University of Washington

UW-IT 2012 Annual Report

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Welcome W e believe the mark of a great technology organization is how well it helps others succeed. Whether it's modernizing UW business systems to make staff more efficient, partnering with the eScience Institute to help researchers achieve breakthrough discoveries, or providing next-generation teaching and learning tools to help faculty innovate and students engage, UW-IT's primary focus is supporting— and advancing—the work of the UW community. Over the past year, UW-IT has worked with UW stakeholders to further one of the UW's most important missions—educating the next generation of leaders. A centerpiece of that effort was piloting and selecting Canvas as the UW's learning management system—giving digitally savvy students and faculty the cutting-edge technologies and coordinated services they want. Another innovative tool, Tegrity, allows instructors to "flip the classroom," so students can review lectures on their own and use class time for meaningful interactions. We delivered MyPlan, enabling students to build multi-year academic plans, and expanded ViDA, providing students with 24/7 virtual desktop access to high-end software. We also piloted eTexts to explore the benefits of online textbooks, and enhanced student selfservice options for financial aid notification and loan monitoring. All this work was data driven—in direct response to what students and faculty said was important to them in a 2011 Teaching, Learning, and Research Technologies survey. In addition, UW-IT quickly responded to emerging student needs: developing the SpaceScout mobile app to locate study spots and creating MyUW Mobile for wireless access to class resources. This work contributed to significant progress toward meeting the near-term goals of the UW's Two Years to Two Decades (2y2d) teaching and learning initiative, and to improving organizational effectiveness. UW-IT also improved support for research and updated critical infrastructure. We partnered with the eScience Institute to enhance cyberinfrastructure and cloud-based services for researchers. We upgraded the UW's primary data center to improve research support, built greater resiliency into the UW's network, and increased Wi-Fi performance and coverage. We deepened connections with key corporate partners, such as Microsoft and Amazon, and national consortiums such as Internet2 and Gig.U—expanding the UW's reach and ensuring that we remain at the forefront of technological innovation. To improve the efficiency of the UW's business operations, UW-IT continued to work with key business partners to replace the UW's aging HR/Payroll (HRP) system. This major undertaking will deliver a modern HRP system that improves support for critical functions, strengthens regulatory compliance, and provides better information for decision making. It is part of a strategy to modernize UW business systems, which also includes significant enhancements to student and financial systems. To further engage the University community, UW-IT established three boards to govern IT at the strategic, project, and service levels. These boards are intended to make decision making about IT across the University more comprehensive and holistic, and to ensure we are focusing limited resources on the highest priorities. Technology is becoming a strategic differentiator for modern research universities. In partnership with you, we will continue to leverage the power of technology to drive positive and transformative change—enabling people throughout the University to extend and deepen their impact. Kelli Trosvig VICE PRESIDENT FOR UW INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY AND CHIEF INFORMATION OFFICER COVER: Student uses technology to learn sign language.

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