Information Technology Strategic Plan for 2002-2006

Introduction

From teaching and learning to research and service, technology has rapidly changed the idea of a university. Technology is fundamental to the transformation occurring in higher education. At ASU's West campus, as in society, use of technology has become second nature in gathering information, organizing thought, communicating ideas, and managing our place in a complex world.

This plan, which builds on the Information Technology Strategic Plan for 1997-2001, is a response to the new possibilities that technology presents at the West campus. Most of the objectives in the 1997-2001 plan have been achieved. Others that are on-going in nature have been incorporated in this updated version.

This document contains campus technology vision and mission statements, key issues and trends affecting technology planning, assumptions underpinning the plan, campus goals for technology, and both objectives and strategies that the campus will use to both meet the plan's goals and measures that will be used to assess progress on the plan.

Our vision for 2002-2006 is being created in a time of greatly increased integration of the use of technology throughout society and in a time of a changing and unpredictable budget environment. As was true during the years covered by the prior plan, there is rapid and constant change in the technological tools that are available, and in the price-performance of those tools. Together, these factors make many things possible that could not have been imagined a few years ago.

Vision and Mission for Campus Technology

Vision Statement:

Information technology planning and decisions are guided by the vision that some day every member of ASU's West campus community will be able to use technology to further their own and others' learning without assistance, and whenever and wherever they wish.

Mission Statement:

ASU's West campus will use technology to enhance learning and knowledge production, and increase the efficiency of academic and administrative processes.

Background in Support of the Mission Statement:

Broad availability and effective use of information technology is essential to the life and growth of Arizona State University's West campus. Technology is integral to providing quality education, supporting scholarly endeavors, and streamlining clerical and administrative tasks. Through innovative use of technologies, the campus can improve teaching and learning, push forward the boundaries of knowledge, provide access to university resources, facilitate collaboration among ASU campuses and partnerships with communities, and manage our campus more efficiently. Technology also eases the transition of students to our campus by providing access to university administrative processes.

The West campus should take full advantage of technology to effectively and efficiently support the mission, goals and objectives of the campus. Consistent with this, the campus is committed to remaining on the leading edge of technological change. The campus will responsibly explore and assess technological innovations and the implications of their possible adoption.

The West campus recognizes the significant role of technology in maintaining an informed and involved campus community across time and geographic boundaries. The campus is committed to offering broad accessibility to technology for the campus community, including those with special needs.

Although the West campus is committed to broad accessibility, it recognizes the need to limit variation in technologies available. Standardization of communication and general use software is a necessity due to the finite economic and human resources available. The institution must temper adoption of new technologies and software with the realities of cost and effectiveness.

Key Campus Issues and Trends

West campus technology strategies must take into account university, national, state, and local factors, since these will often enable or constrain what we do. A comprehensive discussion of these is available in the university-wide technology plan.

Rapid growth in enrollment, in the number and types of degree programs, and in the number and types of buildings on campus will greatly increase demands for technology infrastructure and support services.

• The West campus transformation from an upper division and master's degree institution to a fully-functioning 4-year institution with learning communities and advanced degree programs is changing the nature of technology support needs.
  
• The variety and complexity of uses of technology is increasing among the faculty, and also among staff and students.
  
• New technology-intensive degree programs are being planned. These programs will create a need for a new type of student technology support.
  
• Enrollment is increasing rapidly, and is expected to grow to be 15,000 students by 2010.
  
• The growth in the continuation operation budget for technology has not kept pace with the growth of the installed base. Growth in budget for technology support personnel has not kept pace with the demand already experienced.

Nearly all West campus students have access to a computer in their home or business. Most of these also have access to the internet, with an increasing percentage having high-speed access. The majority of students report that it is crucial to their success in school to own their own computer.

• Students have increasing expectations for convenient (on-line) access to instructional and library materials and to university business processes.
  
• It is becoming increasingly realistic for the campus to rely on student access to computers when planning new ways of delivering instruction, information, and business processes.

Planning Assumptions

West campus administrators will continue to recognize that all members of the campus community need a core set of information technology services in order to carry out their responsibilities, and will continue to provide necessary administrative and financial support to see that these services are available and of high quality.

The following basic activities will be on-going:

• Identification of innovative and beneficial uses for existing and emerging technologies, and promotion and facilitation of use of those tools by the campus and surrounding community.
  
