Information Services Plan for FY 1995 (166162230)

7/29/2019 Information Services Plan for FY 1995 (166162230)

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Information Services Plan for FY 1995

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UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA DULUTHINFORMATION SERVICES

FY95 PLAN

Contact:Linda Deneen, DirectorUMD Information Services

University of Minnesota, Duluth10 University DriveDuluth, MN [email protected](218) 726-7588Module 1 -- Describing Your UnitUMD Information Services

Mission Statement

UMD Information Services must provide the campus community with ahigh-quality environment of information, computing, audio-visual,

and telecommunications tools in support of the campus mission. Wemust continuously improve our facilities and services; help ourfaculty, staff, and students to use these tools to their bestadvantage; and provide leadership and planning for futureapplications of these rapidly changing technologies.

Value Statement

Information Services will focus on delighting our customers withconsistent, high-quality services. We will work with respect foreach other at all times to improve our services and plans,realizing that our value as an organization depends on the

continuous development, teamwork, and dedication of each of ourstaff.

Organization

The Director of UMD Information Services reports to the ViceChancellor for Academic Administration. Three managers, alongwith the director, comprise the department's Management Team whichplans and coordinates staff efforts towards fulfilling the



mission. The department organization chart reflects a traditionalorganization with employees in specific service areas reporting tomanagers who in turn report to the director. However, InformationServices' true operating structure is more accurately representedby eight, cross-functional critical process teams and severalspecialized process support teams. Most staff members participateon more than one team, and team membership typically crosses thetraditional reporting lines.

Each team of employees is sponsored and/or led by a member of themanagement team and has responsibility for planning, recommending,and implementing improvements in their designated areas offacilities and service offerings. The teams are in turn supportedby management's direction, leadership, and resource allocationdecisions.(ORGANIZATIONAL CHART NOT AVAILABLE ELECTRONICALLY)

FACT SHEET

STAFFING

28.5 FTE professional staff

23.0 FTE student staff

BUDGET

Recurring$1,313,216Salary & Fringe$1,429,738Non-recurring$1,937,606SE&E$1,724,347

Totals$3,250,822$3,154,085

FACILITIES AND SERVICES

* 42.5 hours per week help desk staffing* 7985 hours custom programming services* 80 computer repairs per month* 1175 campus participation hours in training provided by IS

* 1600 network connections

* 64 modems in modem pool

* 9373 total central-system accounts* 8000 student accounts per quarter

* 6 microcomputer labs, wheelchair accessible* 216 lab computers with some adaptive equipment* 2400 lab users per quarter* 50 public access terminals



* 2743 telephones, including 5 TDD telephones* 1648 student long-distance resale customers

* 4,800 AV equipment pieces checked out per quarter* 7,500 hours of AV equipment use per quarter* 465 Hours of TV Services per quarter

* 2 fully-equipped interactive television (ITV) classrooms* 3 ITV network affiliations* 165 hours per quarter ITV services* 25 remote locations used - many more possible

* 552 IS staff participation hours in formal training* 1190 IS staff participation hours in in-house training

MODULE 2 -- ENVIRONMENTAL CONTEXT--STAKEHOLDER ANALYSIS

UMD INFORMATION SERVICES

UMD Information Services has segmented its stakeholders bydescribing the computing, telecommunications, networking, andaudio-visual media market. The staff of Information Services used

the tools of total quality management (TQM) during qualitymeetings to determine that faculty, staff, students, externalcustomers, and departmental units comprise the specialty segmentsin the enterprise.

We have prioritized our stakeholder service requirements as high,medium, or low need within the market segments. High-needcustomer requirements include services that are timely, reliable,accurate, courteous, and consistent. Medium-need customerrequirements include inexpensive, available, user-friendly,suitable, understandable, functional, fast, and efficientservices. Finally, low-need customer requirements include theneed to always use the most current, leading-edge technologies.

The growth in the number of stakeholders and their needs is amajor problem faced by Information Services. There has been adramatic increase in the number of student and facultyworkstations, minicomputers, instructional computing laboratories,and application software. Many new technologies have beenintroduced, including multimedia, local-area networks, universalnetworking, and video communications.

Stakeholders' expectations and demands for excellence in bothproducts and services will grow steadily. Our customers oftenseem to expect us to support everything. Customer training andeducation in the use and application of technology are vital to

meet these demands and expectations.

New information technologies and organizational structures willdrive changes in stakeholders' requirements. Universal networkingwill permit individuals to configure their own virtual computer tomeet unique teaching, learning, and work-group needs. The UMDLibrary plays an important role in developing and implementing ournetwork strategies for the stakeholders.

