IT2019: Bridging the IT Divide

The School of Information Technology (SoIT) at the University of Cincinnati was accustom to change. SoIt was often divided, tracing their roots to several computing technology programs offered across three colleges. However, in the fall of 2004, these programs merged to form the Bachelor of Science in Information Technology. The division grew more when in 2006 the Department of Information Technology  emerged as an academic department bound to two different colleges. At last in July 2011, the program finally settled in the College of Education, Criminal Justice, and Human Services (CECH) to support an evolving vision of integrated technology. After a national search, the program chose an internal candidate, Dr. Hazem Said, who would take the helm as the School Director. Now defined and housed in a single college, SoIT turned their attention on the growth and development of the program. Since the constant changes had finally waned, the program was ready to define who they were and develop a strategic plan that would guide them as they evolved into a more integrated part of CECH.

In February 2012, they formed a partnership with M E Clarke Consulting to begin a comprehensive strategic planning process. The plan unfolded through November and involved three phases of input sessions, plan development and public review. To assist the process SoIT formed a strategic planning team that consisted of faculty, staff and advisory board members. This team would be at the forefront of the strategic planning process, working to spearhead the initiative. Input sessions invited students, alumni, staff, faculty, academic leadership, advisory board members and the IT community to join together for discussion and validation. They were able to share their hopes for the future of SoIT and how they saw the program achieving these goals. The information provided by the input sessions was analyzed and presented back to the strategic planning team for further refinement ultimately leading to plan development.

Using the information provided by the input sessions the strategic planning team drafted a vision, mission, objective and strategic goals. After public review and feedback they were further refined and integrated into a finalized strategic plan. The end result included five strategic goals along with priorities that would help guide the goals to success. These goals included: become a leading expert in 2-4 IT areas regionally and nationally; become a center of innovation for information technology education regionally and nationally; be a great place to learn and innovate; increase awareness of the information technology discipline; and increase the quantity and quality of collaborative relationships within and outside the university. To measure and keep track of their progress, performance indicators were designated to each. This would help during implementation to keep the team on target and focused toward the newly defined vision.

As a result of this process, SoIT built a collaborative strategic plan that would guide the program for the next seven years. This plan bridged the divide SoIT had previously experienced. Now with a home, vision and goals they could go forward with confidence in forming their identity as a School. Open to positive change and redefinition SoIT, will be evaluating, revising and updating the strategic plan in 2016, staying in front of the ever-evolving IT environment.