Information Technology (IT) professionals from around campus gathered in the State Farm Hall of Business on August 1 for the Continuous Improvement in Technology (CIT) conference. 2017 marked the fifth year for the annual event and drew the largest attendance to date.
VP of Student Affairs, Levester Johnson, presents keynote at CIT 2017.
Illinois State employs more than 200 staff who support the University’s IT infrastructure. CIT brings IT staff together to learn about upcoming projects outside their area and to identify opportunities to collaborate even more effectively.
Vice President of Student Affairs, Levester Johnson, provided the keynote remarks. Johnson showed appreciation for IT staff and the important work they do each day to stay on top of trends in the ever-changing world of technology.
“Your work matters,” Johnson told attendees. “You help students stay connected to each other and to University academic and support services, and you provide them with the tools they need to be successful.”
Campus leaders shared several project updates during IT News:
- The Office 365 project has been completed – this was a 2-year project, involving the entire ISU IT community, as all ISU email and calendaring were moved to Microsoft’s Office 365 service.
- An innovative solution to improve wireless coverage on the Quad has been developed and will premiere soon
- WEB has rolled out updates to the giving site, My.IllinoisState.edu, and will introduce a new site for Milner Library in the near future.
- AT discussed the recent upgrade of Campus Solutions, including a better user interface and mobile experience
- 2017 TechQual+ survey results show clients perceiving improvements in internet reliability, capacity, and coverage.
Throughout the day attendees chose from 19 sessions, ranging from discussions about how to gain efficiency through automation, to improving web accessibility. These sessions often plant the seed for a conversation that will lead to future improvements. New this year, the planning committee utilized Office 365 Teams to enhance collaboration during CIT and provide a space for continued discussion.
“The CIT Planning Committee is very happy to see the conference continue to grow year after year, with great sessions, great participation, and most importantly, great collaboration among all ISU IT staff,” said Carla Birckelbaw, Director of Client Services in Administrative Technology, and chair of the CIT planning committee.
Collaboration in support of Illinois State University's mission is a focus of IT on campus. #ISUCIT
— ISU IT Help (@ISUITHelp) August 1, 2017
CIT’s success has led to the creation of CITx, a half-day extension event connected to the CIT conference, typically held in winter. The goal of CITx is to empower Illinois State’s IT professionals by providing them the latest IT news from around campus, opportunities for social networking with their colleagues, and round-table discussions.
CIT is co-sponsored by Administrative Technologies and the Office of Academic Technologies. It’s hosted by the College of Business.