Organizational change will drive new teamwork approaches to



problem solving and resource allocation. Work groups will crossunit boundaries, allowing for an increase in productivity ofindividuals through the expansion of information technology on thedesktop. As a result, we will experience an increase in thetechnical proficiency of our customers.

Information Services will need to direct resources and energiestoward supporting the changing environment and the increaseddemand through creative investments that optimize existingequipment and concepts rather than delay support in anticipationof new, breakthrough technologies.

MODULE 3 -- ENVIRONMENTAL CONTEXT -- EXTERNAL


Technological

Our greatest opportunity is to provide technology leadership tothe campus and to the northeastern Minnesota region. We see theincreasing value of information technology locally, nationally,

and internationally. New technology is increasingly easy to use,and our customer base is becoming increasingly literate in the useof technology.

Important changes in technology are resulting in the promises madetwenty years or more ago now coming true. Interactive televisionand data networks give an exciting new potential to distanceeducation programs. The merger of voice, video, and datatransmission technologies allows us to share parts of ourinfrastructure, gaining efficiency and lowering costs. Softwareinterfaces between previously separate functions result inincreased productivity in the work place. Multimedia and a newgeneration of software will impact how teaching and learning take

place. Journals and other information, traditionally available inlibraries only, are now available over data networks.

There are some troublesome side effects of change. Constant,rapid change and an increasing demand for services have pushed ourstaff to the limit. Staff costs offset savings from decliningprices of hardware and software. Our customers are not alwaysunderstanding of our needs to set limits. Customer expectationsare very high for information technology right now. This is botha blessing and a curse.

Competitive

There are three models for how organizations work in relation toone another: competitive, cooperative, and collaborative.Although our culture has been built on the competitive model,Information Services has developed partnerships based on thecollaborative model. We firmly believe that we can provide betterresources for the campus and more efficient use of universityfunding through collaboration.

We have existing partnerships with the Library, Student Support



Services, the Bookstore, and Facilities Management. Partnershipsare sustained by monthly meetings for coordination and joint workon projects. Our partnership with the Library is particularlyimportant and has resulted in planning for a new building where wecan merge our operations. Potential new partnerships includeAdmissions, University Relations, the Business Office, andHousing.

Information Services has been very active with our partners in thenortheast Minnesota region to develop regional infrastructure forinteractive television. The Director of Information Services sitson the Advisory Board for the Northeast Minnesota Telecommunity(NEMT), the umbrella organization for the region. She chairs theNortheast Alliance for Telecommunications (NEAT), the higher-education segment of the telecommunity. UMD is also a member ofthe Northeastern Minnesota Telecommunications Network, connectingus with area high schools.

Opportunities for outsourcing in Duluth are not numerous. Duluthdoes not have many high-technology industries or serviceproviders. We are frequently approached ourselves to provideservice to the community. There are some significant benefits tothe campus for us to provide services internally. These include ahighly-competent staff, convenience, response time, and lower

rates than those offered by external vendors. We see majorbenefits from outsourcing for managing backlogs, doing largeprojects, and providing expertise not available on our staff.

Economic

Information Services receives about half of its funding throughrecurring funds and the other half from fees and service charges.This has led us to define our services and our fees so that morerecurring funding goes toward serving the public good and chargesare higher for services from individual demanders. Charges forservices have the advantage of placing some controls on demand.

On the other hand, charges sometimes discourage use in areas wherewe need to encourage growth.

Student use of instructional technology is an area where thefunding model discourages use. Prior to this academic year,students paid $60 per quarter for access to our computinglaboratories. Many students avoided paying the fee, in some caseseven avoiding certain classes that required the fee or pressuringfaculty to not require the fee. Faculty responded by leavingimportant uses of information technology out of the curriculum.Last spring, after two years of debate, the campus accepted a newfunding plan for student use of technology. A fee of $1-per-credit is required of all students to provide basic access to

email, access to the Internet, access to on-line libraryresources, access to Gopher, minimal disk storage and printing,and necessary training and documentation. An additional $30-per-quarter fee is optional and includes access to all lab computersand printers, specialized software, additional printing and diskstorage, and access to lab consultants. These changes are part ofa five-year plan during which the basic fee will go up and the labfee will come down until there is only one universal fee withuniversal access.



Like most units at the University of Minnesota, InformationServices has been negatively impacted by budget cuts. Not onlyhas our recurring funding declined, but other units are much lesswilling to pay for our services. This is indeed unfortunateduring a time when the basis for the global economy is shiftingtoward information and technology.

