Panel Discussion
What is the Problem:
It is often stated that the University of Michigan's most valuable resource is its faculty. Yet, we struggle to provide a single information system that meets the numerous and varied needs of our 19 schools and colleges. This need includes workflows (e.g., appointments, reappointments, annual reviews, and promotion and tenure decisions) and reports that call upon information that is often, but not always, included in curricula vitae that reside in individual faculty accounts and not in a shared system. The U-M’s federated environment and lack of shared information combined with unit specific information makes the development of a single faculty information system challenging.
A number of schools and colleges have worked both collaboratively and separately and have identified a number of trends and issues. While most schools/colleges have similar processes, significant unit specific differences remain; the critically of stakeholder buy-in; and holes in institutional data are a few of the topics that will be covered.
This session will explore attempted solutions, obstacles encountered, and successes achieved so that other units may learn and be ensured success.
Possible Solutions:
In five to seven minutes (no more!) presenters representing the College of Engineering; the College of Literature Sciences, and the Arts; the School of Information; and the School of Dentistry will briefly describe their unit specific needs, obstacles encountered, attempted solutions and lessons learned. The following discussion will explore elements of success, common needs, and potential collaborations that may make movement towards one or more solution possible.