IT Governance
Brandeis University’s information technology (IT) governance program includes committees, processes, and communications aimed at ensuring IT-related decisions and investments are guided by the appropriate Brandeis stakeholders and effectively support institutional objectives and priorities.
Objectives
An effective IT governance framework improves the transparency of IT spending, clarifies decision-making boundaries and accountabilities, provides strategic direction of IT, and ensures that there is adequate IT capability and infrastructure to support University needs.
Governance Structure
Brandeis IT Governance is comprised of several advisory committees that guide the University’s technology decision making.
Workday Advisory Committee (WAC)
Provides oversight and direction for Workday, approving and prioritizing changes stemming from needs across campus. These may include changes to business processes, system configuration, and security/roles, as well as changes stemming from Workday product releases. WAC serves as the parent committee to three focused, functional Subcommittees for Human Resources (HR), Finance, and Student.
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- Approve priorities for Workday Production’s ongoing operations, enhancements, and new initiatives approved at the Subcommittee level to assure alignment with the university’s business goals and needs.
- Discuss and make decisions on cross-functional requests stemming from Subcommittees, assessing impacts for shared objects and functions.
- Ensure changes to sandbox and production environments are controlled and coordinated.
- Identify and monitor progress of Workday initiatives on its Roadmap and provide guidance to ongoing administrative systems’ operations, support efforts, and enhancements.
- Consider and discuss impact of administrative system changes on people, process, technology, standards, and policies.
- Resolve the escalation of issues which span departmental or divisional boundaries.
- Review school and department systems in the context of enterprise systems.
- Provide direction to prevent, where appropriate, unnecessary redundancy or non-sustainable implementations and their resulting inefficiencies and risks.
- Assist in informing the broader campus community of approved changes to processes, policies, and standards.
- In conjunction with data governance program launch, with approval from the appropriate data trustees if applicable:
- Encourage and facilitate the integration of systems and access to data across functional boundaries and guide the development of common data models.
- Champion effective information and IT security measures, policies and practices to ensure the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of resources are preserved.
- ITS Leadership Representative (chair)
- HR Subcommittee Chair
- Finance Subcommittee Chair
- Student Subcommittee Chair
- Student Financials Representative
- Payroll Representative
- Student Employment Representative
- Security Lead
- Technical Lead
- Training Lead
The Workday Production Advisory Committee Meeting Agendas and Minutes are posted to Box (Brandeis login required). If you have questions, please contact the chair of the committee.
Workday Student Subcommittee
This focused subcommittee provides oversight, direction, and decision-making for the Workday Student Module, approving and prioritizing changes stemming from needs across campus. These may include, but is not limited to, changes to business processes, system configuration, security/roles, as well as changes stemming from Workday product releases. Requests may stem from anyone in the Brandeis community. They should first be vetted by the Subcommittee member aligned by the requestor’s organization. The Subcommittee member then advances any requests that should move forward.
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Review, agree upon, and approve priorities for Workday Student’s ongoing operations, enhancements, and new initiatives to assure alignment with the university’s business goals and needs.
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Monitor progress of Workday Student initiatives. Consider and discuss impact of administrative system changes on people, process, technology, and standards and policies.
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Resolve the escalation of issues which span departmental or divisional boundaries, escalating issues and change requests to the Workday Advisory Committee when appropriate.
- Act as liaison for change requests originating from one’s school or administrative area. Provide details on these change requests to the subcommittee so that they can be reviewed for approval.
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Review existing school and departmental systems in the context of our enterprise system (Workday), to make recommendations on which ones may be able to be sunset.
- Provide direction to prevent risks, redundancy, and inefficiencies related to unnecessary and non-sustainable implementations arising from across campus, when appropriate.
- Assist in informing the broader campus community of approved changes to processes, policies, and standards.
- In conjunction with data governance program, with approval from the appropriate data trustees if applicable:
• Encourage and facilitate the integration of systems and access to data across functional boundaries and guide the development of common data models.
• Champion effective information and IT security measures, policies and practices to ensure the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of resources are preserved.
