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Computing Planning/Application Transfer Study The Rationale September 21, 1992 Over $250 million dollars has bee n cut from Ohio's public education budget during the past 16 months. Along with this decrease in subsidy, Ohio's state supported universities have been publicly challenged by the Governor to work smarter - i.e. to do more with less resources while maintaining or improving the quality of service and support. Computing and information technology is expected to play an important role a. Kent State University responds to the Governor's challenge by developing and implementing new and creative approaches to meeting its service and support responsibilities. Also, Kent's Managing For The Future Task Force, (which was commissioned by the Ohio Board of Regents to study ways to improve productivity), recognized the important role of technology in this effort with a recommendation that the University "upgrade systems wherever possible to realize all efficiencies." Over the years, Kent State University has made a significant investment in computing and information technology to sustain its academic programs and support operations. As a result, Kent students, faculty and staff have become increasingly active in the use of technology to fulfill their scholarship, research, support and administrative requirements. However, like most universities, Kent has been challenged in its effort to maintain a sufficient level of resources to meet demands. This situation is exacerbated by the current need to make more effective use of technology in response to the Governor's challenge to do more with less resources. In time. like these, a good computing plan--with input and consensus from primary stake holders--is extremely important in identifying priorities. Implementation of such a plan should allow Kent to continue to make productive use of scarce resources by allocating them to the "right things., i.e. the high priority activities. Therefore, it appears to be both timely and prudent, to proceed with the development of a plan for computing and information technology at Kent State University. The primary purpose of this plan would be to identify technology issues and reach a consensus on goals, objectives, recommendations and priorities. Furthermore, this plan would build on the work of the Academic Support Systems Task Force (ASSTF) which was commissioned in May 1991 to "review the effectiveness of Kent's academic computer support systems." The issues and recommendations outlined in ASSTF's May 1992 report should provide valuable input to this planning process. IBM has offered to provide a consultant to assist a small working group of Kent State University individuals with this analyst. and planning effort. Furthermore, IBM has offered to provide this consulting service to Kent at no charge or obligation on Kent's part to purchase any additional equipment or services. After this calendar year, IBM indicates that it plans to charge all clients for this consulting service. This analysis and planning effort, which IBM refers to as an Application Transfer Study (ATS), is designed to help organizations review their computing and information technology requirements, identify issues, develop appropriate recommendations and action plane, and establish priorities. IBM ha. successfully facilitated over 400 ATS studies in higher education since 1978. The study usually takes six to eight weeks to complete. A successful ATS should provide a document that represents a consensus on the future direction and priorities for computing and information technology at Kent. In addition, the process of going through this study should promote involvement and input by a variety of students, faculty and staff, and result in a broad commitment or "buy in" to recommendations and plans. In a preliminary meeting to discuss ATS, IBM cautioned against making the scope of the study too broad. Based on recommendations in the ASSTF report as well as comments from students, faculty and staff, the primary areas of concern are campus-wide communication networking and institutional information systems. Therefore, the recommendation is to focus the ATS study on these two areas and refer to it as "A Campus-wide Communications Network and Information Systems" study. IBM also advised that the committee be liaised to six to eight individuals. It is recommended that the committee consist of one representative from the following areas: Provost's office, Regional Campus, Student Affairs, Library Faculty, Financial Affairs, Information Services, and Business and Finance. The recommended chair of the committee would be the Associate Vice President for Business and Finance because he has overall responsibility for computing and information technology. [ Table of Contents | Next page | Previous page ] |