Page 1 of 2 Meeting of the Board of Governors of Trent University

Transcription

BOARD OPEN SESSION AGENDA - March 22, 2013
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Meeting of the Board of Governors of Trent University
Thornton Road Campus - 55 Thornton Road South, Oshawa, Lecture Hall 121
Friday, March 22, 2013
OPEN SESSION (10:00 a.m.)
We create vibrant, engaged and sustainable communities of learning, teaching and research committed to
free enquiry and expression. We encourage the dynamic interplay of research, teaching and learning, which
enhance and energize each other in the classroom and beyond. We strive to make valued and socially
responsible contributions to our local communities, to Canada, and to the world. We support a diversity of
faculty, staff and students who share a commitment to the learning experience and are responsive to its
challenges. We foster an environment where Indigenous knowledges are respected and recognized as a valid
means by which to understand the world. We offer an enriched learning environment that encourages a
passion for all knowledge, the exploration of the creative links between fields of study and a critical
engagement with the world. We create opportunities for students, staff and faculty to flourish and develop
as individuals and as global citizens. We affirm our commitment to excellence, to innovation and to
leadership in research, academic programmes and community partnerships. We commit to building an
inclusive intellectual and social community that values the collaboration of all of its individual members.
Vision
Prepare students to make significant contributions to an increasingly complex world by providing them with
a distinctive liberal arts, science or professionally focused education, which is enhanced by global
perspectives, experiential learning and interdisciplinary approaches to personal and professional
development; Encourage and celebrate excellence and innovation in teaching, learning, research and
student development; Remain at the forefront of Indigenous education and scholarship; Develop strong
partnerships and collaborations with external communities, professions, and other institutions, as well as
within our Colleges, departments, and programs; Foster sustainability, in its environmental, social and
economic dimensions, on our campuses and in all aspects of our work; Promote a culture which engages all
members of the Trent community, favours dialogue and collegiality, and nurtures a sense of belonging.
Mission
Strategic Direction A: Graduate Studies
Strategic Direction B: Internal and External Community Partnerships
Strategic Direction C: Research
Strategic Direction D: Student Engagement and Accessibility
Strategic Direction E: Teaching and Learning
Strategic Direction F: Trent in Oshawa
Strategic
Directions
AGENDA
1.
Minutes
Recommendation:
Open Session Minutes, February
1, 2013
That the Minutes of the Open Session
Board of Governors Meeting of February 1,
2013 be approved.
2.
Chair’s Remarks
Chair Wright
3.
President’s Remarks
President
Franklin
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4.
Proposed Student Centre Update
President
Franklin
Artist’s Rendering
5.
Trent Oshawa Strategic and
Business Plan – Status Update
Governor
Bignell/J.
Muldoon
6.
Enrolment Report
Governor
Bignell/VP
Pillar
7.
Strategic Information
Technology Plan (2013-2015)
Governor
Bignell/
VP Pillar/
AVP
Al-idrissi
Academic
Excellence
Strategic
Enrolment
Management
Report, Draft Plan
Achieving
Financial
Stability
8.
Annual Report on Investment
Results to December 31, 2012
Reports: Pension Fund; Endowment
Fund; SRA Fund; Special Investment
Fund
10.
Recommendation:
That the Board of Governors
approve in principle the Strategic
Information Technology Plan (20132015) dated February 20, 2013,
subject to budget availability in the
current and future fiscal years.
Governor
Mackey/VP
Pillar
Other Business
Other Material for Information Only:
•
•
•
President’s Report – February 2013
Financial Report
Summary of Student Leader Presentations – February 1, 2013
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OPEN SESSION MINUTES
TRENT UNIVERSITY BOARD OF GOVERNORS
February 1, 2013
Present:
Governors: B.A. Wright (Chair), K. Armstrong, D.A. Bignell, L. Brown, C. Brunetti,
N. Flower, S.E. Franklin, S. Graham Parker, B. Koebel, I.J. Lord, H. McCue, T.
Miller, P. Orser, R. Quantick, A. Stewart, A. Vance; Vice-Presidents: J. Davis, N.
Emery, S. Pillar; Associate Vice-Presidents: T. Al-idrissi, G. Brownscombe;
Guests: B. Blackburn, K. Spearing; D. deBruijn (Secretary); S. Bartsch (Associate
Secretary)
The Chair called the meeting to order at 10 am.
1. Minutes. It was moved/seconded by Governors McCue/Bignell:
That the Minutes of the Open Session of December 6, 2012 be approved. Carried
2. Chair’s Remarks. The Chair expressed thanks on behalf of the Board to Allan Shapira
and Azita Bassiji of Hewitt for an instructive pre-session on the pension environment.
The Chair introduced and welcomed new University Secretary, Deb deBruijn, and
Associate Vice-President Information Technology, Tariq As-idrissi. The Chair also
welcomed back Governor Miller who had been away for an extended period.
The Chair noted that the Board would have an opportunity to engage with Trent student
leaders for discussion over lunch, and thanked student Governors Koebel and Vance for
their work in coordinating this session.
The Chair thanked Governors for their participation at the Board retreat in December
2012, and noted that Ken Steele’s presentation is available on the website. She also
reported on her participation in a recent teleconference meeting of COU Board Chairs,
(CCOU) and noted COU’s advocacy efforts that focus on growth funding, extension of the
current tuition framework, pension solvency relief, and provincial matching for CFI
awards. She noted that COU is planning a governance symposium to be held in
November 2013, and expected this would be a very timely and worthwhile event.
The Chair drew the Board’s attention to the 2012 Annual Report of the Office of the
Auditor General of Ontario, tabled in December 2012. Section 3.12 of the Report
[http://www.auditor.on.ca/en/reports_en/en12/312en12.pdf] contained results from the
audit of university undergraduate teaching quality. The Chair urged the Board and
administration to pay close attention to the five recommendations in this Section,
covering the following areas:
• procedures to assess teaching quality;
• tenure and promotion of faculty;
• training and professional development;
• faculty costs and workload;
• performance measurement and reporting by the Ministry
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3. President’s Remarks. President Franklin reiterated the Chair’s welcome to the new
University Secretary, and thanked Susan Bartsch (who served as Acting University
Secretary) and her team during the transition. President Franklin also noted that VP
Pillar was now coordinating legal services for the University, using external counsel in the
specialized areas required.
President Franklin expressed concern with negative messaging that appears to be
gaining traction among the public through recent media coverage, documentaries, etc.
He pointed to compelling statistics that reflect a more balanced and accurate view than
the ones claiming that tuition is too high, students are graduating with overwhelming debt,
and that there are no jobs for university graduates. He urged Governors and the Trent
community to be actively engaged in addressing these communications challenges.
President Franklin reported on the Trent Lands Plan consultations and noted that there
has been strong participation in the discussions and workshops by members of Trent’s
internal and external communities. A detailed report will be presented to the Endowment
Lands Committee on February 22, 2013. In response to a question, President Franklin
confirmed that the Trent Lands Plan is expected to come to the Board at its April 2013
meeting.
President Franklin reported on developments at Trent Oshawa, including the appointment
of Joe Muldoon as Special Advisor to the Provost, responsible for developing a revised
strategic and business plan for the Oshawa campus. A preliminary report is expected in
March 2013 and a final plan in September 2013. President Franklin noted that Trent has
a strong relationship with UOIT, and that there is a shared commitment to maintaining a
collaborative path and exploring new synergies together (e.g. joint programming,
curriculum design, space utilization, service teaching, etc.). The Board will have an
opportunity to meet with UOIT’s Provost and Board Chair at the Board’s next meeting in
Oshawa on March 22, 2013.
A question was raised regarding Senate’s awareness and view of collaboration with
UOIT. President Franklin noted that Senate had been kept informed through written
President’s Reports to Senate, tabling of documents such as the MOU with UOIT and
SMAs of both universities, and media coverage in the Durham region. Mixed views on
the advantages of joint programming or increased collaboration had been expressed at
Senate.
4. 2012 Actuarial Valuations - TUFA/OPSEU/Exempt. On behalf of Governor Mackey,
Governor Brunetti presented the 2012 Actuarial Valuations of the Trent University
Pension Plans. He noted that Mr. Shapira did an excellent job of highlighting the
significant challenges being faced by all universities regarding defined benefit pension
plans solvency. He noted that these issues are the result of external factors of
historically low interest rates and investment returns, and that Ontario universities are
working with the provincial government on solvency relief.
In response to a question, VP Pillar noted that these issues were shared with employees
and clearly understood on all sides of collective bargaining discussions.
Board of Governors - Open Session Minutes
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It was moved/seconded by Governors Brunetti/Bignell:
That the Contributory Pension Plan for TUFA Employees of Trent University
Funding Valuation as of July 1, 2012 (attached as Appendix A to the master
copy of these Minutes) be approved and not be filed with the pension
regulators (as this is not a required filing year for the plan); and
That the OPSEU/Exempt Pension Plan – Actuarial Valuation Results as of July
1, 2012 (attached as Appendix B to the master copy of these Minutes) be
approved and not be filed with the pension regulators (as this is not a required
filing year for the plan). Carried
5. Information Technology Draft Strategic Plan. Governor Bignell introduced AVP IT
Tariq Al-idrissi to present the draft Strategic IT Plan for Trent University (2013-2015). He
conveyed congratulations to Mr. Al-idrissi and his team for a thorough draft plan, and
noted that the Finance & Property Committee would be bringing the final document to the
Board at its April 2013 meeting.
Mr. Al-idrissi gave a summary presentation to the Board, and noted the extensive
planning process and wide consultations that had taken place with students, faculty and
staff, to ensure an IT plan for the whole university. The draft plan aligns with Trent’s
Academic and Integrated Plans, and also takes into account industry trends,
developments and initiatives.
Mr. Al-idrissi reported that in its review of the draft plan, the Finance & Property
Committee requested additional analysis that compared Trent against other universities
in terms of IT investment. Data for this analysis was provided by members of the
Canadian University Council of Chief Information Officers (CUCCIO) and reflected that
Trent required further investment in this area. The cost estimate to address all needs in
the plan is approximately $8 million; priorities for resourcing the plan will be evaluated as
part of the annual budget process.
A question was raised regarding the “distributed teaching project,” and Mr. Al-idrissi
clarified that this referred to a virtual classroom trial taking place now with two
videoconference facilities outfitted in Oshawa and Peterborough.
The Chair commented that she was pleased to see the assessment done in this key
area, and noted the Board’s support for IT investments to address Trent’s lag in this area.
Governor Bignell reported that the estimated $8 million contained in the costing summary
is actually slightly lower, as the draft plan includes some initiatives that are already
underway. He cautioned, however, that the draft plan does not include deferred
maintenance needs which will be in addition to the costing summary.
A question was raised as to how the many high priority needs within the plan would be
prioritized at the budget stage. Mr. Al-idrissi commented that factors to be taken into
account would include risks associated with not funding certain items or initiatives, the
priorities expressed by students, faculty and staff through the consultations, and
convergence with the Academic and Integrated Plans. VP Pillar added that highest
priorities for budget purposes would be major infrastructure initiatives and those items
that would present business-interruption risks. Governor Stewart offered to assist in this
process by providing a budget-prioritization tool.
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6. Integrated Plan Regular Six-Month Interval Progress Report (to end of 2012).
President Franklin presented a six-month interval progress report on the implementation
of the Integrated Plan, indicating that a similar report would be shared with the wider
community. He provided updates on new undergraduate and graduate degree programs
under development and described internal efforts to streamline the academic planning
process while still meeting government approval requirements. The President advised
the Board that it could expect to see a draft balanced scorecard in January 2014, with a
final scorecard to follow one year later. He noted that the next cycle of integrated
planning was envisioned to incorporate capital planning.
President Franklin reported that the IT Plan was proceeding on schedule, that the work of
the Colleges Task Force was moving forward well and that the Employee Relations
Initiative was progressing more slowly. In the ensuing discussion, a governor noted the
need to roll the new Oshawa planning initiative into the Integrated Plan. In response to a
question about Trent’s interest in gerontology, the President and Vice-President
Research & International highlighted the Centre for Aging and Society initiative in the
proposed Strategic Mandate Agreement. Dr. Brunetti described a proposal for a new
health-related degree with a community focus and noted that Trent is well-placed to focus
on the cultural and social aspects of aging. The President added that the resourcing of
new programs continued to be a concern internally and was the focus of considerable
discussion.
7. 2013-14 Operating Budget Development. Governor Bignell presented a report on the
2013-14 Operating Budget development, and called on VP Pillar to provide highlights.
VP Pillar summarized the process for budget development that had been adopted for the
first time this year. The process has been iterative and transparent, beginning with wide
consultations across all constituencies, and working through development of principles on
which the budget will be based, sharing information regarding the current
economic/political environment, identifying budget assumptions around revenue and
expenses, and finally developing guidelines for budget developers. Budget developers
will have an opportunity to present their 2013-14 budgets to the President/Vice
Presidents group (PVP) in late March 2013, to inform final budget preparation by
administration.
VP Pillar noted that the 2013-14 budget will be brought to the Board for approval at its
May 2013 meeting. Although this is a month later than usual, VP Pillar felt this to be
prudent given the extensive consultations that are taking place across the university, and
current uncertainties at the provincial government level (i.e. there may be more clarity
from government at a later time.) Administration is committed to producing a
comprehensive budget report that will be made public with full transparency.
Governor Bignell noted that the change in process is significant in that it addresses the
need for deeper levels of financial literacy, engagement, and ownership by members of
the Trent community. He conveyed the Finance & Property Committee’s support for
deferring budget approval to May 2013.
Discussion ensued, with the following points raised:
• Administration’s commitment to transparency and improving financial literacy is
shared by the Board;
• The revised process is time- and labour-intensive, but essential;
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•
The assumptions and guidelines documents can be repurposed and used as a
template in future years as the variables change; this could serve as a
Management Discussion and Analysis (MDA) document and used to provide
context on the university’s financial health and performance.
8. Report from Visitors to Senate. Governor Flower presented the Report from Visitors to
Senate. The Chair noted that she had also been a visitor to Senate and found discussion
there to be instructive and collegial.
9. Revisions to Special Resolution I.4 – Advancement Committee Terms of Reference.
Governor McCue presented proposed revisions to Special Resolution I.4 – Advancement
Committee Terms of Reference. The rationale for the revisions was to describe in a
more fulsome way the mandate of the Committee and its role with respect to donor
stewardship, advice to the Vice-President External Relations and Advancement, and
participation of Governors in community relations.
It was moved/seconded by Governors Quantick/McCue:
That Special Resolution I.4 as amended (attached as Appendix C to the master
copy of these Minutes) be approved. Carried
10. Other Business. None.
The meeting was adjourned at 11:45 am.
Deb deBruijn
Secretary
Anne Wright
Chair
Susan Bartsch
Associate Secretary
Appendices:
A
B
C
Contributory Pension Plan for TUFA Employees of Trent University Funding
Valuation as of July 1, 2012
OPSEU/Exempt Pension Plan – Actuarial Valuation Results as of July 1, 2012
Special Resolution I.4 (as amended)
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BOARD OF GOVERNORS
Report
To:
From:
Finance & Property Committee/
Date of Report:
Board of Governors
February 27, 2013
Steven Pillar / Gary Boire
VP, Administration / VP, Academic
Date of Committee
Meeting:
Tariq Al-idrissi,
AVP, Information Technology
(Finance & Property)
March 8, 2013
Date of Board Meeting:
March 22, 2013
Subject:
Strategic Information Technology Plan
Confidentiality:
1.0
Not Confidential
PURPOSE
For Approval
2.0
RECOMMENDATION
That the Finance & Property Committee recommend to the Board of Governors approval
in principle of the Strategic Information Technology Plan subject to budget availability in
the current and future fiscal years.
3.0
BRIEFING
Following the last meeting of the Finance and Property Committee, the Strategic IT Plan
was presented at the full Board meeting on February 1, 2013. Responding to questions
about funding, VP Pillar explained that the expectation was not for the Board or Finance
and Property to approve the spending presented in the Strategic Plan, but rather, that
funding will be addressed through the normal budgeting process.
Work on the final version of the Strategic IT Plan has been completed. This Plan took into
consideration the extensive feedback from the university community. In particular, six
issue areas around that Strategic IT Plan were raised (see overleaf);
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1) ISSUE 1: RANKING METHODOLOGY. Finance and Property and other groups
have raised concern over the methodology that was used to rank the initiatives
presented in the Strategic IT Plan. There was no transparency as to both the
dimensions and the process to which the initiatives were ranked.
PROGRESS: Governor Andrew Stewart of Compugen was able to share with Trent
an IT Project scoring tool that could be adapted and used by Trent. This tool was
indeed adapted and subsequently used to alter the ranking of the final submission
of the Strategic IT Plan.
2) ISSUE 2: THERE SEEMS TO BE NO FINANCIAL COMPARISONS TO OTHER
HIGHER EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS. There was concern raised that the
Strategic IT Plan was produced with no benchmarking as related to IT spending in
other educational institutions.
PROGRESS: We have relied on data provided to us through the Canadian
University Council of Chief Information Officers (CUCCIO). This data revealed to
us how our IT spending compared to other institutions. This data was integrated
into the Strategic IT Plan and presented to the board.
3) ISSUE 3: THERE SEEMS TO BE A LACK OF CONSULTATION ON THIS PLAN
WITH OTHER HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS. Concern was raised on the
amount of consultation we have done with other institutions.
PROGRESS: We have shared this plan with eight other university CIOs in Ontario
and have received feedback from three of them regarding the plan. The feedback
that we have received was for the most part positive. In fact, one of the CIOs
commented, “I thought the plan was good and I say this considering that we have
just completed a $200,000 engagement with Gartner to produce our own plan.”
4) ISSUE 4: LACK OF COLLABORATION WITH OTHER INSTITUTIONS. One of the
concerns raised around the Strategic IT Plan was directly related to the number of
collaborative initiatives that exist within the Plan.
These include lack of
collaborations across the sector and regionally.
PROGRESS: We have met with both Fleming College and UOIT to explore
collaborative initiatives around IT. As of the time of this writing, we are exploring an
opportunity with Fleming College to reciprocate data centre space at each other’s
institutions for data back-up and disaster recovery. Other initiatives or areas of
collaboration are also being identified.
5) ISSUE 5: SECURITY WAS NOT A SPECIFIC INITIATIVE. Finance and Property
and other groups within the institution expressed concern that “Security” of both
data and infrastructure was not presented as a separate initiative.
PROGRESS: This concern has been addressed in the final iteration of the Strategic
IT Plan. An initiative to address security was added. This initiative described in
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detail how “Security” is also addressed through other initiatives already included in
the plan.
6) ISSUE 6: A THOROUGH REVIEW OF THE CURRENT IT FUNDS. The Finance
and Property Committee expressed the need to perform a thorough review of IT
spending as part of preparation of the financials needed to support this plan.
PROGRESS: IT has spent the last month performing a thorough review of finances.
IT has gone through a zero-sum based budgeting exercise. This exercise is nearly
complete and will yield an accurate reflection of operational IT spending.
In addition to the above changes, initiatives were added to address AODA compliance and
a newly proposed Emergency Communications and Digital Display system.
Steven Pillar / Gary Boire
Vice President, Administration / Vice President, Academic
Tariq Al-idrissi
Associate Vice President, Information Technology
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New Beginnings: I.T. Strategic Plan for Trent
University (2013–2015)
Respectfully submitted by members of the Strategic I.T. Planning Task Force:
Tariq Al-idrissi (Associate Vice President, IT)
Anne Parker (Senior Manager, Client Services, IT)
Andrew Bell (Manager, Digital Service Delivery and Administration, IT)
Paul Armstrong (Manager, Information Systems, IT)
Craig Brunetti (Biology)
Andrew Mayne (Grad Student)
Matthew G.K. Thompson (Chemistry)
Sabine McConnell (Department of Computing and Information Systems)
Kent Stringham (Manager, Institutional Research, Strategic Enrollment
Management)
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Table of Contents
Forward ............................................................................................................................................ 5
Executive Summary ......................................................................................................................... 6
Introduction ...................................................................................................................................... 7
The IT Department ....................................................................................................................... 7
Current IT Governance, Committees and Project Structure ........................................................ 9
S.W.O.T Analysis ....................................................................................................................... 10
Strengths ................................................................................................................................ 10
Weaknesses ........................................................................................................................... 11
Opportunities .......................................................................................................................... 14
Threats ................................................................................................................................... 15
University Consultation .............................................................................................................. 15
Data Collection Methodology ................................................................................................. 15
Themes from the Feedback ................................................................................................... 17
Impacts of the Integrated Plan ................................................................................................... 23
Impacts of the Academic Plan ................................................................................................... 24
Industry Trends .......................................................................................................................... 25
The Hardware Landscape is changing (I1) ............................................................................ 26
Adoption and Growth in Use of Mobile Devices (I2) .............................................................. 26
The Apple is Back (I3) ............................................................................................................ 28
Tablet Adoption and Impact on Education (I4) ....................................................................... 28
The Website, It’s in the Top 10! (I5) ....................................................................................... 29
Social Media (I6) .................................................................................................................... 30
Faculty Utilization of Technology is strongly correlated to the Characterization of Institutions
that Make Effective Use of Technology (I7) ........................................................................... 31
Cloud Computing (I8) ............................................................................................................. 31
Spending Comparison ............................................................................................................... 32
IT Spend Per Student & Staff ................................................................................................. 33
Central IT Staff Counts ........................................................................................................... 34
Central IT Dollars Spent ......................................................................................................... 34
IT expenditures as a Percentage of Total Revenue ............................................................... 35
Degree of IT Centralization .................................................................................................... 36
IT Vision ......................................................................................................................................... 37
IT Mission ...................................................................................................................................... 37
Strategies ....................................................................................................................................... 37
Initiatives (Tactics/Objectives) ....................................................................................................... 38
Base Services ............................................................................................................................ 39
Service Expansion ..................................................................................................................... 42
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Strategic IT Plan for Trent University (2013-2015) version 20.02.2013
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Renewal ..................................................................................................................................... 49
Information Systems .................................................................................................................. 56
Expanded Customer Service ..................................................................................................... 66
Operational Efficiency and Compliance ..................................................................................... 69
Initiatives (Tactics/Objectives) Summary....................................................................................... 77
Timelines ....................................................................................................................................... 79
Costing Summary .......................................................................................................................... 83
Appendix B: Application Systems .................................................................................................. 85
Appendix C: Data Collection Instrument ....................................................................................... 88
Appendix D: Data Collection Focus Groups .................................................................................. 89
Appendix E: IT Service Categories................................................................................................ 90
Appendix F: Criteria and Weightings for Initiative Evaluation ....................................................... 93
Appendix G: Initiatives Completed During Planning.................................................................... 101
Appendix H: Costing Details ........................................................................................................ 102
Infrastructure Costing ............................................................................................................... 102
Service Delivery ....................................................................................................................... 108
References .................................................................................................................................. 115
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Forward
This is an IT plan for the whole of Trent University.
We have opted to name our new Strategic IT Plan, “New Beginnings”. We
believe that this name would signify to the university community Trent’s
commitment to affect change and to interrogate and focus every aspect of its IT
operations.
The right team makes all the difference and we have that in the Trent University
IT team. We have the right people that are willing to step in where needed and
to happily roll up their sleeves to help a student, faculty member, or another
administrative staff member. The IT team has the right positive energy.
In an environment of constant technological innovation, shrinking budgets,
continued increased costs, and an increasingly competitive education
marketplace, the right team is simply not enough. It has become imperative that
IT focus its efforts. This plan aims to focus the efforts of the Trent IT team and to
align them with both the academic and administrative efforts of Trent.
Additionally, this plan aims to introduce accountability and transparency to the IT
organization and to position Trent for the future.
Innovation plays a focal point in this plan. Not simply in the introduction of
information technology to the institution, but in the true meaning of innovation
which is to introduce new methods and methodologies in approaching our
practices.
This IT Strategy was produced with significant consultation with the university
community. Additionally, the IT Strategic Task Force members, the IT Steering
Committee, and the IT Team have played a pivotal role in producing this focused
plan. I would like to thank them all for their work and contribution to this plan.
Sincerely,
Tariq Al-idrissi
Associate Vice President, Information Technology
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Executive Summary
This plan presents initiatives that must be undertaken to ensure the continued
success and improvement of IT at Trent.
To formulate the presented initiatives, this plan undertook an in-depth situational
review. This review involved an internal SWOT analysis and a university
consultation process that was comprised of thirty focus groups and 598 student
survey responses. Additionally, as part of the situational review, a cross
reference to both the Academic and Integrated plans was completed and an
industry analysis was conducted.
The SWOT analysis identified weaknesses related to operations and procedures,
aging infrastructure, and planning. These themes were also echoed in the
university consultation which identified some other areas of concern, around;
consistent user support and services, the need for increased support hours,
infrastructure (generally around wireless availability),the need for an improved email system, increased file services, better print services, lack of strong IT
governance and leadership, classroom and computer lab age and renewal, up to
date software and operating system versions, availability of charging stations,
support for Apple devices, consistent IT communication, support for Oshawa,
support for mobile devices, and mobile application availability. Finally, as part of
the situational review, an industry analysis was performed that identified some
keys trends, including; the changing hardware landscape, the adoption of mobile
devices, the effects of social media, and the trend towards cloud computing.
The Vision of IT at Trent was outlined in this plan to be
Innovative Information Technology for a Stronger Trent
Innovative not only refers to the introduction of technologies, but additionally in
the introduction of new methods and methodologies in approaching work with the
aid of technology.
To address the situational review and to achieve the vision and mission as
outlined in this plan, certain strategies and initiatives (tactics/objectives) are
suggested as part of this plan. These initiatives were grouped as changes to
base services, service expansion, renewal, information system projects,
extended customer service, and operational efficiency initiatives. This plan
presents a description of each initiative, the scope, the rationale, the risks, the
priority, the timeline and the costs that are related to each initiative.
This plan ends with a visual timeline and a costing summary.
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Introduction
The time for IT planning is now.
The current situation of Information Technology at Trent is complex, but is
threaded by three common themes; limited resourcing, poor long-term planning,
and disjointed/uncoordinated efforts.
With shrinking budgets, a higher need for overall transparency and accountability
is needed. This plan brings to light the strengths and weaknesses of IT at Trent
and makes specific recommendations that will not only sustain, but enhance the
IT services and products offered by Trent.
This plan begins with a situational review, including;







