Information Technology Steering Committee (ITSC)

Charter

Dec. 1, 2016

I.Mission

The Information Technology Steering Committee (ITSC) is the executive body that leads the strategic planning, organization, prioritization, investment, and decision-making activities in all areas of information technology (IT) throughout the UW-Madison. The ITSC will make recommendations to campus leadership on strategic IT issues,lead improvements in business processes, IT systems and culture, and assess the effectiveness of IT investments and services.

The ITSC will ensure that the organization, governance, management, decision-making and delivery of IT services in UW-Madison provide effective and efficient support for the core missions of the University in teaching, learning, research, and scholarship, and that these activities are fully aligned with the objectives of the University. The ITSC will strive to optimize investments in IT infrastructure to better position the IT community to deliver services needed to sustain and advance the mission of the University.

The ITSC will engage the University community in generating creative IT solutions.To this end, it will work with governance, administrative,advisory groups andwith individuals that may provide valuable direction, advice, and analysis.

II.Guiding Principles and Values

In performing its duties, the ITSC is guided by the following principles, values,and philosophies.

1.Cohesiveness. The ITSC will strive to create cohesive and effective IT governance, decision-making, prioritization,and change management processes that advance the UW-Madison core missions and provide effective and efficient support for the operation and management of divisions (colleges, schools, administrative units).

2.Integrative, holistic view. The ITSC will strive to ground IT decisions, priorities, and investments in an integrative, holistic view of all IT services and their delivery across the campus.

3.Inclusivity, participation, and transparency. The ITSC is committed to creating IT governance and decision-making structures that are inclusive, participatory, and transparent. It will strive for a broad representation of all stakeholders in making IT investments and strategic decisions including faculty, students and staff (“end users”), central and divisional campus leadership, central and divisional IT leadership, and shared governance groups.

4.Collaborative IT governance and decision-making: Teamwork. The ITSC will work collaboratively and in close coordination with other IT governance and management groups to meet the campus IT needs.

5.Commitment to innovation and continuous improvement. The ITSC will strive to create innovative solutions and pursue strategic initiatives in order to achieve goals.It will focus on efforts that offer the best balance of anticipated results, value to campus, and the likelihood of success. The ITSC will be vigilant in exploring and evaluating emerging technologies and opportunities.

6.Service-centric focus and culture. The ITSC is committed to a service-centric focus and culture in delivering IT services and solutions across campus.

7.Process improvement focus. The ITSC recognizes the importance of continuous improvement of core business processes across campus and will strive to support process improvement as a necessary component of new IT investments.

8.Resource stewardship. The ITSC will strive to increase service levels and potentially reduce costs by working more closely with a wide range of stakeholders. It will lead the effort toassess the effectiveness of IT investments and services, andevaluate opportunities for increasing efficiencies and reducing redundancies and opportunity costs.

9.Education. The ITSC will strive to inform the campus community about best practices in the use of IT services and resources, about roles and responsibilities, ways to reduce risk and increase security, and ways to navigate the system in order to acquire IT services.

10.Professional development.The ITSC will be committed to encouraging, training and nurturing the development of future IT professionals and leaders at the divisional and central levels to ensure that the UW-Madison has a highly skilled, trained, and motivated IT work force.

III.Roles

1.Strategic leadership role:

  • The ITSC will focus on strategic analysis, planning, and decision-making.
  • It will lead the process of developing a cohesive and comprehensive IT strategic plan and a new business model/culture for delivering IT services across campus.
  • It will lead the planning and implementation of strategic IT initiatives, andidentify needed changes and improvements in processes, systems, and culture.

2.Decision-making role:

The ITSC will be responsible for making decisions about:

  • Investments in core IT infrastructure, services, facilities, cybersecurity,cloud services, and more.
  • Prioritization, to ensure that limited resources are effectively allocated to meet strategic goals and campus needs in a cost-effective manner.
  • Effective delivery of core IT services across the campus, and the best delivery structures.

3.Assessment role:

  • The ITSC will lead the effort to assess the effectiveness of investments in IT infrastructure and services,evaluate opportunities for increasing efficiencies and reducing redundancies, andthe extent to which investments and other initiativeslead to successful outcomes.
  • It will set goals and measure progress through the use of baseline and ongoing metrics.

4.Funding role:

The ITSC will play a leading role in issues concerning IT budgets, funding, and internal billing, including the evaluation of current models.

5.Advisory and consulting role:

The ITSC will consult with and make recommendations on strategic IT issues to:

  • Campus leaders: Chancellor, Provost, VCFA, VCRGE, Deans.
  • Shared governance groups:
  • Information Technology Committee (ITC).
  • University Committee (UC).
  • Faculty Senate.
  • Other shared governance groups.

