Project Roadmap

The Project Roadmap offers the W&L community a comprehensive view of ongoing and completed technology initiatives, highlighting support for upgrades, new services, applications, and innovations that advance the university's mission.

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Teaching and Learning

Tools, methods, and programs that empower the university's educational mission, enable students to thrive, and enhance the creative and digital fluency of all learners.

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Enhancing AI use-case development on campus by providing continuous research opportunities and educational programs for faculty and students.

  • IQ Center:
    • Makerspace: Conversion of available space to broaden the availability of tools, including new soft material and sewing stations, electronics and robotics workbench, new hand tools and power saws, large bed laser cutter, and large format vinyl cutter.
    • Continuing to offer evening workshops to students with offerings that will make all students feel welcome and increase feelings of belonging in the IQ Center.
    • Continued growth and support for High Performance Computing, R and Python, Matlab, and Quantum Computing.
  • Harte Center: Alignment and coordination of resources and programming where technology and instruction intersect.
Provide support for the restructure of the Workday academic foundation resulting from the work of the General Education Implementation Committee and required changes to Foundation and Distribution Requirements.
Integrate TimeEdit into the university's technology environment to automate and streamline curriculum management, course catalog, scheduling, and registration processes: Target date Summer 2027.

graphic of people with arms raisedCommunity Support and Engagement

Get insight into the coordination of IT resources, ongoing community engagement, training initiatives, and the collection of essential feedback to ensure the needs of students, faculty, and staff are met.

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  • Continuation of training, adoption, and support initiatives for a broad portfolio of enterprise productivity and collaboration platforms, including Microsoft 365, Box, Adobe, Smartsheet, Okta, Workday, Microsoft Copilot, PaperCut, and other university-supported technologies, to maximize user proficiency, engagement, and operational effectiveness.
  • Enhance and expand proactive campus-wide training opportunities while providing targeted, department-specific training and support to address unique operational needs upon request.
  • ITS is currently researching available IT Service Management (ITSM) solutions and evaluating industry best practices to identify capabilities that align with organizational needs and strategic objectives. As part of this effort, ITS is defining functional and technical requirements through stakeholder engagement, process reviews, and service delivery assessments. The resulting requirements will support the development of a Request for Information (RFI) to gather vendor insights and inform future ITSM platform selection decisions.
  • Research, evaluate, and develop training and adoption initiatives to support future enterprise AI solutions, with a focus on enhancing operational efficiency, streamlining workflows, and advancing service delivery through the ITS Technology Adoption and Training Coordinator.

graphic of cloud and technology wiringTechnology Infrastructure

Integrating new solutions into the university's existing technology infrastructure to ensure seamless, efficient operations across all systems and to address future challenges.

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  • W&L Data Model Initiative:
    • Create an institutional data strategy with outputs that include a roadmap and identified milestones to realize the vision.
    • Increased emphasis on data definition work across functional areas.
    • Revitalize the University's current data warehouse and data modeling efforts.
    • End goal - creating a common dataset for use in reporting and analytics.
    • Provide more visualizations and deliver better self-service options, where appropriate.
  • Network hardware replacement:
    • Wired network security implementation: Username/password authentication for client devices that connect via a hardwire connection anywhere on the campus network
    • Re-architecture of server farm and client networks across the internal campus network.
      • Reassign various server environments to their own dedicated VLAN/IP subnet with proper security applied at the network layer
      • Move client connections to a department/role based assignment vs. IP subnets being deployed on building location
      • Move both servers and clients from public to private IP space
  • Wireless platform upgrades and mass wireless access point replacement
  • Fiber plant replacement in key locations where older fiber may restrict the ability to meet community demand.
  • Build redundant core services into Microsoft Azure or AWS or a partner data center.
    • Expanding our cloud service reach with possible migration of critical infrastructure.
    • Investigating the cost and advantage of leveraging cloud services for hosting servers.
  • Expand and optimize backup methodology.
  • Begin deploying classrooms in new construction with AV over IP; a more reliable and best-practice infrastructure for increasingly complex technology offered in the classroom.
  • Plan and execute Workday tenant migration, scheduled tentatively for March 2027.

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Information Privacy and Security

Underscores the ITS commitment to ensuring that all technology solutions meet the highest standards of security and legal compliance, safeguarding the privacy and integrity of the university's data.

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  • Deploy Rapid7 antivirus protection to all Mac devices.
  • Zero Trust and Least Privilege Efforts
    • Further segmentation of the network
    • Tailor user application and data access to essential job functions (i.e., narrowing or limiting the user's access to data and applications required for their job)
  • Hardening disaster recovery plan with live testing
  • Automate certificate renewal and management process
  • Research and explore additional MFA options (including Windows Hello and Passkey)
  • Move to post-quantum encryption methods

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Technology Innovation

Efforts in identifying and implementing cutting-edge technology solutions that drive innovation in teaching, learning, and campus operations.

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  • Artificial Intelligence (AI)
    • Continue partnership and participation with the Harte Center to determine appropriate licensing and support of AI on campus.
    • Research and explore AI opportunity enhancements for operations and productivity
    • Continue to research and deploy AI specific use cases within ITS
      • Coding (e.g., SQL, .NET, etc.)
      • Communications
      • Data analysis
  • Deploy and integrate CampusGroups to enhance student engagement, strengthen communication and collaboration, and provide a centralized platform for campus organizations, events, and community involvement: Target date Fall 2026.
  • Project collaboration with Student Affairs to modernize and enhance the first-year student onboarding experience by evaluating and implementing either a custom-developed solution or a SaaS platform. The initiative aims to provide students and families with a more intuitive, centralized, and streamlined onboarding process that improves engagement, communication, and task completion: Target date May 2027.

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Application Enhancements

Enhancing existing technologies to ensure they deliver value, operate efficiently, and remain aligned with the university's goals while meeting evolving user needs and industry standards.

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  • Workday Innovation
    • W&L specific application development within Workday environment
    • Reporting and Analytics (Prism, Discovery Boards, Worksheets, etc. - supporting the W&L data model noted above)
    • Research and promote awareness of new features released in the biannual Workday updates to encourage adoption.
    • Investigate Workday Scheduling module for employment scheduling across campus
    • Design and implement work study student recruitment within Workday
  • Modernize the infrastructure supporting Management Tools applications
  • Concluding the implementation of Slate Advancement to replace Raiser's Edge, providing a modern platform for managing alumni, donor, fundraising, and engagement activities more effectively: Target date Fall 2026.