The MSU IT Council met on May 6. At that meeting, outside speaker Ken Theis, CIO of Dental Dental and President of DewPoint, presented on IT project management to the council.
Below are the other high-level topic summaries from the meeting.
Salesforce customer relationship management
Fred Sudler and Barb Dawson from IT Services are working with Salesforce on adoption of this customer relationship (CRM) tool for campus. A CRM system uses technology to help manage an organization’s interactions with current and prospective customers.
IT Council members will participate as part of a related work group.
Scholarship management systems
The Office of Financial Aid recently surveyed universities to determine what types of scholarship management systems are being used. Scholarship management systems are used to collect, manage, and review scholarship applications.
Of the 10 universities who responded, many are using centralized systems across their universities. Some of these centralized systems were third party solutions like AcademicWorks and some were using their own custom tools. A committee has been formed to further explore options for MSU.
Network review
The university is developing a strategy to upgrade its networks. To do this, we must first determine the current state of our wired and wireless networks and infrastructure. We have engaged a group of consultants to help us with this work. Once completed, MSU will then develop a plan to upgrade our networks accordingly.
During this evaluation phase, which will take about two months, MSU units will be asked to help complete a list of network assets in their department. This would include inter-connectivity diagrams and logical design documents. IT Council members will participate in a related work group and may identity other possible work group members.
CAFE coordination with IT Council
There is increasing interest in coordinating the various campus Communities for Advising, Facilitating and Enabling (CAFE) groups with the IT Council.
One option discussed was having an IT Council member serve as a liaison or sponsor for each CAFE. This topic will be discussed more at the July meeting.
About the IT Council
The MSU IT Council serves as a primary IT advisory body. Membership is open to the primary IT leader from each of the degree-granting colleges, core academic units, major academic support units, and other major business units.
The MSU community is encouraged to seek out their IT Council representative or visit the IT Council website for more information on topics of interest.