A look at the IT department,
The current governance and committee structures,
A S.W.O.T Analysis,
The approach and results of the university consultations undertaken
specifically for this plan,
The implications of the integrated plan,
The implications of the Academic plan, and
An industry analysis
Following this detailed review, the plan outlines the Vision and Mission of IT at
Trent and introduces the Strategies, Initiatives, Timelines, and Costs that are
associated with achieving the Vision and Mission and in also addressing the
issues identified in the situational review.
Situational Review
In assessing the situational review, one must consider the IT Department,
feedback from the university community, and Industry trends.
The IT Department
The Information Technology (IT) Department is a service department that serves
the needs of the whole of Trent University. In an effort to increase transparency
and accountability of the IT department, the reporting structure of this department
has recently changed to a dual reporting structure. The department, through the
AVP, IT now reports to the Vice President Administration and the Vice President,
Academic. This dual reporting has proven to be successful and has allowed the
IT department to better serve the administrative and academic needs of Trent
University.
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The IT Department is currently comprised of three workgroups, Client Services,
Information Services, and Digital Service Delivery and Administration. Each
workgroup has its own manager and all workgroups report to the Associate VicePresident of Information Technology. Please refer to Appendix A for an
organizational chart of the Information Technology department.
The client services workgroup provides direct support to our faculty, staff &
students in all university locations, including the Oshawa and Trail campuses.
The workgroup has the following areas of specialization.





Technical support centre/service desk: This workgroup is responsible for
front line incident triage, tracking and direct client support via the service
desk. This includes maintain the public labs and acting as a liaison with IT
backroom specialists. The service desk also handles distribution and
circulation of all audio/visual equipment.
Switchboard: This workgroup is responsible for the university wide
switchboard operations.
Training and Documentation: This workgroup is responsible for all aspects
of IT related training. This includes classroom videos, end user training,
workshops and online documentation.
Classroom Technology Support: This workgroup is responsible for
proactive preventative maintenance on all the classrooms and for
attending all classroom emergencies.
Instructional Technology/Distance Education: This workgroup is
responsible for the university wide Learning Management System named
Blackboard Learn9. In addition to the LMS support and training, this area
also supports the development and implementation of all Distance
Education courses.
The Information Services area is primarily focused on providing support for the
core information system of Trent University, named Colleague, and for
developing the school’s web based portal, named MyTrent. Additionally, this
area also provides system integration and reporting services, with and from the
Colleague product, respectively. Numerous systems have data integration or
interface with Datatel, including; Advancement, Athletics, Student Affairs, DSO,
Research, Finance, and the Library. Additionally, this area also support multiple
other “bought” systems. For a complete list of Trent systems that are supported
or not supported by the Information Technology Team, please refer to Appendix
B.
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The Digital Service Delivery and Administration workgroup provides end to end
delivery of computer applications and voice telephony. Many specializations
characterize the Digital Service Delivery and Administration, including:






Network. Trent has an extensive network spanning all buildings in
Peterborough and Oshawa. The network provides service to 8600 wired
ports and 145 wireless access points. Currently ResNet is operated
separately and contracted out.
Telephony. The university phone system which provides service to 1900
extensions and integrates the university’s emergency broadcast system.
Data Centre. The university data centres are located in the Bata Library
(primary), DNA building, and Champlain building. The data centres house
150 servers.
Core Services. This includes services such as network file storage,
printing, and e mail.
Enterprise Desktop. We provide services to provision desktop
computers. This does include the distribution of software.
Student Labs and Lecterns. We maintain student lab computers totaling
375 seats in 21 locations. Additionally, we support 100 PCs installed in
classroom lecterns.
Current IT Governance, Committees and Project Structure
In recognizing the need for governance and structure around IT, the IT Steering
Committee (ITSC) was approved by PVP in November, 2011 with the inaugural
meeting held January 13, 2012. The function of the IT Steering Committee is to
review, monitor, and prioritize major IT projects from a cross functional
perspective. The two key concerns of the technology steering committee are:


Alignment. The committee helps ensure that IT strategy is aligned with the
strategic goals of the organization.
Ownership. The business units represented on the steering committee
have ultimate ownership over the larger IT decisions since those decisions
will impact their processes.
A mandate of the ITSC is to oversee the development and implementation of the
Strategic IT Plan. To fulfill this objective, the ITSC created the IT Strategic
Planning Taskforce. Invitation to participate as member of the IT Strategic
Planning Task Force resulted in a cross functional cohort of 9 representatives
from academic, administrative and student areas. This group was exposed to
many of the operational and strategic challenges relating to information
technology at Trent. Weekly meetings included presentations and general
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discussion of opportunities and threats for IT. In addition to being responsible for
the development of framing questions used in data collection this group also took
turns assuming the role of facilitator during the many focus sessions and
interviews that followed during the university consultations leading up to this plan.
Other noteworthy groups that play an important part in IT at Trent include the
Core Data Stewards Committee and Techs at Trent. The Core Data Stewards
Committee is a cross-functional team mandated to identify, design, monitor, and
evolve the flow of enterprise data, recommend policies and procedures, support
documentation needs and advocate for training. This group makes
recommendations to the IT Steering Committee for approval. The Techs at Trent
group was created to allow for all the decentralized IT support at Trent to have a
centralized forum to improve know how, collaborate, communicate, and increase
awareness of IT issues.
In addition to the governance and the committees involved in IT, it is important to
understand how IT currently receives projects, evaluates them and schedules
them. Currently, IT projects are submitted electronically on a first come basis to
IT through an electronic system known as the Project Board. IT management
assesses the submitted projects and determines if they need further approval to
be scheduled and completed. If the determination is that no further approvals
are needed, then IT management schedules the project for completion. The
determination is based on the magnitude of dollars and resources. Projects that
will take very little time to complete, do not demand funding, and have a direct
positive impact are not seen as needing further approval. If a project is
determined to need further approval, it is sent to the ITSC for further approval.
This process of project analysis needs further refinement to ensure that we are
considering projects collectively and in a cyclical basis that matches the budget
cycle.
S.W.O.T Analysis
When considering the formulation of an IT Strategy for Trent, we must consider
the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT). This section
identifies the SWOT analysis that was identified through a thorough analysis by
the IT team. This is a self-analysis. The next section of this plan, “University
Consultation” focuses on how the broader university community views IT and the
services that are offered. It is both these types of analysis that ensure that we
capture a good picture of where the pain points are and where the opportunities
exist.
Strengths
The Trent IT team has a lot be proud of. IT team members are credited with
having good interpersonal skills and providing great service. Additionally, we can
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credit this team with being friendly and student centred. The IT team works hard
and strives to accomplish outlined objectives.
Trent’s size is also a strength for the Trent IT team. Trent’s relatively small size
as compared to other universities makes Trent more nimble and as such more
able to make IT changes faster.
The Trent IT team has great relationships with vendors and these relationships
keep them well supported.
It is also notable to highlight that the IT team has taken some great steps toward
IT Governance and project management in the last number of years. This
includes the establishment of IT Steering and the creation of the Project Board,
as mentioned above.
The IT team has begun a very positive cultural change in the last number of
years. Cross functional teams have been created with the focus on working with
other departments to complete projects, co-ordinate, and communicate, an
example of which is the team created to implement the school ‘s Integrated Web
Presence (IWP). What is important to note here is that not only was the creation
of the cross functional teams successful, but the team was actually able to make
positive changes to the benefit of Trent.
As a whole, the institution has a will for a change to occur within IT, this will for
change has initiated the actions that have led to the first step of change, the plan.
Weaknesses
One of the biggest weaknesses of IT at Trent is the lack of long-term planning
and the alignment of IT across the institution. That being said, we believe that
much improvement has been made in this direction, specifically as related to
efforts spawning from the service delivery plan. In a nutshell, IT investments
have to provide measurable and transparent value to the organization to gain a
higher level of credibility. The weaknesses of IT at Trent can be broken down
as cultural, operational/Procedural, infrastructure, software and integration, and
Teaching and Learning.
Cultural
The observed culture at Trent for the operation of IT related services is
fragmented. Many areas within the institution have their own IT operations to
support their specific IT needs. Decentralized operation of IT is seen as
beneficial to those direct areas. As this may be accurate in some situations, it is
necessary to ensure that when operating in a decentralized model, that
duplication of effort does not occur and that the procedural aspect of IT services
across the institution is well established. Additionally, clear roles of the
decentralized IT services need to be established. It is also observed that the
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delivery of the technology desk services to students is fragmented across a
number of departments. This type of decentralization is seen as non-beneficial
and confusing to students who are trying to receive IT services.
Operational/Procedural
IT operations are suffering from a lack of long-term planning and clarity. This
situation of ambiguity is directly related to the funding received by IT. It is our
assertion that a funded IT plan will rejuvenate IT operations and deliver much
needed services.
To succeed at delivering the expected services and service levels, increasing in
staffing levels in some areas are necessary. This plan will make specific
recommendations in this regard and will tie these recommendations to clear
deliverables.
Additionally, as related to staffing, it is important to note that the Oshawa campus
is currently under serviced by the IT team due to lack of funding. Currently a
part-time advisor and a 1 day a week technician visit is all that is available. This
was a trend that was highlighted as part of university consultations and will be
further evidenced later in this plan.
IT services at Trent are delivered in the absence of strong procedures and
policies. The lack of these procedures and policies has resulted in the
inconsistent delivery of IT services and a lack of understanding of what services
are offered by the IT operation. Closely related to procedures and policies is
the topic of training. A significant number of the IT staff at Trent suffer from the
absence of formalized training; instead, they are expected to “figure it out”. While
IT staff members will do just that, the lack of formalized training and exposure to
technologies also hampers innovation or the complete utilization of existing or
emergent technologies. It is necessary to establish a training program to
strengthen IT skills. This will ensure consistent and reliable delivery of service
that is to the benefit of the whole of Trent.
Infrastructure
The current IT infrastructure at Trent is beginning to age significantly. A large
scale network renewal program was undertaken seven years ago and resulted in
the implementation of a new network that has served the institution well. During
the past number of years, certain select pieces of the infrastructure have
changed, but the main components of the network, the “core”, has aged to a
state by which maintenance of the vendor will end in April, 2013. This would
expose Trent to a high level of risk where significant disruption to network
services costing significant disruption to network operations becomes possible.
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The telephone system at Trent is also aging. The current technology that
supports the phone system is five years old and the desk sets are now seven
years old. There is a need for a replacement of this aging infrastructure to
ensure continued service. The expected renewal cycle for a telephone system is
usually seven years, so we are now in the tail end.
Trent does not have a true data centre, an area that is designed to industry
standards with the correct power, cooling, and hardware placement design for
the housing of Trent’s servers. Currently, Trent has three server rooms in the
Bata Library, Champlain, and the DNA buildings. Each of these areas has its
own issues that need to be resolved. Some of the issues of concern include;



The server room in Champlain has a cooling system that is 20 years and
in need of replacement
The server room in the Bata Library has no back-up power. Additionally
the batteries used to maintain services during a power outage are in need
of replacement
The server room in the DNA building needs to have the batteries replaced
as well
Desktop deployment for administrative staff at Trent needs to be changed.
There is currently no desktop renewal program in place. Desktops are seen as
slow and non-responsive and containing software that is outdated. Establishing
a renewal program will ensure that desktops are rotated on a more timely basis
and software is upgraded on a timeline that meets more of the service
expectations of Trent.
The current e-mail and file storage systems currently deployed by Trent are not
sufficient to meet the service expectations of staff, faculty, and administrative
staff. Not only is the technology seen as aging, but the storage space offered by
these services is very limiting, the access to the data off campus is difficult, and
the integration with mobile devices is lacking.
The storage and back-up infrastructure that supports the e-mail and file storage
systems is part of the issue. Currently, Trent does not have enough storage
capacity to meet service expectations. Also, the back-up system is in bad need
of replacement.
Software and Integration
Software at Trent can be categorized as software that provides services for
Teaching and Learning and software that is administrative in nature. Software
for teaching and learning will be discussed in more detail in the following section.
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Administrative systems at Trent are varied. A complete list is attached in
Appendix B. The number of systems at Trent is higher than that of typical
institutions that have implemented an integrated system, such as Datatel, also
known as Ellucian. Although Trent has implemented the Datatel system,
decisions were made to not utilize the complete functionality of this integrated
system and to purchase separate software packages. These decisions have put
a large strain on the IT team and their ability to integrate and share data across
these systems. Additionally, since the implementation of the Datatel system,
many features that can increase efficiencies and service have not been utilized.
When questioned about why, the consistent reason is time and resources not
only within the IT team but across the administrative departments. Additionally,
system users spend much of their time completing daily tasks and dedicate little
or any time to learn how to better the current system features.
Teaching and Learning
This area has seen much improvement in the last year, specifically with the
introduction of the Blackboard Learning Management System. There is still more
work to be done here though.
Perhaps one of the clearest threats to teaching and learning is that the classroom
technologies are aging and a sustainable technology renewal plan is long
overdue. While a recent improvement plan has resulted in a more focused
approach, the number of classroom emergencies continues to increase as the
install base ages and additional classrooms come online. Additionally, we need
to further train our audio/visual technicians to allow them to support the
technologies that we utilize and wish to utilize. This will allow them to respond to
the classroom emergencies faster.
On a positive note, the introduction of the Blackboard Learning Management
System in September, 2012 was an excellent step towards improving the
teaching and learning technologies support at Trent. More has to be done
though as related to Teaching and Learning. We currently have no planning
mechanisms in place to support the introduction of innovative technologies for
teaching and learning.
Opportunities
One of the biggest opportunities that must be recognized as part of this plan is
that there a strong thirst for change within the Trent IT team and within Trent as a
whole, as related to the utilization of information technology. It is this thirst and
this plan that will translate into action and change.
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Threats
There are three notable threats that we must recognize when formulating this
plan; financial resources, available skill sets, and staff availability. It is these
threats that may directly impact the execution of this plan.
The availability of the financial resources to implement this plan is perhaps one of
the biggest threats. It is the intention to request funding for action items within
this plan as a lump sum to be distributed over a number of years.
The availability of the correct skill sets in and out of IT to implement this plan is
certainly a threat. As we recognize this threat, we will take deliberate actions to
enhance and invest in our staff where needed.
Finally, the availability of staff from across the institution to implement the tactics
outlined here is another threat. As staff go about their day to day operations,
they do not usually have sufficient time in their schedule to make changes. This
time scarcity will directly impact cross functional efforts. As we recognize this
threat, we will make recommendations to mitigate the risk posed by this threat.
University Consultation
To have a strategic plan that is reflective of the needs of Trent University and one
that addresses the weaknesses and strengths of IT as seen by the wider
university community, the IT Strategic Planning Task Force began a series of
consultations with the university community in March 2012. The data collection
yielded some excellent feedback and presented a set of themes to which this
plan will address.
Data Collection Methodology
To approach the data collection members of the IT Strategic Planning Task
Force made the determination that there is only anecdotal evidence of how
people view IT and its strengths and weaknesses. The task force produced a
data collection instrument that would focus on;







Gaining insight into how respondents view “technology” in general.
Ascertaining how the different constituents view the role of IT within the
institution.
Identifying technologies that are being used now
Asking the respondents about how IT can be improved
Identifying the top three priorities as they relate to current IT services
Identifying services currently offered by technology that maybe
underutilized and why
Gaining insight into what services are missing and not being offered
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Please see Appendix C for a copy of the instrument used.
Feedback
Snippets
To deliver this instrument and to ensure that it would be representative
of the overall population at Trent, the task force created a list of groups
that did just that. The groupings included faculty, staff, and students.
Due to the exploratory nature of this data collection, the task force also
opted to use focus groups and “open” forums as the method of data
collection. The focus group took the form of targeted invitations for
members of the university community to attend while the “open” forums
were more of an invitation for anyone to attend.
“Planning, planning
and more planning
especially relating
to new buildings &
renovations …”
“IT needs to be a
welcomed partner
at the table…”
“If we are going to
do I.T. then let’s do
I.T well”
During the period of March through July 2012, the strategic planning
task force completed 30 focus sessions, including 2 “open” forums for
all faculty and staff and 2 “open” forum sessions for students. Please
see Appendix D for a list of all the sessions and the logistics of when
they were delivered. It is important to note here that the data collection
for all the sessions was shared by the task force. Members of the task
force assumed responsibility of each of the focus groups. It is viewed
that this would decrease interviewer bias where interviewers could
begin to form opinions about the feedback and where those opinions
can influence future focus groups. During the focus groups, the
interviewer would use the prepared instrument to ask questions directly
to the group. To ensure that the interviewer was focused on the group,
administrative support was provided to take notes and capture the
feedback from the focus groups. The “open” forums took much of the
same format as the focus sessions, but were open to all faculty and
staff.
Unfortunately, participation of students at the “open” forums was low
and it was determined that to reach the student population, the use of
surveys for data collection might yield the best results. From May 15th
to May 29th 2012, students were given the opportunity to complete an
online survey. The survey was posted on the university’s LMS for
completion by undergraduate and graduate students. Those who
completed the survey were entered in a draw to win a free iPad.
The task force received 598 completed surveys from current students
(undergraduate & graduate) during the 2 week period.
In addition to the above methods of data collection, the task force also
put out an open invitation to the whole university community to provide
any feedback during the strategic plan development process. Members
of the community were asked to email their thoughts to
itstrategicplan@trentu.ca.
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“Focus on
sustaining the
basic services..”
“ priority of grad
students not
necessarily same as
under grad..”
“access to video
conferencing
facilities is
difficult”
“ Better central
support for website needed..”
”printing is
difficult..
Themes from the Feedback
The strategic task force reviewed and interpreted each response from
all focus sessions and surveys. As part of the review of the data,
themes from the feedback emerged and were characterized in the
following categories; (see appendix E for additional detail)
IT governance, leadership and management:
Captured within this classification is feedback relating to planning,
requirements analysis and alignment with university resources. Also
incorporated here is the absence of policy around issues like mobile
device management, remote access and wireless strategy, AODA
compliance and privacy & security. Additionally, the taskforce netted
into this category the strong connotation of wide span frustration and
deteriorating morale relating to poor communications and lack of timely
technical resources available.
Systems administration and infrastructure:
This grouping included responses relating to general network health,
speed, redundancy, reliability, account provisioning, and identity and
authentication management. All data centre “backroom” service
deployment relating to servers responsible for file, print, web, database
and applications as well as all physical network cabling and
infrastructure.
Application development, database administration and support:
This category captures all application development, integration and
hosting issues. The University wide enterprise/central systems (Datatel,
HRIS, BlackBoard Learn9, etc.,) management, version control, updates
and compatibility testing is also included within.
Basic services:
This theme captures all basic IT services including email, anti-spam,
calendaring, file, print, virus protection and data backup/recovery.
Classroom and computer lab support:
Included within this category is all classroom technology, public labs,
teaching labs and overall devices available or expected to be available
for use. All PC/lectern imaging, patching, operating systems, including
the need for a MAC presence was very common theme.
User Support and Services:
This section includes all services provisioned or expected to be
provisioned from the IT service desk including technical triage, Help
desk, trouble ticket response and 1 to 1 assistance. Frequent
responses around the need for IT consulting and training on IT skills,
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“Lack of boots on the
ground in Oshawa
for technical
support”
“I think that the
computer systems in
the library and OC
can be updated. A
newer version of
Word maybe and a
shorter wait period
for loading time. The
tech support is
fantastic! “
“more round the
clock support..”
“ more electrical
outlets ..”
“ increase storage
space for research..”
“don’t let the
technological tail
wag the pedagogical
dog”
services, and policies as well as communications and documentation of
same are captured within this area.
Additionally, E-Learning support including Learning management
services, Faculty web sites, Multimedia development, Instructional
development and support are classified within this category.
Web application/On-line services development and support:
Web site and web application development including all portal and
online services was a hot topic and very important to our user base.
Content development and support for departmental web sites
frequented the top 3 priorities and subsequently captured within this
category.
Audio Visual and presentation services:
Selecting, deploying and managing presentation equipment (AV
equipment) in teaching and administrative meeting spaces continued
across the focus sessions. From faculty and graduate students we
heard very clear feedback relating to the need to increase video
conferencing facilities. Also captured within this category is the need
for video streaming equipment, services, and support.
The strategic task force reviewed and interpreted each response from
all focus sessions and surveys. Respondents were asked to identify
their top 3 priorities with regard to present services provided, or not
provided, through I.T. at Trent.
Faculty and Staff identified their top 3 priorities ranging from a very
urgent need for video conferencing (AV & Presentation services) to the
extreme need for additional support and training. There was a common
theme to clarify and focus on improving basic services before stretching
the existing support across additional or new services. All things “web”
and the need to keep up with the student demand for access to
services online from anywhere/anytime and the lack of evergreen policy
for classroom and computer lab renewal presented at almost all focus
sessions. While many categorized the overall need for improved
planning, policy and resource management (IT Governance,
Leadership and Management).
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Top 3 Priority Ratings
heard from
Faculty/Staff & Students
100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
Faculty/Staff
Students
When reviewed in detail, consistent responses relating to priority included the
following:
 Faster access to the internet and TrentNet services via classroom &
public lab equipment.
 Secure, reliable, stable connectivity to services over wired & wireless
infrastructure.
 Increase in number and upgrade lab computers and faster logins
 Up to date software and operating system versions
 Expanded wireless coverage and stable connections
 Readily available power outlets to re-charge devices
 Printers – reliable access, better maintained and supplies, pro-actively
monitored
 Wireless printing
 Better support for personal devices including Mac’s
 Improved communications of services available; details of interruptions
including time to resolution
 Extended support via online chat and 24/7 availability
 Support for personally owned devices
 Improved email system
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

