Greetings, everyone.
We are having a streak of beautiful weather and I hope you are able to take time to go outside, move around, or do something special to take care of yourselves. I have been taking regular walks to relax and reflect, and I was able to capture this picture of a swan with its wings fully spread out during a recent outing. It was an impressive sight and the wingspan is quite amazing. I would love to hear your thoughts on captioning this picture.
Congratulations to all of the participants of the first virtual Hacks with Friends event. Eleven innovative hacks made it to the final event, each one focused on improving the U-M experience with technology in some way — from helping people with cancer communicate with their family, to helping match students with scholarships, to making it easier to find and connect with a mentor. Congratulations to the winning team, Gene-E: Genetic Testing Family Communication Prototype, and thank you to the 2021 planning team for all of your hard work and creativity in the new format.
While Hacks with Friends is over, you can continue to regularly connect with peers across the Michigan IT community through a community of practice. A new Technology Leadership Community of Practice is kicking off this month, which will offer opportunities to come together with other technology professionals interested in leadership development and skill advancement. You can learn more about this and other communities on the Michigan IT Community of Practice website.
The U-M Box to U-M Dropbox migrations are beginning in June, and will continue throughout the spring and summer on a rolling basis. This effort would not be possible without the insight and cooperation from the unit ambassadors from each school, college, and unit. This group will be guiding their unit through business process changes and leading the communications effort for their faculty and staff.
Finally, I want to extend a special welcome to all of the student interns who have joined the Michigan IT community for the summer. In ITS’s Summer Internship Program, we are fortunate to have 37 interns, including nine who are returning for their second summer as fellows. While our interns are here to learn from us as IT professionals, we are eager to learn just as much from this bright and talented group of students.
Please continue to reach out with comments, questions, feedback, and advice. I love hearing from you. Thank you for all that you do. I am grateful.
With gratitude,
Ravi
Ravi Pendse PhD
Vice President for Information Technology and Chief Information Officer
University of Michigan
rpendse@umich.edu
