Strategic Priorities

Vision: Promote student success through active, innovative, relevant, and inclusive instruction.

Mission: Actively engage students in supportive, distinctive, active, culturally relevant, and challenging learning experiences.

Purpose: The purpose of the Scottsdale Community College (SCC) Instructional Plan is to help students reach their full potential and to meet their lifelong educational, professional, and personal goals. The SCC Instructional Plan provides guidance in the planning of instructional activities and learning support. It is designed to align with SCC’s Strategic Plan, the Governing Board’s Objectives, and the Chancellor’s Goals.

Goal #1: Increase equitable student retention, persistence, and completion.

• Strategy 1.1 Increase student retention and course completion for underserved students.
  • Action 1.1.1 Increase academic support for gateway courses in English, Math and Science and other disciplines where success disparities are evident.
• Strategy 1.2 Develop and implement guided pathways/tracks for students.
  • Action 1.2.1 Develop both traditional and flexible pathways to enhance student retention and completion.
• Strategy 1.3 Align the class schedule to maximize effectiveness and efficiency.
  • Action 1.3.1 Implement the revised SCC Course Delivery Model based on enhancing flexibility and access for students.
• Strategy 1.4 Increase access to academic student support services.
  • Action 1.4.1 Align student support services with course scheduling and student demand.
  • Action 1.4.2 Increase offerings of courses, certificates and degrees with affordable and no-cost learning materials.
• Strategy 1.5 Develop Baccalaureate degree programs that are aligned with market needs.
  • Action 1.5.1 Create at least one Baccalaureate degree program through a data-informed, shared governance based selection process.
• Strategy 1.6 Increase the diversity of SCC faculty and staff to better reflect the diversity in the student body.
  • Action 1.6.1 Amend hiring processes that result in more diverse faculty and staff hiring pools.

Goal #2: Enhance teaching effectiveness and student learning.

• Strategy 2.1 Support and promote academic standards of excellence and rigor.
  • Action 2.1.1 Expand faculty professional development to support innovative pedagogy and teaching delivery, application of new technologies and curricular updates.
• Strategy 2.2 Enhance and increase student learning assessment at SCC.
  • Action 2.2.1 Participate and complete HLC’s Assessment Academy as part of the Institutional Quality Initiative.
• Strategy 2.3 Expand faculty-student interactions outside of the classroom.
  • Action 2.3.1 Expand peer tutoring, student clubs, service learning and student research.
• Strategy 2.4 Integrate courses with external support services, supplemental instruction.
  • Action 2.4.1 Complete a pilot (to help determine scalability) that fully integrates courses with external support services such as supplemental instruction.

Goal #3: Increase workforce opportunities and enhance workforce experiences for students.

• Strategy 3.1 Enhance workforce experiences for students.
  • Action 3.1.1 Create additional experiential learning experiences (internships, externships, apprenticeships etc.) for students that lead to gainful employment.
  • Action 3.1.2 Finalize the planning and development of the SCC Workforce Connection focused on partnerships and experiential learning.
• Strategy 3.2 Increase non-credit offerings.
  • Action 3.2.1 Increase the number of non-credit offerings that align to strategic needs of SCC partners.
• Strategy 3.1 Develop new or expand existing workforce programs (associate degrees or certificates) that are aligned with student demand and market needs.
  • Action 3.3.1 Engage with SARA (State Authorization Reciprocity Agreement) for teaching specific programs out of state where feasible.
  • Action 3.3.2 Create new associate degree and/or certificate programs that are high demand and employment ready.
  • Action 3.3.3 Create new stackable fast track (micro-credentials) programs to meet industry need and student demand.

Goal #4: Enhance transfer student enrollment, retention and success.

• Strategy 4.1 Increase dual enrollment and concurrent enrollment offerings.
  • Action 4.1.1 Increase the number of dual and concurrent offerings that align with SCC transfer programs.
• Strategy 4.2 Expand experiential learning for transfer students.
  • Action 4.2.1 Strategically expand Service Learning and Liberal Arts & Sciences internships
• Strategy 4.3 Enhance and expand GPS career exploration.
  • Action 4.3.1 Enhance and expand GPS exploration of careers in Liberal Arts and Sciences.
• Strategy 4.4 Improve student retention and completion among students whose goal is to complete a four year degree.
  • Action 4.4.1 Increase 2+2 partnerships to enhance pathway completion at SCC.
  • Action 4.4.2 Expand access to learners through flexible offerings/class schedules.

