DoIT’s Priority Pillars FY 2027
In alignment with the university’s strategic framework, the Division of Information Technology’s Priority Pillars provide a shared roadmap for how we focus our efforts and invest in our people, services, and technology to advance UW–Madison’s mission.
These priorities guide decision-making across DoIT and create transparency around the initiatives, investments and outcomes that support the university’s future.
The Priority Pillars operate at two levels:
Outcome-focused priorities: The outcomes and institutional impact we aim to create.
Foundational priorities: The capabilities that enable those outcomes to prepare us for the future while maintaining the services, infrastructure and expertise the university depends on every day.
Outcome-focused priorities
Support student growth & success
Empowering learning inside and outside the classroom through innovation, reliable technology and student engagement
Enable discovery, creation & innovation
Advance discovery by providing secure, scalable and high-performance research technology
Advance AI readiness, access & competency
Deliver enterprise AI capabilities, promote responsible AI use through safe practices and guardrails and advance institutional AI knowledge, skills and abilities
Foundational priorities
Cultivate excellence in our workforce
Develop, support and retain high-performing, engaged employees
Manage risk & compliance
Enhance security, resilience, accessibility, privacy and compliance
Modernize operations & user experience
Improve user experience, reduce complexity and strengthen foundations
Why do Priority Pillars matter?
Priority Pillars provide a shared framework for strategic planning across DoIT. They help us identify where we can create the greatest value for the university while balancing the need to deliver reliable services, modernize our environment, invest in our people and build future capabilities.
The pillars help DoIT:
- Focus people and resources on areas of highest impact
- Guide decisions about investments and priorities
- Connect everyday work to broader university goals
- Create alignment across teams, functions, and value streams
- Measure progress through initiatives and outcomes
Rather than defining every activity performed across the division, these Priority Pillars establish a shared direction that helps teams make informed decisions while maintaining flexibility.
From strategy to impact
The Priority Pillars are more than a planning framework. They provide a way to connect strategy to action and demonstrate the value technology investments create for UW–Madison.
Featured stories
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Fridays, 9:15 a.m. via Zoom. Unscripted conversations with UW–Madison’s Chief Information Officer.
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Active work is focused on developing a Zero Trust framework as well as a Smart Access roadmap, kicking off Elastic Cloud migration, and expanding device compliance.
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IT staff from across campus recently participated in discussions about IT Federation. You shared, and we listened. Here are key themes of what we heard.
Strategy. Partnership. Progress
Trusted relationships. Continuous improvement. A thriving IT community.
Frequently asked questions
The Priority Pillars represent the strategic focus areas for DoIT employees to guide their planning, investments, services and initiatives managed by our central IT organization.
They also provide visibility into enterprise priorities for IT professionals across the university’s schools, colleges, divisions and governance groups, creating opportunities for coordination, alignment and collaboration.
We use a simple framework to connect university strategy, technology investments and measurable outcomes.
UW–Madison Strategic Framework & service/stakeholder needs
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Priority Pillars
where we focus
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Key initiatives
what we build, modernize, improve or invest in
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Objectives & key results
how we measure progress, adoption, service quality and impact
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Measurable outcomes
Every major initiative, program and strategic investment is aligned to one or more of the Priority Pillars, creating a direct connection between the university’s priorities and DoIT’s work.
This structure helps ensure that people, resources, capacity and efforts remain focused on delivering value that supports the university’s mission, students, faculty, researchers and staff.
Yes. This page introduces DoIT’s Priority Pillars and the overall framework. Over the coming months, we’ll continue to build out information about each pillar, including key initiatives, examples of work underway, and progress.
Get in touch
We want to hear from you. Please reach out if you have questions, concerns, or something to share about our priority pillars.