The University of Wisconsin-Stout’s Information Technology Strategic Plan is a collaboration between the campus community and the Learning and Information Technology Department. An effective IT strategic plan accounts for the unique character of our polytechnic institution, and applies the constructs of governance, industry-knowledge, along with best-practices to support and empower the goals of the institution. Here at Stout, Information Technology is a critical component in how we support our faculty, students, and staff on and off campus. We will work collaboratively to understand the challenges that face our faculty, staff, and students. We will work to produce high quality services designed to meet and exceed the expectations of the campus community. These services will include aligning our IT strategy with our institution’s priorities, ensuring cybersecurity in an increasingly interconnected world, optimizing the student experience, and leveraging data to differentiate our polytechnic institution.
The 2023 IT Strategic Plan will help guide the focus of information technology over the next 5 years at UW-Stout. It is our intent that IT initiatives in this plan align with campus wide strategic planning and that they are impactful in teaching our students, supporting our faculty and improving business processes moving forward.
Goals and Core Principles
After reviewing and analyzing the feedback, we identified five core principles that are embedded in all our goals. These core principles are a priority in IT and while you may not see these principles as unique goals, they are an integral component in our work and will be found in our goals and objectives. We have mapped the following principles to each objective in our action plan.
Accessibility | Resource Management | Security | Training & Support | User Experience
Accessibility – Accessibility is critical as we work to provide tools and technologies that are usable by everyone, regardless of their abilities or circumstances.
Resource Management – Resource management helps to ensure that the resources are used in the best possible way to deliver value and achieve the desired outcomes. This includes optimizing the use of resources, reducing costs, improving efficiency, and increasing productivity.
Security – Security is at the forefront of our work, and we strive to provide reliable and secure services to our campus community. In addition to providing a robust and secure network, we work to provide resources and training to build awareness around security policies and procedures that help to keep our institutional data secure.
Training & Support - Training and support in IT are two essential components of new technologies and projects. Providing training and continued support helps improve user adoption and satisfaction and helps facilitate any change management.
User Experience – User experience ties back to our value of customer service. We strive to anticipate and respond to our customers’ needs in a consistent and timely manner. Positive user experience involves understanding the needs and preferences of all our unique users.
IT Strategic Goals
Using the feedback from our campus community, our core values, and principles, we have developed a strategic plan that focuses on six overarching goals, their objectives, and the key action steps for achieving the objectives.
Communication is a key component in the successful delivery of technology services. At UW-Stout we want to ensure that IT service and project communications are well coordinated, accurate, consistent, timely and responsive to the needs of intended audiences. In addition, a component of clear communication is providing training through high-quality learning activities, coaching and resources that meet the unique needs and expectations of all learners.
The key to improving IT services lies in effective communication, collaboration, and partnerships between IT and other units on campus. Building strong relationships with various stakeholders is critical to fostering better engagement and support for IT initiatives. To enhance awareness of IT services, a variety of communication channels are used, and efforts are made to tailor information to specific groups or populations.
Providing dedicated IT consultants and specialists for areas on campus helps ensure tailored support. The user experience is enhanced through personalized responses and in-person assistance when needed. As we strive to improve our customer experience, we work to be proactive, providing resources, coaching, and just-in-time instruction to help users use technologies in their unique environments.
A robust, secure network infrastructure with reliable internet connectivity and broad Wi-Fi coverage using advanced technologies allows us to provide reliable, effective, and sustainable services to all students, faculty, and staff. Investing in security measures and ensuring compliance with policies protects the campus and University data. We aim to streamline processes and standardize systems to improve efficiency and business processes while focusing on user experience.
At our Polytechnic University, we value the pursuit of innovation, emerging technology, and sustainability with a continuous eye to the future. We support the University’s mission by encouraging and promoting new and transformative technologies and fostering creativity and innovation among staff.
Learning and Information Technology aims to enhance its IT culture by building a well-equipped and capable IT workforce to meet the growing demands of IT services in support of the campus strategic plan. We strive to provide leadership and invest in professional growth opportunities.