This plan has been crafted in response to the release of the CAS Strategic Plan 2016-2021, released in April of 2017. 

CAS-IT consists of eight professional full-time, five and a half full time equivalent student, and varying intern staff that provide desktop support, computer lab support, server administration, application development, training, and website support. We are dispersed and embedded among the faculty and staff we support. 

CAS-IT provides technological services to CAS faculty, staff, and Administrative units. Outside of these established services, CAS-IT customers are encouraged to describe their needs or suggest services for consideration. Among these services are end-point support. As of July 2017 CAS-IT supports and actively manages approximately 4,000 computers and an unknown number of other devices. CAS-IT staff also support dozens of server-based and web-based applications. 

CAS-IT is heavily involved in campus-wide committees and working groups as technical representatives of the CAS faculty and staff. The CAS-IT Director serves on the CAS Technology Advisory Committee as a Dean's Representative. The CAS Technology Advisory Committee is charged with:

• Advising to and/or representing the general faculty and staff population regarding IT projects, operations, policy, and procedures.
• Presenting industry and/or curriculum technology trends and needs from representative areas to IT.

CAS-IT staff heavily rely on the input of this group to focus our efforts. Other CAS-IT staff attend meetings regarding topics pertaining to their role in CAS-IT. 

Mission

The mission of CAS-IT is to provide value in the form of IT services to the College of Arts & Sciences and its units so that we are enabled to achieve our overall objectives and goals (Adopted from the ITIL V3 definition of Service Management and Value).

Vision

• To provide the technological services needed, that are not offered or offered at a level of service beneath our needs by other Illinois State units, for faculty to teach, conduct research, or otherwise provide service to the University;
• CAS-IT is seen as a strategic partner with the College of Arts & Sciences and the units within it; 
• CAS-IT is seen as a trusted go-to resource for technology planning and support; 
• To be a representative voice of CAS faculty and driving factor in technology services across the University;
• To understand the current state of technology in higher education and to look forward to future capabilities; 
• To support, through technology, an increasingly enriched intellectual community, built with the collaboration of faculty, students, and staff that support students' development as engaged citizens.

Values 

The CAS Technology Advisory Committee suggested refreshing CAS-IT's stated values. The previous values were established in early 2010. At the time, Ann Beck was CAS-IT director and Jim Payne was the Dean of CAS. Many things have changed since then, including the dependence that most have on technology. With much deliberation, the following list was created in 2017. All members of the committee, including the CAS-IT Director, Mike Regilio, had opportunity to contribute. As the Director, I see this as a clear view of how faculty and staff expect CAS-IT to operate. Furthermore, I see these values as a way to guide our own decisions and as a reciprocal expectation of how faculty and staff will work with us.

• People by listening to, respecting the expertise of, and showing empathy to everyone we encounter on a professional and personal level;
• Compliance with all Federal, State, or University laws, policies, or procedures;
• Security, in compliance with University policy, of the services and data we steward;
• Accountability in our work;
• Input through Department, Faculty, Staff, and Student guidance and feedback through representative committees or advisory groups;
• Fiscal responsibility and strategic spending;
• Continual improvement of operational excellence through the on-going development of CAS-IT staff and the College of Arts & Sciences as a whole;
• Collaboration with Department, Faculty, Staff to meet College or Unit strategic goals;
• Stability and security in service through use of best practices, competent personnel, and proactive efforts like regular maintenance and software updates;
• Adaptability in preparation of or response to strategically changing needs of the College of Arts & Sciences and the units within;
• Integrating students into daily operations and fostering their development;
• Transparency of policies, procedures, and process by leveraging open communication and thoughtful business processes;
• Innovation by encouraging creative and critical thinking in the development of technology services and solutions;
• ITIL framework ideologies, especially a service mentality: We strive to provide excellent service by being consistent, reliable, and accessible;
• A lean and well-supported service catalog.

Operational Plan

Considering the prior statements, CAS-IT staff and close CAS-IT associates worked together to plan for the contributions we will make.

CAS-IT staff are David Crutchley, Tim Helmuth, Bob LeGrand, Jason McCrone, Mike Regilio, Chad Scheiman, and Eric Schuler. At the time we had one position vacated by Chris Higgins. CAS-IT associates that contributed include Ross Bogue and Travis Meadors. The contributions we identified are described here. 

Supporting the Mission of CAS

CAS-IT will focus on:

• Continuing to integrate students into our daily operations. They are vital to our operations as they provide economic human capital while gaining valuable real-world experience during their student career (Aligns with Illinois State University Strategic Plan items II.C.2 and IV.D.2). We have dedicated approximately $60,000 of our own budget towards this in FY18. CAS has dedicated $10,000 from tech tuition funds and $8,500 from other funds towards this. 
• Expanding our recruiting efforts toward staff with culturally, linguistically, and geographically diverse backgrounds in efforts to represent our customers and meet the challenges of a global society.
  • We also interpret these diverse backgrounds and challenges of a global society to include people with disabilities. Initially we'll focus on people with visual, hearing, auditory, and cognitive disabilities (Aligns with Illinois State University Strategic Plan item III.C.3).

