As we move through the fall semester like no other, the Drake ITS team is focused on enabling campus to weather this challenge and emerge stronger. Even five years ago, the overnight transition we made in the spring would not have been possible. The technology solutions we rely on daily weren’t broadly available or scalable. Today, we’ve learned that these digital technologies can enable us to make rapid shifts in our operations when needed.
In addition, the outstanding work of Drake Online and Continuing Education, the Center for Teaching Excellence, and the Academic and Emerging Technology team in ITS, in collaboration with our dedicated and talented colleagues across the University, have helped prepare us to continue in new and agile ways. Our sustained ability to adapt and deliver on our mission in the face of a global health crisis gives me a great sense of optimism.
The pace of change we are facing can feel daunting, but I’m heartened and energized by the ongoing commitment to our core values that I see expressed every day across the University. We in ITS are doing our part, focusing on developing the technology infrastructure that will enable us to sustain our momentum towards a strong and sustainable post-COVID future. Developing the systems that will allow Drake to provide flexible, hybrid instruction and administration is more important now than ever. ITS is focusing on adapting our services and support toward preparing the University for a digital future, primarily in these four areas:
Remote Support – ITS is planning for an environment where significantly more of our employees work remotely rather than on campus. We are building our ability to provide expanded remote support to users who are anywhere with Internet access. Remote support is more immediate, adaptable, efficient, and effective for our technical staff than traditional in-person support.
Remote Management – Before this summer, our infrastructure was designed based on the assumption that faculty and staff computers would regularly connect to the campus network. Over the coming months you will see significant changes that will enable us to manage our technology systems wherever they are, and from wherever we are. Last week you saw a new login screen to Microsoft Office 365. This is the first in a series of changes that will free our managed end-user devices from the campus network. When completed, our management systems will be more flexible, secure, and automated, and devices will be able to be managed wherever they are.
Virtual Collaboration – As Microsoft Teams, Blackboard Collaborate, and Zoom have demonstrated, virtual collaboration is here to stay. ITS is supporting and managing these platforms to give our students, faculty, and staff the tools they need. We have made staffing changes to improve support for virtual collaboration and will continue to develop the capabilities of these essential systems.
Digital and Automated Workflows – The move to remote work has highlighted many institutional processes that rely heavily on paper and/or physical campus presence. Our post-COVID environment must enable more work to be completed virtually. ITS is in the early stages of building an enterprise platform for creating and managing digital and automated workflows. Although this work is very early, this platform holds the promise to substantially improve the experiences of students, faculty, and staff as they interact with the University’s business processes.
The ITS team is working hard of your behalf to help us prepare for a strong and successful future. I welcome your input on this, or any other work that ITS is engaged in.
— Chris Gill, Information Technology Services