Technology Planning for the Nineties: Reponding to the Challenge to Do More Work With Fewer Resources Copyright CAUSE 1994. This paper was presented at the 1993 CAUSE Annual Conference held in San Diego, California, December 7-10, and is part of the conference proceedings published by CAUSE. Permission to copy or disseminate all or part of this material is granted provided that the copies are not made or distributed for commercial advantage, that the CAUSE copyright notice and the title and authors of the publication and its date appear, and that notice is given that copying is by permission of CAUSE, the association for managing and using information technology in higher education. To copy or disseminate otherwise, or to republish in any form, requires written permission from CAUSE. For further information: CAUSE, 4840 Pearl East Circle, Suite 302E, Boulder, CO 80301; 303449-4430; e-mail info@cause.colorado.edu Technology Planning for the Nineties: Responding to the Challenge to Do More Work With Fewer Resources. Ilee Rhimes and Lawrence R. Kelley Kent State University Kent, Ohio Abstract: Kent, like most universities, is being challenged to do more work with fewer resources. Information technology is expected to play a more important and strategic role as the University responds to this challenge. Kent developed and implemented a plan for information technology that builds on current strengths, promotes broad commitment and ownership, and helps ensure that scarce technology resources are allocated to strategic activities. Using IBM's Information Planning Study (IPS) Methodology, Kent organized a nine person Study Team and charged them with developing an information technology plan. The objective of this paper is to share the results of Kent's study. Background: Kent State University, located in northeastern Ohio, is a state- assisted institution with eight campuses, i.e., the Kent Campus and seven Regional Campuses. Kent, was established as the Kent Normal School in 1910, renamed Kent State College in 1929 and became Kent State University in 1935. The University, which is the 28th largest in America, serves approximately 33,000 students with 23,000 on the Kent Campus. The Kent Campus, located in Kent, is 35 miles southeast of Cleveland, and 11 miles east of Akron. The Regional Campuses names and locations are Ashtabula (in Ashtabula), East Liverpool (in East Liverpool), Geauga (in Burton Township), Salem (in Salem), Stark (in Canton), Trumbull (in Warren), and Tuscarawas (in New Philadelphia). Kent's total full-time and part-time faculty, staff and student employees is approximately 6,000. Kent's total annual budget is approximately one quarter billion dollars. Undergraduate students can pursue studies in over 135 majors and 111 concentrations. Graduate students can pursue 13 different graduate-level degrees in 118 masters majors and 62 doctoral majors. As a member of the Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine, (a consortium of Kent State University, the University of Akron, and Youngstown State University), Kent offers students the opportunity to earn combined bachelor of science and doctorate of medicine degrees in six years. Kent State University's academic programs in Liquid Crystals, Fashion Design, Psychology, and Education among others are known internationally for their quality. The Kent State University Library has been designated as an official depository of U.S. documents - one of only four such libraries in Ohio. Kent State University encompasses 2,300 acres, including 824 at the Kent Campus and 663 for the Regional Campuses. Other acreage includes an airport, golf course and numerous conservation areas. The physical plant on the Kent Campus includes 102 buildings with 30 residence halls and 230 family-housing apartments capable of housing 7,000 students. Kent State University is organized into the following divisions: Academic and Student Affairs; Business and Finance; Institutional Advancement; and Human Resources. The Information Services Department, which supports both academic and administrative computing needs, is in the Division of Business and Finance. The Director of Information Services reports to the Associate Vice President for Business and Finance. Information Services is organized into five major functional areas: Administrative and Clerical Support; Application Services; Technical Support and Operations; Network Services; and Computer Equipment Services. Information Services has 69 full-time staff members and approximately 32 student staff members. The central computing facility consists of an IBM 3090-200S mainframe that runs under the MVS/ESA operating system, and an IBM 4381-R24 mainframe that runs under the VM operating system. The two systems share 134 gigabytes of random access disk storage. Other peripherals include IBM 7171 protocol converters, IBM communication controllers, fiber optic channel extenders, local and remote laser and line printers, cartridge tape drives, and an automatic tape library robotics system. The IBM 3090 is used primarily for administrative and library support while the IBM 4381-R24 is used primarily for academic support. Complimenting the Computer Center are numerous resources in various other offices. They include network-based and free- standing work stations that support day-to-day functions such as word processing, spreadsheet, record keeping, local data processing, etc. Also, there are over 40 local area networks. Academic departments provide students and faculty with computing support in shared "public" and restricted-access facilities in over 23 separate buildings and 50 different sites. Computing resources in support of academic programs consist of a variety of equipment ranging from PC to RISC networks in the departments of Mathematics and Computer Science, Physics, Geology, Architecture, Technology, and the Scientific Computing Laboratory in the Liquid Crystals Institute. Direct access to computing resources is made via both fiber and coax trunk lines with unshielded twisted pair and coax connections to individual work stations and terminals. Rationale: Kent, like most universities, is being challenged to do more work with fewer resources. Along with responding to this challenge, Kent State University also must continue to improve the quality of service and support to its diverse group of stakeholders in order to remain competitive with peer institutions. In her state of the University address, delivered in November 1992, President Carol A. Cartwright stated: "We're at a point in higher education when we can either create a few temporary safety nets to bring us through this crisis, or we can seize the moment to bring about meaningful and fundamental change. Quite frankly, I'm eager to get on with the next phase of development and provide leadership for these changes..." Computing and information technology is expected to play an important and strategic role as Kent State University responds to this challenge by developing and implementing new and creative approaches to sustain academic programs and support operations. 