Dr. Timothy M.

Chester
Vice President for
Information Technology
The University of Georgia
Ofce of the Vice President for Information Technology
171 Boyd Graduate Studies
200 DW Brooks Drive
Athens, Georgia 30602
Telephone 706-542-3145
Fax 706-542-6105
tchester@uga.edu
www.eits.uga.edu/vpit
May 6, 2014
MEMORANDUM
TO: Al l EI TS Empl oyees
FROM: Timothy M. Chester, Vice President for Information Technology
RE: . EITS Annual Planning Memorandum for FY15
This will be my third annual planning memorandum to each of you, the employees in Enterprise
Information Technology Services (EITS), since I began my tenure at the University of Georgia in
2011. The goal of this annual memorandum is to highlight for the record our successes over the
past year, discuss our progress towards our strategic goals, present our organizational priorities
for the next year, and share my thoughts on challenges and opportunities that I see along the
way.
We have scheduled an all EITS staff meeting for the afternoon of May 9, 2014 at 3 p.m. to
discuss these plans. The meeting will be held in room 329 of the Boyd Graduate Studies center. I
look forward to the opportunity to discuss the contents of this planning memorandum with you
and to answer your questions. I hope to see you there.
As I look across the EITS of today, I see a dramatically different organization than I saw two
years ago. We are an organization whose reputation and credibility have grown, owing to our
investment of both time and effort in strengthening relationships across the University of
Georgia. I see an organization that delivers stronger technical solutions - or better yet, one that
leverages others to deliver the technology while we focus on working with our students, faculty,
and staff to make better use of the technology. Two years ago, we announced new programs in
communications, planning, and staff training and I believe those investments are producing
results today.
As I review our technical operations, I see IT services that are less prone to glitches or outages;
and I see a core stack of IT infrastructure that is on par with that of any peer or aspirational
institution that we routinely compare ourselves to. Our focus over the past twenty-four months
on implementing best practices in change management, upgrading our network infrastructure
and capacity, and developing a better dened approach for estimating project requirements and
cost have been crucial to our enhanced reputation for stronger service performance and
delivering value. The best evidence of this can be found in the growth of our cost-recovery lines
of businesses. We are now contracting for cost recovery sendees with some Units that would
have never considered EITS before.
EITS Annual Planning Memorandum for FY15
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Our annual TechQual+ survey also shows strong IT service performance, particularly among
students. This year, our survey once again shows that students have a positive perception of 12
of the 13 core IT services covered on the survey. These ndings are statistically signicant.
Perceptions of IT service quality of faculty and staff are not nearly as strong. This year I will ask
our Assessment and Advisory committee to focus its efforts on identifying ways University IT
groups can improve IT services for these vital constituencies (more on this subject later).
We have made considerable progress towards the strategic directions and goals outlined in the
University's 2012 Long-term Plan for Information Technology (ITMP). Last year, my ofce
convened a series of focus groups to discuss progress towards these goals and discuss challenges
that could arise over the next ve years. The focus groups also conducted a SWOT (Strengths,
Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) analysis regarding their respective domains.
To date, EITS has engaged in activities focused on over 80% of the goals and initiatives outlined
in the master plan, including: Implementation of the Banner student information system and
the Desire2Learn learning management system; major investments in personnel, connectivity,
and hardware and storage for research computing; new investments in EITS staff training and
professional development resources; and implementation of the ArchPass, a multi-factor
authentication system protecting University information systems containing sensitive and
personally identiable information. Far from being a static document sitting on a shelf, our
strategic plan is a living, breathing document that has guided our previous goal setting and will
continue to inuence our planning in the future.
One of the most important goals of this master plan remains the development of our most
important asset - the employees of EITS. Since 2011, we have made it a priority every year to
spend no less than 3% of our annual budget on training and professional development activities.
