Organizationally supporting innovation in technology-enhanced instruction and research

Instructional and Research Technology Services (IRTS) is a new unit on the campus of Indiana State University (ISU) created to envision, explore, design, and evaluate new and emerging technologies to support teaching, research, and student learning. One of the most important tenants of this new group is to add value to ISU's information technology investments. Siegel (2003) commented, "IT matters to an organization when innovation matters". [1] Today most information technology services serve as a utility; people want them and expect them to work 100 percent of the time. It is hard to create an environment that supports innovation when stability has become the main focus. IRTS is designed to act as a catalyst; one that engages internal and external audiences in collaborative efforts where faculty are encouraged and supported to experiment and incorporate technology into their teaching and research activities. An additional goal of this group is to identify and acquire new funding sources for technology intensive teaching, learning, and research projects. This paper will describe this new unit's organizational structure, interaction with stakeholders, current projects, and an assessment of operational effectiveness.