UAEU - Phase I Project Report

Phase I - Project Report

UAE University

Work Groups and Projects

IT Infrastructure Planning and Budgeting Enrollment Planning Model Management Role in Recruiting

Work Group Reports Currently Being Reviewed by the Deans

Faculty Recruitment and Contract Renewal

Faculty Promotion Annual Faculty Evaluation

IT Infrastructure Work Group

Final Report

IT Infrastructure Work Group Membership

Rafic Z. Makki, Chair Yasser Sakr Muhammad Javeed Amna Abdullah Eisaei Salama Darwish Al Dhaheri Tayseer Mohammad Ismail Maher Samman Ezedin S. Barka

IT Infrastructure Work Group Charge

Study problems with current IT operations and resources and recommend appropriate solutions.

Summary Of Findings

The UAEU’s investment in IT appears to be staggering and grossly inefficient in terms of return on investment.

Resource ManagementThere are 98 major servers in the UAEU.There are several different student and faculty record systems.There are 11 enterprise databases in the UAEU and many smaller data bases, some of which are duplicates.There are instances of duplicate software licenses and licensing agreements.The IT industry perceives the UAEU IT operation as a collection of several different independent entities from both a business relations standpoint and support standpoint partly because different IT operations within the University negotiate separately and independently with vendors from the IT industry.

Planning & OperationsThere exists insufficient operational compatibility (interoperability) of IT throughout the University.There exists no integrated institution-wide set of service and support standards.There is insufficient coordination between the various IT units in the University.There is insufficient enterprise-level short and long-range planning of IT resources and systems.

I T StaffThere are 97 full-time IT employees in the UAEU (see Appendix C for details).There exist no formal job descriptions/classifications of IT personnel in the University.

IT Infrastructure Work Group Recommendations

Resource Management The UAEU should create a new IT central entity

called University IT Services (UITS).

All enterprise-wide IT systems and resources should be centrally managed and maintained by UITS.

Enterprise-wide systems and resources are classified as those systems and resources that are used across the University, crossing the major university unit boundaries.


Resource Management (Cont.) This implies that these systems (data bases,

application software, etc.) reside on servers that are maintained by UITS. The workgroup has identified all of the existing enterprise-wide hardware and software systems that should be maintained by the UITS. These systems are shown in Appendix A.


Planning & Operations

The UAEU should create a University IT committee representing the major university units (academic affairs, student affairs, planning, and UITS) in order to improve coordination. The IT committee shall meet on a regular basis in order to assess university IT needs and recommend appropriate actions.

The UITS must adopt and fully execute a service oriented philosophy as opposed to an ownership philosophy.


Planning & Operations (Cont.) The UITS should develop a help desk and an

automated tracking system for IT problem events.

The UAEU should develop a formal policy and associated mechanism for enterprise IT support.

The UITS should develop a mechanism for providing accurate historical data (on staff, students, faculty, records, etc.).


IT Staff The UAEU should develop a better

compensation system, reward mechanism, and promotion paths for IT staff.

The UITS should develop job descriptions/classifications for all existing and future IT positions.


IT Staff (Cont.) IT staff within a college should report to the

college Dean’s office. The Dean’s office should consult with the University IT committee for major College IT activities.

The UAEU should provide adequate training and continuing education opportunities to its IT staff.

Planning and Budgeting Work Group

Final Report

Planning and Budgeting Work Group Membership

Mr. Ken Thompson, Chair – Advisor to the Chancellor Dr. Roger Sayers, Member – Advisor to the Chancellor Mr. Felix Dayananda, Member – Budget Office, FMHS Mr. Bob Broad, Member – Manager - Faculty & Staff

Services, UGRU Mr. Hussain Ali Bin Taleb, Member – Director, Budget

Department Mr. Mohammed Ismail, Member – Budget Officer Mr. Tayseer Mohamed Ismail, Member –

Administrative Assistant/Statistician

Planning and Budgeting Work Group Charge

Propose principles governing the annual planning and budget preparation process

Propose timeline for annual planning and budget preparation process

Propose budget preparation format and performance to budget report system for users

Planning and Budgeting Work Group Recommendations

That the principles proposed in Exhibit 1 be adopted as part of the Planning and Budget Policy.

