IST STRATEGIC PLAN A SCHOOL FOR THE XXI ST CENTURY

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1 IST STRATEGIC PLAN A SCHOOL FOR THE XXI ST CENTURY December 2010

2 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Higher Education is now strongly driven by both international and national competition; significant changes are expected in the next 20 years in the European landscape as a result of the recent developments pursued in many EU countries and of the competition of the leading US institutions, which are all becoming increasingly global. In this turbulent scenario, higher eduction in Portugal is in a defining moment, where only a few institutions can aim to play a significant role in the international context. Leveraging on the outstanding achievements, unique institutional profile, and the breadth and quality of our students, alumni, faculty and staff, IST can be a player in the European Higher Education landscape. The Strategic Plan presented here aims to clarify and to focus the Mission and the Vision for IST, as a global organization, and to establish a series of action plans aligned with the Mission of IST, centered on science and technology as enablers for the accelerated improvement of the Portuguese and European Society. The Mission and the Vision of IST are now centered on our global community of students, alumni, faculty and staff, and their impact on Society, as a result of their academic and professional activities. The top quality education to be provided to our students, the conditions for our faculty and staff to fully tap their potential to pursue the Mission of IST, and the global IST community and their links to Society and to our stakeholders are thus the focus of this Strategic Plan. This is complemented by an organizational shift, with the goal of making Strategic Planning more central to the institutional developments of IST at the key levels of our organization. This document is organized as follows. In the first section, the Mission and Vision of IST are presented, and the main strategic decisions are described in Section II. The Twelve Focus Areas for the Strategic Plan of IST are then outlined, and their connections are presented in Section III. For each one of the focus areas, a series of action plans have been designed, with the goal of further pursuing our Mission towards the Vision for IST in the XXIst Century. A summary for each focus area is presented in Section IV, along with the main focus of the action plans, and the most relevant outcomes of the plans. The operationalization of the action plans in each focus area is going to be coordinated by a special committee, SPC, nominated by the President of IST. The composition and the mandate of this committee is described in the Section V. Finally, Section VI presents an outlook of the Strategic Plan of IST. Strategic Plan

3 I. MISSION AND VISION IN THE XXI ST CENTURY MISSION VISION The Mission of IST is to create and to disseminate knowledge and to give our students the education and the knowledge tools to improve, to change and to shape society through science, technology, and entrepreneurship by combining a top quality higher education, with Research, Development and Innovation (RD&I) activities, according to the highest international standards, immersing our students, alumni, faculty and staff in an exciting and global environment geared towards solving the challenges of the XXIst Century. In our Vision, IST will be one of the top twenty European Schools of Engineering, Science and Technology by attracting and nurturing talent, which will work in a global, international and culturally diverse environment, with an efficient management, modern infrastructures and a holistic quality-based culture, with the goal of fostering, through science, technology, and innovation, the impact in society of our global community of students, alumni, faculty and staff. 3 Strategic Plan 2010

4 II. MAIN STRATEGIC DECISIONS FOR IST The main strategic decisions for IST are: to focus on the education of top students in technology, science, and entrepreneurship, targeting a population with a majority of post-graduates. to review the human resources allocation, targeting a more balanced and strategically adequate knowledge pool. to foster a global culture of internationalization, by providing conditions, formal mechanisms, and financial support for both outgoing and incoming faculty and students. to promote a culture of quality, in order to converge all the dimensions of the activities towards the highest international standards. to create the mechanisms to launch Global Initiatives that explore synergies between pools of knowledge to address the main challenges of Society. to strengthen the conditions for Research, Development and Innovation (RD&I) activities, according to the highest international standards. to review, develop, and implement internal evaluation processes for Departments and for Research Centers, to foster individual strategic planning, organization and leadership, and as well as accountability, efficiency and performance. to revamp its communication strategy, coordinating links with external entities and the IST global community, and thus developing a strong community culture. to install the mechanisms to continuously review the strategic challenges of its business, including the exploration of long-term scenarios. Strategic Plan

