News from the Vice Provost / Chief Information Officer
M. Rehan Khan
As the technology landscape constantly changes and our academic institution must adapt to every new challenge presented to us during 2020, Information Technology Services remains constant in providing vision and leadership for the effective use of current and emerging technologies. Some of our major strategic projects and current directives, as listed below, will transform how the University of Louisville acquires and employs technology resources in support of our academic, research, patient care and public service missions. I hope the information on this page will assist in the transparency of information about how we are working to integrate information technology in scholarly, research and administrative environments.
We’ve launched the University of Louisville’s Information Technology Governance framework. IT governance ensures that the university’s technology assets are aligned to UofL’s mission and strategic plan. Our ITS governance committees are tasked with undertaking strategic work and decisions in support of teaching & learning, research & discovery, community engagement and business services goals.
The primary committee for decision making is the Information Technology Executive Committee (ITEC). Supporting Committees are as follows:
- Academic Technology Committee (ATC)
- Research Computing Advisory Committee (RCAC)
- Enterprise Systems & Infrastructure (ESIC)
- Data Administration, Policy and Security Committee (DAPS)
Each committee will support the strategic work and decisions of the Vice Provost/CIO. To maximize effectiveness, the governance process will delegate appropriate project control and decision rights across committees. The intent is to be able to focus the technology governance process on those projects that are significant from a campus-wide perspective.
Meetings for each supporting committee began this fall with a concentration on organization of priorities and goals for moving forward on numerous critical technology needs and upcoming ITS projects. We appreciate the participation of each committee member and their input toward governing the technology resources at UofL.
Status
complete
Owner(s)
M. Rehan Khan
Dr. Cort Esch
completion
spring 2021
Description
Information Technology Services has been working hard this fall to improve the technology in UofL classrooms with the highest utilization on both the Belknap and HSC campuses. An assessment of teaching spaces and installation prioritization was determined by a working group commissioned by the Provost’s Office for the first round of upgrades and ITS pushed for an evaluation for the classrooms with the highest need of updating for the second round of improvements. Over 500K in one-time money is being invested in making sure our university classrooms are ready for in-person, remote and distanced learning instruction.
Status
on-going
34 rooms completed for Spring 2021 semester start
Equipment will include computer, monitor, cameras (live capture), microphones, monitoring software, Deepfreeze software to lockdown PC’s, and VOIP. Networking (ethernet) has already been upgraded or installed within these rooms.
- Strickler Hall 101 SK101
- Belknap Academic Building 128 BAB128
- Belknap Academic Building 129 BAB129
- Life Sciences Building 101 LF101
- Strickler Hall 102 SK102
- Humanities Building, Bingham 202 HM202
- Ernst Hall 103 EH103
- James B. Speed Building 100 JS100
- James B. Speed Building 203 JS203
- Duthie Center for Engineering 117 DC117
- William S. Speed Building 108 WS108
- Sackett Hall 213 SH213
- Natural Sciences Building 128 NS128
- Natural Sciences Building 212E NS212E
- Natural Sciences Building 212C NS212C
- Belknap Academic Building 409 BAB409
- Belknap Academic Building 412 BAB412
- Belknap Academic Building 414 BAB414
- Lutz 232 LU232
- Humanities Building, Bingham 106 HM106
- Humanities Building, Bingham 205 HM205
- Life Sciences Building 130 LF130
- Student Activities Center E102 SAC E102
- Student Activities Center E103 SAC E103
- Davidson Hall 108 DA108
- Davidson Hall 109 DA109
- Davidson Hall 110 DA110
- Davidson Hall 111 DA111
- College of Education 117A ED117
- College of Education 232 ED232
- College of Education U272 ED272
- Patterson Hall 106 PA106
- School of Nursing KWING2037 HK2037
- School of Nursing KWING4003 HK4003
32 rooms will be ready during Spring 2021
Equipment will include desktop computer, monitor, software and VOIP. Networking (Ethernet) will also be upgraded or installed within these rooms.
- Davidson Hall DA101
- Davidson Hall DA103
- Davidson Hall DA104
- Davidson Hall DA107
- Davidson Hall DA204
- Davidson Hall DA205
- Davidson Hall DA206
- Davidson Hall DA207
- Davidson Hall DA208A
- Davidson Hall DA208B
- Davidson Hall DA209A
- Davidson Hall DA209B
- Davidson Hall DA301
- Davidson Hall DA303
- Dougherty Hall DO006
- Gottschalk Hall GH202
- Gottschalk Hall GH203
- Bingham Humanities HM108
- Bingham Humanities HM109
- Bingham Humanities HM111
- Bingham Humanities HM112
- Bingham Humanities HM113
- Bingham Humanities HM117
- Bingham Humanities HM119
- Bingham Humanities HM121
- Bingham Humanities HM122
- Bingham Humanities HM210
- Bingham Humanities HM219
- Bingham Humanities HM221
- Life Sciences LF102
- Natural Sciences NS108
- Natural Sciences NS110
Owner(s)
M. Rehan Khan
Brad Andersen
ERP Systems
Replacements for the main UofL Enterprise Resource Management (ERP) systems that support Human Resources, Financials and Student Records are our biggest strategic projects. With limited support now available on our PeopleSoft HCM system, vendor support for these all systems will expire by 2031. ITS has determined that it will take 2-3 years to replace each system with significant impact to the University, especially in the various associated units due to the systemic change in processes involved with each area of focus. We are taking a phased approach to the strategic projects and began, over a year ago, working with our departmental stakeholders to identify a viable solution to first replace our Peoplesoft HCM system.
