Working Apart Together
I am pleased to present the CIT annual report for July 2020 through June 2021. We began the fiscal year with 90-95% of CIT staff working from home, and as I write, many of us will be returning to campus next week for the first time in over 15 months. Unlike spring 2020, when our priorities had shifted to an intense focus on responding to the pandemic crisis, this year, we were able to focus less on the immediacy of the day and look further out to where we were going. CIT was very successful at working remotely, and we helped others to be equally successful. It became our new normal. This report highlights the work we accomplished and how we’ve readied ourselves for Fall 2021.
Communication tools became vital as many faculty, staff, and students taught, worked, and learned remotely. Zoom (most used), Google Meets, and Microsoft Teams provided video conferencing capabilities. Slack and Microsoft Teams provided persistent chat. This coming year, we plan to migrate fully to the Microsoft Teams platform for video conferencing and chat. Teams is included in our Microsoft agreement at no additional cost and all faculty, staff, and students are licensed for use.
Our Educational Technology team supported unique technology setups in spaces on campus that weren’t meant to be classrooms and added technology to classroom spaces for faculty to teach students who were in-person or remote. Canvas usage and instructional design support were both at an all-time high. In addition, for faculty teaching online this Fall, a required Geneseo Online Teaching Institute 4-week Canvas course was created for faculty development.
Valerie Smith, senior information security analyst, joined our team in April 2020. Val’s position was new to CIT, and before Val, we didn’t have someone whose job was to focus intently on security. To call out a few initiatives – created a CIT vulnerability review team to review monthly scans and discuss remediation activities, enhanced account security with Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA), and implemented MS Defender for endpoint protection. In addition, a summer 2021 implementation of a new intrusion prevention system (IPS) and firewall to provide an essential security boundary between the campus network and the wider internet will provide us with a broader range of functionality and enhance our security defense. Despite our increased effort and security-related accomplishments, security and compliance remain a top priority and concern as we head into FY2122.
Sometimes, the impossible becomes possible when CIT staff rise to challenges that occur. For example, this spring, our Banner vendor, Ellucian, shipped critical financial aid code needed for summer loan processing with no lead time. Undaunted, Linda Ludlum led a team to complete an eight-week migration in three weeks allowing Financial Aid and Student Accounts to meet their summer deadlines, ensuring students had the funds they needed for their college education.
Funding network hardware life cycle replacement remains challenging. Critical infrastructure to replace our core network will be implemented this Fall. Replacing our wireless network infrastructure in 2022 is in the planning stages.
We created CIT’s Commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Statement and initiatives this year. Training is one of our key initiatives. More than 50% of CIT staff have attended Safe Zone training, and close to one-third have completed the Advancing Cultural Competency Certificate (ACCC).
CIT Tech Days was new this year. We canceled a mini-conference day planned for June 2020 due to the pandemic. This year we brought our idea to fruition through a virtual mini-conference that was delivered over Zoom on five days over two weeks in June 2021, for a total of 15 sessions. CIT staff shared technical information, ideas, and "how to's" to help Geneseo faculty and staff learn more on specific technical topics. It was an all-hands-on-deck effort for CIT. We had 406 participants, and 68 participants earned the Attendee Extraordinaire Credly badge for attending three or more sessions.
As we prepare for a new normal this fall, the pandemic could open the door to a more digital future, and we are ready.
Congratulations to Chris Sandefer, selected as this year's Chancellor’s Award winner for Excellence in Professional Service. Thank you to the CIT staff for their dedication, collaboration, and perseverance in keeping the college community connected and advancing technology initiatives in FY2021.
-Sue Chichester