That the Annual Planning and Budgeting Timeline in Exhibit 2 be adopted in principle with necessary modifications from year to year.

That the redesigned Budget Data Collection Worksheets be adopted for the 2005 budget planning cycle. They must be made available to departments in early May.

Exhibit 1: Principles Governing the Planning and Budgeting Processes At United Arab Emirates University

Planning Principles

Given the scarcity of resources available to the University, all managers will remain vigilant for the opportunity to cease funding lower priority activities in order to make funding available for higher priority activities. However, no department may unilaterally make a decision to cease providing a program or service which results in higher costs to or demand upon another department or constituency.


Planning Principles (Cont.)

The academic (teaching, research and public service) planning process shall provide the deans and their faculties ample opportunity to express their priority program and resource needs, and they are required to define the key performance indicators.



The DVCAA will discuss the deans' and academic directors' requests and his view of the academic program priorities for the University with the Academic Council.



The administrative and student services planning process will address the goods and services necessary to fulfill the priorities emerging from the academic planning process, as well as certain infrastructure and other needs.



The Vice Chancellor will evaluate all such requests in the context of the mission and overall needs of the University. All budget requests coming to the Vice Chancellor will cite the specific UAEU strategic goal advanced by each request.


Budgeting Principles

The Secretary General working closely with the DVC's, deans and directors, will begin the process of applying budget resources to the planning priorities tentatively approved by the Vice Chancellor.


Budgeting Principles (Cont.)

The budgeting process will clearly identify the current year budget and projected actual expenditures, and the projected savings and new resources available in the coming year to fund priorities.


Budgeting Principles (Cont.)

Where possible, Chapters II and III purchases will be budgeted in the benefiting unit/department. Any centrally budgeted goods or services should be budget or expenditure transferred to the benefiting unit/department.

Enrollment Planning Model Work Group

Final Report

Enrollment Planning Model Work Group Membership

Dr. Tana N. Thompson, Ph.D., CSP, CDPOffice of the Advisors to the Chancellor

Mr. Abdel Hakim M. Hejjawi, OCPDatabase Administrator, University Advising UnitDVC Student Affairs

Mr. Tayseer Mohammed IsmailStatistician, DVC Planning

Mr. Hatem Mohammed El SherifStatistician, Institutional Research Unit, DVC Planning

Enrollment Planning Model Work Group Charge

Develop a relatively simple prototype computer model to predict by college annual new admissions, dropouts, graduates and persisters, and the estimated instructional demand they will place on the university’s colleges.

Using the output from the model described above, estimate new admissions limits necessary to produce specified student/teacher ratios.

Enrollment Planning Model Work Group Recommendations

Student data is a valuable resource database modifications need

coordination and consensus among Academic Affairs affected colleges Banner applications Admissions and Registration Student Academic Counseling Assistant DVC for Curriculum Affairs Institutional Research Unit


Faculty data needs more complete database entry to allow thorough analyses

faculty demographics

faculty contract and load

assignments: Colleges Campuses Courses


Facilities Utilization (classrooms, labs) need more complete data entry

For data consistency related to students and faculty Uniform reporting systems & procedures Consistent definitions


Pre and Post Audits of databases to catch/correct

Incomplete entries Invalid entries Inconsistent entries

Snapshot of data on specific dates for historical and trend analyses

Students Faculty

Management Role in Recruiting

Final Report

Management Role in Personnel Recruiting

As managers

we are each responsible for the performance of our operating unit, and

a primary measure of the quality of our services is the level of satisfaction of our customers.


Therefore, it is important that managers

actively participate in writing job descriptions,

interview candidates, and recommend the best candidate for

employment.


Human Resources should be responsible for

advertising vacant positions approved in the budget,

reviewing applications to identify candidates who meet the minimum requirements as advertised,


consistently classifying new positions in the classification and pay plan, and

ensuring that management’s hiring recommendations are in compliance with University policies.

Business

UAEU - Phase I Project Report