Six Priorities

1. Change how we work (overarching)

Changing how we work is an overarching theme in Boldly IT, and a cornerstone is an IT governance function for shared decision-making, direction-setting, prioritization and investment. Bringing executive stakeholders, faculty, researchers and service providers to the table, we are proposing a portfolio approach based on IT subdomains (teaching and learning, research support, data, etc.,) that will focus on creating unified strategies for those domains. 

Second, it is time that the IT community at Illinois evolves to be truly collaborative with a shared vision, strategies and goals. Today, that community has a positive, cooperative relationship, and partners well on specific and ad-hoc opportunities or in response to adverse circumstances. Our strategic plan posits more integrated ways of working to successfully implement our shared campus-wide priorities with more formal and focused relationships. 

Empowering our IT professionals is the third strategy for this priority. Making Illinois a “preferred place to work” in Higher Education IT means a commitment to exceptional talent management, an inclusive culture and opportunities for advancement and growth. The OCIO will partner closely with Illinois HR to make this strategy successful. 

2. Advance our use of data and AI

In partnership with university data stakeholders, and leveraging work from Data Operational Excellence and the recent System Data Strategy Task Force, we will develop a Boldly IT Data Infrastructure Initiative that democratizes access to institutional data. We will modernize our data infrastructure by automating manual processes, upgrading our access framework, improving our capabilities in analytics, and remove administrative barriers to access. Security, privacy, and other compliance considerations will be integral to our plan. 

The Boldly IT Data Infrastructure Initiative will support the Boldly Illinois Data Strategy in partnership with the Institutional Data Governance Board. 

3. Enable simplification in administrative processes

Across the board, our stakeholders told us forcibly that overly complex administrative processes are an impediment to efficiency and detract from their ability to focus on core mission activities. Automation and streamlining processes can help us reduce inefficiencies as part of a process improvement framework. This priority is a natural next step for our IT Operational Excellence work and overlaps considerably with our prioritizing the adoption of generative AI tools on campus. 

4. Build cohesive teaching and learning support together 

We are proposing a more deliberate and integrated approach among the providers of academic technology services on campus (CITL, Technology Services, colleges) to create a cohesive vision for this space with more capacity for innovation and more equitable access to academic technologies. Campuswide support for online learning is a priority for our academic stakeholders and we propose providing online learning infrastructure comprising platforms, technologies and support for hybrid and fully online classes. Improving the student experience is a key consideration under this priority. 

5. Build cohesive research support together 

As with our support for teaching and learning, we need to take a much more cohesive and intentional approach to supporting research through the use of technology. The Boldy Illinois Research Computing Visioning Committee will inform our directions here but establishing a research support ecosystem, as well as simplifying the researcher experience, have already emerged as strategies under this priority. 

6. Strengthen foundational IT capabilities

Our final priority bundles the foundational IT capabilities that we need to develop and refine to support our new campuswide vision and priorities. These capabilities comprise four disciplines or best practices and five IT subdomains. Strategic initiatives recently launched in these areas will be integrated into Boldly IT.