I’ve been thinking a great deal lately about the relationship between technology and change. Perhaps you subscribe to the perspective of an anonymous pundit who said, “Technology does not drive change – it enables change.” Or, perhaps you resonate with Aldous Huxley’s view that “Technological progress has merely provided us with more efficient means for going backwards.” Either way, there is no denying that technology and change are inextricably linked in our global, digital world.

I recognize that I can choose to see changes as threats or opportunities, even though sometimes it’s difficult to tell one from the other. This recognition helps me try new things, admit when I’ve failed, and gives me strength to try again. Change is inevitable, but we can work together to ensure that we embrace its opportunities and try to avoid its threats.

ITS is constantly aware of the pace of change related to technology innovation. Already, this year has brought changes to our ERP system (Banner), our campus portal (blueView), our business intelligence capabilities (Drake BI), and to employee file storage (OneDrive). Additionally, we’ve replaced nearly 400 computers for faculty and staff across campus. Right now, we’re supporting campus partners as they work to launch a new student employment site, a new online benefits management system, and a new student success platform.

The summer promises even more changes. ITS staff will be updating the technology in Sussman Theater and classrooms across campus. We will be expanding wireless network capabilities in residence halls to enable students to more easily connect their electronic devices. Our team will continue to support employees as they transition to OneDrive cloud storage and will begin to make cloud-based departmental file storage available across campus. The new myDrake campus portal will launch in June and blueView will be fully retired in early September.

We are also continuing to improve our reliability, service, and support for the campus. We make our ITS scorecard available publicly to hold ourselves accountable. This year we are focusing on one important change to our scorecard – the Service Request Management Index (under Reflection). This index of five performance criteria measures how well we resolve issues on first contact, meet our time commitments, keep you informed of the status of your requests, and ensure your satisfaction. Improving this index is our highest performance priority for the next year.

Unfortunately, not all change focuses on opportunities; sometimes change must be made to address external threats. I continue to be highly concerned about threats to the security of our campus information. ITS is launching two-factor authentication for all users of the University’s remote access network (VPN) and the new Banner 9 system. Long-term, we will implement two-factor everywhere we store sensitive information. We will also be exploring ways to reduce administrative privileges on University-owned computers while still enabling users to install necessary applications.

I’m grateful to work with an outstanding team of professionals who act every day to ensure that the campus technology is meeting the needs of its faculty, staff, and students. If you see one of our ITS team members today, please let them know you appreciate their hard work, just as they appreciate yours.

As always, feel free to reach out to me or any member of our ITS staff if you have questions, concerns, or feedback.

Enjoy the (final) arrival of spring weather and have a safe, happy, and productive summer.

— Chris Gill, ITS