to
manage themselves more efficiently and more economically.
Digital Libraries, Caching and Replication
Content management and distribution is becoming one of the most significant challenges in IT today.
In researching the technical aspects underlying digital libraries, SunSITE has been able to forge
partnerships with the top research universit ies in the US — Stanford, Berkeley, Columbia, Harvard,
Virginia Tech and Illinois — as well as preserve scholarly work by UT faculty that might otherwise
be lost.
•
•
•
•
SunSITE has become an acknowledged leader nationally in the development and
implementation of the Open Archive Initiative;
SunSITE continues to play an important role in the development of preservation initiatives,
such as LOCKSS;
Through its participation in the National Biological Information Infrastructure, SunSITE has
become a leader in the management and dissemination of GIS data; and
Through its membership in the Electronic Cultural Atlas Initiative, SunSITE promotes the
convergence of cultural and scientific data, and its promulgation within a wide and diverse
international consortium.
SunSITE has just submitted a grant proposal to IMLS to support its Open Archive Initiative work,
and is currently preparing two separate NSF proposals to support its storage and preservation efforts.
SunSITE is currently exploring possibilities for data mining using collaborative filters and intelligent
agents, as well as impact the development and implementation of a semantic web holds.
Audio, Video and Videoconferencing over IP
No technology in the last five years has had a more profound impact on IT and the academic
community as audio- and video-over-IP. Here, SunSITE has played a leadership role — not just
locally, but regionally and nationally as well — in defining the issues and in developing solutions.
•
•
•
•
•
SunSITE was a founding member of the Video Development Initiative, which promotes the
deployment of digital video in research and higher education;
SunSITE was responsible for one of the first Internet-based radio stations — WUTK — and
continues to broadcast WUOT, the local PBS affiliate, over the Web;
SunSITE created a successful testbed and developed a business plan for what became the
University's Digital Media Services;
In 1999, SunSITE and the Center on Deafness were awarded an LSVNP grant to look at the
specific barriers IP videoconferencing for the deaf and hard-of-hearing; and
In 2001, SunSITE, in collaboration with SURFnet and the University of California, Berkeley,
successfully tested the use of MotionJPEG for high-quality streaming video and full duplex
videoconferencing.
SunSITE is currently preparing a Guide to Streaming Media for Higher Education for the Southeast
Universities Research Association.
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Future areas of exploration will include the incorporation of multimedia in a virtual reality
environment and the use of speech recognition for information retrieval and accessibility.
Distributed Education and Lifelong Learning
A white paper jointly released last March by the Bertelsmann Foundation and the AOL Time Warner
Foundation states:
"In this new century — which has been defined by accelerating advances in technology,
expanding globalization and growing diversity — we must update our knowledge and skills
regularly to fully participate in a rapidly changing society. In this context, we can no longer
afford to view education as a series of separate experiences — elementary school, higher
education, on-the-job training. Instead, we must engage in education as a seamless, lifelong
process that begins in childhood and never really ends."
While this observation has been repeated so often to become stale, its eventuality promises to explode
higher education as we now understand it. For the past five years, SunSITE has been working with
faculty to support multi-institutional and cross-disciplinary approaches to teaching, and to explore
new modes of teaching, playing to the strengths technologies offer.
Several years ago, SunSITE brought together a group of faculty to discuss the application of
interactive, game-based software for instruction, and proposed the repurposing of content created
within the University for a K-12 audience. While no specific projects developed at that time, several
recent scholarly publications, including The relevance of video games and gaming consoles to the
Higher and Further Education learning experience, prepared for the Joint Information Systems
Committee (UK), promises to bring a new impetus to this initiative. SunSITE is also seeking to work
with academic units to explore how the innovative use of technology can be incorporated in the
tenure process.
Making Technology Accessible to Everyone
Making technology accessible to everyone, what has come to be called the "Digital Divide," has been
on SunSITE's radar for the last five years. Finally, SunSITE has been very creative (and effective) in
using technology to bring together UT constituencies and community groups. We have not only
provided support for UT's other community outreach programs (IPS, CPC, etc.) but we have also put
UT students in the community and brought gifted high school students to campus, creating a positive
and proactive image of UT in the community.
•
•
•
•
SunSITE has consulted with and led workshops for the Neighborhood Reinvestment
Corporation, a federal program focussed on housing, community and economic development.
In 1998 SunSITE and the NRC worked together to develop a proposal for a digital video
library for non-profit agencies nationwide;
SunSITE has served on the Knoxville Empowerment Zone's technology Advisory Group
since 1999;
SunSITE continues to work with Knoxville College to explore ways our two schools can
collaborate using emerging technologies such as broadband wireless and video-over-IP; and
SunSITE is currently developing an interactive multimedia CD promoting CHIPS, a program
developed by the University and KORRNet to reduce the social isolation of persons who are
homebound.
Future activities may include participation in a local implementation of a Technology Corps (similar
to the Peace Corps), and possible collaborations with the Center on Literacy Studies and the
Community Partnership Center to promote technological literacy.
Building Communities of Practice, Globally and Locally
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SunSITE has achieved all its goals solely through the shared efforts of our many collaborators. Those
include:
University of Tennessee
Advanced Internet Technologies
Center of Excellence for Digital Libraries
Center on Deafness
College of Agricultural Sciences
College of Veterinary Medicine
Community Partnership Center
Data Visualization Lab
Department of Art
Department of History
Department of Mathematics
Department of Religious Studies
Department of Theatre
Digital Media Services
Ewing Gallery
Innovative Computing Laboratory
Innovative Technologies Center
Institute for Public Service
Joint Institute for Energy and Environment
McClung Museum
School of Broadcasting
School of Information Sciences
School of Music
Southern Appalachian Man and Biosphere Project
University Libraries
Web Services
CANARIE
Columbia University
Cornell University
Emory University
Gallaudet University
Georgia Tech University
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Harvard University
Indiana University Bloomington
Internet 2
Los Alamos National Labs
Ohio State University
ORNL
Rochester Institute of technology
Stanford University
SURFnet
University of Alabama, Birmingham
University of California, Berkeley
University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill
Virginia Tech University
Appalshop
Carpetbag Theatre
Empowerment Zone
Knoxville Housing Partnership
Knoxville Museum of Art
KORRNet
Museum Council of Knoxville
Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation
Making Money Matter in Hard Times
Knowing which new technologies to implement, and how to implement them, helps the University
invest wisely and save money over time. SunSITE leverages its relationships with other academic
institutions and its own aggressive evaluation program to help advise the University on the economic
viability of emerging technologies.
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