The University Office of Information TechnologyIntroductionIn this article I report on the history, mission, organization, finances, evaluation strategies and current issues of the office of information technology at a university. I will use the term “IT office” throughout this document. This term needs to be defined here because it is very general and each university seems to have a unique definition for it. In this document, the office of information technology will refer to those areas of the university whose primary mission is to meet the information technology needs of the institution. Information technology needs include "that set of technologies that allows data and knowledge to be stored and exchanged, evaluated, displayed and communicated, and, in some cases, synthesized and created." ( Iowa State University, 2000, p. 2) In other words, computer hardware and software, communications hardware and software (telephone and network), media-related educational technologies, and the organization needed to support this information technology infrastructure. These services concern the entire university and all its faculty, staff and students. As with any administrative unit on campus, the organization of that unit will depend on the context in which it is placed he office of information technology is the university. While all institutions of higher education rely on information technology as a core service to provide products to their clientele, I will try to limit my discussion and analysis to the “multiversity” concept of Kerr, or research university that fulfills multiple objectives. This is not to diminish the role of the IT office in smaller universities and colleges, but only to focus the discussion. One area within a university that is often incorporated into the “information” infrastructure is the library. While my definition does not include the library within the information technology office, the technology used for many of its services is included. Finally, I would like to preface the ideas presented in this article through the perspective of Weick's (1976) theory. coupled systems. As discussed previously, the Office of Information Technology is a campus unit that is somewhat intertwined with all other areas. It must therefore move beyond the “niche” perspective of individual units and departments and directly engage with the politics of the university as a loosely coupled system. As the reader will see, this has influenced the history, mission, and organization of the Office of Information Technology and is embedded in many of its aspects.