IT Governance at SUNY Oswego

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Definition of Governance

In the context of this document, governance refers to: 

• The process by which the College makes decisions about information technology, 

• The people who are accountable for debating, making and endorsing those decisions and accountable for the results of those decisions, and 

• Committees, groups and individuals who meet to debate, recommend, endorse and review those decisions. 

Principles of Governance

The principles of governance for information technology systems include: 

• Align information technology decisions with the College’s Strategic Plan and institutional priorities. 

• Manage the full portfolio of Oswego State’s information technology investments in an efficient, effective and balanced manner. 

• Support visible and transparent decision making. 

• Optimize use of Oswego State information technology resources in a sustainable manner. 

• Ensure regulatory and legal compliance. 

• Identify and mitigate risks. 

Goal

The goal of information technology governance at Oswego State is to ensure our IT investments align with the strategic directions and priorities of the University. These investments are intended to benefit the entire university and be balanced between academic, research, creative activities and administrative computing services. 

Key strategic governance decisions include: 

• Strategic planning for information technology. 

• Policy development and review. 

• Oversight of significant initiatives and investments. 

• Changes to the governance process. 

• Review of information technology operational processes. 

• Agreement on criteria for prioritization setting. 

• Prioritization of initiatives. 

The top level IT governance committees are described in the next section and their terms of reference are detailed on subsequent pages. Each of these groups may establish working groups or committees to handle operational implementation

IT Steering Committee

Purpose 

The IT Steering Committee is designed to manage the portfolio of University technology investments. It is responsible to ensure technology decisions have strategic fit, obtain value, and represent a balanced investment across the University. Setting objectives and establishing institutional criteria for prioritizing technology initiatives will be done by this committee. The IT Steering Executive oversees Information systems policies, strategic plans, and organization and makes recommendations to Senior Administration. 

Objectives 

• Represent all IT stakeholders across campus. 

• Administer the IT governance process.

• Recommend priorities for IT initiatives.

• Assess alignment for IT initiatives within the strategic plan “Tomorrow - Greater Impact and Success”.

• Endorse allocation of resources and funding for IT initiatives. 

• Monitor progress of IT initiatives.

• Assess value realized of IT initiatives. 

• Recommend campus-wide IT policies and standards. 

• Link to other senior level university committees. 

• Provide guidance to the development of IT strategic planning. 

Logistics 

The Information Technology Steering Committee will meet twice per semester. The agenda will be prepared by the CTO with consultation with the co-chair.

* representative from CTAB committee - co-chair for the current year (2019-20)

Campus Technology Advisory Board

Purpose 

The purpose and role of CTAB is clearly defined in their bylaws.

Objectives 

• To advise the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) and Campus Technology Directors and Assistant Directors:

• Recommend policies on the campus technology facilities, equipment, software and services - particularly in the areas of computing (both academic and administrative), networking, and telecommunications - to CTO and the Directors and Assistant Directors of those areas.

• Provide advice and assistance to the CTO and Campus Technology Directors and Assistant Directors and staff concerning standards and enhancements to equipment (including infrastructure), software, and related support services.

• Provide recommendations on how the facilities and operations can be improved to better serve the SUNY Oswego community.

• Assist in the development of strategic plans for campus technology.

• To represent user groups:

• Disseminate information on available campus technology services and how they might be used to best serve the campus community.

• Seek input from current and potential users concerning what technology services the campus can provide.

• Seek input from current users concerning the quality of campus technology services. 

• To inform the Faculty Assembly

• Report outcome of deliberations to the Information Technology Council. 

• To advise the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs:

• Participate significantly in the review process of the Chief Technology Officer.

Logistics 

CTAB meets once per month, generally on the second Friday of the month.

Membership

Membership is as defined in the CTAB bylaws.

Information Technology Council

Purpose 

Information Technology Council is a council of the Faculty Assembly, and is responsible to review, make recommendations and promote initiatives that are critical to the core mission of the College - teaching, advising, learning and research. The function and membership of ITC are laid out in Article XVIII of the Faculty Assembly by-laws 

Objectives

• The council shall promote initiatives to develop the College’s computer and telecommunications systems. It shall raise questions and recommend solutions on matters concerning information technology, access, and efficiency.

• The council shall make recommendations regarding the operations of computing, networking, and telecommunication services, the awarding of Technology Innovation Program (TIP) grants and the issues considered by the Campus Technology Advisory Board (CTAB).

• The council shall help faculty stay informed about campus information and instructional technology constituents by making sure that information about the personnel, membership, and operating procedures of these constituents is easily accessible. These constituents shall include but are not limited to Campus Technology Services, Information Technology Council (ITC), Student Computing Access Program (SCAP), and Campus Technology Advisory Board (CTAB).

• Representatives from the Admissions and Student Services Council and the Information Technology Council shall meet at least once per semester, or more often as needed, to review the status of the work of these respective councils. ITC shall address information technology issues raised by these other councils in support of their constituents.

Logistics 

ITC meets three times per semester, per the schedule set by the chair.

Membership

Membership is determined per the bylaws of the Faculty Assembly. The Chief Technology Officer and CTAB chair are ex-officio members.

Banner Users Group

Purpose 

The purpose of the Banner User Group (BUG) is to provide oversight to the overall Banner system. Banner is a fully integrated system that tracks academic records for all graduate and undergraduate students. It provides administrative support to the Office of the Registrar, Student Accounts, Student Awards and Financial Aid, Admissions and the Office of Graduate Studies. Web based applications provide many services to students, faculty and other staff within the University. The Banner system is an authoritative source for student information on campus and as such interfaces with many other Oswego State systems on and off campus.

Objectives

The Committee will provide consultation and advice to CTS Administrative Technologies to ensure that IT resources assigned to the Banner System are being effectively allocated to maintenance and projects. The Group will operate on a consensus basis to:

• Ensure that projects that have been prioritized and approved are on-track and completed, and that the benefits expected by the project are achieved.

• Participate in the ongoing evaluation of the Banner system.

• Recommend changes that will improve the delivery of the present system to the campus.

• Review and make recommendations on system enhancements.

• Prioritize Administrative System projects to be implemented as resources become available. Highest priority will be given to projects that meet the following criteria:

• Government mandated initiatives that affect the Banner System.

• Changes to the system required as a result of SUNY or Faculty Assembly directed policies.

• Projects that support the SUNY Oswego Strategic Plan, the Tomorrow Plan. Specifically those that align with the priority of providing students an excellent experience.

• Projects that provide substantial cost savings to the University should also be supported to enable resources to be directed in ways that support the goals of the strategic plan.

• In addition, key consideration will be given to projects that meet the following goals:

• Available resources from all stakeholders to put into the project.

• Impact on current students.

• Improve services to applicants and prospective students.

• Improve services to faculty and staff.

• Support FERPA by controlling access to Banner data.

• Increase efficiency of business processes.

• Provide institutional access to Banner data.

• Provide better management tools.

• Modernize obsolete information technology.

Logistics

The Banner User Group Steering Committee meets for 1 hour every other week.  An agenda for each meeting shall be sent a few days prior to the meeting. Members of the Committee are encouraged to contribute to the agenda.

Membership

The Assistant Director of Administrative Technologies chairs the group. The Chief Technology Officer is an ex-officio member. Membership is open and all functional administrative departments should be represented including the Registrar, Admissions, Alumni & Development, Financial Aid, Institutional Analysis, Graduate Studies, First Year Experience, Student Accounts and others who are impacted by the system.