- Vice Provost for Academic Affairs, Chair
- Registrar’s Office Representative
- Financial Aid and Student Financials Representative
- Academic Advising Representative
- Student Affairs Representative
- Admissions Representative
- Office of Institutional Research Representative
- Arts and Sciences Representative
- Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Representative
- Heller School Representative
- International Business School Representative
- Rabb School of Continuing Studies Representative
- ITS Technical Representative
The Workday Student Subcommittee Meeting Agendas and Minutes are posted to Box (Brandeis login required). If you have questions, please contact the chair of the Subcommittee.
Workday Finance Subcommittee
This focused subcommittee provides oversight, direction, and decision-making for the Workday Finance Module, approving and prioritizing changes stemming from needs across campus. These may include, but is not limited to, changes to business processes, system configuration, security/roles, as well as changes stemming from Workday product releases. Requests may stem from anyone in the Brandeis community. They should first be vetted by the Subcommittee member aligned by the requestor’s organization. The Subcommittee member then advances any requests that should move forward.
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Review, agree upon, and approve priorities for Workday Finance’s ongoing operations, enhancements, and new initiatives to assure alignment with the university’s business goals and needs.
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Monitor progress of Workday Finance initiatives. Consider and discuss impact of administrative system changes on people, process, technology, and standards and policies.
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Resolve the escalation of issues which span departmental or divisional boundaries, escalating issues and change requests to the Workday Advisory Committee when appropriate.
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Act as liaison for change requests originating from one’s school or administrative area. Provide details on these change requests to the subcommittee so that they can be reviewed for approval.
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Review existing school and departmental systems in the context of our enterprise system (Workday), to make recommendations on which ones may be able to be sunset.
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Provide direction to prevent risks, redundancy, and inefficiencies related to unnecessary and non-sustainable implementations arising from across campus, when appropriate.
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Assist in informing the broader campus community of approved changes to processes, policies, and standards.
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In conjunction with data governance program, with approval from the appropriate data trustees if applicable:
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Encourage and facilitate the integration of systems and access to data across functional boundaries and guide the development of common data models.
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Champion effective information and IT security measures, policies and practices to ensure the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of resources are preserved.
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Assistant Vice President, Financial Systems, Co-Chair
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Assistant Vice President, Finance & Controller, Co-Chair
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Assistant Vice President, Budget and Financial Planning
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Associate Controller
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Director, Sponsored Programs Accounting
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Payroll Manager
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Provost’s Office Representative
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Arts and Sciences Representative
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Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Representative
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Heller School Representative
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International Business School Representative
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Rabb School of Continuing Studies Representative
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Procurement Representative
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Institutional Advancement Representative
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ITS Technical Representative
The Workday Finance Subcommittee Meeting Agendas and Minutes are posted to Box (Brandeis login required). If you have questions, please contact the co-chairs of the Subcommittee.
Workday Human Resources (HR) Subcommittee
This focused subcommittee provides oversight, direction, and decision-making for the Workday HR Module, approving and prioritizing changes stemming from needs across campus. These may include, but is not limited to, changes to business processes, system configuration, security/roles, as well as changes stemming from Workday product releases. Requests may stem from anyone in the Brandeis community. They should first be vetted by the Subcommittee member aligned by the requestor’s organization. The Subcommittee member then advances any requests that should move forward.
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Review, agree upon, and approve priorities for Workday HR’s ongoing operations, enhancements, and new initiatives to assure alignment with the university’s business goals and needs.
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Monitor progress of Workday HR initiatives. Consider and discuss impact of administrative system changes on people, process, technology, and standards and policies.
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Resolve the escalation of issues which span departmental or divisional boundaries, escalating issues and change requests to the Workday Advisory Committee when appropriate.
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Act as liaison for change requests originating from one’s school or administrative area. Provide details on these change requests to the subcommittee so that they can be reviewed for approval.
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Review existing school and departmental systems in the context of our enterprise system (Workday), to make recommendations on which ones may be able to be sunset.
-
Provide direction to prevent risks, redundancy, and inefficiencies related to unnecessary and non-sustainable implementations arising from across campus, when appropriate.
-
Assist in informing the broader campus community of approved changes to processes, policies, and standards.
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In conjunction with data governance program, with approval from the appropriate data trustees if applicable:
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Encourage and facilitate the integration of systems and access to data across functional boundaries and guide the development of common data models.