6.Catalyst and collaborative role:

The ITSC will proactively propose and collaboratively design and implement changes and improvements in processes, systems, and culture in order to improve the delivery of IT services.

7.Communication and reporting roles:

The ITSC will:

  • Communicate needs, IT strategy, priorities, plans and progress to campus leadership, shared governance groups, and to all levels of the IT governance structure.
  • Establish methodology for quarterly reporting and analysis of information technology spending.

8.Awareness role:

The ITSC will work to develop awareness to emerging trends, technologies and processes, as well as awarenessto emerging campus issues.

9.Leadership development role:

The ITSC will encourage and nurture the development of present and future highly skilled and motivated IT leaders and professionals at all levels across the campus.

IV.Responsibilities

The IT Governance Structure:

The ITSC is the executive body within the new IT governance and management structure. This structure includes:

  • Executive/oversight :
  • Executive Board: Chancellor, Provost, VCRGE, VCFA, Deans.
  • The ITSC.
  • The ITC.
  • Advisory:
  • Research Technology Advisory Group (RTAG).
  • Teaching & Learning Technology Advisory Group (TLTAG).
  • Divisional Technology Advisory Group (DTAG).
  • Core Infrastructure Services Group.
  • IT Center of Excellence.
  • Cloud Infrastructure Group.
  • Operational/service delivery:
  • DoIT, AIMS, Center for High-Throughput Computing (CHTC), others.

The ITSC will be responsible forreviewing changes to the chartersof the IT governance groups.

ITSC Responsibilities:

The ITSC will strive to make IT decisions and investment recommendations collaboratively by engaging (as appropriate) theExecutive Board,ITC, IT Management Advisory Groups, and IT service providers. It will work closely with these groups in accordance with their responsibilities.

1.The ITSC will work with the Executive Board in performing broad executive oversight of IT services and investmentsacross campus, and in determining strategic guidelines, budgets, and investments.

2.The ITC is the campus shared governance committee responsible for policy, planning and strategy for information technology throughout the University, as defined in FP&P Chapter 6.42. The ITSC will augment the responsibilities of ITC in executing shared governance, and will work closely with it onstrategic IT planning, investments and initiatives; reviewing the performance of IT investments, facilities, and services; making necessary changes; and monitoring improvements,.

3.The ITSC will work closely with the Advisory Groups in executing the following responsibilities of these groups:

  1. Representing and advocating for research, teaching, learning, and administrative IT needs across campus and ways to improve IT services.
  1. Participating in creating a cohesive and comprehensive IT Strategy. Proposing, designing, and implementing changes.
  2. Providing active leadership, guidance, and decision support in their areas of responsibility.
  3. Participating in the assessment and prioritization of investments.
  1. Analyzing and evaluating proposed policies, decisions, initiatives, and projects. Issues related to policy and strategy will be routed to ITC for faculty endorsement and then presented to the ITSC.
  2. Making recommendations to IT leadership.
  3. Participating in the implementation of decisions and in the assessment ofthe effectiveness of IT investments, services, and other initiatives.

H.Working with IT providersto meet needs.

4.The ITSC currently envisions establishing an IT Center of Excellence, which would report to the CIO role. This Center will provide leadership in developing the overall service vision and strategy and in transitioning the IT organization to a business-centric view of services. It will be responsible for developing and managing the IT Service Portfolio, Service Level Agreements, Service Catalog, and Project Portfolio Management, assisting in determining investment priorities, and establishing governance processes and standards to support the above activities.

5.The ITSC currently envisions the formation of a Cloud Infrastructure Group to ensure that there is adequate understanding of and consideration given to effective utilization of cloud services by the Advisory and Operational/Delivery Groups.

6.The ITSC, together with the ITC and the Advisory Groups, will work closely with IT service providers to ensure effective implementation of IT decisions, initiatives, and investments, and that these services are delivered in ways that meet strategic objectives.

V.Composition

1.The ITSC will initially include 16 voting members:

  • The following 5roles:
  • Special Advisor to the Chancellor
  • CIO & Vice Provost for IT
  • Executive Dir for IT Planning and Strategy & ITC Chair
  • COO, DoIT
  • Dir, AIMS
  • Representatives of governance groups:
  • DTAG: 4
  • RTAG: 3
  • TL-TAG: 3
  • Registrar: 1

2.Chair. The Special Advisor to the Chancellor will serve as chair of the ITSC.

VI.Operations

1.Agenda: The Special Advisor to the Chancellor and the Executive Dir for IT Planning and Strategy & ITC Chair will set the agenda for the meetings.

2.The ITSC will meet monthly or as needed.

3.In person attendance of meetings is preferred, but remote participation is allowed when necessary.

4.The Chief of Staff in the CIO Office will be responsible for scheduling meetings, communicating the agenda to ITSC members, and keeping minutes and records.

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