Mobile apps
More reliable classroom technology and support
When respondents were asked “What does the term “technology” mean to you,
within the university environment”, many respondents repeatedly identified
computing devices such as desktops, laptops, tablets, cell phones, printers,
webcams, digital cameras, TV, radio, DVD, general appliances, e-reader, MP3,
IPods, gaming devices, Smartboards, GPS, classroom projectors and recording
devices. Several responses focused more on the transport of and access to
services by listing wireless and access to the internet while other replies
included, Social media, Skype, Facebook, Twitter, university web services,
access to the Learning management system, library system, email and internet.
Certain respondents included adaptive software including Kurzwell, Dragon
Naturally Speaking, Guide, Open Book and JAWs. While others replied with a
more comprehensive answer such as:
“All electronic tools that facilitate academic study and research;
“interconnectiveness”
“knowledge sharing; data access and decision support”
“technology is anything made by humans – IT is the integration of it”
With regard to the perception of what role the IT department should be providing.
Faculty and staff stated they wanted IT to assume the role of consultant for
projects and provide advice on technology. IT is expected to liaise with
technology vendors as well as to provide support to new technology and
integration of existing services.
It was identified that there is a need to bring clarity around what services are
provided by the information technology department and to clearly document the
level of those services.
Many respondents identified a lack of resources available in areas of support and
training. Also, specific reference for a physical presence in Oshawa was
repeated through both the focus sessions and the online survey tool. Coupled
with complimentary reviews of the tech support received there was an
overwhelming acknowledgement that there needs to be more support with
extended hours, including, evenings and weekends. Numerous respondents
stated that ideally they would like to see a 24x7 support line available to answer
questions in a timelier manner.
Areas identified for improvement spawned a lot of dialogue ranging from the
renewal of classroom technology to the automation of the academic calendar. A
recurring theme associated with the speed and availability of technology on
campus was predominant. This was expressed as slow PC’s, lengthy login
times, slow printing system, and unreliable wireless access.
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The main Trent website, Library online services and the myTrent portal were
popular points of discussion and observed as very important to our respondents.
Recommended improvements included dependable availability to all online
services, ease of navigation, targeted and relevant content, better search, more
e-journals and all services available via mobile devices. The need for centralized
support relating to maintaining departmental web pages was repeated at many
focus sessions. Many departments felt that it was “not” their job to update
departmental web pages.
Respondents are expecting to access all services from their mobile devices
including the learning management system, viewing docs and locating
classrooms.
The current email system for students (Novell Netmail) along with the Groupwise
calendar/email system was a regular complaint. Respondents want support for
larger attachments and larger mailbox storage. The interface for both systems
was cited as unfriendly and not compatible with other systems.
Classroom technology was noted multiple times as unreliable. The technology
alluded to as old and in need of updates. Students want to see more lectures
captured and available online. There is also a sense that more training and
documentation is required around the use of Smartboards and other classroom
technology.
A lot of feedback was directed at the WebCT version of the Learning
Management system. Students are expecting a mobile version to be available
and are not accepting of any interruption to the service.
Wireless coverage is expected everywhere including all classrooms. The speed
and reliability of AirTrent was a common grumble.
Many respondents, mutually Students, Faculty and Staff stressed the need for
Mac support. They wanted to see a Mac presence in the public labs and Mac
compatibility within the services delivered.
The feedback also included observations like better access to knowing what they
(students) actually owe, compatible document format for submission of papers,
available antivirus scan for personal devices and remote access support from
home. The ability to share large files in a “dropbox” like way; regulated “quiet”
areas with computers; one card system; fillable and saveable forms, better
processes and support around September start-up, the need for an institutional
repository for Grad Thesis, a secure server for research and available training for
Datatel and administrative software programs.
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When asked if there are any technology resources that are available that you
avoid/do not use the respondents replied:
 printing is difficult - too slow, unreliable and print poorly
 Never use H: drive and off site access to documents - netstorage is
“clunky”
 Lab computers are really slow
 Calendar system is not user friendly and iPhone issues with it
 Office 2010 or Datatel as result of lack of training
 Portal need a single sign-on not to time out in 5 minutes
 Not clear what is available and how to access ie SPSS
 Circulating equipment is too restrictive
 Email
 Some of the library services, online resources, Topcat – difficult
 Website
 Campus desktops too slow – very common response
 Classroom technology – often problematic
Some suggestions the respondents included relating to technology resources
they would like to use included:


















MyBeat – can we have a Trent-Oshawa version
Panopto for recorded lectures & video conference with professors
Better communication re: service outages “follow me on twitter.”
OneCard system
Logmein – remote support
Datatel integration with Learning Management System
Move apps to the “cloud”
Make tuition process more transparent
Better understanding around software licensing and availability
Automation of processes, online forms to reduce paper and increase
efficiencies, example electronic paystubs
Digital signage
Better sound equipment and video cameras available as circulating
equipment
Webcast lectures; podcasts
Centralized license presentation software like Prezi
Textbook material available for download, e-readers, e-textbooks
Mobile technology – class twitter feeds, use mobile phone for in-class
polls, virtual lectures, Skype for on-line course
Faxing if available
Online support agents to answer student questions
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Impacts of the Integrated Plan
The integrated plan plays an important role in the formulation of the IT Strategic
Plan. We have reviewed the integrated plan in detail and have made note of the
following that should be considered when formulating the IT Strategic Plan;
Summary of Area Description of the impact
Having Impact
Delivery
Timeline
Page 2. Right
Data For Decision
Making (P1)
There is a reference in the Integrated Plan
Not
about ready access to data and ensuring that Available
the right data is available for decision making,
specifically as related to Strategic Enrollment
Management. This is an important reference
with significant data availability implications
Page 6.
Commitment to
achieving financial
stability (P2)
Certainly, Trent’s plan to achieve financial
stability has some very important implications
for IT, including;


Ongoing
Support of financial changes across
the organization from an administrative
system perspective
Achieving financial stability and
predictability within IT
Page 8.
Development of
the IT Strategic
Plan (P3)
This document should satisfy the need for the
development of an IT Strategic Plan. What is
important to note here is that although the
strategic plan identifies the direction, course
corrections during the strategic plan
implementation are necessary.
December
2012
Page 10. Review
of Administrative
Systems and
Organizational
Processes (P4)
A review of administrative systems and
organizational processes will have an impact
on the systems that are being used and on
the phase out and introduction of new
systems.
Sept 2014
Page 10.
Engagement and
Engagement and Outreach at times takes the
necessary technology in place to implement.
Sept 2014
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Outreach to
Aboriginal
Communities (P5)
For example, Lakehead University in Thunder
Bay, ON is looking at utilizing real presence
video technologies to engage Aboriginal
Communities
Impacts of the Academic Plan
The academic plan plays an important role in the formulation of the IT Strategic
Plan. To really appreciate this impact, we have reviewed the academic plan in
much detail and highlighted the areas in the plan that we feel will directly impact
the formulations of the IT strategic plan;
Summary of Area Description of the impact
Having Impact
Delivery
Timeline
Recommendation
4. Establish a
Centre for
Teaching,
Technology, and
Learning (A1)
Sept 2013
The fourth recommendation in the Academic
Plan goes into much detail about the
development of the Centre for Teaching,
Technology, and Learning. IT certainly has a
role to play there. Although, this role is
unclear until further development of this
recommendation is made
Recommendation This recommendation make mention of
6. Affirm and
exploring the use of technology in teaching.
ensure a culture of
inclusivity (A2)
Immediate
Recommendation
25. Capital Project
Recommendations
consider the
academic impact
of decisions (A3)
This recommendation calls for the creation of
larger lecture halls that seat 100, 150, 200,
and 500. There are obvious impacts here as
related to the technologies that must be
infused in these classrooms
Ongoing
Recommendation
32. Establish
Virtual Classroom
Capacity (A4)
This recommendation has a direct impact on
the IT strategic plan. Upon further
clarification with the VP Academic and
Provost, it was determined that this
recommendation speaks to the established of
Distributed Teaching capacity. This is the
use of technology to deliver courses from one
of two remote locations while adding full
Sept 2012
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interactivity between the lecturer and the
learners at both locations.
Recommendation
41. Development
of a clear,
transparent, and
accurate set of
data (A5)
This recommendation actually makes two
sets of recommendations that are important
to the IT Strategic Plan
Sept 2012
Recommendation
42. Integrate the
IT strategic plan
with the academic
plan (A6)
This recommendation is more about infusing
the actions of the IT Strategic Plan with the
Academic Plan. The IT Strategic Plan will
connect to the Academic Plan and make
tactical recommendations that address the
needs of the Academic Plan
Sept 2012
Recommendation
45. Establish an
Evergreen
Program (A7)
This recommendation makes reference to
establishing an Evergreen Program. This
certainly has an impact on IT. The
establishment of an Evergreen Program will
ensure that the IT services remain current
and reliable
Sept 2014
Recommendation
58. Improve
Research Budget
Systems (A8)
This recommendation makes reference to
launching an online service to deliver timely
online service for faculty with research
accounts through My Trent
Sept 2013
1) The first recommendation is the
improvement of the academic
reporting, of which IT has a large role
to play
2) The second recommendation is about
taking deliberate actions to improve IT
and the function of IT at Trent
Industry Trends
The IT Landscape in education and the needs of the different constituencies
served by IT is constantly changing. For Trent University to be successful, we
must interrogate the technological and specific educational trends in technology
that directly correlate to student retention/satisfaction, increased enrollment,
faculty/staff satisfaction, and overall organizational efficiency. Some of the
noteworthy trends that will have a direct impact;
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The Hardware Landscape is changing (I1)
One of the most notable changes to the IT environment is the number and
complexity of devices that students are bringing into educational environments.
According to Dahlstrom, et al. (2011), when asked, a majority of undergraduate
students professed to having as many as twelve technology devices. The
frequency of device ownership per technology is seen in the diagram below;
Source: Dahlstrom, et al. (2011): Technology Ownership
Certainly this trend does bring forth a set of questions that IT strategy will
consider and act upon. Industry analysts, including Walt Mossberg of the Wall
Street Journal, have declared that we are now in the “Post-PC-Era”. Some of the
implications include;



How prepared are we, in terms of capacity, to allow the connection of all
these devices to our WIFI networks?
Where should WIFI coverage be available? According to Dahlstrom, et
al.(2011), 78% of students find WIFI availability “extremely valuable”
What is our “Bring Your Own Device” policy?
Adoption and Growth in Use of Mobile Devices (I2)
The growth in the adoption of smartphones has exploded over the last number of
years. Smartphones can be defined as mobile devices that allow for internet
access through a web browser, e-mail access, calendar access, address book
access, texting, phone features, and access to specialized apps. According to
Hepburn (2011) a recent statistic estimates issued by Microsoft, put the number
of phones in use around the world at 4 billion. Over a billion of those devices are
considered smartphones. This is up from the 400 million shown for 2007.
Additionally, it is projected that by 2014, mobile internet should take over desktop
internet usage and we are predicted to reach close to 2 billion mobile devices
connected to the web by the end of 2015 versus an estimated 1.6 billion
desktops for that same time period. The mobile trends are shown below;
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Source: Hepburn (2011): How fast is mobile internet growing?
Hepburn (2011) also tells us that, on average, American spend 2.7 hours a day
on their mobile device of which 91% is spent on socializing.
The make-up of the mobile market changes quickly. According to Flossi (2012),
the market share as of February is showing a dominance of Android based
devices. This market share is followed by Apple, RIM, Microsoft and finally
Symbian based devices. This market share is depicted below.
Source: Flossi (2012): U.S. Top Smartphone Platforms by Share of Audience
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To declare that the mobile market changes quickly is an understatement. Palm,
Windows Mobile, and RIM once dominated the market. Now, Android has the
clear lead. To have a mobile strategy that works long term, Trent must create a
mobile strategy that is device independent and that is able to go beyond the
market volatility.
There is one inescapable fact though. Mobile is now playing a more dominant
part of the Technology market than ever before.
The above trend has some very important implications for Trent, including;
How are we responding to the advent of Smart Phones as a choice
platform for internet connectivity?
Do we provide good basic services that are available to these different
mobile platforms?
Does our IT staff have the right skills to deal with the advent of mobile
development or to make available our services on mobile devices?



The Apple is Back (I3)
For a company that was nearly in trouble ten years ago, hitting a low of 1.43%
market share in September, 2002 according to OneStat.com, Apple Computers
has certainly made a strong come back in the PC market. According to Gartner’s
Q2 2012 PC sales estimate, Apple now has 12% of the worldwide PC market
share (Pettey, 2012). According to Pettey (2012), while most PC companies
were reporting a double digit negative growth rate, Apple has continued to show
strong growth.
One only has to stop at a university IT service desk to appreciate the comeback
of Apple computers.
The trend in the growth of Apple computers is an important one and has some
very serious implications.





How are we as a service desk prepared to support Apple Computers?
Do we have the skill set needed to support Apple Computers?
Have we licensed our applications to run on Windows and Apple
Computers?
Do all our current services run on the Apple Platform?
Should we consider the introduction of Apple Computer Labs?
Tablet Adoption and Impact on Education (I4)
According to Online Publishers Association and Frank N. Magid Associates, Inc.
(2012), the use of tablet computers is skyrocketing. In 2012, thirty one percent
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Page 40 of 146
(74.1 Million) of the U.S. internet population, ages 8 to 64, regularly use a tablet.
This is up from 12% just a year prior. Additionally, it is predicted that this
statistic will jump to 47% by early 2013. The same study goes on to make the
following conclusions;


Tablets have become embedded in people’s lives. People use their
tablets a number of times daily for a total of 14 hours a week
The most often reported use for tablets is content consumption. Ninety
four percent of users report accessing content regularly.
Another study by Dahlstrom et al. (2011) suggested that tablet owners at higher
educational institutions come from more affluent households with a median
income of more than 100K. This should certainly be considered when looking at
the demographics of Trent.
There are some implications that we should consider here;


Considering that the data tells us that the vast majority of tablet users tend
to use their tablets to consume content. One must consider how Trent
delivers content to its students and faculty.
o How accessible and what is the usability of our website through
tablets?
o How accessible and what is the usability of our portal through
tablets?
o How accessible through tablets are the electronic resources
available to students and faculty?
o How accessible is our LMS to mobile devices?
Do we have the right IT skills sets to develop and produce content for
tablet devices?
The Website, It’s in the Top 10! (I5)
In their book, Strategic Enrollment Intelligence, Black et al, (2010) state that in a
recent national survey of those applicants that have declined offers to an
institution, it was revealed that a university website is one of the top ten factors
influencing an applicant’s decision to decline an acceptance offer.
Currently, Marketing & Communications is charged with the development of our
website strategy and have collaborated closely with IT.
Armed with this information, we must ask ourselves;


Just how effective is our website?
Are we will resourced to maintain our website?
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


Is our current Web Policy sufficient ?
Can our website work well with mobile technologies?
Are we and should we be leveraging social media technologies in our
website?
Additionally, one must consider that the integration of the web and portal
technologies is a trend that is seeing a lot more traction. Universities are
realizing economies of scale, and adding much needed interactivity to their
current website.
Social Media (I6)
Perhaps one of the most complex trends in technology and one that has been
received with such mixed success in the academic world is the use of social
media. Social media turns communication into interactive dialogue among
individuals, organizations, communities, and individuals. It is software that
mediates human communication.
When we think of social media, we think of public social media domains, like
Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, and etc. The important distinction to make here is
that social media can define not only the public social media domains, but also
defines the social media tool sets. These include; blogs, picture-sharing, vlogs,
wall-postings, email, instant messaging, music-sharing, crowdsourcing and voice
over IP, to name a few.
In relation to social media, research has told us a few things. According to Black
et al. (2010), encouraging engagement is a success factor in the drive for student
retention. Additionally, Lenhart, et al., (2010) also informs us that 72% of 18 to
29 years use social networking sites. Other studies, namely Dahlstrom et al.
(2011), point to Facebook usage by undergraduate students being at 90% with
58% checking their Facebook account several times a day. So, this should be a
no brainer, we use social media to engage students. Unfortunately, the
relationship between social media and engagement with an academic institution
is not that simple. Thirty percent of students “strongly agree” that they should
keep their social and academic lives separate with a further 39% saying it would
be inappropriate for a teacher or professor to “friend” them on Facebook
(Dahlstrom et al. (2011).
So, it seems that public social media sites may be inappropriate for use.
Students are likely to want their teachers or institutions on their Facebook page
as much as they are likely to invite them to their birthday party.
The social media trend certainly leaves us with a lot of implications for Trent;
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


What social media strategy for engagement should be employed by
Trent? There certainly is an argument to apply different social media
strategies towards different aspects of academic life
What social media tools are needed for differing methods of engaging the
students?
What should our mobile strategy be around social media?
Faculty Utilization of Technology is strongly correlated to the
Characterization of Institutions that Make Effective Use of Technology (I7)
We can certainly observe from the research that there is no shortage of
technologies that are currently owned by students, but it is the utilization of
technologies by the faculty at an institution that characterizes the institution that
makes good use of technology (Dahlstrom et al. (2010)).
Obviously, this trend has significant implications for Trent.



Are we providing technologically innovative solutions to our faculty that
would allow them to better engage and teach their students?
Are we providing sufficient training to our faculty on innovations that are
introduced?
How are we encouraging our faculty to be innovative themselves? And to
bring that innovation to the class?
Cloud Computing (I8)
There has been a lot of talk about cloud computing in the last number of years
with a lack of true understanding of what it really is. Simply put, cloud computing
is a way to provide applications to users without the need for those users, or their
IT Departments, to purchase, install, or support software (Harrison, 2009). Not
only is the service hosted online, but the data is also usually hosted with the
service provider.
Although the concept of Cloud computing presents great opportunities, it also
presents some challenges as relating to adoption. On one hand, it is more
economical; the services provided in the “cloud” are usually run by experts who
provide better security, service, and availability than can be afforded by most IT
departments. Additionally, educational institutions don’t buy software, invest in
technologies that become quickly outdated or spend a large amount of resources
on technical support.
On the other hand, although we can sometimes be certain that organizational
data can be secured by a service provider, the issue of privacy and jurisdiction of
data usually becomes a point of discussion. Additionally, issues of how data will
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be provided to host institutions upon the termination of service are also a point
for discussion.
Carefully executed and negotiated, cloud computing services can offer
advantages to institutions adopting them. Trent adopted “Google Apps for
Education” as a cloud service in September, 2012. This brought e-mail,
calendaring, and many other services to students.
Spending Comparison
Part of this situational review is a spending comparison between Trent University
and other educational institutions across the country. So, how do our IT
expenditures and structure compare to other Canadian Universities? We have
attempted to answer this question by presenting some of the following metrics:






