ISSUES IN INTEGRATING IT STRATEGIC PLANNING 
WITH UNIVERSITY STRATEGIC PLANNING

A CAUSE95 CURRENT ISSUES SESSION

MODERATED BY 

Barbara Horgan
Seattle University

Sue Stager
Indiana University


SUMMARY
     
  1. Senior administrators of the university 
     
     a. recognize that IT is valuable - but lack 
        understanding of IT's impact 
     b. underestimate cost of objectives, 
        especially networking 
     c. passover IT staff on strategic planning 
        committee membership 
     d. state objectives in an abstract manner, 
        leaving IT staff to guess 
     e. view IT as competing with other capital 
        projects 
     f. sometimes don't have strategic plans or 
        directions clarified for their 
        schools/colleges. 

  2. Techniques for integrating IT in the strategic 
     planning process depends on unique 
     characteristic of the university 
     
     a. partner with early adopters - even if it 
        takes money 
     b. "force" technology into the lives of key 
        administrators-- put critical processes on-
        line
     c. educate management about the importance of 
        integrated planning and IT.
     
  3. Before an IT strategic plan will be adopted, 
     you must sell it to IT
     constituencies
     
     a. you must sell it to each dean, i.e., 
        "Dean" hoop jumping 
     b. faculty don't understand role of IT
     c. IT has to be viewed as a strategy, not just 
        a cost
     d. must articulate that IT has a vision
     e. inform each constituency "What's in it for 
        them", i.e. customize the sell job

  4. Technology can be used to facilitate the 
     planning process
     
     a. Cross-group collaboration groupware 
     b. Groupware impacts planning process
     
  5. Planning documents 
     
     a. should be brief - 90% thought, 10% writing 
     b. talk impact - not technology
     c. should be a university plan, not a "techie" 
        one
     d. should be linked to budgets and budget 
        priority setting.

  6. CAUSE can help by
     
     a. linking with key national constituencies 
        that can influence campus administration, 
        i.e., AAHE 
     b. linking IT people from universities at the 
        same evolutionary stage 
     c. continuing to target university presidents 
        in CAUSE white papers and videos 
     d. providing benchmarking information 
     e. conducting value based assessments 
     f. identifing models of technological impact 
        ** and successful integration of planning 
           processes.
     g. provide professional development for IT/IR 
        managers to help them be successful and 
        visible with top administration in planning 
        and budgeting.