IT Governance

Decisions about technology investments and services require strong collaboration between IS leaders and our academic and administrative partners. In the past, the University has successfully made these decisions through informal consultations, which are no longer enough to navigate all of the competing priorities. The University Strategic Plan is increasing the opportunities to use technology to support important institutional goals. But while these opportunities are exciting, resources do not allow us to do everything. Trade-offs need to be weighed - collaboratively.

Many institutions improve IT decision making by implementing stewardship and advisory structures, often called IT governance. IT governance creates the structures, processes, and policies to allocate resources to an established set of IT priorities. In addition to providing a process through which the University can evaluate and prioritize projects and investments in the context of institutional priorities and values, there are several other benefits to having a formal IT governance structure:

It establishes clear pathways for departments to propose new ideas and opportunities;

It enables shared objectives such as improving processes and data quality;
It coordinates decisions so one area's project won't adversely impact another's;

It creates transparency and builds an understanding of IS operations and the full portfolio of IT initiatives;

It improves communication to help everyone use technology effectively.