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IT Governance

Information Technology Steering & Governance  Committee

Central Dauphin School District

Information Technology Governance is defined as how decisions about IT are made within an organization, and is concerned with ensuring that IT is aligned with the organizational goals and strategies and delivers value to the organization. Good IT governance in the K-12 education system will result in a greater degree of maturity and ensure that organizations understand the value of their IT investments. 

It is imperative the Central Dauphin Technology Planning & Governance Committee promote effective, efficient, timely, and informed decision-making concerning the CDSD IT investments and operations. Specifically the policy would establish the IT governance structure and its associated procedures, roles, and responsibilities, as a critical component of the overall IT Management (ITM) Framework, which guides the management, implementation, and monitoring of IT investments for CDSD. 

The purpose of the committee is to establish a uniform and integrated structure for considering information technology matters in order to: (1) advise the Superintendent  and the executive-level in making strategic management decisions involving information technologies, (2) set directions and priorities for information technology and related resource allocations in a timely manner, (3) develop policies and procedures that will be implemented by the Office of Information Technology and (4) establish a mechanism for overseeing the implementation of strategic and tactical technology plans.

Effective governance structures tend to share a common set of goals and principles. Taken together and adapted to a particular institution or school district's environment, these goals and principles form the framework for defining how information technology policies, resources and architectures are established, deployed, managed, and enforced. Governance structures are thus most successful when they are charged with:

  • Establishing a shared vision of how information technology can add value to the institution;
  • Establishing information technology goals, and the strategies for achieving those goals;
  • Establishing principles and guidelines for making information technology decisions and managing initiatives;
  • Overseeing the management of institutional information technology initiatives;
  • Providing a vehicle through which members of the end user community participate in information technology planning and decision-making;
  • Establishing and communicating institutional information technology priorities;
  • Determining information technology priorities in resource allocation;
  • Establishing, amending and retiring, as necessary, institutional information technology and other technology related policies, and
  • Determining the distribution of responsibility between the Office of Information Services and end users.

The Central Dauphin School District Governance Committee will meet a minimum of three times a year or as directed by the Technology Services Director.

The committee will be made up of the following personnel:

  • Technology services staff
  • Administrative staff
  • School board member(s)
  • Teachers and/or parents
  • Other community or business leaders