WSU Information Technology Strategic Plan
Under Review October 21, 2009
Last Revised February 2007
Environmental Context for Information Technology Planning
In the early 21st century, information technology plays a previously unimagined role in the lives of colleges and universities across the globe. The past twenty-five years have produced ubiquitous acceptance of the microcomputer and the Internet in our work, study and play. Far different from the days of the computer center and the mainframe, today’s world is one of distributed services, multiple platforms, and demand for instant anytime, anywhere service and access to information. Fiber optics, wireless networking, instant messaging, dot-coms, e-Business, spam, digital asset management, knowledge management, multi-media classrooms, and chief information officers are now commonplace in our vocabulary and in our daily routines. At the same time, the expectations of the university community on information technology systems, services, and staff are high and growing.
As a long-time leader in the application of information technologies and services, Washington State University is known for forward-thinking approaches to applying technology and content distribution for the accomplishment of our goals. With a statewide presence, our leadership in interactive video instruction set the standard for others. Among the first universities in the nation to provide network access in virtually all offices, labs, classrooms, and residence halls, WSU received accolades as one of the "most wired" universities in the country. Today, however, the university is challenged to keep pace with the dynamically changing information environment around us. Furthermore, our students and many of our younger faculty and staff have grown up surrounded by technology. They live in a 24-by-7 world, with the expectation that our university will serve their information needs on their terms.
This information technology strategic plan is intended to serve as the guide to help us support the mission, vision, and goals of the university. The plan will help us meet the expectations of our students, faculty, staff, and other constituents by placing us squarely among higher education leaders in information technology and services. With more than two decades of rapid change behind us and the expectation of continuing change in front of us, this plan provides a framework for making decisions about technology in an environment of uncertainty.
Implementation of the plan will take time and our path to accomplishing goals may shift with the changing technology landscape. However, our vision and goals are firm and our commitment to them is strong.
Information Technology and Services in Support of the University Vision
"Washington State University offers a premier undergraduate experience, conducts and stimulates world-class research, graduate and professional education, scholarship and arts, and provides an exemplary working and learning environment that fosters engagement."
The WSU information environment must support all university activities, including undergraduate education, research, scholarship, graduate education, the arts, engagement, administration, and outreach. The information services community at Washington State University is committed to work collaboratively for the creation and support of a world-class information environment and to offer reliable systems and services for the support of the WSU vision.
Information Technology and Services in Support of the University Mission
"As a public, land grant and research institution of distinction, Washington State University enhances the intellectual, creative, and practical abilities of the individuals, institutions, and communities that we serve by fostering learning, inquiry, and engagement."
We believe that in order to fully support WSU’s mission, the 21st century information environment must provide seamless access to information and services for our faculty, staff, students, and other constituencies. We will support this mission with the best available technology-enabled services that, in turn, stimulate our reach for new technological directions and contribute to the achievement of the university’s strategic goals.
The Vision for WSU Information Technology and Services
With a commitment to realizing WSU’s vision and mission, our vision for information technology and services at Washington State University is simply stated:
“A seamless, integrated, intuitive university information environment.”
Our vision means that in all our information services-related efforts, we will take a holistic approach to adopt compatible technologies and strategies that enhance the quality of our interactions with each other and with the world around us in fulfillment of our goals. Achieving this vision will not be an easy task. However, with the commitment of our academic and administrative leadership, and the skills and dedication of our technical experts across the university, we will succeed in creating this seamless, integrated, intuitive information environment at Washington State University.
Information Technology Strategic Goals
To make our vision a reality, the following four goals outline an information technology direction for the university.
Goal 1: Enhance the effectiveness of teaching, learning, research, outreach, service and administration by the application of established and emerging information technologies.
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Goal 2: Design, build, maintain, and continually enhance WSU’s technology infrastructure to enable world-class teaching, learning, research, scholarship, the arts, and engagement.
Goal 3: Establish and maintain appropriate staffing levels of information technology professionals. Provide training for information technology professionals and the entire WSU community.
Goal 4: Further develop solid resource management practices for both the acquisition and allocation of information technology resources.
Information Technology Goals, Sub-goals, and Actions
The information technology strategic goals with the supporting sub-goals and actions provide the foundation and action plan for realizing our vision.
Goal 1: Enhance the effectiveness of teaching, learning, research, outreach, service and administration by the application of established and emerging information technologies.
Sub-goal 1: Ensure that the information technology environment facilitates information sharing, productivity, and creativity among members of the WSU community.
Actions:
- Develop and implement strategies (such as communities of learning) for the effective use of information technologies to support instruction, scholarship, research, the arts and engagement.
