Shared College Technology Officer (CTO) MOU Program

Purpose

The Technology Leadership Shared Services (TLSS) provides colleges in the Virginia Community College System (VCCS) the opportunity to participate in a consortium type of model, whereby a team of skilled IT managerial personnel, with a Chief Information Officer (CIO) skillset, can provide technology leadership to multiple colleges. This team will address high-level strategic information technology needs for the institution as well as the day-to-day operational leadership. The proposal allows individual colleges to procure CIO expertise without incurring the high costs associated with hiring and retaining a qualified CIO.

Challenges

The challenge facing many colleges is finding individuals, within a college’s service region, who have the leadership skills and strategic experience to operate in today’s higher education Information Technology environment. Once an individual with these skills is identified, the larger question becomes whether a college needs this type of position on a full-time basis, and whether the college can afford to hire and retain such a resource. The reality is that technology leadership is needed at the college level now more than ever; however, the cost is often prohibitive even when the right resource is identified.
The centralized structure of the current VCCS Information Technology organization has allowed the colleges to operate with technology leadership focused on local operations and not having to run core services like the Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and Learning Management System (LMS), Enterprise Architecture (EA), Applications Development, or Wide Area Network (WAN) services. At best, several of the colleges are operating local IT services with so few resources that those teams are hard pressed to keep the lights on. This was highlighted as a major area of concern in the Accenture Benchmark Study completed in 2014. The changing nature of provisioning technology resources provides an opportunity for colleges to share in the cost, recruitment and retention of high level technology leadership by leveraging a shared services or consortia type model, developed among all interested parties.

Roles and Responsibilities

VCCS System Office agrees to:

VCCS Chief Information Officer:

• Ensure all objectives and deliverables outlined in this MOU are provided.
• Provide a quarterly report to the President outlining progress on each of the objectives/deliverables as outlined in the MOU. Reports will include percentage of the work completed and target dates for completion.
• Provide an annual report in May of each year summarizing the accomplishments for the Fiscal Year and a status update for each deliverable.

ITS Assistant Vice Chancellor for Technology Administration:

• Coordinate activities for the shared technology leadership in relation to college needs.

System Office HR/System Office Budget/System Office Finance:

• Conduct administrative system needs for IT including: HR, payroll, expense reporting, and other services as needed.

Chief Information Officer (CIO)/College Technology Officer (CTO):

• Participate in meetings as needed on campus. This could include in person meeting, virtual/video meetings, or conference calls.
• Act as liaison for technical assistance to system office ITS and vendors.

Community College will agree to:

College Personnel:

• Provide cooperation and assistance in identifying issues and helping resolve IT problems.
• Notify the Vice Chancellor, ITS of any problems related to the prompt delivery of services.

College Vice President:

• Provide permanent office space, along with computer and phone equipment needed to complete the job.

College President:

• Designate a single point of contact who is responsible for day-to-day activities required to direct and assist the CIO and CTO.
• Institute and maintain an open line of communication with System Office ITS personnel.

Anticipated Cost

The total cost for this program includes salaries, benefits, and miscellaneous expenses (travel, training, etc.). The cost to each college is based on the total estimated costs necessary to support the position(s) and assumes that the participation of a minimum of three colleges/agencies is necessary to fully support the position(s). The actual cost could vary depending on the salary offered, timeframe for filling position(s), and sustaining potential state mandated changes in compensation and benefits.

Below is a breakdown of what this service would cost depending on your college:

Timeframe

This MOU and cost is for a three-year agreement and will be subject to renewal in three-year increments thereafter. Renewals will coincide with fiscal years of the VCCS (July to June).

Specific Deliverables by Technology Leadership Shared Services (TLSS)

Staff resources are not allocated to the individual colleges based on meeting the objectives of the MOU. The primary focus is on delivering the necessary personnel effort to achieve the following objectives and to meet the related deliverables:
Objectives and Deliverables:

Understand the general drivers affecting higher education technology, and develop an understanding of the issues that are important to the board, the executive management team and the local community.

• Understanding the college environment and determining how technology can be leveraged to meet the needs of the institution.

Coordinate or actively participate in college efforts like strategic planning for technology and budgeting for, and implementation of, technology solutions to support administrative and academic operations.

• Development of strategic and tactical IT plans, coordination of implementation efforts and assessment of progress.

Identify and promote opportunities to leverage current and emerging technologies to support excellence in teaching and to improve services for students, faculty and staff.

• Evaluation of new approaches to using technology to assist with the learning process.

Manage the college’s information technology department at a high level, and provide input into the annual evaluations of technology staff.

• Manage technology operations at a high-level, providing direction and limited oversight

Work collaboratively with members of the college’s executive leadership team.

• Represent the college’s executive leadership team as assigned

Coordinate and actively participate in leading information technology initiatives that improve the effectiveness of all college services.

• Oversee technology initiatives that are mutually agreed upon between college and system office

Ensure college compliance with the Chancellor’s Expectations for Information Technology, along with all enterprise approved technology standards and guidelines.

• Coordinate efforts between staff, management, vendors, and other technology resources to meet Chancellor’s Expectations for IT

Coordinate and actively participate in establishing project management guidelines for college technology projects.

• Implement Project Management guidelines for technology initiatives

Actively participate in Tech Council activities and meetings, potentially as a college representative.

• Attendance at Tech Council meetings as assigned

Coordinate the submission of required reports for the system, including the inventory analysis, EDUCUASE Core Data Survey, and other reporting requirements as needed.

• Required Reporting complete:

- Annual college technology plan (June)
- Annual spend plan with final budget recommendation (April)
- IT Gap Analysis (November)
- EDUCAUSE Core Data Survey (October)

Develop staff communications regarding technology initiatives to be disseminated to the college community

• Bulletins, newsletters, technical papers, etc. (1 per month minimum)

Complete additional deliverables (Appendix A) determined through conversation with the Vice Chancellor, ITS and campus stakeholders. Appendix attached to this MOU. Deliverables should be reviewed at the beginning of each fiscal year.

• College specific deliverables completed.