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Office of Technology Solutions

Technology Solutions Strategic Goals

Adopt a Value-add Mindset

We aim to come alongside our campus partners and leverage innovative technology solutions to enhance learning, research, enrollment, and success at Illinois State. We must have an innate understanding of how our partners do their work and use our systems, in order to create a rewarding digital experience for all. We understand the importance of belonging and will develop additional avenues for supporting a diverse and equitable campus community. We recognize the impact that Illinois State has on the greater community and will seek to support those relationships through a variety of collaborative efforts with local public and private groups.

Common Activities

  • Collaborate with campus IT partners on performance metrics for service, security, and technology discussion
  • Research and report opportunities for the use of artificial intelligence and machine learning in higher education
  • Provide centrally managed enterprise software platforms where appropriate to ease departmental/college access and/or burdens
  • Create digital workflows for campus partners to reduce paper-based or manual processes, allowing staff in those areas to focus on increased opportunities for growth
  • Cosponsor the Continuous Improvement in Technology Conference
  • Participate in local groups such as the Bloomington-Normal Innovation Alliance

Build Trust and Credibility

We strive to ensure credible, transparent, consistent communication with our partners and continue to earn the trust of the campus community. Illinois State cannot be truly connected without a trusted relationship between us and our campus partners.

Common Activities

  • Collaborate with campus partners to identify and document technology/process inefficiencies and identify improvement opportunities and future strategies
  • Maintain standards for effective, timely, and creative communications with stakeholders
  • Define and publish metrics that measure performance for core services and applications
  • Safeguard the integrity of campus systems and data through proactive design and facilitating a culture of security governance
  • Assess and enhance training on Technology Solutions services, targeted to audiences and learning styles
  • Continually assess customer satisfaction with Technology Solutions services and act on feedback

Change and Innovate the Campus Tech Experience

The campus technology experience is a foundational piece of the journey of our students, faculty, advisors, and staff. This experience encompasses how users interact with each other, with outside groups, and with University systems. We will continue to explore innovative new technologies to enhance the mission of teaching and learning at Illinois State.

Common Activities

  • Explore and support the adoption of Extended Reality (XR) on campus
  • Research new technology behind distance education
  • Improve the university journey for different affinity groups through understanding of each group’s unique perspectives
  • Design and enable flexible learning and innovation spaces
  • Develop university research computing capabilities

Deliver Operational Excellence

We want to be responsible stewards of our resources and mindful of our partners’ needs. Our goal is to assist them in a timely, efficient manner. Highly reliable systems, services, and processes are the foundation of the digital experience.

Common Activities

  • Simplify, automate, and manage server deployment for the campus
  • Reduce redundant and outdated technology on regular refresh cycles
  • Utilize customer feedback to streamline processes for managing and addressing technology requests
  • Implement and maintain data governance structures on campus
  • Practice "Green IT" by understanding the impact that information technology use and disposal has on the environment
  • Provide knowledgeable, professional technical support services with a variety of contact options to meet diverse needs

Empower Employees

We want to create and nurture a supportive culture and fulfilling environment for our employees. We want them to excel and make our department and the campus community successful.

Common Activities

  • Embrace diversity and commit to promoting dignity for every employee
  • Perform regular self-assessment to foster continuous improvement
  • Implement an effective workforce development/progression plan for full-time employees by identifying gaps in core tech skills and targeting training for IT support staff
  • Identify the tech leaders of tomorrow by providing an immersive student employment experience

Foster a Data-Empowered Culture

We recognize that with the University’s significant investments in data tools and analytics, the next step is to encourage their use in decision-making. The digital experience is most successful when built on a foundation of understanding not only which tools users want access to, but how they use the information provided by those tools. To that end, we look to help understand and assist in the strategic decision-making on campus. The proper use of data assists in tracking process improvement efforts, reducing costs, and developing the predictors of institutional success.

Common Activities

  • Develop a Center for Research Computing Statistical Support
  • Provide analytical support to drive recruitment and retention efforts
  • Offer Business Process Improvement as a service using Lean and other methodologies
  • Facilitate data management and regulatory compliance through policy management and security governance
  • Reframe operations to improve capabilities

Grow Opportunities for Access to IT Resources

We want to lower the barriers to IT access for the campus community. Innovation and growth occur at a rapid pace, and our partners across the University need more access to data and complex processing. Convenient, secure access to the needed technologies and opportunities for advancement enhance the digital experience. We will work with faculty through the Research Computing Advisory Board to understand and deliver the needed people, processes, and technology, enabling researchers to focus on their specific work.

Common Activities

  • Expansion of videoconferencing strategies to enable access, equity, and presence
  • Enable research computing technologies with support by the Research Computing Advisory Board
  • Enhance the University knowledge base by utilizing customer feedback to increase ease of access to written knowledge across core services
  • Simplify the connection of campus systems for seamless data sharing and rapid performance
  • Streamline the process for acquisition and implementation of software and technologies