5 III. TWELVE FOCUS AREAS FOR IST In the framework of the new legal framework and internal regulations of IST, recently approved, the President of IST has prepared a Strategic Plan to be submitted to the School Council. This document aims at framing and targeting the strategic development of IST, not only in a short term perspective but also in close alignment with the shared Vision for the future of IST. The Strategic Plan of IST is materialized in a series of initiatives at the management and the operational levels, which have been grouped in Twelve Focus Areas. Figure 1: Twelve Focus Areas for IST 5 Strategic Plan 2010

6 The Twelve Focus Areas cover the core Mission of IST (Higher Education) but also the key activities to support the core Mission in a science and technology school that aims to be identified as a research university (Research,Development & Innovation, Technology Transfer). Four cross-cutting focus areas are shared by the core activities of IST, closely associated with a global organization (Internationalization), the necessity of coordinated efforts in strategic multidimensional initiatives (Global Initiatives), and a culture of quality, its assessment and monitoring at all levels of our activities (Internal evaluation). The core activities of IST must be widely shared and closely supported by our stakeholders and our community, thus requiring a wide communication strategy (Communication), and must be grounded on a support infrastructure, in terms of physical infrastructure (Infrastructure), administrative and technological support (Services), and information (Information Tech.), where TagusPark plays a critical role, as a natural environment for the growth and further development of the activities of IST. All the strategic developments, decisions and plans, and their implementation must be monitored and supported by systematic/ regular Strategic Planning (Strategic Planning), and by the allocation of additional resources (Funding). As a result of the identification, analysis, and diagnostic of the Twelve Focus Areas, a detailed breakdown of action plans for each of the areas has been performed, with the goal of aligning the strategic developments with the Mission and Vision of IST. The summary of plans for each area, the focus and the key outcomes are outlined in the next sections of this document. The operationalization of these action plans will be coordinated and monitored by the Strategic Plan Committee (SPC), chaired by the President of IST, whose mandate, composition and operation are detailed in a separate section of this document. Strategic Plan

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9 periences, a summer opportunities program will be implemented to include academic programs, Summer Schools, extra-curricular activities, training, internships, and research/scientific activities, also opening these activities to the broader community and international students. Launch reward/recovery plans for students: With the goal of further promoting a culture of quality, reward plans will be implemented to promote outstanding achievements and recovery plans will be enforced for underachievers. KEY OUTCOMES As a result of the action plans in this focus area, IST will shift the focus of its academic offer, gearing it towards 2nd and 3rd cycle formations, bridging the gap with the needs of the market in terms of lifelong learning and training, and covering the full career evolution of our graduates and alumni, guaranteeing, at the same time, a closer match between the level required in the IST degrees and the know-how of the incoming students. 9 Strategic Plan 2010

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12 bal organization must have a strongly networked and internationalized faculty. Mechanisms to trigger and to foster this internationalization will be implemented, in coordination with the Internationalization focus area. KEY OUTCOMES As a result of the action plans in this focus area, IST will increase its ability to actively search for and attract top talent in the international market, offering competitive working and start-up conditions, promoting RD&I in the IST strategic areas of development, guaranteeing a teaching load of our faculty members (in particular in terms of laboratory and problem classes, as well as grading) comparable with the top research universities in the World, with strongly networked and internationally recognized faculty members. Strategic Plan

13 TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER SUMMARY The technology transfer and the underlying entrepreneurship is mandatory in a top engineering school. To foster direct society impact at this level, IST must provide efficient operational tools, promote specific cultural behaviors at the institutional level, and develop adequate society oriented services. FOCUS Foster entrepreneurship in higher education: To be a community of entrepreneurs is one the aspirations of IST and this will be achieved through an active immersion in an entrepreneurship environment involving individuals, as role models, companies, and hands on courses. Improve career services at IST: The key contribution of IST to society is its graduates so it is of paramount importance that the career service improves its operation to open new opportunities and challenges for our graduates and to provide career services that maximize the potential of our students and alumni. Improve management tools for technology transfer: To increase the impact of its activities in society, IST will revise its management tools, in particular fostering an Industry Liaison Program. Implement mechanisms to support start-ups: The financial and management resources require to support start-ups are a critical ingredient for an environment supporting technology transfer and IST will implement the mechanisms to foster and to facilitate technology start-ups with high-growth potential. 13 Strategic Plan 2010