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 and support needs. However, like most universities, Kent is being challenged in its effort to maintain a sufficient level of resources to meet demands. Furthermore, this situation is exacerbated by the kind of budget constraints that colleges and universities currently are experiencing all over the country. Thus, Kent is faced with the need to expand its use of technology at the same time that it faces budget constraints. Kent concluded that it needed to develop, implement and maintain a strategic computing and information technology plan - with input and consensus from its primary stakeholders. The purpose of this plan would be to provide a blueprint for allocating scarce technological resources to the "right things", i.e., allotting them to activities that are high priority (from an institutional perspective) and consistent with the University's mission. This analysis and planning effort would build on previous plans; and define computing and technology issues, strengths, recommendations, benefits and implementation priorities. IBM offered to assist Kent with this planning effort by providing the use of its Information Planning Study (IPS) methodology as well as a consultant/facilitator to assist a small working committee with completing this project. IPS (formerly referred to as Application Transfer Study or ATS) is an IBM developed methodology that was first developed in 1978 to assist customers with reviewing their computing and information technology operations and preparing strategic plans. IBM was one of many vendors that Kent established a closer association with and received support from during this period. The primary goal of the IPS methodology is to facilitate the development of a document that represents a consensus on the direction and priorities for computing and information technology. In addition, the process of going through the IPS methodology encourages involvement and input from a variety of students, faculty and staff, and promotes broad commitment and ownership for plans and recommendations. In a preliminary meeting to discuss the IPS methodology, IBM cautioned against making the scope of the study too broad and recommended that it be conducted in two parts. Based on recent feedback from students, faculty and staff, the primary areas of concern were campus-wide communication networking and information systems support. Thus, Kent decided to focus the initial IPS study on Network and Information Systems. Also, it was decided that the second part of the study would focus on the needs of Academic Computing and Instructional Technology. The Study Team, appointed and charged by the President, Vice President for Business and Finance and Provost consisted of nine individuals representing the following areas: Provost's Office, Regional Campuses, Student Affairs, Library, Faculty, Financial Affairs, Information Services, Business Services, and Business and Finance. The Associate Vice President for Business and Finance was appointed chair of the committee because computing and information technology is one of his areas of responsibility. Goal and Charge: The nine-person Study Team was asked to build on previous studies and conduct a University-wide analysis of communication network and information systems with: * the goal of developing a plan for establishing an integrated infrastructure to facilitate the access and use of computing and information technology by students, faculty and staff. The charge to the Study Team was: *to assess network and information system needs, in part, by interviewing and gathering information from Kent students, faculty and staff from all divisions of the University; *to develop a plan that defines communication network and institutional information systems requirements, objectives, issues, recommendations and implementation priorities. Methodology: Using the IBM IPS methodology, the Study Team completed the following major tasks: * Planning and Team Orientation. A one-day planning meeting was held in September, 1992 to brief senior management and the Study Team on the methodology, finalize the project work plan, begin developing the interview schedule, and prepare a draft of the instruments that would be used to survey students, faculty and staff. Also, during the orientation session, it was emphasized that technology would be used during every step of the IPS process to facilitate the capture and evaluation of data. * Interviews and Questionnaires. After finalizing the interview schedule and survey instruments, the Study Team solicited information from students, faculty and staff concerning their experience and opinions about current information systems and network facilities. Twenty interview sessions were held (including one open session) and approximately 100 individuals were interviewed. Interview comments and notes were captured after each session via a lap-top computer. Also, some interviewees submitted written reports. Over 3,000 questionnaires were mailed to all full-time faculty and staff and a random sample to 300 students. In addition, questionnaires were circulated to students utilizing the computer laboratory sponsored by undergraduate student senate located in the student center, and more were circulated by leaders of the undergraduate and graduate student governments. A total of 905 completed questionnaires were returned with 285 from faculty, 76 from students, 294 from classified staff and 249 from administrative staff. The questionnaire results were entered into a personal computer and analyzed. * Identification of Problems and Strengths. The interview sessions resulted in over eighty pages of notes summarizing the discussions. The Study Team analyzed the information received in the interviews, in the reports prepared by interview participants and in the questionnaires. The Team then prepared strength and problem statements. Note that strength statements were prepared to provide balance to the overall document and to ensure that strengths were considered in the recommendation development process. A lap- top computer linked to an over-head projector was used by the Team to expedite the process of synthesizing data and developing problem and strength statements. * Description of Current Environment. Concurrent with the identification of problem and strength statements, a chapter outlining the current environment was developed. This chapter was prepared by Study Team members representing the Library, Information Services, Business Services and the Regional Campuses. * Study Team Education. The Study Team also was updated on computing