Political/Legal

The National Information Infrastructure Initiative being debatedby the national government will have a major impact on our work.The University of Minnesota is a founding member of the NationalLearning Infrastructure Initiative, sponsored by Educom. We arehopeful that this initiative will show the nation how informationresources can be used for the improvement of education. Nationaldebate has raised concerns about steep price increases withprivatization; such increases will hurt us.

National attention to issues of fair and appropriate use ofelectronic resources also impacts us. We are concerned with howcopyright law will evolve for electronic information. Fundingmodels should both encourage use and encourage fair use. We areincreasingly looking to law-enforcement officials to help us deal

with perpetrators of destructive acts against our systems.

The passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) hasrequired that we put more of our funding into facilities andequipment for persons with disabilities. We have provided avariety of specialized equipment, including a computer that readsits screen aloud, software to enlarge text, a special work area,and TDD telephones. We have not received any increased funding tosupport these efforts.

Our community-outreach mission has political and legalramifications. We are frequently asked to provide services to thecommunity, and it can be difficult to determine which services are

consistent with our outreach mission. Some services bring us intodirect or indirect competition with private vendors. Someexamples are these: we now offer long-distance service to studentsliving in the residence halls; we offer access to the Internet toprivate individuals provided they have a campus sponsor and someconnection with the university; we offer some consulting to otherhigher education institutions in the region; and we provideInternet access to some institutions.

Social/Demographic

Improvements in planning and cooperation, both at UMD and within

the University of Minnesota System, have had a positive impact onInformation Services. As budget declines continue, theadministrative teams have done a better job of pulling togetherand finding creative ways to solve problems. The EducationalPolicy Committee's Subcommittee on Information Services providesInformation Services with excellent advice. Nevertheless,Information Services and the UMD campus are struggling to providebasic services.

The Total Quality Management (TQM) Initiative at the University of



Minnesota and at UMD has had a positive impact on InformationServices. As a service organization, many of the principles ofTQM that have arisen from manufacturing seem to apply well to us.We have benefitted from consultants brought in to enhance theinitiative and from the culture and discussion generated by theeffort.

The largest social impact that we have to address is the impact ofchange related to technology. We still have customers who areopposed to any change at all. Others recognize that change isinevitable but resist it nevertheless. The pace of change isdifficult even for our technologically-proficient staff to manage,so we are sympathetic to our customers' feelings. Despite this,we are firm believers that technology can improve our lives.Module 4 -- Environmental Context -- Internal


Program Quality Assessment

Our organization provides a variety of services, which we haveorganized into eight critical processes. Six of these processes

are closely related to our services to external customers, and weconsider these to be our programs. Two of our processes areclosely related to administrative services, and they are detailedwithin the section below related to the analysis of administrativeefficiency. Our programs include:

1. Information and Application Support -- Ensure access andsupport for faculty, students, staff and departmental units tomake optimal use of information technology and University-wide anddepartmental data resources for research, administrative andacademic missions.

Demand for these services has always been high, and demand hasincreased substantially during the past several years.Consequently, this program has moved from a focus onindividualized services to services that empower customers tobecome more independent. Potentially, customer demand would beeven higher if all of our services were free, and if the facultyand staff were less busy so that training would be easier toattend.

Major strengths include:* highly-trained and dedicated staff* good computing facilities* good campus community support

Major weaknesses include:* heavy demand* high customer expectations* rapid change in supported applications

2. Technology Development -- Ensure that students, faculty andstaff can make optimum use of emerging information technologyresources.



This critical process emerged from a very recent restructuringprocess to focus our efforts towards providing emerging technologydevelopment and leadership for the UMD campus community. Theteams that support this critical process will be relatively short-lived, working on the initial phase of development, and thenhanding off the support to an appropriate critical process withinour unit or within a partner unit. We will leverage our staffskills by using a team approach to better integrate an emergingtechnology with existing UMD facilities. This approach will helpto coordinate campus efforts towards new technology and tominimize the confusion and cost associated with several unitsusing competing technology solutions.

Major strengths include:* highly-trained and innovative staff* partnerships with other units* good campus community support

Major weaknesses include:* issues related to emerging technologies* inadequate computing equipment located in departments

3. Network and Telecommunications Services -- Provide and maintainquality telecommunications and network products and services.

This set of services provides the campus wire and fiber backbone,the technical services related to the telecommunications area, andthe connectivity to the telephone and computing equipment inoffices, residence halls and off-campus sites.