IT Spend per Student
IT Spend per Staff
Central IT Staff Counts
Central IT dollars spent
IT expenditures as a percentage of Total Revenue
Degree of IT Centralization
We have chosen to use the data provided to us by CUCCIO (Canadian
University Consortium of Chief Information Officers). Additionally, with some of
the metrics i.e., Central IT Staff Counts, Central IT dollars spent, and Degree of
IT Centralization, we have opted to only compare ourselves to universities of
similar size i.e. having FTE counts between 5,000 and 10,000 students.
32
Page 44 of 146
IT Spend Per Student & Staff
Institution
The University of British Columbia
Queen's University
Saint Mary's University
University of New Brunswick
University of Toronto
Thompson Rivers University
The University of Regina
University of Windsor
McGill University
The University of Western Ontario
University of Lethbridge
Brandon University
Simon Fraser University
York University
University of Guelph
Wilfrid Laurier University
Royal Roads University
University of Saskatchewan
Trent University
University of Calgary
Carleton University
University of Northern British Columbia
University of Ottawa
University of Waterloo
OCAD University
MIN
MAX
AVERAGE
IT Spend Per Student
$
$
$
$
$
$
$
$
$
$
$
$
$
$
$
$
$
$
$
$
$
$
$
$
$
IT Spend Per Staff
1,577.00
1,107.00
580.00
1,220.00
1,248.00
912.00
1,052.00
949.00
1,281.00
917.00
1,195.00
1,341.00
927.00
839.00
1,020.00
730.00
807.00
2,472.00
666.00
1,842.00
1,063.00
2,901.00
1,383.00
1,634.00
1,608.00
$
$
$
$
$
$
$
$
$
$
$
$
$
$
$
$
$
$
$
$
$
$
$
$
580
2901
1,250.84 $
$
33
5,427.00
5,585.00
5,649.00
5,729.00
5,755.00
5,867.00
6,057.00
6,447.00
6,969.00
7,628.00
7,887.00
8,295.00
8,381.00
8,622.00
8,706.00
10,345.00
10,857.00
6,506.00
11,758.00
12,395.00
12,539.00
13,254.00
14,801.00
14,993.00
5427
14993
8,768.83
Page 45 of 146
Central IT Staff Counts
UNIVERSITY NAME
Trent University
CENTRAL_IT_FTE TOTAL_STUD_EFTSL
37
72
47
27
58
65
MIN
MAX
AVERAGE
6633
9200
6947
7233
7537
9730
27
72
51
Central IT Dollars Spent
UNIVERSITY NAME
Trent University
CENTRAL IT SPEND TOTAL_STUD_EFTSL
$
3,769,000.00
$
8,325,426.00
$
5,691,244.00
$
3,426,722.00
$
6,950,000.00
$
7,012,620.00
MIN
MAX
AVERAGE
$
$
$
3,426,722.00
8,325,426.00
5,862,502.00
34
6633
9200
6947
7233
7537
9730
Page 46 of 146
IT expenditures as a Percentage of Total Revenue
UNIVERSITY_NAME
Brandon University
Carleton University
McGill University
OCAD University
Queen's University
Royal Roads University
Simon Fraser University
The University of British Columbia
The University of Western Ontario
Trent University
University of Calgary
University of Guelph
University of Northern British Columbia
University of Ottawa
University of Saskatchewan
University of Toronto
University of Waterloo
University of Windsor
Wilfrid Laurier University
York University
IT_EXPEND_TOTAL_REV_PERCENT
5.9
4.7
3.6
9.6
3.1
6.5
2.8
3.1
3.1
4.4
2.4
3.7
3.0
4.1
3.6
4.3
3.3
7
4.8
4.6
3.1
5.1
4.1
4
4.1
MIN
MAX
AVERAGRE
TOTAL_IT_SPEND
$
3,454,170.00
$
25,000,000.00
$
43,764,336.00
$
5,802,154.00
$
24,494,363.00
$
3,765,529.00
$
3,842,000.00
$
19,800,000.00
$
73,549,080.00
$
9,673,612.00
$
26,250,000.00
$
6,330,000.00
$
4,820,747.91
$
55,200,000.00
$
25,736,429.00
$
9,000,000.00
$
11,861,844.00
$
8,200,000.00
$
50,045,622.00
$
42,700,000.00
$
92,316,542.00
$
44,046,029.00
$
13,500,000.00
$
12,100,000.00
$
41,063,651.00
2.4
9.6
4.3
35
CENTRAL_IT_SPEND
$
1,421,243.00
$
11,138,348.00
$
36,661,680.00
$
3,541,463.00
$
14,696,618.00
$
3,765,529.00
$
3,769,000.00
$
17,400,000.00
$
18,375,784.00
$
8,325,426.00
$
15,162,000.00
$
5,691,244.00
$
3,426,722.00
$
29,121,124.00
$
13,778,028.00
$
6,950,000.00
$
7,012,620.00
$
7,500,000.00
$
24,172,696.00
$
22,300,000.00
$
224,568,300.00
$
18,638,594.00
$
8,500,000.00
$
7,310,000.00
$
29,929,651.00
Page 47 of 146
Degree of IT Centralization
UNIVERSITY_NAME
Trent University
DEGREE_CENTRALISATION_AS_IT_EXPEND
DEGREE_CENTRALISATION_AS_STAFF
98.1
92.5
86.1
93.5
89.9
82.5
71.1
65.9
77.2
76.3
59.1
61.3
MIN
MAX
AVERAGE
59.1
98.1
80.2
36
61.3
93.5
78.7
Page 48 of 146
IT Vision
Simply put, the IT Vision is.
Innovative Information Technology for a Stronger Trent
Innovate in our vision not only refers to the introduction of new technologies, but
also refers to the true meaning of innovation which is to introduce new methods
and methodologies in approaching our ingrained practices.
IT Mission
The Trent IT Organization is accountable to students, Faculty, Trent Staff, IT
Staff, and the community in which we operate. The IT Organization will operate
based on the following overarching principles;
a) To our students, we will strive to enhance their experience.
b) To our faculty, we will strive to provide them with the necessary tools and
services to enhance their teaching and research.
c) To our Trent Staff, we will strive to support their plans for efficiency and
enhanced service.
d) To our IT Staff, we will strive to provide them with a healthy work
environment that is engaging, fulfilling, and that will provide them with
appropriate learning opportunities.
e) To the Community in which we operate, we will act as citizens of high
moral and ethical values.
We will deliver our services in a friendly, financially responsible and efficient
fashion as we aspire to be innovative in the delivery and support of Information
Technology at the university as a whole.
Strategies
To fulfill our mission, we will be employing the following strategies;
a) We will introduce new technologies and innovations while retiring aging
technologies. These actions will consider; university consultations,
industry trends and the current state of our infrastructure.
b) We will take deliberate and collaborative actions to weave technology in
teaching and learning efforts.
c) We will increase our commitment to service making it predictable,
measurable and easier to access.
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d) We will pursue improved methods of communication to encourage a
welcoming and approachable environment.
e) We will maintain and introduce transparency in all project and operational
activities to demonstrate accountability for everything we do.
f) We will seek out operational efficiencies and approaches to leverage
technology by way of intentional collaboration.
g) We will increase our commitment to training internally and externally to the
department.
h) We will take deliberate actions to interrogate our budgets and to diligently
align our resources to the IT strategic objectives
i) We will take actions to make IT at Trent a whole university effort that is
more aligned and co-ordinated.
We will take some intentional tactics as related to these strategies the will ensure
that we fulfill our mission and vision as outlined in this plan.
Initiatives (Tactics/Objectives)
Based on the situational review of IT at Trent, Industry Trends, and the Vision,
Mission, and Strategies established in this plan, certain initiatives will be
presented in this section. Each initiative in this section will be presented in a
consistent manner with the following sections;
-
-
-
Initiative Name: The short name being given to the initiative.
Initiative Description: A description of the project will be presented here.
This will provide you, the reader, with enough information to fully
comprehend the initiative being proposed.
Initiative Scope: Some initiatives can begin as small undertakings, but
can quickly mushroom to being much larger than initially expected. The
scope section intends to limit this phenomenon of “Scope Creep” by
explicitly discussing any inclusions, exclusions and assumptions.
Rationale for Initiative: The reason we are undertaking this initiative as
related to the Situational Review and Industry Trends.
Initiative Risk: This is the risk associated with NOT undertaking such an
initiative with an associated likelihood of that risk occurring.
Initiative Priority: Initiative priority was completed based on a project
evaluation tool that took into consideration; Breadth, Audience, Value, IT
Efficiency and Finance indexes. Please refer to Appendix F for a copy of
the tool, including Criteria and Weightings. The initiatives in this report
only contain the final score and initiative priority. For a detailed view of the
evaluations, please refer to the analysis spreadsheet.
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-
Executive Sponsor: This is a member of the PVP team that is ultimately
responsible as the champion for this project.
Department(s)/Team Responsible: The department(s) involved in the
project OR the cross functional team to be formed to undertake this
initiative.
Furthermore, the initiatives will be categorized into the following logical sections;
-
Base Services: This section includes any initiatives taken to improve our
base services.
Service Expansion: This section includes any initiatives related to the
expansion of our services.
Renewal: This section deals with any initiative related to renewal efforts of
our current infrastructure or systems.
Information Systems: This section deals with any initiatives specific to the
renewal or growth of our information systems.
Expanded Customer Service: This section deals with any initiatives aimed
at enhancing our customer service.
Operational Efficiency & Compliance: This section deals with any
initiatives aimed at improving operational efficiencies or dealing with
compliance and security related initiatives.
It is important to note here that during the development of this plan, certain
initiatives have been taken to ensure that some of the feedback has been
addresses. Please refer to Appendix G for a list of these initiatives.
Base Services
Initiative Name
Initiative Description
Storage Enhancements Project
The storage enhancements project is aimed at changing
the personal and shared storage model currently
employed by Trent in both the capacity and the way in
which both faculty and staff can access both their
personal drives and the shared drive space. The project
intends to;
- Increase personal and shared drive space capacity
to 25GB of storage. This is over 30 times larger
than the currently available storage space.
- Make personal and shared drive space easily
available from any device i.e. A windows machine,
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-
Apple Computer, or any mobile device, including;
Apple, Android, and Blackberry
Make personal drive space available even when
the user is not connected to the internet.
Initiative Scope
The scope of the project is to provide a new and improved
personal and shared storage space for both faculty and
staff.
Rationale for
Initiative
This project deals with a number of items identified in the
situational review, including;
- Feedback from the Trent community about storage
and access to storage. This feedback referred to
both the amount of storage and the access to
storage from multiple devices and from off campus
- References in the industry trends about changes in
the hardware landscape, adoption and growth of
mobile devices, return of Apple computing, and the
adoption of tablets.
Initiative Risk
Risk: HIGH
Likelihood: HIGH
Without this initiative, we run the risk of not providing
sufficient space for our staff and faculty to store their
electronic documents and other files. We are currently in
the situation by which insufficient space is offered. This
situation forces staff and faculty to find alternative
methods of storage. . These alternatives introduce risk of
intellectual property loss and continuity loss through loss
of data. Additionally, it is difficult for staff and faculty to
gain access to organizational documents when not on the
university property
Initiative Priority
HIGH: SCORE 64
Executive Sponsor
Steven Pillar/Gary Boire
Department(s)/Team Information Technology
Responsible
Initiative Name
E-mail/Calendaring/Contacts Enhancements Project
The aim of this project is three fold;
- Increase capacity that is available for e-mail
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-
Initiative Scope
Rationale for
Initiative
storage for all staff and faculty
Make e-mail available to any device and from any
location
Enhance the e-mail interface for staff and faculty
and make it available from any location.
The scope of this initiative is to enhance the e-mail
experience of both staff and faculty through a higher level
of storage
- Feedback from the Trent community about e-mail.
This feedback referred to both the amount of
storage and the access to e-mail from multiple
devices
- References in the industry trends about changes in
the hardware landscape, adoption and growth of
mobile devices, return of Apple computing, and the
adoption of tablets. All these trends point to having
a platform that is device agnostic.
Initiative Risk
Risk: HIGH
Likelihood: HIGH
Our current risks of not undertaking this initiative are;
- Loss of e-mail due to insufficient storage on mail
server.
- Inability to send or receive large attachments.
- Inability to use all mobile devices to effectively
connect to the e-mail service. Currently,
Blackberry devices have good integration
Initiative Priority
HIGH: SCORE 59
Executive Sponsor
Responsible
Initiative Name
Imaging System and Computer Support Policy
The purpose of this initiative is to establish a policy about
the imaging of staff and faculty computers at Trent.
Additionally, this initiative aims to establish the support
levels offered by IT for imaged and non-imaged
computers.
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Initiative Scope
The scope of this initiative is the development of said
policy and the communication and implementation
associated with the policy.
Rationale for
Initiative
- Feedback from the Trent community about the
imaging of machines, support for non-imaged
machines and feedback regarding support for Mac
Computers
- Industry trends indicating the move to Apple and
other devices. Our current support model
addresses the needs for Windows users only
Initiative Risk
Risk: HIGH
Likelihood: HIGH
- Having a poor service offering as related to
computer support. This poor service would be
perceived because of the following;
o We would continue to offer imaged
computers that do not meet the expectations
of our staff and faculty.
o We would continue to have vague and
unclear support policies as related to nonimaged hardware
o We would continue to have no support
policies as related to Mac computers.
Initiative Priority
HIGH: SCORE 56
Executive Sponsor
Responsible
Service Expansion
Initiative Name
WIFI Project
As was described in the situational review from both the
feedback from the Trent community and the industry
analysis. The availability of WIFI across the institution
remains an issue of high priority. The coverage and
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location of WIFI services remains a question that needs
further consultation.
It is the recommendation that any deployment of WIFI
take two phases. The first phase analyzes further the
need for WIFI while the second implements WIFI across
the institution based on such recommendations.
Initiative Scope
As mentioned, this project is divided into two phases.
 The scope of Phase I is a further analysis of the
utilization of WIFI across Trent. Consultation with
various committees, such as the Technology for
Teaching and Learning Subcommittee will be the
focus.
 The Scope of Phase II is the implementation of
enhancements to both WIFI coverage and capacity.
Rationale for
Initiative
- Feedback from the Trent community about WIFI
coverage, capacity and availability.
- Industry trends indicating that the availability of
WIFI is one of the top technological priorities of
learners.
Initiative Risk
Risk: HIGH
Likelihood: HIGH
- Continually not meeting student expectations when
it comes to WIFI coverage.
- Poor perception of technology support from Trent
University, generally as defined from a student
perspective.
Students generally form their technology perspectives
based on the base services being offered by the
institution. High on the base services is WIFI.
Initiative Priority
HIGH: SCORE 50
Executive Sponsor
Responsible
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Initiative Name
ResNet Renewal Project
The Trent University residences currently have both
telephone and internet service delivered to them through
an outside vendor. Unfortunately, the service provided by
the outside vendor and the costs associated with this
outsourcing model has been high. A business case and
technical analysis is being performed within IT and could
indicate that there are synergies to be had by Trent IT
assuming responsibility for providing this service. These
synergies come in the form of shared network equipment
and a higher redundancy against failure.
Additionally, the Trent IT team believes that we can
provide a better service to students, including free LD to
Canada and the U.S. and WIFI service, which is currently
not available in the residences.
Initiative Scope
The scope of this project is the replacement of the current
ResNet service provided to students with that of a service
provided by the Trent IT team. The cost of the service
will remain stable at the same cost, but service itself will
be enhanced with better support, access to WIFI, and
better LD.
Rationale for
Initiative
The current offering of ResNet, including both phone and
internet, is expiring in April of 2013 and it may make
sense financially and from a synergy perspective to offer
this service through the Trent IT department at a similar
cost with enhanced service.
Initiative Risk
Risk: HIGH
Likelihood: HIGH
This initiative must be undertaken to ensure continued
availability of internet and phone service in residence.
The current service ends in April 2013.
Initiative Priority
LOW: SCORE 39
Executive Sponsor
Responsible
Initiative Name
Increase Support for Macs and New Mac Lab Introduction
The aim of this initiative is to increase Trent’s commitment
to the Apple platform and to make available an Apple Lab
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for use by faculty and students.
Initiative Scope
The scope of this project is twofold;
- An introduction of an Apple Lab for use by both
faculty and students
- An official policy about the support of Apple devices
by Trent’s IT team.
Rationale for
Initiative
In both the Feedback from the Trent Community and the
Industry Trends sections, it is clear that the hardware
used by both faculty and staff can no longer be treated as
homogeneous to the Windows platform.
Our faculty and students are demanding for both support
of and introduction of Apple computers to the Trent IT
offering.
Initiative Risk
Risk: HIGH
Likelihood: HIGH
Our current risks of not undertaking this initiative, include;
- Having a poor service offering as related to Apple
computer availability and support. We would
continue to have no support policies as related to
Mac computers and we would make no Mac
computers available to our learners.
Initiative Priority
HIGH: SCORE 51
Executive Sponsor
Responsible
Initiative Name
Distributed Teaching and Video Conferencing Project
This initiative has two major goals.
1) Introduce video conferencing technologies into the
classrooms to support a distributed teaching model.
Initially, a pilot is planned for January, 2013, with a
larger roll-out following in the summer.
2) Introduce a number of video conferencing meeting
rooms in both the Oshawa and Peterborough
campuses
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3) Introduce personal video conference. This
This initiative will allow Trent to maintain classes that
would have ordinarily been cancelled due to low
enrollment and would decrease travel between
Peterborough and Oshawa for the purposes of conducting
business.
Initiative Scope
The scope of this initiative will be to equip six classrooms
with video conference facilities and to make four meeting
rooms available in both Peterborough and Oshawa.
Rationale for
Initiative
There are a number of reasons that we are undertaking
this project. These include;
- Increase our ability to maintain classes in
Peterborough or Oshawa that would otherwise
have been cancelled due to low enrolment. This
initiative would see one faculty member in either
Peterborough or Oshawa teaching a class in both
Peterborough and Ottawa while having full
interactivity with students on both sides.
-
Decrease staff travel between Peterborough and
Oshawa and increasing collaboration and
availability to both campuses
Video conferencing was a key feedback point from the
Trent community.
Initiative Risk
Risk: HIGH
Likelihood: HIGH
Our current risks of not undertaking this initiative, include;
- Continuing to cancel low enrollment classes that
would otherwise have been salvageable.
- Continued travel costs as related to staff travelling
between the Peterborough campus and the
Oshawa campus.
- Unavailability of video conferencing facilities for
programs that depend on it. This includes the
Masters of Material Sciences.
- Inability for faculty and researchers to connect
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through video conferencing to other colleagues at
other institutions that utilize video conferencing.
Initiative Priority
MEDIUM: SCORE 43
Executive Sponsor
Responsible
Initiative Name
Introduction of a Survey Tool
This initiative is focused on the delivery of a survey tool
that is freely available to all researchers, staff, and faculty.
The survey tool will allow researchers to standardize on
one tool where they can be assured that their data
collection results are backed-up and secured.
Faculty and staff would be able to harness a tool that
would allow them to collect data from students, other
faculty/staff members, and the community as a whole.
Initiative Scope
The introduction of a new survey tool for researchers,
staff, and faculty.
Rationale for
Initiative
The introduction of this tool will enhance and make easier
the research experience for both our researchers and their
respondents. Additionally, the introduction of such a tool
would aid
Initiative Risk
Risk: HIGH
Likelihood: LOW
There is much risk associated with the use of primary
methods of data collection that rely on researchers
collecting their own data using differing methods of
electronic data collection. These include;
- Loss of research data
- Unauthorized access to research data
- Inadequate security related to the collection and
storage of data
Although the risk would have a significant impact on the
researcher and their data, the likelihood of such a risk
occurring is low.
Initiative Priority
HIGH: SCORE 55
Executive Sponsor
Neil Emery/Steven Pillar/Gary Boire
Responsible
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Initiative Name
Research Sever Service
An introduction of a research server service, for both
Linux and Windows, that is available to all researchers.
This service will allow researchers to lease, on a monthly
basis, a standard server configuration for research
purposes.
IT will ensure that the server and data is secure.
Initiative Scope
The introduction and support of the researcher server
service
Rationale for
Initiative
The introduction of this service will enhance and make
easier the research experience for our researchers.
Additionally, this will ensure that research data remains
secure and backed-up.
Initiative Risk
Risk: LOW
Likelihood: LOW
There is risk associated with researchers using their own
servers which may lack proper back-up and security.
These include;
- Loss of research data
- Unauthorized access to research data
- Inadequate security related to the collection and
storage of data
Although the risk would have a significant impact on the
researcher and their data, the likelihood of such a risk
occurring is low.
Initiative Priority
LOW: SCORE 31
Executive Sponsor
Responsible
Initiative Name
Emergency Communications System and Digital Signage
Project
Currently, the Emergency Communications System at
Trent University consists of an audible system that utilizes
both the phones and public speakers to announce an
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Emergency Situation that must be immediately reacted to.
As part of AODA compliance, we are held accountable to
ensure that the hearing impaired have a methodology by
which they can be alerted to an emergency situation. One
methodology is to utilize LCD screens and place them
across our campus to communicate an emergency
situation.
Directly related to ECS is the concept of digital signage.
Multiple departments within the university have requested
the use of this technology to communicate information.
There are synergies to be accomplished by creating one
initiative to address the needs for both Emergency
Communication and Digital Signage.
Initiative Scope
The introduction of the technologies to ensure the
implementation of an emergency communications system
and a Digital Signage system.
Rationale for
Initiative
The introduction of this technology will allow us to meet
regulatory compliance and to meet the requirements of
the various departments seeking to implement digital
signage.
Initiative Risk
Risk: HIGH
Likelihood: HIGH
Although the risk of a real emergency in which a hearing
impaired person is not notified of an emergency is low to
medium, the risk of non-compliance with AODA is
certainly considered to be HIGH. Non-compliance can
lead to fines amounting to $100,000 dollars.
Initiative Priority
MEDIUM: SCORE 45
Executive Sponsor
Department(s)/Team Risk Management, Information Technology & Marketing
Responsible
and communications.
Renewal
Initiative Name
Network Infrastructure Renewal Project
As mentioned in the situation review, a large part of
Trent’s network has significantly aged. Additionally, the
main part of the network, the network core, will no longer
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be supported by our vendor beginning in April, 2013.
Funding for the network core and a partial switch
replacement will be asked for in 2013. The remainder of
the network switching equipment can be replaced in 2014
and 2015.
Initiative Scope
The scope of this project is the replacement of Trent’s
aging network infrastructure over a three year period.
Rationale for
Initiative
Trent’s aging network infrastructure poses risk to the
uninterrupted network services currently enjoyed by Trent
faculty, staff, and students. A failure of the network core
can take days to recover from with loss of essential
services to staff, faculty, and students.
Initiative Risk
Risk: HIGH
Likelihood: HIGH
The current network infrastructure is aging. Some parts of
the network are older than others. What is clear from the
situational review is that the main components of the
infrastructure, the CORE, is aging. The CORE will no
longer be supported by the vendor by April, 2013. This
represents a HIGH risk in terms of network availability and
assurance
Initiative Priority
HIGH: SCORE 50
Executive Sponsor
Responsible
Initiative Name
Server Room Repairs and Maintenance
The purpose of this project is to complete maintenance
and repairs in the three server rooms, as identified in the
situational review. The maintenance and repairs include;
-
Cooling system for server room in Champlain
College
Back-up power for the server room in the Bata
Library
Replacement of batteries in the DNA building
server room
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Initiative Scope
The scope is as outlined in the initiative description above.
Rationale for
Initiative
As discussed in the SWOT analysis, the server rooms are
in need of some specific repairs to ensure sustainability
and fault tolerance during a power outage.
Initiative Risk
Risk: HIGH
Likelihood: MEDIUM
When server rooms are not maintained correctly they
present risks related to:
- Early failure of equipment due to inadequate
cooling.
- Disruption of service or loss of data due to power
failures and inadequate power conditioning.
To ensure sustainability and high tolerance, the repairs
and maintenance mentioned above must be completed on
the current server rooms.
Initiative Priority
MEDIUM: SCORE 47
Executive Sponsor
Responsible
Initiative Name
Asset Management System
The purpose of this initiative is to create an asset
management system for all Trent owned technology
assets across the organization. This includes;
- Classrooms and Labs
- Offices
- Data Centre
The purpose of such an exercise is not to simply have
better controls, but also to be able to provide some better
predictability for hardware renewals and associated costs.
Initiative Scope
The scope of this system is to track all Trent owned and
supplied technologies for the purposes of control and
timely renewal. A one-time asset sweep is in scope, as
well as documentation regarding asset management
maintenance and upkeep.
Rationale for
Initiative
The current controls of computing assets at Trent can
simply be described as weak. There are currently no
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readily available platforms for reporting on assets,
assignments, age, etc.
This system would allow us to ensure that we have the
correct controls of assets and would address the need to
replace hardware and software in a timelier manner.
Initiative Risk
Risk: HIGH
Likelihood: HIGH
We are currently in a situation in which we have failed to
account for all the IT assets in labs, lecterns and across
staff desks in the organization. This failure has introduced
the following current risks;
- Assets can easily disappear without proper
accounting
- We are unable to accurately predict the financial
burden of computer renewal year to year.
- Our assets age significantly before they are
recognized for renewal. This leads to a bad
experience with technology for both our students
and staff.
Initiative Priority
MEDIUM: SCORE 46
Executive Sponsor
Responsible
Initiative Name
Information Technology Assets Renewal Program
(Evergreen Fund)
The purpose of this initiative is to ensure that we establish
a computing assets renewal program for the purposes of
ensuring that our Information Technology remains both
viable and sustainable. The elements of the evergreen
program, include;
- Office computers
- Labs, classrooms, and all associated technologies
- Data centre
- Servers
- Network and associated devices (Including WIFI)
- Phone system
This program will clearly outline the annual costs of the
evergreen program. To establish a baseline, many
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renewals of the above will be established as a separate
initiative in this plan. The evergreen funds allocated to
each area above will begin the year after renewal.
Initiative Scope
The scope for the project is to establish the program and
to outline the funding needed to run said program. This
initiative does not include any of the projects necessary to
implement the evergreen initiatives. These initiatives will
be discussed in this plan, separately.
Rationale for
Initiative
The SWOT analysis, presented in this plan, includes
weaknesses that can be directly attributed to not having a
technology renewal program. This includes all feedback
related to classroom technologies, labs, and desktop
technologies.
Initiative Risk
Risk: HIGH
Likelihood: HIGH
Without an Evergreen fund, we run a number of risks
associated with aging infrastructure. These risks include;
- Unplanned for downtime leading to disruption of
administrative and educational functions.
- Unplanned for major expenses leading to financial
hardship and higher costs of repair.
- Loss of data or services.
- Increased negative perception of technology due to
aging equipment.
Initiative Priority
HIGH: SCORE 53
Executive Sponsor
Responsible
Initiative Name
Lab/Classroom Renewals Project
The purpose of this project to is to renew the
lab/classroom technologies. This will include replacement
of old equipment and improvement on the current designs
within classrooms.
The initiative will see the renewal of equipment in the
summer of 2013, 2014, and 2015 respectively.
Additionally, as part of this initiative, we will develop a
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policy for the introduction of lab computers at Trent. This
policy will see approval and commitment through the IT
Steering Group.
Initiative Scope
The focus of this project is the renewal of
labs/classrooms.
Rationale for
Initiative
Our labs/classrooms need to be on a set schedule.of
renewal to ensure a continually sustainable teaching and
learning environment that is free from disruption and
failure.
Initiative Risk
Risk: HIGH
Likelihood: HIGH
Without lab/classroom renewal, we run a number of risks
associated with aging infrastructure. These risks include;
educational functions.
- Unplanned for major expenses leading to financial
hardship and higher costs of repair.
- Loss of data or services.
aging equipment.
Initiative Priority
HIGH: SCORE 55
Executive Sponsor
Responsible
Initiative Name
Office Computers Renewals Project
The purpose of this project to is to renew the standard
office computing equipment for all staff.
The initiative will see the renewal of computing equipment
actively planned and executed on an annual basis.
Initiative Scope
The focus of this project is the renewal of office
computers. This project will exclude peripheral device
renewal i.e. Printers, scanners, web cameras, faxes,
specialty mice and keyboard, and etc.
Additionally, tablet computers are excluded from standard
equipment at this time.
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Rationale for
Initiative
Our office computers need to be on a set schedule of
renewal to ensure a continually sustainable work
environment that is free from disruption and failure.
Initiative Risk
Risk: MEDIUM
Likelihood: MEDIUM
The risks associated with not renewing office computers
include;
administrative functions.
- Unplanned for expenses relating to unexpected
computer renewal.
- Loss of data.
aging equipment.
Initiative Priority
MEDIUM: SCORE 46
Executive Sponsor
Responsible
Initiative Name
Upgrade our Phone System (Unified Communications)
The current phone sets within the institution are
approximately seven years old. Additionally, the actual
phone system is currently more than five years old. This
system has reached the state by which replacement is
necessary.
It is important to note here that synergies will be realized
from the upgrade of the phone system being achieved at
the same time as the move to ResNet.
Initiative Scope
The scope of this initiative is to renew our current phone
system and to replace the sets currently being utilized by
our end users.
In making this change, a review of the current way in
which the phone system handles incoming calls to Trent
University will be undertaken. The current process of
incoming calls has been flagged as problematic in the
feedback received from the consultations accomplished
with the Trent Community.
Rationale for
Initiative
Aging infrastructure. Higher likelihood of service
disruption becomes likely.
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Initiative Risk
Risk: HIGH
Likelihood: MEDIUM
The risks associated with not upgrading our telephone
system include;
administrative and academic functions
- Unplanned for expenses relating to unexpected
equipment failure
- Loss of voicemail data
aging equipment.
Initiative Priority
MEDIUM: SCORE 40
Executive Sponsor
Responsible
Information Systems
Initiative Name
Website Renewal
The purpose of this project is to renewal the underlying
infrastructure, the layout and the design of the existing
Trent website. This would be a collaborative project
between Marketing & Communications and IT with
involvement by the rest of the organization.
The Oshawa website renewal is currently underway and
will form the basis for the website renewal.
Initiative Scope
The focus of this project is the renewal of the whole
website. To accomplish this successfully, Marketing &
Communications and IT will devise a cross-functional
team and create a clear Terms of Reference and project
charter for the project.
Rationale for
Initiative
The feedback from the university community places the
website high on most people’s list. Additionally, we can
see from the Industry Trends that the website plays an
important role in enrollment and the university brand.
Initiative Risk
Risk: HIGH
Likelihood: MEDIUM
The risks associated with not redoing our current website
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include;
- Having a site that does not address the needs of
our audiences.
- The age of the site projecting a perception about
our institution in a negative fashion
- Not easily finding the resources that we seek
- Not being available to devices in what has now
been termed the post PC era.
Initiative Priority
HIGH: SCORE 64
Executive Sponsor
Julie Davis/Steven Pillar/Gary Boire
Department(s)/Team Cross-functional team created by Marketing &
Responsible
Communications and IT
Initiative Name
Trent Portal integration with Website redevelopment
Ensure that portal integrates with website as it is
redeveloped. Review new technology and implement
changes to portal.
Initiative Scope
The scope of this project includes;
- Training IT staff on platform
- Reviewing the new website platform
- Implementing changes to current portal
Rationale for
Initiative
Initiative Risk
Single web framework. This will decrease maintenance
and introduce a single web platform across the institution,
as such, increasing efficiency
Risk: MEDIUM
Likelihood: HIGH
We run into a risk of confusing our audience about where
to retrieve web information if both the portal and the new
website are not integrated.
Initiative Priority
HIGH: SCORE 53
Executive Sponsor
Department(s)/Team Marketing & Communications and IT
Responsible
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Initiative Name
Mobile Access for Student Services
This initiative will make available certain student services
directly to student mobile devices
Initiative Scope
Allow access to basic student services directly on mobile
devices. Some services include;
 Academic Record and Grades
 Student Timetable and Schedule
 Course Calendar
 Financial Statement
 Course Registration

