Information Technology: Strategic Plan

Major Issues

Issue #1: Reliability, stability, predictability
Notre Dame's technological infrastructure is highly complex and multi-faceted. The network extends all over campus and connects to the outside world at high speed and high capacity. Virtually everyone uses e-mail. Clusters for public computing are everywhere. Faculty and students can access their files from any computer on campus.

Because the Notre Dame community has become so dependent on this infrastructure, expectations are that it will function as a "utility," much like electric power or a telephone dial tone. It needs to be always there, always working, always reliable. This has not been the case up till now.

New administrative and academic applications will require an enhanced and increased robustness of the network infrastructure. This must be in place before these new services can be implemented.

Decisions must address the problems and fundamental concept of the Notre Dame institutional file space implementation.

As the community expressed it to us, this is the most important issue in terms of their own productivity and effectiveness in their own work.

Issue #2: Governance/relationships
The second most important issue for the community is the way in which communications channels with OIT have been set up and used in the past, and the sense that changes are very much needed. The community needs to know that OIT does not act and make decisions in isolation, but with deliberate consultation, based on careful listening.

Issue #3: Distributed general support
There is a overwhelming need for distributed technology support on campus, with most of the community feeling that this is the best way to provide quality service in a timely manner. The precise manner of how to distribute services is still to be worked out, as is finding the right balance with central support from OIT, but it is clear that this is the preferred support model, at least for the first level of response.

It is also clear that a single approach will not fit everyone. Each college or functional unit has its own needs and its own experience with providing local support. This needs to be taken into consideration, and through discussion with the colleges, a school-specific approach must be worked out.

Issue #4: Specific support for classroom usage
There is a sense in the community that, as a whole, Notre Dame faculty are behind their peers at other institutions in adopting technological approaches to the classroom. No one, of course, is suggesting that all faculty have to use technology, even some of the time, but there is a perceived gap between where the faculty ought to be by now and where they actually are.

In addition, DeBartolo, while state-of-the-art when it was first designed and built, has fallen behind in its capabilities of providing an effective technological environment for classroom teaching. The world has learned a great deal about this area since DeBartolo was built, and many changes need to be made. There was also strong sentiment in the community that "smart" classrooms needs to extend all over campus, and not be limited as much as they are now to a single teaching facility.

Issue #5: Specific support for research
High-performance computing and other elements of modern-day research are extremely important to the Notre Dame community. Sophisticated hardware and software, access to research-based networks, and high-end support are all needed to be part of the University's research environment.

Issue #6: Administrative systems
The issues for administrators concerning information systems at Notre Dame are well known and the new replacement project is already well under way. But the faculty and students had many comments as well, understanding the importance of such a system to them and wanting to know where they fit into the planning and implementation.

Issue #7: Recruitment, training and retaining of IT Professionals
Part of the success of the University in this world of information revolution depends heavily on the recruitment, training and retaining of IT Professionals. We must make a long-term commitment to recruiting and retaining sufficient numbers of highly skilled professions support staff and upgrading the information technology skills of all faculty, students and staff.

Notre Dame has made a tremendous commitment in information technology. The University has invested a great deal of money over the years in IT, and many people have contributed a tremendous amount of time, energy, and expertise in creating an effective information technology environment. Our main purpose for the near future needs is to leverage that investment and to be certain that the University is getting the appropriate return on investments and creating competitive advantages.

Information Technology Initiatives