In January of last year, a project management office was opened at the Information Technology Center. This office coordinates large IT projects and handles details such as budgeting, scheduling, and communication. The office’s first project was an updated service portal that went live the week of March 25th. A new portal that students can access in her Oberview will display an updated interface where students can request services from her CIT and the Office of the Dean of Students. Heather Spellman, director of IT project management, said the goal is to expand the portal to allow students to request services from other offices at the university.
Spellman said CIT has been working to implement a project management office for the past year. He said the establishment of the office had improved efficiency by relieving project management responsibilities from those working on the project.
“The principles of project management are what we’ve been using informally since we started working on projects,” Spellman says. “But the complexity [and] The amount of IT projects we are currently working on has required a more formal project management office and dedicated project management personnel. ”
The Technology Project Size Guidelines, available on CIT’s intranet website, define a project as an activity that requires 40 or more hours of CIT work and may involve multiple campus offices. Actions that require less effort and involve only one campus office can be requested through the Service Portal. Projects must be requested through a separate form, and the request will be evaluated by the Project Management Office and her CIT Chief Information Officer. Large projects are further differentiated for projects over 1,200 hours.
Mr. Spellman emphasized that facilitating communication is an important role of the project management office. She believes that every project requires a detailed communication plan that identifies the stakeholders, i.e. the students and faculty who will be affected by the project, and how to most effectively communicate the relevant details of the project to them. I mentioned that there is.
“Some projects, certain groups, you don’t really need to be aware of until it’s almost time to do it,” she said. “Other stakeholders need to know from the beginning. Some want to communicate [with] We communicate only through regular meetings, some through campus digests, and some directly by email. ”
Spellman said the updated Services Portal was created to improve security and replace the old interface. Currently, the Dean of Students Office is the only campus office outside of CIT that is accessible through the Services Portal. Students can request her 1835 Fund Application through the portal. Spellman said the next office CIT would like to add to the service portal is human resources.
CIT’s intranet website states, “The purpose of the Service Portal is not to simply introduce another tool, but to provide a comprehensive solution that addresses the fragmented nature of today’s IT support systems.” It has been described as. “This platform is designed to integrate, automate and streamline, giving everyone easy access to the services they need from one place.”
CIT’s intranet allows users with an Oberlin login to monitor the progress of technology projects, including the Service Portal. This interface allows students and faculty to see what projects CIT is working on, what stages these projects have reached, and what goals they are trying to achieve.