Rationale for
Initiative
Allow students access to core student information using
cellphones and mobile devices. As was demonstrated in
the Industry Trends section, mobile access of information
has increased significantly. This initiative moves us in line
with the hardware trends.
Initiative Risk
Risk: HIGH
Likelihood: HIGH
As more and more students employ mobile devices and
tablets to access the internet. We run the risk of not
meeting student expectations if we do not begin to offer
our services in a format that would easily run on those
devices.
Initiative Priority
HIGH: SCORE 50
Executive Sponsor
Department(s)/Team RO/Information Technology
Responsible
Initiative Name
Recruitment and Prospects
Record, track and manage contact information for
prospective students.
Initiative Scope

Review of current recruitment processes and
systems.
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







Review systems in use at other institutions.
Purchase of developed solutions
Single Prospect Database
Target web site and email communications
Ability to better track Communication with
Prospects
Event Management (NSO. Open House, Tour
Bookings)
Import of Prospect Data (e.g. Ontario Universities’
Fair Data)
Schedule and track recruiting visits, including
post/viewable on the web
Rationale for
Initiative
Current processes and mechanisms for prospect data
collection and storage are not linked resulting in
inefficiencies and difficulties in effectively managing
prospects and prospect communications. Consistency and
improved efficiencies in data collection, sorting and
manipulation are needed for more frequent, effective and
timely communication, resulting in better tracking of
prospects for Trent and enhanced customer service for
prospects. A more consistent and user friendly system will
also allow for better filtering of prospects against
applicants to avoid duplicate work and communications.
Initiative Risk
Risk: MEDIUM
Likelihood: MEDIUM
As the enrollment environment becomes more
competitive, an information system to track and assess
recruitment efforts will ensure that we expend our
resources on the efforts that give us the biggest returns in
terms of enrollment.
Without a system, we run the risk of expending resources
inefficiently and in not maximizing the efficiency of our
recruitment efforts.
Initiative Priority
MEDIUM: SCORE 47
Executive Sponsor
Gary Boire
Department(s)/Team Recruitment
Responsible
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Initiative Name
Institutional Reporting
Development of analytic reporting of key institutional
performance areas.
Initiative Scope
Support IR in their development of Institutional Reports.
Create and maintain data extracts and database for use in
creating reports.
Rationale for
Initiative
IR will be developing management and analytical
reporting. IT will need to ensure that they have the ability
to access any information that has been identified as
critical for that reporting. The need for strong IR
metrics/reporting was identified in both the Academic and
Integrated Plans.
Risk: MEDIUM
Likelihood: MEDIUM
We run the risk of making decisions based on inaccurate
information or no information.
Initiative Risk
Initiative Priority
HIGH: SCORE 58
Executive Sponsor
Gary Boire
Department(s)/Team Institutional Reporting. Recommend the formation of an
Responsible
IT and IR working group in charge of identifying
metrics/reports that will be slated for development
Initiative Name
Course Equivalency Database
Ontario Initiative to provide a common database of
University and College courses with course equivalency.
Initiative Scope
Rationale for
Initiative
Currently providing course and course equivalency data
as part of a review. Next steps to be determined.
Allow students to compare courses and review transfer
equivalencies across universities and colleges.
Initiative Risk
No risks associated with this initiative.
Initiative Priority
LOW: SCORE 38
Executive Sponsor
Gary Boire
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Department(s)/Team SEM
Responsible
Initiative Name
Document Management (Pilot)
This initiative would be System to store, manage and
retrieve documents in students’ records and finance.
Initiative Scope
Rationale for
Initiative

Current scope is to develop requirements and
project plan. Solutions have been reviewed in the
past without a plan or requirements. Need to
complete this phase by summer 2012.

Review systems and recommend solution. Look
into available systems.

Current plan would be to then phase in a solution
into Student Records and Finance.
Large amount of paper documents stored in files.
Causes space problems.
 Difficult to manage. Time spent filing and
retrieving documents.
 Electronic documents can be easily searched for
and retrieved from any location.
 Electronic data can also be indexed and saved.
Risk: LOW
Likelihood: MEDIUM
This project is about increasing efficiency and ability to
retrieve needed information. We run the risk of not
having easy access to needed documents and to be
inefficient in terms of document processing.

Initiative Risk
Initiative Priority
LOW: SCORE 36
Based on the risks presented above and the likelihood of
this risk occurring, this initiative has been allocated a
medium priority.
Executive Sponsor
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Department(s)/Team RO/Finance
Responsible
Initiative Name
HR/Payroll Reporting Enhancements
The purpose of this project is to develop required HR
reporting using MSSQL and SSRS reporting tools.
Initiative Scope
The scope of this project is as follows;
 Review reporting requirements with HR and
Payroll.
 Create extract and import of required data from
HRIS to IRIS SQL database.
 Develop reporting based on requirements.
 Train HR on use and creation of reporting.
The rationale for this initiative is as follows;
 Improved reporting.
 Current reports have been developed using older
technology and require conversion back to older
database before reports can be run.
 Use of a standard MSSQL reporting tools that can
be supported by Trent IT staff.
 Reports can be developed by IT and by HR/Payroll
Power users.
 Reporting will be more sustainable and not as
dependant on a single person.
Risk: MEDIUM
Likelihood: MEDIUM
Rationale for
Initiative
Initiative Risk
Initiative Priority
HIGH:SCORE 51
Executive Sponsor
Steven Pillar
Department(s)/Team Human Resources
Responsible
Initiative Name
Finance Reporting Enhancements
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Improved standard and ad-hoc Finance Reporting
Initiative Scope
Scope of this initiative;
 Use of IRIS MSSQL reporting to develop Financial
Reports.
 Review and identify reports for development with
IRIS MSSQL.
 Develop reports for Finance to use.
 Train power users in Finance in use of SSRS
Report Builder. Develop Data Models for Finance
to use when building their own reports.
Rationale for
Initiative
More flexible financial reporting.
Improved ability to develop reports that can be
deployed for end user use.
Risk: MEDIUM
Likelihood: MEDIUM


