Project Requests

Guidance for initiating IT projects.

Any request for new IT projects, especially any project that involves a significant investment of time to implement and requires UIS participation/collaboration, must go through an IT proposal intake, evaluation, and decision-making process. The UIS Project Management Office (PMO) is responsible for coordinating this process. 

Below you will find a brief overview of the process, link to the request form, and resources for getting help.

Please note that submitting the UIS Project Request Form does not constitute acceptance of a project. Rather, the project request process is meant to promote equity and transparency among our stakeholders by employing the same selection criteria and review procedure across all submissions.

The process:

1. Submit your request

Obtain sponsorship and other materials; complete UIS Project Request Form.

2. Initial review

Discuss project request—review intake form—with UIS

3. Detailed review

PMO conducts detailed review—evaluate resources, feasibility, impact; sends to UIS Steering Board if approved

4. Approval and scheduling

If proposal is approved, resources will be assigned and project prioritized in UIS portfolio

How Do I Get Started?

To initiate your UIS IT project request, please go to the Jira portal and log in. If you have logged into the Jira portal before, use your existing username and password. If this will be your first time logging in, click the blue link to “Sign up for an account”. After you have logged in, click “UIS Project Request”, fill out the form, and click “Create”.

Help Resources

If you have trouble accessing the portal or logging in, please use this link to send us a note so we can help you. Mailing us at these addresses will open a Help Desk ticket and also notify people of your request.

Additional information about submitting your proposal is available in the Project Request FAQ below.

Project Request FAQ

Beginning in summer 2020, UIS (the Office of the CIO) developed a process for submitting, reviewing, tracking, and managing IT projects.

The process was developed in order to:

  • Define roles and responsibilities of all involved parties
  • Develop an “intake” process for submitting proposed projects in order to establish requirements (e.g., executive sponsorship, funding, sufficient resources from requester) for successful review of the proposal.
  • Properly evaluate and approve projects—determine the impact of projects to the university community and to the university’s computing infrastructure, and whether the proposed project is aligned with university business needs and objectives.
  • Develop a method for UIS leadership to set priorities for new work (e.g., “fast track” urgent IT work) and review requests for new work, as well as to communicate this roadmap to stakeholders.
  • Track and manage projects, as well as the resources needed for each project, in the IT project portfolio, using an Integrated Master Schedule.

Any dean, department or division head, or their assigned delegates can submit a proposal.

Before you submit your IT project request, you should consider the following:

  • What is the purpose of the project?
  • Does the project meet security requirements?
  • Does the project meet a legitimate business need?
  • What is the impact of my project on the university? (e.g., to other campuses, departments, programs, etc.)
  • What resources (both within your department and from UIS) are needed for the project?

Before you submit a proposal, make sure to do the following:

  • Secure an executive sponsor
  • Involve an account manager or partner in UIS
  • Have funding identified, or have some idea of the cost
  • If you do not have a project manager identified, you should have an idea of the required skill set
  • Have a reasonable understanding of dependencies and who the stakeholders are
  • Have a reasonable expectation of the schedule for the project
  • Have a top-level understanding of risks, both for project success and failure

You should prepare to submit your proposal well ahead of the project start date. This is especially the case if the project involves any urgent IT work.

Examples of types of IT work that can be submitted for review are:

  • Introduction of a new IT product or service
  • Major changes to IT infrastructure (or other enterprise-wide IT work)
  • Significant changes to an existing IT service
  • Change to a business process

Among the types of IT work that would not need to go through the intake process are:

  • Computer purchases or upgrades for your department
  • Software purchases
  • Any routine operational work