and information technology trends and directions in the University environment. Study Team education included presentations on administrative systems, enrollment management, network communications and local area network- based electronic mail. IBM sponsored and coordinated this education by bringing in several of its business partners with expertise in the above mentioned areas to conduct presentations. * Solutions, Alternatives and Recommendations. In preparation for developing recommendations, the Study Team reviewed problem statements, supporting interview documentation, and questionnaires. In addition, they considered the strengths of the current computing and information technology environment at Kent State University as well as current trends in technology. Furthermore, the Study Team reviewed the results of a previous study on information systems and a recently completed University-wide Network Communications Plan. After the Study Team completed this analysis process, it deliberated over alternative solutions and prepared a series of forty-seven recommendations. * Benefits. During this step, the Study Team identified the potential numerous benefits that would be realized if the recommendations were implemented. The determination of potential benefits was based on interview comments, questionnaire comments, and individual opinions. Benefits were categorized by student, faculty, staff and institution. * Implementation Plan. The final step in the Study Team's deliberations was the preparation of an action-oriented, five-year implementation plan. Key Recommendations: Following isa summary of the top fifteen recommendations: * Mission. The University should develop a statement that reflects the strategic importance of information technology. Furthermore, this statement should articulate the role that information technology plays in support of the achievement of the University's mission and strategic plans for the future. * Peer Institutions. The University should identify a peer group of institutions which would serve as a benchmark against which comparisons could be made on information technology and network communications development. * Technology Policy Advisory Committee. A broad-based committee should be established to advise the Vice President for Business and Finance on policy matters related to information technology and network planning, standards and priorities. The committee should include representatives from faculty and staff. * University-wide Planning Process. A University-wide plan for information technology and network communications should be maintained and updated on a biennial basis. Therefore, plans for all units (including Regional Campuses) should be shared biannually and integrated with University-wide plans. * Data Access/Authorization. The University needs to develop and implement a more flexible and uniform approach to authorizing data access. In the context of migration toward an integrated administrative data base, common standards for data access are needed. Procedures and policies should be developed which facilitate appropriate levels of authorized access to needed information. * University-wide Network. The University should recognize that a University-wide network is becoming a required utility (like water or heat) for the survival of a modern campus. The network should be ubiquitous, reliable, and provide an adequate capacity to support voice, data and interactive video communications. The existing network plan should be enhanced to include single-mode fiber in the backbone and from the backbone to the Office of Teleproductions. This enhancement will allow interactive video transmissions from Teleproductions to locations along the backbone. Also, this enhancement will provide the network infrastructure to support the establishment of fully mediated classrooms and distance learning programs. The network should permit evolution to integrated campus-wide access by students, faculty and staff to University facilities such as the Library and other information resources, computing resources and student information systems. This would include improved access from student laboratories and dormitories, faculty and staff work areas and off-campus locations. * Electronic Mail. Convenient access to an easy-to-use electronic mail system is of strategic importance to the University. This should allow all users to communicate within and beyond the campus in a seamless manner. * University-wide Systems Implementation Perspective. The University should establish an approach to systems implementation that considers both institutional and departmental needs, while at the same time, supporting database distribution and systems integration. Student information should be implemented as one integrated system in order to enhance competitiveness and better support the achievement of enrollment goals. * System Data Infrastructure. The database infrastructure for an integrated information system should be installed. It should consist of a relational database management system with a data dictionary and user-friendly query and reporting capabilities; and integrated and seamless support for distributed computing and document imaging technologies. * Need for Training. The University should provide better overall coordination and systematic strategies to meet existing and future training needs. The University must recognize the added importance of appropriate training as it migrates into a more integrated information systems and network communications environment. * Document Handling and Process Flow Evaluation. Technology alone will not provide the break-through solutions that are envisioned for administrative operations. Therefore, the University should review existing office work flow processes and determine where document handling and duplicating can be streamlined, integrated or possibly eliminated. * University-wide Information System. The University should implement user-friendly access points such as kiosks or touch-tone phones to University information systems. The purpose would be to allow various users to gain direct access to general information about the University and to allow students to access specific information about themselves. * On-Going Hardware/Software Resources. The University needs to plan for on-going budget resources to address the need to support, upgrade, maintain and replace hardware and software. The plan should consider that the appropriate level of technology varies widely from department to department. In addition, the plan should incorporate the migration of equipment from users with high-end work station needs to users with low-end work station needs. Note that there is a base level below which it is not cost effective to retain old equipment because of operating and maintenance costs. * Central Computer Upgrade. The University should