Introduction
The University of North Carolina at Asheville (UNCA) is
pleased to submit to the UNC Board of Governors this request for Information
Technology Management Flexibility. The
intent of this document is to summarize our IT management structure, policies,
and practices, and to demonstrate how our IT efforts support UNCA’s strategic
goals, the UNC system IT strategy, and the Board of Governors Strategic
Directions for the university system. By documenting UNCA’s effective
management of IT, we will demonstrate our readiness for a formal grant of IT
management flexibility by the Board of Governors.
Section 1: Planning
UNCA has been operating for three years under a
comprehensive information technology plan developed by a diverse constituency
of campus IT users and modeled on the IT strategy formulated for the entire UNC
system. The plan has proved to be a
useful guide for our IT efforts, offering both a clear statement of strategy,
and concrete, measurable action steps to implement that strategy.
The plan, entitled “Information Technology Strategy for the
University of North Carolina at Asheville,” is a working document, and has been
updated twice since its creation in the 1999-2000 academic year. The spring 2003 update of the strategy is
available in its entirety at www.unca.edu/its/itflex/itstrat03.htm.
Our IT strategy is not an isolated effort. Its key features are supportive of the UNCA
strategic plan, the UNC IT strategy, and the Board of Governors strategic
directions for the UNC system. This
supportive relationship becomes particularly clear when the goals of the UNC IT
strategy are cross-referenced to the goals of the other planning efforts.
Following is that cross-reference in table format, preceded,
for ease of comparison, by an enumeration of the planning areas of the UNCA IT
strategy and their related goals.
Planning area 1: Campus
Teaching and Learning with Technology
Goals: · Create/enhance an appropriate
infrastructure – space, equipment, software, staff – for technology-enhanced
teaching and learning. (1.1)
· Support faculty
development efforts that empower faculty to incorporate technology tools in
their teaching and research. (1.2)
· Provide for students
a living and learning environment that ensures their attainment of “technology literacy” upon graduation from
UNCA. (1.3)
Planning area 2: Administrative
Systems, Services for Students
Goals: · For
the university in general, provide stable, quality central information systems
which support institutional decision-making, provide academic information
services for students and faculty, and provide financial information services
for faculty and staff. (2.1)
· For students
specifically, provide greater access to web-enabled information and services
through self-service mechanisms, allowing students to interact with
personalized, intuitive tools that support and enrich their academic and
co-curricular experiences. (2.2)
Planning area 3: Distance
Learning
Goals: · Continue active and
effective support provided by Distance Learning Services for the Asheville
Graduate Center and NC State Engineering and, increasingly, for UNCA pilot
distance learning projects, including the German studies consortium, involving
six UNC campuses. (3.1)
· Assess
the need for distance learning at UNCA, establishing a clear definition of what
distance learning looks like, and determining a baseline for the technology
needed to support it. (3.2)
The table
below cross-references our IT goals, presented in the columns, to,
respectively, the Board of Governors strategic directions for the UNC system,
the UNC system IT strategy, and the strategic goals of the University of North
Carolina at Asheville, all of which are presented in the rows. An X in a box indicates close
alignment between the associated “row” and “column” goals.
The table
necessarily uses a condensed form of expression for goal and direction
statements. See the following url’s for a more detailed exposition:
Board of
Governors Strategic Directions:
www.northcarolina.edu/content.php/aa/departments/planning/reports/longplan/stratdir.htm
UNC
System IT Strategy:
www.northcarolina.edu/content.php/ir/strategy/strategy.htm
UNC
Asheville Strategic Goals:
http://www.unca.edu/ir/plan/Goals_Indicators.pdf
Section
2: Organization
IT
Organization Chart and Functional Responsibilities
University
Computing (UC) is the central IT management organization at UNCA. UC reports directly to the Vice Chancellor
for Academic Affairs and consists of four divisions, each headed by its own
manager: Academic Computing Services,
Administrative Computing Services, Systems and Networks, and Distance Learning
Services.
Each
division has a unique mission.
Academic Computing Services provides
the primary support for members of the faculty who use computing in their
curricular applications and their research. Pursuant to that role, it manages
all the student computer classrooms and labs, and all of the campus’
technology-enhanced classrooms.