Major strengths include:* highly-trained and innovative staff* recently-installed telecommunications switch

* recently-upgraded network backbone* recently-upgraded connectivity to the UMTC campus

Major weaknesses include:* inadequate campus wiring plant* severe backlog of installation work* difficulty with network installations on outdatedcomputers

4. Audio-Visual and Interactive Television Services -- Ensureaccess to quality audio-visual, television, and two-wayinteractive television resources and services needed by the UMD

campus community.

The fact that UMD is interconnected has allowed the campus toconserve funds by centralizing most of the audio-visual equipmentfor check-out use. Almost every unit on campus utilizes thecartable equipment for research, instructional and administrativefunctions. The interactive television service has grown from apilot project three years ago using rented equipment to two fully-equipped classrooms.



Major strengths include:* highly-trained and dedicated staff* some good audio-visual checkout equipment* new ITV rooms, good equipment* good campus community support

Major weaknesses include:* very restricted budget* reliability problems related to ITV as a new technology* scheduling problems related to ITV as a new technology* campus television network is one-way only* audio-visual equipment in many auditoriums is extremelyold

5. Computer Systems and Facilities -- Ensure access to computingresources for the UMD campus community.

The central-systems environment has moved from a largely-specialized, small mainframe service to an open-architecture andhighly-integrated server platform. A variety of compute serversprovide services to faculty, staff, and students. Several otherdepartments have servers dedicated to their needs but supported byIS central-systems staff.

Major strengths include:* well-trained, dedicated, flexible staff* good facilities for centralized services* good computing equipment and software offerings* well-organized set of services

Major weaknesses include:* high customer expectations* heavy demand on servers* deteriorating support from external computer vendors

6. Instructional Laboratory Management -- Ensure access tonetworked computing laboratories for the instructional mission ofthe UMD campus community.

The UMD campus community has worked with Information Services toprovide access to up-to-date computing laboratories through theestablishment and revision of fees to support student computing.Instructional demands on the laboratories designed for classroomteaching have also increased dramatically, with the laboratoriesheavily scheduled for 1995-96. This area continues to play acentral support role in teaching and learning on the UMD campus.

Major strengths include:

* collaboration with the campus community* well-trained and innovative staff* up-to-date equipment* good laboratory areas* good instructional teaching laboratories

Major weaknesses include:* customer demands are higher than ever before* customer expectations are very high* customers are now asking for specialized services



* funding is inadequate for additional services

Diversity

Our existing staff has a good gender mix, with 10 women in ourstaff of 29. We have no minority staff members, and we areattempting to address this by improving our search procedures. Wehave been more successful in maintaining some ethnic diversityamong our student staff.

We have worked hard to create a working environment where allindividuals feel comfortable. We have used some staff trainingmeetings to address diversity issues and to raise the awarenessamong our staff about diversity issues. We recognize the need towork well with a multi-cultural customer base.

Administrative Effectiveness

Two of our critical processes relate directly to administrativestructure and functions. They are:

7. Planning and Management -- Effectively and efficiently plan,

organize, direct and control organizational resources in pursuitof organizational goals.

8. Billing and Accounting -- Ensure responsible accounting,billing and reporting of all Information Services funds incompliance with University fiscal policies and procedures.

The administration of Information Services is lean, with adirector and three managers providing direction to 28.5 FTEprofessional staff and 23 FTE student staff. Many of theprofessional staff are in highly technical positions, whichrequire considerable interaction with management. The studentsare also management intensive, as they have varying scheduling

needs and are distributed throughout the UMD campus while workingin public laboratory areas. Our management practices include abalance of teamwork, individual effort, communication via emailand regular methods, quality initiative tools and methods, andcareful coordination and planning.Productivity Enhancements

We have spent considerable effort helping our staff focus onincreasing productivity and increasing customer satisfaction.Included in this effort are: weekly all-staff meetings where ourquality initiatives are discussed and designed, a project planningdata base, priority-setting sessions, time-managementrecommendations and practices, cross-training for most processes,

weekly coordination meetings, a redesign of the employee reviewprocess to help focus on quality-initiative ideals, and weeklymanagement meetings that focus on the coordination of efforts ofall staff.

In addition, staff have been encouraged to attend retrainingsessions and to provide cross-training sessions for other staff.As a unit we have just finished a restructuring process for thepurpose of improving our productivity and attention to criticalprocesses. This restructuring effort has tied our quality-



improvement teams to our critical processes in a more direct way,placing responsibility for each critical process on a team. Seethe diagram on the next page for more details. Our staff has beenactive in seeking new technology for their desktop to assist themin providing quality services to the campus community, and hasalso been involved with similar technology enhancements related tothe UMD infrastructure.

