IT Strategic Advisory Committee (ITSAC)

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 WSU System Leadership Collaborative. The 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. The 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 the ITSAC is to:

• Provide support to the WSU 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 the WSU System Leadership Collaborative and central IT offices to communicate the status of IT initiatives to the university community
• Provide annual reports 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 the WSU 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 WSU 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.

Subcommittees/Workgroups

The ITSAC will fulfill its purpose and objectives through the formation of formal topical subcommittees as outlined below and by direct action of the part of the ITSAC, as circumstances dictate. Other subcommittees may be established by the ITSAC.

• Accessibility & Compliance
• Area Technology Officers
• Business Intelligence Subcommittee
• Enterprise Applications Subcommittee
• Instructional Technology Subcommittee
• IT Assessment Subcommittee
• IT Communications Subcommittee
• IT Infrastructure Subcommittee
• IT Procurement & Contracts Subcommittee
• Research Computing Subcommittee
• Security & Compliance Subcommittee
• Student Experience Subcommittee
• IT Strategic Planning Subcommittee
• Project Request and Project Prioritization Task Force
• Other subcommittees as deemed necessary

In order to fulfill their specific responsibilities, the subcommittees will either resolve the issues directly at subcommittee meetings or may create small and more specialized workgroups made up of subcommittee members and augmented by additional technical or functional subject-matter experts from across the WSU system to join the workgroup to resolve a specific issue. As appropriate, the subcommittees will also help identify strategic opportunities, consistent with their respective scope and responsibilities, to best advance the university’s leadership position in the utilization of IT and cyber-infrastructure in support of its strategic goals.

Membership

The 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 WSU Pullman Area Technology Officers (ATOs).

The membership of each subcommittee will be appointed by the ITSAC. Subcommittee membership will be selected from faculty, deans/associate deans, 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 the ITSAC and its subcommittees and any workgroups to represent institutional stakeholders and to broadly solicit and share information with those stakeholders.

Current Members are:

(Database is under revision)

Chair:	Sasi Pillay	Vice President ITS and CIO
	Behrooz Shirazi	Voiland College of Engineering & Architectuire
	Beth Blakesley	WSU Libraries
	Bill Bonner	CAHNRS
	Cheryl Reed	Graduate School
	Chip Hunter	Carson College of Business
	Chris Jones	WSU Budget Office
	Chris Meiers	WSU Tri-Cities
	Christopher Coons	Global Campus
	Erika Fleck	Elson S Floyd College of Medicine
	Fran Hermanson	Provost Office
	Gary Pollack	College of Pharmacy
	Geeta Dutta	Research
	Greg Neunherz	Area Technology Officers
	Guy Ellibee	WSU Marketing and Communication
	John Johnson	Athletics
	John Schneider	Voiland College of Engineering & Architectuire
	Jon Schad	WSU Spokane Facilities Operations
	Jordyn Creighton	WSU Tri Cities
	Kenn Daratha	College of Nursing
	Kurt Mueller	Athletics
	Lisa Neal	HRS
	Lynne Varner	WSU N Puget Sound Everett
	Michael Stamper	WSU Vancouver
	Terry Boston	Student Affairs
	Tony Opheim	Information Technology Services
	Wade Lafferty	College of Arts and Sciences

Committee Meeting Guidelines

The ITSAC will meet at least once a month, or as scheduled by the ITSAC chair. The 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 the ITSAC and its subcommittees shall have notes of discussions, recommendations, and action items.