Goal #5: Engage in continuous improvement and enhance institutional effectiveness.

• Strategy 5.1 Amend the Unit Strategic Planning (USP) Process and Implement the Four Disciplines of Execution (4DX).
  • Action 5.1.1 Improve alignment of planning and budgeting processes and incorporate the Four Disciplines of Execution into the USP process.
• Strategy 5.2 Successfully apply for Grants intended to support underserved populations (Title III, Title V).
  • Action 5.2.1 Apply for a Title III grant to leverage federal funding to enhance programmatic efforts that support underserved students.

Strategy 1 Streamline the Experience – Student Ready Solutions for All 

• MCCCD College Goal #1 MCCCD attracts, recruits, engages, and enrolls more students.
  • KPI #1 Increase annual new-to-Maricopa student enrollment (headcount) from 1756 (2023-24) to 1850 (+5.4%) by 2027.
  • MCCCD College Activity 1.1.A Identify and achieve college determined optimal enrollment targets.
    • Milestone
      • 1.1.A.1 Define and identify student populations by June 2025.
      • 1.1.A.2 Develop tailored outreach efforts to address the specific needs and interests of the targeted student populations by June 2026.
  • SCC College Activity 1.1.B Improve enrollment processes by establishing an informed communication plan, instituted across campus, alerting students of timelines, resources, interventions, and student development opportunities.
    • Milestone
      • 1.1.B.1 Conduct an inventory of current communication messages, target audiences, and platforms leveraged by June 2025.
      • 1.1.B.2 Develop and implement a comprehensive communication plan that streamlines messaging to current, future, and potential students by June 2026.
      • 1.1.B.3 Establish a dedicated contact center to support and enhance communication to current, future, and potential students by June 2026.
      • 1.1.B.4 Create best practice communication templates for faculty and staff by June 2026.
  • SCC College Activity 1.1.C Establish systems and processes that create greater course schedule clarity for students.
    • Milestone
      • 1.1.C.1 Implement Ad Astra to optimize course scheduling by June 2026.
      • 1.1.C.2 Implement a process for departmental collaboration to balance course offerings based on modality/day/time by June 2025.
      • 1.1.C.3 Enhance the college website to optimize access to course and program information by June 2025.
      • 1.1.C.4 Align course offerings to ensure predictability for completing a certificate or degree pathway by June 2025.
  • SCC College Activity 1.1.D Expand dual and concurrent enrollment opportunities, with a targeted focus on high schools.
    • Milestone
      • 1.1.D.1 Document and optimize internal dual enrollment processes by June 2025.
      • 1.1.D.2 Develop a comprehensive concurrent enrollment plan and process for prospective high schools by June 2025.
  • SCC College Activity 1.1.E Increase community awareness, perception and knowledge of SCC programs, services through strategic community involvement.
    • Milestone
      • 1.1.E.1 Prioritize outreach in community engagement events that support the college’s mission by June 2026.
      • 1.1.E.2 Partner with community organizations, non-profits, businesses, and Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community to promote SCC programs and services by June 2025.
      • 1.1.E.3 Enhance social media platform presence to highlight college updates, success stories, and key information about SCC programs and services by June 2026