Supporting the Vision of CAS

CAS-IT will focus on: 

• Expanding our efforts to foster inclusive communities including electronic communications, software, and other technology to provide all students with one of the nation's premiere public educational experiences (Aligns with Illinois State University Strategic Plan item III.C.3).

Supporting the Strategic Foci of CAS

CAS-IT recognizes the following goals, actions, and accountability measures as ones in which we can contribute. We welcome conversations on how we can additionally contribute. 

Strategic Focus 1: Selected Accountability Measures

• Number of 8-year program reviews rated as being in good standing.
  • This accountability measure can be entered and tracked with Digital Measures Activity Insight (DMAI).
  • The DMAI report "Department Productivity Report" was designed with School of Communication Director, Steve Hunt, to address collecting information for Program reviews.
  • Additional fields can be added to DMAI screens to track good standing.
  • CAS-IT can work with those responsible for this to determine specific reporting needs.
  • Aligns with Illinois State University Strategic Plan item I.D.3.
• Number of successful accreditation reports.
  • This accountability measure can be entered and tracked with Digital Measures Activity Insight (DMAI).
  • The DMAI report "Department Productivity Report" was designed with School of Communication Director, Steve Hunt, to address collecting information for Program reviews.
  • Additional fields can be added to DMAI screens to track success.
  • CAS-IT can work with those responsible for this to determine specific reporting needs.
  • Aligns with Illinois State University Strategic Plan item I.D.3.
• Number of faculty presentations and publications including counts of student and international co-authors.
  • The DMAI report "Scholarship and Creative Report" already exists to track this information.
  • CAS-IT can work with those responsible for this to determine specific reporting needs.
  • Number of CAS-supported speakers, co-curricular events, and professional development workshops.
  • DMAI already tracks this information but a report to specifically count these may need to be created.
  • Aligns with Illinois State University Strategic Plan item I.D.3.

Strategic Focus 2

• Action 2.1.2: Facilitate improved communication with Research and Sponsored Programs to support faculty grant seeking and the role of CAS-IT in grant proposal development.
  • CAS-IT will make ourselves available to give feedback on grant proposals as to technology requirements needed, costs, staffing, etc. 
  • CAS-IT will collect past known-use cases that identify needs to support grants.
  • CAS-IT staff can be available for work needed to achieve this action item.
  • Aligns with Illinois State University Strategic Plan item II.B and II.C.
• Action 2.1.3: Facilitate communication among units (departments/schools/programs), university level organizations and associations that support diversity and equity, and university level technology offices through the Technology Executive Committee of professionals employed in the College.
  • CAS-IT will continue to support various synchronous and asynchronous technologies to facilitate communication. Those include department websites, CAS URG Submission system, CAS Budget Request system, Digital Measures Activity Insight, CAS Internship Posting System, CAS Collaboration System, and CAS Syllabus Archive System.
  • CAS-IT will continue to assist with FormStack and Qualtrics.
  • The Director of CAS-IT serves as a Dean's Representative on the CAS Technology Advisory Committee.
• Action 2.2.1: Support the professional development of CAS-IT members engaged with technology. 
  • CAS-IT staff will develop professional development plans and achievement reports.
  • Aligns with Illinois State University Strategic Plan item I.B.2.
• Action 2.2.2: Maintain web-based forms for submission of internal grant and sabbatical applications, productivity reports, and tenure and promotion applications. 
  • CAS-IT will continue to develop, host, and maintain many web-based forms and form creation tools towards these purposes. Those include the CAS URG Submission system, the CAS Budget Request system, Digital Measures Activity Insight, CAS Internship Posting System, CAS Collaboration System, CAS Syllabus Archive System, and assists with FormStack and Qualtrics. 
  • Aligns with Illinois State University Strategic Plan item II.C.3.
• Action 2.2.3: Increase percentage of course materials that are accessible electronically and in other appropriate media. 
  • CAS-IT will continue to support the CAS Syllabus Archive System including working towards the ability to house future course syllabi.
  • CAS-IT will continue to contribute in the development and support of the About.IllinoisState.edu website content management system as an easy tool available for faculty use.
  • Aligns with Illinois State University Strategic Plan item II.C.3.
• Action 2.3.1: Conduct systematic periodic reviews of buildings and facilities needed for long-term program growth based on the University Master Plan.
  • CAS-IT will continue to install a utility called Lab Stats (acquired by Administrative Technologies) on computer lab computers that can track computer and software usage which can contribute to this review.
  • CAS-IT staff will seek re-training in LabStats.
  • CAS-IT can work with those responsible for this to determine specific reporting needs.
  • Aligns with Illinois State University Strategic Plan items I.D.3.
• Action 2.3.3: Increase the number of faculty who participate in Emergency Preparedness, Department ERP, Rape Aggression Defense classes, cultural responsiveness, equity, and disability access training offered by the university and make training more consistent across units.
  • Although not faculty, some CAS-IT staff have participated in Emergency Preparedness training and disability-access training in the form of website, software, and other technology accessibility.
  • CAS-IT will continue to maintain a document for new faculty that suggests other resources. That document can be found at https://cas.illinoisstate.edu/about/casit/ and is also included in the onboarding email new faculty receive. 
  • CAS-IT will continue to promote and train faculty and staff for the correct implementation of web content that assists with disability accessibility. 
  • Aligns with Illinois State University Strategic Plan items I.B.2 and III.A.
• Strategic Focus 2: Selected Accountability Measures
  • Number of meetings and minutes of Technology Executive Committee.
    • The Director of CAS-IT will continue to assist the committee in the creation of meeting agendas, note taking, archiving of minutes, and generally serving as the channel between the committee and other IT units. 
  • Mike Regilio has served as the trainer for the About.IllinoisState.edu website system for the past three years. CAS-IT student front-end web designers also assist in maintaining these sites, and occasionally assist training faculty and staff. Mike Regilio will report the number of CAS faculty that attend this training as it includes information about website Accessibility.
  • CAS-IT will report the number of faculty and staff we train to maintain the content of their department or unit websites hosted by CAS-IT as this training includes information about website Accessibility.

