college of health sciences office of technology services ... · 2015 periodic review office of...

College of Health Sciences

Office of Technology Services

Periodic Review

Process Initiated: 2015

Submitted by: Christian Ecker, Director of Technology

Email Address: [email protected]

Office Phone: 859-218-0470

Submitted to: Dr. Scott Lephart

Dean, College of Health Sciences

Report Submission Date: March 31, 2016

2015 Periodic Review Office of Technology Services

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Administrative Unit Self-Study Report Checklist*

The self-study document is the primary resource used by review committees to complete the second phase of the periodic program review process. This narrative report must describe, analyze and synthesize information about the unit. The report should include the components detailed below. Some documents may be tabled features within the text. Others may be featured as appendices. An electronic version of the report and supporting documentation is required for archival purposes. Please note that the structure of the narrative need not follow the structure of the checklist.

Administrative Unit Self-Study Report Page

Number(s) or NA

Cover Page

Unit Information: o Unit Name o Year Periodic Review Process Started

Submitted by: Name of appropriate designee(s) (include titles and contact information)

Submitted to: List the appropriate person(s) the report will be submitted to for approval (Dean/Provost)

Date Report is Submitted

1

Executive Summary Page

Number(s)

Brief account of self-study process 4

Committee composition names and affiliation 4

Overview of progress since last Self-Study (attention to last Implementation Plan/current Annual Progress Reporting)

4-6

List of major recommendations 7

Administrative Unit Overview Page

Number(s)

Consortial Relations: The SACS accreditation process mandates that we “ensure the quality of educational programs/courses offered through consortial relationships or contractual agreements and that the institution evaluates the consortial relationship and/or agreement against the purpose of the institution.” Please list any consortium or contractual relationships your department has with other institutions as well as the mechanism for evaluating the effectiveness of these relationships.

NA

Articulate primary Unit strategic initiatives for the past 3 years and the unit’s progress towards achieving the University and College/School initiatives (be sure to reference Unit Strategic Plan, Annual Progress Report, and most recent Implementation Plan)

8-9

Centrality Page

Number(s)

Mission Statement 9

Goals/Objectives 9-10

Criteria for measuring progress 10

Unit history and Organizational Structure 10-12

Annual Progress Reports since the last Self-Study (List years of any missing reports:__________________) 12

Programmatic & Learning Outcomes (If applicable) Page

Number(s)


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Degree Granting Programs

Student Learning Outcomes statements for each degree program offered NA

Mapping of learning outcomes to Program/Unit goals/objectives(Course objectives/Program outcomes Matrix demonstrating alignment of program/ goals and learning outcomes /)

NA

Administrative (non-educational) and Academic Support Units

Learning outcome statements for stakeholders (i.e., learning outcomes /professional development outcome statements for staff/faculty/constituents) that will improve the unit’s quality of services and/or operations)

NA

Student learning outcomes for affected constituents (e.g., program participants, clients, etc.). NA

Mapping of learning outcomes to Program/Unit goals/objectives(i.e., Course/workshop objectives/Program outcomes Matrix demonstrating alignment of program/ goals and learning outcomes) NA

Evidence of attainment of student learning outcomes for all program delivery, as applicable (e.g., traditional, online, distance education, etc.)

NA

Assessment Results reports and findings for improvement (include evidence) NA

Attention to University’s QEP project NA

Contributions to undergraduate general education or UK General Education Core NA

Resources Page

Number(s)

Budget summary information & adequacy 13

Facilities summary information & adequacy 13

Equipment summary information & adequacy 13-14

Personnel summary information & adequacy (including faculty & staff numbers & demographics) 15

Support from other university units essential to effective operations (e.g. research, engagement, development, alumni affairs, human resources, facilities management, financial units, and information technology)

16

Input from Affected Constituents Page

Number(s)

Evaluation data from staff 17

Evaluation data from faculty 17

Evaluation data from ‘other’ as appropriate (e.g., students, alumni, community members, etc.) 17-18

Adherence to Policies and Procedures Page

Number(s)

Evidence of adherence to procedures on personnel actions and budget request preparation (established jointly by the unit and the unit head)

18

Evaluation of Quality and Productivity Page

Number(s)

Quality of collegial environment (include climate for equity and diversity) 19

Quality & productivity in public service, operations, instruction, or research 19

Quality of unit employees, communications and interactions 19

Quality of customer/client satisfaction 19

Quality of business & operating procedures 19

Overall Summary and Recommendations Page

Number(s)

Overall Summary and Recommendations for the Administrative Unit 20


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Executive Summary

Self-Study Process

This self-study of the Office of Technology Services (OTS) was led by the Director of Technology (Christian Ecker) and the

Assistant Dean of Operations (Denise McCarthy) with significant input from the committee members listed below. The process

began August 27th, 2015 with the first organizational meeting of Administrative Unit Heads coordinated by the Office of

Assessment. The Director of Technology had been a part of the college a short time when the review process started, so he

relied heavily on the committee members and the following sources to construct this narrative: The University and College

Strategic Plans, OTS 2008-09 OTS SWOT Goals and Accomplishments (See Appendix 2_2008-09 IT SWOT, Goals and

Accomplishments), the 2012 Visioning report conducted by CHS leadership and UKIT (See Appendix 3_Health Sciences

Visioning Update), stakeholder survey results compiled by the CHS Office of Assessment (See Appendix 4_CHS Graduate

Student Exit Survey Results –IT and Appendix 5_2015 Admin Services Survey Results-IT), the 2013 OTS Strategic Plan (See

Appendix 6_CHS OTS 2013 Strategic Plan), and the CHS Stamats Executive Summary (See Appendix 7_UK CHS Stamats

Executive Summary 11.5.15). The committee members met as needed to provided analysis and context.

