MSIT Dotted-line Reporting Policy

Departments within The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston’s McGovern
Medical School (MMS) sometimes have to hire a specialized IT person. These positions will
often become siloed and unmanaged by IT. This is especially true since the primary focus of
most departments is either research, patient care or both – rather than information technology.
MSIT’s role within the Medical School is not only to provide a wide range of IT services but also
to be a resource for guidance and IT policy governance for all Medical School departments.

Key Expectations include:

• Departmental hiring manager has to work with MSIT to choose an appropriate IT job title
  and position description.
  
• MSIT has to participate in the vetting and interview process of potential candidates.
  
• Monthly meeting with MSIT management and departmental IT resource.
  
• Joint goal setting by MSIT and the department.
  
• Participating in performance evaluations.
  
• Consultation for promotions and merits.
  

In some circumstances, it may be necessary for the MSIT management to provide project
management of a departmental project that is of substantial complexity or are at risk of failure.
In these situations, an MSIT manager may participate in project meetings as needed to ensure
the project is meeting the department’s requirements and is on schedule for completion.
The departmental IT resource should refer to the MSIT manager for assistance with the various
institutional guidelines and governance policies as well as a technical resource for overcoming a
technical hurdle.

Finally, it is the responsibility of the departmental IT resource to provide a bimonthly status
report to the MSIT manager that describes the current state of IT job duties, projects, issues and
risks encountered.