Quality Assurance Plan

The Information Resources Act, Subchapter G, Section 2054.151, documents Legislative intent that "information resources and information resources technologies projects will be completed on time and within budget." It further states, "The legislature finds that to ensure the successful completion of all but the smallest or lowest risk projects, each state agency must develop and implement its own internal quality assurances procedures." All initiatives meeting the defined criteria must follow UTD's Quality Assurance Guidelines.

Definition

For the purposes of this plan, a project is defined as one of the following:

• A temporary endeavor with a finite beginning and end, AND
• That which provides a unique product or service (not a process), AND
• That which consists of activities and tasks (performed to produce deliverables), AND
• That which has a defined cost (which may be defined as dollars or hours or both).
• OR That effort, having failed, that would have a significant negative impact on a critical system or process, or cause negative public relations.

Scope and Process

1. All efforts, except the smallest, should be evaluated using the above definition. To assist agency personnel in this evaluation, a spreadsheet has been created. You can access the Project Decision Matrix spreadsheet as an Excel document, an html document, or a PDF.
2. Upon determination that the effort or initiative meets the criteria for a Qualified Project (QP), a general project definition/abstract and a project Level of Focus form must be developed by the requestor and submitted to the Senior Administrative Officer of the area involved for approval.
3. Once the project is approved, the requestor should proceed according to the Quality Assurance Outline and meet the Quality Assurance Requirements or the project based on the determined Level of Focus. A detailed risk assessment must be completed for QPs of medium or high focus. Directions for completing a form to help identify potential areas of risk are available.
4. To assist in your efforts, please see the following documents:
   • QA Typical Risk Control,
   • QA Typical Project Risks,
   • and the Definition of the Term Methodology
   Also available is an example Project Plan (Microsoft Project, excel) for a single project.
5. Also available is a more detailed example of a project for the Wireless Network at UTD, including the Project Description, the Level of Focus, and the Associated Risks.
   
   Sample Sign-off sheets from a different project are also available to serve as a guide for your project: Bursar, Enrollment Services, Financial Aid, Student Systems.
6. Post implementation evaluation is a critical part of the process. A sample post-implementation evaluation is available for your review as well.

Roles

If the Qualified Project is accepted by the Senior Administrative Officer of the area in which the effort will be undertaken, the Senior Administrative Officer must appoint a Project Leader or concur with the proposed Project Leader for the QP.

The Project Leader is responsible for appointing the Project Team. It is strongly suggested that an Information Resources staff member be appointed to the team with a major role, either acting as Co-Chair or Vice Chair, to assist in the Project Planning and Monitoring requirements. Should the QP's organizational placement not be finalized at the time of the project's inception, the Executive Director of Information Resources may appoint the Project Leader subject to input from the various areas.

All materials related to the implementation, organization, and completion of the QP must be maintained for public review for a minimum of one year or as required by the Policy on Records Management and Retention.

For additional information, please see the Department of Information Resources site for the State of Texas