Faculty, staff and students had discussions and identified issues at the April 3 strategic planning workshop on enhancing physical and information technology infrastructure to ensure academic excellence on campus.
Approximately 50 attendees participated in the meeting and broke into smaller groups to talk about five topics — physical infrastructure, IT infrastructure, online infrastructure, library infrastructure and rethinking assumptions. The strategic planning effort is led by the Office of the Provost.
The effort is the collective work of a steering committee, co-chaired by UO Senate President Robert Kyr and acting Provost Frances Bronet, and four task force workgroups, each co-chaired by a faculty member and an administrator.
“Thank you for investing your time in this effort,” Bronet said in addressing a group that included faculty, students and staff from academic departments, information services, academic extension, human resources and campus planning, design and construction, among others. The number of people contributing to the development of all facets of the strategic plan has been inspiring, Bronet noted.
The infrastructure discussion was led by one of the strategic planning subgroups, which is co-chaired by Susan Anderson, professor of German and interim head of the Department of East Asian Languages and Literatures, and Jamie Moffitt, vice president for finance and administration.
Discussions touched on the balance of physical and online worlds and new ways of thinking about learning in virtual environments. A group talking about online infrastructure discussed the new learning management system Canvas, which launched spring term.
“Canvas represents a shift in the concept of what a learning management system can do,” said Helen Chu, director of academic technology for UO Libraries. “It is looking at instruction differently to envision new uses and enabling students and faculty to decide what pieces of information they need to pull in and create to make the most of students’ educational experience.”
Tyler Kendall, assistant professor in linguistics, suggested possible improvements in consistency and resources available to help faculty and students. He said it is not always clear where to go for help and how to use the help that is available at the schools and colleges and campuswide.
Participants at the library infrastructure table discussed the investments needed to maintain access to databases and scholarly content, as well as digital humanities support and the role of the library in the context of a liberal arts education.
“Information literacy and critical thinking are fundamental outcomes of a UO education and are essential to success in further academic study, leadership in business or the professions, and informed engagement in civic affairs,” said Andrew Bonamici, associate dean for media and information services.
Attendees also focused on physical infrastructure and connections to technology. Ideas centered on supporting diversity with community spaces, seeking more opportunities to build below ground — like the Lokey Laboratories — and creating consistency and efficiencies with smart building control systems.
“The enthusiastic engagement was encouraging as we move this project from discovery to prioritization,” Moffitt said.
—By Julie Brown, Public Affairs Communications