• Maintenance of computer hardware, computer software and media equipment installed in classrooms and labs, in offices, and in meeting rooms. Replacement of equipment and software at the end of its effective life cycle: 3 years for computers, servers and projectors, 5 years for network infrastructure and audio-visual equipment, no more than one year after a major new release for software.
  
• Routine expansion of technology infrastructure such as the network, servers and server capacity, computer classrooms, computer labs, and mediated group meeting rooms, to meet growing demand.
  
• Installation and maintenance of technology-equipped student labs and classrooms that meet specialized program needs.
  
• Training for faculty, staff, and students, to help them use technology to achieve their goals.
  
• Consultation with faculty, staff, and students, about which tools to use and how best to use them to achieve specific goals.
  
• Troubleshooting support for office computers and for supported tools used by students (myASU).
  
• Installation support for office computers and related.
  
• Collaboration with ASU IT to assure that West campus needs for major operational support systems are met.
  

There will not be a major change in the effective life cycle of information technology equipment, i.e. computers and projectors will become obsolete in about 3 years, while network infrastructure and audio-visual equipment will become obsolete in about 5 years.

The current distribution of technology support responsibilities among university, campus, unit, and individual will continue to be effective. The major components of this distribution are:

• ASU is responsible for overall strategic planning that recognizes the role technology can play to help meet its goals. The CIO Advisory Committee (CIOAC) is advisory to the University Chief Information Officer on planning and policy issues regarding the management of information technology resources and services. The Administrative Systems Project Advisory Council recommends or establishes priorities. The Web Priority Setting team establishes priorities for development of the ASU Web.
  
• ASU IT in Tempe is responsible for leadership in ASU technology planning, coordination with outside agencies on technology issues, the overall ASU communications network and its gateways, basic ASU-wide services such as portals, e-mail and high-speed scientific servers, and ASU-wide administrative computer systems.
  
• ASU's West campus is responsible for overall strategic planning that recognizes the role technology can play to help meet its goals. The Information Technology Advisory Committee - West advises the Provost on technology planning and issues. The West Web Oversight Committee is responsible for coordination of the design and content of the West Web.
  
• IT at ASU's West campus is responsible for leadership in campus technology planning; coordination with ASU IT on technology issues; the campus communications network; basic campus-wide services such as classroom technology, student computing facilities, site-licensed software, file and print services, and e-mail and Web servers; and recommending, supporting, and providing training on selected hardware and software tools for faculty and staff.
  
• West campus units are responsible for technology plans and policies that affect the unit as a whole, coordination with campus IT on technology issues, unit-wide services such as specialized classrooms and labs and development of unit course materials and Web pages, and acquisition of equipment for unit faculty and staff.
  
• Individuals are responsible for individual technology plans and appropriate participation in development of unit, campus, and university plans, selection of technology tools for their own use within unit and campus guidelines, and using technology productively and responsibly.

The current strategy for off-campus access to the ASU network will continue to be driven by choice and market innovation. The strategy includes the expectation that students, faculty, and staff subscribe to an ISP of their choice, preferably a high-speed ISP that permits full access to resources provided by ASU. ASU will continue to make secure systems available off-campus via ASURITE authentication.

Goals, Objectives and Strategies

Goal 1.
Improve the communications infrastructure to facilitate secure and responsive access to world-wide information and services and to provide capacity for changing demands.

Objective 1.1
Improve the capabilities of the technology network infrastructure and associated authentication and authorization services.

Strategy 1.1.1.
Extend the campus WestConnect service until students who bring their own network-ready computers to campus may connect them to the network from anywhere on campus.

Strategy 1.1.2.
Provide access to services via PDA's, cell phones, and other developing wireless mobile access tools.

Strategy 1.1.3.
Provide digital media services over the Internet, such as video streaming.

Strategy 1.1.4.
Increase the speed of the data network between ASU's West and Tempe campuses from 10MB to 100MB.

Strategy 1.1.5.
Integrate authentication and authorization services at ASU's West campus fully with the ASURITE services offered for all ASU campuses, so that students, faculty, and staff may use a single UserID and password to access all campus-provided services and as many university-provided services as have been converted to use the ASURITE UserID.

Objective 1.2.
Improve security of the campus wired and wireless network, of servers, and of individual computers to better protect against theft, destruction of or damage to our technological infrastructure, destruction of theft of our data, or use of our technological resources to launch attacks upon others.

Strategy 1.2.1.
Implement and maintain a campus firewall, along with a secure method for faculty, staff and students to access campus technology resources from off-campus.

Strategy 1.2.2.
Implement an improved means of maintaining virus protection software and operating system and application security patches on individual computers.

