An Introduction to Information and Communications Technology at the U of S
Rick Bunt With the abundance of new technologies, the endless parade of technical terms and the ever increasing expectations of the University community, Information and Communications Technology (ICT1) can rapidly become bewildering. Those responsible for ICT services have done such an effective job of hiding the complexity from the members of the community that the technology has virtually become invisible, popping up only when problems occur or when new funding is needed for a major initiative. At the same time, our dependence on ICT is so pervasive that central, executive oversight is necessary to ensure that the required services are available and that they continue to work together seamlessly.
Vital to the Academic Mission
The ICT portfolio reports to the Provost and Vice President Academic because ICT is vital to academic success and central to the academic mission of the University. The quality of the University ICT environment is an acknowledged factor in our ability to recruit both students and faculty and a major contributor to their success. Enhances the Student Experience For students ICT provides essential support for learning, both in and out of the classroom. Whether it’s online registration, courseware technologies, streaming lectures, wireless access, “clickers” in the classroom or a full range of communication tools, the ICT environment is an integral component of the contemporary student experience. Even though they present increasingly high expectations, students have consistently applauded our efforts with “A” grades in the annual Globe and Mail survey. In a 2003 interview for the Sheaf shortly after the launch of our new portal, PAWS, the incoming USSU VP, Wendy Sharpe, praised this new technology as “one of the best things the university was doing to help students.” Similar public comments have been made about online registration and wireless access. In a 2005 Star Phoenix article, then USSU VP Brad Flavell summed it up by saying, “The technology we have out there is great.” In an e-mail message describing her first contact with PAWS as a part-time student, former government liaison Cindy Paquette wrote, “…I was blown away…. I feel like I have more control and can manage my entire academic career from this one site.” Supports Faculty Success Faculty members depend on our technology to carry out their research, to support their teaching and to communicate with colleagues on and off campus, in Canada and abroad. The use of computers has become so central to everything that is done in academia that I cannot imagine any faculty member, in any department, attempting to carry out their duties without a modern desktop computer…. I think that direct University support for computer hardware renewal for faculty members is one of the most important, useful, equitable and cost-effective things that could be done to support the academic mission. - David Schreyer, Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology
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Broadly speaking, ICT comprises computing technology (computers, servers, storage systems, peripherals), communications technology (networks, phones) and associated applications.
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Commenting on the impact PAWS has had on his teaching, Gordon DesBrisay, Director of Undergraduate Studies in the Department of History, wrote, PAWS has transformed the way I teach large introductory classes…. I can easily steer students to the ever-expanding selection of online materials provided by the library or available in the public domain…. [PAWS] has been a valuable and liberating classroom tool. Accelerates Research Momentum Researchers both rely heavily on, and directly impact, our ICT environment. The University was awarded roughly $7 million in CFI funding for the USR-net and WestGrid projects (Principal Investigators were Rick Bunt and Ray Spiteri, respectively). With the help of these substantial awards (and the matching funds from the province) we are able to provide vital ICT infrastructure to support U of S researchers in all disciplines and ensure effective collaboration with peers across the country. Researchers at the Alberta Synchrotron Institute (ASI), for example, rely on the high performance networking capabilities the USR-net project provided to connect to the CLS at speeds similar to those available to U of S researchers. To date the ASI has contributed close to $10 million towards CLS construction. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) services that ITS provides for researchers such as Cheryl Waldner, Monique Dubé, Lawrence Martz, Carlson Martz and Geoff Cunfer have been instrumental recently in securing a number of large research grants and contracts. The overhead revenue associated with Cheryl Waldner’s research contract alone is on the order of $1 million and this research would not have been possible were we not providing this service.
Responsibilities
The responsibilities embodied within the ICT portfolio ensure that our ICT environment meets the needs of the broad University community, that the investments and decisions we make align with the strategic directions of the University and that we appropriately manage risks. Since the Provost and Vice President Academic is accountable for the academic mission, he/she has responsibility for the ICT portfolio. As the executive authority for ICT at the University the AVP ICT is accountable for the strategy and the architecture, while ITS, colleges and administrative units share accountability for planning, implementing and operating the technology, with AVP oversight.
Goals
The University Executive defines University Goals.
Strategy & Architecture
The AVP ICT sets strategies specific to ICT so that it supports University goals. The Directors of ITS and Information Management, in discussions with the AVP ICT, plan, implement and operate ICT services for the community. The University Community uses the ICT environment to support teaching, learning and research.
Planning & Implementation & Operation
Use
The AVP ICT has the primary responsibility for the University’s ICT strategy and architecture. The AVP advocates for the effective application of ICT on campus, develops and oversees policies relating to its use, balances competing priorities, ensures that risks are managed responsibly and represents the interests of the University in ICT matters on and off campus.
