The Office of Information Technology (OIT) is charting a new course to enhance its constituent services supporting the university's mission. This new vision states that OIT will provide excellent constituent service, acting as a strategic partner to advance Rice’s priorities and mission of “pathbreaking research, unsurpassed teaching, and contribution to the betterment of our world.” OIT will fuel innovation at speed across the university by building a culture of trust, using an effective operating model, driving seamless experiences, and providing core IT capabilities.
The operating model project, which launched in the summer, first focused on soliciting feedback from campus partners related to IT services, technology needs, and areas of opportunity. The information shared during the feedback sessions was leveraged to create the following principles and initiatives that will guide the work of Rice’s IT community for the next five years.
OIT Principles:
- Digital Excellence and Innovation
- Experience in Learning, Living, and Administration
- Accessibility and Inclusivity
- Culture and Communication
- Operational Excellence
OIT Initiatives:
- Upgrade Systems and Services to Enhance the Constituent Experience: Update technology, making the constituent experience more personalized and easily accessible
- Scale and Enhance Research and Technology: Speed up research results using better tools and technology and offer complete computing support from start to finish
- Embed Accessibility, Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion (A/DE&I) in Tech: Implement measures with technology that support ways of working that are user-friendly and ensure everyone feels included, valued, and treated fairly
- Establish Data Governance and Data Stewardship: Create policies, management practices, and enhanced analysis capabilities to inform decision-making and provide responsible storage of constituent data
- Establish a Service-Oriented Operating Model: Improve delivery of IT services to better and more quickly meet the needs of campus constituents
- Implement IT Change-Enablement Strategy: Create a campus-wide IT communication strategy focusing on ongoing constituent feedback and collaboration in all IT-focused projects
- Address Technical Debt: Replace or upgrade applications and hardware to streamline systems and avoid operational risk.
Additional details on the new operating model will be shared during January's Administrator's Forum.