This amounts to just over $1 million in training and professional development experiences to
ensure that EITS staff have the opportunity to participate in events that strengthen their skills
and competencies required in order to be successful. What is equally impressive is that these
investments are stewarded at the grassroots level by our Training Council. Composed of early- to
mid-career professionals within EITS, this council, in my view, has made wise and prudent
investment decisions over the past three years and will continue to do so as the University
embarks on several new initiatives, such as the replacement of our HR and Finance information
systems, as well as developing new analytics capabilities for student and faculty data systems.
Developing a pool of strong and capable leaders for EITS will remain one of my most important
personal goals in the coming years.
Goals and Priorities for the Past Year
Last year, this memorandum set out ve strategic goals for EITS. Let's review our progress
towards these goals over the past 12 months.
1. Successfully complete the major academic system overhauls for student information
(Banner) and learning management (Desire2Leam), hitting milestones for both time and
budget while minimizing to the degree possible the disruptive effects of technological and
process change required by these implementations (ITMP Strategic Direction 3, Goal 1,2,
3, 4l
Current Status: These projects are on time, on budget, and have been successful in
minimizing the possible disruptive effects that these implementations have caused at other
EITS Annual Planning Memorandum for FY15
institutions. The Desire2Learn (D2L) system became the University's ofcial Learning
Management System (LMS) in January of 2014, replacing the previous Blackboard Vista
system. As of today, the admissions, registrar, and nancial aid modules of Banner are live
for the processing of Fall 2014 academic data and we have registered over 20,000 students
for Fall 2014 courses using the Banner Web system for the rst time at the University of
Georgia. When you combine both of these implementations, hundreds of thousands of hours
of effort have gone into the planning, implementation, communication, and training
activities required for these successful implementations. When you talk to our students, they
will tell you that both these systems are providing them with improved access to information
and services that make their work much easier. Kudos to all involved in these projects.
2. Continue bringing student computing services into the next generation by supporting
cloud-based services for accessing student computing labs, printing, and other
technologies at any time, from anyplace, and on any device. Begin developing a set of
operating principles for supporting University processes for students and employees from
their individually owned computing devices (i.e., BYOD support) (ITMP Strategic Direction
2, Goal 1,2).
Current Status: These initiatives have been completed successfully. Last fall, we observed
the 10th anniversary of the Miller Learning Center and each of the computers within that
facility have been replaced with our new vLab technology that allows students to connect to
our computer lab resources from any place at any time. Additionally, EITS has installed over
25 cloud-based printing kiosks across the University, which affords students the
convenience of printing documents from any place at any time and retrieving them from one
of these convenient locations. We have delivered a set of services that disconnects the
physical computer lab from the wide variety of computing resources EITS provides students.
By doing so, we now allow them to access these services at any time, from any place, and on
any device. We have now brought our student computing services in line with the latest
technological advancements, while also working within our present budget constraints and
without expending additional university resources.
3. Successfully complete two required upgrades of the campus email platform, as Microsoft
migrates its systems from Live@EDU to Ofce 365. As the second phase completes
sometime in 2014, begin implementing a shared portal and storage effort using Sharepoint
and OneDrive Professional, which are aimed at reducing the need for and dependence on
distributed le servers across the University supported by decentralized units. In doing so,
lay the groundwork for a future initiative to consolidate servers across the University
(ITMP Strategic Direction 6, Goal 1,2,3).
Current Status: This project has been completed successfully and I believe that it serves as
EITS's nest moment since I have been at the University of Georgia. This was an incredibly
complex and potentially expensive project, but the teams responded to the challenge to
identify less complex and less costly solutions for this migration and it was completed with
minimal impact on our students, faculty, and staff. It simply could not have gone better than
it did. Please know that I am impressed with the way our leadership brought the teams
together around this challenge and the way they all delivered. Beginning this summer, we
will commence the next phase of this project to make expanded services, such as Ofce 365
ProPlus through the Microsoft Student Advantage program and OneDrive Pro available to
our community.