Initiative Risk
Initiative Priority
HIGH: SCORE 51
Executive Sponsor
Steven Pillar
Department(s)/Team Finance
Responsible
Initiative Name
Research Reporting Enhancements
This initiative will provide financial reporting budget and
project tracking) to researchers using the Process
Pathways “eFin” and Romeo Systems.
Initiative Scope
The scope for this project includes;
 Provide data from Colleague Financial System for
import into” eFin”.
 Provide Single Sign access to system for
researchers and faculty.
Rationale for
Better financial reporting for researchers. This was
identified as one of the recommendations in the Academic
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Initiative
Plan.
Initiative Risk
Risk: MEDIUM
Likelihood: MEDIUM
Initiative Priority
HIGH: SCORE 50
Executive Sponsor
Neil Emery/Gary Boire
Department(s)/Team Research Office/Finance
Responsible
Initiative Name
Web Forms
Ability to create, deploy and maintain electronic forms in
Trent Portal without the need for IT intervention.
Initiative Scope
Train and support department experts on newly created
forms tool.
Rationale for
Initiative
The web forms project will allow many departments at
Trent to walk away from their paper forms. There are
many advantages to this, including;
 Form submissions are tracked in a database.
 Allows users to easily and quickly create and
implement electronic forms.
 Built in reporting and tracking of submissions.
 Built in confirmation of submissions.
 Login information automatically tracked, so
submitter not required to enter demographic
information (name, email, etc.)
 Central support possible if forms created using tool.
 Easier to support when admin staff turnover occurs.
Initiative Risk
Risk: LOW
Likelihood: LOW
We run the risk of using inefficient methods to receive
forms based information from staff, faculty, and students.
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Initiative Priority
LOW: SCORE 35
Executive Sponsor
Responsible
Initiative Name
Financial Integration with Athletics System
The Athletics Centre uses recreation management
software, Class, to support its business operations.
This includes all membership sales, program
registrations, and facility rentals. Other modules to be
implemented are campus recreation and camps. The
goal of this project is to integrate the financial
component of Class with Trent Financial System
(Colleague from Ellucian)
Initiative Scope
The scope of this project is to fully integrate all
receivables of the Athletics Centre that are processed
through the Class system with the University’s
financial system.
Rationale for Initiative
Currently, all payments processed through the Class
system are keyed in manually again to Trent’s financial
system. Efficiencies can be gained in staffing time and
costs across the department. Additionally, greater
financial controls can be implemented by integrating
Class with the school’s system.
Initiative Risk
Risk: MEDIUM
Likelihood: MEDIUM
We run a number of risks associated with not
integrating our Athletics System with our Financial
System. These include;
- The risk of being inefficient with continued
double entry
- The risk of errors due to manual entry
- The risk of lag associated with batch entry
Initiative Priority
Executive Sponsor
Department(s)/Team
Responsible
LOW; SCORE 34
Steven Pillar
Information Technology, Athletics, Finance
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Expanded Customer Service
Initiative Name
Service Catalogue
The purpose of this initiative is to make available a
catalogue of services to staff, faculty, and students that
are offered by the Trent IT Department.
This catalogue of services will be made available on the
Trent University website for ready access and will include
information about details of services, availability, hours of
operation, etc.
Initiative Scope
The scope of this project is to author the catalogue and to
make the catalogue available on the Trent University
website.
Rationale for
Initiative
This initiative is undertaken to increase accountability and
clarity about the services and service levels currently
available from the Trent IT Department.
This clarity should increase user satisfaction levels and
manage expectations.
Initiative Risk
Risk: HIGH
Likelihood: HIGH
The risks of not having a Service Catalogue, includes;
- Confusion about the services that the Information
Technology department offers and the expectations
around service delivery
- Dissatisfaction with the Information Technology
department related to confusion about expectations
- Delivery of services without correct accounting of
costs and related resources.
Initiative Priority
HIGH: SCORE 54
Executive Sponsor
Responsible
Initiative Name
Establishment of a Technology Training Program
The purpose of this initiative is the establishment of an IT
Training Program. This training program will have the
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following deliverables;
- A survey of all faculty and staff on the IT training
skills that they see as necessary with the results
guiding the program formulation
- A training calendar to outline IT Training topics and
the schedule by which these training topics will be
delivered.
- Training materials for classes to be delivered
- A training website with access to training materials
and videos.
- The purchase of training materials where
necessary and cost effective
- A link from the service catalogue to the training
materials
Initiative Scope
The scope of this project is to develop and ongoing IT
training program for Trent University. This program will
focus on ensuring that the Trent university staff, faculty,
and students have the skills necessary to do their jobs
well and in an efficient fashion.
Rationale for
Initiative
The feedback from the Trent Community identified training
and the lack of it as related to IT as the highest priorities
for IT at Trent.
Initiative Risk
Risk: HIGH
Likelihood: HIGH
A poorly trained staff in the use of our existing Information
Technology resources. The lack of training can lead to
inefficiencies in Information Technology/Systems
utilization, system and information technology decisions
based on little understanding about the current
infrastructure, frustration by users and a general
dissatisfaction with IT.
Training was one of the most consistent feedback themes
from staff and faculty. Staff and faculty felt that they were
ill trained to be efficient in the use of our current
Information Technology.
Initiative Priority
HIGH: SCORE 56
Executive Sponsor
Responsible
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Initiative Name
Enhancing IT Support Delivery
This initiative is aimed at improving service delivery by IT.
This includes the following;
- Ensuring that we have the right support time
schedules.
- Ensuring that we have the right remote support
tools.
- Introducing other avenues for receiving support,
including live chat and always on point to point
video support
- Establishing a support model for Oshawa to ensure
enhanced availability of support
Initiative Scope
As noted above
Rationale for
Initiative
Support and delivery is a reoccurring theme from the
consultations. Additionally, support for Oshawa is a
flagged as an area of concern.
Initiative Risk
Risk: HIGH
Likelihood: HIGH
We run the risk of failing to meet support expectations of
staff, faculty, and students. A consistent feedback theme
from the university consultation was directly related to
increasing our support hours.
Initiative Priority
MEDIUM: SCORE 45
Executive Sponsor
Responsible
Initiative Name
Development and Implementation of an IT
Communications Plan
This initiative is focused on the development of an IT
Communications Plan. This plan will outline the following;
-
What communication mediums will IT use to reach
each of its constituents?
Under what circumstances will IT communicate
with its constituents?
What regular update communication will become
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part of the IT communications strategy?
Initiative Scope
The development and implementation of the IT
Communications Strategy
Rationale for
Initiative
The feedback from the University Community lists
communications as one of the weaknesses of IT. The
development of this plan will address this weakness.
Initiative Risk
Risk: HIGH
Likelihood: HIGH
Without a communications plan, IT runs the risk of not
meeting the communications needs of staff, faculty, and
students. Poor communications can also lead to poor
perceptions and lack of clarity about IT.
Initiative Priority
MEDIUM: SCORE 45
Executive Sponsor
Responsible
Operational Efficiency and Compliance
Initiative Name
Review all decentralized IT services and produce
agreements with decentralized IT Services at Trent
regarding roles and responsibilities.
The goal of this initiative to review the decentralized IT
services at Trent and to make recommendations
regarding the centralization of some currently
decentralized IT functions. Also, this initiative aims to
establish agreements with all remaining decentralized IT
services at Trent. These agreements will;
-
Initiative Scope
Improve operational clarity
Ensure that IT at Trent is run in an efficient and
cohesive fashion
Improve customer service of IT to our end users
The scope is to review all decentralized IT operations,
make recommendations about positions that are to be
centralized and to produce agreements with all
decentralized IT groups on campus
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Rationale for
Initiative
There are a number of reasons to create these
agreements, including;
-
-
Improve service to our end users
Respond to some of the feedback gained from the
campus consultation about some of the confusion
associated with having decentralized IT operations
Improve overall operational efficiencies
Initiative Risk
Risk: HIGH
Likelihood: MEDIUM
We have a number of risks related to the current model of
decentralized IT operations, these include;
- Inconsistent IT service delivery by the different IT
groups
- Ineffective supervision of decentralized IT staff by
supervisors who have no IT knowledge
- Inefficiencies due to the specialization of IT staff
who may not be fully utilized to serve the whole
institution when possible
- Departmental IT decisions without consideration of
the overall effects on the whole institution
Initiative Priority
HIGH: SCORE 51
Executive Sponsor
Department(s)/Team Review is to be undertaken by the AVP, IT. The process
Responsible
will involve consultation and the drafted recommendation
is to be discussed and approved by IT Steering.
Initiative Name
Establishment of Policies and Procedures around IT
The goal of this initiative is to establish some key policies
around IT at Trent. Absence of current policies has the
following effects;
- Introduces Legal Risk Around the use of IT at Trent
- Obscures or make non-existent the position of
Trent around issues of;
o Acceptable use of Trent’s IT resources;
including e-mail, storage, network, and etc.
o The advent and use of personal devices at
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Trent
o Computing lab commissioning and
deployment
o Enterprise Software Acquisition
o Hardware acquisition
Initiative Scope
The scope of this initiative is to produce a list of needed
policies and procedures.
Rationale for
Initiative
There are a number of reasons to create these policies
and procedures, including;
-
The mitigation of legal risk
Making clear Trent’s position on key IT issues and
the associated consequences of breaching such
policies and procedures
Initiative Risk
Risk: HIGH
Likelihood: HIGH
Without sufficient policies and procedures, we have the
following significant risks;
- Legal risk related information technology usage
and information system utilization
- Having inconsistent service delivery due to lack of
procedures
Initiative Priority
HIGH: SCORE 54
Executive Sponsor
Department(s)/Team The policies and procedures are to be authored by the
Responsible
AVP, IT. The process will involve consultation and the
drafted policies are to be discussed and approved by IT
Steering.
Initiative Name
Establishment of the IT Staff Training Fund
Skill development within the IT organization is an
important factor in the success of IT within any
organization. The purpose of this initiative is to improve
and retool the skills of our existing IT staff. Currently,
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there are no funds specifically set aside for this purpose.
Initiative Scope
The scope of this initiative is to make funds available to IT
staff for professional development. These funds will go
hand in hand with any realignment initiatives that are
necessary to retool the staff.
Rationale for
Initiative
IT Skill development is necessary to;
- Ensure that our IT staff have the necessary skills to
run our systems.
- To ensure that our IT staff keep their skills up to
date. This will aid staff in;
o Working more efficiently
o Updating their skills and roles to
accommodate emerging technologies and
changing IT models
o Introducing innovations in both process and
tools to the organization
o Feeling more job satisfaction and
progression. This will, in turn, reduce
turnover.
The IT team will fail to meet the needs of Trent without
skills development.
Initiative Risk
Risk: HIGH
Likelihood: HIGH
A poorly trained staff in the delivery of Information
Technology resources. The lack of training can lead to
inefficiencies in Information Technology/Systems delivery,
system and information technology decisions based on
little understanding about the current industry and outlook,
frustration by users and a general dissatisfaction with IT.
Training was one of the most consistent feedback themes
from staff and faculty. IT staff felt that they were ill trained
to be efficient in the delivery of Information Technology.
Their skills have stagnated.
Initiative Priority
HIGH: SCORE 65
Executive Sponsor
Responsible
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Initiative Name
Administrative Systems and Operational Review
This initiative was identified in the Integrated Plan as
necessary to ensure that our current administrative
systems and processes are achieving operational
efficiencies. To achieve this objective, it is recommended
that the Vice President of Administration form a cross
functional team with representation from across the
administrative departments. The aim of this team is to
select an external partner to review Trent’s systems and
processes and to make recommendations regarding
operational and administrative system changes that need
to be executed to improve operational and system
efficiency.
Initiative Scope
The selection of an outside vendor that is charged with
making recommendations regarding operational
efficiencies and systems changes.
Improving operational efficiencies
Rationale for
Initiative
Initiative Risk
Risk: HIGH
Likelihood: HIGH
Without a thorough Administrative Systems and
Operational Overview, we run the risk of;
- Having operationally inefficient systems and
processes
- Duplicating processes and efforts
- Having processes in place that are no longer
needed.
Initiative Priority
HIGH: SCORE 74
Executive Sponsor
Department(s)/Team Cross functional team formulated by the Vice President of
Responsible
Administration.
Initiative Name
IT Operating Funds – Financial Review
The purpose of this project is to establish a new detailed
IT operating budget. This budget would make transparent
every dollar that IT spends and for what purpose.
Additionally, this initiative will attempt to cover
inefficiencies and eliminate them.
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Initiative Scope
Rationale for
Initiative
Initiative Risk
The scope of this project is to do bottom up budgeting for
all IT operations.
Improving operational efficiencies and improving
transparency.
Risk: MEDIUM
Likelihood: MEDIUM
Without a thorough review of IT operating expenditures,
we run the risks of not utilizing our operational funds in an
efficient fashion.
Initiative Priority
HIGH: SCORE 57
Executive Sponsor
Department(s)/Team
Responsible
AVP, IT
Initiative Name
AODA Compliance
The purpose of this project is to ensure that we are within
AODA compliance across our technology systems and
services. The project will be accomplished in two phases.
In Phase I, we will accomplish an identification of AODA
guidelines that directly affect technology and we will cross
reference our technologies and services against these
requirements to identify any compliance issues that now
exist.
In Phase II, we will commission actions to bring our
systems and services to compliance.
Initiative Scope
The scope of this project is to identify and bring into
AODA compliance our technologies and systems.
Rationale for
Initiative
Initiative Risk
Regulatory compliance
Initiative Priority
HIGH: SCORE 56
Executive Sponsor
Risk: HIGH
Likelihood: HIGH
AODA outlines some very stringent requirements that we
must be in compliance with by 2014. Failing to be in
compliance may present fines, up to $100,000.
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Department(s)/Team
Responsible
Information Technology &
Office of Human Rights, Equity, & Accessibility
Initiative Name
Infrastructure and Data Security
The purpose of this project is to ensure that, we, as an
institution are undertaking the necessary steps to protect
the security and integrity of our data and infrastructure.
That being said, I would like to point out that there are
many aspect of security that are already weaved right
through this document. These include;
- An administrative system and operational review
that will include recommendations about our
current data and process security models
- Storage enhancements to increase our storage
capabilities and our back-up capacity to deal any
future disasters.
- The completion of the fibre ring to ensure
redundant paths and no single point of failure.
- The enhancement of our network to ensure that the
latest technologies are employed in firewall and
intrusion detection.
Beyond these efforts, certain actions still need to be taken
to ensure infrastructure and data security. Of paramount
to these is;
- A security sweep of our servers and access levels
- Policies that govern our users utilization of our
technologies
- Policies that govern the handling of sensitive data
and the storage and handling of such data.
This initiative was formally requested by the Finance and
Property Committee of the Board.
Performing a security sweep across our servers and
authoring the necessary policies to mitigate the risks
currently encountered
Initiative Scope
Rationale for
Initiative
Initiative Risk
Protecting the safety and security of our infrastructure and
data.
Risk: HIGH
Likelihood: MEDIUM
Our current security safe guards across the institution are
generally good. Our aging infrastructure and security
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design does pose some risks though. Additionally, our
lack of policies around some key issues also need to be
addressed.
Initiative Priority
HIGH: SCORE 66
Executive Sponsor
Department(s)/Team
Responsible
Information Technology
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Initiatives (Tactics/Objectives) Summary
Below is a summary of all the initiatives presented above, sorted by Initiative
Priority. Please refer to the Excel sheet for more details on how the scores were
derived.
Project Name
Establishment of IT Staff Training Fund
Website Renewal
E-Mail/Calendaring/Contacts Enhancements Project
IT Operating Funds - Financial Review
Technology Training Program
AODA Compliance
Introduction of a Survey Tool for Research Usage
Service Catalogue
Establish Policies and Procedures around IT
Establish Evergreen Fund
Trent Portal Integration with Website Redevelopment
Review decentralized IT Services roles and responsibilities
WIFI Project
Recruitment & Prospects
Emergency Communications Systems and Digital Signage
IT Communications Plan
Rounded
Total
74
66
65
64
64
59
58
57
56
56
56
55
55
54
54
53
53
51
51
51
51
50
50
50
50
47
47
46
46
45
45
45
Ranking
HIGH
HIGH
HIGH
HIGH
HIGH
HIGH
HIGH
HIGH
HIGH
HIGH
HIGH
HIGH
HIGH
HIGH
HIGH
HIGH
HIGH
HIGH
HIGH
HIGH
HIGH
HIGH
HIGH
HIGH
HIGH
MEDIUM
MEDIUM
MEDIUM
MEDIUM
MEDIUM
MEDIUM
MEDIUM
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Upgrade Telephone System
Document Imaging
Web Forms
Research Server Service
43
40
39
38
36
35
34
31
MEDIUM
MEDIUM
LOW
LOW
LOW
LOW
LOW
LOW
78
Q1 (January 1st – March 31st)
Q3 (July 1st – September 30th)
E-mail/Calendaring/Contacts Enhancements Project
Introduction of a Survey Tool
79
Website Renewal
Lab/Classroom Renewals
WIFI Project – Phase I: Consultation
Q4 (October 1st– December 31st)
Office Computer Renewals
Q2 (April 1st – June 30th)
2013: Page 1
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Timelines
The timelines depicted below address the timeline for implementing the initiatives
listed above. Please note that some initiatives are ongoing throughout the plan
while others are discrete. Also, the timelines begin on January, 2013 and end on
June 30th, 2015. This coincides with the timelines of the Integrated and
Academic plans.
IT Operating Funds Financial Review
Establish IT Staff Training Fund
Web Forms Deployment
AODA Compliance
Ongoing Operational Information System and Information Technology Support
Administrative System and Operational Review
Review of Decentralized IT Services Roles and Responsibilities
Finance Reporting
Establish Policies and Procedures
Emergency Communications and Digital Signage Project
Development of an IT Communications Plan
Service Catalogue
2013: Page 2
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80
81
Review of Decentralized IT Services
Roles and Responsibilities
Finance Reporting
Document Imaging Pilot
Trent Portal Integration with Website
Administrative System and Operational Review
Website Renewal
WIFI Project – Phase II: Implementation of WIFI Enhancements
2014
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2015
WIFI Project – Phase II: Implementation of WIFI Enhancements
Document Imaging Pilot
Trent Portal Integration with Website
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Costing Summary
The summary of the costing for this strategic plan is shown below. Please refer
to Appendix H for more details on the below shown costs.
Capex
Opex
2013
Plan Initiative
Base Services
E-Mail/Calendaring/Contacts Enhancements Project
Total
Service Expansion
WIFI Project
ResNet Renewal Project*
Introduction of a Survey Tool for Research Usage
Emergency Communications Systems and Digital Signage
Total
Renewal
Total
Information Systems
Website Renewal
Trent Portal Integration with Website Redevelopment
Recruitment & Prospects
Document Imaging
Web Forms
Total
Expanded Customer Service
Service Catalogue
IT Communications Plan
Total
2014
2015
$ 300,000.00
$ 437,000.00
$ 39,000.00
$
75,000.00
$ 791,000.00 $
$ 250,000.00 $
$ 40,000.00
$ 300,000.00 $
$ 250,000.00 $
$
$
$
2014
2015
$ 40,000.00 $ 40,000.00 $ 40,000.00 $
$ 10,000.00 $ 10,000.00 $ 10,000.00 $
$ 7,800.00 $ 7,800.00 $ 7,800.00 $
$
$ 50,000.00 $
$ 567,750.00
$ 30,000.00
$ 400,000.00 $
$
2013
Total Expenditures
420,000.00
467,000.00
62,400.00
949,400.00 $
949,400.00
160,000.00 $ 30,000.00 $ 5,000.00 $ 5,000.00 $ 5,000.00 $
$ 198,150.00 $ 198,150.00 $ 33,025.00 $
$
550,000.00
$
$ 15,000.00 $ 15,000.00 $ 15,000.00 $
127,250.00
$
$ 10,000.00 $ 10,000.00 $ 10,000.00 $
$
255,000.00
997,075.00
30,000.00
950,000.00
45,000.00
127,250.00
105,000.00
2,509,325.00 $
2,509,325.00
500,000.00 $ 81,500.00
381,750.00
1,372,500.00
631,750.00
40,000.00
650,000.00
680,000.00
174,000.00
3,548,250.00 $
3,548,250.00
No Additional Costs
300,000.00 $ 50,000.00
370,000.00 $ 60,000.00
174,000.00
$
$
$
$
$
$
$
$
$
Costs will be submitted via Marketing and Communications
$ 100,000.00
$
$ 21,000.00 $ 21,000.00 $ 21,000.00 $
50,000.00
$
$
No Additional Costs
$ 100,000.00
$ 25,000.00 $ 25,000.00 $
100,000.00
63,000.00
50,000.00
150,000.00
75,000.00
$
$
$
$
75,000.00
438,000.00 $
438,000.00
$
$
$ 110,000.00 $ 110,000.00 $ 110,000.00 $
$
$
100,000.00
355,000.00
455,000.00 $
455,000.00
20,000.00
75,000.00
50,000.00
35,000.00
35,000.00
215,000.00 $
$
215,000.00
8,114,975.00
No Additional Costs
No Additional Costs
No Additional Costs
$ 100,000.00
$ 25,000.00
Operational Efficiency & Compliance
Review decentralized IT Services roles and responsibilities $ 20,000.00
Establish Policies and Procedures around IT
No Additional Costs
Establishment of IT Staff Training Fund
$ 25,000.00 $ 25,000.00 $ 25,000.00
$ 50,000.00
IT Operating Funds - Financial Review
No Additional Costs
AODA Compliance
$ 35,000.00
$ 35,000.00
Total
Total Expenditures
$ 3,919,750.00 $ 2,763,000.00 $ 221,500.00 $ 441,950.00 $ 466,950.00 $ 301,825.00
*ResNet expenditures are recouped through student fees. Not a direct expense
83
$
$
$
$
$
$
$
$
Steven Pillar
Gary Boire
Provost & Vice-President Academic
84
Revision No.
Date
Information Technology Org Chart
PROJECT
Carol Cartwright – Sr. Network Analyst & Team Leader
Sandy Curtis – Telecommunications Analyst
Network & Telecommunications
Jeff Dafoe – Computer Support Analyst
Ralph Frederick – Network Device Specialist
Symons
Revision
Symons
LOCATION
SUBJECT
Approved
SCALE
Khando Sundup – Switchboard Operator
FIGURE
Jeff Martindale – Classroom Technology Support Analyst
Rod MacDonald – Classroom Technology Support Analyst
Chris Los – Training & Documentation Specialist
Multiple PT advisor’s (10 hours week)
Student Lab Advisors
Chris Boothroyd – Help Desk Support Coordinator
Cameron Chambers – Jr. Help Desk Analyst
Technical Support Centre/Service Desk
Mary Jane Pilgrim – LMS/DE Lead
Kelvin Conrad – Instructional Designer (Contract)
Lillian Chumley – Tech Admin (Contract)
William Dowkes – Tech Admin (Contract)
John Casserly – Analyst/Programmer
Matt Keefer - Analyst/Programmer
Deb Pagett – Analyst/Programmer
Brian Thackeray- Application Systems Administrator
Rob Campbell – Finance Systems Coordinator
Workstation Systems
Instructional Tech/Distance Ed
Information Systems
Rob Dack - Network Systems Specialist
Balbir Ghori - Network & Telephony Systems Specialist
Mark Newell – Network Systems Specialist
Andrzej Zalewski - Network Systems Specialist
Robert Ruggerio – Network & Systems Integration Specialist
of
Anne Parker
DRAWN BY
PAGE
DATE
August 30th, 2012
Sean Daniels
Network Systems
Business Analyst
Anne Parker
Senior Manager, Client Services
Paul Armstrong
Manager, Information Systems
01
it@trentu.ca
Tel: 748-1010
IT Service / Support
email:
Andrew Bell
Tariq Al-idrissi
Associate Vice President Information Technology
Vice President, Administration
Manager, Digital Service Delivery and Administration
Org Chart
01
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Appendix A: IT Organizational Chart
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Appendix B: Application Systems
System Name
System Description
Centrally Supported Application Systems
Colleague (Elliucian)
This is the university’s primary enterprise
system. This system plays a pivotal role in
supporting the student and financial functions of
the university.
MyTrent Portal (Trent)
This is an in-house developed web portal
product which allows current access for
students, applicants, staff and faculty. The
services offered by the portal are contextual in
nature allowing different constituents to view
different information.
The portal allows for access to multiple services
with one login.
Prospect System PQS
This system stores and tracks prospect
information and supports the new student
orientation bookings. This is an in-house
developed system.
Residence Housing System
This is a web based system that allows
students to apply for residence, pay application
fee and track residence application status. This
was developed in-house and interfaces with
Colleague to update residence assignments.
External Housing System
This is a web based system that allows external
landlords to post rental units for students. This
includes a web payment feature for landlords to
pay for posting.
MSSQL Data Reporting Server This is the school’s data reporting server. The
(called IRIS)
data is updated four times daily from the
Colleague system and is used to produce
reports by both IT and the institutional reporting
office. Department users are given access to
run reports as needed.
85
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Blackboard Learn 9
This is the school’s learning management
system. This systems interfaces with Colleague
for student, faculty, and course enrollment
information.
Conference Programmer
This system is used by conference services and
is house and supported by IT.
Third Party Departmental Systems
(Not directly supported by IT)
Clockwork
This system is used by the disability office for
counseling tracking and scheduling. This
system receives data from Colleague about
student and enrollment information.
Raisers Edge
This system is the primary repository of current
contact information for 40,000 Trent graduates.
It is used by all departments within the External
Relations & Advancement portfolio to track and
manage contact with donors, alumni, honorary
degree recipients, government officials, media,
key influencers and other constituents. This
system receives data from Colleague and other
campus sources for graduating students and
interfaces with Colleague to post GL
transactions, track key data for the university's
Annual Charity Information Return (for Canada
Revenue Agency) and manage more than
1200 endowed and expendable funds, including
hundreds of student scholarship, award,
bursary and prize funds.
Class
This system is used by athletics and handles all
scheduling and billing efforts. This system
interfaces with Colleague for current student
information and access to the athletics facility.
Foodservice
This system is used by Aramark as the point of
sale system for foodservice. This system
interfaces with Colleague for current students
with meal plans.
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Infosilem
This system is used by the Registrar’s Office for
Course Scheduling and Room Bookings. This
system interfaces into colleague for course and
faculty scheduling information.
Process Pathways (efin)
This system is primarily used by the research
office and finance for research project tracking
and budgeting. This system interfaces with
Colleague for research related GL information.
ORBIS
This software supports Trent’s job board and
our event management (career fairs, new
student orientation, etc.
ORBIS Co-curricular record
Administered by student affairs and allows
students to track non-academic activities (clubs,
development, athletics and volunteer activity)
Ceridian Payroll and HRIS
This system is the primary system used by the
Human Resources office. This system
provides information for pension reporting and
interfaces with Colleague for staff and
constituent information.
Library System SRISI
This is the library’s information system for loan
management and financial tracking.
One Card
This system will coordinate service and access
to multiple other systems using a single student
card. This includes access to athletics,
Aramark, library, bus pass, residence access,
printing, photocopying, and etc.
IPCelerate
This systems ties into our phone system and
allows us to accomplish Emergency
Communications
Axiom
Part of our card access system
Parkadmin
This is our parking administration system.
87
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Appendix C: Data Collection Instrument
From a technology focus we are very interested in:
1.
What does the term “technology” mean to you, within the university
environment?
2.
What role do you see the I.T. (Information Technology) unit providing in
terms of resources for technology, or for the support of technology?
3.
What forms of technology are you using now?
4.
In your opinion, what present resources (technology, or support of
technology) could be improved?
5.
What would you identify as your top 3 priorities with regard to present
services provided, or not provided, through I.T. at Trent?
6.
Are there any technology resources that are available that you avoid/do
not use, why?
7.
Are there any technology resources you would like to use, and what might
you need to incorporate those resources?
Feel free to send your input to itstrategicplan@trentu.ca
Thank you.
88
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Appendix D: Data Collection Focus Groups
Strategic IT Planning Focus Schedule
March 29/2012
Students/undergrad PT/FT Oshawa
March 29/2012
Students /undergrad PT/FT Peterborough
Mar 7/2012
Techs @ Trent
April 4/2012
Techs @ Trent (2nd)
April 10th
Distance Ed/Online learning
April 11/2012
Library
April 13/2012
Students Grad
April 17/2012
Graduate Studies Directors, Administrators
April 24/2012
Frost Centre Board
April 25/2012
Graduate Studies Office, Dean
April 26/2012
Education
May 1/2012
Deans, Department Chairs, Faculty incl. CUPE
May 2/2012
Oshawa Staff & Faculty
May 3/2012
Deans, Department Chairs, Faculty incl. CUPE
May 8/2012
Nursing dept faculty/staff
May 24/2012
Human Resources&payroll
May 24/2012
CORE
May 25/2012
Office of President/Provost/Secretariat
May 29/2012
Student Affairs (Housing, DSO, Health)
May 31/2012
Aramark
June 11/2012
Academic & Admin Staff "open" session #1
June 12/2012
TIP
June 12/2012
Physcial Resources
June 13/2012
Academic & Admin Staff "open" session #2
CANCELLED BY THEM
Research Office
June 19/2012
Graduate students
June 21/2012
Finance/print shop/mail room
July 5/2012
Risk Management
July 11/2012
SEM/Recruitment/Office of Registrar/Scheduling/Fin Aid
document provided
ER &A re-focussed
26-Sep-12
IT internal SWOT
89
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Appendix E: IT Service Categories
IT governance, leadership and management







IT planning, requirements analysis, and alignment with university resources and
collegiate needs and plans
Consulting with administrators and faculty members on IT issues
Supervision of IT activities and personnel
Asset management and reporting
Purchasing, license management, accounting, chargeback
IT Policy development
Participation in campus wide IT committees and groups and planning
Systems administration and infrastructure

Servers
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o

Directory services (LDAP, DS, AD, metadirectories)
o
o
o
o
o

Server deployment, management and operation
Security patching and monitoring, antivirus consoles for servers and
workstations
Monitoring, tuning, problem resolution for server / workstation
environment
File servers
Print facilities
Web servers
Data base servers
Application servers
Authentication and authorization servers
License servers
Identity and authorization management,
Authentication, LDAP, Kerberos, Active Directory
Authorization for services, based on roles and needs
Account creation, maintenance, management
Resource provisioning
Machine rooms, communications closets
o
o
o
o
Physical security
Heating/Cooling
Electrical Power (including UPS and motor generator backup)
Fire Protection/Monitoring
90
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o
Water Protection/Monitoring

Networking
o Conduit, fiber and copper cabling systems
o Switches and routers
o Wireless access points
o Dial-in facilities
o DHCP, DNS servers
o Domain controllers
o Virtual private networks
o Documentation maintenance

Building security management
o Card access services
Application development, database administration and support





Application development
Application integration
Application hosting
Application support and troubleshooting for local applications
Database administration and tuning
Basic services






File and print service
Mail services, mail lists, anti-spam
Calendaring
Resource scheduling (rooms, equipment)
Backup / recovery for servers
Anonymous or authenticated ftp
Classroom and computer lab support




Labs and cluster design, maintenance, management and operation
Classroom design, deployment, support
Kiosks and e-mail stations design and deployment
Related PC imaging, patching, maintenance
User Support and Services


Help desk, trouble ticket response
Desktop support, problem resolution, 1 to 1 assistance
91
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






Desktop and laptop imaging and patching
Consulting on IT questions and needs of faculty and staff
Training on IT skills, services, and policies
Communications about IT services, policies, and issues
Policy and practices documentation
Application support and troubleshooting for common software, and local
applications (specific to the college or unit)
E-Learning support
o Course management services
o Faculty web sites
o Multimedia development
o Instructional development and support
Web application\On-line services development and support



Web site and web application development
Portal and integration of online services support
Content development and departmental website support (currently
responsibility of M&C not IT
AV and presentation services






