Initiatives
The initiatives outlined in the strategic plan offer bold solutions that respond to both the goals and mission of the university and our stakeholder’s needs. Each commitment speaks to the foundational role that IT Services plays in accelerating the growth of the university, supporting a holistic user experience, and simplifying systems and structures in collaboration with institutional partners. Together, we will encourage discovery and learners who are prepared to pursue their passions and achieve success, and we will continue to support the ongoing ascent of the nation’s number one public university.
Strengthen the Foundation
Enterprise Infrastructure Solutions
Description: Develop a consolidated data center and server room strategy to align with a cloud-first approach, improving disaster recovery, business continuity, and incident response.
Benefits: Provide increased service management through automation, financial savings in reduced utility costs and repurposed spaces, and improved security visibility.
Description: Modernize @ucla.edu email address flow by retiring current forwarding infrastructure, and leveraging Google's built-in spam and forwarding capabilities.
Benefits: Simplified email flow and improving UCLA's security posture.
Project Leader Name: Tony Rudd
Description: Unify email and directory services under common platform(s).
Benefits: Enhance collaboration, reduce costs and risks, and increase efficiency by consolidating various email platforms into a single, university-wide enterprise email service.
Description: Reimagine and unify our network to enable a scalable, flexible and secure foundation for digital innovation now and into the future.
Benefits: Create a seamless and consistent connected experience across UCLA to meet the diverse needs of students, faculty, and staff
Project Leadership: Heather Healy (Program Director)
Enterprise Information Security
Description: Strengthen campus-wide cybersecurity capabilities and establish a secure digital environment in support of UCLA’s mission
Benefits: Protect and empower the Bruin community by creating a security-minded culture while enhancing the University’s ability to anticipate and respond to cybersecurity threats
Project Leadership: Heather Healy (Program Director)
Application Modernization
Description: Implement Oracle Financials Cloud to achieve crucial, modern efficiencies, streamline reporting needs, and meet regulatory requirements.
Benefits: Modernizes campus financial systems and transforms business processes.
Project Leadership: Mark DeMaio (Program Director)
See Ascend website.
Description: Replace UCLA’s aging mainframe-based Financial Aid system.
Benefits: Improves student financial aid portal experiences with interactive features like an embedded financial aid calculator, four-year financial aid projections, and document upload with eSignature.
Project Leadership: Ming Fu (Program Director) and Samantha Hamman (Project Manager)
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See FACET website.
Advance the Mission
Customer Experience & Relationship Management
Description: Deploy digital signage technology that displays real-time information, announcements, and emergency alerts, engaging students, faculty, and visitors with dynamic, cost-effective, and sustainable content management.
Benefits: Creates a more connected and engaging educational environment through real-time digital signage.
Description: Introduce an integrated employee experience platform with a single place to manage work needs and transactions.
Benefits: Improve the efficiency of campus operations by transitioning to cloud-based services, which will enhance access to information, foster better relationships, and automate workflows for UCLA faculty and staff.
Description: Introduce a campus-wide student experience platform that provides an integrated digital experience, enabling easy class enrollment and real-time access to academic, financial, and personal records.
Benefits: Enhance personalized services, better serve diverse needs, and improve engagement, aiming to create a seamless and inclusive environment for all students.
Enterprise Data & Analytics
Description: Build a program that enables university decision making through a flexible and robust data foundation and collaborative data and analytics model improving institutional outcomes.
Benefits: Improve data governance, integration, and accessibility, leading to better management, security, and data-driven decision-making across the campus.
Academic Technology
Description: Upgrade classroom technology to campus-wide general assignment classroom standards that prioritize a modern, flexible education experience.
Benefits: Create a standardized, equitable learning environment with interactive and modern tools to enhance collaboration and flexibility for students and faculty.
Description: Reduce campus Google Workspace for Education (GWE)'s storage consumption to within newly mandated limits per UCLA's licensing, in response to Google eliminating free unlimited storage.
Benefits: Optimize how data is stored in Google Workspace through improved security, controls, and account management to ensure adequate storage to support UCLA's mission.
Project Leadership: Tony Rudd (Project Manager)
Description: Discovery exercises focused on evaluating the present state and R1 benchmarks to support future adoption of a modern SIS solution.
Benefits: Modernize UCLA’s student systems with a scalable solution that will provide real-time analytics, actionable insights, and a personalized digital experience for students, enhancing campus-wide efficiency and decision-making.
Operational Excellence
Operating Model
Description: An effort to improve efficiency and streamline IT operations be consolidating disparate IT units across campus administration into a more centralized structure.
Benefits: Streamlined and consistent service, effective resource allocation, improved customer service, increased cross-team collaboration.
Project Leadership: Jennifer Ferry (Project Manager)
Description: An internal organizational transformation which includes new professional development opportunities for staff; clearer career pathways; new ways of working; a commitment to equity, diversity, and inclusion; and a new organizational structure.
Benefits: Increased pathways of career growth, learning and development opportunities, improved customer service and user experience, modern ways of working, and enhanced network and security posture.
Project Leadership: Jennifer Ferry (Project Manager)
