INSTITUTION:
University of Michigan
PROJECT TITLE:
An Integrated Environment of Curriculum-Related InformationResources (“information systems that support faculty and students”)
PRIMARY CONTACT:
Sandra E. Colombo, Ph.D.
Product Area Manager, ITD
Information, Research, and Access Products, ITD
University of Michigan
535 W. William
voice (313) 764-8596
fax (313) 764-5140
ATTENDING THE JULY MEETING:
Sandra E. Colombo, Ph.D.
http://www.irap.itd.umich.edu/
Product Area Manager, ITD
Information, Research, and Access Products, ITD
University of Michigan
535 W. William
voice (313) 764-8596
fax (313) 764-5140
(sandyc@umich.edu)
Barbara MacAdam
Head, Educational and Information Services
The University of Michigan Library
1102 Shapiro Library
Ann Arbor, MI 48l09-1185
voice (313) 763-5084
fax (313) 764-6849
(bmacadam@umich.edu)
Mike Nowak
http://www.umie.umich.edu/
Project Manager
The University of Michigan
U-M Instructional Environment Project
535 W. WIlliam
Ann Arbor, Michigan 48103-4943
(mnowak@umich.edu)
ALSO ON THE PROJECT TEAM (but not attending July meeting):
Carl Berger,
Information Technology Division (ITD),
University Instructional Processes (currently on sick leave)
Wendy Lougee,
University Library and Digital Library Initiatives
Barbara MacAdam,
University Library
Tom McElvain,
University Registrar
Barbara Nanzig,
Academic Outreach
Mike Nowak,
ITD and U-M Instructional Environment (UMIE) project
Bob Riddle,
ITD and CIC Joint Big 10 Security Project
PRODUCTION GROUP:
Ed Saunders,
ITD and Office of Instructional Technology
Heidi Weise,
College of Literature, Science and the Arts (LS&A)
Victor Wong,
ITD, University Research Processes
BRIEF PROJECT DESCRIPTION:
Introduction
There are several significant and interrelated initiatives underway at the University of Michigan that provide a collaborative framework for the strategic creation, provision, and access to information institution-wide and interinstitutionally. In the collaborative way of “Shared Minds” (Schrage 1990) and through the identification of common organizational goals and interrelated departmental goals, we are moving forward to a common vision of an information environment. Each of the initiatives is well-grounded in its generation, pulling together expertise from different disciplines and departments. At the bottom line we desire information systems that support the faculty and students.
Problem Statement
The University of Michigan is a large distributed research university. Student enrollment is approximately 40,000, 17,000 of which are graduate students. It includes 17 schools and colleges. The physical environment of the Ann Arbor campus is about 3 miles from north to south.
The independence of the various schools and colleges led us to a situation where we have varying technical directions with large numbers of technically sophisticated faculty implememting different decisions about instructional tools, research tools, web standards, and so forth.
The CNI case study project participants came together in a collaborative initiative to build a common technical architecture and interface to various systems needed by the primary academic mission of the University.
Our requirements include the following:
Administrative systems should integrate where appropriate.
Common understanding of the data is a prerequisite.
Information must be timely, easy to find, and secure where required.
A baseline degree of consensus on what matters is critical to progress.
University constituents must desire, specify, drive, and invest in the evolution of information upon which they come together.
Our initiative has grown from varied roots. These include the Digital Library Initiative, a joint effort of the University Library, the School of Information and the Information Technology Division. Another important component is the M-Pathways project that is scheduled to replace the administrative, corporate data systems over the next three years. Financial, student, personnel, and research administration systems are being updated in accord with the administrative strategic data plan.
The World Wide Web exploded and with it came new concerns about managing the use of the institution’s technology and new requirements for authentication and authorization over the Internet. Our campus web security initiative is linked to the CIC Joint Big 10 Security project on interinsitutional trust. The Gateway project has pulled together existing official University policies regarding technology, information, copyright, etc. and reviewed them for applicability as we move increasingly away from print and further into electronic information.
At this first meeting, we will share information about the Digital Library, UMIE, and UMRE. In the fall, we will add the administrative data initiatives and the security initiatives.