Committee Member Names and Affiliations

Christian Ecker, Director of Technology, College of Health Sciences

Denise McCarthy, Assistant Dean of Operations, College of Health Sciences

Barret May, Technical Support Specialist III, OTS, College of Health Sciences

Nicole Sand, Technical Project Manager, OTS, College of Health Sciences

Christina Reynolds, Core Workgroup, Administration and Logistics team, Staff Support for the OTS, and CSD student

Darin Poynter, former CHS Director of Technology and currently Data Architect in UKHC in the department of EVPHA

Information Technology

Matt Mowery, former Technical Support Specialist III, OTS College of Health Sciences

Overview of progress since last self-study

The major themes of progress since the 2009-10 self-study listed in this section were drawn from areas of concern/opportunities

identified in the 2009-10 Periodic Review SWOT exercise and 2012 Visioning exercise conducted by University of Kentucky

Information Technology (UKIT). Overall progress of the OTS over the review period was made through a concerted focus on:

Building the Right Team

Managing Complexity

Building for the Future

Building the Right Team

Key areas of concern identified were the need to: build an OTS team with the necessary skill sets to accomplish the College’s

priorities; connect and communicate to personnel within the College to better serve their needs; and enhance collaborations with

key technology units across the UK campus.

Recruit and/or train CHS OTS professionals with the skill sets needed to fulfill the College’s strategic priorities

o During the review period, College administration reevaluated the Director of OTS position in an effort to determine

how the position could better support the mission and strategic goals of the College going forward. The College

needed a Director who is not only a leader in cutting edge technology but who is continually evolving to adapt to

the changing environment at the University.


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o The Dean’s strategic vision for the college is to create a brand for the College of Health Sciences. The college

hired a consulting firm (Stamats) in 2015 to analyze the marketplace trends in health sciences and their report

emphasized the need to extend beyond recognition of individual programs. In effort to address this issue the

College is creating a unit in OTS that can fulfill both the technical and creative needs of administration, faculty and

staff. The current OTS Director has substantial experience building a similar unit in the College of Arts and

Science, and hiring him puts us in a position to move in this direction.

o One priority that has been highlighted in all surveys and reviews is the need to update the College’s website. In

2014 the College started by migrating the website to the Drupal platform and updated the structure and

appearance. In 2015, the College made this work a strategic priority and created a Web Services position with a

focus on completely rebuilding the website. In January 2016 (outside of this review period) a full-time web

services manager was hired and progress on the CHS website is already being made..

o A consistent theme of feedback about the OTS is that OTS staff do not have the skill sets to adequately support

research efforts in the College. These are specialized skill sets which will require strategic hires in the future as

OTS continues to address the research mission of the College.

Engage with faculty/staff within the College of Health Sciences to better serve their needs

o During the review period the OTS has conducted multiple technology workshops to enhance faculty and staff

skills. These workshops have included topics such as: Blackboard, Canvas, How to Better use Apple Products,

and How to Better Use Technology.

o The OTS has participated in the onboarding process for all new faculty. This includes assisting with the

technology needs necessary for presenting New Faculty Orientation onsite and to distant sites simultaneously and

conducting one-on-one training and device set-up with new faculty.

o The Director of OTS has regularly attended and presented at biweekly Division Directors meetings in an effort to

keep college administration updated on university software and technology changes.

Enhance collaboration with key technology units across the University of Kentucky campus

o Partnerships with UKIT: The Director of OTS has been involved on many levels with UKIT throughout the review

period. All Directors have been members of the Dean’s IT group which meets monthly. They have also been

asked to serve on the committee to select the new UK vendor for computer equipment and on the student learning

management committee. CHS OTS personnel have worked closely with UKIT to resolve the Wethington building

network infrastructure issues and to complete classroom equipment upgrades.

o Partnerships with other Colleges: The OTS has had strong relationships with other UK healthcare colleges.

Specifically, OTS has employed cross-coverage with the College of Nursing as needed. When the CHS Business

Office created an integrated business unit with the College of Nursing and the College of Public Health, the OTS

worked closely with counterparts in those colleges to make sure the collaboration was successful from a

technology standpoint.

o Partnerships with UK Healthcare IT (UKHCIT): Throughout the review period, the CHS OTS has regularly

partnered with UKHCIT. OTS leverages their resources whenever possible in an effort to increase efficiency.

Recently, OTS has utilized their servers as they are more robust, secure servers than those in the CHS. College

faculty and staff can utilize their secure email system to send information to colleagues outside the UKHCIT

firewall.

Managing Complexity

Key areas of concern identified were the need to: develop standardized organizational efficiency and monitoring processes;

address data management solutions/innovations; update network infrastructure in the Wethington Building; and provide

increased security.

Develop standardized organizational efficiency and monitoring processes

o The OTS implemented Spiceworks as a helpdesk ticketing system during the review period. This system helps to

better receive, route, complete, communicate and measure effectiveness of services offered by the OTS.


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o The OTS utilizes the universities Electronic Barcoded Asset Resource System (eBARS) for capital equipment

maintenance.

o When the website was migrated to the Drupal platform, the OTS updated the structure of the webpages enabling

changes to be made across the entire website instead of having to update each page individually.

Data management solutions/innovations

o The OTS has worked with units in the College to create solutions for data management. A few examples are:

o A custom database created for the Office of Finance and Administration to track the status of orders and

travel requests.

o A Sharepoint site created to assist the Dean’s Office with conference room scheduling.

o A Sharepoint system created to improve efficiency in the Undergraduate Research application process.