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17 INTERNATIONALIZATION SUMMARY With the continuous fast-paced growth of students and knowledge mobility and internationalization, IST must promote its international presence and its attractiveness to foreign students, researchers, and faculty, leveraging on the competitive advantages of IST, coupled with Portugal overall attractiveness. FOCUS Define international rebranding: IST will identify how it must be positioned in the international context, according to its competitive advantages, and will implement the required rebranding to emphasize its strengths in the international landscape. Promote global presence of English: English is the lingua franca of Higher Education and IST must further promote its unique offer of courses taught in English in the 2nd and 3rd cycles, and strengthen the production of educational contents in English. Develop a differentiated internationalization strategy for different areas of the globe (e.g. China, and India): Taking advantage of the links promoted by CLUSTER and the presence of courses taught in English at IST, connections with top schools will be pursued, in close collaboration with local governments and companies established in those countries. Develop an internationalization strategy targeted at countries of Portuguese Language (CPLP): The internationalization will give particular emphasis to CPLP, including the development of higher education programs in close collaboration with local governments and companies established in those countries. 17 Strategic Plan 2010

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19 KEY OUTCOMES This focus area will expand the international visibility and the conditions to foster internationalization of the activities of IST with the goal of establishing IST as global player in Higher Education. The action lines cover the different dimensions of internationalization, strengthening the ability to attract international students, exposing our staff to be best international standards, and positioning in the international landscape to take advantage of the key competitive institutional advantages of IST. 19 Strategic Plan 2010

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22 COMMUNICATION SUMMARY The external visibility of IST is of critical importance, not only to attract the best talent, but also to ensure the external recognition of IST internal achievements. To this end, IST must implement a set of initiatives that promote the internal organization and focus, and that expand the presence, footprint, and impact in society. FOCUS Relaunch the corporate brand of IST: Taking advantage of the unique opportunity associated with the celebration of the Centenary of IST, the corporate identity and brand will be reviewed, with the goal of relaunching and increasing the visibility of the IST brand and all the activities at IST. Revamp alumni community: The alumni community represents an invaluable asset for IST, as career advisory for potential entry-level candidates and for graduating students in the job market, and with expertise, networking, and society presence. IST must strengthen the alumni community, which encompasses an online portal to gather information and to enable direct contact between individuals (e.g., advisory, career opportunities, resumé crossing), sustaining an engagement of the alumni. Launch a set of large events with societal impact: By defining a schedule of school-wide events for society (e.g., Graduation Day, Science Day, International Day) that involve the IST research and faculty communities, IST can strongly increase its visibility and impact. Centralize and facilitate media interactions: The interaction with the media is critical for IST visibility Strategic Plan

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24 KEY OUTCOMES These action lines will ensure a relevant reshaping and strengthening of IST external visibility and footprint. This encompasses a transformative development of the alumni community, the improvement of media interactions and internet presence, and the contribution for developments in the high schools that mostly contribute to IST entry student pool. In addition, the external image of the institution will be fostered, and IST values, Mission, and Vision will be broadcasted efficiently. Strategic Plan

25 INFRASTRUCTURE SUMMARY The physical infrastructure at IST must provide the optimal conditions to accomplish the goals of the institution. The adjustments in education and research encompassed in the strategy open opportunities to improve the working, interaction, and leisure areas on campus. A set of initiatives was developed to tap into the potential of this available infrastructure in the heart of a national technology park. The connection between the campi of Alameda and Taguspark must be further developed in education, research, and technology fronts. FOCUS Improve support infrastructure for students: Together with the continuous technological upgrades inherently required in a top engineering school, it is imperative to provide students with the optimal infrastructures that foster productivity, concentration, interaction, creativity, and overall comfort. To this end, particular physical spaces will be improved and reallocated, envisioning the development of an inspirational environment. Improve space balance between departments: The proper functioning of IST activities requires also the adequate space allocation between different Departments. Improvement opportunities will be identified and relocations plans defined and launched. Improve mobility in the campi: The mobility and accessibility of the campi are critical for better working and living conditions at the campi (e.g. in terms of parking). New mobility options must be explored, 25 Strategic Plan 2010