Service Delivery/Operations Assessment

Information Services continues to emphasize the importance of thecustomer view of our services, and challenges the staff to meet orexceed the needs of our customers. As part of the customerorientation, our staff has been challenged to be flexible and toredesign many of our service offerings as our services havechanged. For example, our staff are converting from a primaryrole of programming support and individual consulting to a morecollaborative approach of training to enable the customer to dotheir own work on their own workstations. Change is an assumedpart of our strategy, and the staff has been empowered to helpinitiate as well as integrate changes into the everyday work life.

Information Services utilizes two resources to help us compare our

services to units outside of UMD. UMD has participated in theNACUBO benchmarking suite for several years, and each year weanalyze the data to compare our mode of operation and efficiencylevels with other institutions. Information Services staff whoattend conferences are provided with first-hand descriptions ofhow other providers offer their services; reports andpresentations from conference attenders help us compare how wedeliver our services with other providers at other institutions.

Resource Assessment

Resources for our unit have always trailed behind need, which has

resulted in service delays. Our unit continues to research andmonitor the technology trends, and always attempts to balance ourservice offerings between the expensive cutting edge and thenearly-useless trailing edge. Internal reallocations and long-range purchases are made with careful research and by watching theresults at other institutions, such as UMTC.

Our customers often ask for new technologies and often have towait until budget or staff time can be made available to integratethem into our service levels. On rare occasion, a unit that hassome extra funding will purchase new technology without oursupport that we may later integrate into our services. At theother extreme, some customers continue to use outdated and

inadequate technology because they do not have funds to upgrade.Our unit has provided some incentive programs aimed at eliminatingolder technology. Even with such efforts, our experience hasshown that it is a slow process to actually remove support forolder technologies.

Our highest needs are for staff, for newer technologies, and forsome important infrastructure upgrades. During fiscal year 1992we retrenched 3.5 FTE positions, and eliminated several services.Since that time, we have reallocated some funds internally to add



3 positions in order to meet customer demand. This has resultedin fewer funds for equipment and infrastructure.Critical Process View of UMD Information Services

(CP-TEAM CHART NOT AVAILABLE ELECTRONICALLY)

MODULE 5 -- STRATEGIC ISSUES AND WORKING ASSUMPTIONS

UMD Information Services

Strategic Issues

Access to Information: There is an increasing demand for access toinformation, including administrative data, library resources,student data, and information being shared on the Internet. Wemust maintain our network infrastructure in order to provideaccess to information and assist in providing user-friendlyinterfaces to data sources.

Resource Management: We must strive to manage our limited butvaluable resources to the maximum benefit of the campus. Staff

are our most valuable resource, so we must allocate their timewisely, improve productivity, provide adequate retrainingopportunities, and maintain good morale. Funding, equipment,infrastructure, and space must also be used wisely. We mustorganize for efficiency, effectiveness, and flexibility.

Instructional Technology: We must assist faculty to integrateinstructional technology into the teaching and learning process.The Educom National Learning Infrastructure Initiative willprovide a model for us to follow as we improve instructionallaboratories, develop distance education programs, and integratethe use of multimedia into the curriculum. We believe thatinstructional technology can enhance the teaching and learning

environment and contain or reduce rising costs.

Partnerships and Collaboration: We must work collaboratively witha variety of partners to provide the most efficient and effectiveuse of university resources. Partnerships can help us to ease thetension between the need to centralize services for efficiency andthe need to specialize services for effectiveness.

Technology Leadership: We must provide technology leadership forthe campus so that technology empowers our students, faculty, andstaff. We must continue to strive for universal access totechnology for the entire campus community. We must research,analyze, evaluate, and design new learning environments. We must

provide guidance to the campus in the adoption of newtechnologies, the productive use of existing technologies, and thephasing out of outdated technologies.

Diversity: We must prepare our staff to serve an increasinglydiverse population. Sensitivity to cultural differences must bedeveloped. We must continue to work to increase the diversity ofour staff while maintaining high standards for our profession.

Legal and Ethical Responsibility: We must apply the highest



ethical standards to our operations. Our organization must beable to provide the accountability and legal compliance demandedby the public and by government mandates.

Quality Improvement: Our total quality management (TQM) initiativehas been a success, and we need to continue our efforts. We willuse TQM principles and techniques to help us improve servicequality, set service priorities, and select the right services tooffer. Measurement and assessment will provide important feedbackand allow us to target new areas for improvement.

Working Assumptions

Stakeholders* Expectations and demands for excellence will grow steadily.* New technologies and organizational structures will drive

change in stakeholders' requirements.* Expectations for information technology are high.* Customers will demand user-friendly technology and

environments.* Customers will develop increased proficiency in the use of

technology.