Additionally, Academic Computing is the main source of support for all
individuals on campus, in both academic and administrative departments, who use
personal computers for personal productivity applications and network
access. Other division responsibilities
include support of student users of the residence hall network RESNET, user
training (in both classroom and one-on-one settings), and the maintenance and
repair of UNCA-owned personal computers and peripherals.
Administrative Computing Services develops and maintains central application systems which store and
process UNCA’s institutional data. These central application systems manage
information related to students, university finances, human resources, and
alumni and development, and provide users with friendly web “front-ends” and
other software tools for management information access and retrieval. (Administrative Computing is currently
leading the campus in an implementation of a comprehensive client-server,
database-driven application suite, SCT Corporation’s Banner, which will
replace our legacy application systems over a five-year period.) In addition to its application systems
efforts, Administrative Computing is responsible for UNCA’s official web
presence, maintaining the official UNCA home page and providing support to web
page development efforts in other campus departments.
Systems and Networks
provides systems programming and systems management for UNCA’s central servers,
and manages the campus network. In its
systems management role, Systems and Networks installs new systems software releases on the central servers, implements
security procedures for system files and application programs, monitors and
enhances system performance, and carries out daily operations and backups. The division’s network management duties
include network maintenance and enhancement, performance analysis, bandwidth
management, and design and implementation of network security systems. (Systems and Networks, using higher
education bond issue funding, recently implemented a significant upgrade of
UNCA’s network. The upgrade provided
gigabit Ethernet backbone connectivity, 100mb desktop connectivity, and
significantly enhanced network management and security tools.).
Distance Learning Services
manages UNCA’s two-way interactive videoconferencing facilities, working with
Academic Affairs to import and export UNCA-specific curricular programming, and
supporting non-curricular, UNCA-related conferences, seminars, and
meetings. Additionally, Distance
Learning Services provides extensive support to the curricular efforts
of the Asheville Graduate Center and the North Carolina State Engineering
program, both resident on the UNCA campus.
In another important role, Distance Learning Services, in collaboration
with Academic Computing Services and the Center for Teaching and Learning,
provides support for UNCA’s web-based course management system, WebCT. Finally, this division contributes
significantly to UNCA’s public service mission, offering its facilities for
videoconferencing on a time-available basis to local and regional non-profit
organizations and governmental entities, and on a cost-recovery basis to the
private sector.
The following chart gives an
overview of UNCA’s IT organization and functional responsibilities.
Director of University Computing
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Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs
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Academic Computing
Services
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Administrative Computing Services
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Distance Learning Services
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· Faculty support · Application systems · Server management · Videoconferencing
· Computer labs · Mgmt information · Operations, backups · WebCT support
· Desktop support · Web management · Network management · UNC system support
· RESNET · Dept web support · Network security · Public service
· Hardware repair
Standing IT Committees
UNCA’s IT efforts are informed and
guided by two campus committees, the Administrative Computing Advisory
Committee (ADAC) and the Academic Computing Advisory Committee (ACAC). Both groups meet regularly throughout the
academic year and are tasked with providing advice to the Director of
University Computing. Both have been
very active in the development of UNCA’s IT strategy
ADAC has general purview of UNCA’s
information systems issues, while ACAC concentrates on faculty and student
technology issues, but areas of concern for the two groups necessarily and
frequently overlap, a recent case-in-point being the issue of campus technology
refresh.
ADAC is made up of managers and
other key personnel in all UNCA administrative departments. Over the years the committee has been very
instrumental in policy development efforts, in the allocation of resources to
administrative departments for technology initiatives, and in the formulation
of UNCA’s information systems strategies.
It recently has performed significant services in this latter area by
providing valuable input to our planning process for our migration to Banner.
ACAC is a committee of the
faculty, with four full-time faculty members serving two-year, rotating
terms. The Student Government
Association appoints a student representative to the group. ACAC has been particularly active in recent
months in policy formulation efforts (faculty/staff IT usage policy, faculty
desktop computing refresh policy), and in the allocation of student technology
fees to improve the student computing environment. The committee generally deals with any technology issue that has
impact on UNCA’s academic process.