Selecting, deploying and managing presentation equipment(AV equipment)
Video streaming equipment, services, and support
Video conferencing equipment and support
AV / video facilities
Video recording and editing
Digital media development (video, photography, graphics)
92
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Appendix F: Criteria and Weightings for Initiative Evaluation
Breadth & Audience
Criteria
Breadth
Explanation
Home many people, in and out of
the institution, will this project
affect?
Weight
4
0
None/
Unknown
1
Affecting Less
than 50
people
2
Affecting
Between 200
and 2000
people
3
Affecting
more than
2000 people
Audience
Students
4
Negative
Affect
None/
Unknown
Affects a small
portion
Affects All
Faculty
4
Negative
Affect
None/
Unknown
Affects a small
portion
Affects All
Staff
4
4
None/
Unknown
None/
Unknown
Affects a small
portion
Affects a small
portion
Affects All
Community Partners and Donors
Negative
Affect
Negative
Affect
Breadth &
Audience
Example (include your
justification here)
An e-mail change is an
example of a project that
would have a far reaching
effect and be scored at a 3.
A small report affecting 5
people would be scored at
a 1.
A learning management
system change would be
an example of somehting
that affects the whole
group
A learning management
system change would be
an example of somehting
that affects the whole
group
A change to e-mail would
affect all staff
Affects All
20
Value
Criteria
Explanation
Weight
0
1
2
3
justification here)
Page 105 of 146
Alignment
with
Integrated
Plan:
Directly
related to
strategic
priorities and
objectives
Strategic Priority A: Commitment
to Academic Excellence
Strategic Priority B: Commitment
to
Strategic Enrollment
Management
Strategic Priority C: Commitment
to Achieving Financial Stability
Strategic Priority D: Commitment
to Strengthening Community
Engagement
3
None/
unknown
None/
unknown
Indirect Link
Direct Link
Indirect Link
Direct Link
None/
unknown
None/
unknown
Indirect Link
Direct Link
Indirect Link
Direct Link
Alignment
with the
Academic
Plan
Degree to which the initiative
aligns and addresses one of the
recommendations of the
Academic Plan.
8
None/
unknown
Indirect Link
Direct Link
Significant
Contribution
Alignment
with
Emerging
Trends and
Technologies
Request
origination
Degree to which the initiative
aligns and addresses industry
trends and emerging technologies
5
None/
unknown
Indirect Link
Direct Link
Significant
Contribution
The origination of the project
directly impacts its value. Projects
originating from the Board or PVP
carry more weight than those
requested from a single employee
4
Low
IT initiated
project
Medium
Workgroup
manager of a
department
High
Director or
AVP of a
Department
Very High
Company
Board or
PVP
3
3
3
94
Significant
Contribution
Significant
Contribution
Significant
Contribution
Significant
Contribution
A project to enhance
classroom technologies
A project to enhance
reporting to directly affect
strategic enrollment
reporting
An initiative to reduce costs
and increase efficiency
An interactive social
enviroment to engage
community members
A change to Virtual
Classroom Technologies
does not only have a direct
link, but makes a significant
contriubution to the
fullfillment of the academic
plan.
An introduction of a Mac
Lab would align us with
existing industry trends and
emerging technologies
A VP is requesting that
certain work be completed.
Page 106 of 146
Impact to
Company's
Business
Risk
Impact to Company's business
continuity/security/stability/disaster
recovery. (Total Risk = Severity of
occurrence X Frequency of
occurrence).
4
Increase
No change
Risk decrease
<10%
Risk
decrease
>10%
Requirement
to comply
with Legal or
Regulatory
obligation
Mandatory investments that are
required to comply with an
external regulatory obligation.
These regulations are
government, legal, tax and
regulatory practices.
Increases user productivity,
process efficiency, and reduction
in turn over.
4
Not required
from a Legal
or
Regulatory
Standpoint
Required Must be done
within 2-5
years
Required Must be done
within 1-2
years
Required Must be
done within
1 year
3
None
<5%
>5%
>10%
For example, faster
application or large file
transfer performance that
increases user productivity;
reduction in non-IT
headcount thru automation
Completely new, innovative
solution to solve a business
problem that creates competitive
advantage or an enhancement/
incremental improvement
3
Degrade
No change
Enhance-ment
to existing
tool/
technology
New
innovation
A new innovation can be a
new technology solution
that was not available in
education before.
Performance
Improvement.
Increase in
operational
Efficiency or
Reduction is
Costs
Innovation or
Enhanced
Capability
that solves a
problem or
creates
competitive
advantage
95
Data backups that provide
Company business
recovery systems in case
of unexpected
outage/disaster. Audit
related projects will fall into
this category. Projects
required to comply with
regulatory/legal
requirements. AODA
requirements may
neccesitate a project to be
initiated.
Example, requirements of
AODA, FIPPA, and etc.
Page 107 of 146
Confidence
of Successful
Execution
Confidence that the solution will
be executed with high quality,
flawlessly from a planning and
implementation standpoint
2
Low
Medium
High
Very High
Scores higher when less
foreseable unresolved
items in planning and
implementation.
Confidence
in timeliness
of solution
delivery
Confidence in ability to deliver
solution in a timeframe that's most
beneficial
2
Low
Medium
High
Very High
Confidence
that the
solution will
address the
need
Confidence that the benefit would
be delivered and the solution will
meet the business objective
2
Low
Medium
High
Very High
Intangible
Benefits
(benefits not
captured
above and
not included
in Business
Value Dials)
Please list the benefits
1
Low
Medium
High
Very High
Scores higher when similar
project implemented before
with high level of success;
scores low if there are
many
unknown/uncontrolable
factors, etc.
Scores higher when
understanding of problem
or root cause is high, or
when there is a high level
of user involvement in the
definition of solution.
For example, a project, not
being its primarily
objective, enables us to
collect valuable IT data to
support users more
effectively and improve
service
Value
Index:
50
IT efficiency (optimal utilization of IT's infrastructure and resource
capabilities)
Criteria
Explanation
Weight
0
1
2
96
3
justification here)
Page 108 of 146
Pull/need
from within IT
Extent to which internal to IT
customers are asking for this
deliverable (volume and
strength/influence of
request/demand)
4
Low
Medium
IT Employee
Request
High
IT Manager
Request
Very High
AVP, IT
request
Impact to IT
Employee
Performance
Improvement
Measure of impact to IT employee
productivity, I.e. efficiency, faster
throughput, higher quality
2
None
<5%
>5%
>10%
Level of
Innovation
and Learning
for IT
Impact on
future
investments
New technology approach/tool for
IT internal usage
2
Low
Medium
High
Very High
IT industry
impact
Investments that provide a
foundation or are necessary for
future technologies, capabilities or
have a direct impact on strategic
roadmaps
3
No impact
Potential
Impact or
optional
building block
Necessary but
replace-able
building block
Necessary
irreplaceable building
block
Maintain
Quality and
Reliability of
IT products
and services
delivery
Investments in maintaining
required levels of quality of IT
infrastructure, service delivery,
operational efficiency, capacity,
response rates, problem
resolution
3
Degradation
No impact
Necessary to
maintain
current service
levels
Necessary
to restore
required
service
levels
97
AVP, IT Request
Describe the types of
impact with examples, e.g.
knowledge base for
improvement of work
orders improved
For example:High adopting new wireless
technology.
User authentication
capability is a necessary
component for wireless
networks; SAN is a
necessary but replaceable
component for connected
client backup (could be
done via large hard drives
in small sites).
Redundant network
connections for business
continuity purposes;
migration to the next
generation of computing
platform (client or server)
due to vendor support
availability; improvement in
data quality and reliability
Page 109 of 146
Opportunity
of reusing
existing
components
or creating of
reusable
components
Opportunities to reuse existing
standard applicable capabilities
and assets or/and opportunities to
create new ones for future reuse.
2
No
opportunities
to create or
consume
assets
Some/ minor
opportunities
to create or
consume
assets
Significant
opportunities
to create OR
consume
assets
Significant
opportunities
to both
create AND
consume
assets
Fit with
existing
architecture
and
roadmaps
Level of fit with existing
architecture and integration
required in order to introduce into
the environment. Thus, solutions
requiring new architecture, will not
score high on this criteria, while
they may be innovative in nature
and the right thing to do. The level
of innovation is evaluated in a
separate critieron above.
2
Doesn’t
integrate,
requires
complete
architecture
redesign
Requires
significant
integration
effort
Mostly
compatible,
requires min
integration
effort
Fully
integrates/
complies
with existing
architecture
98
Creation of reusable assets
is defined as creation of
horizontal capabilities
(code, data, architecture,
process, etc.) that can be
used in other
programs/projects. Consu
mption of reusable assets
is defined as the use of
existing horizontal
capabilities in order to save
development time/cost,
reduce complexity, improve
quality, reduce time to
market, increase process
consistency, etc.
This criterion focuses on
managing TCO by ensuring
new projects that are
introduced into the
environment fit into existing
architectures. For example,
Deployment of mobile
solutions based on nonsupported handheld
devices will score low in
this criteria because it does
not fit into existing roadmap
and require significant
effort to integrate the
applications, clients and
middleware into the
existing environment.
Deployment of solutions
based on a
common/standard
technology will score high
Page 110 of 146
on this criteria as it fits into
the eWorkforce roadmap
and existing architecture.
IT Employee
Satisfaction
Impact
Level of improvement on IT
employee well-being,
development, growth.
2
Low
Medium
High
Very High
0
None/
Unknown
1
<50K annually
2
Between 50K
and 100K
annually
3
> 100K
Training or developmentrelated, e.g. rotational
program to increase crosstraining, e-Learning for
software Certificaiton
20
IT Efficiency Value Index:
Finance
Index
Criteria
Revenue
Generation
Explanation
The project has a defined value of
revenue generation.
Weight
3
99
justification here)
A new printing system that
generates
student revenue and
anticipated at
generating between 50K
and 100K
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Cost
Reduction
The project is intended on
producing cost reduction to
operations
3
Level of Initial
Investment
The amount of initial investment
needed
2
> 100K
Between 50K
and 100K
< 50K
None
Increase in
level of
operating
dollars
needed
This is the continued cost needed
in operating dollars to support the
newly intrduced initiative
2
> 100K
Between 50K
and 100K
< 50K
None
Finance
Index:
None/
Unknown
Low < 50K
annually/
Unmeasurable
Between 50K
and 100K
annually
10
100
> 100K
An effort to automate
report generation
and streamline processes
may have a measurable
cost reduction of $50K
Investing in a survey tool
that only requires an
annual subscription would
score a 3
An annual licence of 15k
would score a 2
Page 112 of 146
Appendix G: Initiatives Completed During Planning
Initiative Name
Description
Release
date
Faculty/Staff email
improvements
Storage Area Network (SAN) upgrade. Increase space
and improved performance
Aug-12
WebCT improvements
Upgrade current version of WebCT to BlackBoard
Learn9
Sep-12
Priority identified (via LMS task force) to migrate current
course content
WebCT mobile application
Roll out of the BlackBoard 9.0 Mobile Application
Oct-12
Datatel integration with
Learning Management
system (LMS)
Datatel integration achieved with migration to
Blackboard Learn9
Sep-12
Student Email
Improvements
Implemented Google Apps for Education including 100
times more email space; personal drive space increase
of 20 times and better integration with mobile devices
Sep-12
Mobile device support/data
integration
DataSync Pilot rolled out. This pilot allowed for the
syncing of e-mail, calendars, and contacts with nonBlackberry devices.
Aug-12
Training & Documentation
Increase number of room orientation videos
Aug-12
Training sessions: Learn9; Groupwise; Smartboard
Applicant portal (portal
improvements)
Implemented MyTrent portal features for applicants.
Aug-12
Longer service hours
Extended IT support hours and implemented
collaborative service desk with Library
Sep-12
Upgrade to MS Office
2010
Upgraded all public labs\lecterns with Office 2010
Oct-12
One Card
Implementation of the one card service, allowing one
card to be used for door access, printing, Aramark food
services, identification, and library services.
Jan-13
Page 113 of 146
Appendix H: Costing Details
Infrastructure Costing
Initiatives
Approach
Man/people
hours
CapEx
OpEx
Prof.
Services
Training
Total 3 year
Grand
Total
$ 420,000
(3 year)
Storage Enhancements
Project
Email/Calendaring/Contacts
Enhancements Project
(AKA Exchange with 25GB
quota)
Provide 25GB of
"object storage" each
for 1600 users using
EMC ATMOS private
cloud storage. (54TB
usable, replicated)
$ 235,000
$ 94,000
$ 329,000
Provide Oxygen
connector to make
storage available
securely to all
locations and devices
$ 65,000
$ 26,000
$ 91,000
Dedicated storage
array + backup
$ 325,000
Sysadmin training
Exchange licenses
Initial
implementation
included with
purchase.
100 hours for
data migration
and integration
into current
desktop model.
$ 325,000
70
$15,000
$ 30,000
$ 15,000
$ 30,000
$ 467,000
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Additional server
capacity
Installation support
$ 25,000
35
$ 6,000
Alternate option outsource to
Canadian service
provider
Common costs for
Exchange migration
$ 25,000
$ 480,000
$ 480,000
Helpdesk training
$10,000
$ 10,000
Staff training $100/user @ 400
users
$40,000
$ 40,000
Migration services
$ 16,000
Imaging System and
Computer Support Policy
Altiris patch
management
software
70
WIFI - full coverage in
classrooms. Includes 120
teaching spaces and 30 for
backfill of non-teaching
space
Perform site survey to
locate AP's
Outsource
AP's, controllers,
licenses
15
Cabling and
installation (including
switchport allowance)
ResNet Renewal
$ 6,000
$ 39,000
$16,000
$ 23,400
$ 62,400
$ 62,400
$15,000
$15,000
$255,000
$ 135,000
$135,000
$105,000
$105,000
See previous costing
103
Page 115 of 146
Additional capacity
included in server
renewal
Network Infrastructure
Renewal Project (assumes
edge routers and firewalls
are replaced in ResNet
project, and no incremental
costs for Smartnet)
Replace core
switches (based on
Cisco Nexus pricing
less 30%)
80
$ 192,500
$192,500
Replace data center
switches
80
$100,000
$100,000
Replace
access/distribution
layer switches > 5
years
160
$1,080,000
$1,080,000
Replace
access/distribution
layer switches > 7
years
100
$ 684,000
$684,000
Replace UPS units in
DNA closet
$ 10,000
$ 10,000
CC2T - install new
racks with proper hot
aisle containment and
in row cooling
$100,000
Replace AC in BLDC
$ 100,000
$ 100,000
Replace UPS
batteries in CC2T at
EOL (2015)
$ 10,000
$ 10,000
Server Room Repairs and
Maintenance
included in
server
renewal
$ 30,000
104
$ 130,000
$1,372,500
$ 250,000
Page 116 of 146
Replace UPS
batteries in BLDC at
EOL (2013)
Server hardware renewal
(assumes storage and
email projects proceed
separately, and includes
25% additional capacity to
support research server
project)
$ 12,000
Replace existing
Vmware farm servers
with blade server
system. Includes
iSCSI network
upgrade to 10 Gbe
20
$ 190,000
Replace iSCSI SAN
at EOL (2015)
10
$ 250,000
VM mini cluster for
DR in DNA
20
$ 30,000
Replace standalone
servers
Replace backup
system with
integrated VMWare
software. Includes
partial tape offload for
critical data archiving.
Replace all office
PC's over 3 years.
Assume 500
desktops and 300
laptops at current Dell
prices.
$ 12,000
$ 10,000
$ 42,800
$ 509,000
$ 250,000
$ 4,000
$ 25,000
20
$ 200,000
$ 34,000
$ 25,000
$ 4,000
$ 680,000
105
$ 46,800
$ 680,000
Page 117 of 146
Call Manager Upgrade
(assumes no incremental
costs for Smartnet)
Cisco licensing has
changed significantly in the
current version. These
numbers should be taken
as very tentative.
Bring current
software licensing to
current version with
feature parity (NOTE:
UCSS is an annual
uplift to Smartnet for
major upgrades. The
intention is to pay it
for one year and then
drop it again.)
100
$ 70,000
$ 70,000
Replace server
hardware
$ 25,000
$ 25,000
Add 100 8945 sets
$ 69,000
$ 69,000
Presence server
license
$ 10,000
$ 10,000
$ 174,000
4,189,900
ResNet Costs
Vendor
Capex
Opex
Wireless, wired, switches
Aruba
$ 330,000
$ 198,000
Total 5 Year
Cost
$ 528,000
Traffic manager
Aruba
$
30,000
$ 18,000
$ 48,000
$
50,000
Contingency for access control
300M bandwidth increasing to 500M in year 5
Cogent
$
Routers
Cisco
Firewalls
Cisco
$ 50,000
-
$ 120,000
$ 120,000
$ 82,500
$ 49,500
$ 132,000
$ 71,250
$ 42,750
$ 114,000
106
Page 118 of 146
200 phones
Cisco
$ 4,000
$
-
Support/helpdesk
2 FTE
$
-
$ 550,000
$ 550,000
Installation and professional services
5 days
$
-
$ 12,500
$ 12,500
Total 5 year cost
$ 4,000
$ 1,558,500
Notes
$ 1,368.31
5 year total, per bed
$ 34.21
per month (8/12)
Opex - Maintenance assumption of 15% p.a. for 4 years
Capex - Assumes 25% discount from list
Current rates
107
$ 15.99
VOIP, Nexicom
$ 28.99
Rogers
$ 5.00
IT
$ 49.94
Total billed to
Housing
Page 119 of 146
Service Delivery
Initiatives
Approach
Man/people
hours
Increase Support for Macs
and Mac Lab Introduction The scope of this project is
twofold;
- An introduction of an
Apple Lab for use by both
faculty and students
Invest internal staff
mac certification.
100 hours
Distributed Teaching and
Video Conferencing
Project.
Extended hours
support – techs both
sites required
The scope of this initiative
will be to equip six
classrooms with video
conference facilities and to
make four meeting rooms
available in both
Peterborough and Oshawa.
6 classrooms ($100k
each)+ 4 meeting
rooms ($25k each)+
video bridge ($250k)
= $950k
CapEx
OpEx
(3 year)
Prof.
Service
Existing
staff
Training
Total 3 year
Grand
Total
$ 5,000
$ 30,000
$ 5,000
$950,000
Per seat $1000 +
$150 ext warranty
if new lab space
increase quote for
furniture/chair +
data/electrical make
ready estimate
$1000. seat (Mac
$1150 + 1000)*
number seat
Incl total
Investigate: Blue
Jeans /video bridge
options
108
Page 120 of 146
Initiatives
Approach
Man/people
hours
CapEx
OpEx
(3 year)
Prof.
Service
Training
Total 3 year
Grand
Total
-The purpose of this
initiative is to create an
asset management system
for all Trent owned
technology assets across
the organization. This
includes;
- Classrooms and Labs
- Offices
- Data Centre
The purpose of such an
exercise is not to simply
have better controls, but
also to be able to provide
some better predictability
for hardware renewals and
associated costs
The scope of this
system is to track all
Trent owned and
supplied technologies
for the purposes of
control and timely
renewal.
500 hours
$40,000
Existing
staff
$ 40,000
Lab/Classrooms Renewal
Project (all rooms within 3
year period)
renewal of equipment
in the summer of
2013, 2014, and
2015 respectively.
Existing
staff +
design
contract
$650,000
A one-time asset
sweep is in scope, as
well as
documentation
regarding asset
management
maintenance and
upkeep.
Additionally, develop
a policy for the
introduction of lab
computers at Trent.
280 hours
40 rooms per
year (will need
to be done
outside of
teaching
semesters)
109
Page 121 of 146
Initiatives
Approach
Man/people
hours
Service Catalogue - to
make available a catalogue
of services to staff, faculty,
and students that are
offered by the Trent IT
Department.
Continue in-house
ITIL/ITSM training.
Make available on the
Trent University
website for ready
access and will
include information
about details of
services, availability,
hours of operation,
etc.
875 hours
Training lab (10-20
seat multipurpose furniture/drops/electri
cal/pc's/presentation
system = 20 * 1K +
(20*500) + 2500
electrical +
smartboard/lectern
total 20 seat $30k
500 hours
This initiative is undertaken
to increase accountability
and clarity about the
services and service levels
currently available from the
Trent IT Department.
This clarity should increase
user satisfaction levels and
manage expectations.
Establishment of a
Technology Training
Program - deliverables;
- A survey of all faculty and
staff on the IT training skills
that they see as necessary
with the results guiding the
program formulation
- A training calendar
- Training materials
- A training website with
access to training materials
and videos.
- A link from the service
catalogue to the training
materials
CapEx
OpEx
(3 year)
Prof.
Service
Existing
staff
Training
$ 5,000
Total 3 year
Grand
Total
$ 15,000
Continue inhouse
$ 40,000
$ 60,000
Create 20
seat lab +
purchase
training
materials
where cost
effective
Relief for
existing
staff to
provide
training
Training &
Documentation
specialist support
IT/DHR partnership
110
$100,000
Page 122 of 146
Initiatives
Approach
Man/people
hours
Enhancing Support Delivery
Improving service delivery
by IT. This includes the
following;
- Ensuring that we have the
right support time
schedules.
- Ensuring that we have the
right remote support tools.
- Introducing other avenues
for receiving support,
including live chat and
always on point to point
video support
- Establishing a support
model for Oshawa to
ensure enhanced
availability of support
Oshawa; live agent;
remote support;
extended hours; high
volume-peak support
Review all decentralized IT
services and produce
agreements with
decentralized IT Services at
Trent regarding roles and
responsibilities.
- Improve operational clarity
- Ensure that IT at Trent is
run in an efficient and
cohesive fashion
- Improve customer service
of IT to our end users
In-house review
University wide IT
Services
Develop SLA (service
level agreements)
Furniture & space
reno's may be
required if physically
repositioning techs $10k + $10k Training
/relief support
Partnership with
CUPE/OPSEU/DHR
CapEx
OpEx
(3 year)
Prof.
Service
$110,000
per year
(regularize
FTE + 8
month
recurring
contract)
regularize contract
$60k + add oshawa 8
month recurring $50k
Training
Total 3 year
Grand
Total
$335,000
$25k setup annual
global Global room
view (extron/crestron
remote support)
150 hours plus
unknown
negotiation
time
In house
111
$ 20,000
Page 123 of 146
Information Systems
Initiatives
Approach
Introduction of Survey Tool
for Research Usage
$15,000 annual fee
External service
Training costs
Website Renewal
Website development
and costs in
Marketing
Contributor Training
Trent Portal Integration with
Website Redevelopment
Training + Portal
Development
(contract)
Implementation and
integration
Ellucian:
$14,000 annual or
$21,000 annual for
developers’ version
Internal customization
300 integration and
report development
hours
Mobile Access for Student
Services
Internal customization
300 integration and report
development hours
Man/people
hours
CapEx
OpEx
(3 year)
Prof.
Service
Training
$ 45,000
500 hours
$ 75,000
$ 63,000
(21,000/per
year x 3)
300 integration
and report
development
hours
Will require
additional FTE
Total 3 year
Grand Total
$45,000
Contribu
tor
Training
To be
included in
M&C
submission
$25,000
Drupal
Training
$100,000
$ 63,000
$ 50,000
112
Page 124 of 146
Initiatives
Approach
Man/people
hours
(Analytics)
Dependent on development
of measure and
performance indicators by
IR.
Use existing systems
– MSSQL and SSRS.
May require
additional server
resources (faster
servers). Also may
require integration
with portal and or
development of
dashboard web
pages. All this is
unknown until IR
defines what is
needed.
300 integration
and report
development
hours
Course Equivalency
Database
Unknown time
requirement and no
known start date
$100,000+
implementation
$25,000 annual
40 hours
integration
Document Management
(Pilot)
$100,000+ implementation
$25,000 annual
HR/Payroll Reporting
Enhancements
CapEx
OpEx
(3 year)
Prof.
Service
Training
Total 3 year
Grand
Total
$ 75,000
$100,000
Will be supported
using existing staff to
work with HR/Payroll
to define
requirements and
develop reports as
needed.
Create reporting
using existing
systems (MSSQL and
Powerbuilder)
$50,000
In-house
existing
staff
113
$150,000
Page 125 of 146
Initiatives
Approach
Man/people
hours
Research Reporting
Enhancements
Process Pathways system
Existing system
developed for
research.
Support import of
data to Process
Pathways “efin”
system.
No additional costs.
Internal developed
system
Continue support –
no additional costs
In-house staff
Web Forms
Internal developed system
Continue support – no
additional costs
20-40 hours support
Administrative Systems and
Operational Review
CapEx
OpEx
(3 year)
Prof.
Service
Training
Total 3 year
Grand
Total
20-40 hours
support
1 FTE review
1 FTE 6 months
development
$ 50,000
114
Page 126 of 146
References
Black, Jim, Philip Bliss, Bryant Hutson, Rod Skinkle, Ken Steele, and Lynda
Wallace-Hulecki (2010). Strategic Enrollment Intelligence. London:
Academica Group, 2010.
"Blended Learning Methodology." 24x7learning.com. N.p., 2012. Web. 20 Sept.
2012. <http://www.24x7learning.com/images/blended-learningmethodolog.jpg>.
Dahlstrom, Eden, Tom de Boor, Peter Grunwald, and Martha Vockley, with a
foreword by Diana Oblinger (2011). The ECAR National Study of
Undergraduate Students and Information Technology, 2011 (Research
Report). Boulder, CO: EDUCAUSE Center for Applied Research, October
2011, available from http://www.educause.edu/ecar.
Flossi, Stephanie (2012). "ComScore Reports February 2012 U.S. Mobile
Subscriber Market Share - ComScore, Inc." ComScore. ComScore, 03
Apr. 2012. Web. 07 Sept. 2012.
<http://www.comscore.com/Press_Events/Press_Releases/2012/4/comSc
ore_Reports_February_2012_U.S._Mobile_Subscriber_Market_Share>.
Harrison, Denise (2009). "Is Cloud Computing a Credible Solution for
Education?" Campus Technology. Campus Technology, 11 Dec. 2009.
Web. 20 Sept. 2012.
<http://campustechnology.com/articles/2009/11/12/is-cloud-computing-acredible-solution-for-education.aspx>.
Hepburn, Aden (2011). "Infographic: Mobile Statistics, Stats & Facts 2011Digital
Buzz Blog." Digital Buzz Blog. N.p.,. Web. 07 Sept. 2012.
<http://www.digitalbuzzblog.com/2011-mobile-statistics-stats-factsmarketing-infographic/>.
Kaplan, Andreas M.; Michael Haenlein (2010) "Users of the world, unite! The
challenges and opportunities of Social Media". Business Horizons 53(1):
59–68.
Lenhart, A., Purcell, K., Smith, A. and Zickuhr, K. (2010). Social media and
young adults, The PEW Internet and American Life Project. Retrieved
Sept 6th, 2012, from http://www.pewinternet.org/Reports/2010/SocialMedia-and-Young-Adults.aspx
Mossberg, Walt (2012). ”Walt Mossberg on the Post-PC-Era”.
http://www.ideacityonline.com/talks/walt-mossberg-on-the-post-pc-era/.
09 Sept.2012.
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Online Publishers Association and Frank N. Magid Associates, Inc. (2012). “A
Portrait of Today’s Tablet User Wave II, June 2012.Web. 10 Sept. 2012.<
http://onlinepubs.ehclients.com/images/pdf/MMF-OPA_-_Portrait_of_Tablet_User-Wave_2_--_Jun12_%28Public%29.pdf>.
Pettey, Christy (2012). "Gartner Says Worldwide PC Shipment Growth Was Flat
in Second Quarter of 2012." Gartner Says Worldwide PC Shipment
Growth Was Flat in Second Quarter of 2012. Gartner, 11 July 2012. Web.
10 Sept. 2012. <http://www.gartner.com/it/page.jsp?id=207901>.
116
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Page 129 of 146
Page 130 of 146
Page 131 of 146
Page 132 of 146
Page 133 of 146
President’s Monthly Report
February 2013
Trent University Re-Introduces Continuing Education
On February 25, Trent re-introduced its Continuing Education program to the Peterborough
community with an introductory offering of six courses at the downtown Traill College campus.
Under the leadership of Traill College Head Dr. Doug Evans, Trent’s new Continuing Education
offerings will provide access to a variety of experts in different fields for learning in an informal,
relaxed and personalized setting.
Jobs, skills and income for the 21st century
Interpreting certain trends and data regarding labour market demand and outcomes for university
graduates is always a complex undertaking. Several recent commentators and sources have
highlighted the important themes of tuition, student debt, jobs and the current quality of higher
education experiences. While some commentators appear to focus on several negative aspects
(http://www.cbc.ca/doczone/episode/generation-jobless.html), others (for example, COU
President and former Trent University President Bonnie Patterson and AUCC President and
Trent University alumnus Paul Davidson) provide a more positive interpretation of the current
situation.
Most observers are aware that students today pay a higher proportion of the cost of their
education than in the recent past. On average, tuition represented about 15% of the cost of
university education in the late 70’s and early 80’s; tuition today represents more than 40% of
the cost of attending an Ontario postsecondary institution. However, net tuition (tuition less
student financial support) is significantly less than the full tuition advertised in Ontario
universities – for example, on average, students eligible for OSAP pay about half the ‘sticker
price’ of tuition. Net tuition decreases another 8 percentage points for students who receive the
new Ontario Tuition Grant. Research continues to show little or no relationship between
postsecondary education student participation rates and tuition. And while Ontario has the lowest
per-student funding in Canada when government grants and tuition are combined, there simply
are no other funding mechanisms than tuition increases and enrolment growth available at
present to help universities like Trent manage budgets and continue to provide current levels of
quality instruction and student experience.
Some students today are graduating with significant debt loads. However, using constant dollars,
the average per student debt has not changed in the last 12 years, and four out of 10 students
graduate debt-free. Among those students who do graduate with debt, 30 percent owe less than
$12K, with a median of about $20K. As noted in a recent AUCC presentation, “In today’s
globally connected knowledge economy, investing in a university degree is more valuable than
ever. University graduates learn to write effectively, to analyze problems and identify solutions,
and to think critically and creatively. And, most important of all, they learn how to learn
throughout their careers – and their lives”.
Page 134 of 146
February 2013
And finally, many have noted that the immediate skills crisis in Canada is real – there are
profound labour shortages that have developed over time and in particular regions. Universities
and colleges can play a role in meeting those urgent needs – it is not a case of either college or
university; clearly, both are needed. For example, combined college and university educational
pathways have never been more popular or as simple to navigate. Many employers say they need
more university graduates, and if one looks internationally, the global competition for universityprepared talent is intensifying. Even in a tough economy in Canada from July 2008 to July 2012,
the net increase in new jobs for university graduates was 700,000, with another 320,000 net new
jobs for college graduates. Meanwhile, the available jobs for those with no postsecondary
education decreased by more than 640,000 during the same period. There is a direct link between
higher education and obtaining a good, high-paying, stable job, and that link is strongest for
university graduates of all types of programs. Credible estimates suggest that, during their
careers, university Bachelor degree graduates will typically earn $1.3 million more than those
with a high-school education alone, and more than $1 million more than a registered
tradesperson or college grad working full-time.
Major Consultative and Administrative Activities
Robert McLaughlin 2nd Anniversary Block Party in Oshawa
On February 2, Trent University co-hosted with Mayor John Henry, President Tim McTiernan of
UOIT, and President Don Lovisa of Durham College, a community-themed Block Party, at the
Robert McLaughlin Gallery in Oshawa. The Durham Italian Canadian Heritage Association
unveiled a commissioned sculpture by artist Antonio Caruso that was presented to the citizens of
Oshawa.
Fourth Annual Impact Leadership Conference at Trent University
The Impact Leadership Program hosted its fourth annual Leadership Conference entitled 'Ignite
Your Gift: Make an Impact' in early February. The keynote speaker for the event, Marnie
McBean, is a three-time Olympic champion and current Athlete Mentor for the Canadian
Olympic Team. The Impact Leadership Program is an example of Trent University’s
commitment to developing students as leaders. Impact is an innovative and exciting certificate
leadership program that prepares students to assume a wide variety of leadership roles within the
Trent community and beyond. This type of involvement beyond the classroom is a vital and
increasingly important part of the Trent student experience.
TISA’s 30th Anniversary Gala
The Trent International Students’ Association 30th Anniversary Gala was held this past month.
International students have been a part of Trent since the beginning of the university.
International students enrich the educational experience at Trent by bringing new culture, and
global perspectives both in and out of the classroom.
Page 2 of 4
Page 135 of 146
February 2013
Wildlife Symposium at the Cortellucci Centre
Trent University and the Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters hosted a symposium on
"DNA: The Future of Wildlife & Fish Conservation in the 21st Century" on February 19th. The
evening included presentations on cutting-edge research in our region by Trent, OFAH, the
MNR and Fleming College and was a good example of the synergy and partnerships that have
been created in our community.
On-going Consultations and Integrated Planning Initiatives
Strategic Research Plan
Consultation of all academic departments, University Centres and Institutes, student groups and
other units integrated with Research was completed in early February for revision of Trent's
Strategic Research Plan. A draft will be reviewed in the coming months and the process will
include a presentation at Senate in April. The SRP will identify our current strengths and
prominent research themes, as well as strategies and tactics for advancing our research mission.
For more details visit - http://www.trentu.ca/vprisem/documents/SRPJan312013.pdf
Presidential Task Force on Academic Partnerships with Religious Institutions
The Presidential Task Force on Academic Partnerships with Religious Institutions was charged
last fall with engaging the academic community to determine Trent’s perspective on partnerships
with university-level religious based institutions. The Committee is mandated to develop
recommendations as appropriate and to provide an interim report this spring, with a final report
in June 2013. The Committee has initiated a consultation process which will include meeting
with various stakeholders including TCSA, Graduate Studies, Colleges, Decanal Councils,
Extended Management Committee, and a number of other groups.
Presidential Task Force on Indigenous Education
The Presidential Task Force on Indigenous Education began a review of the current Trent
University Comprehensive Plan on Aboriginal Education. The goals are to highlight
accomplishments of the plan, and develop a new plan to address issues in student recruitment,
retention and graduation, academic programming, and the current funding situation and budget
planning. An interim report is expected this spring.
Our Time to Shine
A series of dialogues, social media and an online survey were conducted throughout the month
of February with the goal of informing the development of an Institutional Positioning statement.
Information about the project can be found at www.trentu.ca/timetoshine/. A Special Advisory
Committee with representatives across a broad range of areas is overseeing the initiative, led by
Julie Davis, Vice President External Relations and Advancement. The final positioning will be
released in the Fall 2013 and will be used as a foundation for a new marketing campaign – the
current campaign, Trent’s Luminaries – has been widely praised (see
www.trentu.ca/luminaries/).
Page 3 of 4
Page 136 of 146
February 2013
Trent Lands Plan
A final round of consultations with internal and external community stakeholders for the Trent
Lands Plan will take place in March where specifics in the plan will be discussed prior to
presentation to the Board in April. This comprehensive and inclusive long-term plan will develop
sections of the Endowment Lands over the next several years and decades. For those unable to
attend the consultations in person, online forums have been established so all interested groups
and individuals can provide comments. These can be accessed by visiting
www.trentu.ca/trentlandsplan.
2013/14 Budget Process
Steven Pillar, Vice-President Administration, and Gary Boire, Provost and Vice-President
Academic, continued their consultations and discussions on Trent’s new budget planning
process, which will lead to the dissemination of budget guidelines to budget developers in
March, and presentation of the 2013-2014 Annual Operating Budget to the Board in April/May.
Call for Nominations for the Nancy E. Simmons Smith Staff Award of
Excellence
Nominations are invited for the Nancy E. Simmons Smith Staff Award of Excellence.
Nomination forms can be obtained from the website www.trentu.ca/nessaward/. The deadline for
submissions is April 1, 2013. The Award is named in recognition of Nancy Simmons Smith,
former University Secretary and Secretary of the Board of Governors, who retired from Trent in
2008. The successful nominee will be honoured at the May Board of Governors’ luncheon.
Internal and External Relations (February 1-28, 2013)
Internal Meetings
Trent University staff and faculty meetings (15)
Trent University students and student groups (5)
Trent University Board members, and committees/subcommittee meetings (9)
Trent University senior administrators (14)
External Meetings
Community leaders and community groups in Peterborough/Oshawa (3)
Other Organizations (16)
Events (3)
The President’s Monthly Report is available on the Office of the President’s Website at
http://www.trentu.ca/administration/presidentsoffice_reports.php. Questions or comments are
welcome (sfranklin@trentu.ca).
Page 4 of 4
Page 137 of 146
BOARD OF GOVERNORS
Report
To:
Finance & Property/Board of Governors
From:
Steven Pillar, VP, Administration
Garth Brownscombe, AVP Financial Services
Subject:
Financial Update
Confidentiality:
1.0
Date of Report:
Feb. 27, 2013
Date of Committee
Meeting:
(Finance & Property)
Mar. 8, 2013
Date of Board
Meeting:
Mar. 22, 2013
Confidential
PURPOSE
For Information
2.0
RECOMMENDATION
That the Board of Governors receive current, internal financial statements (budget projection, debt
summary, and cash flow reports, as attached) for information purposes consistent with ongoing
financial updates.
3.0
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The Board of Governors is responsible for ensuring the financial health of the University and the
proper management of its buildings, lands and capital projects. From the committee’s terms of
reference, the Finance and Property Committee assists the Board in carrying out these
responsibilities by monitoring the institution’s financial, property and capital affairs and making
related policy recommendations. To ensure the full Board is informed of critical information, the
financial reports regularly reviewed by the Committee are attached for the information of all
Governors.
4.0
INPUT FROM OTHER SOURCES
 not applicable
Page 138 of 146
-2-
5.0