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27 on the cooperation with external entities, such as TagusPark, SA. Developments would include research facilities, coupled with supporting infrastructure. Improve visibility of TagusPark campus: The overall external visibility of IST must be uniform between the Alameda and the TagusPark campi. This has enhanced relevance to entry-level and first cycle students, and must be assessed with the appropriate mechanisms (e.g., surveys, cross-campi seminars). KEY OUTCOMES This focus area will enable a strong improvement of space allocation and usage, contributing to an overall improvement of life quality on campus, and more adequate, modern, and energy efficient conditions for all IST community members. It will also ensure the adequate positioning of TagusPark in the global IST strategy, setting this campus as a center of excellence for emergent areas of knowledge, with distinguished infrastructure, efficient operations, and broad footprint. 27 Strategic Plan 2010

28 SERVICES SUMMARY The supporting services represent the backbone of all IST activities and must be continuously reviewed for increased quality and efficiency. The Strategic Plan includes several initiatives that focus on process leaning and operations review. Particular attention will be given to the hiring process and HR structuring. FOCUS Optimize current service workforce: The efficiency of the services is critical in all degrees of the institution. As a first step, current resources must be assessed and reallocation opportunities identified, envisioning a maximized uniformity and an optimal individual fit. Furthermore, qualification programs for administrative staff should be launched. Increase attractiveness and quality of new hires: Parallel to the improvement of the existing workforce, IST must increase the attractiveness for new hires, reaching a pool of more qualified job seekers. Reduce administrative tasks of senior teaching staff: The time dedicated by senior teaching staff to administrative tasks should be minimized at all costs. Bottlenecks and improvement opportunities must be identified directly with the teaching staff, together with a revision of the regulation for delegation of administrative tasks. Diagnose and fix inefficiencies in services due to poorly designed processes: In addition to im- Strategic Plan

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30 INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY SUMMARY Information Technology (IT) services play a critical role in an engineering/technological school, and IST IT services are recognized as top tier. To sustain this position, IT services must follow up with the fast-paced growth of technology, at the infrastructure level, service level and organizational level. Initiatives will target academic and administrative service dematerialization, improvement of perceived quality of service, increased service resilience, provision of better and more diversified communication channels and, in a broad sense, critical IT support to all IST strategic goals. FOCUS Improve academic e-services: Academic services are the support of IST core business and IT plays a key role in this area. Continual improvement of the academic information system must be a permanent target, extending its scope to all academic processes. Strategic goals must include improved support for remote student applications, namely at post graduation level, full dematerialization of all academic processes, support for digital signature of student records and improved tools for e-learning and examination support. Renew user support: User support is crucial for the quality of service perceived by end users. Help-desk service must be improved, creating a single front end for all IT services. Professional IT support services must be made available to all Departments and research units, creating efficient models for remote desktop management and minimizing the need for local IT staff. Establish regular Strategic Plan

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32 for high demanding scientific computing and generalpurpose cloud services. Support advanced telecommunication services: Improve and integrate telecommunication services by full deployment of voice over IP (VoIP), installation of new videoconference facilities, including interactive immersive rooms, and increase support for mobile and wireless communications. Review human resources in IT: The continuous growth of IT usage, both from the increasing number of supported services and from the enlarging user pool, requires regular adjustments to the IT human resources. KEY OUTCOMES This focus area will ensure that the IT Department at IST has the conditions to improve and to provide a service of excellence with adequate human resources and tools. Strategic Plan

33 STRATEGIC PLANNING SUMMARY The Strategic Planning is an ongoing activity with constant presence in the management agenda. A set of initiatives was developed to support the implementation of the activities underlying the current Strategic Plan. Finally, particular workfronts are to be developed to increase the overall awareness of IST in the society. FOCUS Support strategic decisions: To support an ongoing strategic internal reflection and to ensure an effective implementation of the top-down decisions, a set of formal mechanisms must be in place. This involves allocating resources to provide the information and the tools for informed management decisions, and regularly revision and assessment of external factors like demography and internationalization. Review President s agenda: The external visibility, impact, and leverage of IST on the main society and educational individuals and institutions is of critical importance for IST strategic positioning. The President of IST plays an important role at this level, by establishing a regular calendar of formal meetings with the top players. The discussions must therefore target the potential contributions of IST to address the state-ofthe-art technological and engineering challenges, but also the participation of IST in shaping the Portuguese education structure and content. Develop relationship with top strategic partners: The impact span of IST can be further enhanced by developing strategic partnerships with institutions in complementary areas of knowledge (e.g., economics 33 Strategic Plan 2010

