Background and Operating Context for our Work

The University of Georgia (UGA) continues to grow in reputation and impact. Regardless of our role, we all get to help the institution at this critical point in its history. Last year was remarkable as the University achieved many accomplishments in its core teaching, research, and service missions. Key milestones include.

• Establishment of a New School of Medicine: In February 2024, the Board of Regents authorized UGA to establish a new School of Medicine in Athens. This initiative aims to address the shortage of medical professionals in Georgia. Dr. Shelley Nuss was named the founding dean, and a groundbreaking ceremony for a new medical education and research building was held in April.

• Academic Rankings: According to U.S. News & World Report, UGA maintained its position among the top 20 public universities in the U.S. for the eighth consecutive
  year. Several graduate programs also ranked in the top 10, including the School of Public and International Affairs, which ranked fourth nationally1.

• Research and Innovation: UGA exceeded half a billion dollars in annual research and development expenditures, the fifth consecutive year of growth for the university. Biomedical Sciences continue to be a strength. For example, UGA’s Regenerative Bioscience Center made strides in developing a new drug that could be a game changer for chronic inflammation-based diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson's.

• Funding and Infrastructure: The state’s amended FY24 budget included a $50 million allocation for the new medical facility, which will be matched with private contributions.

The accomplishments reflect UGA’s unwavering commitment to excellence in education, research, and community service. I am immensely grateful to all of you for your unparalleled dedication to the University's community of students, faculty, and staff this past year. Your tireless efforts enable our University to teach effectively, conduct cutting-edge research, provide a stimulating learning and personal growth environment, and make a profound, positive impact across Georgia.

Beyond these facts, simply put, UGA is just a great community to be in, work in, and get to know others. The consistent high praise I receive about your work is a testament to your unwavering efforts. I couldn't be prouder to be a part of this team and to serve alongside such devoted professionals. Thank you for all your efforts that helped make this past year so special.

 

Key Indicators of Current Organizational Performance

Let's review the current status of our essential IT services and examine the findings from the TechQual+ IT customer service satisfaction survey conducted in the spring of 2024. The survey data offers concrete performance indicators demonstrating our services' effectiveness and positive influence on UGA.

The TechQual+ Survey serves two main purposes. Firstly, it gauges general customer sentiment, which encompasses the overall perception of the quality of our core IT services. These services include internet connectivity, wireless and cellular access, data access, web applications, collaboration tools, and prompt, courteous, and helpful customer support. Secondly, the survey measures satisfaction levels with specific IT services. We analyze the data based on the student, faculty, and staff populations, and we can further disaggregate it by college, school, or major administrative area as needed. The spring 2024 survey yielded 2,405 completed responses.

Overall, in 2024, students rated all 13 general sentiment questions positively, indicating that the services met their minimum expectations. Faculty members rated 12 out of 13 questions positively, while staff rated all 13 positively. Compared to the 2023 data, there was no change in the ratings for students or staff. For faculty, we moved from 10 of 13 positively to 12 of 13 in 2024. This positive impact of these data extends beyond our organization and includes other units within our schools, colleges, and entities like the Center for Teaching and Learning. Kudos to all involved!

Turning to specific services, the highest satisfaction ratings for 2024 were achieved by UGAMail (5.77/6), Zoom (5.7/6), EITS Help desk (5.53/6), UGA Alert (5.38/6), and ArchPass (5.37/6). These exceptionally high satisfaction ratings are noteworthy. Even the services that received lower ratings still fell within the acceptable range, with "moderate" or "extremely satisfied" ratings. Specifically, the lowest-performing services were UGA Elements (4.29/6), Turnitin (4.42/6), vLab (4.42/6), UGA Data Warehouse (4.44/6), and Respondus (4.46/6).

Overall, end-users high satisfaction ratings confirm the quality, usability, and effectiveness of the IT tools and services we offer to the UGA community. These measurable performance indicators are consistent with the positive feedback I have received about our work from various sources. Once again, congratulations to everyone involved for a job well done!

 

Goals Established Previously for 2023

Last year, my team and I focused on the following goals. Here is an update on the status of this critical work.

1. Collaborate with the teams in the Office of the Registrar, the Office of Financial Aid, and Academic Affairs to provide ongoing support to the vice president for instruction in implementing Course in Program of Study (CPOS) capabilities in Banner and DegreeWorks (strategic goals #4 and #6).

