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TechNova 2026: Strategic Goals

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Goals and Strategies

The campus technology strategic plan consists of four primary goals, each with an associated set of initiatives.

  • Goal #1:ÌýEnable Exceptional Student Experiences
  • Goal #2:ÌýExpand Support for Research and Scholarship
  • Goal #3:ÌýFacilitate Digital Processes and Data-Informed Decisions
  • Goal #4: PursueÌýIT Operational Excellence

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Goal #1:ÌýEnable Exceptional Student Experiences

Support technologies that enable faculty and staff to provide students with exceptional experiences inside and outside the classroom.

Technology shapes the student experience from prospect through lifelong alumni engagement. Villanova can leverage digital tools to enhance personalized service and interactions and prepare students for their chosen futures.

The target is to deliver the personal attention students and parents expect that distinguishes the Villanova experience!
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Key Initiatives:

  1. Improve the organization, personalization, and usability and accessibility of the digital services students frequently access.
  2. Create additional mechanisms to facilitate innovation and adoption of technologies that support learning.
  3. Collaborate with the Office of the Provost to continue to Improve the faculty and student experience in physical and virtual learning spaces.
  4. Enable accessibility and support universal design for learning.

Goal #2:ÌýExpand Support for Research and Scholarship

Enhance availability and expand support for the use of technology in faculty and student research and scholarship.

Strengthening Villanova's research computing infrastructure is vital to fostering opportunities for research and scholarship. A comprehensive university research computing service will provide faculty and students with access to specialized software, server hosting, high-performance computing resources, and secure data storage and management capabilities.
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Key Initiatives:

  1. Create a central research computing service that includes specialized technology services and capabilities.

Goal #3:ÌýFacilitate Digital Processes and Data-Informed Decisions

Enable digital process, data informed decisions and high quality, cost effective and scalable university administrative operations.

The consumer technologies faculty, student and staff encounter in their everyday lives are reshaping their expectations for University services. As Villanova grows, technology will play an important role in helping the institution scale its services while managing the costs. The future requires a different set of foundational technologies, digital skills and redesigned processes and practices.
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Key Initiatives:

  1. Work with functional area leaders to modernize finance, human resource management, student information systems (ERP) and data infrastructure to enable efficiency and improve the user experience.
  2. Facilitate AI awareness and adoption in administrative processes and operations in alignment with Villanova’s values and policies.
  3. Implement a single, modern repository (warehouse or lakehouse) to be the source system for data for reporting and analytics.
  4. Work with the Office of Decision Support and data stewards to improve data quality, consistency and management.

Goal #4: Pursue IT Operational Excellence

Foster IT operational excellence by maintaining secure, reliable and user-centered services.

Villanova’s IT goals depend upon excellent services enabled by a highly capable and responsive IT team. University Technology Services must develop the capabilities, tools and services that support Villanova’s pursuit of the preceding three goals, and University IT groups will partner more extensively to make it easier for campus to discover, adopt, and use technology solutions.
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Key Initiatives:

  1. Implement a revised IT decision making structure to promote transparency and communication and maintain alignment of IT strategy with University priorities.
  2. Align the IT organization structure with the strategic plan to develop additional capabilities in strategic areas (E.g., research IT), build capacity, and make it easier for campus stakeholders to partner with IT.
  3. Strengthen the University’s cybersecurity strategy with a forward-looking, identity-centric approach that addresses emerging threats and supports responsible technology use.
  4. Improve operational resilience and expand capacity to offer new solutions by retiring technologies with significant technical debt and adopting a cloud first approach.
  5. Deliver excellent customer service by deepening capabilities to design, deliver and continually improve IT solutions, processes, guidelines and standards.
  6. Strengthen capabilities to support communications, training and outreach.
  7. Modernize the technology infrastructure of Cabrini and Rosemont.