Strategy 2 Optimize Student Success – Remove Barriers

• MCCCD COLLEGE GOAL #2 MCCCD retains and supports students to reach their academic, personal, and/ or professional goals.
  • KPI #2 Increase annual retention rates from 53% to 55% (+2%) by June 30, 2027.
  • MCCCD College Activity 2.1.A Identify and achieve college-determined optimal retention rates.
    • Milestone
      • 2.1.A.1 Implement a holistic set of early alert and support services to support our student populations in gateway and critical courses by June 2026.
      • 2.1.A.2 Design student connections including the integration of cultural identity and awareness that fosters a sense of belonging for our student populations by June 2026.
      • 2.1.A.3 Ensure access to basic needs resources such as food pantries, housing assistance, and other services to support the holistic needs of students by June 2025.
      • 2.1.A.4 Develop a one stop webpage for all support services by June 2025.
      • 2.1.A.5 Develop an improved program review cycle that encourages faculty to examine success data and frequent use of dashboards by June 2026.
  • SCC College Activity 2.1.B Establish comprehensive career services leveraging the explore, equip, engage and evolve continuum model, including work-based learning experiences.
    • Milestone
      • 2.1.B.1 Identify career and service learning opportunities that provide students with workforce experiences by June 2025.
      • 2.1.B.2  Identify community partners who can provide career development opportunities by June 2026.
      • 2.1.B.3 Integrate career opportunities into selected courses that promote workforce connections by June 2026.
  • SCC College Activity 2.1.C Establish a student-centered framework that facilitates successful enrollment and completion of first college-level courses.
    • Milestone
      • 2.1.C.1 Identify a student support services peer mentorship model to support key areas of the student life cycle by June 2025.
      • 2.1.C.2 Develop academic peer mentorship opportunities in first year courses or first year student experiences by June 2026.

Strategy 3 Committed to Completion – Mission Accomplished

• MCCCD COLLEGE GOAL #3 MCCCD graduates and transfers more students.
  • KPI #3 Increase annual graduation/transfer rates from 21% to 24% (+3%) by June 30, 2027.
  • MCCCD College Activity 3.1.A Identify and achieve college-determined optimal completion rates.
    • Milestone
      • 3.1.A.1 Review course completion data across various modalities and formats to identify areas of improvements by June 2025.
      • 3.1.A.2 Determine the optimal course completion rates with the goal of reducing gaps by June 2025.
      • 3.1.A.3 Implement new and enhance existing professional development for instructional best practices by June 2026.
  • SCC College Activity 3.1.B Establish support systems for student populations, including first generation, Veterans, and Pell students.
    • Milestone
      • 3.1.B.1 Solicit student feedback to identify support services needed for our student populations by June 2026.
      • 3.1.B.1 Provide culturally responsive support services that recognize and address the unique needs of students June 2025.
  • SCC College Activity 3.1.C Eliminate financial barriers to student success.
    • Milestone
      • 3.1.C.1 Expand access to financial aid resources for students to foster greater access to college opportunities by June 2026.
      • 3.1.C.2 Increase the use and awareness of OER and other cost effective options for students within the classroom by June 2026.

A vision-oriented framework for technology decisions, investment, and institutional partnership

Framework Purpose

This framework establishes a proposed strategic direction for Scottsdale Community College (SCC) Information Technology Services (ITS) through 2030. It is designed to guide choices about technology, services, workforce skills and capacity, partnerships, risk, and investment while remaining responsive to changing institutional needs and emerging technologies.

The framework is intentionally high level. It defines desired outcomes and decision principles rather than a fixed list of products or projects. Annual planning goals will translate the framework into prioritized initiatives, responsibilities, resource considerations, and measures of progress without requiring a separate formal roadmap.

Planning Context

SCC is planning amid rapid changes in artificial intelligence (AI), digital learning, cybersecurity, cloud services, software pricing, workforce expectations, and student needs. At the same time, significant budget reductions require the College to protect essential services, improve efficiency, simplify where possible, reduce avoidable risk and complexity, and preserve focused capacity for innovation.

The proposed direction builds on SCC's strengths in responsive and caring service, experienced staff, collaborative problem solving, and established technology capabilities. It also addresses recurring concerns involving legacy systems, concentrated technical knowledge, documentation and cross-training, aging infrastructure, service continuity, software cost growth, and the need for stronger governance and prioritization.

SCC ITS operates within a federated technology environment as part of the Maricopa County Community College District (MCCCD). SCC leads technology planning and service delivery for many locally managed technologies, while the District manages core enterprise platforms, including the student, human resources, and financial management systems. Other areas involve shared responsibilities. For example, SCC maintains local information security expertise and manages day-to-day security practices, tool administration, investigation, and incident response, while the District provides certain cybersecurity tools purchased at scale and may support coordinated responses to significant incidents. SCC will collaborate with District ITS and other colleges when shared solutions provide value while continuing to evaluate campus needs, local impacts, costs, support requirements, and institutional priorities.