Update network infrastructure in the Wethington Building

o In recent years, CHS college faculty and staff have experienced issues with network speed in the Wethington

Building. After meeting with UKIT and UKHCIT and testing the building’s network, it was determined that the

network within the Wethington Building (1st, 2nd, and 4th floors) had not been updated since 2002 the building was

built. The Director of OTS worked with UKAT to identify a solution and funding for the upgrade. While this is

project has not been completed, the OTS anticipates the upgrade will be completed in 2016.

o While investigating the network issues, it was learned that the communication switches on CHS floors had not

been updated since the Wethington Building was constructed. This is a particularly important issue because the

new University phones do not work on the outdated switches. The Director of OTS worked with UKIT to find a

solution and obtain funding; it is anticipated that the upgrades will occur in 2016.

Increase security

o The OTS has migrated all College files from individual file servers to the MC file servers. This change is significant

because the servers are located behind the UKHCIT firewall, thus increasing security, and because files on the

MC file servers are consistently backed-up.

Building for the Future

Key areas of concern identified were the need: for OTS leadership to develop overall vision/strategies for technological

advancement in light of the College’s priorities; to redesign the College’s website; and to keep pace with technological advances.

Develop overall vision/strategies for technological advancement in light of the College’s priorities.

o The OTS developed and implemented its first strategic plan in late 2014. The Director resigned for a new position

less than a year after the strategic plan was developed, and the new Director is working with the OTS team to

create a new strategic plan. The OTS will work with the Office of Assessment to create metrics and measure

progress going forward. The new strategic plan will include finding solutions to help meet the needs of CHS

researchers and developing a proactive rather than reactive culture within OTS.

Redesign the College’s website

o Based on feedback from multiple sources (faculty and staff surveys, the Visioning exercise, student feedback) the

College has initiated website updates. In 2014 and 2015 the website was migrated to a Drupal platform, and the

OTS focused on updating the framework. Going forward there is still much to do. The design, the content and the

structure will continue to be updated with a go-live of a new website scheduled for fall of 2016.

Keep pace with technological advances

o During the review period, the OTS has researched the technological advances in the University setting. The new

technology brings additional concerns regarding security of data and best practices for ensuring the safety of

research and/or patient data.

o The OTS has focused on identifying solutions for Mac users in a windows dominated setting. During most of the

review period, the University did not support Mac devices, so the OTS assisted the growing number of Mac users

in the College in finding solutions to their daily technology needs.


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Major Recommendations and Areas of Concern

The committee used feedback from the following sources to identify areas of concern and form recommendations: the University

and College Strategic Plans, OTS 2008-09 OTS SWOT and Goals, 2013 Strategic Plans, the 2012 Visioning report conducted by

CHS leadership and UKIT, and stakeholder survey results compiled by the CHS Office of Assessment.

Develop a Communication Plan: The OTS needs to improve communication with stakeholders. This includes

strategic communication as well as sharing policy and procedures and new opportunities.

Recommendation: Develop an annual communication plan. This may include utilizing the website to share more

policies and procedures, holding regular training opportunities for faculty and staff, and advertising areas of expertise

of the individuals within the office.

Keep Pace with Technological Advances: The technology environment on university campuses changes quickly

and some of the feedback received indicated that faculty and staff do not feel that the OTS is helping them keep up

with the changes.

Recommendation: The OTS needs to be proactive regarding keeping pace with technological advances within the

industry and should identify strategies for sharing this new information in the OTS annual communication plan.

Criteria for Measuring Success: To ensure that the OTS operates efficiently, the unit needs to identify the criteria for

measuring success.

Recommendation: The Director of OTS will work with the committee to develop a strategic plan for the Office. The

strategic plan will include specific goals and metrics.

Create a Core Workgroup: To fulfill the directive from the Dean to build the reputation of the college on University,

local, state and national levels, the OTS will need to realign its current creative and technical resources.

Recommendation: It is recommended that the OTS work with the Office of Public Relations and Marketing to build a

team that creates messaging and delivery systems to reflect, support and empower the College’s aspirations.

Increase Support of Research Technology: The current resources within the OTS are inadequate for the needs of

the CHS research faculty. This is verified by the number of help-desk requests submitted by researchers and the

relatively longer average time to close for research related help requests.

Recommendation: The OTS recommends reaching out benchmark institutions and peer colleges at the University to

investigate the most efficient way to meet the technology needs of our researchers.


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Administrative Unit Overview

Primary Unit Strategic Initiatives for the past 3 years and the unit’s progress towards

achieving the University and College/School initiatives

In 2008-2009, the College of Health Sciences initiated a process to create college- and department-level strategic plans. Each

academic and administrative unit within the college conducted a SWOT analysis to help identify strategic initiatives to include in

the strategic plans. The college-level plan was built around the five main goals included in the 2009-2014 University of Kentucky

strategic plan and included many of the strategic initiatives outlined in the University plan (See Appendix 1_CHS Strategic Plan

2009-2014 and Metric Progress Report with Improvement Action Plans). The departmental strategic plans followed a similar

approach, including initiatives outlined in the college-level plan. The college and departmental strategic plans were vetted to

college faculty and staff for input and were approved in the fall of 2009. The college strategic plan included twenty-seven metrics

while the departmental strategic plans included sixteen metrics each.

Data to support progress towards the strategic planning metrics are collected on an annual basis. Each fall, the College of Health

Sciences holds a two-day workshop to “kick-off” the new academic year open to all faculty and staff. As part of this event, the

strategic planning data are reviewed and discussed – this serves as the college annual progress report. Suggestions for how to

achieve the metrics and new initiatives or opportunities to increase progress are also discussed – this information is compiled to

create the college implementation plan for the next year. Once a final version of the annual progress report and implementation

plan have been approved at a college-wide meeting (usually in late September/early October), the information is submitted to the

UK Office of Institutional Effectiveness.

