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ITEC Charter

Our ITEC Charter was updated October 2023 via unanimous vote. View a PDF of the ITEC Charter or see below for a web-based copy of the content:

Mission Statement

The UNC-CH Information Technology Executive Council (ITEC), formed in 2009, comprises senior-level administrators who bear primary responsibility and strategic influence for information technology-related services, infrastructure, and planning within their university major operating unit (MOU). The ITEC serves four primary purposes to support UNC-CH’s mission of teaching, research, and public service:

  • Collaborates to maximize the impact and ensure the success of all IT functions across campus.
  • Creates a mutually supportive learning community that promotes and shares technology and business best practices and encourages professional growth of IT staff.
  • Advises the CIO and other senior leaders on technology issues of campus-wide importance.
  • Influences campus-wide strategic directions with an information technology and/or digital transformation lens.

Co-Governance Structure

Chair and Vice Chair– Members of ITEC elected by majority vote to serve a twelve (12) month fiscal year term. The Vice Chair’s primary role is to shadow and assist the Chair, so that if the Chair is unavailable, the Vice Chair can perform any of their duties. The Vice Chair automatically takes the Chair position the following term, or upon an early exit from UNC-CH by the current chair. The Chair is the primary contact for all outside groups. Responsibilities include:

  • Serving as primary contacts and conduits to stakeholders
  • Organizing monthly meeting agenda
  • Inviting guests and coordinating meeting logistics
  • Facilitating group discussions
  • Calling votes in or outside of meetings
  • Implementing the outcome of votes
  • Organizing informal social events
  • Providing follow-up feedback to presenters, when appropriate

The Chair and Vice Chair facilitate and coordinate the change process through discussions and votes. Only ITEC as a whole, has the ability to make decisions (see Voting section) and any member can propose a change. The Chair and Vice Chair are generally prohibited from serving on other ITEC-managed sub-committees. To ensure separation of powers, ITS representatives are not eligible for the Chair of Vice Chair role.

Representing ITEC on Campus Committees

For efficiency and flexibility, sub-committee goals, rules, and charters are covered outside of this charter. The following committees were originally established by ITEC and are strategically important to the success of our mission:

CIO Advisory Committee – Meets regularly with the CIO to discuss issues identified by ITEC and other matters of mutual concern.

CISO Advisory Committee – Meets regularly with the Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) on information security matters.

  1. Any active member for 6+ months is eligible to represent ITEC on any sub-committee.
  2. Serving as an ITEC representative on sub-committees requires pre-approval of ITEC. To further support ITEC members’ professional growth, representation should rotate, and each member should only serve on one committee at a time, unless there are no other volunteers. When multiple members volunteer to serve, a vote can be held to select the new representative (see Voting).
  3. To clarify roles on non-ITEC committees, members should be clear which organization they are representing. If representation is needed from ITEC, the request should go to the Chair.
  4. The ITEC representatives are encouraged to communicate updates via email or Teams, but time will be reserved on the agenda as needed.
  5. ITEC Members with Committee or Liaison Roles appointed by ITEC are responsible for bi-directional communication, by raising ITEC concerns with the sub-committee and sharing pertinent information from the committee back to ITEC.

Voting

ITEC membership uses votes for topics that directly impact the direction of ITEC. Votes are confidential within ITEC, but not anonymous.

  • Logistics
    1. Tool/Mechanism – For efficiency and to ensure participation from all members, votes should be offered online. Exceptions can be made if an in-person quorum exists.
    2. Online votes can remain open until at least a quorum has participated.
  • Quorum
    1. Super-Majority = >75% of active members
    2. Simple-Majority = >50% of active members
  • Vote Categories & Classification
    1. ITEC Membership – Super-Majority
    2. Charter Changes– Super-Majority
    3. Sub-Committee Representation (if more than one volunteer per spot) – Simple-Majority
    4. Other Topics– Simple-Majority

Representation

Major Operating Unit Representation – ITEC representation is limited to one individual from each of UNC-CH’s major operating units (MOUs), excluding ITS and Research. MOUs are defined as a School, Division, or Department and led by a Dean, Vice Provost, or Vice Chancellor. The MOU head may propose a representative from their organization for review by ITEC.

