To the Case Western Reserve University Community:
Great universities require great information technology. Our goal within IT is to provide the scholars and staff on our university the tools and services they need to perform their extraordinary work. Whether people are registering for a class, utilizing the high-performance computing cluster or developing applications for the Microsoft HoloLens to be deployed in an interactive classroom, information technology plays an integral role in nearly every university activity. Now, we have a plan to advance our technology environment and services.
For almost a year, our strategic planning team listened, read, debated and ultimately developed [Re] Imagining IT: Case Western Reserve University’s Strategic Plan for Information Technology.
The plan outlines:
- Opportunities to catapult innovation in specialized areas of research and education;
- Areas where Case Western Reserve has a unique opportunity to lead;
- Recommendations involving technology that can help advance the university’s mission;
- Action items to mobilize implementation.
The collaborative and inclusive process of developing the plan encouraged all members of the CWRU community to participate. From town halls and ice cream socials to anonymous and named online responses, collective input shaped every element of this plan. Once the strategic planning team completed a draft, they shared it with a group of faculty, staff, students and university IT colleagues for comments and suggestions. This final version reflects extensive consultation and deliberation, and is far better as a result.
I deeply appreciate the work of Steven A. Hauck, II, PhD, and Jess Shoop, leaders of this monumental effort. They spent countless hours gathering information on national trends, attending meetings, conducting a university-wide listening tour, drafting and revising this plan. I also extend a special note of gratitude to the Critical Review Team, named within the acknowledgements, who helped ensure the university‘s voice was represented within this plan. In addition, I thank all of the Deans, Chairs, administrators and student organization members for vetting many ideas and leading their units’ contributions to [Re] Imagining IT. Finally, I must recognize our entire IT team - thank you for your enduring work to date and in the coming months of implementation.
In the midst of this collaborative effort of collecting the plan input from the university, the Office of the President announced a new direction for all IT at CWRU. This strategic shift is now a crucial element of [Re] Imagining IT. This plan will inform the IT centralization process and help move Case Western Reserve University to the higher levels. These aspirations are within our reach and, in the years ahead, we will turn them into reality.
With great optimism and much appreciation,
Sue B. Workman