The Administrative Units within the College of Health Sciences provide services to the entire college at large. Their efforts

towards meeting their unit goals are included in the college-level strategic plan. Administrative units provide updates regarding

their strategic initiatives to the Dean on a regular basis, through routine meetings and/or ad hoc requests; because of this

constant feedback loop of information, administrative units do not complete annual progress reports.

The Office of Technology Services supports many of the College’s strategic planning objectives through its management of the

CHS website and in its central role in creating the infrastructure that supports College efforts. Some examples are listed below:

Objective 1.2: Increase the number and quality of graduates at the undergraduate level and the quality of

students at the graduate and professional level to enhance the reputation of the College and address the

critical need for health professionals, academic leaders, and researchers in the Commonwealth and United

States.

The CHS website, maintained by the OTS, is an important factor in recruiting undergraduate, graduate, and

professional students. The OTS is aware that the current website does not demonstrate the excellence of the CHS.

Although improvements have been made as part of the first stage of website changes, additional modifications and

improvements are needed.

Objective 2.3: Enhance the impact of the College’s research and scholarship through public awareness and

engagement at the local, national and global levels.

The OTS is integral to creating and maintaining an updated website and ensuring an increased presence on social

media, and both are vital to this objective. The OTS also plays a vital role in enabling faculty and staff opportunities to

engage on the local, national and global level. For example, the OTS created a mobile cart utilized by the

undergraduate Medical Laboratory Science program in their teaching laboratory that facilitates distance learning


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instruction in a laboratory setting. A second example is the role played by the OTS for facilitate a consortium for the

Physical Therapy program that was delivered in person and online.

Objective 4.3: The College will develop outreach and engagement programs for practitioners, alumni,

preceptors and Kentucky citizens to promote diversity and inclusion in the CHS.

The OTS maintains a link on the college web site that promotes culturally diverse activities on campus and in the

communities. The OTS has promoted outreach and engagement through its ongoing efforts to maintain the

Communication Sciences and Disorders graduate clinic site and its work with Dr. Pat Kitzman and his staff to create a

stroke registry in collaboration with UK Healthcare.

Centrality Mission Statement

The mission of the Office of Technology Services is to empower the College of Health Sciences by implementing and

maintaining reliable, innovative and relevant technology and information systems that facilitate teaching, learning, research and

service.

Goals/Objectives

The Director of Technology created a strategic plan for the OTS in 2014. A summary the major goals from that strategic plan are

listed below:

Improve and enhance technology and information services to facilitate high-quality instruction both in the

classroom and through distance learning media.

During the review period, OTS staff members have attended several university-sponsored technology seminars. Staff

attended campus sessions and offered in-house training to faculty as the University transitioned from Blackboard to

Canvas learning management system. The College has scheduling priority for the classrooms used to offer distance

learning courses (216 CTW and 219 CTW), but they are managed centrally. This means that the CHS is not always

consulted when changes are made to classroom equipment. The OTS led efforts in 2015 to collaborate with the central

distance learning office for a significant equipment upgrade in 216 CTW so that the cameras. In 2015, the OTS

developed a partnership with the College of Medicine to support academic technology. In doing so, capacity and

technical expertise have increased at no cost to the college.

Improve and enhance technology and information services to facilitate student learning.

The OTS has worked closely with CHS faculty to facilitate the development and use of technology for educational

purposes. For example, OTS assisted faculty in the Medical Laboratory Science program in the use of clickers,

assisted with use of Echo360, and has provided seminars on educational technology innovations.

Improve and enhance technology and information services to facilitate research.

Office staff have collaborated with CHS faculty and staff throughout the review period to ensure that they are able to

carry out their research in an efficient manner. There are ongoing concerns regarding a lack of OTS expertise in the

technology specific to some aspects of CHS research.

Provide effective technical support for the College of Health Sciences.

In 2015, the OTS replaced an antiquated process for submission of requests that did not allow for tracking or analysis

with Spiceworks, a system used to receive and route requests. Using this system, the Office can communicate with


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customers and measure the efficiency of the support provided. Prior to this deployment the OTS was unable to gather

data on the types of requests received or length of time required for completion. During the review period the OTS

moved file and print servers to UKHCDATA in an effort to take advantage of the robust infrastructure. In 2014, OTS

partnered with staff in the College of Public Health to migrate the college’s website to Drupal. Additional modifications

to the website are underway.

The current Director of Technology and the current OTS team are in the process of creating a new strategic plan.

Criteria for measuring progress

The goals of the 2014 Strategic Plan were prepared by the previous director of the OTS. Since the change in leadership, the

data have not been collected. This is a concern and will be addressed going forward. Goals of the 2014 Strategic Plan could be

measured by tracking the following:

Improve and enhance technology and information services to facilitate high-quality instruction both in the

classroom and through distance learning media.

o Number of university seminars attended by OTS staff each year

o Number of learning sessions provided by OTS each year

o Number of help desk requests submitted each year for instructional technology issues.

Improve and enhance technology and information services to facilitate student learning.

o Number of meetings with students regarding university technology resources

o Use of the computers in the student lounge

Improve and enhance technology and information services to facilitate research.

o Number of help desk requests submitted each year for research technology

o Number of new data storage ideas researched by OTS staff

Provide effective technical support for the College of Health Sciences.

o Number of help desk requests and the time required to close each ticket

o Number of first time and repeat page views on the website

o Time spent on each page on the website

o Number of items reported as lost on the annual inventory process

Unit History and Organizational Structure

History The Office of Technology Services is a central administrative unit in the CHS that has supported the technological needs of the

college faculty, staff and students over the review period. However, the needs of the college have evolved, and there have been

three different directors who have brought expertise in different areas.

2009-2012

During the 2009-2012 period, the OTS was staffed with a Director of IT, Bambang Sutardjo, a Computer Support Specialist,

Carlo Labudiong, and various temporary staff. This office excelled in providing desktop support and building technical

infrastructure for the college. Mr. Sutardjo was also considered a leader on campus in knowledge and use of Blackboard.