Research Representation – Given the strategic importance of research to our university and ITEC, and the vast number of research centers, up to four individuals from various research centers may be recommended by the VC of Research for ITEC membership.

ITS Representation – One member spot may be granted to a representative of the Information Technology Services organization who reports to the UNC-CH CIO. ITEC strives to include central IT representation while focusing on decentralized IT collaboration. Also, it is assumed the ITS representative will already have – as a factor of their position – a strategic advisory role to the UNC-Chapel Hill CIO. Therefore, ITS membership to ITEC has several provisions:

  • The ITS representative will be a 12-month, renewable term.
  • The ITS representative will not serve as ITEC Chair or Vice Chair.
  • The ITS representative will not represent ITEC on sub-committees.

Additionally, the UNC-CH CIO may request to attend part or all of any future ITEC meeting with prior approval from ITEC.

Membership Process

Information Technology is a strategically important service for our campus. Therefore, eligible ITEC members should be in roles that are positioned with strategic influence on topics that impact the ITEC mission and be considered a senior strategic leader within their MOU. Furthermore, the individual’s position should have the following characteristics:

  • UNC Chapel Hill employee.
  • Senior-most IT position, generally with the title of Director or higher.
  • One or more direct reports.
  • Oversight of their departmental IT budget and influence over the MOU’s budget.

New Requests for Representation – The MOU head may recommend an individual who meets the guidelines above, to the ITEC Chair for review by ITEC. Candidates and their supervisory or MOU head may be invited to an ITEC meeting to present a short overview about their MOU, the strategic use of IT, and the IT candidate’s org structure. ITEC will then vote on the request.

Membership Review – Membership may be reviewed and ultimately revoked by a super-majority vote, if an individual or organization no longer fits the above criteria.

Replacement – Membership automatically transfers to the new individual upon hiring.

Interim – An Interim can be proposed by an existing member’s organization’s senior leader (e.g., Dean, VP, VC) if the current member leaves their position or is unable to serve. Interim appointments may require a “New Member” vote.

Meeting Expectations

Attendance – All members will regularly attend meetings and if unable to attend, will coordinate with the Chair and Vice Chair.

Delegates – To protect the confidentiality of ITEC discussions, no delegates should attend the confidential portions of a monthly meeting as substitutes for existing members, without prior approval from ITEC. Delegates can be sent to ad-hoc project groups.

Operational & Logistical

For efficiency and flexibility, the following operational and logistical items are managed outside of the scope of this Charter. General guidelines are noted below. Any concerns with any item here can be raised by any member.

  • Meetings – Hybrid meetings are preferred to maximize participation, while still offering in-person opportunities if appropriate meeting space/technology is available. Remote meetings are acceptable. Onsite-only meetings should be reserved for special situations including social events.
  • Frequency, Schedule – Meetings are generally monthly with a summer hiatus. Timely/urgent meetings may be called at any point.
  • Location/Hosts – ITEC Members have an opportunity to host (in-person or virtually) a monthly meeting to educate other members about their internal IT operations, unique projects, or facilities.
  • Guests – ITEC may request that the CIO, senior ITS leaders, or other campus stakeholders be invited to present to ITEC on campus projects/initiatives, to provide ITEC an opportunity to provide feedback and strategic project influence.
  • Meeting Agendas – The goal is to initiate proactive discussions and collaboration in support of our mission.
  • Meeting Minutes – No minutes will be recorded, except for follow-up or action items.
  • Confidentiality – Meeting debate should be considered confidential. Technical discussions and factual information relevant to operations can be shared freely.
  • Communication Tools – ITEC has a private email distribution list and a collaboration site (Teams) and managed by the Chair/VC.

ITEC will work with the ITS Representative and/or the CIO to establish at least one half-day retreat with all ITS Leadership to establish a common understanding of major IT and institutional goals and provide guidance on top ITS priorities.