JISC

Call to be issued for sector leaders to join new national infrastructure and resources committee

Following a review of JISC’s committee structure, the JISC Board decided yesterday that from August 2009 certain key changes will be made to that structure, aligning it more clearly to JISC’s strategic aims and the needs of the education and research sector.

It was decided in particular that a new committee would be created – the JISC Infrastructure and Resources committee (JIR). Although the precise remit of the new committee will be defined in the coming months, it is envisaged that it will take on many of the functions of the current Integrated Information Environment committee (JIIE) together with some of the functions of the Content Services and Networking committees (JCS and JCN), which will cease to operate beyond next July. Other functions of those committees will be taken on by the JISC Executive, allowing JIR to focus on strategy, innovation and take-up.
‘The representative nature of its committee structure has been central to JISC’s work over more than a decade and a half and is vital to its continued service.'
Along with the recommendations outlined above, the review found that the existing committee structure as far as Research, Learning and Teaching and Organisational Support are concerned is already well-aligned to JISC’s strategic aims. As with the new JIR, the review, however, called for a revisiting of these committees’ terms of reference to ensure that they remain focussed on strategy, innovation and take-up of JISC’s outputs.

JISC committees are made up of senior representatives from the education and research sector, a collegiate structure that ensures that JISC’s work is driven by the sector’s strategic needs. A key aspect of that representative, collegiate ethos is ensuring that committees are made up of those best placed to lead JISC’s work, and to that end, applications for membership for the new Infrastructure and Resources committee will be invited in late 2008/early 2009. After consideration by the Nominations committee, the membership will be announced by the end of March 2009.

Commenting on the changes, JISC Chair, Professor Sir Ron Cooke said: ‘The representative nature of its committee structure has been central to JISC’s work over more than a decade and a half and is vital to its continued service. These changes will ensure that JISC continues to receive the best strategic guidance possible in an area of national importance.’

For further information, please go to: Committee structure