However, by 2012 the faculty were requesting more from this office. In addition to troubleshooting, faculty and staff wanted

assistance in offering cutting edge technology to improve productivity and innovation in teaching and research.

In 2012 the Interim Dean and College Business Officer asked the University’s Chief Information Officer (CIO) to perform a review

of the OTS. They requested a review of current resources (personnel, equipment, software, space), and an opinion on whether

OTS was supporting the college fully and, if not, what additional resources might be needed. The CIO created a team of UK IT


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who led a “visioning” exercise for CHS pertaining to the OTS. Faculty and staff were interviewed and relevant resources were

reviewed. UK IT completed a report of OTS strengths and weaknesses and made recommendations for future improvements

(report available upon request).

To change the focus of the OTS from basic services to leading-edge, advanced operational and analytical support, the College

Business Officer worked with human resources to rewrite the job description of the IT Director position. The new position had a

greater focus on vision and strategy as well as an understanding and passion for pedagogy. As a result, there was a change in

the IT Director position.

2013-2015

In 2013, Darin Poynter became the new CHS IT Director, and he was supported by a Computer Support Specialist position

(Carlo Labudiong until July 2014 and Matt Mowery starting in January 2015) as well as various temporary employees. During this

period, the vision for the office was to become the best resource for technology and information services by leveraging

innovation to stimulate the exchange, discovery, and creation of knowledge in an open, collaborative, and unifying culture. The

Office created a strategic plan, implemented standards for purchasing and operations, and focused on enabling faculty to utilize

new technology to better their instruction and research. Furthermore, they built relationships with HealthCare IT, Campus

Academic Technology Group (ATG) and AV services to leverage the University support infrastructure.

2015

Just prior to the end of the review period, both Darin Poynter and Matt Mowery left the college. A new director, Christian Ecker,

was hired in June of 2015, and the office employed a temporary employee, Barret May, to help with desktop support. Mr. May,

hired into the full-time Computer Support Specialist position in the fall, has been charged with implementing and refining the

vision created by the previous director as well as helping to integrate the creative and technology services within the College.

Current (outside of the review period)

The current staffing model (which was developed since the review period) is shown below. It reflects the structure of the OTS,

including the addition of the CORE team.


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When Dean Lephart joined the CHS in early 2015, he commissioned a highly respected higher education communication and

marketing research agency, Stamats, to better understand the image and perceptions of the College, including perceived

strengths and weaknesses in the College community. The firm had four recommendations for enhancing the College’s marketing

and public relations strategies:

Implement creative concepting-create a brand for the college

Create a marketing communication plan

Update the CHS website

Create foundations to be used in print materials

To implement these recommendations, the College invested in a Technical Project Manager position with a primary focus on

updating the current website, including making it a more responsive, user-friendly site that reflects the excellence of CHS. In

addition, the Director of Technology and the Director of Communications proposed creation of a “CORE Workgroup” - a

collaboration between the technical and creative services within the college. The CORE will utilize talented student employees to

help support the college’s technical and creative needs.

The current organizational structure of the Office of Technology within the College’s administrative structure is shown below.

As of January 1, 2016

Annual Progress Reports since the last Self-Study

The Administrative Units within the College of Health Sciences provide services to the entire college at large. Their efforts

towards meeting their unit goals are included in the college-level strategic plan. Administrative units provide updates regarding


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their strategic initiatives to the Dean on a regular basis, through routine meetings and/or ad hoc requests; because of this

constant feedback loop of information, administrative units do not complete annual progress reports.

Resources

Budget summary information and adequacy

Office of Technology Services

FY10 FY11 FY12 FY13 FY14 FY15

Salary&Benefits 155,152 159,925 195,154 167,937 166,233 146,945

Operating 30,668 29,463 64,299 17,680 27,031 12,576

Grants - - - - - -

Total 185,820 189,388 259,453 185,618 193,264 159,521

The OTS has had a steady budget over the review period, with fluctuations based on staff and purchasing needs of the college.

The salary and benefits budget shown for FY12 reflects the costs associated with a temporary employee for a majority of the

year. As the College was transitioning in technology needs and the OTS was experiencing a change in leadership, the temporary

employee helped ensure that College needs were met. The fluctuation in operating budget across years mostly reflects timing

issues for purchase of replacement computers. The College replaces faculty and staff computers on a three or four year

replacement cycle, typically spending $20,000-$25,000 annually. In FY15, the CHS was provided with desktop computers at no

cost by UK HealthCare, resulting in a lower operating budget for the year. The table reflects purchases that paid from central

technology funds; it does not reflect technology purchases from other funding sources, such as grants or salary reimbursement

funds.

OTS has historically had a personnel and operating budget adequate to perform the functions of the Office. As the role of the

OTS in the College expands and the demands increase, the OTS will continue to monitor the adequacy of the budget.

Facilities summary information and adequacy

In 2002, the College moved into the Charles T. Wethington, Jr. building. The CHS currently occupies all of the first and second

floors (with the exception of five shared classrooms located on the second floor) and half of the 4th floor where several wet labs

are located. The College has access to several conference rooms that hold 8 to 20 persons, and these are reserved internally.

The larger CHS Thomas C. Robinson Commons is used for CHS professional meetings and social events and can also be

reserved for use by other units on campus.

The Office of Technology has significant space on the first floor of the CTW Building off the main hallway. Within this space is a

storage closet, two private offices, and an open space that has been utilized in the past for technology training. With the addition

of a new staff member and the CORE students, the space is no longer adequate. The OT would like to bring in consultants for

recommendations on better utilization of present space.