Strategic Alignment

Alignment references used under each pillar: SCC refers to the SCC Strategic Plan 2026–2030; Academic Affairs refers to the SCC Instructional Plan 2023–2027; SEM refers to the SCC Strategic Enrollment Management Plan 2024–2027; and MCCCD refers to the Systemwide Strategic Plan FY27–2030.

ITS Mission Vision and Values

The ITS mission, vision, and values were developed through an inclusive, collaborative process involving the entire ITS department. Team members contributed their perspectives, experiences, and ideas over several weeks to establish a shared foundation for the department’s future. Building on that foundation, this strategic framework reflects departmental input, institutional priorities, and emerging technology needs and will be further refined through engagement with appropriate campus stakeholders. The resulting plan is intended to represent a shared direction for the entire ITS team—not solely a set of priorities established by ITS leadership.

Mission

Empowering education through innovative, reliable, and accessible technology.

Vision

To advance educational excellence, operational efficiency, and continuous innovation by leading with strategic technology and collaborative partnerships—empowering every learner across our diverse communities.

Values

Integrity

Act with honesty, accountability, and responsible stewardship.

Learning

Remain curious, build capability, and support continuous growth.

Professionalism

Deliver dependable, respectful, and high-quality service.

Support

Listen, collaborate, and respond with care for students and employees.

Creativity

Explore practical and thoughtful ways to solve problems and improve outcomes.

Guiding Principles

Student success and learning. Technology decisions will support learning, retention, access, workforce readiness, and the student experience.

Accessibility and inclusion. Solutions and services will be designed for equitable access across people, locations, abilities, devices, and instructional modalities.

Responsible innovation. ITS will support campus efforts to explore emerging technologies through purposeful, appropriately scaled pilots and evidence-based evaluation.

Security, privacy and trust. Security, privacy, resilience, data protection, and human accountability will be incorporated throughout technology lifecycles.

Academic freedom and human judgment. Technology will enable informed choice and human expertise rather than prescribe a single approach to teaching or decision-making.

Financial sustainability and demonstrated value. Investments will be evaluated for utilization, total cost, supportability, risk, and contribution to institutional outcomes.

Collaboration and shared responsibility. Students, faculty, staff, leadership, technical specialists, and District partners will contribute to decisions appropriate to their roles.

Lifecycle stewardship. SCC will plan for acquisition, implementation, renewal, modernization, and retirement rather than treat purchases as one-time events.

Data minimization and responsible use. ITS will design and manage systems to use and retain the minimum data needed while considering performance, cost, operational requirements, and security risk. When practical and beneficial, solutions will use authoritative source data rather than create and maintain unnecessary local copies.

Continuous improvement. Services and initiatives will be reviewed using evidence, stakeholder experience, and changing institutional needs.

Pillar 1: Contemporary Digital Learning and Student Access

Strategic direction. Provide reliable, accessible, and appropriately standardized technologies that support SCC's full range of instructional modalities and create a more consistent end-to-end digital experience for students as they find information, access services, and engage in learning.

Primary strategic alignment: SCC Strategies 1 and 2; Academic Affairs Goals 1 and 2; SEM Strategies 1 and 3; and MCCCD Strategy 3, Goal 3.1.

Goal: SCC students, faculty, and adjunct faculty have dependable access to contemporary technologies and consistent digital experiences that support learning and student success across modalities.

