IT Reorganization Discussion Updates

  • At the beginning of this fiscal year, the Senior Technology Leadership Team (STLT) was challenged to examine the campus technology plans and long-term strategic direction.

    • We contemplated critical budget constraints, a reassessment of our campus business needs, and the future direction for technology at Fresno State.
    • Upon the recommendation of STLT, and in consultation with the President’s Cabinet and the Provost’s Management Team (PMT), we opted to reexamine all campus Information Technology (IT) human resources to objectively determine if it would be appropriate to consolidate IT functions and overall management of technology duties under a more centralized approach.
  • Guided by the approved technology plan, we can foresee that we need to make organizational changes in order to achieve our future technology needs — particularly in web management, teaching, learning and scholarship, and desktop support. The survey helped guide the recommendation to begin combining technology resources from all parts of the campus and consolidating our service delivery models within our existing units of Campus Information Systems (CIS), Information Technology Services (ITS) and Teaching, Learning and Technology (TLT) as well as other areas of the campus. In response to these proposed changes and the survey results, some additions and reductions in workgroups are needed. Approximately $250,000 in fiscal savings will be achieved by the proposed changes, consolidation, elimination of vacant positions and other budget reductions in the 2010-11 fiscal year. This is in addition to previous campus-wide funding cuts which were made in technology costs as part of the Level A reductions applied to all units during the past two years.
  • After careful consideration of the fiscal savings generated by the consolidation, coupled with the necessity to provide strategic technology leadership, the Vice Presidents are recommending the addition of a cabinet-level Chief Information Officer. This position would oversee and direct all the technology units described in this reorganization. Furthermore, the CIO would be charged with developing the efficient operational management of the campus technology resources and guide the campus in using technology to advance the university’s academic, student, advancement and administrative missions. In order to facilitate the academic technology mission a Senior Academic Technology Officer (SATO) will be appointed within the Office of the Provost. Academic support will be provided by TLT/Digital Campus (proposed to be renamed “Digital Academy”) and will report directly to the SATO until the arrival of the CIO. These intermediary actions are a complementary step to advance academic technology initiatives and work closely with STLT and the CIO. The administrative reporting functions of CIS and ITS as described in the reorganization shall remain reporting to the Vice President for Administration until the arrival of the CIO.
  • The recruitment of a CIO may begin as early as Fall 2010 if the university’s current budget plan is ultimately adopted after the legislature acts on a CSU budget. The current budget plan anticipates the use of savings achieved through this re-organization to fund a CIO position.
  • Our first step in reviewing the functions included the crafting and development of a survey, which has been shared with the technology staff. We are recommending that the existing IT functions currently reporting to the four Vice Presidents be consolidated under ITS and CIS to be supervised by the Vice President for Administration and Academic Technology (TLT/Digital Campus), under Digital Academy (proposed name), led by SATO and reporting to the Provost.
  • Administrative computing under the new reorganized format described in this document will continue to report to the VP for Administration until the CIO arrives.

  • The process used to assign staff to the positions in the restructured IT organization included:

    • Survey of the job duties of 106 staff in IT-related positions
    • Validation of the results with managers
    • Normalization of survey responses
    • Analysis of work responsibilities to industry standards
    • Mapping of staff into new organization based on best match of talents to position needs

  • The process resulted in:

    • 68 staff remaining in their current department and classification
    • 32 staff reassigned to new units within classification
    • 7 staff reassigned to new classifications
    • 4 technical and 3 non-technical positions eliminated
    • 2 new non-technical positions (will be filled from elsewhere at the university)
    • 11 open positions, including 7 technical positions eliminated

Administrative Services

  • The core function of the Campus Information Systems department, led by John Briar and reporting to the VP for Administration remains unchanged.
  • One of the key changes in the central management approach is to create a new technical unit called the Office of Web Services (OWS) which will work collaboratively with the University Communications division, primarily the Director of University Publications, to completely revamp the campus web presence.
  • The OWS unit will be part of Campus Information Systems (CIS). They will have the primary function of managing the Web Technical and Information Architecture, Web Delivery Infrastructure, and additional services in support of the University Web space. OWS will be working in very close cooperation and coordination with the office of University Communications to update Web standards and branding for Web pages (style, color, logos, typographic, video, and photographic elements).
  • OWS will initially have 4 staff positions and 1 interim MPP.

The reorganization focuses on preserving the unique technology support for many areas which require onsite departmental staff.

In order to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness in ITS and TLT (proposed Digital Academy) the reorganization assigns services with similar characteristics to a single member of the existing management with some proposed departmental name changes. The following areas will be assigned to ITS under the leadership of Richard Boes:

  • The Director of IT Service Management, Phil Neufeld, will manage primary customer-facing consulting on IT and support of personal computing resources including:

    • Desktop Support/Professional Services
    • Distributed Techs/School and Division Support
    • Project and Service Support and Coordination

  • The Associate Director of Computing Infrastructure, Jim Michael, will manage the delivery of central computing infrastructure and applications including:

    • Systems, Storage and Infrastructure Applications
    • Helpdesk/Service Desk

  • The Associate Director for Telecom and Networking, Eric McClain, will manage the delivery of data networking and telecommunication services including:

    • Network Services
    • Telecom billing
    • Field Operations (low voltage wiring & phone support)
    • Classroom Services (IT infrastructure in classrooms)

Academic Affairs

  • The Director of Academic Computing, and later, the SATO, will manage services in support of academic computing and faculty use of technology including:

    • Digital Campus/Academic Applications
    • Instructional Design/Faculty Technology Center
  • STLT membership will continue in its current form Chaired by Provost Covino with each Vice President and the Directors of TLT (proposed Digital Academy), CIS and ITS.
  • Complete details of the plan will be shared that will include a written narrative, updated organizational chart and the proposed changes in reporting alignment.
  • Plan for the organizational changes described above shall be effective on June 1, 2010. The recruitment for the CIO is estimated to occur in fall 2010 and all the departments described in this document will report to the CIO.

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