- Establish recommended hardware, software, and networking baselines for the University’s teaching, learning, and business environments with a mechanism for periodic updates.
- Reward and showcase successful innovative applications
- Promote the usage of the WSU institutional repository to house and make available the intellectual and creative output of faculty, students, and staff.
- Participate in national efforts to share scholarly work among a variety of institutions.
- Improve videoconferencing and video streaming activities to enhance communication and education across WSU’s broad geographical distribution.
Sub-goal 2: Integrate established and emerging technologies into instructional environments across the WSU system to improve teaching and learning.
Actions:
- Evaluate and implement new classroom (physical and/or virtual) technologies on an ongoing basis with input from teaching faculty and students.
- Develop strategies (such as consistent user interfaces) to maximize the effective use of classroom technologies.
- Create simple and secure methods of sharing electronic teaching materials among faculty, students and/or colleagues wherever they may be.
- Provide institutional course management systems, e-portfolio and state-of-the-art messaging and communications technologies.
- Ensure that online library resources, collection space, and other tools and technologies are available for faculty and students for both synchronous and asynchronous use.
- Develop strategies for incorporating both synchronous and asynchronous technology components into teaching and learning as appropriate.
Sub-goal 3: Provide faculty and staff with current technology tools enabling them to fulfill increased expectations in meeting the strategic goals of the University.
Actions:
- Assign staff to involve faculty and staff in research and testing of innovative technology tools.
- Develop a plan to keep faculty and staff hardware and software at the level needed to ensure the effective use of university productivity and collaboration tools.
- Facilitate access to high-end research and analysis computing resources.
- Provide effective technology tools to facilitate peer-to-peer communication, including state-of-the-art videoconferencing.
- Ensure that faculty and staff are provided assistance and support in the use of these technology tools.
Sub-goal 4: Enhance WSU’s web environment to improve communication and provide easy access to public and personalized information and services regardless of time and place.
Actions:
- Improve the effectiveness of MyWSU portal by expanding personalized communications, information services, teaching/learning/work tools and other web services.
- Continue to support portal and web coordinating teams that provide direction, support and assessment in the areas of strategy, content, visual design, technology, communication, and education.
- Maintain portal and web standards to ensure that all content and applications function appropriately and seamlessly, providing a consistent visual environment and communicating the University’s graphic identity.
- Provide a central e-commerce solution to support secure e-commerce across the University.
- Assure access to university web resources is available via a variety of mobile devices.
Sub-goal 5: Ensure student technology laboratories and resources support instructional and research objectives and meet the changing needs of all WSU undergraduate and graduate students.
Actions:
- Configure and appropriately equip new and existing student technology laboratories, recapitalizing hardware and software on a regular basis.
- Conduct ongoing dialogue with students and faculty to ensue that student computing spaces and resources meet their needs, complimenting student’s own technology resources.
- Configure lab and other informal learning spaces to include areas for group projects with access points, display units, output devices, and furnishings to support student-to-student and faculty-to-student collaboration.
- Expand experimental opportunities for student and faculty participation in broadcast, new media, and other information technology activities.
Sub-goal 6: Provide public media services that advance education, citizenship, and culture in the region and enhance WSU’s role as an engaged University.
Actions:
- Exploit new digital distribution platforms to increase listening to existing program services.
- Expand distribution of program services to reach new audiences in markets of special importance to WSU or where the financial or service opportunities are compelling.
- Complete the transition to the new digital radio broadcasting standard in order to remain competitive, expand distribution of program services and replace aging equipment.
- Increase major gifts fund raising, membership revenue and business underwriting to fund expanded locally produced/generated services.
- Build partnerships with non-profit, education and government organizations to expand distribution of regional content.
Sub-goal 7: Improve the effectiveness and productivity of University faculty and staff by providing user friendly administrative systems with the flexibility to meet changing business needs.
Actions:
- Review alternatives for replacement of legacy administration systems with the goal of providing integrated systems that are efficient, user-friendly and flexible in meeting changing business needs.
- Develop and implement a legacy system replacement/upgrade plan, depending on the results of action 1, including timetable and funding strategy.
- Continue to maintain and extend comprehensive data warehouses, along with robust reporting tools, to provide authorized users with easy and secure access to university data.
Goal 2: Design, build, maintain, and continually enhance WSU's technology infrastructure to enable world-class teaching, learning, research, scholarship, the arts, and engagement.
Sub-goal 1: Plan for and provide sufficient bandwidth, cabling, electronics, and service quality for network connectivity in all classrooms, laboratories, workspaces and university living environments.
Actions:
- Extend and enhance active network management procedures that continually analyze network traffic for sufficient bandwidth and for network problems. Implement standardized procedures, rectifying the identified problems.