High Level Objectives

• Support SCC's instructional modes, including In-Person, Online, Live Online, Hybrid In-Person, Hybrid Live Online, and Multiple Attendance Options (formerly HyFlex), as well as dual enrollment and other academic offerings.
• Establish sustainable classroom-technology standards, differentiated tiers designed to support instructional purpose, and refresh practices aligned with lifecycle and institutional priorities.
• Expand tools and support practices that allow ITS staff to monitor, manage, troubleshoot, and support classroom devices and other technology resources remotely or in person as appropriate, enabling efficient management of larger device pools, preventive maintenance, shorter response times, and improved service continuity.
• Continue equitable access to devices, specialized software, designated campus computing resources, and secure remote access to appropriate on-campus resources.
• Evaluate emerging learning technologies in partnership with Academic Affairs and faculty. Improve the student digital experience through accessible and current website content, clear digital service pathways, effective communications, and coordination across locally and District-managed platforms.
• Partner with Academic Affairs, Student Affairs, faculty, advisors, and other stakeholders to evaluate, implement, integrate, and support technologies that strengthen student onboarding, engagement, advising, early intervention, persistence, and completion.
• Improve the consistency and quality of classroom technology support through the effective allocation of available staffing and resources.

Desired Outcomes

• Classroom environments are consistent where consistency adds value and differentiated where instructional purpose requires it.
• Remote management improves service responsiveness and expands the number of resources that can be supported effectively by available staff.
• Students can find information, navigate digital services, and access required technologies and learning resources regardless of location or personal device limitations.
• Faculty, advisors, and student-support professionals have dependable and appropriately integrated technologies that help them identify student needs, coordinate support, and improve the student experience.

Preliminary Measures of Progress

These measures are directional. Baselines, targets, and reporting intervals will be established through annual planning.

• Coverage of instructional spaces by approved standards, lifecycle plans, and remote-management capabilities.
• Reliability, incident trends, resolution time, and stakeholder experience for classroom technology.
• Availability and utilization of student technology lending, including laptops and calculators, remote access to appropriate campus resources, and accessibility of key student-facing digital services.
• Demonstrated support for SCC's instructional modes, specialized software access, dual enrollment, bachelor's degree programs, and other academic offerings.

Pillar 2: Responsible AI and Digital Fluency

Strategic direction. Enable the SCC community to understand and benefit from artificial intelligence through responsible access, education, experimentation, collaboration, and human-centered practices.

Primary strategic alignment: SCC Strategies 1, 2, and 4; Academic Affairs Goal 2; and MCCCD Strategy 3, Goal 3.1.

Goal: SCC advances responsible and inclusive AI adoption while preserving privacy, security, academic integrity, human judgment, and academic freedom.

High Level Objectives

• Convene an informal collaborative space that brings together current AI users and interested stakeholders to understand existing practices, identify needs and opportunities, share knowledge, and surface concerns.
• Contribute to District technical and governance frameworks through SCC participation in the MCCCD AI leadership group.
• Determine what complementary campus guidance or coordination is needed among ITS, Academic Affairs, Student Affairs, and other stakeholders.
• Promote awareness and responsible use of institutionally available AI solutions, including existing Google Gemini access.
• Evaluate whether students and employees need additional institutionally supported AI solutions and equitable access to them.
• Promote and support role-appropriate AI literacy, training, consultation, and responsible-use resources in collaboration with campus and District partners.
• Explore AI-supported process improvements through focused pilots and documented evaluation before broader adoption.
• Address privacy, security, accessibility, transparency, bias, academic integrity, data protection, and human accountability.
• Respect faculty authority and academic freedom regarding the use of AI within teaching and learning.

Desired Outcomes

• Students and employees understand how to use approved AI solutions appropriately, safely, critically, and effectively.
• AI investments and pilots follow consistent evaluation criteria and produce documented evidence of value, risk, and readiness.
• Campus practices complement District governance while remaining responsive to SCC's instructional and operational context.

Preliminary Measures of Progress

These measures are directional. Baselines, targets, and reporting intervals will be established through annual planning.

• Participation and themes identified through SCC's informal AI collaborative space.
• Availability, awareness, and completion of role-appropriate AI literacy opportunities.
• Coverage of AI solutions and pilots by approved evaluation, privacy, security, accessibility, and governance processes.
• Documented pilot outcomes, adoption, user experience, and decisions to scale, revise, or discontinue.
• Equitable availability and responsible utilization of institutionally supported AI solutions.

Pillar 3: Application Data Software and Process Modernization

Strategic direction. Modernize SCC's internally developed applications, data practices, third-party software and services, and institutional processes to improve agility, efficiency, continuity, service quality, and financial sustainability.