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Champion effective information and IT security measures, policies and practices to ensure the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of resources are preserved.
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HR Executive Director, Chair
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Sr. Recruitment and Talent Specialist
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Benefits Manager
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Training Specialist
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Student Employment Representative
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Budget Representative
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Arts and Sciences Representative
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Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Representative
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Heller School Representative
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International Business School Representative
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Rabb School of Continuing Studies Representative
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ITS Technical Representative
The Workday HR Subcommittee Meeting Agendas and Minutes are posted to
Box (Brandeis login required). If you have questions, please contact the chair of the committee.
Academic Technology Advisory Committee
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Receives, proposes, prioritizes, and submits recommendations related to the use of technology in support of the academic mission of the University including the areas of teaching, learning, research and scholarship.
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Provides direction to prevent unnecessary redundancy or non-sustainable implementations and their resulting inefficiencies and risks.
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Make and receive recommendations, inquiries and proposals concerning the application of technology to teaching, learning, research and scholarship. Provide a channel for concerns and suggestions from the community.
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Make decisions regarding proposals related to academic technology applications, policies, and standards, including the learning management system (currently Moodle).
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Coordinating with other IT Governance working groups, compile an inventory of academic technology products in use across campus.
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Discuss and seek to resolve issues which span departmental or divisional boundaries. Escalate issues and funding requests when necessary to the Technology Prioritization Committee when appropriate.
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Provide direction to prevent, where appropriate, unnecessary redundancy or non-sustainable implementations and their resulting inefficiencies and risks.
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When necessary, solicit information and assistance from other campus offices as needed.
- University Librarian (chair)
- Arts and Sciences, Division Head of Social Sciences
- Arts and Sciences, Division Head of Sciences
- Arts and Sciences, Division Head of the Humanities
- Arts and Sciences, Division Head of the Creative Arts
- Vice Provost for Research
- Associate Dean for Academic Programs, International Business School
- Associate Dean for Academic Personnel, Heller School
- Director of Programs and Assessment, Rabb School
- Executive Director, Center for Teaching and Learning
- LATTE Team Representative
- Instructional Designer Representative
- Help Desk Representative
- ITS Leadership Representative (advisor), ex officio
The Academic Technology Advisory Committee Meeting Agendas and Minutes are posted to Box (Brandeis login required). If you have questions, please contact the chair of the committee.
Requests for new academic software technology products to be evaluated or purchased should be submitted using the Academic Technology Request Form. Representatives from the library will reach out to all who submit a request to be sure the committee understand the needs and to initiate the process for the ATAC to make decisions on requests.
The following products have been approved by the Academic Technology Advisory Committee (last updated: March 2022).
Available:
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Gradescope
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Prism – Graphpad
- MacMillan Achieve
- MacMillan Launchpad
- MacMillan SaplingPlus
- Sapling Plus
- Overleaf
- PsychLearn
- Symposium
- TreeAge
Implementation in Progress
Products evaluated but not implemented enterprise-wide
Questions
For additional information regarding these products, please contact library@brandeis.edu.
LATTE Subcommittee
The Subcommittee reports to the parent Academic Technology Advisory Committee (ATAC).
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Makes recommendations regarding the features, procedures, and policies related to LATTE, the University's learning management system (LMS).
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Ensures that LATTE's features meet the campus' evolving needs, providing a repeatable process to gather, evaluate, and prioritize requests for features and functionality in LATTE while maintaining stable and efficient performance.
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Respond to campus needs as new forms of course delivery are established and recommend adjustments to LATTE features based on pedagogical needs.
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For LATTE features with numerous or complex options, analyze, prioritize, and propose a simplified default set of options that will meet campus needs while concurrently reduce training time and increase feature adoption.
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Analyze the applications that integrate with LATTE (plug-ins) and make recommendations to retain, upgrade, and discontinue when appropriate.
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Assist in validating technology needs, platforms, and practical solutions to ensure a satisfactory user experience within available university resources.
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Engage with members of the campus community to receive input, provide feedback on proposals, and communicate approved decisions.
