Charter

The Common Systems Group (CSG) provides the technical expertise and operational perspective for UCLA’s IT governance process.

CSG and IT Governance at UCLA

The IT Planning Board (ITPB), Committee on IT Infrastructure (CITI) and CSG are the primary entities that together implement the campus’s governance process for information technology. Overall, the goal is to determine how to best augment, enhance and support the campus’s missions with information technology, strategically, tactically and operationally.

The CSG:

  • Is the official voice of the campus IT community with regard to common systems in the campus IT governance process.
  • Provides technical expertise on technology, architecture, policy and operational perspective about implementation of, and support for, campus-wide IT actions.
  • Identifies the technical, operational, and resource ramifications and undertakes the risk/benefit analyses of proposed institutional IT projects.
  • As part of the IT governance process, makes formal technical and operational recommendations on campus IT strategies and final technical and operational recommendations on institutional IT services.

CSG and Campus Units

The CSG is responsible for ensuring coordination between distributed and central IT activities.  It does so by:

  • Proactively seeking input and recommendations from a variety of campus committees, offices and campus officials (e.g., the Help Desk Consortium and the Director, IT security);
  • Acting as a focal point for technical deployment and implementation for institutional IT projects; and
  • Being a technical resource for local IT units in order to facilitate projects that may have cross-departmental implications and to ensure that other units that may be interested are informed of potential collaborations.

Governance

Membership

Membership in the CSG mirrors the campus’s administrative organization chart, with additions to reflect specific ex officio roles. Each Vice Chancellor, Dean, Vice Provost or other head of organization appearing on the chart appoints his or her organization’s representative. Appointees shall be vested with authority to represent their respective organizations for IT matters. Generally, an organization’s appointee will be its IT Director. Each member has only one vote regardless of how many areas they represent.  The campus administrative organization chart shall be reviewed on a timely basis for any changes affecting membership in the CSG.

Each member has an active two-way responsibility: to bring input and perspective from his or her constituency to the CSG and to report back issues and results widely.

Chair and Chair-Elect

The chair and chair-elect shall be drawn from the CSG membership. The chair holds this seat for one year, at which time the chair-elect becomes the chair and a new chair-elect is determined by CSG members.

The chair:

  • Represents the CSG at CITI and ITPB by attending meetings and using the CSG’s vote on CITI and ITPB to represent the views of the CSG membership;
  • Convenes monthly meetings and works with all members to identify key agenda items; and
  • Ensures significant issues are documented and discussed between CSG meetings, and approves final meeting notes.

The chair-elect:

  • Represents the CSG at ITPB and CITI by attending meetings; and
  • Assists the chair and acts in their stead (e.g., convening meetings) as appropriate.

Nominations

In September of each year, the outgoing and incoming chairs will act as a nominating committee, seeking nominations for the (incoming) chair-elect. It is desirable to rotate the chair position through the membership; however, candidates may choose to defer their nomination. The new chair and chair-elect will assume office beginning October 1 of each year.

Meetings

The CSG members primarily meet through the group’s monthly meetings. The Chair will request input for agenda items prior to each meeting, from the CSG membership and by request for recommendations from the ITPB and/or CITI. Meeting notes will be published subsequently.

On behalf of the membership, the Chair may invite other appropriate individuals to participate in specific projects or agenda items.