Primary strategic alignment: SCC Strategy 4; Academic Affairs Goal 5; SEM Strategies 1 and 2; and MCCCD Strategy 3, Goal 3.1.

Goal: SCC reduces dependence on aging, highly customized, and difficult-to-support technologies while improving responsible access to data and preserving valuable institutional capabilities and efficiencies.

High Level Objectives

• Assess institutional processes to identify meaningful opportunities for simplification, automation, self-service, or redesign.
• Test promising improvements through focused pilots and evaluate their effects on service quality, workload, cost, and user experience before expanding them.
• Preserve the value provided by internally developed applications while reducing risks associated with legacy architecture, local infrastructure, limited documentation, and concentrated technical knowledge.
• Reduce single points of failure through documentation, cross-training, succession planning, modern architecture, and more supportable development practices.
• Transition toward more agile, interoperable, maintainable, and less code-dependent development approaches.
• Evaluate low-code and no-code platforms, software as a service (SaaS) solutions, cloud services, application programming interfaces (APIs), shared platforms, and modern development methods based on business requirements and institutional value.
• Plan and support transitions among locally managed, shared, and District-managed platforms when doing so improves institutional value, functionality, integration, supportability, data quality, user experience, or long-term sustainability.
• Establish and maintain a comprehensive institutional catalog of third-party software and services that documents purpose, ownership, cost, licensing, utilization, integrations, data access, accessibility, security, support, and renewal cycles.
• Use the institutional catalog to identify opportunities to retain, expand, renegotiate, consolidate, standardize, replace, or retire third-party solutions while preserving legitimate academic and operational requirements.
• Reduce unnecessary local data storage, replication, and retention, and use authoritative source systems when technically and operationally appropriate.
• Partner with Institutional Research and functional areas to improve governed access to reliable data and support appropriate reporting, visualization, and analytical capabilities for institutional decision-making.
• Use operational, service, technology, and portfolio data within ITS to evaluate performance, investments, risks, resource needs, and opportunities for improvement.
• Establish lifecycle practices for internally developed applications, third-party software and services, and institutional data.

Desired Outcomes

• Institutional processes are simpler, more responsive, and less dependent on manual work or unnecessary data movement.
• Internally developed applications are more supportable, documented, resilient, and adaptable.
• Third-party software and services are visible, actively managed, appropriately standardized, and aligned with demonstrated needs.
• SCC selectively transitions appropriate services to cloud environments when doing so improves resilience, flexibility, supportability, scalability, security, or long-term value.
• Stakeholders have appropriate access to reliable data, reporting, and visualization capabilities that support evidence-informed planning and decisions.

Preliminary Measures of Progress

These measures are directional. Baselines, targets, and reporting intervals will be established through annual planning.

• Coverage of internally developed applications by ownership, documentation, dependency, lifecycle, and risk assessments.
• Coverage of third-party software and services in the institutional catalog and portfolio review cycle.
• Reduction in unsupported, redundant, underused, or unnecessarily duplicated technologies and data.
• Progress improving access to authoritative data, reporting, visualization, and analytical capabilities in partnership with Institutional Research and functional areas.
• Process-improvement pilots with documented service, workload, cost, risk, and user-experience results.
• Progress in modernizing legacy and high-risk applications, including selective migration of suitable services to cloud-enabled platforms.

Pillar 4: Secure Resilient and Modern Infrastructure

Strategic direction. Maintain a secure and resilient technology foundation capable of supporting evolving instructional, operational, cloud, and digital-service requirements.

Primary strategic alignment: SCC Strategies 1 and 4; Academic Affairs Goal 2; and MCCCD Strategy 3, Goal 3.1.

Goal: SCC provides a secure, resilient, supportable, and appropriately modern foundation for learning and college operations.

