Information Technology (IT) is committed to exploring models for coordinating support between Information Technology and other units in order to blend technology skills with expertise in area disciplines. As a result, IT developed a liaison program with administrative and, if appropriate, some academic areas in which a lead person from each area would be identified in order to enhance communication and coordination for mutually important technology issues.
The purpose of the liaison program is to significantly improve the quality of the services IT provides to administrative staff in your school or department. It is an extension of an informal working relationship we already have with many areas. We have found that the quality of our service is enhanced by having one person in a department with whom we can coordinate such things as technology planning, computer installations, and the roll out of software applications.
The goals of the program are:
- To systematize and improve communication between IT and your department or school
- To provide you with a "first look" at new technologies we are considering for the future, and, when appropriate, to ask that you serve as "beta testers", or evaluators of new technology
- To have you serve as an area coordinator for technology planning, new installations, and the delivery of new software applications.
The structure of the program is intended to be equally straightforward:
- There is a special e-mail listserv just for liaisons and IT staff, which we can all use to disseminate information, ask questions and share ideas
- There are various communication mechanisms, those that the group as a whole deem to be most effective, to communicate urgent notices about technology problems which will effect the department in question or the campus as a whole
Please be assured that this role does not require any special technical expertise, or having to actually perform any technical work for office systems in your area. The program is designed to be completely flexible in this regard. Some of you may have the technical skills, inclination and approval of your supervisor to actually perform some technical support tasks in their area, others may not. Either way is fine!