plan to upgrade its central computing capacity to support the data base, integration and access requirements of the proposed student information system and network. This upgrade plan should consider replacing the existing "water cooled" mainframe computer system with a more energy efficient "air cooled" system. An analysis of capacity requirements should be performed and used to determine the appropriate processor capacity needed to serve current and future needs (i.e., three to five years). If current technology trends continue, this may be the last mainframe processor that the University will have to acquire because administrative application systems are being re-engineered to run on smaller down-sized and network-based computers. These new application systems are expected to be widely available to universities in the latter part of this decade. * Academic Computing Plan. The University should develop an academic computing plan. With the exception of the network infrastructure, the scope of this study did not include academic computing. Members of the Study Team believe that the full potential benefits of this study will not be realized without an institutional plan for academic computing and an overall instructional and classroom support plan which integrates research and instructional technology with the overall strategic infrastructure proposed here. Further, the plan should include an evaluation of the concept of a student computer usage fee to help fund academic computing requirements on an on-going basis. Key Anticipated Benefits The Study Team identified numerous benefits that would be realized as a result of implementing the aforementioned recommendations. Some of the key benefits are as follows: *A statement that articulates the role that computing and information technology should play in supporting the achievement of the University mission will help provide consistency and direction. * Identifying institutions that the University considers peers or competitors will allow Kent to identity the level of services that it must maintain to remain competitive in the recruitment and retention of students, faculty and staff. * Establishing a Technology Policy Advisory Committee will help ensure broad-based participation in computing and information technology plans, priorities and standards. * University computer equipment will be able to be connected to an integrated University network. The network will provide University-wide access to various services such as E- mail (including BITNET and INTERNET), mainframe databases and services, library databases and services, selected departmental systems and others. * Electronic interaction and collaboration among students, faculty and staff across the Kent Campus, the seven Regional Campuses and other universities will be significantly improved. * The network infrastructure will provide faculty with the means of developing mediated classrooms which will enhance the University's image with students, as well as, prospective faculty, employers and funding agencies. * The student recruitment process will be improved because of better capabilities for identifying, contacting and responding to potential student requests with timely and accurate information; thus, enhancing the yield rate and maximizing enrollment. * Students will be able to access their own financial aid, academic record, current class schedule and billing information as well as other general information such as directories, etc. This will reduce the time that students currently wait in line to get general information and free up staff to work with students who have more complex issues. * Student retention may be enhanced because of better access to computing resources and the availability of more integrated information system support for advising and other services. * There will be a significantly improved technological environment for supporting administrative services, student support services, instruction and research. * The integration of information systems will provide data which will be both easily and widely accessible. Similar reports containing conflicting information will be reduced. Flexibility will be enhanced as well as the capacity to expand to meet future needs. * A more effective training program will help ensure that existing hardware/software capacity is better utilized by faculty and staff. More effective and accessible training also should increase productivity, computing skills and job satisfaction. Implementation Plan: The final step in the Study Team's deliberations was the preparation of a draft of an action-oriented implementation plan. Each action item in the plan was analyzed in the context of the recommendations and the benefits to be derived. The plan included an initial schedule for completing each item. An individual or a team was assigned the responsibility for developing the necessary tactical plan to complete each item. The Associate Vice President for Business and Finance was assigned the responsibility for monitoring the plan implementation. Examples of key action items currently in progress include: the academic computing study; the integrated student information system; and the upgrade and expansion of the University-wide network. Conclusion: The principal content of this study was the result of the Study Team's analysis of interview comments, questionnaires, and written statements provided by members of the Kent State University community. The process of going through the study promoted involvement and input from a variety of students, faculty and staff, and resulted in a broad commitment and ownership for plans and recommendations. The completion of the University-wide network was the number one priority because it was consistently raised as the top priority issue by the University community in interviews and questionnaires. The need for an integrated student information system was a close second. The Study Team concluded that technology alone would not provide the break-through solutions that are envisioned for administrative operations. Existing office work flow processes and document handling procedures also need to be reviewed and re- engineered (where necessary) to make more effective use of new technologies. The recommendations in this study provide a strategy and blueprint that Kent State University plans to utilize as it develops and implements the integrated systems and network infrastructure that it needs to take full advantage of new technologies in the nineties and beyond. With this infrastructure in place, the University will be in a better position to enhance the quality and productivity of its instruction, research and support programs and, therefore, to provide better service to its stakeholders as well as remain competitive with peer institutions in the recruitment and retention of students, faculty and staff.