IT Decision-Making Process
IT decisions at UNCA are of two
general types … operational and strategic.
Operational IT decisions are
typically made within the University Computing organization. They deal with “normal” operations, usually
involving expenditure of University Computing’s base operating budget
allocation, and routine assignment of University Computing personnel. The Director of University Computing
consults on a weekly basis with division managers, and on a bi-weekly basis
with the entire staff, to discuss operational issues and decisions. Division managers have the flexibility to
make many operational decisions themselves, but the Director retains ultimate
responsibility.
Strategic decisions are made in a
broader context. Relevant issues are
brought before one or both advisory committees, as appropriate, for
consideration. The committees make
recommendations to the Director, who carries those recommendations forward to
university management … first to the Director’s supervisor, the Vice Chancellor
for Academic Affairs; and second, if appropriate, to the Chancellor’s cabinet
or to the Chancellor directly. Examples
of recent strategic decisions are the university’s decision to migrate to
Banner, which started in ADAC and was ultimately approved by the Chancellor;
and the decision to solve student technology refresh issues with dedicated
funding from the student technology fee, which started in ACAC and was approved
by the Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs.
Section 3:
IT Infrastructure, Standards, and Policies
Campus IT Infrastructure
UNCA’s IT infrastructure consists
of computer hardware and software; network hardware, software and cabling
plant; and, most importantly, people. A
general description of our IT infrastructure follows. More details may be obtained from our list of standards, referred
to below.
The campus network is the
integrating factor in our IT infrastructure.
All campus users are connected to it with high-speed connections, which
they use to access our local computing resources, and other resources external
to UNCA. We have installed a pervasive fiber optic backbone, connecting all
places on campus where people live, learn and work. We use Cisco networking hardware to implement the gigabit
Ethernet protocol on the fiber optic backbone, and use Cisco switches to provide
all campus users … faculty, staff, and residence hall students … with 100
megabit dedicated connections to their desktop computers. Our campus network has a 45 megabit/sec
connection to NCREN, the university system network which provides Internet gateway
services and access to other UNC-system and statewide resources. Additionally, NCREN provides us with
connectivity and support for our extensive campus videoconferencing and
distance learning effort. In the near
term, our NCREN connection will be upgraded to OC12 capacity (622 megabit/sec).
Important university computing
applications are provided over the network by an array of servers supporting
both administrative and academic efforts.
Our key administrative server is a Compaq AlphaServer that supports the
SCT Plus suite of administrative software, under the VMS operating system. Our campus web servers, closely integrated
with the administrative server and providing friendly web interfaces and campus
portal services, run Microsoft server operating systems. Academic servers run varieties of Unix,
including Linux, and provide course management software (WebCT), file and
application services for computer labs, and campus-wide email services. Additional academic servers run Apple
operating systems and provide services for our campus Macintosh community.
Campus personal computers … on
faculty, staff, and student desktops … consist of Windows/Intel PC’s (Gateway
and Dell) and Apple Macintoshes, and of a small number of Sun Solaris
workstations. PC’s and Macintoshes
exist in an approximate 7:3 ratio. We
fully support the Microsoft suite of personal productivity software on our PC’s
and Macintoshes, and supply email clients for those platforms for communication
with our POP and IMAP email servers.
Support, enhancement, and
maintenance of this complex hardware/software/network environment are the
responsibilities of our most important IT infrastructure component … our IT professional
staff. Twenty IT professionals make up
the staff of the University Computing organization, providing services in each
of the four divisions: Administrative
Computing Services, Academic Computing Services, Systems and Networks, and
Distance Learning Services. (Go to www.unca.edu/its/itflex/ucorg.pdf to see the University Computing departmental
organization chart). UNCA, historically
supportive of IT efforts despite its relatively small size, makes every effort
to keep its IT staff at appropriate position classification levels (with
concomitant compensation), and to provide staff development opportunities that
maximize a staff member’s potential to contribute positively to campus IT
initiatives.
