Millersville University - Faculty Senate - Technology Vision Statement Draft

Technology Vision Task Force

Questions

1. What are your reactions to the Technology Vision statement?

2. Describe the organizational structure that you think would best meet the technology needs of the University.

3. What technologies or technological trends are likely to affect your teaching/learning and scholarly activities?

4. Describe your ideal teaching/learning environment of the future.

5. What would motivate or assist you to adjust your present teaching to reflect this ideal environment?

6. What do you perceive to be the obstacles that might prevent you from achieving your ideal teaching/learning environment?

TECHNOLOGY VISION STATEMENT

To meet its mission in a rapidly changing global community, Millersville University will respond to the educational challenges of the 21st century by the efficient and effective use of information technology. Such technology must be viewed as a fundamental and integral part of the University.

The University envisions a teaching-learning community supported by an interactive, seamless electronic environment extending beyond the walls of a traditional campus--reaching every constituent in any place at any time. This evironment fosters creating, sharing, accessing retrieving, exchanging, manipulating, analyzing and evaluating information in a practical cost-effective, manner using both a strong local infrastructure and global network. The infrastructure must provide broad and equal access to information, remote resources, and ideas to enhance learning, scholarship and administrative productivity.

Information technology enriches opportunities to expand human potential by stimulating and broadening personal, intellectual, social, and cultural growth. As an integral part of the instructional process, information technology will provide teachers and learners with additional and multiple opportunities to stimulate and expand learning. Furthermore, it plays a pivotal role in the enhancement of the leadership and decision-making capabilities of the University to respond to academic, social and economic challenges. Proper deployment and support of information technology contribute to more efficient and effective administrative operations, while keeping the faculty, staff and students well informed.

TECHNOLOGY VISION STATEMENT

DEFINITIONS

Global Community

An environment in which individuals, groups and organizations are directly affected by and can affect events and ideas around the world as well as locally.

Local Infrastructure

student-centered systems--e.g. WEB based registration

information access systems--e.g. data warehousing

faculty and staff empowerment systems--e.g. scholar work station

remote learning and distance learning systems--e.g. video access systems

institutional/corporate partnership systems--e.g. ATM partnership

Information Technology

A set of interrelated components that sense, communicate, analyze and display information for the purpose of enhancing perception, understanding, human capabilities and creative ability. These components include computing, digital networking, telecommunications, CATV, and other forms of video, audio and data broadcasting.

Technology

Human innovation in action. It involves the generation of knowledge, processes, devices and systems to solve problems and/or extend human capabilities.

Seamless

Requiring users to have minimal knowledge of the underlying technology that supports their needed functionality.

Equal Access

All constitutents have an equal ability to access information that is appropriate to them. In addition, all available information is accessible with the same level of functionality.

Educational Challenges of the 21st Century

new pedagogies

distance and remote learning

lifelong learning

growing diversity in our student population

changing political and economic forces

living in a dynamic environment

TECHNOLOGY VISION STATEMET

ASSUMPTIONS

1.			Decisions about funding of information technology (IT) must ultimately be driven by the needs of teaching and learning. IT is an integral part of teaching and learning, activities which take place both in and outside of the classroom.

2.			A restructure IT organization will be created under a single chief technology officer (CTO), who reports directly to the president and serves on the President's Advisory Council. The new organizational structure will integrate current information technology support units and will reorganize and streamline policy and user committees.

3.			Full funding of annual IT goals is a priority of the University budget; securing the resources necessary to make this happen is the top priority of University Advancement fundraising efforts.

4.			Teaching via distance education (credit and non credit offerings) will become a regular part of University programs. Distance education not only permits students from a distance, as well as alumni, to access learning opportunities available on campus, it also provides MU students on campus and other members of the University community with access to resources from a distance that can enhance and extend their opportunities for learning.

5.			A Professional Development Center will be established on campus, funded and staffed appropriately, to assist faculty, staff and administrators in meeting their contemporary professional needs.

6.			A sustained and on-going commitment to training for IT technical support personnel will be provided in order to enable staff to understand, implement and support the new technologies, systems, and applications.

7.			There will be recognition of the need for continuous resources and planning support for the institution's IT function. This recognition is essential given that current and evolving technologies will continue to require expansion and redefinition of the local infrastructure and external band width requirement of the network.

8.			Because every aspect of life incorporates IT, our graduates must have a wide range of competencies in this area; simply exposing them to information technology is not enough. Students will arrive on campus with high expectations for the university to provide them with the experiences necessary to gain these competencies and employers will expect that graduates possess information skills which can be applied in their everyday job activities.

9.			Millersville University will increase and strengthen collaboration with partners from the region (business, education, government agencies, health care, libraries, social service agencies) for infrastructure development, technical support, program planning, and funding. Consultation and collaboration will enable the University to address community needs for education and training across the life span, while providing opportunities to share resources and expertise with its partners in the process.

10 February, 1997

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