Strategic Initiatives

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Division of IT Projects

The Division of IT’s project portfolio and operations deliver enterprise-level services for the CSU System and campus-focused technology services for Fort Collins, Pueblo, Spur, and the System Office locations.

View projects in progress

CSU System IT Strategic Plan

The Division of IT in partnership with stakeholders on the CSU in Fort Collins campus launched a campus-wide IT Strategic Plan in the Fall of 2022.  As the Division of IT has aligned its resources across campuses, the goals for IT Governance, IT Security and Student Experience have all been elevated to the System Level.

IT Governance

Starting in the spring of 2024, IT Governance will enter its final phase, operationalizing processes and communicating best practices and policies.

Sponsors

Peggy McCready, Assistant Vice President for Strategy and Planning

Laura Jensen, Vice Provost for Planning and Effectiveness

IT Governance Roadmap

Starting in the spring of 2024, IT Governance will enter its final phase, operationalizing processes and communicating best practices and policies.
IT Governance Roadmap

Milestones

  • Established Core Planning Team
    • This team is comprised of 15 individuals from CSU in Fort Collins, Pueblo, and Spur. They will lead efforts to design the new IT governance structure.
  • Coordinated Campus Info Session
  • Identified External Consultancy
    • Brightspot Consulting was selected to assist the Core Planning Team in conducting a current state assessment and facilitating stakeholder feedback.
      See the Brightspot project schedule for details of planned work.
  • Conducted Peer Benchmarking
    • Brightspot Consulting coordinated the study of three peer institutions to better understand existing IT governance models and discover important lessons learned when implementing a new model.
  • Held Stakeholder Engagement Sessions
    • Stakeholder sessions were held for Fort Collins and Pueblo students, faculty, and staff. An overview of existing IT governance groups at CSU was provided, including how decisions about priorities for IT investment are made, and results were shared from the peer benchmarking study (view the session slides). Participants also had the opportunity to share their feedback and ask questions.
  • Formed Core Planning Team
    • The IT Governance Core Planning Team was formed in May 2023 and includes over a dozen professionals representing different colleges, departments, and campuses.
  • Facilitated IT Governance Assessment
    • Reviewed existing IT groups and decision-making processes.
  • Appoint Co-Chairs and committee members
    • Solicite nominations form functional co-chairs and committee members for Demand Management and IT Strategy Committee groups
  • IT Governance briefing to Cabinet
    • Update on IT Governance structure, objectives, and process
  • Operationalize IT Governance
    • Launch plan to move into operations of IT Governance, including communications on policies and training on processes
Find more information about the IT Governance committees and activities.

IT Cybersecurity

The decentralized nature of information technology at CSU, which offers many benefits to our students, faculty, and staff, makes it inherently challenging to provide a secure computing environment. This strategic initiative brings a system-wide approach to enhancing cybersecurity practices by creating a standardized approach to managing user devices, delivering more robust training programs, and developing policies and communications that are designed to raise awareness about best practices and strengthen our ability to protect all members of the CSU community. 

Sponsors

Steven Lovaas, Chief Infromation Security Officer 

Ben Withers, Dean of the College of Liberal Arts 

IT Security Roadmap

IT Security Roadmap

Milestones

  • Design and implement a campus-wide risk assessment for user device management that will include an evaluation of existing practices and technologies.  
  • Collaborate with campus IT partners to develop a campus-wide strategy and standardized approach to providing endpoint device management.  
  • Develop and implement a communication and training plan for IT professionals at CSU that ensures broad-based adoption of the newly developed standards for end-point device management.  
  • Deliver cybersecurity training programs for CSU faculty, staff, and students.  
  • Establish a Cybersecurity professional development program for IT professionals that will provide opportunities to participate in cohort-based learning and job shadowing with various levels of certification. 
  • Develop a campus-wide summit on cybersecurity and privacy that allows CSU to bring together IT professionals, faculty, students, and campus stakeholders to discuss emerging trends and national topics.  
  • Review current IT security policies.  
  • Prioritize enhancement opportunities including community awareness, operational practices, and overall compliance.  
  • Evaluate IT security resources available to campus stakeholders.  
  • Hold usability testing and think-aloud protocols to determine enhancement opportunities. 
  • Design an IT security communications framework and campaign.  
  • Develop and leverage partnerships with campus communications professionals to drive an effective communication strategy.

Student Experience

Formally part of Student Success, Student Experience aims to provide CSU students with a standard set of inclusive and accessible learning and engagement tools, creating a seamless user experience for all.

Sponsors

Desiree Bautista, Director of Learning Development and Training

Jamie McCue, Strategic Planning and IT Governance

Roadmap

Phase one of Student Experience focuses on inclusive and engaging learning tools to enhance the student experience from the student’s perspective.  Phase two will focus on similar themes, but from a teaching and faculty engagement perspective.

Student Experience Roadmap

Milestones

  • Provide CSU with a baseline assessment of the student’s experiences with IT systems and touchpoints.​
  • Brightspot will develop and analyze a student experience survey which will be made available to students across all campuses.​
  • Brightspot will engage CSU students in focus groups to gain a qualitative understanding of the student IT experience. ​
  • Findings from the survey and engagements will be summarized and compiled into a final presentation which will include recommendations for next steps. ​
  • Adopt a standardized set of inclusive and accessible learning and engagement tools.

IT Service Management

This project aims to strengthen the quality of IT services and support through the adoption of ITSM best practices and development of a new and improved IT Service Catalog. This project will also implement a single ITSM platform that will allow the Division of IT to align service practices, increase user transparency, standardize workflows, and extend knowledge about ITSM best practices for CSU at the system level. 

Learn more about ITSM at CSU

CSU System IT Alignment Logo; CSU System, Fort Collins, Pueblo, and SPUR logos represented on a honeycomb

CSU System IT Alignment

The Colorado State University System has embarked on an ambitious IT Alignment initiative aimed at streamlining and standardizing IT operations across campuses with the goal of providing a seamless user experience for students, faculty, and staff throughout the university system.

Learn more about the IT System Alignment

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