One IT at Iowa

In the review, you will learn about investments in research computing to address technology needs being articulated by campus, including demand for Artificial Intelligence (AI), accelerated computing using Graphics Processing Units (GPU), and tools for interactive data analytics and data sharing. You’ll see how IT supports student success through new curricular planning tools in MyUI and through Elements of Success—a learning analytics platform that provides real-time data on how they are performing in class. And, you’ll find out how business intelligence tools are delivering data to aid in decision-making in areas such as enrollment management, budgeting, and program planning. 

OneIT also made great strides as an organization in 2018. Over the past three years, our IT community came together as OneIT, significantly increasing collaboration and communication across organizational boundaries to better support the institutional mission. This year we leveraged that progress to develop the first OneIT Strategic Plan, providing a unified, strategic direction for information technology at the University of Iowa. The OneIT Leaders, pictured at right, were instrumental in the strategic planning process and gathered valuable input from stakeholders in each unit. To provide transparency and to coordinate and prioritize projects, we developed OneIT Roadmaps outlining strategic and major operational projects for the next two years.  

This year we made excellent progress in integrating OneIT and Health Care Information Systems to leverage scale and complementary strengths, help the UI keep pace with the growing demand for IT services, and provide campus with a more seamless IT experience. The IT security offices merged, and sharing talents, tools, and expertise has strengthened security across the entire institution. We set a long-term course to move to a single ID and a single email and calendaring system, which will greatly improve the experience of faculty, staff, and students—especially those who interact with both health care and university IT systems. A core team was charged to guide integration efforts forward. 

Another 2018 milestone was completion of the TIER projects, initiated through a Board of Regents effort to improve efficiency and reduce expenses so resources could be reinvested into core-mission activities. The three-year effort comprised 16 projects, including consolidating data centers and implementing a shared service model for end user support. The projects achieved $4.4 million in recurring savings.

IT is a partner in virtually everything that happens at the University of Iowa, and we anticipate that dependency on technology will only increase going forward. My colleague Brad Wheeler, CIO at Indiana University, says it well: “almost everything foreseeable regarding our mission of research and education will become more technologically-intensive—more dependent on commodity, specialized, advanced, and integrated technologies to achieve that mission within costs that our revenues can sustain.” 

I am proud of everything the OneIT community accomplished in 2018, and excited about what we are doing to prepare for the future as the demand for technology grows. Our IT community is dedicated to helping the University of Iowa thrive, and we are grateful for your support. 

Steve Fleagle 
Associate Vice President and Chief Information Officer