From the CIO
It is my pleasure to present this annual report for Computing & Information Technology for the 2019-2020 year.
Technology touches our lives every day, and CIT’s goals align to provide technology services and support to enable Geneseo to achieve its mission. A key objective of this report is to convey a sense of the breadth and scope of the vital work CIT has engaged in this past year.
In April, we welcomed Valerie Smith to a new position, senior information technology analyst. Valerie is committed to applying her extensive knowledge and expertise in information security to focus on reducing the College’s risk and exposure to security threats. Geneseo is obligated to protect institutional data. Compliance requirements, security standards, Federal and NY State law, and SUNY policies continue to evolve as the risk and threat to Geneseo increases.
Three major collaborations this year were with Enrollment Management, Dean of Academic Planning and Advisement, and Advancement on implementation of Slate Admissions CRM, EAB Navigate, and Ellucian CRM Advance. CIT staff provided technical leadership and integration with existing systems. Digitalization and improvement of business processes through these implementations support many of the College’s strategic planning objectives.
The Milne Library closure in January caused a move of our CIT HelpDesk to Sturges Hall. In March, the pandemic required us to move our HelpDesk to remote support with all staff working from their homes. Our staff and the community adapted remarkably well to these necessary changes.=
Our Educational technology team was heavily relied upon this past year. In the College's second year of offering Intersession classes, our team provided training and instructional design expertise to over 30 faculty who taught online. When the pandemic caused all instruction to go remote in the spring, training and instructional design support were in high demand and essential.
Keeping our campus technology infrastructure is a high priority. In January, we migrated our campus Internet connection to a service provided by NYSERNet that provides direct access to many popular content distribution networks, high-speed access to our remote data center in Syracuse, triple the bandwidth, increase connection speeds, and decrease latency for our community. In the spring, we replaced our storage solution providing us future cost savings, giving the ability to decommission the Erwin data center, and strengthening our remote data center in Syracuse to improve overall disaster recovery and business continuity.
In my 36 years at Geneseo, there has never been a year like this one. The global COVID-19 pandemic impacted Geneseo in March 2020. Almost overnight, our faculty went from teaching face-to-face to teaching students remotely. A significant portion of the College’s workforce began working from home. The CIT COVID-19 Response section of this report provides a record of CIT's response.
The year ahead is filled with uncertainty and unprecedented challenges, and as Brené Brown said, “We don’t have to do all of it alone. We were never meant to.”
Be well.
Sue Chichester
Chief Information Officer & Director CIT
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About CIT
CIT’s Vision is to be an innovative information technology department that aspires to provide reliable creative solutions, to be a transformative influence, and to empower our campus community.
CIT's Mission is to provide outstanding leadership and technology support in pursuit of the mission and goals of the college.
Goals
Outstanding Service: Be a trusted source for outstanding service and sound guidance.
Knowledge and Experience: Develop knowledge and experience through a commitment to professional development and training.
Partnership: Collaborate to advance teaching, learning, innovation and discovery.
Reliability: Provide secure and reliable infrastructure.
Stimulate imagination: Find innovative solutions through the use of new or existing technologies.