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Associate Director, LMS & Service Management (chair)
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Arts and Sciences, Division of Social Sciences Faculty Representative
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Arts and Sciences, Division of Sciences Faculty Representative
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Arts and Sciences, Division of the Humanities Faculty Representative
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Arts and Sciences, Division of the Creative Arts Faculty Representative
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Heller School Faculty Representative
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International Business School Faculty Representative
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Rabb School Faculty Representative
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Library Representative
- Center for Teaching and Learning Representative
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ITS Leadership Representative
The LATTE Subcommittee
Meeting Agendas and Minutes are posted to Box (Brandeis login required). If you have questions, please contact the chair of the committee.
Research Computing Subcommittee
The Subcommittee reports to the parent Academic Technology Advisory Committee (ATAC).
- Provides recommendations regarding strategies, priorities, policies, and standards for research computing.
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Oversee an analysis of research computing needs at Brandeis, evaluating its current state and making recommendations for future direction and potential investment.
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Evaluate and ensure optimal investment of research computing resources including research applications, data, infrastructure, and support staff.
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Provide oversight to ensure understanding of risks such as data exposure, and provide recommendations for effective and appropriate management of these risks.
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Assure that research computing strategies deliver benefits and value in line with the University’s mission and needs.
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Make decisions regarding proposals related to research computing policies and standards.
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Provide direction to prevent, where appropriate, unnecessary redundancy or non-sustainable implementations and their resulting inefficiencies and risks.
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Discuss and seek to resolve issues which span departmental or divisional boundaries. Escalate issues and funding requests when necessary to the Academic Technology Advisory Committee, which in turn may escalate them to the Technology Prioritization Committee when appropriate.
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Vice Provost for Research (co-chair)
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Chief Information Security Officer (co-chair)
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Arts & Sciences, Social Sciences Faculty Representative
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Arts & Sciences, Humanities and Creative Arts Faculty Representative
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Arts & Sciences, Sciences – Computer Sciences (CoSci) Faculty Representative
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Arts & Sciences, Sciences – Natural Sciences Faculty Representative
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International Business School Faculty Representative
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Heller School Faculty Representative
- Library Representative
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Dean of Arts & Sciences Office Representative
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ITS Leadership Representative, ex officio
The Research Computing Subcommittee
Meeting Agendas and Minutes are posted to Box (Brandeis login required). If you have questions, please contact the co-chairs of the committee.
IT Advisory Committee
Reviews, evaluates, and makes approval recommendations regarding IT proposals, priorities, policies, and technology investments in support of University objectives.
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Review, prioritize, and approve recommendations for IT policies, standards, and guidelines.
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Review, prioritize, and make approval recommendations for IT project proposals and funding.
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Review and provide recommendations on the annual IT capital budget requests.
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Receive updates and provide oversight on IT projects and capital budget expenditures.
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Review and provide comments on the ITS Strategic Plan as it is rolled out and subsequently updated. Ensure alignment of IT projects and capital budget requests with the ITS Strategic Plan and the University’s Framework for the Future.
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Provide a forum to discuss and consider new IT requirements or emerging technologies.
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Contribute to the creation of a University-wide inventory of technology applications, projects, and investments.
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Assist in communicating the University’s IT strategies, priorities, policies, and standards to the community.
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Provide direction to prevent, where appropriate, unnecessary redundancy or non-sustainable service implementations and their resulting inefficiencies and risks.
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Provide oversight to the Data Governance Program and ensure that related procedures and protocols align with the IT Governance Program.
- Resolve the escalation of issues which span departmental boundaries, escalating issues and funding requests to the IT Governance Program Executive Sponsors when appropriate.
- Champion effective information and IT security measures, policies and practices to ensure the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of resources are preserved.
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PMO Manager (chair)
- Chief Information Security Officer
- Provost Office Representative
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Arts and Sciences Representative
- Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Representative
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Heller School Representative
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International Business School Representative
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Rabb School of Continuing Studies Representative
- Library Representative
- Institutional Advancement Representative
- Finance & Administration Representative
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Human Resources Representative
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Finance Representative
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Campus Operations Representative
- Procurement Representative
- Data Governance Leadership Representative, ex officio
- ITS Leadership Representative, ex officio
The IT Advisory
Meeting Agendas and Minutes are posted to
Box (Brandeis login required). If you have questions, please contact the chair of the committee.
