Center for Information Technology Services

(Continuation of CIO’s Corner article from Front Page.)

This event would not have taken place without the interest and desire by many people throughout the campus community to collaborate, come together, and work together.  Many IT leaders as well as over 100 fellow IT professionals helped shape and promote this event.  The following IT Leaders were instrumental to the development and success of this Forum:  Mike Minear, UMMS; Jim McNamee, SOM; Chuck Henck, UPI; Barbara Covington, SON; Tim Munn, SOP; Dave Pitts, SSW; Robyn Kirby, SOL; MJ Tooey, HS/HSL; Max Wong, SOD; Paul Petroski, CITS; and Chris Phillips, CITS. 

In addition, the Forum had some professional facilitators at the general and break-out sessions.  Sandy Hopkins from the UMB University Consulting and Training Services group facilitated the general session, and Brook Botvin, Robin Reid, Buzz Merrick, and Fran May from CITS as well as Sharon Bowser from the SOM facilitated the break-out sessions.  Additional volunteers served as Table Captains, and Charlene Fitch of CITS managed all of the logistics.
 
The event turned out to be an overwhelming success, demonstrating that collaboration is truly alive and well in this community.  The Forum participants were engaged and focused in their conversations of solving problems, offering solutions, and discussing strategies for advancing technology.  They blended together as one group of IT professionals, their organizational affiliations difficult to recognize given the similarities of interests, the desire to find ways of collaborating, and the need to find common solutions.  Organizational differences and boundaries were not a topic of conversation, other than discussing ways to overcome them. 

Participant evaluations indicated that the Forum met the objectives of having an opportunity to meet and network with colleagues, and to discuss current issues in an enjoyable format.  Consensus was that these events should be held on a regular basis, probably twice per year.  There is a shared desire to continue the positive conversations and momentum of this Forum, act on the suggestions provided by the IT professionals, work together, and deliver excellence in IT service and support to the various constituencies they serve.

Message from the Editor
Brook Botvin

Welcome to Volume 1, Issue Number 3 of CITS eNEWS! This electronic publication is designed primarily to inform the students, faculty and staff of the University of Maryland Baltimore about activities directly involving members of the Center for Information Technology Services (CITS), the central information technology group on campus, but affecting the campus community as a whole.  The present edition offers a heaping helping of our specialty: "news you can use."  In these pages you will find articles about the beginnings of a Campus Portal, availability of VPN software to facilitate wireless access to campus application software, new services offered by the Help Desk, what’s new in SIMS/SURFS, what’s happening with the eUMB Financials and Grants project, and much more!

Production Staff for this Issue:
Brook Botvin, Editor
Nick Peters, Web Publishing

Articles Contributed by:
Kent Buckingham  
Trisha Kaufman     
Kay Kazinski               
Fran May              
Buzz Merrick    
Dr. Peter Murray
Marcia Newhouse
Paul Petroski
Chris Phillips      

CITS eNews is published on a "modified-quarterly" basis: i.e., Fall, Winter and Spring. Please email any comments, corrections, suggestions for future articles, etc., to bbotvin@umaryland.edu.