Hello everyone,
I hope you are having an outstanding day! What did you think of the Michigan IT Symposium? I enjoyed my first symposium very much, from the amazing spirit of sharing that you brought to the event, to the thoughtful speakers throughout the day. One of the moments that stood out to me was our keynote speaker Dr. Kayla McMullen’s comment that “diversity is the mother of creativity.” I see a teacher in everyone, and firmly believe that we are so much stronger by being inclusive in our planning, design, and development processes and by letting innovative thoughts come from around world.
Working together, we can provide a frictionless, cohesive digital experience for the U-M community.
I also enjoyed my leadership discussion with Dearborn CIO Carrie Shumaker, College of Engineering Executive Director of IT Dan Maletta, and Michigan Medicine CIO Andrew Rosenberg, where we discussed how collaborations across our campuses can help magnify what can be accomplished in a single unit. We also discussed the value of our work—and the importance of putting value in the impact we have, in addition to the technology we support—and opportunities ahead of us as IT professionals. We all encourage our teams to find the intersection between what the institution needs and what you’re interested in. The IT field might not have job security, but it has career security if you keep learning new skills. Working together, we can collectively provide a frictionless, cohesive digital experience for students and our entire U-M community.
Thank you to everyone who helped with the planning and production of the event, who shared expertise, or who took time out of their day to participate. There are multiple opportunities to volunteer, lead, or participate in future Michigan IT activities in 2019, so please contact the Michigan IT Steering Group at michigan.it.steering.group@umich.edu if you are interested in learning more.
With the New Year just around the corner, I hope you are all able to take some time to recharge and connect with family and friends, just as we are encouraging students to do in this “Tech Guide for Winter Break”:
I am grateful to you for all of your efforts and I am confident that, with your help, U-M will be a leader in the most appropriate use of technology among our peers and in the world. Have an amazing holiday season!
Best Regards,
Ravi
Ravi Pendse PhD
Vice President for Information Technology and Chief Information Officer
University of Michigan
rpendse@umich.edu