EITS Annual Planning Memorandum for FY15
4. Continue current information security efforts related to reduced reliance on the SSN and
on the adoption of multi-factor authentication to add an additional layer of protection
around information systems containing sensitive information. Finish efforts to reprogram
legacy systems for HR and Finance, so the SSN is no longer required as a primary
identier, and begin efforts to work with decentralized units to end their dependence on the
SSN as well (ITMP Strategic Direction 3, Goal 2,3,4; Strategic Direction 5, Goal 4).
Current Status: These projects have been completed and we are on track for phasing out
other legacy applications that depend upon the SSN, such as BigCard. Other units on
campus are working, where possible, to phase out their use of the SSN or place their systems
behind the ArchPass - our secure network that provides additional protection for these
systems. Over 1,700 ArchPass tokens have been distributed across the University of Georgia
and each of the ve phase 1 systems has been placed behind this additional layer of network
protection. I am also pleased how we have been able to place other key systems - ones with
sensitive or restricted information - behind this system. Several times, Units have come to
us proactively to request that we extend this service to protect their systems. Together, these
projects have allowed us to dramatically reduce the University's risk prole in regards to
sensitive information and again, we have completed them using existing resources and have
not required additional investments from the University.
5. Continue to focus on internal reallocation, making steady progress towards the four-year
goal of reallocating $3.2 million (base) into strategic priorities, including information
security, data center and networking, student computing, the GACRC, professional
development, and organizational transformation (ITMP Strategic Direction 8, Goal 1, 6).
Current Status: We are ahead of schedule in terms of reaching this goal. As we
decommission the mainframe over the next few years, we will cross the nish line - possibly
sooner. As of this year's budget hearing, we have successfully redirected $2,755,877, which is
87% of this goal. Focusing on economies of scale, reducing legacy technology debt, and
maintaining day-to-day stewardship have been key factors. These efforts must continue. I
believe that our total budget today will remain the high water mark for IT resources at the
University of Georgia for many years to come (ITMP Strategic Direction 8, Goal 1, 6).
I am very, very proud of this work. There is so much more that I could mention, if not for the
limits of space. If everyone feels like they are now completing a marathon sprint, they should. In
2011, the University set out for us some very big goals, and since then we have worked very hard
and we have achieved them. Over the coming months, we should also step back and
acknowledge and enjoy these accomplishments. Everyone needs to take a very well deserved
vacation from their work this summer, knowing that we have stepped up where we have been
asked to and that we have been successful accomplishing some very difcult things in these past
three years.
Assessment and Continuous Improvement Activities for Next Year
I believe that we have taken steps towards developing both a nimble and exible approach to
continuous improvement, led by our Assessment and Advisory Committee. This committee is
charged with annually analyzing the data from our regular TechQual+ survey and formulating
recommendations based on this assessment. The work of this committee continues to be very
inuential on my thinking, along with those of senior leaders across the University, as we map
out our priorities each year. This next year, I will ask our Assessment and Advisory Committee
to focus on these questions.
EITS Annual Planning Memorandum for FY15
a) Student perceptions regarding the quality of PAWS-Secure wireless network are much
lower than previous years. Certainly this can be attributable to the fact that Paws-Secure
currently supports twice the number of devices that it did a year ago. But problem areas
need to be identied where student satisfaction with wireless is at its lowest so that current
wireless investments can be redirected to these areas. What are the problem areas on our
campus that cause the most problems for students and result in poor satisfaction with
PAWS-Secure?
b) Student perceptions of the overall quality of campus IT services is very positive. At the
same time, faculty perceptions of the overall quality of campus IT services are extremely
negative. What are the differences in service performance, expectations, or values that lead
to these dramatically different evaluations of IT services at the University of Georgia?
What steps can be taken to bridge this gap?
c) Employees desire better tools for streamlining and automating business processes, as well
as better tools for more effective collaborations with their colleagues across the University.
