Facilitating Change For Survival

Abstract

Higher Education is facing significant challenges and will not maintain its leading role in our society unless it adopts a philosophy that promotes change. Information technology organizations have the opportunity to contribute by providing leadership and taking an aggressive approach to finding better ways to do more with less and efficiently utilizing all available resources. Technology alone will not change the way one does business, but it is an enabling tool and offers unlimited opportunities.University systems Analysis & Services (USAS) was established in January 1992, and reports to the Vice President for Information Systems. USAS provides leadership and operates to assist departments at Virginia Tech in facilitating strategic changes for administrative processes and overall operations.The presentation provides an overview of USAS: its conception, organizational structure, and operating environment. Special emphasis is placed on the re-engineering philosophy and guidelines used by USAS for project definition, analysis, and implementation. The philosophy incorporates re-engineering concepts into the planning process and provides opportunities to significantly impact the way business is conducted in several key administrative areas at Virginia Tech.