High Level Objectives

• Reassess SCC's network architecture and aging wireless infrastructure to address evolving instructional and operational requirements, capacity, resilience, monitoring, lifecycle needs, and available resources.
• Evaluate network technologies and vendors based on performance, security, interoperability, supportability, total cost, and campus requirements rather than assuming a predetermined solution. Improve the diversity and resilience of critical connectivity and infrastructure to reduce service-continuity risks.
• Mature disaster recovery, backup, continuity, restoration, and testing capabilities for services within SCC's responsibility.
• Establish a sustainable and appropriately staffed information-security function with clear responsibilities and effective campus and District partnerships.
• Incorporate security, privacy, accessibility, resilience, and recovery requirements into planning, procurement, design, implementation, and lifecycle review.
• Balance protective controls with usability, connectivity, instructional requirements, academic freedom, and appropriate access.

Desired Outcomes

• Critical connectivity and services are less vulnerable to common physical, technical, organizational, and knowledge-based points of failure.
• Security is incorporated throughout technology decisions and service delivery rather than added after implementation.
• Recovery capabilities are documented, tested, and aligned with institutional service priorities and shared District responsibilities.

Preliminary Measures of Progress

These measures are directional. Baselines, targets, and reporting intervals will be established through annual planning.

• Coverage of network, wireless, infrastructure, and security capabilities by current assessments and lifecycle plans.
• Progress addressing prioritized resilience, connectivity-diversity, and end-of-life risks. Establishment and continuity of dedicated information-security capacity.
• Coverage of critical services by documented recovery priorities, backup validation, and periodic recovery exercises.
• Security, privacy, accessibility, and resilience review of applicable technology acquisitions and implementations.

Pillar 5: Sustainable Workforce Service and Technology Stewardship

Strategic direction. Develop an adaptable ITS organization and sustainable investment model capable of delivering essential services and advancing institutional priorities in a constrained financial environment.

Primary strategic alignment: SCC Strategy 4; Academic Affairs Goal 5; and MCCCD Strategy 3, Goal 3.1.

Goal: ITS sustains reliable services and focused innovation through an adaptable workforce, intentional partnerships, and disciplined stewardship of limited resources.

High Level Objectives

• Periodically evaluate organizational roles, supervisory structures, team alignments, technical capacity, and service ownership as staffing and institutional needs change.
• Direct available capacity toward essential technical, instructional, security, service, and modernization needs.
• Address single-person dependencies through documentation, cross-training, succession planning, knowledge transfer, and architectural modernization.
• Develop workforce capabilities in AI, cloud services, integration, automation, cybersecurity, modern application platforms, data management, instructional technology, and change enablement.
• Create meaningful opportunities for professional growth, knowledge sharing, and career development.
• Establish disciplined technology lifecycle, replacement, and budget planning aligned with service commitments, risk, institutional priorities, and the College's current budget-reduction environment.
• Strengthen software asset management, licensing oversight, renewal forecasting, utilization review, and vendor evaluation to manage rapidly increasing costs.
• Improve project and investment prioritization through transparent criteria that consider student and institutional value, total cost, utilization, risk, accessibility, security, integration, supportability, and exit strategy.
• Establish practical governance that engages stakeholders in discovery, prioritization, and evaluation rather than limiting participation to approval of completed proposals.
• Clarify which services should be provided by SCC, delivered with the District or other colleges, shared, or obtained externally.

Desired Outcomes

• The organizational and service-delivery model remains aligned with institutional priorities, emerging technologies, available staffing, and required capabilities.
• Technology costs and renewal obligations are more visible, predictable, and actively managed.
• Governance produces informed decisions, shared responsibility, and meaningful stakeholder participation.
• Lifecycle plans reduce unexpected failures, unfunded renewals, and deferred replacement risk.

Preliminary Measures of Progress

These measures are directional. Baselines, targets, and reporting intervals will be established through annual planning.

• Coverage of critical services by documentation, cross-training, succession, and designated backup capability.
• Progress against prioritized workforce capability and professional-development needs.
• Coverage of major technology assets and third-party solutions by lifecycle, renewal, and funding plans.
• Documented savings, cost avoidance, utilization improvements, and risk reduction from portfolio and lifecycle decisions.
• Stakeholder participation, decision transparency, and follow-through within technology governance and prioritization processes.
• Alignment of service ownership and delivery models with SCC and District capabilities.