Equipment and Infrastructure summary information and adequacy The OTS provides basic desktop computation for the faculty and staff of the College on a four-year replacement cycle. OTS

selects desktop and portable devices from a number of manufactures: Dell, Hewlett-Packard, Sony, Microsoft, and Apple. The

cost and maintenance of specialized research technology is typically covered by grants or other funding sources. OTS provides

support for all equipment in the speech-language pathology clinic, conference rooms, office and student spaces, and


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instructional and research laboratories associated with the College of Health Sciences and its programs. In addition, the OTS

configures and tracks printing using Windows Server 2012 and manages the 10 Ricoh enterprise printers that are owned and

maintained by Managed Print Services. In addition to its support of equipment on the Lexington campus, OTS provides support

for equipment for PAS at the Morehead campus and for PT and MLS at the Hazard campus. UK Campus Resources assumes

responsibility for equipment in shared smart classrooms on the fourth floor of Wethington.

Basic Desktop Computation There are approximately 260 PC desktops/Macs/laptops under supported by the OTS. Desktop and portable computers are on a

four-year replacement cycle with a three year Dell warranty and one year College support. Each year one-fourth of the existing

computers are replaced and new computers are purchased for new employees. The increased need for support of

portable/mobile devices poses unique challenges. Among them is determining out how best to acquire and support and track

portable computing equipment.

File/Print Services The College has migrated nearly all file servers to the UK HealthCare data center. The data center’s virtual server environment

provides virtual servers and storage with robust backup/recovery, industry standard up-time and secure access far beyond the

capacity of the College to maintain and support. Consequently, the virtual environment is vastly superior to the home grown file

and print servers formerly supported by the College.

Print and duplicating service/support has largely been migrated to UK’s Managed Print Services (MPS) service agreement. The

college still maintains a few physical file servers and a print server; these systems are vulnerable and should be migrated to the

campus virtual environment.

Network Infrastructure and Active Directory The network infrastructure on the 1st, 2nd and 4th floors of Wethington building has not been systematically upgraded since the

building was built. While the infrastructure was adequate when the building was constructed, it was not built with future growth in

mind. Consequently, networking in the building is not adequate for current needs and causes issues for researchers whose work

require large data sets and/or images to be moved across the network.

Web Services The College overhauled its website within the past year using UK’s Drupal environment. Content was migrated from the existing

static HTML pages and integrated into the Drupal website framework to provide better control over content presentation and

management. The Drupal framework allows for tighter integration with University website strategies to ensure that the College’s

content represents its individual spirit while adhering to university design standards and content requirements. The Drupal

website employs several components that allow for easier site-wide theme changes, as well as a granular security model that

allows users, divisions, and departments to curate their own content that can easily be published by the web-site development

team in of the OTS and the Office of Advancement.

The new website is a vast improvement over the former site. Much of the work was completed to create a strong content

management infrastructure and bring the website technology up-to-date with modern web design practices. Future initiatives will

focus on improvements to website aesthetics, improved search capabilities, streamlined content organization, more dynamic

content (i.e. social media, videos, photography), and richer profiles for faculty, students, and alumni.


CHS-IT 15

Personnel summary information and adequacy (including faculty and staff numbers

and demographics)

The table below shows the historical make-up of the staff within the OTS. The Office has consistently employed two full-time

staff in this office with additional temporary staff hired as needed.

Employees by Demographic

2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15

Staff 2 2 2 2 2 1

Hispanic/Latino 0 0 0 0 0 0

White 0 0 0 0 0 1

Black or African American 0 0 0 0 0 0

Asian 2 2 2 2 2 0

Total IT Office 2 2 2 2 2 1

All years reported as of September 1.

In September 2014 (when these numbers were published), the Director of Technology position was filled, but the Computer

Support Specialist position was vacant. Since that time, we have made significant hires within OTS. The current OTS team

currently includes the following:

Director of Technology

The Director of Technology is responsible for managing the academic, administrative, clinical, and research computing for the

College faculty and staff. In addition, he is responsible for providing technical leadership and innovation with regard to

instructional technology.

Computer Support Specialist The Computer Support Specialist provides technical support, troubleshooting and maintenance for the CHS IT equipment. He

also provides general system administration for CHS faculty, staff and students.

Technical Project Manager

The Technical Support Specialist serves as the college web services manager, providing support, troubleshooting and

maintenance for the CHS website. In addition, the Manager is responsible for building and maintaining good web practices and

procedures.

Student Assistant The Student Administrative Assistant is responsible for processing purchasing orders, assigning help desk tickets, assisting with

the annual inventory process, and other administrative duties as needed.

Core Workgroup

The Core Workgroup is comprised of technical and creative students who assist with various projects as assigned by the co-

directors.

The OTS has a strategic partnership with the College of Medicine. The OTS is allocated a small part of a staff member in COM

who assists CHS faculty with instructional technology needs (Blackboard, Canvas, Echo, etc). This partnership has expanded

support capacity and technical expertise at no cost to the College.


CHS-IT 16

All current staff within the OTS have been employed by CHS less than a year. This creates both an opportunity and a challenge.

It is an opportunity because there are few preconceptions or investments in current processes and procedures. This allows the

OTS to be forward looking, creative and adaptive. It is a challenge because the Office is still forming its team, defining roles,

developing workflows, and identifying strength and weaknesses.