* Training and education in technology are vital.

External Environment* Constant, rapid change and an increasing demand for

technological services will continue.* Collaboration provides better resources for the campus and

more efficient use of university funding.* Compliance and accountability demands will increase, requiring

additional staff effort.* Technology will become increasingly easy to use.* Fees for services will continue. In some cases, fees

discourage customers from taking advantage of informationtechnology.

* Five-year student fee plan will proceed on schedule.* Projections of the size of the student body are uncertain, yetthey indicate some increase.

* Instructional technology is becoming increasingly important toenhance teaching and learning.

* Technology can improve our lives.

Internal Environment* TQM efforts will continue.* Customer needs exceed our ability to deliver.* Technology resources are increasing in magnitude, in

complexity, and in the need for better security, makingsystems more difficult to administer. This support is hidden

from users' views, so they are less aware of thesedifficulties.

* Staff need development opportunities to keep up withtechnology.

* Recurring funding will stay constant or decline.* Space for new initiatives will be difficult to obtain.* Charging fees for services consumes staff resources for rate-

setting, billing, and accounting.* Equipment should be replaced regularly on a three to five-year

cycle.



MODULE 6 -- VISION STATEMENT


Vision Statement

UMD Information Services will be recognized as a leader inmanaging and supporting information technology by both the UMDcampus and the northeastern Minnesota region. The highly-qualified staff of Information Services will provide qualitytechnical support and training, freeing faculty and staff in otherunits to concentrate on what they do best. Our move to our newhome in the Library and Information Center will allow us to workmore closely with the Library staff to meet our shared goal ofimproving access to information.

Information Services will maintain and enhance the campusinfrastructure to provide access to information. We will takeadvantage of the merging of voice, video, and data transmissiontechnologies to consolidate and streamline infrastructure and

services. A special emphasis on instructional technology tosupport teaching and learning will result in the integration ofnew technological tools and information into classrooms andcurricula. Central systems will employ a client/server approach,further distributing computing technologies to the campuscommunity. An integrated campus-wide information system will beused to provide a user-friendly information environment to ourcustomers.

Information Services will pay special attention to the wise use ofresources, concentrating on efficient and effective use ofinformation technology throughout the campus community.Information Services will remain a quality-driven organization,

with an emphasis on customers, team work, process improvement, anddata-based decision making. We will actively partner with otherunits to develop and support new and existing uses of technologyto enhance the lives of the members of the campus community.Module 7 -- Action Plan


Strategic Direction 1: Technology Leadership

To provide technology leadership and support at UMD, Information

Services will monitor emerging technologies and work with faculty,staff, students and other campus units to implement thosetechnologies identified as appropriate for instruction, research,and administration at UMD.

GOALS:

* To improve campus awareness of technological innovationsthat can enhance productivity and effectiveness.



* To collaborate with faculty on projects to identify andimplement technological innovations in their teaching.

* To provide up-to-date campus standards for technologyapplications.

* To seek appropriate resources for all to technologicallyadvance.

* To provide user-friendly technology environments for all.2000+ Actions:

* The department will implement universal accessto technology for all.

* The department will monitor progress of interactivetelevision in the home, and evaluate its potential fordistance education delivery.

1997-1999 ACTIONS:

* The department will develop a campus strategy foruniversal access to technology, including computing,audio-visual, and interactive television for faculty,staff, and students.

* The department will provide training for faculty in theuse of instructional technology.

* The department will establish a technology training anddevelopment center for faculty.

1995-1996 ACTIONS:

* The department will reassign staff to research emergingtechnology applications.

* The department will develop it use of client/server andother technologies to enhance access to information onoffice computers.

* The department will develop new partnerships for researchand development of new applications of technology.

* The department will make a joint request with the

Instructional Development Service from the SIP for$107,000 to improve the use of instructional technology,including multimedia and interactive television, inteaching and learning.

* The department will request $20,000 from the SIP to addethernet connections in classrooms to enable the use ofinstructional technology in teaching and learning.

* The department will request $30,000 from the SIP foradditional instructional equipment for classrooms.

STRATEGIC DIRECTION 2: INFORMATION INFRASTRUCTURE

Information Services will provide a fast, reliable, and extensibleinformation technology infrastructure to support integratedtechnology services. We will integrate phone, video and dataservices to increase efficiency and to minimize infrastructureduplication. We will extend the interactive television (ITV)services to additional classrooms and conference rooms to supportthe ITV needs of the campus community.

GOALS:



* To improve the telecommunications infrastructure forphone, video and data to provide the bandwidth necessaryto support high-speed services to the campus community.