completion
HCM January 2021 to June 2022 Financials January 2023 to June 2024 Student January 2025 to June 2026
Status
starting phase
ERP – Human Capital Management (HCM)
We are taking a phased approach to the strategic projects and began, over a year ago, to identify a viable solution to first replace our Peoplesoft HCM system. By engaging over 75 of our business stakeholders across 20 departments, we completed multiple discovery and demo sessions with the top two contenders for HCM systems: Workday and Oracle. With everyone’s participation and feedback, we also conducted interviews of 9 peer higher ed institutions on their systems and engaged Gartner Research on the best vendor options, products, competitive pricing and industry directions. With a draft budget and funding in place, ITS made a recommendation to Provost and CFO to select Workday as our new HCM system.
ITS began investigating a comprehensive solution to address the vastly increased need for secure, electronic signatures in April of 2020. An electronic signature and approval workflow system addresses priority digital collaboration requirements brought about by remote work or limited access to those individuals with signatory approval privileges. Acquiring an unlimited enterprise license for all university use will provide lasting efficiency and transactional gains for our business and academic partners.
Status
on-going
Milestones
June 2020 - ITS internal planning meeting
July 2020 - First meeting of the implementation committee
October 2020 - Kick-off for key stakeholders and business units
November 2020 - DocuSign 101 training
December 2020 - DocuSign Powerform training
January 2021 - Sandbox access available to UofL community for trial and testing
February 2021 - Finalization of policies and procedures by UofL counsel (no changes to signature policies already established)
Spring 2021 - Production open access provided to UofL community
Beginning Spring 2021, Business Operations will manage DocuSign training resources and department DocuSign experts will provide functional support. ITS will continue to provide account administration. If you are interested in DocuSign and being invited to be a part of the initial implementation, contact Business Operations.
Web Improvement Project
Based on a directive from the Office of the President to revamp our entire digital
presence, ITS is partnering with the Office of Communication and Marketing to improve
our websites and the processes behind creating and maintaining them. This multi-year
initiative, completed in stages, will lay the foundation for UofL’s success in the
coming years and allow UofL to meet many of the goals outlined in our strategic plan.
The search for a new enterprise-wide Content Management System (CMS) will involve
looking for a technical environment optimized for security, performance and scalability.
Through executive and steering committees, we’ve outlined the specific requirements
involved with distributing information in a shared CMS environment that will promote
accessibility to all users, meet all financial, legal and privacy standards and include
the tools needed for the creation, storage and maintenance of digital marketing content.
We also recognize the importance of finding a CMS that will successfully integrate into
our existing and future digital solutions.
More information on this project is available on the project overview webpages as part
of the Web at UofL.
Electronic Research Administration (eRA) System
This initiative is led by the Office of the Executive Vice President for Research and
Innovation. ITS will play a key role in the evaluation, selection and deployment of the
new system.
As UofL has identified the management of sponsored research as mission critical to its
operation and looks to assist faculty and staff on sponsored projects and other research
activities, the University will enhance its institution wide information system. The
goal to improve the efficiency, effectiveness and overall performance of the
University’s pre- and post-award research administration processes is key.
We are seeking a software solution that will fulfill the electronic research
administration requirements for principal investigators, their unit business
administrators, related regulatory, school, and departmental staff, and central
management. Areas of concentration include: Grants and Cooperative Agreements,
Contracts, Human Research, Conflict of Interest, Animal Research, and Institutional
Biosafety.
Customer Relationship Management (CRM) System
The Office of Advancement at the University of Louisville (the Office of Alumni
Relations, Advancement Services, and Development) is directing the search for a new CRM
system, with ITS playing a supporting role.
With an archive of approximately 1.3M donors and, on average, 450 new donors monthly, a
new CRM is needed to build and enhance constituent relationships with prospects and
donors and to meet the fundraising priorities of the university. Advancement’s goal is
to have a system that will provide the tools to better engage, inform, and educate our
constituents for the purpose of gaining financial support for the university. We’re
looking to provide user-friendly, state-of-the art technology that brings a systematic
approach to the best fundraising practices.