IT governance roundup - University Information Technology

Faculty Information Technology Advisory Committee

April 4 • Cynthia Furse described the work of the Infrastructure Portfolio and answered questions from FITAC members. Thomas Cheatham did the same for the Research Portfolio. See the full summary here.

Infrastructure Portfolio

April 9 • Rick Anderson, an Associate Dean in the Marriott Library, joined the portfolio. The group was informed about strategic vendor management efforts by UIT’s Jasmin Davis, as well as given an update on the Box agreement. Mike Ekstrom talked about upgrades to the network backbone. Subcommittee members for the One Network task force were approved. Dan Bowden updated the group about the HIPAA mock audit and PCI compliance report. See the full summary here.

Research Portfolio

April 14 • Kobus Van der Merwe briefed the group about a lecture the University of Washington’s Ed Lazowska gave regarding Big Data. UW’s approach to high-performance computing has been to invest in people and software rather than hardware. The group discussed that approach, as well as ways to build cross-departmental research opportunities on campus. There was also discussion about the Center for High Performance Computing’s budget and year-end equipment acquisition priorities. The portfolio also talked about better focusing the services CHPC staff offer to maximize their talents. See the full summary here.

University Support Services Portfolio

April 16 • The group was updated about the state of resource usage in University Support Services. Based on the projects already approved, there is enough work assigned that new projects would not be able to be worked on for quite some time. The group discussed what might be done to remedy that issue, and approved asking the OITC for guidance. See the full summary here.

Operational Information Technology Committee

April 17 • Eric Denna shared information about risks and threats to the University’s IT infrastructure. Members were informed about several proposed new rules that would mitigate the most severe threats. They discussed the rules, offered suggestions, and felt comfortable moving the proposal along once their concerns were addressed. See the full summary here.

Teaching and Learning Portfolio

April 22 • The portfolio assessed projects requesting funding via student computing fees. No final decisions were reached. Full summary will be posted here.