Worksite location survey, strategic plan discussed

The UIT Leadership (UITL) Team would like to thank everyone who attended the UIT All-Hands Meeting on June 14, 2022, hosted via Zoom by Chief Information Officer Steve Hess, Ph.D. A video recording, transcript, and slides were made available to employees on June 14.

Hess kicked off the meeting by observing several key leadership changes at the University of Utah, including his new boss and interim senior vice president for academic affairs, Martell Teasley, Ph.D.; a new university president, Dr. Taylor Randall, Ph.D., and a new interim vice president for research, Erin Rothwell, Ph.D, in addition to seven new deans.

“There truly has been a sea change of leadership at the university,” Hess said.

The meeting included a high-level look at the results of an employee survey about worksite location models, highlights of UIT’s FY2023 strategic plan — achievements and initiatives that align with the university’s four strategic goals — a brief introduction of UITL members, recognition of recent retirees and new staff, and a Q&A session.

Hess detailed some of UIT’s FY2022 accomplishments:

• Two major IT infrastructure projects— migrating Skype for Business to Microsoft Teams and UMail accounts from Microsoft Exchange Server to Microsoft Exchange Online
• University-wide virtual private network (VPN) consolidation
• Outdoor Wi-Fi expansion
• Digital ticketing for U Athletics
• Duo 2FA for students, affiliates, and alumni
• U website registry and U webmaster resource website
• My Class Map wayfinding application
• OSL web store redesign
• Log4j remediation efforts
• UGuest wireless network access code requirement
• Timekeeping tools during UKG (Kronos) outage

Hess also listed several FY2023 initiatives in progress:

• A campus-wide cybersecurity plan
• The One U PeopleSoft Finance Transformation Project, the scale of which Deputy CIO Ken Pink described as “roughly the same size as putting PeopleSoft in in the first place”
• A student employee certification initiative, which Pink said involves a plan for UIT student interns to receive training in core areas, provided by UIT, to help prepare them to be competitive for entry-level UIT junior and standard level positions upon graduating
• A hybrid cloud strategy, which Chief Technology Officer Jim Livingston said lays groundwork for next generation IT infrastructure and “brings an agility” to the university. On the University of Utah Health side, Livingston said cloud products and services “clear the way for digital health transformation efforts and new ways of bringing health care services to patients.”
• Compliance efforts around cybersecurity maturity model certification (CMMC), a U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) program to help DoD contractors protect sensitive information. Tom Cheatham, director for UIT's Center for High Performance Computing, said the certification is “a way for us to achieve the level of compliance some federal agencies are requiring.”
• IT support for the Huntsman Mental Health Institute and Katherine F. Kirk Center for Comprehensive Cancer Care and Women's Cancers; major expansions of Huntsman Cancer Institute, West Valley Health and Community Center, Hinckley Institute’s Orrin G. Hatch Center in Washington, D.C.; and several student housing expansions, including the replacement of family and graduate housing in the West Village
• Efforts to leverage American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA)
• The expanded use of Salesforce at the U
• The Williams Building network node project

A significant portion of the meeting was dedicated to the results from a survey intended to gauge the feelings of UIT employees about future workplace arrangements.

Hess concluded the meeting by praising the hard work of all UIT employees who have steered the organization through an unprecedented time in the university’s history.

“It’s been one of the most challenging and interesting experiences we’ve ever had,” Hess said. “All I can say is that UIT performed a miracle.”

 

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