The CPOS initiative accomplished significant milestones in the past year. The Responsive Dashboard, featuring a modern, mobile-friendly interface, was successfully launched in spring 2023. Rolling this out required comprehensive website updates, training materials development, and training for academic advisors. Student feedback following the launch was overwhelmingly positive. The automation of the curriculum revision process, known as the Process for Approval of Revised Curriculum (PARC), was successfully launched in February 2024. This upgraded and automated workflow offers a streamlined method to evaluate, update, and prepare undergraduate degree programs for re-scribing. In collaboration with academic departments across all UGA schools and colleges, 852 programs were submitted for review and approval in PARC, with 642 of those programs now completed and ready for scribing. The project team has developed a comprehensive Scribe Best Practices guide, outlining the approach for recreating all undergraduate scribe content and establishing graduate-level programs. Scribing of programs in DegreeWorks began in the summer of 2024 and is over 60% complete. The project remains on track for completion by April 2025, thanks to the dedication and strategic efforts of the teams involved.

2. Support the vice president for instruction, the vice president for student affairs, and the Office of Diversity to begin implementing a virtual one-stop shop concept for students through the University’s mobile app (strategic goal #2).

The EITS Mobile App development team worked with various campus divisions to launch Dawg Source, a mobile component of the Chancellor’s One-Stop Shop initiative. Dawg Source is integrated into the existing UGA Mobile App and features a customized interface called MyUGA. This interface caters to students’ needs and current academic progress, whether they are prospective applicants, recent graduates, or anywhere in between. Sections like “My Day,” “My Week,” and “My Semester” allow students to focus on near-term, medium-term, or long-term priorities using class data integrated from the Banner student system and assignment data from eLearning Commons. The EITS Mobile App development team has also successfully released several other app enhancements throughout the year, including the Microsoft Copilot AI module and several visual updates to improve accessibility. Future updates will include improvements to the “My Finances” section, providing links to upcoming financial deadlines to prevent disruptions to academic progress, and the “My Career” section, informing students about UGA career resources.

3. Continue contributing to implementing the Workday ERP package for the State of Georgia and developing and refining a business case for a similar implementation for all 26 institutions within the University System of Georgia. Continue operating UGA’s Banner and Peoplesoft applications consistent with these plans (strategic goals #2, #4).

We supported the development of a comprehensive business case, which outlined the required investment, project timeline, and overall necessity of the project. This business case was pivotal in securing $88 million in funding from the governor and the General Assembly. We negotiated a crucial Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Georgia Technology Authority (GTA), covering essential aspects such as purchasing delegation, alignment of GTA IT standards with USG IT standards, and project coordination. We provided support for completing a preliminary analysis conducted by the consulting firm ISG, which focused on defining business requirements and mapping them against Workday and Oracle products. The project's next phase includes product selection, identifying project leadership, and preparing a Request for Proposal (RFP) for consulting implementation support. Anticipate combining PeopleSoft support staff from UGA with their counterparts from USG in FY25, creating a unified project team.

4. Begin implementing new information security capabilities and digital collaboration tools acquired with Microsoft A5 licenses for Office 365 for faculty, staff, and students. Work with IT employees throughout UGA’s schools and colleges to standardize and share this infrastructure, reducing costs and creating efficiencies for desktop computer support across the University (strategic goal #6).

Acquiring Microsoft A5 licenses is leading to significant operational and information security enhancements throughout the entire UGA enterprise. The A5 platform includes telephony features with external calling lines, allowing for a full PBX replacement with minimal capital investment. Over the next two years, Microsoft Teams will be implemented as the new campus telephony platform. The Microsoft Intune product simplifies device management for laptops, tablets, and mobile devices, resulting in cost reductions through tool and license consolidation. Twenty-six campus units have been onboarded thus far. Finally, the university will transition its antivirus solution for employee laptops and desktops to Microsoft Defender for Endpoint (MDE) over the next year. This transition will provide comprehensive coverage for faculty and staff, standardization within the USG, and advanced features. It will impact all University units and approximately 14,000 computers while delivering enhanced security operations center functions.

5. Fill several critical vacancies, including the associate VP for institutional research, finance and business services director, and server and network engineering director (strategic goals #5, #6).

Bret Jamieson, a proven collaborator across the University, has been appointed to fill the business services director position. Allan Aycock has been hired to fill the associate VP position for institutional research and has swiftly become a strong advocate for our deans and academic leadership.

 

Goals, Priorities, and Focus for Next Year

As we progress, we must exercise prudent management of our talent and resources at the University of Georgia. Many of our senior leadership members are apprehensive about the trajectory of economic growth. Consequently, over the next year, I have requested my team of direct reports to curtail their hiring activities to enhance our flexibility in the event of an economic slowdown or a reduction in the State of Georgia’s budgetary allocations. I have also instructed the team to maintain a reserve of unfilled vacancies equivalent to 8% of our state- appropriated operating budget as a buffer against potential budgetary constraints in the upcoming two years. When there are discrepancies between available resources and stakeholder expectations, my team of direct reports and I will collaborate to ensure a state of equilibrium.