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The Director of Information Technology Services (ITS), who reports to the AVP ICT, has primary responsibility for the University’s ICT infrastructure, which includes servers and networks, the University-wide applications that run on them and the software required to run them. The Director of Information Management, who also reports to the AVP ICT, is responsible for the University’s information strategy. The University’s ICT strategy is derived from the University’s goals and the ICT architecture is designed in accordance with the strategy. For example, the goal of improving service to the University community leads to a strategy of increased focus on web-based service delivery, which is possible through the architecture depicted in Figure 12. This leads in turn to planning, implementing and, finally, operating the appropriate technologies (such as PAWS) so that they can be used by the campus community.
Figure 1: Our ICT Delivery Model
The ICT Architecture: An Integrated Design
The dictionary3 defines architecture as “a unifying or coherent form or structure.” Our ICT architecture is the organizing framework for data, applications and technical infrastructure captured in a set of policies, design principles, organizational structures and technology choices to achieve the effective integration of systems, processes and data to meet the institution’s academic goals. As the person accountable for our ICT architecture the AVP ICT is responsible for ensuring that its integrity is maintained when new technologies are added to the mix. Stewardship As with buildings or campuses an effective ICT architecture is a cohesive whole and our continual challenge is to incorporate new initiatives and new technologies into the architecture while maintaining its integrity. Effective exercise of stewardship brings structure to technology
2
3
taken from the ICT Foundational Document Merriam-Webster dictionary
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planning and implementation to ensure cohesiveness, and it demands that stewardship be localized in one place. An illustration of our commitment to architectural integrity is the delivery model we have been advocating for University services, shown in Figure 1. Governance Because the costs associated with ICT are high and the risks are substantial, decisions about what to do and how to do it must be taken carefully and thoughtfully so that the integrity of the process is maintained as well as the integrity of the architecture. Governance is about who makes decisions about what, who provides input or advice to those making those decisions and how and where that input or advice is provided. The U of S has adopted a federated approach to ICT, meaning that certain responsibilities are held centrally for the benefit of the entire University community while others rest in local units to serve unitspecific needs. Such a model resonates well with university culture since it can both accommodate the autonomous nature of individual units and achieve the scale economies of a centralized approach. Our approach is not centralized or decentralized but centralized and decentralized, appropriately balanced. Strong and effective central leadership, with significant local input and respect for boundaries, is a hallmark of a successful federated model. Stakeholder engagement, at both the technical and non-technical levels, is achieved through various bodies, such as the Academic Support Committee of Council (ASC), the Enterprise Systems Planning Committee (ESPC) and the Campus Advisory Board for Institutional Systems (CABIS). Figure 2 summarizes our ICT governance model, showing who makes decisions in each of five critical areas and who provides input to those decisions. In ICT, as elsewhere, decisions on major investments are made by the Provost’s Committee on Integrated Planning (PCIP) and the Board of Governors.
Summary
Any large organization has substantial ICT requirements and the U of S faces the same challenges as everyone else in trying to meet them. Escalating demands, rapid obsolescence, and an unrelenting barrage of new products all plague administrators who must try to manage a highly unstable process and find the budgetary resources to sustain it. Although the investments needed understandably give pause, not investing in ICT is clearly not an option for any university that seeks to remain competitive in the contemporary higher education environment. The quality of the ICT environment has a profound impact on where students and faculty choose to attend or work, on the ability of faculty to carry out competitive research (which is a factor in retaining them), and on the effectiveness of business processes. When everything is taken into account the question cannot be whether to invest in ICT but rather where to invest.
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University Executive ICT Leaders Advisory Groups Colleges/Admin Units
PEC PCIP Board AVP ITS CABIS ESPC ASC IT Mgrs
Unit-specific Major Applications Investments Input Decision Input Decision Input Decision Input Decision Input Decision √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ Appropriate √ √ √ Unit √ Leader Strategy Architecture Infrastructure
Figure 2: Our ICT Decision Matrix
Further Reading
Advantage U of S: Foundational Document for Information and Communications Technology, June 2003. [available at http://www.cs.usask.ca/faculty/bunt/AdvantageUS.pdf] An Information Strategy for the University of Saskatchewan (Bunt, Dubray, Hannah), February 2006. The Information and Communications Technology Plan for the 2008-2012 Planning Cycle, October 2007. [available at http://www.cs.usask.ca/faculty/bunt/ICTPlan2008-2012.pdf] ICT Governance at the University of Saskatchewan, January 2008. [available at http://www.cs.usask.ca/faculty/bunt/ICTGovernance2008.pdf]
February 15, 2008