When we started to engage with the IT community around the concept of “Michigan IT” back in 2013, you told us you wanted more opportunities to interact with your peers, to share ideas and IT solutions, and hear more about what other campus community members are doing in their units. Thanks to the many volunteers across our community, our programs have grown considerably since then and we want to share an update on what’s next for Michigan IT in 2018.
Networking & Relationship Building
We are excited to launch the Michigan IT Mentor Program, a new program that helps IT staff expand their networks, share knowledge, and work towards professional development goals. The program matches mentors and mentees for a four-month period, making it a valuable experience without an extensive time commitment. Sign up to have a mentor by February 9, 2018!
In addition, we have 25 Michigan IT Communities of Practice (CoPs) that invite U-M IT staff to share information, experiences, and ideas around a particular IT topic in support of the university’s missions. You can see group descriptions and upcoming meetings on the CIO website.
Innovation
Registration for Hacks with Friends, a hack event for staff across all of Michigan IT, is now open! In its sixth year, the themes of the 2018 event encourage participants to imagine ways you can make a difference through IT in categories including Academic Innovation, Healthcare and BioSciences, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI), and more. Like last year, the 2018 event will be held at the Ross School of Business, which provides ample space for creative hacks from our teams. You don’t need to be a developer to participate—hacks teams will be looking for people with all kinds of skills and knowledge about IT and university systems.
Skill & Professional Development
We are in the design phase of creating the Michigan IT Academy, a new program to provide a professional development framework and curriculum paths for Michigan IT staff. Key elements to the program include developing learning standards and experiential learning opportunities for all Michigan IT staff for the critical IT and core organizational skills required today and for the future. We will be assembling working groups to align, identify, and evaluate curriculum in early 2018.
Although the 2017 Michigan IT Symposium is still fresh in our memories, planning for 2018 is full steam ahead. Read the IT Symposium wrap-up report and save the date for next year’s event on November 28–29, 2018, at the Michigan League and Rackham Auditorium (the week after Thanksgiving). If you’d like to participate on the planning committee for the 2018 Michigan IT Symposium, email michigan-it-symposium@umich.edu.
Sustain & Nurture
Through this Michigan IT News site and the newsletter, we seek to provide a single source of information for updates, events, and more for IT staff across all U-M campuses. Our editorial working group and more than 50 contributors keep us focused on news that is important to the Michigan IT community. To submit a story or add an event to the Training & Events calendar, visit the About page of the Michigan IT News site.
Please continue to read this site and the newsletter to learn more about how you can get involved in these activities and others. As always, if you have ideas you are interested in pursuing with Michigan IT, please contact us.
Go Blue!
Michigan IT Steering Committee
Lisa Callihan, Cathy Curley, Kerry Flynn, Ted Hanss, Erik Hofer, Stefanie Horvath, David Sweetman, Matt Walters, and Kim Wooton