IT Information Services
Department Plan 2009-2014

Department Mission

The mission of the Department of Information Services (DIS), a department within the Division of Information Technology (IT), is to support campus-wide administrative software applications with a high degree of technical knowledge and a strong focus on customer support. By maintaining a technical focus on application stability, database integrity and information security, our goal is to allow our customers to focus on maximizing the value of the administrative systems to their constituents rather than being concerned with technology implementation or support.

Department Aspirations

In order to satisfy our mission, DIS aspires to:

• provide a high level of customer service through communication and teamwork within the department, with other IT departments and with our customers
• help executive leadership across UW make sound long-term administrative application-related decisions in the best interest of the University of Wyoming
• be a resource for campus concerning administrative system impacts
• maintain a stable staff, providing challenging technical work, training opportunities and career expansion opportunities

Previous Planning Accomplishments

In the 2005-2010 DIS Department Plan, a number of action items were documented:

Relevant Institutional Issues

As the administrative applications maintained by DIS support administrative and academic functions across UW, DIS has a part to play in all areas of Creation of the Future 3.

Action Items

As part of ongoing operations, DIS will continue to provide secure, reliable administrative applications to the campus community, will continue to improve its internal business processes, will refine and improve its communication with customers and partners and will assist other IT departments in the completion of their action items. Additionally, the following specific action items for DIS have been identified:

• Upgrade the Banner student information and related components
• Implement self-service functionality in PeopleSoft Financials and HRMS
• Implement a Hathaway scholarship tracking module for Banner
• Expand application support offerings to campus
• Expand technology process improvement offerings
• Develop an ongoing student internship program

Action Item Implementation

Upgrade the Banner student information and related components

The upgrade to Banner 8, planned for completion in 2009, will provide additional functionality in all functional areas and the assurance of continued vendor updates to ensure reliability and the ability to meet federal guidelines. Corresponding updates will be performed in 2009 to the WyoWeb portal, the Operational Data Store reporting system and other ancillary systems.

Implement self-service functionality in PeopleSoft Financials and HRMS

There are many opportunities to make both financial and human resource-related functionality available online to faculty, staff and prospective employees. Online pay stubs, online performance evaluation, online applications and workflow, among other areas, are being targeted. Providing this functionality online will allow UW to streamline business processes, speed response to inquiries and allow for the best possible use of our human resources. Upon the completion on a system and vendor investigation procedure, a system will be chosen and implemented.

Implement a Hathaway Scholarship tracking module for Banner

The Hathaway Scholarship is a wonderful asset for the University of Wyoming. Tracking the award criteria and the scholarship’s impact on the total financial aid package for students is critical to the success of the program and to ensuring that students receive the most beneficial awards to assist in their scholastic careers. A module, residing inside Banner has been developed and will be implemented in late 2008 or early 2009. Once this module is in place, a long-term procedure must be developed to ensure that any federal financial aid law changes, legislative changes to Hathaway or operational changes to the scholarship program are included in the module.

Expand application support offerings to campus

UW departments continue to find applications that will allow them to improve the services they provide to students, faculty and staff. DIS can provide them assistance through increased application support, support of additional database platforms and assistance in building and maintaining interfaces between central administrative systems and specialty systems.

Expand technology process improvement offerings

DIS has an excellent skill base in areas such as business process analysis and improvement, technology system selection, total cost of ownership analysis, project leadership, team facilitation and others. These skills will be analyzed, formal service offerings will be developed and actively marketed to campus.

Develop an ongoing student internship program

Student employment has long been a valuable asset to DIS. Previous student employees have become excellent full-time employees. The development of a formal, permanent student internship program would provide opportunities for students and a pool of potential employees for UW. Long-term studies of student success will be considered. Discussions with appropriate academic departments will begin in 2009 with a goal of implementation for the Fall 2009 or Spring 2010 academic semester.