Strategic Focus 3

• Action 3.1.3: Investigate feasibility of adding personnel for proposal writing and budget preparation (Unit must return buyout funds if an external grant is not submitted). 
  • CAS-IT staff will give feedback to these people so they can understand the issues we see with technology purchasing and support of grants.
• Action 3.3.1: Help identify opportunities for faculty and staff to provide consulting services based on their professional expertise by updating the expertise list. 
  • CAS-IT will continue to offer the CAS Collaboration System which already intends to serve this purpose.
  • CAS-IT can work with those responsible for this to determine specific needs and how the Collaboration System might grow to meet those needs.
  • Aligns with Illinois State University Strategic Plan items IV.A.2.
• Action 3.3.2: Facilitate interdisciplinary and intercollegiate connections for research projects. 
  • CAS-IT will continue to offer the CAS Collaboration System which already intends to serve this purpose. CAS-IT will continue to offer the CAS Collaboration System which already intends to serve this purpose.
  • CAS-IT can work with those responsible for this to determine specific needs and how the Collaboration System might grow to meet those needs.
  • Aligns with Illinois State University Strategic Plan items IV.B.4 and I.D.2.
• Strategic Focus 3: Selected Accountability Measures
  • Number of external grants and awards.
    • CAS-IT will continue to support Digital Measures Activity Insight which already tracks and reports this metric.
    • CAS-IT can work with those responsible for this to determine specific reporting needs.
  • Amount of start-up funds provided to new faculty.
    • CAS-IT will continue to support Digital Measures Activity Insight which can track and report this metric with a slight change to an existing screen.
    • CAS-IT can work with those responsible for this to determine specific reporting needs.
  • Amount of funds generated from CAS faculty-driven services.
    • CAS-IT will continue to support Digital Measures Activity Insight which can track and report this metric with a slight change to an existing screen.
    • CAS-IT can work with those responsible for this to determine specific reporting needs.
  • Number of creative collaborations within CAS units, as well as between CAS units and other University faculty.
    • CAS-IT will continue to support Digital Measures Activity Insight which already tracks and reports this metric.
    • CAS-IT can work with those responsible for this to determine specific reporting needs.

