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by Catherine Bindewald

The Information Technology Plan correlates directly to OSU's Academic Plan. The Academic Plan, as we all know, seeks to establish Ohio State as a world-class university, one that will attract the most talented faculty and the best and brightest students. To reach this goal, the Academic Plan repeatedly emphasizes the need for cutting-edge technologies and facilities that enable our faculty and students to shine.

We in the CIO's Office have taken this aspiration to heart by engaging the campus community in a course of action to define a world-class university technologically. During February 2002, we launched an extensive, formalized technology planning process, called PlanIT, with the intention of listening to and strategizing with as many of you as possible to get as close as we can to an ideal state of technology. Prior to the launch, we met with every college dean in the first round of what will be annual dialogs.

Everything accomplished so far in the IT strategic planning process has been documented and is available on the PlanIT Web site. We encourage you to visit PlanIT on the Web at cio.osu.edu/planit for background, progress and status reports, supplemental materials and much more.

Every good plan starts off with a Vision statement. The Vision of the IT Strategic Plan incorporates guiding principles, which are depicted in the accompanying illustration as building blocks. The pyramid is based on an engaged leadership supporting an enabling infrastructure. Together, they provide seamless and secure access to sustain an empowered university community, all of which flourish in a collaborative environment.

In pursuit of the Vision, PlanIT's Future State team hosted five public Technology Days and 29 focus group sessions last spring and compiled the results into broad themes. You can find the questions asked in surveys, questionnaires and focus groups, plus videos of the Technology Days forums and the most recent draft of the Vision statement at cio.osu.edu/planit/future.html. Don't forget to contribute your comments on the Vision statement, if you wish.

To arrive at its report, the Current State team collected and analyzed feedback from questions in the 2002 OSU Poll and from surveys and questionnaires sent to administrative units, colleges, regional campuses and alumni. For the latest iteration of the Current State Report, plus the content of all the instruments and analyses, go to cio.osu.edu/planit/current.html.

The Gap Analysis team has identified initiatives that must be completed to close the gap between where we are and where we want to be. For each of the initiatives, the team prepared a worksheet including description, key objectives, institutional focus areas of impact, tangible and intangible benefits, prerequisites, cost estimates, proposed funding sources, proposed governance and initiative metrics. The results of the findings are available at cio.osu.edu/planit/gap.html.

All of these components are needed to develop the strategic plan, which is targeted for first draft in 2003. With the spirit of cooperation weíve seen so far, we feel confident the IT Strategic Plan will be a dynamic, practical, useful, and relevant document, continuously evolving as subsequent years of dialogs and information collection shape and refine it. As always, we want to hear your thoughts on the plan, the process, the vision, or whatever concerns you. Send any comments to cio@osu.edu or call us at 292-6553.

Vision of the Information Technology Strategic Plan
Over the next five years, The Ohio State University will be recognized among its benchmark universities as a premier provider of technology infrastructure, services and support used to facilitate the "advancement and the well-being of the people of Ohio and the global community through the creation and dissemination of knowledge" and in its "innovative use of technology for teaching, learning, research, and organizational effectiveness," as stated in the 2000 Ohio State University Academic Plan.