IT Governance
IT governance at UC San Diego connects community-informed ideas to prioritized action through a transparent, accountable, and collaborative process that aligns technology decisions with the university’s mission and impact.
Across UC San Diego, technology connects and enables people, ideas, and discovery. IT governance ensures those connections are guided with clarity, transparency, and shared purpose, creating a clear path from community-informed ideas to prioritized action on the IT roadmap, aligning decisions and outcomes with the university’s mission and impact.
This process is grounded in shared roles that balance participation with accountability:
- The Chancellor’s Cabinet is accountable for outcomes - setting direction, making decisions, and clearly communicating the “what” and “why.”
- IT Services and ITS service owners are responsible for designing, building and integrating technology solutions, bringing forward ways to enable measurable outcomes that demonstrate value.
- Steering Committee members and broader community voices are consulted throughout and advise IT Services - contributing expertise and perspective that shape management decisions at key moments without slowing momentum.
This is an ongoing, living process, rooted in partnership, informed by evidence, and guided by transparency. It reflects a shared commitment to continuous improvement, ensuring that decisions reflect both community insight and clear accountability, so that ideas are thoughtfully translated into impact in service of UC San Diego’s mission.
From Idea to ITS Roadmap
Technology ideas at UC San Diego move from initial concept to execution on the ITS Roadmap through a structured, collaborative governance model.
It begins with community members and ITS service owners who share ideas, challenges, and desired outcomes. These inputs move into an analysis phase where needs are clarified, existing solutions are evaluated, and scope and impact, as well as return on investment (ROI) are assessed. Advisory committees and workgroups, led by the ITS Senior Management Team (SMT), then provide expert feedback to help shape priorities and approach. The steering committee reviews this input and recommends priorities, including evaluating roadmap alignment and success metrics. The Chancellor’s Cabinet further aligns initiatives with institutional priorities and endorses major investments. Once initiatives have been endorsed by the Chancellor's Cabinet they move onto the Budget Allocation Process, where fund allocations are finalized. The process results in a prioritized ITS Roadmap that provides a transparent view of approved work, which IT Services executes while tracking and reporting progress.
IT Governance Structure
Community Insight
Purpose:
Surface challenges, opportunities, and emerging needs from across the university.
While not every idea can become an initiative, community input plays a critical role in shaping discussions about technology priorities and future improvements.
Participants:
Faculty, staff, students, service owners, and campus units.
Input Provided:
- Description of a challenge or opportunity
- Who is affected
- Desired outcome or improvement
- Current workarounds or processes
- Scope or potential impact
Next Step:
Ideas are reviewed by ITS service owners and subject matter experts.
ITS Service Owner Review
Purpose:
Evaluate the request and determine how it fits within existing services and capabilities, as well as its return on investment.
Participants:
ITS service owners and subject matter experts.
Key Activities:
- Clarify the underlying need
- Determine whether a solution already exists
- Assess scope, complexity, and potential impact
- Engage additional experts when needed
- Evaluate return on investment
Next Step:
Ideas that warrant broader discussion move to advisory committees and workgroups.
Advisory Committees & Workgroups
Purpose:
Provide expert and representative campus input.
Participants:
ITS Senior Management Team (SMT), subject matter experts, campus representatives, and operational stakeholders.
Frequency:
Ad-hoc or recurring
Type of Input:
- Qualitative feedback on proposed initiatives
- Perspective on implementation considerations
- Input on prioritization and campus impact
- Support for communicating upcoming changes
Next Step:
Insights inform recommendations reviewed by the Steering Committee.
Steering Committee Review
Purpose:
Provide institution-wide perspective on technology priorities.
Participants:
Leadership representatives and key campus stakeholders
Frequency:
Quarterly
Key Responsibilities:
- Recommend prioritization of IT initiatives and funding requests
- Recommend updates to the ITS Enterprise Roadmap
- Provide feedback on prioritization criteria
- Review service level metrics
Next Step:
Recommendations move to the Chancellor's Cabinet for review.
Chancellor’s Cabinet Review
Purpose:
Provide institutional leadership review and prioritization of major IT investments
Participants:
Frequency:
Annually
Key Responsibilities
- Review and prioritize major IT investments
- Provide final input on the ITS Roadmap
- Endorse prioritization criteria and service metrics
This review typically occurs as part of the annual planning and budget process.
Next Step:
Approved initiatives move to the ITS Roadmap for implementation.
The ITS Roadmap
The ITS Roadmap reflects initiatives that have moved through governance review and institutional planning and align with institutional priorities.
ITS is responsible for:
- Maintaining the roadmap
- Allocating ITS resources to initiatives approved through institutional planning and governance.
- Managing implementation of projects
- Measuring and reporting service performance
The roadmap provides a transparent view of the initiatives ITS is advancing on behalf of the university.
Governance is an ongoing process. As initiatives move forward, feedback from the campus community continues to inform future improvements and roadmap updates.
Governance at a Glance
The governance structure ensures that technology initiatives are:
- Informed by campus expertise
- Reviewed through structured advisory input
- Aligned with institutional priorities
- Connected to responsible stewardship of resources
This structure provides a clear pathway for ideas to move from community insight to institutional action.