- Enhance copper wire, fiber optics, and wireless connectivity throughout the institution.
- Continue network upgrades to higher data rates.
- Enhance internal building networks, including building electronics for higher data rates.
- Continue the installation of standardized, managed, and secure wireless networks on the campuses.
- Implement quality of service protocols into the WSU data network as appropriate.
- Collaborate with Capital Planning and Development to ensure that new building standards and major remodels address and adhere to WSU ITS standards, policies, and procedures.
Sub-goal 2: Offer 24 x 7 availability of data and telecommunications networks and provide a secure environment for access to information and collaboration among members of the University community.
Actions:
- Insure that a baseline set of information technologies for voice, video, and data is available to all members of the WSU community at all campuses and locations at all times.
- Implement a secure common login and authentication procedure for all services, as appropriate.
- Evaluate and establish an inter-institutional authentication service.
- Prepare and implement a contingency plan for network redundancy.
- Document and test major system backup and recovery procedures throughout the University.
- Integrate information technology into the University's Continuity of Operations plan.
Sub-goal 3: Enforce a secure network and computing environment for all members of the WSU community.
Actions:
- Strategically implement firewalls intrusion detection devices, and other security solutions. Conduct vulnerability analysis.
- Based on risk analysis, develop security plans, disaster recovery plans, and emergency response plans.
- Provided secured access to the WSU network from the outside by implementing an authentication server and VPN (Virtual Private Network) services.
- Take appropriate and timely action to resolve network and computing security incidents.
- Initiate, publicize, and catalog procedures for identifying security issues and problems.
- Develop new and update existing security policies. Implement these policies into common practice.
- Increase awareness and conduct educational programs concerning information security and privacy issues.
Sub-goal 4: Provide robust interconnection among WSU locations and external networks, including Internet2, K-20, other significant partner institutions, and local internet service providers.
Actions:
- Continually assess network bandwidth needs and future needs at WSU locations. Strategically increase bandwidth as needed based on use and demand assessment.
- Procure high bandwidth network resources to ensure access to national and international research networks.
- Utilize educational partners and local ISP’s where direct network connectivity is appropriate and cost effective.
Sub-goal 5: Investigate and implement emerging integrated technologies as appropriate, especially those facilitating the convergence of voice, data, and video.
Actions:
- Evaluate and implement emerging integrated technologies as replacements for existing technologies as appropriate.
- Identify alternatives and plan for replacement of voice communications system.
- Investigate the feasibility of alternative modes of communications.
- Investigate and implement the migration of telephone communications to Voice over IP.
- Procure and implement current technologies for integrated voice, web-based and text messaging.
Sub-goal 6: Provide sufficient support for research computing at WSU.
Actions:
- Encourage faculty participation in national and international network-based collaboration to increase visibility of WSU research through collaborative initiatives.
- Develop and implement a research computing initiative through collaboration with other regional institutions, including colleges, universities, public institutions, and private industry.
- Develop collaborative partnerships between WSU initiatives and WSU Information Systems, vendor partners, and external funding sources.
Goal 3: Establish and maintain appropriate staffing levels of information technology professionals. Provide training for information technology professionals and the entire WSU community.
Sub-goal 1: Enhance the recruitment and retention of appropriately trained information technology professionals.
Actions:
- Develop staffing/workload benchmarks for information technology support to be used as guidelines for staffing decisions.
- Charge HRS with development of competitive salary charts through review and comparison of WSU information technology salary levels relative to industry averages, peer institutions, and within the university. Use salary data for promotions, salary equity, and job searches.
- Develop and institute career advancement roadmaps to create opportunities for professional growth and retention.
- Collaborate with HRS consultants to create and administer systematic job satisfaction assessments.
- Identify and eliminate barriers to a diversity-friendly workplace and promote understanding and respect for cultural differences (collaborating with Office of Equity and Diversity).
- Work with HRS to identify an HR representative (resources) to aid in accomplishing the above actions.
- Devise strategies to hire WSU graduates into information technology career positions.
Sub-goal 2: Effectively utilize information technology professionals across the University.
Actions:
- Establish university-wide technology standards to maximize efficient use of information technology support staff and to enable a focused technology-training program.
- Enhance communication and collaboration through use of features on myWSU.
- Leverage cross-departmental information technology professionals by establishing distributed projects and support services as needed.
- Develop base-level technical support guidelines for all department and area systems support units at all University campuses.
- Continue to hold annual system-wide IT forum and other events to support professional development of information technology staff.
- Encourage increased participation of information technology professionals in UACCT subcommittees for input on the direction of the university and its policies and procedures.
Sub-goal 3: Provide technical and specialized training for information technology professionals.
