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Assurance Advisory Committees are integral to the University’s governance and
management framework(*) for IT supported systems. The role of AACs has two
dimensions. They meet the need for overseeing cohesion between distributed
providers to provide staff and students with an integrated ‘virtual’ information
environment. They also provide forums for advice on alignment of services with
institutional objectives.
The University’s framework of values, governance and management structures
for information services is designed to ensure that institutional objectives can
be effectively pursued. Performance and assurance are the major components of
effectiveness in this setting.
Assurance that planning is driven by needs, that user experience is essential
in assessing quality, and that resources land where they are most needed are
integral to the framework.
The steps taken to produce plans, to anticipate the impact of change, to
ensure timely development of knowledge and skills and to ensure responsibilities
are typical foci in the assurance landscape.
A fundamental framework level principle is that staff and students – in
playing their central roles of learning, teaching, research, administration –
are supported by coherent, cohesive and ubiquitous information services.
With this principle in mind, the distribution of service provision across and
within a sizable number of distinct management regimes in the University leads
to implementation challenges for assurance no less so than for performance.
The Assurance Advisory Committees (AACs) are key elements in meeting these
challenges.
They are able to scrutinise arrangements for planning, for engagements with
implementation, for quality assessment and for resource management in key
service provision areas. Their expertise is derived from meeting their
University responsibilities as senior professional and academic staff across
user communities. Their work is critical to assuring the University that
objectives are being effectively pursued.
The terms of reference for an AAC are:-
- To advise on the scope and completeness of planning processes to consider
their consistency with Framework(*) principles.
- To advise on policy for ensuring coordination across University
organisational units, and that measures are in place to assure expected
outcomes.
- To alert management to implicit risks.
- To report to the University Information Strategy Committee on any emergent
concern with the Framework.
In the current implementation AACs cover information services in four areas;
namely Administration, Academic, Scholarly Information (Library) and
Infrastructure.
Indicative composition of the four AACs:
Administrative Systems AAC:
- Chair: Director Corporate Information Systems
- Members: College EOs, others tba
Academic Systems AAC:
- Co-Chairs: Director ICT Environments - Dir Scholarly Information
- Members: College Chairs Education (or Research) Committees, Hd ANUSF
Scholarly Collections AAC:
- Chair: Director Scholarly Information
- Members: Chairs Library Advisory Committees, others tba
Infrastructure AAC:
- Co-Chairs Head Networks and Communications. Head, Systems and Desk-Top
Services
- Members: Managers College IT Services (*title tba), others tba
Indicators:
The following is a list of outcomes of the Framework to which effective AACs
will make significant contributions:
- staff and students experience cohesive, interoperating services which are
responsive to their needs;
- help systems, training opportunities, consultation processes are effectively
coordinated;
- planning is inclusive and well informed;
- efficient and complementary use of local and central resources;
- the information professional skills base is strengthened.
Broader Context:
The broader setting for AAC operations importantly includes:
- CASAG: Core Administrative Systems Advisory Group
CASAG oversees planning, implementation and operations of the University’s
core enterprise systems. Members are the ‘owners’ of the institution’s
corporate business processes.
- UISC: University Information Strategy Committee (of the Academic Board)
UISC is the policy and strategy committee for information infrastructure and
services.
- AITAC: Advanced IT Advisory Committee
The ANUSF is a central component in the University’s e-research strategy.
AITAC is the Facility’s steering committee. A review of support services for
e-research, linked to NCRIS developments, is currently (April ’07) underway.
* Information Systems Governance and Management Framework (in preparation
– PVC Office)
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