IT Governance

The IT governance structure establishes the strategic, operational, and technical decision-making process required to ensure IT enables the University to excel in its mission. IT governance provides strategic leadership, establishes campus-wide IT priorities and policies, and is accountable and transparent to the University community. The IT Governance Executive Committee also governs subcommittees that cover the topics of interest as depicted below and forms task forces as needed to address particular areas.  The following diagram illustrates the structure for IT governance at CSUSB and is followed by a text description of its information:

• Academic Technologies and Distributed Learning (ATDL)
• Administrative Systems
• Information Security, Compliance & Emerging Technologies
• Institutional Data Team
• Technology Operations & Customer Support

CSUSB IT Governance Statement

General Responsibilities of the IT Governance Executive Committee

The IT governance executive committee is responsible for the following:

• Establishing and communicating a campus-wide IT vision that supports the University mission and goals
• Establishing IT policies that support strategic, campus-wide IT priorities
• Defining technical architecture and standards for the University
• Establishing best practices and tools for IT across campus

Committee Membership

Co-Chairs: Provost & Vice President for Academic Affairs, and Vice President for Information Technology Services & CIO

Members:  17

• Dean, College of Extended Learning and Global Education – 1
• Dean, Library – 1
• Deans, Academic Colleges -5
• Faculty Senate – 2
• Teaching Resource Center – 1
• Staff (IT + Academic) – 2
• Staff Council - 1
• Students– 1
• Vice Presidents – 3

IT Governance Values

For IT governance to be successful, the committee must hold the following values:

• Transparency — Governance committee and processes must be clear. How decisions are made and who has input rights and decision-making rights must be readily apparent to campus.
• Communication — Communication must occur into, out of, and across the committee and with campus.
• Accountability — Sub Committees and task forces must be held accountable for delivering on their responsibilities. Clear escalation paths for issue resolution must be defined.
• Assessment – Making sure that measureable objectives are met within the agreed upon timelines
• Responsibility — Governance structure must focus on results rather than implementation and project management.
• Appropriate representation — Constituency groups across campus must be represented.
• Active support — Governance structure requires staff to support the process. Agenda setting, meeting logistics, issue tracking, and communication are all essential aspects of active support. 

Subcommittees and Task Forces

Subcommittees are defined as ongoing groups responsible for issues and decisions in a certain area of IT at the University. Task forces are defined as time-bound groups assigned specific problems to solve or tasks to accomplish.
The IT governance executive committee can form subcommittees and task forces as needed. Existing committees may be asked to establish formal relationships with the IT governance executive committee.
There is an intermittent need to create task forces to investigate issues and explore different IT solutions. Task forces can be appointed by the IT governance executive committee on an as‐needed basis. The task forces meet for a set timeframe to accomplish specific objectives related to resolving an issue or implementing an IT strategy; they are not be considered standing or ongoing governing bodies. Task force membership can consist of IT governance executive committee members or any qualified personnel identified by IT governance executive committee members.

Academic and Distributed Technologies Committee

Chair: Dr. Janine Kremling

Charge:

• The Academic and Distributed Technologies Committee will monitor policy issues that arise with regard to the University Policy on Distributed Learning and shall, as it considers appropriate, (a) refer a particular issue to one of the standing committees of the Faculty Senate for the development of a policy or (b) develop a policy on a particular issue itself and then refer the proposed policy to the Executive Committee of the Faculty Senate.
• The Committee will monitor and report on instructional technology and distributed learning trends and issues on campus.
• The Committee shall seek to gather and represent faculty perspectives on questions relating to teaching, learning, or researching with instructional technologies, including distributed learning and other learning technologies, and it will work with ATI to provide services and support to the faculty. Faculty are free to bring questions and requests for support to either the Committee or ATI as they choose.
• The Committee will recommend to ATI mechanisms that will support faculty in staying current on instructional technologies and distributed learning, such as opportunities for training, experimenting with emerging technologies, and support from instructional designers.

The Committee will be responsible for gathering feedback from faculty on the effectiveness and usability of the instructional technologies employed.

Administrative Systems

Co-Chairs: Dr. Frank Lin and Lenora Rodgers

Charge:

• Provide governance recommendations for all student, faculty, staff facing administrative systems including PeopleSoft Human Resources (HR), Campus Solutions (CS), Common Financial System (CFS), and CFS Data Warehouse (CFSDW), Common Human Resource System (CHRS), WebAdmit, Concur Travel, Advancement, Qualtrics, PAWS/MyCap, Blackboard Connect, Cashnet, and PeopleSoft integrations to 3rd-party applications
• Consult with the Campus Community on all changes made to administrative systems including planned downtimes
• Explore and recommend API layers and other interfaces to all other systems on Campus
• Ensure the safety, privacy and integrity of data
• Pursue continuous process improvement on provisioning, maintenance and deprovisioning accounts and users
• Pursue time and cost efficiencies in licensing and shared services
• Work with ITS Training Services to formulate and implement end user empowerment and training programs
• Recommend modifications to administrative systems to anticipate and satisfy current and future demands of the Campus Community
• Recommend appropriate measures to ensure system stability and optimum performance
• Explore partnership opportunities with the Chancellor’s Office and other CSU Campuses

Information Security, Compliance & Emerging Technologies

Co-Chairs: Conrad Shayo and Gerard Au

Charge:

• The ISET subcommittee will review, develop and recommend information security and privacy protection policies and standards to comply with applicable federal, state and CSU Information Security Policies and Standards (ICSUAM 8000).
• The ISET subcommittee will provide oversight and recommendations for compliance with CSU required information security audits and compliance reports.
• The ISET subcommittee will review and provide recommendations as appropriate in support of campus information technology policies and standards.
• The ISET subcommittee will evaluate and develop as necessary campus information security policies and standards in response to emerging threats and technologies.
• The ISET subcommittee will review additional technology, security and privacy issues and concerns as they emerge.

Institutional Data Team

Co-Chairs: Dr. Muriel Lopez-Wagner and Dr. Samuel Sudhakar

Charge:

• The team explores the use of data discovery to promote digital transformation and data driven decision making.  The team discovers meaningful patterns of data, identify problem areas, monitor progress, provide recommendations, and engage key campus stakeholders in analytics discussions and action.
• The team provides a framework for data governance, data democratization, the ethical use of data across the campus community and provides oversight and direction on requests from third parties for institutional data for research and other purposes.
• The team creates a framework for compliance with data use standards in accordance with local, state, federal and international laws.
• The team utilizes technology and institutional research to stimulate discussion and address the complexity of our changing environment.

Technology Operations and Customer Support

Co-Chairs: Dr. Mike Chao and Gerard Au

Charge:

• Best of Class Customer Support
• Infrastructure
• Operational Sustainability and Excellence
• High Performance Computing
• Research Networks
• Enterprise Applications, Systems and User Interface
• Cloud Development
• Digital Transformation
• Campus Policies and Procedures

Updated December 2019