Actions:
- Promote use of SkillSoft to provide advanced professional development and certification opportunities.
- Encourage departments to invest in technology professionals by sending them to conferences, classes, workshops, and other off-site training opportunities.
- Encourage information technology staff to share their expertise with colleagues through formal and informal training.
- Develop a methodology for retraining of information technology professionals to take advantage of new technologies.
- Maximize purchasing power for developing and acquiring technology training resources and programs by continually seeking partnerships with other institutions and agencies.
- Invite vendors and consultants to speak on topics of interest to technology professionals.
Sub-goal 4: Provide formal and informal training to the WSU community on use of computers, software systems, instructional technologies, and other end user technologies supported by the University.
Actions:
- Establish a technology-training center to serve faculty, staff, and students at all sites.
- Publicize and encourage the use of the Skillsoft training resource library across the university.
- Work with HRS to evaluate and determine current information technology training needs for faculty, staff, and students at all sites and provide training programs to address those needs.
- Provide introductory, advanced, and refresher training and support materials in multiple formats to students, staff and faculty on selected topics.
- Coordinate and enhance current information technology training efforts provided by the various campuses, colleges, and departments.
- Identify base-level technology competencies and develop SkillSoft curriculum that addresses those competencies.
- Promote an organization culture that encourages and expects training in effective use of technology.
- Encourage information technology staff to share their expertise with end users through formal and informal training.
Goal 4: Further develop solid resource management practices for both the acquisition and allocation of information technology resources.
Sub-goal 1: Develop and implement evaluation and funding methods to address strategic hardware/software investments.
Actions:
- Develop and apply a decision process that determines the value of information technology projects and services to the University over the life of the investment. Locate in the Chief Technology Office.
- In consultation with Business Affairs, apply a criteria for evaluating various funding options for major IT investments (e.g., internal or commercial borrowing, bonding, direct appropriation, leasing).
- Make available on the ITS website a set of guidelines for college/unit information technology investments.
- Develop and use a mechanism that assists in determining if information technology projects and services should be centrally or departmentally funded.
- Systematically allocate central, one-time resources for information technology investment through the UACCT-Executive review and prioritization process in concert with the Vice President for Information Systems as needed.
Sub-goal 2: Establish systematic practices for recapitalizing equipment in central facilities, classrooms, labs, and offices.
Actions:
- Identify equipment needs throughout university central facilities, classrooms, labs, and offices.
- Determine equipment replacement cycles for new equipment and the potential for extending the use of viable used equipment.
- Submit biennial budgeting requests for prioritized recapitalization needs.
Sub-goal 3: Coordinate information technology acquisitions to take advantage of economies of scale.
Actions:
- Negotiate university-wide hardware and software acquisitions for high demand items. Encourage standardization by purchasing equipment from state, regional and local contracts. When feasible partner with other universities (e.g. libraries' consortia, NWCA.)
- Continue to coordinate the acquisition and licensing of commonly used software throughout the university. Maintain site license information available on the Information Technology Web site.
Sub-goal 4: Fully integrate information technology's role in the capital planning and funding processes.
Actions:
- Systematically include major information technology development projects supporting university strategic goals into WSU long-term capital planning and funding process (e.g. high speed Internet connections, administrative systems, telephone switch).
- Continue Information Technology representation on all building committees where technology will be included in the project.
- Require an information technology infrastructure plan and occupant technology plan during the design phase of all major construction and renovation capital project plans to ensure adequate project and equipment funding. Extend IT Representation on capital building projects through the construction phase.
- Extend IT representation on capital building projects through the construction phase.
- Assure support for technology infrastructure in on-going maintenance and utilities funding.
Sub-goal 5: Develop strategies to secure increased funding for technical staff across the University.
Actions:
- Periodically review and compare WSU information technology professionals' salary levels to industry average and within the university and encourage employing units and departments to be competitive.
- Work through university administration and state personnel system to maximize information technology staff compensation.
Sub-goal 6: Increase extramural funding for information technology by establishing grants and development programs.
Actions:
- Hire a full time IT development officer for both extramural fund raising and proposal coordination and packaging.
- Monitor results of instructional improvement grant program.
- Identify and prioritize opportunities for funding through public and private foundations and agencies.
- Nurture industry partnerships to maximize potential for in-kind and matching grants.
- Establish an internship program to develop long-term relationships with alumni.
- Build relationships with alumni who are well placed in industry and technology.
Sub-goal 7: Develop strategies for funding replacement of administrative systems.
Actions:
- Use criteria from sub-goal 1 to evaluate alternative funding sources for administrative systems replacement.
- Create a base of support for system replacement as a university priority.
- Examine possibility of multi-institution investment in an ERP solution.