UNCA IT Policies
UNCA has developed a comprehensive set of IT policies to
govern its IT efforts. Covering such
areas as appropriate use of IT resources by staff and students, enterprise
systems and software management, web resource management, and intellectual
property and copyright, the policies provide a framework for the management of
IT at UNCA. All policies will be
regularly reviewed, and new policies will be developed, as changes in
technology, resource availability, and strategic directions warrant. To see UNCA’s complete set of IT policies
(some still in the draft/campus approval process), visit www.unca.edu/its/policies.
UNCA IT Standards
In the description of Campus IT Infrastructure,
earlier in this section, some of the key standards of our IT environment were
referenced. Adherence to standards is
critical for effective management of higher education IT, particularly on a
smaller campus where staff size is inadequate to maintain a broad spectrum of
supported technologies. For a comprehensive
list of UNCA standards, see www.unca.edu/its/itflex/standards.html.
Section 4: Management Processes
Implementation of Major IT Projects
Major IT projects at UNCA are typically initiatives
recommended by one or both of the two campus IT advisory committees, ACAC and
ADAC (see IT Decision Making Process in Section 3 above). These initiatives are supportive of the
goals of our IT strategy, and receive detailed discussion and shaping in the
committee process. Committee
recommendations for implementation of a particular project are forwarded to
higher university management for consideration and approval.
Three elements of such major IT projects … funding, resource
procurement, and staffing … deserve particular mention.
Funding.
Major IT projects are typically beyond the reach of University
Computing’s operating budget allocation, so the decision to fund them must be
made by higher management. Funding is
typically drawn from the campus pool of funds for strategic initiatives, from
special-purpose allocations by the Office of the President, or from one-time,
“year end” money (other university funds that were not expended as planned).
Resource Procurement.
Procurement of resources to support major IT projects is done in
accordance with state purchasing regulations, state laws, and UNC system
purchasing guidelines. Our resource
procurement efforts benefit substantially from our collaborative relationship
with the North Carolina Office of Technology Services (ITS). Although under state law we are exempt from
the authority of ITS to manage IT procurement for state government, we
nonetheless take advantage of ITS’ expertise and purchasing power, working
under the terms of 2000 Memorandum of Understanding between UNC and ITS.
Staffing.
UNCA has always regarded as critical end-user involvement in the
implementation of major IT projects, and consequently UNCA staffs projects with
end-users in both advisory and management roles. Technical support staff from University Computing therefore
interact extensively with end-users in project implementation efforts, and
together the two groups create a productive “project team” mindset. Our philosophy has always been that users
own their systems, and user involvement in system implementation projects has
brought great benefit to our IT environment.
IT Life Cycle Management Efforts
Effective IT life cycle management is a key goal of the UNCA
IT strategy.
Progress in this area for student technology initiatives has
been very encouraging. In the fall of
2001, the Office of Academic Affairs agreed to devote 70% of the student
Education and Technology Fee (approximately $200,000 annually) directly to the
maintenance and enhancement of student computing facilities. The Academic Computing Advisory Committee
(ACAC) solicits proposals for student computing projects, prioritizes them, and
recommends allocation of available funding.
In academic year 2002-03, funds were allocated to overhaul five important
computer labs, and other funds were directed to smart classroom
construction. In addition, important
student support units, such as the University Writing Center, received improved
technology as a result of this effort.
Progress for central IT infrastructure and faculty/staff
desktop life cycle management efforts has been slower, but still significant,
with funding being the key obstacle.
ACAC, in the spring and fall of 2002, developed detailed guidelines for refreshing
faculty computers. Additionally, a
subcommittee of ADAC developed in the fall of 2002 a preliminary funding model,
and presented it to university management for consideration. Further progress in this area awaits formal
adoption of a funding plan in the 2003-04 budget year.
IT Professional Development and Training
Professional development and skill enhancement are critical
for the staff of an effective IT organization.
Additionally, campus users of technology need regular training in order
to employ their growing array of IT tools to maximum effect.
UNCA has a strong record of support for professional
development of its IT organization.
Staff members participate actively in a broad range of professional
organizations, serving variously as conference attendees, presenters, and organizers. These professional organizations include
EDUCAUSE, SIGUCCS-ACM, and UNC-CAUSE, as well as regional user groups of our
administrative applications suite.