When analyzing the Office for adequacy of staff, it is important to examine both the number of staff and the skill set of the overall

Office. With the addition of the Technical Project Manager position, the OTS has sufficient full-time staff to meet the current

demand. However, the OTS has identified the following areas that need to be expanded within the team: audio visual,

coding/scripting, field services, research technology. Strategies for filling these gaps include:

Leveraging campus resources/services

Developing standardized IT processes/tools

Forging new partnerships

Building a team of talented technical and creative staff

Support from other university units essential to effective operations (e.g. research,

engagement, development, alumni affairs, human resources, facilities management,

financial units, and information technology)

The College of Health Sciences interfaces with both the UK Analytics and Technology unit and the UK HealthCare IT unit. This

relationship provides a “best of both worlds” strategy; the College is able to leverage resources from the IT provider with more

robust resources to bring to the task. This relationship allows the CHS access to technology resources and capabilities that

exceed what is possible for colleges that are not part of UK’s medical campus.

With this heightened capability, the CHS is held to a higher standard of adhering to technology best-practices and must create

policies and practices that align with two distinctively different IT operations. For example, the College must consistently adhere

to security practices for protecting data based on HIPAA requirements even though much of the College’s data are not relevant

to HIPAA. Other colleges in the academic enterprise are not held to this standard, but the CHS maintains these standards in

order to retain the UK HealthCare’s value-added resources in addition to UKAT’s high-quality technological offerings.

Campus IT University of Kentucky Analytics and Technologies (UKAT) provides enterprise level services and support including student

computing services, SAP support, data center operations, learning systems support and high performance computing operations

for the University. The College interacts with all UKAT departments and finds these offices to be helpful and offer guidance when

needed.

UK HealthCare IT As a part of the medical campus, the CHS relies on UK HealthCare’s IT department for support for student access to health care

systems such as electronic medical records and patient-centric data systems. The UKHC IT team also provides support and

access to Microsoft Exchange mailboxes for students who may correspond regarding patient information. Access to the

Exchange mailboxes is vital to UK HealthCare’s strategy for protecting patient and sensitive data. UK HealthCare IT provides the

CHS with a robust file server system backed by state-of-the-art network storage systems with data recovery and business

continuity plans to mitigate against data loss. UKHC also manages an active directory that provides the college with capability for

connecting to healthcare resources, systems, files, and security protocols based on each user’s profile.


CHS-IT 17

Input from Affected Constituents

Evaluation data from faculty and staff

In 2012, faculty and staff completed a survey of CHS administrative services units. The OTS did not participate since it had just

completed the visioning exercise conducted by UK IT. The exercise included extensive in-person interviews of CHS faculty and

staff. Feedback from the interviews contributed to the UK IT recommendations referenced in the Unit History section of this self-

study.

The CHS faculty and staff completed a survey of administrative service units administered by the CHS Office of Assessment in

2015. Faculty and staff responses were not delineated in the survey, and mean scores for each item are reported on a 4-point

scale. The table below shows OTS survey results for customer service and effectiveness in performing unit responsibilities and

tasks. Overall our scores indicate overall satisfaction (3 = agree; 4 = strongly agree), with the lowest scores in communication of

information and highest scores for being a welcoming environment for individuals from all backgrounds.

Administrative Services Survey

Customer Service 2015

(n=79)

The Office effectively communicates information (e.g., policies, procedures, activities, etc.) to CHS

personnel. 3.20

The Office provides a timely response to questions. 3.53

The Office provides courteous service via email, phone and in-person. 3.53

The Office is a welcoming environment for individuals of diverse backgrounds. 3.94

Overall, the service provided by the Office is of high quality. 3.36

Effectiveness in Performing Responsibilities and Tasks 2015

Desktop support services meet my expectations. 3.38

Web support services meet my expectations (e.g., website customization, website maintenance). 3.75

Technical services to support research activities meet my expectations. 3.86

Audio visual support services meet my expectations. 3.78

Technical services to support instructional activities meet my expectations. 3.89

In addition to the quantitative data displayed above, faculty and staff had an opportunity to provide open ended feedback. Two

themes emerging from the feedback were: 1) need to update the website; and 2) desire for more proactive support in

instructional technology. Both areas are being addressed in the self-study recommendations.

Evaluation data from ‘other’ as appropriate (e.g. students, alumni, community

members, etc.)

The CHS Office of Assessment administers a survey to students upon graduation. A section of the survey pertains to technology

access while students in CHS. The chart below shows the means (on a 4.0 scale) for both the 2014 and the 2015 surveys. The

results did not vary across years in most areas. In response to the 2014 survey, we placed a printer in the Office of Student

Affairs that allows students to pay to print. As a result, scores improved on that question. OTS may consider publicizing the

printer service more widely or adding additional stations because the score was still relatively low. The lowest mean each year

pertained to interaction between CHS students, faculty, and staff through social media. In the open ended responses a majority

of the students stated that they did not think it was professional to interact with their faculty via social media. This issue may be a

focus of the OTS in the future.


CHS-IT 18

Graduate Exit Survey Results

Questions 2014

(n=150) 2015

(n=155)

I had access to a wireless connection in the Wethington Building when needed. 3.60 3.53

I had access to computer technology (i.e., hardware and software) needed for my coursework. 3.55 3.49

Computer access was available for students in the Wethington student lounge. 3.48 3.49

I had access to printing services in the Wethington Building when needed. 2.85 3.12

My experience taking technology enhanced courses (e.g., ITV, on-line, Turning Point clickers, Lecture

Tools, etc.) met my educational needs. 3.25 3.28

The technology used in my courses (e.g., ITV, on-line, Turning Point clickers, Lecture Tools, etc.)

functioned properly the majority of the time. 3.22 3.28

The CHS website provided me with the information I needed. 3.31 3.27

I interacted with the College of Health Sciences’ faculty and staff through social media (e.g., Twitter,

Facebook, Google+, Blogs, etc.). 2.72 2.87

Adherence to Policies and Procedures

Evidence of adherence to procedures on personnel actions and budget request

preparation (established jointly by the unit and the unit head)

Personnel The College follows established Human Resources policies and procedures for staff personnel actions. Policies and Procedures

can be found at http://www.uky.edu/hr/policies. In addition, the college works closely with UK HR Compensation, Employment,

and Employee Relations as needed for issues related to hiring, promotion, and termination.