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35 FUNDING SUMMARY To fulfill its Mission, IST will need to implement more effective funding mechanisms, with the objective of increasing self-sustainability and autonomy. FOCUS Increase financing by external institutional partners and stakeholders: Increase the level of funding received by IST from industry, service and financial companies. Create an industry liaison office to foster connections with companies, and increase the strength of institutional level connection with society. Evolve towards sustainable levels of permanent costs: Enable the school to use self-financing exclusively for operational costs, project development and strategic investments, by defining target number of professors and administrative personnel consistent with the amount of public financing received. Create mechanisms for long-term financial planning, independent of the details of the annual evolution of public financing: These mechanisms should lead to the creation of an endowment and will increase the ability of IST to generate income from existing assets. They will enable IST to evolve from the present situation where long term planning is limited by the ability to roll-over budget from year to year, caused by restrictive rules that are applicable to both public and non-public funds. Increase the level of financing received directly from post-graduation educational activities: Increase the number of Portuguese and foreign students that pay tuition indexed to actual operating costs. Increase the number of post-graduation studies marketed at an international level, putting special emphasis on attracting 35 Strategic Plan 2010

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37 V. STRATEGIC PLAN COMMITTEE AND STRATEGIC PLAN IMPLEMENTATION SCHEME The breadth and the scope of the Strategic Plan requires a formal professionalized structure within IST responsible to prepare, to implement and to monitor the Strategic Plan of IST. To lead this effort the President of IST has created the Strategic Plan Committee (SPC). It must be stressed that, as part of the lines of action in the Focus Area on Strategic Planning, such formal mechanisms will be deployed. The Mission of SPC is thus to launch and to support the Strategic Plan of IST, ensuring and monitoring its implementation and contributing to its revision and continuous improvement. COORDINATION AND LEADERS The implementation of the IST Strategic Plan will be coordinated by a committee, SPC, chaired by the President of IST, composed of four teams, coordinated by the President of the Scientific Council, the President of the Pedagogical Council, the VP for International Affairs, and the VP for Administrative Affairs reporting directly to the President. The coordination of each 37 Strategic Plan 2010

38 one of the Twelve Focus Areas is assigned to specific leaders. Given the organizational importance of Strategic Planning, the leader of this focus area will report directly to the President of IST and will assume the executive coordination of the committee (see Figure 2). MEETINGS, REPORTING AND PROGRESS EVALUATION The coordinators report to the President of IST on the progresses of the implementation of the Strategic Plan on a monthly basis. Coordination within each team is defined internally. SPC will prepare a yearly progress report that will support the revision of the Strategic Plan, to be performed every two years. Figure 2: Structure of SPC Strategic Plan

39 VI. OUTLOOK AND ASPIRATIONS The Portuguese Society has changed significantly in the past 35 years; the Portuguese Universities have evolved but are only now addressing the competition for talent, focusing on science and technology to address the challenges of Society, providing an education with a societal impact, and addressing lifelong learning. IST has pioneered many of the initiatives critical to address the challenges posed to Universities, in particular in portuguese institutions, and is a leading institution whose community has contributed to shape the portuguese society in many dimensions. However, there is still a tremendous work ahead if we aim to overcome the challenges raised by global competition and to be a relevant player in the European higher education landscape. The Strategic Plan presented here will be highly demanding on our institution, requiring the full engagement of our leaders and our global community. It will be the enabler for the changes that will allow IST to take full advantage of the opportunities and to successfully overcome the questions of the XXIst Century. Strongly geared towards societal impact it presents an institutional refocus on our students and on the people of our global community. It is in the moments of crisis and accelerated change that institutions define themselves and show their identity. IST is ready to address the challenges posed to our Society, in Portugal and in Europe, and to continue to lead the change towards a knowledge based society in Portugal and in Europe through science, technology and innovation, along 7 aspirations for the XXIst Century. 39 Strategic Plan 2010

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