Strategic Focus 4

• Action 4.1.1: Promote the importance of liberal arts and sciences skills, understanding diversity, equity, social justice, and critical thinking through contributions to General Education program. 
  • CAS-IT will continue to support Digital Measures Activity Insight which has been designed to distribute the contributions of faculty to various other sources with little to no other effort on the faculty’s behalf besides entering the record. For example, media relations uses the CAS Report from the CAS website to know what faculty have done in the last quarter, Christine Bruckner from Community Engagement and Service Learning can run a report she helped design which serves as a conversation starter between her and the faculty, feeds the CAS Collaboration System which allows for quick searching of faculty teaching and research interests, etc.
  • Aligns with Illinois State University Strategic Plan items II.C.3 and IV.B.3.
• Action 4.1.2: Share and promote how the individual units in CAS prepare students for future careers and graduate school. 
  • CAS-IT will continue to support website copyediting, design, and development, which are very commonly used to tell such stories.
  • CAS-IT will continue to advise departments that their websites should be used to help achieve this.
  • CAS-IT will continue to support Digital Measures Activity Insight which has been designed to feed information entered by faculty to faculty profile pages on the department websites with little to no other effort on the faculty’s behalf besides entering the record. These pages are important to the recruitment of graduate students.
  • Aligns with Illinois State University Strategic Plan items II.C.3 and IV.B.3.
• Action 4.1.3: Continue to build and enhance civic engagement opportunities for diverse students at the local, national, and international levels.
  • CAS-IT will continue to support website copyediting, design, and development, which are very commonly used to tell such stories.
  • CAS-IT will continue to advise departments that their websites should be used to help achieve this.
  • Aligns with Illinois State University Strategic Plan items II.C.3 and IV.B.3.
• Action 4.1.4: Highlight the course offerings and programing of Women and Gender Studies, African American Studies, Latin American and Latino Studies, Middle Eastern Studies, East Asian Studies, Native American Studies, and Ethnic Studies and their relevance in a globalized world. 
  • CAS-IT will continue to support each of these websites departments with copyediting, design, and development.
  • Aligns with Illinois State University Strategic Plan items II.C.3 and IV.B.3.
• Action 4.2.1: Develop mechanisms for connecting community organizations to faculty and staff with the research and consulting expertise they need. Develop web-based resources with a list of specialist/speakers or experts so that internal and external sources can find these individuals. 
  • CAS-IT will continue to offer the CAS Collaboration System which already intends to serve this purpose.
  • Aligns with Illinois State University Strategic Plan items II.C.3 and IV.B.3.
• Action 4.2.2: Promote and encourage faculty participation in Main Street College as a form of outreach to the community; share participation in CAS and University publications, local market publications and WGLT as a means of outreach to the off-campus community. Use Main Street College as a means to showcase the academic expertise. 
  • Mike Regilio will work with Travis Meadors, and potentially others, from WGLT to give WGLT immediate access to a Digital Measures Activity Insight report that would give them an overview of what our faculty are doing, much like we have already done for Community Engagement and Service Learning.
  • CAS-IT will continue to provide input to, and support the progress of, adopting a new mass email tool which should be able to allow for easier subscriptions by topic by ISU and non-ISU addresses.
  • Aligns with Illinois State University Strategic Plan items II.C.3 and IV.B.3.
• Action 4.2.3: Use new media and social networking technologies as appropriate to publicize College accomplishments to showcase the contributions of faculty, staff, and students, particularly those from underrepresented groups, to keep internal and external stakeholders informed and connected with all of the College’s programs and achievements. Continue to use CASNews, Redbird Scholar, Identity, College and Departmental newsletters, and University News Hub to promote the work of the College, and encourage the diffusion of CAS achievements to local and state media.
  • CAS-IT Training and Advanced Projects like to become a partner with those responsible for carrying this out. The skills we already keep in house, like photo and occasionally video editing, website design, technical writing, etc. can be of help.
  • CAS-IT would like to hire a GA for the purposes of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) which could have a big impact on social media posts and department website effectiveness.
  • Aligns with Illinois State University Strategic Plan items II.C.3.
• Action 4.2.4: Promote and encourage recruiting of culturally diverse populations in Illinois as well as internationally, and increase partnerships abroad so that students choose Illinois State as their place of studies.
  • CAS-IT will continue to advise departments that their websites should be used to help achieve this.
  • Aligns with Illinois State University Strategic Plan items II.C.3 and IV.B.3.
• Strategic Focus 4: Selected Accountability Measures
  • Number of all General Education courses and sections taught by faculty members from CAS, number of courses dedicated to US and international diversity and report assessment data from those General Education courses.
    
    • Depending on what is needed for assessment data, CAS-IT will continue to support Digital Measures Activity Insight which is already tracking and reporting this metric.
    • CAS-IT can work with those responsible for this to determine specific reporting needs.
  • Report contributions to the ongoing work of the Career Task Force.
    • CAS-IT will continue to support Digital Measures Activity Insight which is already able to track this data.
    • CAS-IT can work with those responsible for this to determine specific reporting needs.
  • Number of opportunities for civic engagement and the acquisition of intercultural communicative competency.
    • CAS-IT will continue to support Digital Measures Activity Insight which is already able to track and report this metric.
    • CAS-IT can work with those responsible for this to determine specific reporting needs.
  • Number of presentations made to the general public by faculty members of CAS, including Main Street College presentations. 
    • CAS-IT will continue to support Digital Measures Activity Insight which is already able to track and report this metric.
    • CAS-IT can work with those responsible for this to determine specific reporting needs.