Staff positions must be approved by the Dean. Position descriptions are developed and approved by Human Resources and then

posted on the University’s central applicant tracking system for a minimum of seven (7) days. Both faculty and staff openings are

posted on several external job boards (Higher Ed Jobs, Inside Higher Ed Jobs, Diverse Issues in Higher Education, America’s

Job Exchange) to attract a robust and diverse applicant pool. In addition, the college works with programs and HR-Employment

to locate targeted advertising sources for difficult to fill positions.

New staff members complete University, College, and Program-level onboarding upon arrival. Staff attend UK’s new employee

orientation within the first 2-weeks of employment. The CHS Human Resources Administrator meets with new staff to discuss

college policies and assist with acclimating to the college culture. The College regularly sponsors professional development

events for staff and faculty. The College supports employee use of the University’s Employee Education Program which provides

a tuition waiver for up to 8 credits per semester (up to 18 credits per year). The College also provides financial support for staff

($750) for professional development activities.

Budget Administrative units in the College of Health Sciences receive recurring funds for staff salary and benefits in addition to

nonrecurring operating funds. Accounts are reconciled monthly by the Business Office, and unit Directors receive monthly budget

reports. The Directors request additional funding from the College as needed or during the University's annual budget cycle.

http://www.uky.edu/hr/policies


CHS-IT 19

Evaluation of Quality and Productivity

Quality of collegial environment (include climate for equity and diversity)

The 2015 survey of CHS faculty and staff showed that the OTS is viewed as a welcoming environment for diverse individuals

(3.94/4.0). Through daily interactions and hiring processes, the OTS strives to be a welcoming environment for all individuals

regardless of background. This score was the highest for any administrative unit and it is something the OTS is proud of.

Quality of productivity in public service, operations, instruction, or research

The OTS is an administrative support unit that strives to provide faculty and staff with the tools they need to be productive in

service, instruction and research. The 2015 survey shows that faculty and staff are satisfied with OTS services provided in these

areas. Technical services provided to support research activities scored a 3.86 and technical services provided to support

instructional activities scored a 3.89. In the past year, the Office has had some issues in the research area and has had a

transition in learning management systems; it is encouraging to achieve such positive results in both of these areas.

Quality of unit employees, communications and interactions

Several questions in the 2015 survey relate to the OTS communication. The question regarding effective communication of

information was the lowest score on the survey. The survey was administered in a time of significant change within OTS,

perhaps contributing to the lower score in this area. The OTS will focus on better communication with faculty and staff, utilizing

different venues to share information, including policies and procedures.

Quality of customer/client satisfaction

Most scores indicate that OTS customers are satisfied with services provided. However, the question about whether the service

provided by OTS is high quality received one of the lowest scores.

Quality of business and operating procedures

According to the 2015 survey of CHS faculty and staff, customers indicate that the OTS is meeting expectations. The OTS

received excellent scores in meeting expectations for research and instructional needs. Lowest scores related to meeting

expectations for desktop and website support. The need to reconfigure and upgrade the CHS website has been an ongoing

theme throughout the review period. One recommendation is to move forward with a total redesign of the website. The low score

on the desktop support likely reflects a recent transition in staff and a learning curve for these new staff . The OTS will

recommend a staffing model that facilitates development of subject areas of expertise among Office staff.


CHS-IT 20

Overall Summary and Recommendations

Summary

The OTS has evolved significantly throughout the review period. When the College administration reevaluated the Director

position it had a significant impact on the direction of the office. With the new director and the addition of staff and student

employees, the OTS is positioned to help CHS faculty and staff stay ahead of the technology curve.

Recommendations The committee used feedback from the following sources to identify areas of concern and form recommendations: the University

and College Strategic Plans, OTS 2008-09 OTS SWOT and Goals, 2013 Strategic Plans, the 2012 Visioning report conducted by

CHS leadership and UKIT, and stakeholder survey results compiled by the CHS Office of Assessment.

Develop a Communication Plan: The OTS needs to improve communication with stakeholders. This includes

strategic communication as well as sharing policy and procedures and new opportunities.

Recommendation: Develop an annual communication plan. This may include utilizing the website to share more

policies and procedures, holding regular training opportunities for faculty and staff, and advertising areas of expertise

of the individuals within the office.

Keep Pace with Technological Advances: The technology environment on university campuses changes quickly

and some of the feedback received indicated that faculty and staff do not feel that the OTS is helping them keep up

with the changes.

Recommendation: The OTS needs to be proactive regarding keeping pace with technological advances within the

industry and should identify strategies for sharing this new information in the OTS annual communication plan.

Criteria for Measuring Success: To ensure that the OTS operates efficiently, the unit needs to identify the criteria for

measuring success.

Recommendation: The Director of OTS will work with the committee to develop a strategic plan for the Office. The

strategic plan will include specific goals and metrics.

Create a Core Workgroup: To fulfill the directive from the Dean to build the reputation of the college on University,

local, state and national levels, the OTS will need to realign its current creative and technical resources.

Recommendation: It is recommended that the OTS work with the Office of Public Relations and Marketing to build a

team that creates messaging and delivery systems to reflect, support and empower the College’s aspirations.

Increase Support of Research Technology: The current resources within the OTS are inadequate for the needs of

the CHS research faculty. This is verified by the number of help-desk requests submitted by researchers and the

relatively longer average time to close for research related help requests.

Recommendation: The OTS recommends reaching out benchmark institutions and peer colleges at the University to

investigate the most efficient way to meet the technology needs of our researchers.

college of health sciences office of technology services ... · 2015 periodic review office of...

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