6.0
ANALYSIS
Trent University Cash Position, period ending February 25, 2013
2012-13 Operating Budget Projection at January 2013
Year-to-date, Projection and Budget by Object at January 31, 2013
Trent University Long-term Financing Requirements, as of January 31, 2013
FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS
 To fulfill their responsibilities, Governors should be informed of the University’s financial
situation. Regular financial updates such as these will maintain Governors’ awareness of
the University’s current financial status and allow for input and oversight where needed.
7.0
ENTERPRISE RISK ASSESSMENT
 (see 3.0 above)
8.0
STRATEGIC ALIGNMENT / COMPLIANCE
 Complying with a Board of Governors’ directive, the full Board will receive regular financial
updates, in addition to briefing at the Finance and Property committee level.
9.0
COMMUNICATIONS STRATEGY
 not applicable
Steven Pillar, VP, Administration
Garth Brownscombe, AVP Financial Services
Page 139 of 146
TRENT UNIVERSITY CASH POSITION FOR 2010/11,2011/12,2012/13 for the period ending February 25 ,2013 37500000
35000000
32500000
30000000
27500000
25000000
22500000
20000000
17500000
15000000
12500000
10000000
7500000
5000000
2500000
0
-2500000
-5000000
-7500000
-10000000
-12500000
-15000000
MAY
JUN
JUL
AUG
Credit Line
SEP
OCT
2011/2012
NOV
DEC
2010/11
JAN
FEB
2012/13
MAR
APR
Page 140 of 146
TRENT UNIVERSITY
2012-13 OPERATING BUDGET PROJECTION
($000s)
Draft 2011/12
Prior Year
2012/13
BOARDAPPROVED
BUDGET
(April, 2012)
2012/13
RESTATED
BUDGET *
ANTICIPATED
VARIANCES
AND
BALANCING
ACTIONS
$51,356
$51,182
$51,259
($342)
2012/13
PROJECTION
(January, 2013)
REVENUE
1
Government grants
2
3
4
Tuition fees
Less: student aid funded by fees
Net tuition
5
Miscellaneous revenue
6
TOTAL REVENUE
48,355
(6,411)
41,944
49,131
(6,166)
42,965
49,131
(6,155)
42,976
(378)
56
(322)
0
$50,917
48,753
(6,099)
42,654
2,187
1,959
1,959
$95,487
$96,106
$96,194
($664)
$95,530
1,959
$50,047
30,685
80,732
$52,855
31,939
84,794
$52,855
32,155
85,010
($537)
148
(389)
$52,318
32,303
84,621
16,461
97,193
17,950
102,744
17,931
102,941
163
(226)
18,094
102,715
EXPENSES
7
8
9
Instructional staff
Non-instructional staff
Total staff expense
10
11
Non-staff expense
Expense before cost recoveries and strategic investments
12
Cost recoveries
(6,633)
(6,825)
(6,905)
(532)
(7,437)
13
14
TOTAL NET EXPENSE
Strategic investments
90,560
512
95,919
868
96,036
839
(758)
95,278
839
15
TOTAL EXPENSE
$91,072
$96,787
$96,875
(758)
96,117
16 EXCESS OF REVENUE OVER EXPENSE (EXPENSE OVER REVENUE)
$4,415
($681)
($681)
$93
($588)
17 Change in Investment in Capital Assets/Internally Restricted
(3,487)
687
687
800
1,487
18 ANNUAL SURPLUS (DEFICIT) for University Operations
$928
$6
$6
$893
$899
19 DEFICIT -- BEGINNING OF YEAR
20 Annual surplus (deficit)
21 DEFICIT -- END OF YEAR
($4,147)
6
($4,141)
($4,147)
6
($4,141)
($3,895) ***
893 **
$893
* Restated budget is the board-approved budget updated with offsetting revenues and expenses from deferred targeted grants (primarily derived from
deferred revenue for Disability Services and Aboriginal Education and Training initiatives)
** The Framework for Managing the Cumulative Deficit Tracking Plan stipulated a contribution to the Cumulative Deficit of $605, for 2011/12 fiscal year.
*** Deficit adjusted for Fair Value Adjustment on Interest Rate Swap $1,288 in 11/12 fiscal year.
899
($2,996)
Page 141 of 146
TRENT UNIVERSITY
2012-2013 OPERATING BUDGET
EXPLANATION OF ANTICIPATED VARIANCES FROM UPDATED BUDGET AND RELATED BALANCING ACTIONS
($000s)
REVENUE
1
Government grants
Decrease due to differences between projected enrolment and budget assumptions (project +130 fte versus +100 fte on intake and
+60 fte on retention, and +40 fte on summer exclusive of Nursing session)
2
Tuition fees
3
Student aid funded by fees
Decrease due to differences between projected enrolment and budget assumptions as detailed above
Decrease due to lower enrolment
($342)
(378)
($342)
(378)
$56
56
($664)
TOTAL ANTICIPATED INCREASE (DECREASE) IN NET REVENUE
EXPENSES
7
Instructional staff
Decrease due to difference between budget assumption for projected salary increases
In year One Time savings Instructional
($344)
($193)
($537)
8
Non Instructional staff
Increased costs in Academic Support (i.e. Advanced Qualifications), PRD
Cost Reductions/Turnover savings in Administration, Library
427
(279)
148
10
12
Non Staff Expense
Delay Debenturing (Module D)
Utilities Consumption
Legal, Consulting,professional fees
(161)
142
182
Cost Recoveries
Increases on Misc.Revenues(i.e. Advanced Qualifications)
163
(532)
($758)
TOTAL ANTICIPATED INCREASE (DECREASE) IN NET EXPENSES
CHANGE IN INVESTMENT IN CAPITAL ASSETS/INTERNALLY RESTRICTED
17
Reversal of prior year appropriation re enrolment pressures
800
800
Page 142 of 146
Operating Actual vs Budget FY2012/13
Year-to-date, Projection and Budget by Object (thousands of dollars)
Report date: January 31, 2013
Run date: February 26, 2013
Projection
YTD Variance
Variance
YTD
YTD
Favourable
Restated
Projection
Favourable
Actual
Budget
(Unfavourable)
Budget
(Jan 2013)
(Unfavourable)
REVENUE
Government grants
34,224
34,471
(247)
51,259
50,917
(342)
Tuition
48,547
48,847
(300)
49,131
48,753
(378)
(3,721)
(3,721)
0
(4,149)
(4,093)
56
(997)
(895)
(102)
(895)
(895)
0
less: student aid funded by fees
Undergrad
Grad
International
Net tuition
Misc.
(1,026)
(1,026)
0
(1,111)
(1,111)
0
(5,744)
(5,641)
(102)
(6,155)
(6,099)
56
42,804
43,206
(402)
42,976
42,654
(322)
686
686
0
1,959
1,959
0
77,713
78,362
(649)
96,194
95,530
(664)
36,506
36,910
404
52,855
52,318
537
Academic Support
5,821
5,675
(146)
7,567
7,760
(193)
Library
2,077
2,111
33
2,906
2,861
45
1,742
1,766
24
2,354
2,354
0
Student Services
1,396
1,396
0
2,039
2,039
0
Physical Resources
4,673
4,498
(175)
5,896
6,130
(234)
Administration
5,837
6,012
174
8,234
8,000
234
External Relations
1,231
1,266
35
1,688
1,688
0
810
810
0
1,471
1,471
0
60,094
60,443
349
85,010
84,621
389
1,560
1,416
(143)
1,711
1,911
(200)
406
423
17
564
500
64
83
115
32
153
153
0
6
(6)
2,052
1,954
(98)
2,428
2,570
(142)
1,264
1,254
(9)
1,303
1,303
0
590
506
(84)
875
875
0
426
419
(7)
419
601
(182)
1,517
1,547
30
1,929
1,929
0
Total Revenue
EXPENSE
Salaries & Benefits
Instructional
Other (e.g. STAB fund)
Total salaries & benefits
Non-staff expense
Utilities
Electricity
Gas
Water
Oil
Total utilities
4
(4)
Supplies
Computer equip, mtnce, licenses
Telephone
Consulting, legal & professional
PRD repairs & maintenance
Travel
Library acquisitions
456
475
19
633
633
0
1,157
1,147
(10)
1,147
1,147
0
Page 143 of 146
Projection
YTD Variance
YTD
Actual
External contracts
Fleming
1,288
Variance
YTD
Favourable
Budget
(Unfavourable)
Restated
Projection
Favourable
Budget
(Jan 2013)
(Unfavourable)
1,303
15
1,470
1,470
0
0
0
0
305
305
0
Insurance
330
330
0
366
366
0
Professional development
278
284
5
378
378
0
Interest
951
951
0
1,586
1,425
161
Municipal taxes
Other supplies & operating costs
Appropriations
Total non-staff expense
503
503
0
503
503
0
2,010
2,171
161
5,428
5,428
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
10,769
10,889
120
16,342
16,363
(21)
12,822
12,843
21
18,770
18,933
(163)
(1,751)
(1,751)
0
(2,604)
(2,604)
0
(including utilities & strategic investments)
Cost Recoveries
PRD admin, MEM, caretaking, etc.
Admin overhead
Revenue line items
Other
Excess (Deficiency)
(884)
(884)
0
(1,178)
(1,178)
0
(2,903)
(2,441)
462
(2,441)
(2,973)
532
(157)
(157)
0
(682)
(682)
0
(5,694)
(5,232)
462
(6,905)
(7,437)
532
10,492
10,309
183
(681)
(587)
94
77,713
78,362
(649)
96,194
95,530
(664)
60,094
60,443
349
85,010
84,621
389
SUMMARY
Revenue net of scholarships
Expenses
Salaries and benefits
Non-staff expnese
12,822
12,843
21
18,770
18,933
(163)
Cost recoveries
(5,694)
(5,232)
462
(6,905)
(7,437)
(532)
67,221
68,054
832
96,875
96,117
(306)
10,492
10,309
183
(681)
(587)
94
0
0
0
687
1,487
800
10,492
10,309
183
6
900
894
EXCESS (DEFICIENCY)
Change in internally restricted
Annual Surplus (Deficit)
Page 144 of 146
Trent University
Long-term Financing Requirements Related to Capital Assets
(thousand of dollars)
up-dated as of January 31, 2013
Expected additions in FY2012/13
Project
Life and Health Sciences, Module D (F&P Mar 16/10 addt'l)
Deferred Maintenance Projects - facility to be arranged
Total Project
Estimate
24,700
5,000
29,700
Total
Financing
Funding
Facility
(20,700)
4,000
5,000
(20,700)
9,000
Advances to
Nov 30/12
2,181
2,181
Principal Projected
Balance @ Payments Balance
Apr 30/12 FY12/13 Apr 30/13
2,182
148
2,034
13
13
10,802
225
10,577
6,724
125
6,599
169
20
149
21,721
357
21,364
12,961
240
12,721
54,572
1,128
53,444
Annual P&I
Payments
313
13
976
477
31
1,394
723
3,927
less funding sources
Knowledge Infrastructure (KIP)
Financing Agreement executed; first construction advance of $2.181M received January 16, 2012
Existing long-term debt related to capital assets
Mortgagee
CMHC residential colleges
BMO SC-Physics Wing
BMO Gzowski College-Residence
IO DNA Building Mod A & B - Debenture
City of Peterborough - Woodland Drive
IO Traill, Mod C and Athletics
IO Trent in Oshawa
Existing long-term debt
Rate
5.875 to 8.25%
4.655%
6.415%
5.260%
7%
4.79%
3.75%
Maturity Date
2017 to 2024
May 31/12
Apr 30/34
Nov 2/37
Dec 31/18
Feb 1/41
Jan 16/42
Life & Health Sciences, Module D
Projected balance - April 30, 2013
4,000
57,444
Deferred Maintenance Projects
Projected balance - April 30, 2015
5,000
62,444
Projected amount per FTE - $57,444 based on 2012/13 forecasted FTE's 7,539
Line of Credit - facility maximum
Line of Credit - amount drawn
$
12,000
0
8
12,000
0
Balance of
facility
1,819
5,000
6,819
Page 145 of 146
Board of Governors, Luncheon with Student Leaders
February 1, 2013
Summary of Student Presentations
John West-Carvalho
Vice President, Otonabee College Cabinet
• Would like to see a larger connection between the Board of Governors and students
o Come together as a larger team
o Board of Governors have input on what the Student Leaders are doing and vice versa
Heather Braund
President, Peter Gzowski College Cabinet
• The main issue is student interaction.
o An area has been provided as a meeting place for students and faculty to interact,
however there is a lack of student space available so that students can collaborate with
each other
Kaiti Nixon
President, Graduate Student Association
• The Board of Governors and Student Leaders should have more opportunities to interact
o Board members could be invited to attend student meetings (Anne Wright)
• The School of Graduate Studies is reaching 500 students
o The administrative staff need support to assist with this volume
• Perhaps Governors could attend the events where Steven Franklin meets with the students
(example: Pool at The Ceilie)
Ashley Robinson
Prime Minister, Lady Eaton College Cabinet
• Lady Eaton College has launched an off-campus space downtown at Black Honey where students
can drop in during office hours
o Successful grand opening
o More needed in regards to advertising to get more students to the downtown location
(Liana Brown)
• The University needs to focus on more than just first year students in residence
o Need to ensure not to isolate upper year students, or first year students who do not live
on campus.
Samantha Shaw
President, Champlain College Cabinet
• Embrace Tradition with Alumni
o Work with alumni to create new traditions and embrace the ones we have
o Need to create a larger alumni/student connection
Page 146 of 146
Sharon Lee
President, Part-Time Student Association
• In regards to the Trent Lands Planning process, is economic and environmental sustainability
being kept in mind?
o Anne Wright ensured Sharon that the sustainability (economic, environmental and
social) is high on the priority list throughout the planning process
Brea Hutchinson
President, Trent Central Student Association
• Student centre proposal – a student centre will provide a central space for student clubs and
groups and serve as a gathering place for students to socialize and study on campus
o What will be the impact of a student centre on the colleges? (Tom Miller)
 The student centre will not take away from the college system
• The Board of Governors and Student Leaders can work together more
o Engage the students more – Students involved in Board of Governors Committees
 Harvey McCue and Robin Quantick identified this is a good suggestion – it will
be brought forward at the next Nominating & Governance Committee meeting

Page 1 of 2 Meeting of the Board of Governors of Trent University

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