IT Advisory Council

The IT Advisory Council (ITAC) will advise the Chief Information Officer of the University on standards, policies and practices related to the selection, deployment, management and assessment of information services used in support of campus-wide and school-based academic, research and administrative programs. Information Technology Policy plays a critical role in providing guidance for governance issues impacting the University’s distributed Technology Support model and will provide a framework for collaboration between and among all departments. The primary mission of Information Technology at Southern Methodist University is to enhance the research, teaching, and learning experience at the University. SMU has a complex decentralized structure and the technology environment should create a balance between:

Innovation vs. Stability/Reliability
Standardization vs. Autonomy/Experimentation
Accessibility vs. Security/Privacy
Consensus vs. Efficiency in Decision Making
Centralized vs. Distributed Services
Proprietary vs. Open Source

Southern Methodist University’s Information Technology Guiding Principles articulate the University’s shared organizational values, underlie our strategic vision and mission, and serve as a foundation for our integrated decision-making framework. The initial terms of reference for the ITAC will include, but not be limited to, the following charter functions:

Charter Functions of ITAC:

1. Provide guidance for campus-wide technology services:
   1. Review and recommend changes to the IT Strategic Plan and alignment to the University Strategic Plan
   2. Review services for alignment with the Strategic Plans
   3. Recommend Guidelines/Policies for the role of IT and how technology is used on campus
2. Reviewing and supporting the maintenance of campus-wide and unit-specific IT policies and procedures.
3. Assisting in the specification of a standard operating environments on campus.
4. Instructional technology and academic computing needs focused on aligning University investments in this area to academic initiatives.
5. Provide guidance for IT Services at SMU:
   1. Recommend and prioritize new strategic IT Initiatives
   2. Assist in the development and review of campus IT Policies
   3. Establish appropriate focus groups to evaluate IT Services
   4. Review and Critique Service Level Agreements (SLA) for critical IT Services
   5. Gather reports from standing IT Collaborative groups as needed
6. Provide status reporting on the IT Advisory Council activities
   1. Define process for reporting Advisory Council results and initiatives to senior management / campus community
7. Provide guidance for effective and appropriate management of IT risks
8. Review IT Service Catalog
   1. Create Focus Groups to gather input on new service initiatives as needed
   2. Create Focus Groups to review existing service offerings for improvement as needed

ITAC Membership

The ITAC is chaired by two members of the council and appointed by the Provost, CFO and CIO and consist of 22 representatives. Each Co-Chair is appointed for a staggered three year term.