Cornell's Shared Information Technology Governance framework relies on collaboration across campus. Specialized committees focused on education, research, administration, and campus community technology coordinate with established groups like Cornell Information Technology, Information Technology Service Groups, College Business Officers, Faculty Senate and Student Assembly. This shared approach ensures that diverse voices guide technology decisions that support the Cornell mission.
Governance Groups
The governing bodies defined below play a pivotal role in aligning IT initiatives with Cornell's strategic priorities with the ultimate intent to foster innovation, to realize intended benefits, to improve operational efficiency, and to enhance the overall technology experience for the Cornell community. To view the members on each committee, visit this page (access restricted).
IT Governance Council
The IT Governance Council (ITGC) comprises senior university leadership and convenes regularly, in alignment with phases of the annual budget cycle. As the final decision-making authority for information technology university-wide, the Council provides oversight of IT governance, advises the Chief Information Officers (CIOs) on institutional priorities and compliance issues, and approves the annual IT investment portfolio, including capital requests and ongoing operational spend. In carrying out these responsibilities, the ITGC plays a crucial role in shaping Cornell's technological landscape and ensuring that IT infrastructure and services effectively support Cornell's mission and operational priorities.
The Digital Investment Steering Committee (DISC) comprises Domain Committee chairs and the Ithaca Chief Information Officer (CIO). DISC prioritizes IT investments across the four domains: education & pedagogy, research, administration, and campus community technology and recommends an annual IT investment portfolio to the IT Governance Council (ITGC) for final approval. Its responsibilities include managing tradeoffs between domains, advising on projects with capital or ongoing costs, advocating for the long-term financial implications of an expanding IT landscape, and making final judgments about risk thresholds. The committee meets 3-4 times annually and attends IT Governance Council meetings. Through its work, DISC ensures that technology resourcing aligns with and supports the university's ambitious goals.
Domain Committees serve as specialized planning teams within Cornell's IT Governance framework, focusing on needs assessment and strategic prioritization of technology initiatives. Each committee comprises a diverse group of stakeholders, including representatives from central units, colleges, departments, and IT partners. Initially, membership may be smaller and more centralized, expanding as understanding of needed perspectives matures. These committees act as a sensor network for technology demand, helping IT leadership focus resources on the most critical and impactful initiatives across the university. These include:
Education & Pedagogy Domain Committee
A subset of Associate Dean’s Council, faculty with expertise in specific areas of pedagogy, plus classroom and online learning and learning analytics
Research Domain Committee - Research Administration
Research and Innovation Research Pod and Innovation team members, faculty and research administration from colleges and departments
Research Domain Committee - Scientific Computing & Informatics
Research Data Security, Sharing & Retention Task Force, plus libraries
Working Groups form on an as-needed basis. They focus on specific collaborative initiatives such as the Cornell Student Experience or the IT Academy. By bringing together diverse perspectives and specialized knowledge, working groups enable Cornell to tackle intricate technology-related issues that span multiple domains, or that require interdisciplinary approaches.
Generative AI Advisory Council
The Generative AI Advisory Council will play a pivotal role in guiding priorities, policy, and practice around generative AI within and across the Cornell system (including Ithaca, New York City, and Geneva). The Clinical AI program (that Weill Cornell participates in with New York Presbyterian and Columbia) is separate from, but adjacent to, the Advisory Council. Goals of the Generative AI Advisory Council are to:
champion a broad range of groups, topics, experimentation, standards, and practices connected to generative AI;
prioritize and focus institutional resources toward the strengths of generative AI tool use; and
mitigate risks associated with that use in university-related activities and operations.
This is not meant to supplant specialized explorations or previously existing efforts or groups that already focus on AI, specifically in the research domain where disciplinary AI studies and use are longstanding. Subcommittees of the AI Advisory Council include:
Information Security and Privacy Advisory Committee (ISPAC)
The Information Security and Privacy Advisory Committee (ISPAC) is a focused steering committee for advising the Chief Information Officer (CIO) on information technology security, privacy, and related policy and compliance matters. ISPAC assures that the strategies and information security and privacy risk management efforts are aligned with regulatory requirements; system confidentiality, availability, and integrity requirements; and Cornell’s overall mission and values.
The IT Service Groups (ITSG) provide customized services to colleges and units, as well as some infrastructure.
College Business Officers
The Business Officers are senior administrative officials for the colleges and units who provide leadership, oversight and executive staff expertise to their departments for issues related to the management of financial resources, human capital, accounting, facilities, the physical infrastructure and information technology.
The Cornell Experience Modernization Initiative (CEMI) seeks to unify and improve the technology systems we use on all university campuses to support shared administrative services like human resources, finance, budget student services, research, and institutional advancement.
The Data Privacy Incident Response Team (DPIRT) determines and guides Cornell’s response to information security/privacy incidents.
Collaborating Entities
Cornell University and individual IT@Cornell staff members are actively involved as leaders and participants in many campus, national, and international organizations for information technology professionals. By collaborating with these internal and external entities, IT governance efforts can better align strategies, improve customer experience, and foster professional development. These collaborations also facilitate change management efforts and aid in the dissemination of knowledge throughout the Cornell and higher ed communities.
When purchasing software, applications, or services, you may need to take one or both of the following steps. This process helps ensure that Cornell makes sound purchasing decisions in alignment with the university's goals and remains in compliance with all applicable laws and university policies.
Statement of Need
Submitting an IT Statement of Need is the first step toward purchasing IT software, applications, or services.
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