* To provide high-speed access to off-campus sites,including the UMTC campus and the Internet.

* To increase the reliability of the high-levelinfrastructure equipment.

* To expand the interactive television system in proportionto demand.

* To expand the modem pool in proportion to demand.2000+ Actions:

* The department will complete implementation of the campusrewiring plan.

* The department will provide a fourth ITV classroom.* The department will explore the need for T3telecommunications link to UMTC.

* The department will consider ISDN services from the hometo the UMD campus.

* The department will begin planning for telecommunicationsswitch replacement.

1997-99 ACTIONS:

* The department will continue implementation of the campusrewiring plan.

* The department will provide a third ITV classroom.* The department will convert network routers to 100megabit ATM switching.

* The department will request a third T1 telecommunicationslink to UMTC.

* The department will add a third satellite dish to provideadditional capacity.

* The department will increase capacity on the modem pool.* The department will investigate additional ways to

integrate voice, video, and data communicationsinfrastructure.

1995-96 ACTIONS:

* The department will increase capacity on itstelecommunications connection to US West in order toincrease telecommunications speed and services off-campus.

* The department will develop a plan to improve data andtelecommunications wiring within campus buildings andcommence implementation of this plan.

* The department will begin to provide network connectionsfor portable computers in public locations on campus andincrease this service as demand rises.

* The department will request $15,000 from the SIP toconvert the existing video network to the large lecturehalls so that it can provide interactive programming.

* The department will request $10,000 from the SIP toincrease modem capacity.

* The department will request $10,000 from the SIP toimprove the network backbone.



* The department will request $30,000 from the SIP for anadditional staff position.

* The department will request $30,000 from the SIP toincrease ITV capacity.

STRATEGIC DIRECTION 3: ACCESS TO INFORMATION

To respond to an increasing campus-wide demand for administrativedata, on-line library resources, student data, and informationshared on the Internet, Information Services will strengthen itssupport for access to information to meet the vital needs of thecampus community.

GOALS:

* To provide basic network services, including email,access to Library systems, computer self-registration,and access to the Internet for all UMD students.

* To assist the campus community in improving productivitythrough the use of electronic mail, library on-linecatalog and databases, Internet resources, and system andapplication software.

* To provide consulting and programming support to aid

faculty, staff and students to effectively locate andmanage information resources.

2000+ ACTIONS:

* The department will revisit the issue of managing our owncampus information instead of purchasing centraladministrative support.

1997-1999 ACTIONS:

* The department will provide true campus-wide informationsystem to support access for the information managementneeds of the campus.

* The department will implement client/server computingstrategies to support access to information.

* The department will provide user friendly software andinterfaces to improve access to electronic resources.

* The department will investigate the feasibility of acampus data warehouse to provide access to administrativeinformation.

* The department will investigate image storage andretrieval methods, including scanningcapabilities that convert both text and graphics to

electronic form.* The department will add one staff member to supportdocumentation and training to facilitate access toinformation.

* The department will facilitate access for faculty tocentral administrative data bases.

1995-1996 ACTIONS:



* The department will strengthen its partnership with theLibrary to support access to library on-line catalog anddatabase resources.

* The department will strengthen its partnership withStudent Support Services to support access to studentdata, advising information, and computer self-registration.

* The department will improve standards, documentation andtraining for use of equipment, software and applicationtools to facilitate access to information.

* The department will request $35,000 from the SIP foradditional staffing support.

* The department will request $40,000 from the SIP for anemail server, an authentication server, and informationserver, and a high-speed printer.

STRATEGIC DIRECTION 4: COMPUTER LABORATORIES

To support the use of computer technology to enhance teaching andlearning at UMD, Information Services will work with faculty,students and other campus units to evaluate computer hardware andsoftware needs and maintain modern computer laboratories forinstruction.

GOALS:

* To provide modern, well equipped teaching and computinglaboratories with sufficient numbers of computers toensure adequate access for all students and faculty.

* To collaborate with faculty on projects to identify andimplement computing applications in their courses.

* To collaborate with departments to generate funding forspecialized computing facilities and services.

2000+ ACTIONS:

* The department will integrate delivery of network and TVservices for classrooms and labs.

1997-1999 ACTIONS:

* The department will develop more customized labenvironments in collaboration with other units.

* The department will construct a multimedia teaching lab.* The department will reevaluate computing lab requirementsin light of personal computer ownership levels.

1995-1996 ACTIONS:

* The department will install additional terminals forbasic access.

* The department will identify space for additionalcomputing labs.

* The department will collaborate with faculty to obtainfunding and to plan additional computing labs.

