Program Structure:

The Chair of each academic department appoints a faculty liaison to communicate with the department's UIT representative and to attend two plenary meetings of the Faculty IT Liaison Program during each academic year. UIT appoints knowledgeable staff members to meet and communicate with the faculty liaisons from participating academic departments.

The faculty liaison provides advice and assistance to the UIT representative in gathering a shared sense of department goals.  Together, they:

• Coordinate and facilitate one information-sharing meeting with each academic department per year or two,
• Survey the faculty in each department about their IT-related goals each year.

Additionally, the UIT representative documents department goals and program interactions in a central place to enable an aggregated view and analysis of IT goals across participating schools.

UIT representatives are equipped through cross-training and a shared knowledgebase to provide departments with a common and comprehensive understanding of University IT services and resources. UIT Representatives employ a common methodology for gathering information from departments in order to facilitate effective analysis of strategic technology goals.

The plenary sessions provide an important opportunity for program participants to reflect on common technology goals, as well as to discuss any desirable enhancements to the program. The program coordinator communicates regularly with all stakeholders, compiles data gathered through the program, and makes recommendations about program enhancements.

Program Deliverables:

This program is designed to provide a systematic conduit of communication between UIT and the faculty in an efficient and sustainable way.

Program deliverables are:

• One information-sharing meeting with each department per year or two,
• One survey of department IT adoption, use, and goals per year,
• Periodic sharing of information with faculty liaisons about relevant IT developments.
• Two plenary sessions for program participants per year,
• A secure website for collated program information and adoption, use and goals analysis.

Program History:

• 2005-2006: Initial design and planning for UIT's Faculty IT Liaison Program.
• 2006-2007: Don Weingust, Arts & Sciences and Engineering Information Technology Committee Chair presents the program to and receives approval from the Executive Committee.  The Executive Committee assigns David Kahle, Director of Academic Technology and Gina Siesing, Associate Director for Educational Technology to develop the program over the following year.
• 2007-2008: Sheryl Barnes, Senior Educational Technology Specialist and Coordinator of the Faculty Liaison Program, along with Academic Technology colleagues refined the design and develops the program.
• February, 2008: Don Weingust, David Kahle, and Gina Siesing present the program to Department Chairs meetings at Arts & Sciences and Engineering who approve it.
• April 24, 2008: Official program launch (pilot year) at Arts & Sciences and Engineering with faculty liaisons, UIT reps, ITS staff, and IT Committee members in attendance.
• December, 2008: Program expands to serve the Grafton campus.
• April, 2009: Celebration of successful completion of pilot year at Spring plenary, sharing of highlights from pilot year report.

Program Evaluation:

The program was evaluated in early 2009 and deemed to be filling a valuable role in a relatively ightweight and effective way, so it was decided that it would continue & expand where appropriate.