OIT Planning Aligns with University Strategic Plan

by David Danoff

The University of Maryland developed an updated version of its Strategic Plan in May 2000 (http://www.umd.edu/provost/Strategic_Planning/Plan.html), laying out goals and initiatives for the next few years in order to "accelerate the pace of [the university's] advancement and expand the breadth of its excellence."

There are approximately two dozen technology-oriented steps within the university's overall plan that have been assigned to OIT for planning and implementation, and there are other more general objectives which OIT is also well-positioned to help accomplish. OIT has drafted an action plan that specifically addresses the information technology initiatives in the university plan.

"We are concentrating our efforts on the items assigned to OIT in the Strategic Plan from the university," explains Mark Henderson, Deputy CIO and Chief Operations Officer in OIT. "We have crafted a document which [outlines our own] specific initiatives, funding strategies, and timelines in support of the university's Strategic Plan."

An example of a concrete step being taken in furtherance of the Strategic Plan is the work being done on eMaryland (IT forUM, Fall 2000, or http://www.oit.umd.edu/ITforUM/2000/Fall/e-md). The Strategic Plan, under Initiative #4" Engage the University more fully in outreach and collaborative partnerships with the greater community" pledges to "continue to assist the State in establishing a 'netcentric' infrastructure for the State's educational and business communities and for state and local government."

Other OIT projects that support parts of the university Stategic Plan include:

• Network Upgrade. This, according to Henderson, is "a high priority for the institution because it's the foundation upon which everything else will run." The Strategic Plan calls for "an electronic networking infrastructure that provides the level of connectivity and data throughput required for our faculty and staff to excel." OIT is working to increase the speed and connectivity of the network dramatically within the next several years.

• Mobile Network Access. "That's another hot topic for us," says Henderson. "It includes things like wireless strategies for access from off-site locations to resources at the university, and better network access from strategic points around the university for example, having ports in Stamp Student Union that students can use to access university resources." This will support the university's "electronic networking infrastructure" goal as well as its intention to "systematically integrate the use of information technology into our instructional programs" and to "extend our learning community beyond the campus boundaries."

• Communications System Upgrade. This project is currently underway, in accordance with the following university directive: "Replace the campus voice communication system, approaching the end of its useful life, with a state-of-the-art system that incorporates recent technological advances and the convergence of services onto a digital platform." See http://www.oit.umd.edu/nts/vsupgrade.html for more information, or see the article in of this issue at http://www.oit.umd.edu/ITforUM/2001/Spring/voice/.

• Middleware and Enterprise Network Services. With technology and the use of the network becoming ever more ubiquitous in our lives, basic services such as user verification and authorization as well as data encryption and validation become ever more important. The "middleware" effort is intended to provide these and other services for use with network based applications. The first significant result of this initiative is the Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) directory. Mechanisms for encryption of data and provisions for the use of secure, authorized electronic signatures—such as are offered by Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) systems—will be implemented too.

The process of planning is an ongoing one. A 2001 OIT plan will be submitted to the university's Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost, Dr. Gregory Geoffroy, in May of this year, but such a plan will obviously be open to further refinement, revision, and expansion in the future. Any information technology plan formulated by OIT will also be guided by, and include the input of, the Information Technology Advisory Committee (see ITAC sidebar).

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