We will remain vigilant in controlling the scope of our services and commitments. Doing redundant, ineffective, or inefficient work can have serious consequences. It not only uses up valuable resources, but also strains our capacity, weakens our position, and results in a flood of isolated tasks that drain our energy. I tend to use much of my team with my direct reports scrutinizing and, many times, deflecting new projects and initiatives, allowing all of us to focus on our most important and strategic goals.

Below are the main initiatives and focus areas that are priorities for the upcoming year. The teams involved in these efforts should not take on any extra commitments beyond their regular support operations. This approach will help us allocate our resources effectively and maintain our focus on delivering impactful outcomes. I’ve included some additional commentary in italics for context for some of these goals.

1. Continue supporting the USG Unified ERP roll-out and work to select and procure a product and consulting implementation support. Prepare to formally kick off the project before January 2026 (strategic goals #2, #4).

The University System of Georgia has secured funding and is implementing a single-instance shared finance and HR/payroll system for all USG institutions. The Chancellor has approved tentative go-live dates of January 1, 2028, for the HCM system and July 1, 2028, for the new finance systems. USG expects to select a system by the end of September 2024 and issue an RFP for a consulting implementation partner by late fall 2025. Additionally, USG anticipates organizing a multi-day workshop in the spring of 2025 to help institutions plan for and proceed with this implementation on their campuses.

2. Work to update strategies for data governance, management, and reporting, including the role and practices of the UGA data warehouse, to accommodate the Unified ERP project, the move to cloud-based systems, and the development of campus stakeholders' data strategies (strategic goals #3 and #4).

Regardless of the chosen system, transitioning to a unified, cloud-based ERP system and increasing campus demands for data access and analytics will require new strategies, tools, and skill sets for managing enterprise-wide data needs. These changes will require significant efforts and affect how the University populates and manages the data warehouse for campus use. Careful consideration of roles and responsibilities through this transition must protect the delivery of mission-critical services, including UGA OIR’s support of UGA academic leadership. More specific information about needed changes will become available once an ERP product is chosen.

3. Engage in additional advocacy and operational improvements related to information security. Seek external advice and stay updated with best practices to harden our information assets, especially Active Directory. Invest in our Security Operations Center to enhance their use of tools and data collection to safeguard our information assets (strategic goal #6).

Ransomware attacks, which aim to disrupt operations and steal data, are a major concern across all industries, especially in higher education. Institutions like the University of Georgia are prime targets because of their decentralized, data-rich environments and the culture of openness and flexibility that fosters innovation. Despite UGA's strong leadership and operational skills in information security, it is crucial to continually enhance, update, and invest in these critical capabilities. We will aggressively do this in the next twelve to eighteen months.

4. Support the UGA AI initiatives and work to make new generative AI tools available to the University community. Support the provost’s office leadership and its AI task force (strategic goals #1, #2, and #3).

The Provost’s task force on AI has been discussing the appropriate guidelines for using AI in our teaching, research, and service missions. Regarding research support, we have invested over $8m in the past four years towards GPU acquisition and infrastructure development for the GACRC. In terms of everyday AI, we have been cautious with new spending on AI productivity tools as the technology is still in the early stages of development. In the coming years, we plan to gradually introduce and support these tools provided by our current vendors, such as Microsoft, Google, Desire2Learn, Banner, and others. I encourage all our staff to spend some of their professional development time exploring these tools and thinking about how they can improve individual productivity.

5. Complete the current electrical MMR work in the Boyd data center and proceed to the next phase, partnering with UGA facilities and others to install a new backup power generator (strategic goal #6).

Support for faculty AI-driven initiatives in research is consuming massive amounts of additional electricity in the Boyd Data Center. Improvements are required to grow the University’s AI-based infrastructure resources, on which our faculty depends. Partnering with UGA facilities and construction to make these improvements is imperative.

6. Fill several key vacancies, including leadership over our planning, project management, and communications areas, leadership over the Banner student information team, and leadership over our network and server engineering team (strategic goals #5 and #6).

Earlier this year, Stacy Boyles was hired to lead our planning, project management, and communications areas. Ashley Henry, a highly accomplished engineer and leader of his team, has been appointed as the leader of our server and network engineering departments. We will fill these other key positions later this year or early 2025.

Over the next year, we must work together to make progress, align with strategic goals, and improve our operations by pursuing these initiatives. By collaborating effectively and implementing our plans, we will continue to provide excellent support and create a thriving environment for the UGA community. I am proud to work with all of you toward this goal.

Thank you for your valuable contributions to this report's positive outcomes. Please feel free to reach out if you need professional or personal assistance. Your dedication makes the University of Georgia a truly exceptional place.