What tools or investments should the University consider to improve employee perceptions
regarding the core IT services they are provided in order to perform their roles?
d) Most faculty members rely on IT support and services that are provided by their College or
Unit. Does this decentralized approach to IT service and support contribute to poor faculty
perceptions regarding core IT services? If so, what efforts can be made to standardize and
improve IT service delivery to faculty? What efforts can be made to improve faculty
perceptions of the quality ofUGA IT services?
Analysis of the TechQual+ data will help yield insights for each of these questions. I am
condent that our annual continuous improvement process will steadily help improve our
organizational performance and improve IT service delivery across the University of Georgia. I
look forward to receiving the committee's responses to these questions later this year.
Goals and Priorities for Next Year
Let me lay out for you our most important priorities over the next year, and provide you some
context for each of them.
Now that we have implemented new academic information systems - Banner, DegreeWorks,
Desire2Learn - we have a more standardized base of authoritative information on students,
courses, and instruction. Now that we have this type of data, it is time to make better use of it.
Over the next 12 - 24 months, I expect that there will be several academic analytics initiatives to
do so at the University level. These initiatives will form the next phase of these projects.
1. Support academic areas as they implement better tools to support their decision-making.
These will include tools for enhanced reporting, analytics, and longitudinal analysis.
Provide implementation support for the new Faculty Activity Report (FAR) system that
will enhance our faculty member's ability to showcase their work and the University's
ability to capture and leverage this information. Provide additional support to other ofces
as they implement systems to use analytics to improve the time required for our
undergraduates to graduate and analyze productivity data across the University (ITMP
Strategic Direction 3, Goal 1,2,3,4).
EITS Annual Planning Memorandum for FY15
While the main phase of the Banner project begins to wind down (and cleanup of processes and
implementation of postponed items begins), our attention will turn to planning for the
implementation of new information systems for nance and human resources functions. Both of
these initiatives will require our full attention in the coming years if the University is to fully
realize the benets of these initiatives.
2. Continue to support UGA ofces relying on the Banner system to deliver services to
students. Work within the Banner governance process to prioritize items postponed from
the previous year while completing the conversion of legacy academic information and
bring it fully into Banner. Work to develop project plans, identify required resources, and
implement the Banner enterprise data warehouse (EDW). Support the Vice President for
Finance and Administration as a recommendation is prepared and forwarded to the
University senior leadership regarding new administrative information systems for
nance and human resources (ITMP Strategic Direction 3, Goal 1,2,3,4)-
While these new initiatives are launched and existing initiatives continue, we must not become
complacent when it comes to the protection of the sensitive and personally identiable
information of students, faculty, and staff that we maintain on behalf of the University.
3. Work in conjunction with University departments to develop a plan for aggressively
eliminating departmental systems that contain sensitive or restricted information. Work to
identify processes that currently require SSN data and work to eliminate them unless the
SSN is required for regulatory purposes. At the same time, implement the next phase of the
ArchPass program that will identify systems and processes that require use of the SSN and
place them behind the ArchPass rewall for added network protection (ITMP Strategic
Direction 5, Goal 1,4).
We must be continually mindful that success with IT initiatives comes from the expertise,
leadership, and hard work of our EITS staff. While we have taken great strides to make much
needed investments in professional development, we need to take the next step in developing
strong, competency-based career paths that identify to our staff where they are in their careers
and the skills and competencies that should be developed in order to take that next step.
4. Work with Human Resources and the EITS Managers and Staff Representative Group to
assess our current career progressions and identify the competencies that separate high
performance from low performance for each career progression. Develop rubrics that
dene progressive mastery of these competencies and align them with the career ladders
and make them a part of our annual employee performance review process (ITMP
Strategic Direction 10, Goal 1,2,3,4)>
Finally, we need to take the next step in development of the University-wide governance
processes for major systems, both administrative and academic. In light of the success of the
Banner governance process, this approach should be taken as a model and applied to other IT
domain areas across the University.
5. Work with major areas across the University to strengthen shared decision-making
regarding major information systems and IT initiatives at the University. As the Banner
project winds down, ensure that its successful governance process continues unabated.