Strategy 1.2.3.
Develop and implement a formal plan for responding to security incidents, i.e., an attempt to take over a campus computer or server.

Strategy 1.2.4.
Implement improved measures for preventing theft of computers and other equipment from classrooms.

Strategy 1.2.5.
Improve security of office and public site computers to prevent their being accessed without permission, and to provide a means of identifying those who have tried to access without permission.

Goal 2.
Improve and enhance technology tools and services that facilitate effective use of technology by faculty and students in teaching and learning.

Objective 2.1.
Enhance the variety and effectiveness of technology tools available for teaching and learning.

Strategy 2.1.1.
Make new e-learning tools available to faculty and students, such as tools that support electronic portfolios and Web course development.

Strategy 2.1.2.
Enhance classroom technology.

Objective 2.2.
Enhance services that support faculty's use of technology in teaching and learning.

Strategy 2.2.1.
Implement and enhance assessment of student information and technology skills aligned with campus learning outcomes.

Strategy 2.2.2.
Enhance opportunities for faculty to become informed on best practices regarding use of technology in instruction, on what technology resources are available to them, and on how to use the available resources to create innovative, engaging, interactive, and instructionally sound materials that address various learning styles.

Strategy 2.2.3.
Enhance opportunities for faculty to become informed on best practices regarding use of adaptive technology to improve accessibility for all students.

Strategy 2.2.4.
Enhance curriculum design and course software development services.

Strategy 2.2.5.
Enhance services to faculty using technology in the classroom.

Goal 3.
Improve and expand technology tools and services that facilitate creative, original, and cost-effective knowledge production.

Objective 3.1.
Enhance the tools available to faculty for knowledge production.

Strategy 3.1.1.
Enhance tools for data collection and analysis.

Strategy 3.1.2
Enhance tools for visualization.

Objective 3.2.
Enhance the access to on-line resources and services available through the library, both from off campus and while on campus, in support of knowledge production..

Strategy 3.2.1.
Assure reliable access to systems and networks with targets for minimizing down-time.

Strategy 3.2.2.
Support and promote information management tools for use by faculty, students, and staff.

Goal 4.
Improve administrative services and information available through the use of technology.

Objective 4.1.
Improve administrative transaction systems.

Strategy 4.1.1.
Expand campus-based business transaction services available via Internet browser.

Strategy 4.1.2.
Replace the campus-based applicant tracking system with the new University Recruitment Management System, and customize to meet specific campus needs.

Objective 4.2.
Improve the design, content, organization, and access to the West Web.

Strategy 4.2.1.
Bring all official West Web pages up to Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act Amendments of 1998 standards for accessibility.

Strategy 4.2.2.
At least every two years, review and update design and organization of West Web top levels in light of customer feedback and current best practices for university Web sites.

Strategy 4.2.3.
Implement a campus process for reviewing and updating externally-focused West Web content at least quarterly.

Goal 5.
Identify and implement innovative and practical ways of equitably sharing technology and technology-support services among campus community members.

Objective 5.1.
Identify and implement mechanisms for improving equitable sharing of resources among faculty and staff.

Strategy 5.1.1.
Improve systems for collecting and reporting on usage of campus technology resources and services by faculty and staff.

Strategy 5.1.2.
Implement mechanisms to improve the availability or efficiency of campus-wide technology resources and services for faculty and staff.

Objective 5.2.
Identify and implement mechanisms for improving equitable sharing of resources among students.

Strategy 5.2.1.
Improve systems for managing, collecting and reporting on usage of campus technology resources and services by West campus students.

Goal 6.
Use technology to leverage new revenue-generating opportunities for the campus.

Objective 6.1.
Use expertise of technology staff in collaborative efforts spearheaded by campus faculty to obtain funds for and carry out research and community service projects.

Strategy 6.1.1.
Identify and implement roles for technology staff in funded faculty research and community service projects.

Objective 6.2.
Take advantage of campus technology facilities to put on revenue-generating events.

Strategy 6.2.1.
Book revenue-generating conferences, training events, and so forth that are consistent with the campus mission and for which we can successfully compete because of the availability of state-of-the-art campus technology facilities.

Strategy for Evaluating the Plan

This plan will be evaluated using measures for each strategy. You must have Microsoft Excel or a Microsoft Excel viewer to read the spreadsheet of strategies.

Measures are documented for a base year and are reported annually for the life of the plan. Most measures used are collected routinely as part of normal operations, or are collected periodically through regularly-conducted campus surveys.