Additionally, we are well represented at UNC system-sponsored
professional development activities, such as the Teaching and Learning with
Technology Conference sponsored by the UNC TLT Collaborative.
UNCA has always prioritized end-user training as well. University Computing presents a
comprehensive set of IT workshops each semester, and provides a specialist who
works directly with faculty on instructional technology applications. Additionally, we procure vendor training
(for both technical staff and end users) as part of major IT project
implementation efforts, like the Banner migration project.
Needs in the professional development and training area
continue to grow, and IT management has prioritized the creation of two new
positions in the next budget cycle -- an additional instructional technology
consultant to support faculty in their efforts to enhance their courses with
technology; and a trainer skilled with personal productivity software and
information systems access tools, the latter area being particularly important
in light of our migration to Banner.
Business Continuity Planning
UNCA, in conjunction with its user departments, has
developed a comprehensive business continuity plan, a key component of
effective IT management practice. As
part of the overall Business Continuity Plan, University Computing has
developed a central disaster recovery plan, focusing on the availability of key
technical and user personnel, provision of an off-site processing facility, and
expeditious restoration of key IT services In addition, user departments have
individual business continuity plans which are coordinated with the central
disaster recovery plan, and detail methods for continuing to conduct
departmental business in the event of an unplanned IT service outage or actual
disaster affecting central IT services.
IS/IT Audit Performance
In late 2002, University Computing underwent an Information
System audit conducted by the Office of the State Auditor. The audit produced six findings, most
dealing with the need to document University Computing’s existing sound IT
practices. At the end of April 2003,
four of the six findings had been completely resolved, and the other two were
scheduled for resolution well before the expiration of the 90-day
finding-resolution deadline.
Section 5: Assessment and
Accountability
Assessment and accountability are the cornerstones of UNCA’s
institutional effectiveness effort, in which University Computing actively
participates. Institutional
effectiveness at UNCA involves aligning the mission and goals of individual
departments with the university’s mission and goals; and with detailed
assessment of progress towards the attainment of departmental and university
goals.
On a three-year cycle, departments are required to prepare a
comprehensive Departmental Effectiveness Plan with Assessment. For each departmental goal, the plan lists
strategies for goal attainment, assessment procedures and criteria for success,
and assessment results. University
Computing’s last departmental plan, prepared for the 1999-2002 time period, is
contained in its entirety at www.unca.edu/its/itflex/insteff.pdf. An updated report for 2003-2006 is scheduled
for completion in late 2003.
Section 6: Funding
UNCA’s IT efforts are supported from a number of funding
sources:
- The
university’s continuation budget for University Computing (supports
day-to-day operations … personnel, equipment, maintenance costs, service
fees)
- The
university’s strategic project reserve (supports IT projects with
campus-wide impact)
- The
student Education and Technology fee (used specifically for technology
refresh in student computing facilities)
- Capital
funds (support IT capital projects, such as the fiber optic backbone
installation in 1998)
- Allocation
for collaborative IT efforts within the UNC system (provides for
collaborative efforts such as the Banner migration effort, and system-wide
enhancement of TLT infrastructure)
- UNC
bond funding for IT infrastructure (supports campus network enhancement
and smart classroom development)
- “Year-end”
money (supports a variety of important, near-term projects; consists of
funds from other university budgets that were not expended as planned)
Despite its creative success in finding resources to support
IT initiatives in the past, UNCA faces significant resource challenges in the
years ahead, as IT becomes even more pervasive and more essential to meeting
the university mission.
Section 7: Conclusion
In the sections above, we have demonstrated that UNCA’s IT
management efforts:
- are
guided by a planning process that supports campus and UNC strategic
initiatives;
- are
well-organized and supported by sound decision-making structures;
- are
governed by policies and standards;
- are
supported by an adequate resource base; and
- are
assessed and held accountable as part of
a campus-wide initiative for institutional effectiveness.
This document provides substantive evidence of UNCA’s
ability to manage IT effectively, and we therefore submit it to the UNC Board
of Governors as a formal request for a grant of IT Management Flexibility.