Develop and implement a complementary shared governance process for the
implementation of new nance andHR systems. Work with the Administrative Systems
Advisory Council (ASAC) to develop new or strengthen existing processes for collaborative
EITS Annual Planning Memorandum for FY15
decision-making in regards to major administrative system projects. Continue to support
the Student Technology Fee Advisory Committee (STFAC) as it proceeds with its
transformation into a more active steward of student technology fee resources (ITMP
Strategic Direction 1, Goal 2,3,4,5).
These ve strategic goals will require the attention and support of all of us in EITS over the next
12 months. While these goals are more external facing and will require extensive engagement
with individuals across the University, I have established several additional priorities for my
leadership team for the next year. You should expect to hear more about these initiatives from
them over the coming months.
Organizational Priority #1: Develop and implement plans to ensure that EITS operations are
in full compliance with the University System of Georgia's IT Handbook. While some sections
of this book are yet to be completed, we have the full opportunity to engage the USG staff to
make sure that compliance with the IT Handbook does not overburden EITS operations. Each
associate CIO is responsible for ensuring compliance of their operations with the IT
Handbook, and that audits should have zero ndings. Ensuring compliance should be a group
collaboration across the different teams within EITS (ITMP Strategic Direction 1, Goal 2;
Strategic Direction 5, Goal 1,3). Each Associate CIO is responsible for completing this goal
within their Unit.
Organizational Priority #2: Develop and implement, in conjunction with the EITS Leadership
Council and Manager's Advisory Board, a comprehensive root cause analysis program for
major outages and service delivery issues based on the 5 Why approach. We need to work to
ensure that defect identication and elimination remains one of the most important values of
the EITS culture. We should develop a standard process, much like we have with change
management, that isolates the 5 why's of each major service issue; includes peer review
internally (and, where appropriate, externally to EITS), and documents root causes on a
common template that is forwarded for review, if necessary, by the senior leadership of the
University (ITMP Strategic Direction 5, Goal 3). Michael Lucas, Larry Malota, and Brian
Rivers are responsible for leading efforts regarding this goal.
Organizational Priority #3: Develop a new global model directed at better managing demand
for IT services and keeping work in progress (WIP) at appropriate levels. This will require
working closely with the EITS Leadership Council and Managers Advisory Board to more fully
understand the demands on EITS staff resources, how workows throughout EITS, and how
we can better visualize and manage the ow of work in order to be assured of solid
organization performance and minimal service disruptions. Developed properly, this will
become a framework for engaging critical stakeholders across the University in the
prioritization of work across EITS (ITMP Strategic Direction 1 Goal 1,2,4; Strategic Direction
8, Goal 4). Lynn Wilson is responsible for leading efforts regarding this goal.
Organizational Priority #4: Continue the focus on internal reallocation, making steady
progress towards the four-year goal of reallocating $3.2 million base budget dollars into
strategic priorities, including information security, data center and networking, the GACRC,
professional development, and organizational transformation. Each associate CIO is
responsible for doing more than simply defending the needs of their unit in terms of resources,
but should actively think above and beyond their unit to ensure that actions, individually and
collectively, best meet the needs of EITS as a whole. I am asking all Associate CIOs to work
together over the next 12 months to reduce our collective salary expenses next year by 3% so
EITS Annual Planning Memorandum for FY15
that these resources can be further reinvested in strategic activities (ITMP Strategic Direction
8, Goal 1,6).
Our success over the past three years has been due to your combined experience, wisdom, and
expertise. These attributes are our most important resource. We will continue to work over the
coming months to reinvent the ways in which we approach our work, the way we plan, the way
we dene success, the way we engage our end user community, and the way we hold each other
accountable. I like what I see each day and I look forward to our continued journey together.
Thank you for all that you do and know that you can call on me at any time when I can be helpful
to you.
Cc: Pamela S. Whitten, Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost
EITS Annual Planning Memorandum for FY15