IT Strategic Planning for the Smaller Institution: A Lightweight Approach

1. IT Strategic Planning for the Smaller Institution: A Lightweight Approach EDUCAUSE Annual Conference Seattle, Washington October 25, 2007

2. IT Strategic Planning for the Smaller Institution Robert E. Renaud Vice President Library and Information Services Dickinson College

3. Outline • Institutional Context • Impetus • Objectives • Success Criteria • LIS Strategic Plan • Outcomes • Lessons • Comments and Questions

4. Institutional Context

5. Institutional Context • College chartered in 1783 • Located in Carlisle, Pennsylvania • 2400 students • Liberal arts curriculum • Annual budget in FY08: $120 million • Endowment in FY07: $329 million

6. Institutional Context • Crisis in 1990s • Deterioration in admissions selectivity • High discount rates, loss of tuition income • Growing budget deficits • Low returns on investments, endowment stagnant • Deteriorating physical plant • Decaying IT infrastructure

7. Institutional Context • New Management Team Arrives in 1999 • President William G. Durden appointed • Enrollment management instituted • Finances stabilized • First Strategic Plan developed for FY2001-2005 • IT identified as 1 of 5 Enabling Conditions

8. Institutional Context • Strategic Plan Evaluation, 2003 • College meets or exceeds every target, except IT • Evaluation points to • Sluggish decision making • User dissatisfaction • Weak network infrastructure • Inability to deliver commodity services such as PDAs • Failure to align with College Strategic Plan

9. Institutional Context • Library and Information Services Formed • Composed of former Library and IT departments • VP and CIO named • Five departments • 71 staff • FY05 operating budget: $4.8 million

10. Impetus

11. Impetus • Challenges Facing LIS • Backlog of projects • High expectations • Staff stress and anxiety • Need to integrate new managers, staff • Uneven funding

12. Impetus • Alignment with College strategic plan unclear • Narrative approach inadequate • Planning failed to yield priorities • Planning failed to yield funding • Range of LIS services confusing to campus

13. Objectives

14. Objectives • To align LIS goals with College Strategic Plan • To communicate plans to campus • To provide a basis for budget discussions • To promote internal communication

15. Success Criteria

16. Success Criteria • Clear depiction of strategic alignment • Integration with College governance system • Low overhead • Understandable to anyone • Low tech as possible • Sufficient to shape priorities • Applicable to full range of LIS services

17. Success Criteria • Aligned with • College Strategic Plan • Budget process and calendar • Campus committee calendar • Personnel evaluation process • Project management function

18. Success Criteria • Timeframes • If too short, overhead increases • If too long, pace of technology overtakes plan • Not too short, not too long, just right

19. Acknowledgements

20. Acknowledgements • College of Charleston, Strategic Technology Plan, A Three-Year Alignment of Technological and Institutional Goals, March 31, 2004 http://stp.cofc.edu/stp.pdf • Project Management Office, Office of Information Technology, Princeton University http://web.princeton.edu/sites/ppo/

21. LIS Strategic Plan

22. LIS Strategic Plan • Key Concepts • Planning Layers • Campus strategic plan • Goals • Initiatives • Individual goals • Reusable Goals • Mapping • Annual cycle

23. LIS Strategic Plan

24. LIS Strategic Plan LIS Strategic Goals, Fiscal Years 2008-2010

25. LIS Strategic Plan LIS Strategic Goals Mapped to Dickinson College Strategic Plan

26. LIS Strategic Plan LIS Strategic Goals Mapped to Dickinson College Strategic Plan

27. LIS Strategic Plan LIS Strategic Goals Mapped to Guiding Organizational Priorities, 2006-2007

28. LIS Strategic Plan LIS Initiatives Mapped to LIS Strategic Goals for Fiscal 2008

29. LIS Strategic Plan LIS Initiatives Mapped to LIS Strategic Goals for Fiscal 2008

30. LIS Strategic Plan • Sample Initiative • Institute a project planning and communication methodology. • Each department within LIS is focused upon completion of important projects. These projects ultimately affect other departments within LIS as well as Dickinson College personnel. A project management methodology should consist of both formal documentation and consistent interdepartmental meetings and communications. Project management standards need to be created for documentation, project status, departmental communications, and client communications.

31. LIS Strategic Plan

32. LIS Strategic Goals Mapped to Dickinson College Strategic Plan LIS Strategic Plan

33. Outcomes

34. LIS Strategic Goals Mapped to Dickinson College Strategic Plan Outcomes • Enhanced campus profile • Better integration with governance system • Alignment with College Strategic Plan • Less time spent on planning activities

35. Outcomes +14%

36. Outcomes excellent service Staff is always helpful, friendly, knowledgeable Quick, efficient service. Thanks!   Very speedy fix. Thank you so much!!    Incredible service! Everything went well with my service. Thank you very much for your prompt service. I appreciate all the help I get from … LIS :)    As always, the Help Desk and other LIS staff took extremely good care of my problem.

37. Lessons

38. Lessons • Lightweight means something has to go • SWOT analysis • Visioning • Collective work on mission statement • Project breakdowns prior to funding • Leveraging the campus plan

39. Lessons • Not everything worth doing is strategic • Do not water down idea of what is strategic

40. Lessons • Setting Goals is tricky • If Goals not relevant for 3 years, reframe • Think in terms of areas of focus

41. Lessons • Graphics trump narrative • Regular, annual cycle prevents forgetfulness • Mapping is extensible • Use different language for different groups • Building credibility is a cumulative process • Funded initiatives need project management

42. Lessons • People don’t like to plan ahead • Value of planning is counter-intuitive • Senior leadership critical • Strategic planning is not about tools • Strategic planning is about communication

43. Comments and Questions

44. IT Strategic Planning for the Smaller Institution: A Lightweight Approach EDUCAUSE Annual Conference Seattle, Washington October 25, 2007