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Deborah Carver
University Librarian and Interim Associate VP for Information
Services
dcarver@uoregon.edu
The senior staff in the Computing Center, together with Library liaisons, have met several times during the past six months to hammer out a formal planning document for 2005/06.
While the process did not meet the official definition of "strategic planning," it does represent an important first step towards this critical dimension of IT service.
In repeated surveys conducted by EDUCAUSE (a nonprofit association dedicated to promoting intelligent IT use in higher education), strategic planning is one topic that usually rises to the top of the list of major concerns for CIOs. It is especially important as campus needs and expectations rise faster than our budgets.
The Computing Center/Library plan covers a full range of IT services. Some of the initiatives are already in motion; others are new. Projects include:
Several of the initiatives will require collaboration with key stakeholders outside of the Computing Center.
The plan will serve several purposes. It establishes our priorities as well as a system of accountability. While there may be mission-critical needs that require us to divert our attention during the year, the plan will help us to focus our efforts and attention on those projects that have the highest cost-benefit ratio for the campus.
The plan is also a useful communications tool. It tells the university community what it can expect from IT services during the specified time period. And it allows for collaboration across internal divisions and with other campus services such as the library.
There are as many approaches to planning as there are plans. In the future, it is likely that the process will evolve to become more strategic in nature. By that, we mean a careful assessment of our mission, our preferred future, the changing environment, and the evolving IT needs of students and faculty. Once that groundwork is established, we can be confident that we are moving in the directions that make the best sense for the institution.