Terms of Reference and Standing Orders

Terms of reference as laid down by regulation

1. The Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Committee shall consist of:

(1) the Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Academic Services and University Collections);

(2) a vice-chairman appointed by Council;

(3), (4) two persons appointed by Council, of whom one shall not be the holder of a teaching, research, or administrative post in the University or in any college, society, or Permanent Private Hall;

(5)-(9) one person appointed by each of the divisional boards, normally from amongst the members of the board;

(10) a person appointed by the Continuing Education Board;

(11) a person appointed by the Curators of the University Libraries;

(12) a person appointed by the Committee for the Museums and Scientific Collections;

(13) a person elected by the Conference of Colleges;

(14) a person elected by the Colleges' IT Group;

(15) a person elected by the IT Users' Group;

(16) the Chairman of the Advisory Group for the Learning Technologies Group, so long as the chairman is a member of the academic staff of the University;

(17) one of the Proctors or the Assessor as may be agreed between them;

(18), (19) two student members elected by the Oxford University Student Union, of whom one shall be a student member who is a graduate.

2. The committee shall have the power to co-opt up to four additional members for such periods as it thinks fit, of whom one shall normally be a departmental administrator.

3. The Director of the Computing Services shall be the technical secretary to the committee.

4. The Director of Management Information Services, the Telecommunications Manager, and the chairman of the IT Support Staff Group shall normally be invited to attend meetings of the committee.

5. The committee shall be responsible for the following matters:

(1) the formulation and continued development of a strategy for information and communications technology in furtherance of the University's aims and objectives;

(2) co-ordinating strategic planning on ICT throughout the collegiate University, liaising with and where appropriate providing guidance and advice to Council and its committees, the academic divisions, the academic services sector, other university bodies, and colleges, societies, and Permanent Private Halls;

(3) the strategic planning of the University's IT and telecommunications networks;

(4) general policy with regard to the operation of the IT network in the collegiate University, including:

(a) liaising with the academic divisions, the academic services sector, other university bodies, and colleges, societies, and Permanent Private Halls on any steps needed to ensure its effective operation for the collegiate University as a whole; and

(b) advising Council on these matters as necessary;

(5) considering and advising Council and its committees, the academic divisions, the academic services sector, and other university bodies,on all matters relating to information and communications technology, and co-ordinating on these matters with colleges, societies, and Permanent Private Halls;

(6) making, amending, and publishing regulations, subject to approval by Council, for the control, management, and security of the use of the University's ICT facilities;

(7) co-ordinating and approving, in so far as is necessary in the particular circumstances, applications in response to external funding opportunities for ICT developments.

6. The committee shall consider, and advise Council on, the strategic development of management information systems in the collegiate University in so far as they concern ICT, including the ICT components of management information projects and the relationship of such projects to the University's ICT strategy and ICT infrastructure.

7. The committee shall have authority to make such other arrangements by standing order as are necessary to fulfil its responsibilities.

8. The committee shall be responsible for the strategic oversight of the operations and budget of the Computing Services, which shall include:

(1) advising and instructing the Director of the Computing Services as required in order for the Director to fulfil the duties of his or her office; and

(2) subject to the provisions of any statute or regulation of general application, the appointment and determination of the duties and conditions of service of the Director of the Computing Services, and the determination of the terms and conditions of appointment and level of salary scales which shall be applied to staff of the Computing Services other than the Director.

9. The purpose of the Computing Services shall be to support the provision of ICT in the University both directly and indirectly.

10. The Computing Services may also provide services to organisations not part of the University on conditions to be approved by the committee from time to time.

11. The Director of the Computing Services shall be first officer of the Computing Services, and in that capacity shall report to the committee in the performance of his or her duties.

Standing Orders of the Information and Communications Technology Committee (ICTC)

(to be read in conjunction with the committee's terms of reference)

1. The committee shall meet once a term, at 9.00 am on Thursday of Seventh Week, and at other times as necessary.

2. The committee shall normally be chaired by the Vice-Chairman. In his or her absence, the chair may be taken by the Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Academic Services and University Collections) or another member of the committee appointed by the Pro-Vice-Chancellor.

3. Without the consent of the ICT Committee, or of the Chairman or Vice-Chairman on its behalf, papers marked 'strictly confidential' or taken under reserved business cannot be discussed with, or divulged to, anyone who is not a member of the ICT Committee or otherwise legitimately in receipt of such papers. Likewise without consent from the above, items taken under reserved business may additionally not be discussed with, or divulged to, the Junior Member representatives on the ICT Committee.

4. Under cl. 5 (3) of its terms of reference, the committee shall consider in particular the following matters:

(i) the co-ordination of information and communications technology provision throughout the University and colleges, to maximise its effectiveness;

(ii) the capabilities of information and communications technology, and its application in teaching, research, and central and departmental administration, and in support of these functions;

(iii) the staff-deployment, career-development, and training needs of ICT support personnel;

(iv) the resources required to implement the University's strategy and agreed policy in the area of ICT.

5. Under cl. 5 (5) of its terms of reference, the strategic oversight of the operations of the Computing Services shall include the following:

(i) advising and instructing the Director of the Computing Services as required in order for the Directors to fulfil his/her functions;

(ii) subject to the provisions of any statute, decree, or regulation of general application, the appointment and determination of the duties and conditions of service of the Director of the Computing Services, and the determination of the terms and conditions of appointment and level of salary scales which shall be applied to staff of the Computing Services other than the Director;

(iii) setting the strategies and policies within which they shall operate;

(iv) considering and approving their annual budgets, and forwarding the budgets to Council;

(v) monitoring their operations and finances against the agreed strategies, policies, and budgets;

(vi) receiving an annual report on their operations;

(vii) promoting the co-ordination of their services with those of other providers within and outside the University;

(viiii) determining the policy on the basis of which access to their services is provided to users;

(ix) approving the arrangements on the basis of which good communications shall be maintained between them and their users.

6. Under clause 6 of the terms of reference of the ICT Committee, its Sub-Committee shall, at its first meeting of term or at other times as necessary, consider the strategic development of Management Information Systems in the collegiate university. The Sub-Committee shall receive reports on the development and progress of the Management Information Systems Strategy from the Director of MIS, and on the principal systems being proposed, developed or implemented at that time from the chairs of the relevant project groups. The reports to the Sub-Committee shall cover all relevant aspects of the development of the strategy or systems set out in the committee's terms of reference.

When a proposal to fund a Management Information System is being put to Council, the proposal, with the project appraisal, shall be considered by the ICT Committee or its Sub-Committee on its behalf, before approval is given by PRAC.

7. The ICT Committee shall receive and consider reports from the Telecommunications Panel and the Telecommunications Manager (and others as appropriate) on all telecommunications issues which impact, or have the potential to impact, on the strategic planning and development of the University's IT and telecommunications networks, and on proposals for capital expenditure on the telecommunications network beyond those financed through the user charges where there are no strategic implications. In considering the proposals for the development of the University's IT and/or telecommunications networks, the ICT Committee shall ensure that the needs of both networks, and the potential implications for the eventual convergence of the two networks, are taken into account so far as is practicable.

Sub-committees

Strategy Sub-committee

OUCS Sub-committee