Date:                 September 22, 2003

Charge to:        Information Technology Project Governance Committee

From:                Karen Kavanagh , Executive Vice President for Administrative Affairs

                          Philip Furmanski, Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs

 

     In these times of budget reductions, we are seeking to operate the university at the highest levels of efficiency.  Therefore, it is increasingly important that we effectively use Information Technology (IT) resources in support of the university’s mission of research, teaching and community outreach.  To this end, the university will benefit by establishing a team of academic and administrative leaders who will work closely with Rutgers University Computing Services (RUCS) to establish priorities for allocating central administrative computing resources pertaining to both academic and administrative activities.

 

     This committee will be asked to take a holistic view of the university’s overall administrative IT strategy; inventory all current and proposed projects that depend on RUCS’ hardware, software, staff support and services; prioritize these projects based on clearly defined criteria that address academic and administrative needs; and actively manage the portfolio of projects by monitoring them at predefined intervals.

 

     The Committee will be composed of academic, administrative and IT leaders, who will meet on a regular basis to monitor the status and relevance of ongoing administrative IT projects, evaluate the importance of new projects to the accomplishment of the university mission and strategic objectives and decide on the priority for allocation of resources to both old and new projects.   Initially, the Committee will create and implement the process and develop the criteria for establishing short-term priorities.  Long-term priorities will naturally flow from a large scale IT strategic planning process.    

 

    In approaching its task, the Committee will consider administrative IT project requests relying on RUCS’ resources from academic and administrative units throughout the university.  University IT leaders will provide the Committee advice and counsel regarding such issues as resources required (personnel, equipment, funding and time), likelihood of technical success, integration with other proposed or current projects and impact on current project progress.  Academic, administrative and IT leaders will vet proposals before the Committee by matching them with the university’s mission and strategic objectives.  The Committee should plan to achieve the following goals:

     * Accomplish IT projects using a team approach led by academic and administrative leaders

       * Find ways to schedule IT resources more efficiently

     * Maximize the value of IT investments while minimizing the risk

     * Improve communication an dalignment between academic and administrative leaders

        and RUCS

     * Reduce the number of redundant projects and make it easier to eliminate projects that do

        not align with the university's strategic objectives