* The department will provide faculty with easy access to



student computing environments to facilitate coursedevelopment.

* The department will request $50,000 from the SIP forsoftware.

* The department will request $10,000 from the SIP foradditional lab consultant staffing.

* The department will request $91,000 from the SIP foradditional equipment for existing labs.

* The department will request $200,000 from the SIP for anadditional computing laboratory.

* The department will request $80,000 for air conditioningin one laboratory.

STRATEGIC DIRECTION 5: QUALITY IMPROVEMENT

Information Services will focus on continuous improvement and ourcustomer needs by expanding our quality improvement initiative.We will improve our communications both within our unit and to thecampus community. We will continue to make diversity a highpriority while filling staff positions and to increase theunderstanding of diversity issues within our staff.

GOALS:

* To continuously improve our organization to increaseefficiency and coordination of efforts across ourenterprise.

* To increase staff awareness of the customer needs andwants, and to provide technology leadership blended witha customer focus.

* To minimize rework and inventory levels and to increasequality in our services by building it into ourprocesses.

* To increase staff training, to provide cross training,and to move our staff toward the leading-edgetechnologies.

* To hire staff from a diverse pool of applicants, and topromote and communicate diversity issues within our unit.

2000+ ACTIONS:

* The department will monitor the university QualityImprovement Initiative and other management initiatives.We will carefully utilize such initiatives tocontinuously improve our unit and services.

* The department will promote and communicate issuesrelated to diversity within our unit. We will makediversity a high priority when filling any position.

1997-99 ACTIONS:

* The department will continue a yearly strategic planningprocess that will provide data for our organizationalmodel. We will reorganize as needed.

* The department will continue our Quality ImprovementInitiative.

* The department will continue to educate our staff about



diversity issues, and to make diversity a high prioritywhen filling any position.

1995-96 ACTIONS:

* The department will implement its planned reorganizationso that critical process teams provide direct support forour eight critical process areas.

* The department will provide weekly staff meetings focusedon our quality improvement initiative and will continueto foster a Total Quality Management (TQM) environmentfor management and staff.

* The department will obtain a diverse pool for any newpermanent or student staff hires and make diversity ahigh priority when filling any position.

STRATEGIC DIRECTION 6: RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

Information Services will manage our staff, financial, physicaland infrastructure resources wisely while providing theaccountability and legal compliance demanded by the public,University and government mandates.

GOALS:

* To improve fiscal and personnel management procedures andensure that appropriate procedures are followed in thedepartment.

* To encourage administrative efficiency and effectiveness.* To comply with ADA requirements for access to facilitiesand services.

* To improve management of our physical and infrastructureresources.

* To ensure that all staff work safely.

2000+ ACTIONS:

* The department will improve reporting to oversightagencies.

* The department will move to the new Library andInformation Center.

1997-1999 ACTIONS:

* The department will simplify and improve the consistency

of the IS fees and rates structure for services.* The department will improve project management forplanning and reporting jobs, tasks, and processes.

* The department will strengthen cross-training of staff.* The department will remain flexible for quick response tofuture needs.

1995-1996 ACTIONS:

* The department will develop a disaster recovery plan for



improved physical and infrastructure resource security.* The department will continue to balance its budget.* The department will improve the process to match itsactual expenditures to its spending plan.

* The department will provide specialized equipment forstudents with disabilities in conjunction with the AccessCenter.

* The department will improve the use of office space andstorage space.

* The department will provide in-service training and staffdevelopment programs to improve staff services andskills.

* The department will improve its process for employeeperformance appraisal that includes accomplishments,quality initiatives, and team work.

* The department will respond efficiently, effectively, andsafely to changes in work conditions.

MODULE 8 -- ACCOMPLISHMENTS AND PERFORMANCE


Planning Process

Planning for UMD Information Services is done by the managementteam of the department. Advice is sought throughout the processfrom the staff members of Information Services. Staff membersreceive minutes of the management team meetings and are encouragedto respond. IS teams, some of which have student members, areasked to make suggestions for the parts of the plan related totheir team and processes.

In all previous planning processes, a draft of the plan issubmitted to the Subcommittee on Information Services for

endorsement prior to submission. This group is a subcommittee ofthe Educational Policy Committee of the UMD Campus Assembly. Itis a broadly representative group with faculty, staff, and studentmembers. In this particular round of planning, the time frame wassuch that we were unable to share it with the subcommittee priorto submission. We will share it with them after the fact andimprove this step in subsequent years.

Information Services Plan for FY 1995 (166162230)

Documents

Transcript of Information Services Plan for FY 1995 (166162230)