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Charter for the Academic Information
Technology Board
The Academic Information Technology Board (AITB),
a joint administration-faculty committee, is the primary
governance and oversight body for academic information
technology and services at UCLA. It is the successor
organization to the Instructional and Research Computing
Council (IRCC). To a significant extent, the foundational
cornerstone for this new Board is the Report of the
Academic Computing Planning Committee (March, 1993) which
led to the creation of the IRCC.
Responsibilities
The AITB will inform and advise the ongoing
decision-making responsibilities of UCLA’s executive
management and academic leadership in the areas of
academic information technology. The Board will serve as
the responsible campus agency for making recommendations
concerning technology-related budget requests and
opportunities stemming from a variety of corporate and
industrial relationships. The Board’s oversight
activities—concerning local, consortium, and central
technology plans, budgets, and progress—will ensure
coordination and inform decision-making.
The AITB will take leadership in establishing the
vision and policy guidelines for UCLA that will then
inform the Board’s activities. First, the vision for
academic information technology and services for UCLA
must be articulated, with short-range and longer term
elements set forth. Broad-based academic consultation
must underpin the creation of this vision. The upcoming
report of the Information Technology Strategic Planning
Project will provide the campus with an opportunity to
reflect upon and plan its permanent technology structure.
The Board will play a central role in framing the campus
discussion of that report and in developing the action
recommendations that will flow out of that discussion.
Second, a comprehensive and academically based policy
framework for instructional and research computing must
be created, including appropriate operating guidelines.
These should comprehend local, consortium, and central
organizations and their interrelationships. After
appropriate review and approval, these vision and policy
guidelines will enhance the ability of all campus
constituencies to weave new opportunities and
technological developments into the fabric of UCLA’s
teaching, research, and service programs collaboratively
and effectively. In these endeavors, the work of the IRCC
will provide a strong foundation for the Board.
Consonant with its responsibilities, the following
specific accomplishments are expected of the Board:
- Develop a conceptual budget environment tied to
the Strategic Planning Process for information
technology, including such aspects as the format
for presentation and analysis of budget requests,
appropriate approaches for analyzing existing
information technology infrastructure and budgets
at the central and local levels, possible
approaches for providing seed funding, etc.
- Work with the Office of Academic Planning and
Budget to develop a timetable and strategy for
the current budget cycle that will enable the
AITB to provide budget recommendations for the
Executive Vice Chancellor and the Executive
Budget Committee.
- Provide leadership in the campus discussion of
and reaction to the forthcoming Information
Technology Plan that is expected to be completed
in the Spring of 1997. This will involve key
issues of governance and organization for
information technology.
- By June, 1998, produce a vetted vision/strategy
document to guide UCLA in meeting the challenges
of the information technology revolution. It
should be a flexible plan that will accommodate
unanticipated changes in the environment.
In pursuing these goals, the Board must ensure that
its actions support and are consistent with
academic-based decision-making and governance as these
concepts have evolved at UCLA. The Board will work
collaboratively with UCLA’s executive management
(the Executive Vice Chancellor and the Executive Budget
Committee), maintain close communication with the
Academic Senate leadership, and ensure that broad-based
campus planning discussions involving the deans and
provosts and the faculty take place.
Chair
The Board will be chaired by a member of the faculty. He
or she will report to the Executive Vice Chancellor and
maintain close communication with the Chair of the
Academic Senate. The Chair of AITB must play a central
role in its functioning. He or she should have strong
leadership skills, demonstrated institutional
perspective, a strong commitment to promoting and
governing academic information technology, sufficient
time to devote to this engagement, high academic
standing, and computer expertise in some area. Because of
the time-consuming nature of this position, the provision
of some support (e.g., release time, research assistance)
should be considered. Since the AITB is intended to be an
interim step in our governance of academic technology
(see below), no term of service is set for the Chair.
Because the proposed governance structure is a new
undertaking for UCLA, it is important to set forth
certain attributes that will characterize how the Chair
will fulfill his or her role, thereby enabling the AITB
to carry out its mission. It will be understood that the
Chair will:
- Work directly with deans and other senior
academic administrators, individually and in a
group setting.
- Work directly with the leadership and agencies of
the Academic Senate, as well as with ad hoc
groups of faculty.
- Work directly with department chairs and faculty
on information technology related matters.
- Work with all relevant UCLA agencies to shape and
obtain the information and analysis needed by the
AITB. This is especially true of agencies that
presently have responsibility for information
technology activities.
- Appoint and guide workgroups and subcommittees
composed of faculty and/or administrators to
carry out specialized analyses and activities for
the Chair and the Board.
Membership
The Board will be composed of the faculty Chair, three
current senior academic administrators, and six
additional faculty. Membership will be jointly determined
by the Executive Vice Chancellor and the Chair of the
Academic Senate. All members should have an institutional
perspective and demonstrated interest in the use of
technology for the promotion of instruction and research.
Among these 10 Board members, a variety of perspectives
should be represented including: diverse technologies and
technology uses; instructional and research uses of
academic technology; and the College, the School of
Medicine, and the other professional schools. Of the
seven faculty first appointed to the Board, priority
should be given to those who participated in the Academic
Computing Planning Committee and/or the IRCC. Since the
AITB is intended to be an interim step in our governance
of academic technology (see below), no term of service is
set for the members. The undergraduate and graduate
student associations will each be invited to identify one
representative to the Board.
Staff Support and Services
To support the Chair and Board, one administrative person
and one senior professional will be provided. The
individuals and their funding will be housed in the
Chancellor’s Office. This will be done in order to
ensure the independence and impartiality of the Board.
The Office of Academic Planning and Budget will provide
budgetary analysis and support, and the various central
and consortium information technology units will provide
information and analyses about their operations on
request. As planning for the new RCM-related service
advisory groups proceeds, any such group that is related
to central or consortium academic technology units (e.g., OAC, CDI) will be set up to be supportive and not
redundant in scope—for the benefit of the AITB and
the units themselves.
Sunset Clause
After its initial work is concluded and as permanent
structures unfold, the AITB’s role, mission,
composition, and relationship to the Academic Senate and
Administration will be reassessed. The AITB will have the
very important responsibility of guiding the development
of a policy and procedural framework for the campus to
move to a mature governance structure for information
technology matters. This is a prerequisite for the campus
to realize its full academic potential from information
technology and digital media. However, progress and
response to opportunities cannot wait for permanent
structures. The role of the Board will be to create a
hospitable environment in which latent synergies among
UCLA’s various academic units can emerge and
prosper. By the end of Spring Quarter 1999, the
Board’s work should have led us to a more stable and
better functioning system and an accepted plan for how to
govern academic technology in 1999–2000.
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