Technology

Previous Strategic Plan for Technology

Approved by the Technology Governance Committee, June 25, 2003

Vision

Technology at Simmons is integrated throughout the College community. Faculty employ technology creatively to expand learning. Students embrace technological tools and concepts that support and deepen discovery. Staff and administrators utilize and enable reliable access to critical information. Alumni and friends communicate effectively with the institution and each other. Technology at Simmons enriches and enables our active participation in the classroom, the workplace and the world.

Goals and Initiatives

A. Provide convenient, reliable and secure access to academic and administrative information and resources from both on and off-campus for all users.

  • A.1 Develop and implement an IT architecture that will guide infrastructure decisions and the selection, purchase and implementation of all new technology, including system testing, user training, and process redesign.
  • A.2 Develop and implement technology standards to ensure all facilities meet the needs of users.
  • A.3 Provide real-time, web-based, self-service access to academic and administrative information, resources and services.

B. Anticipate and deliver multi-tiered user support services for students, faculty and staff.

  • B.1 Develop and implement methods to determine and regularly reassess technology staffing and support levels to ensure they meet user needs to enable teaching, learning and daily operations.
  • B.2 Determine IT support necessary to install and maintain departmentally purchased software and the need for technology.
  • B.3 Identify needs and methods for providing IT support for remote locations (e.g. SOM, Mt. Holyoke, SPED).
  • B.4 Continually improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the Help Desk by providing multi-tiered service-oriented technical support.
  • B.5 Provide training on software and applications to better assist and support all users in the integration of technology into academic and administrative functions at the college.
  • B.6 Improve coordination of distributed (department/unit) and centralized technology support across the college.
  • B.7 Develop and implement methods for supporting student-provided technology.
  • B.8 Develop a technology communication plan to keep users informed of technology policies and procedures, to create a dialog with stakeholders, and to receive feedback necessary to facilitate improvement.

C. Promote the integration of technology throughout the curricula in innovative and effective ways to enhance teaching and learning.

  • C.1 Assess best practices in faculty technology development, academic technology support for faculty, and integration of technology into the curriculum.
  • C.2 Monitor and promote the assessment, development, implementation, and evaluation of the school and program specific technology curricular plans.
  • C.3 Implement a comprehensive faculty development program focused on enriching teaching through the integration of technology.
  • C.4 Provide the support structure necessary for faculty to be informed on and able to integrate technology into their curriculum.
  • C.5 Develop and implement methods for assessing the effectiveness of technology enhanced or technology delivered learning.

D. Provide the technology and technology support needed to enable faculty research and scholarship across all disciplines.

  • D.1 Identify faculty research needs as they relate to technology and technology support and analyze for areas where resources may be allocated to benefit man.

E. Ensure that students are prepared to use the technology required for a lifetime of success and the demands of their professions.

  • E.1 Implement a comprehensive development program to ensure students develop core technology competencies.
  • E.2 Encourage and support schools and programs in their efforts to implement of school and/or program-specific technology competencies.

F. Continually enhance the use of technology to support the College’s daily business operations.

  • F.1 Implement a comprehensive development program to ensure staff develop core and current technology competencies.
  • F.2 Provide ongoing training and support for all administrative applications.
  • F.3 Identify major functional areas of the college in which to conduct process analysis and redesign efforts to enable the College to gain maximum advantage of the technology.
  • F.4 Establish and implement coordinated approach for selecting and supporting non-Datatel administrative systems (e.g., auxiliary services, facilities, etc).
  • F.5 Establish and enforce data integrity policies and procedures including policies regarding the capture, retrieval, and reporting of data.
  • F.6 Develop and implement administrative Executive Information System capabilities (e.g., institutional research) to develop a centralized data repository for easy access and retrieval.
  • F.7 Adopt a college-wide standard for groupware including standard email and calendar management.

G. Use technology to enhance and promote internal and external communication.

  • G.1 Develop and maintain a college Intranet to facilitate access to essential college content and minimize "information run-around" for faculty, staff and students.
  • G.2 Facilitate the use of technology to enable online communities among all constituencies.

H. Target and develop areas where the use of technology can be a competitive differentiator for Simmons.

  • H.1 Identify and actively leverage areas within the college where the use of technology is innovative and effective and can be a differentiator.
  • H.2 Encourage and recognize exploration with new applications of technology, such as Instant Messaging, wireless, PDAs, and electronic portfolios.
  • H.3 Develop a systematic method to continually analyze the technology and higher education markets for technological developments that may be of value to the Simmons community.