Grinnell College is bringing in an outside group to review its Information Technology Services (ITS) over the next few weeks.
“The goal is to understand needs for ITS: strengths, weaknesses, and ways to change,” said Janet Davis, the head of the Computer Science Department. “The ultimate goal is to create a new plan for ITS that better helps the students.”
ITS runs all computer services including the Help Desk, which provides tech support to faculty, students, and staff. Representatives of the student body, faculty and staff had an opportunity to discuss their experiences with ITS.
The Board of Trustees recommended the review, and the evaluation started in August when Vice President for College Services, John Kalkbrenner. After the review, an ad hoc committee will help improve upon ITS by proposing various changes.
Moran Technology Consulting, a technology evaluation company from Naperville, IL, will conduct the review. Moran has worked with several colleges including Penn State, The United States Naval Academy, Columbia University, and The University of California Los Angeles.
Moran met with the Grinnell College Information Technology Assessment and Planning committee (GCITAPC) on April 11. No public reports have come from these meetings. The company will return to Grinnell on April 26 with feedback.
Janet Davis • Apr 25, 2011 at 9:20 am
A couple of corrections. First, the review is intended to develop an IT plan that will better serve everybody – students, faculty, and staff. All have been involved in the review process thus far. Second, the review team will be returning April 26 to learn about our existing infrastructure – not to bring feedback yet. There will be another visit in May, and the review team will report their findings in June.