The Colorado State University community has known the departments of Academic Computing & Networking Services, Information Systems, and the Office of Telecommunications as dependable IT partners, responsible for providing the campus with the technology services, tools and support it needs.
These same teams have come together to form a new unified Division of Information Technology, committed through their work to excellence in teaching, learning, research and engagement.
The Division of IT’s reorganization began in 2020, with the intent to create a highly functioning, collaborative and cohesive division that would be more strategic, aligned with the mission of the institution, and able to adapt based on the needs of stakeholders.
To achieve this goal, campus stakeholders, the campus community and division staff were engaged frequently through a comprehensive process. Decisions were informed by these internal discussions as well as data and research of peer institutions, according to leadership.
“This collaborative process both engaged our campus community as well as helped us look nationally to design a division that would help prepare our campus for the future,” Brandon Bernier, vice president IT and chief information officer at CSU.
The results
According to leadership, the organization has been restructured and renamed to better align its people and services.
The Division of IT consists of four newly formed departments: Experience & Collaboration, Cybersecurity & Privacy, Strategy & Planning, and Enterprise Applications & Infrastructure.
A shared services model with the CSU Libraries has been solidified for the Human Resources and Finance Business Offices.
Additionally, a purpose statement was crafted that encapsulates “what we do and why we do it” — Innovating IT, Empowering CSU.
The path forward
Moving into the future, the division will focus its work on the following areas:
- Mission-Focused IT: Ensure alignment to the mission of the institution and add value to teaching and learning, research and student success. One campus stakeholder noted this as a key benefit of the new structure. It will “enable the division to better support the broader university and larger CSU System in a more thoughtful, strategic, and nimble way than was possible in the past,” said Dave Carpenter, executive director of operations at the College of Health & Human Sciences.
- Cybersecurity: Ensure that CSU data is safe and secure, and proactively protect our campus from cyber threats. “Security is inherently a topic that cuts across all areas of IT and organizational operations. The Division of IT’s reorganization allows us to coordinate cybersecurity as a vision area for the whole division, improving our ability to defend against the ever-increasing complexity of attacks,” said Steve Lovaas, chief information security officer.
- Business Intelligence and Data: Support campus leaders in making real-time decisions that are rooted in facts and informed by data that is readily available. “With the challenges facing higher education in the coming years, we must leverage the rich data we have available to increase student success, retention, and learning, benefitting both the students and the University,” Josh Clark, assistant vice president, enterprise applications and infrastructure.
- CSU-System: Provide scalable enterprise-level services to the CSU-System, CSU-Fort Collins, CSU-Pueblo, Extension campuses, Spur and more.
The division is currently growing its staff with new leadership and team member roles. They’re also preparing to engage with a campus-wide IT strategic planning effort as part of the Courageous Strategic Transformation framework.
“Our upcoming IT strategic planning process will be a collaborative effort that will bring together our various CSU IT communities, to help us think strategically about our future, how we can align to the CST, and how we can continue to add value for the future,” Bernier said.
According to leadership, the Division of IT is looking forward to engaging with the CSU community with a renewed sense of purpose and is optimistic about the future.
“It’s my hope that this new structure in the Division of IT, paired with a reimagined IT governance model, allows for the fostering of community and brings our friends in IT at CSU closer together,” Carpenter said.
New name, same great service
The Division of IT values being of service to campus and is committed to delivering sustainable solutions for students, faculty,and staff.
A new division website will be announced in the coming months. While that project is underway, please continue to visit acns.colostate.edu, informationsystems.colostate.edu, and telecom.colostate.edu.
IT Help Desk
Email: help@colostate.edu
Phone: (970) 491-7276
Location: Morgan Library, 1st Floor
Web: acns.colostate.edu/all-services/central-it-helpdesk
