Purpose
The Information Technology Strategic Advisory Committee (ITSAC) is the senior university information technology committee charged with advising and providing recommendations on information technology issues to the System Leadership Collaborative. ITSAC ensures that the University makes the best possible decisions in advancing the acquisition, deployment, and use of technology in support of the goals outlined in the IT strategic plan. ITSAC also ensures that planning, pursuing new directions, institutional actions, and changes are implemented and integrated in a coordinated, collaborative, and transparent fashion.
Objectives
The purpose of ITSAC is to:
- Provide support to the System Leadership Collaborative in the development of an IT strategic plan for the university
- Conduct regular assessments of the university’s IT initiatives to ensure alignment with and progress towards the goals outlined in the university IT strategic plan
- Create a subcommittee support structure that reflects and represents the functional and technology interests and needs of the university and its administrative and academic units
- Directly evaluate issues and recommend solutions that are outside the scope of the subcommittees
- Adopt a framework and guidelines that maintain an efficient and effective division of responsibility for enterprise and local IT services
- Recommend policies, procedures, and processes pertaining to IT that are consistent with best practices within higher education and the IT industry at large
- Recommend major changes in the delivery of IT services or service levels, as appropriate
- Review, prioritize, and recommend all large, university-wide IT projects
- Work with WSU’s System Leadership Collaborative and central IT offices to communicate the status of IT initiatives to the university community
- Provide annual reports to WSU’s System Leadership Collaborative on the progress of advancing performance metrics stipulated in the IT strategic plan
- Recommend and coordinate university-wide technology spending and staffing to ensure the most efficient and effective use of existing and anticipated university and decentralized IT resources
- Develop, for the review and approval of WSU’s System Leadership Collaborative, and implement an IT governance model for the efficient, sustainable, flexible, and transparent use of institutionally shared IT resources, and for the strategic growth of these resources
The System Leadership Collaborative decides, finalizes, and acts upon the recommendations formulated by the ITSAC and ensures that it is in alignment with the university’s strategic vision and plans.
Membership
ITSAC will consist of the Provost’s nominee representing the Provost’s office, the Deans’ nominees representing each college, WSU CIO Council, the Vice Presidents’ nominees representing each VP area, Faculty Senate Chair, ASWSU President or nominee, and the chair of the Area Technology Officers (ATOs).
The membership of each subcommittee will be appointed by ITSAC. Subcommittee membership will be selected from faculty, deans/associate deans, Area Technology Officers (ATOs), central IT staff, students, and functional leads as appropriate for each subcommittee. The specific membership of each subcommittee will depend on the focus of the subcommittee. For example faculty members and deans/associate deans would be more heavily represented on the Research Computing and Instructional Technology Subcommittees, with fewer representatives from the central IT office. Central IT staff and ATOs would be more heavily represented on an Infrastructure Subcommittee, with fewer representatives from other subcommittees; however, representatives from the other subcommittees would be included on the Infrastructure Subcommittee to provide linkage and communication to/from those subcommittees.
It is the responsibility of each member of ITSAC and its subcommittees and any workgroups to represent institutional stakeholders and to broadly solicit and share information with those stakeholders.
Committee Meeting Guidelines
ITSAC will meet at least once a month, or as scheduled by the ITSAC chair. ITSAC will determine modifications to the schedule based on needs related to current activities and/or other time-urgent issues. The chair or a designee will collect agenda items and circulate agendas in advance of each meeting to ensure informed discussions of scheduled topics. All meetings of ITSAC and its subcommittees shall have notes of discussions, recommendations, and action items.