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2022 IT Forum

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Office of Information Technology Forum

Technology is constantly evolving, and we want to do our best to keep you up-to-date and informed about the latest in workflow, productivity, and communication toolsThe purpose of our forum is to engage and inform the University community about technology at UT Dallas. Our goal is to foster a spirit of teamwork and collaboration among our colleagues. We believe that the best way to do this is through open, honest dialogue on the challenges we face and the solutions we come up with. 

Strategic Pillars

Our strategic focus covers five pillars: research, instruction, student support, productivity, and foundational. These are at the forefront of everything we do to serve the University.  

To highlight our efforts in hybrid work, we are continuing in our mainstream IT work by determining remote work at the manager level. Managers have the ability to assess work demands and come up with remote work agreements that best suit the team. There are a number of technical tools to assist in managing a hybrid workforce, a topic we cover in detail in our previous IT Forum. 

OIT has worked over the past two years to enhance infrastructure and provide additional access points that extend wifi coverage on campus. The additional capacity and coverage across UTD result in an improved user experience while on campus, whether indoors or outdoors.  

Winning the Cyberwar

Additional access and remote work can open up systems to additional vulnerabilities that require increased protection of assets by focusing on three objectives: confidentiality, integrity, and availability. Enhancing awareness of the ingredients of cyber-crime helps UTD reduce vulnerabilities. During the forum, we shared techniques on how you can help UTD win the cyberwar by helping to make UTD a safe place to study, research and work were shared during Forum.  

Barriers to preventing cyber-attacks enhance security but barriers to accessibility prevent an inclusive campus. Watch the full IT Forum find out more about the partnerships and efforts being made across campus to protect assets, report accessibility barriers, streamline the year-end appraisal process, set up a call center, and enhance communication in meetings. 

The topics included: 

IT Updates

“There’s five strategic focus areas (Research, Instruction, student, Productivity, and Foundational) that we aspire to stay on top of and put most of the work that we do into these areas.”  

  • Frank Feagans | VP And Chief Information Officer 

Winning the Cyber War

Means, Motive and Opportunity are the ingredients for a cyber-attack. Our vulnerabilities are opportunities for cybercriminals. 

  • Nate Howe | Chief Information Security Officer, ISO 

Accessibility Form to Report a Barrier

“Let’s all work together to make the University’s resources more accessible for all” 

  • Scott Simpson | Assistant Vice President 

“UT Dallas is committed to…providing an environment in which individuals with disabilities can fully access services… and programs.” 

  • Courtney Brecheen | Senior Associate Dean, Undergrad Ed 

“Keep your eyes open to not only to your disabilities but to the campus community.” 

  • Joan Wickersheim | Associate Director, Research 

Network Updates

“On average, each person that connects generally connects three devices when they’re on campus” 

  • Daniel Rhein | Manager, Systems, Security & IT Architecture 

Campus Call Center Solutions using AWS Connect

“Amazon Connect has the ability to support web chats and voice which are implemented successfully (at various departments on campus).”  

  • David Cobb  |Assistant Director, Cloud Services 

Infrastructure Refresh Projects

“With the data protection in the infrastructure, this modernized infrastructure will help OIT better provide the services to the UTD community.”  

  • Danny Shen | Manager, Core Infrastructure 

e-Performance Module

“ePerformance is an electronic performance review system with built in workflow that is being rolled out to several departments on campus.” 

  • Alan Nguyen | Manager, PeopleSoft & Analytics 

Teams Updates

“Microsoft 365 is a technology that’s constantly evolving and improving, so we (are here) to get the best services to all of you.” 

  • Amanda Pritchard | IT Support Specialist IV, Client Services 

“The amazing thing about the Whiteboard experience is you can input documents to make it accessible and usable during meetings.”  

  • Denison Rice | IT Support Specialist III, Client Services