ACIS, Telecom merge to form new department

Miller

University officials recently announced the creation of Information Infrastructure, a new department brought about by a merger of Telecommunications and Academic Computing and Information Services. The focus of the new unit will be to seek opportunities made available by the convergence of voice, data and video technologies.

Like other University-wide service departments, the new Information Infrastructure will report through the Division of Administration, although there will also be a strong dotted-line reporting relationship to Dr. William W. Stead, assistant to the Chancellor for informatics and associate vice chancellor for health affairs.

"It is important that the University continue to seek out new opportunities with these converging technologies," said Lauren Brisky, vice chancellor for administration and chief financial officer. "This initial step will help the University prepare and align its information technology organizations for the future."

Glen Miller, former director of telecommunications, will head the new Information Infrastructure department, effective Aug. 1.

"The reorganization centralizes the University's core of information technology services," said Brisky. "The long-term result will be a newfound ability to provide an increased quality of service to the University."

The change was announced July 19 in a memo to deans, directors and department heads. The correspondence said the first objective of the new unit is to maintain the services provided by the respective departments prior to the merger.

"While the detailed mission and structure of Information Infrastructure will evolve rapidly, the initial priority will be to maintain services, commitments and relationships that ACIS and Telecom currently have with the Vanderbilt community," said the memo signed by Brisky, Stead, and Provost Thomas G. Burish.

"In the short term, it is our priority that none of the users of Telecom or ACIS will feel even a hiccup as we begin our evolution," said Miller, head of the new Information Infrastructure organization. "The purpose of this restructuring is not to reduce headcount, but to structure an organization geared for future technologies and future services."

The new department will have more than 100 employees, although no plans have been made to relocate personnel from either of the two offices. Telecommunications is located on Terrace Place behind University Plaza, and ACIS is based in the Hill Student Center on the Peabody campus.

Officials said the merger will not directly affect Management Information Systems. Its primary focus will remain supporting core information systems such as human resources, payroll, student, alumni and financial business systems. Under the continuing direction of Tim Getsay, MIS will continue to report through the Division of Administration and also will have a strong dotted-line reporting relationship to Stead.

Long-term plans for building the common infrastructure to serve the various academic units will be facilitated through the ongoing strategic planning process (see July 1730, 2000 Register, p. 1). Eventually, an oversight committee will be formed to seek agreement on service levels and benchmarks of effectiveness and efficiency, officials said.