Mission and Values Statement

Adopted: December 19, 2000

The Information Resources department provides robust infrastructure, development, and support to the University's many information technology services and systems in support of the educational, research, and outreach activities of the campus community.

This statement of mission highlights the fact that IR is a service provider and focuses on the consumers of information resources. It stresses that IR is involved with elements of information technology as instruments of the intellectual mission of the University, not centers of activity for their own sake. It also recognizes the Institution's constant pursuit of excellence in all areas of its endeavors.

Information Resources as an organization embraces a set of core values that are intended to inform and guide the performance of all its staff members. The values include:

• Customer Service
• Professionalism
• Courtesy
• Technical Competence
• Teamwork
• Innovation

Customer Service

IR is about serving the technology needs of the UTD community. The effort involves projecting and assessing customer needs in order to acquire and operate resources, engaging, organizing and training necessary staff and communicating efficiently and effectively with the consumers of its services. High-quality customer service strives to reduce to an absolute minimum the number of requests a customer must make to get service and the amount of time necessary to complete the service requested, while at the same time performing high-quality work.

Professionalism

One definition of a professional is a person who knows what the job is and who does whatever is necessary, reasonable and appropriate to get the job done. Knowing what the job is usually comes from a combination of education and experience. Doing whatever is necessary to get the job done is where personal qualities like motivation, dedication and perseverance come into play. Often, professionalism requires that an individual, understanding their own limitations, locate and engage the assistance of others in order to "get the job done."

Courtesy

Courteous behavior toward customers and co-workers alike is demanded of IR staff members. IR staff are required to treat colleagues, peers, and clients/customers with dignity, respect, and courtesy. Courtesy is often difficult to achieve when faced with an angry, frustrated individual. Nevertheless, even if the only ability one has to help is limited to assistance in locating support elsewhere, the effort needs to be made in a calm, non-inflammatory manner.

Technical Competence

Information technology is evolving at such a rapid pace that maintaining technical competence is an ever-escalating challenge. IR staff members are expected to strive to stay current in their area(s) of expertise and work to broaden their knowledge. Technical competence also means doing quality work, e.g., work done completely and done right the first time. The University shares equally in the pursuit of technical competence by working to provide necessary resources to enable IR staff to achieve and maintain necessary technical competencies.

Teamwork

Day-to-day operations as well as information technology projects frequently call for cooperation between different IR departments and often include customer personnel as well. Issues of "ownership" and "turf" can inhibit the smooth functioning of any team and are expected to be de-emphasized by IR staff members. That does not mean that responsibility or authority should be compromised in the process.

Innovation

Information Resources' employees are encouraged to be creative and flexible in pursuing their mission and achieving the goals and objectives of the UTD. Innovation usually requires thinking outside conventional bounds.