Greetings everyone,
I hope you are all enjoying the fall weather. It has been a beautiful start to the season, and I encourage you to take some time to enjoy the autumn colors around campus. This is truly one of the most picturesque times of the year here at U-M.
There is so much going on around our university right now. In the aftermath of the recent election, I want to encourage everyone in the Michigan IT community to place an extra emphasis on empathy and kindness over the next days, weeks, and months. This is a divisive time, but we all need to respect our differences and take care of each other.
Recently, President Ono shared an important update regarding Campus Plan 2050 with our community. The newly launched website and video beautifully illustrate the vision of what the University of Michigan plans to achieve over the next 26 years. The plan is bold, innovative, and ambitious, perfectly aligning with the mission of our institution. These efforts are also essential to bringing the core values of U-M’s Vision 2034 to life – life-changing education; human health and well-being; democracy, civic and global engagement; and climate action, sustainability, and environmental justice. It is a privilege to work at a university that continues to define the future of public higher education, and I am excited to collaborate with all of you to bring this transformative vision to life.
I also want to highlight the announcement that the University of Michigan reported a record $2.04 billion in research volume during FY2024, which was an almost 10% increase from the previous year. This impressive achievement would not have been possible without the support Michigan IT provides to U-M researchers. We should be enormously proud of our contributions to U-M’s research community. Our work is having real, measurable, and positive impacts on our community, and I am grateful to all of you.
As we enter November, I am pleased to see so many upcoming events being hosted by the Michigan IT community. It all starts with the return of Hacks with Friends on November 14-15. This hackathon is a wonderful opportunity for people working in all aspects of our community to come together to troubleshoot problems and create some truly fascinating projects. You can register for the event now, and I encourage you to review the various project pitches for 2024. It should be a fun time.
Hacks with Friends also serves as a nice opening act for the Michigan IT Winter Innovation Expo 2024 (WIE) on December 10. In the tradition of the past symposiums, this is an outstanding opportunity for technology professionals across the Michigan IT community to gather, network, and learn. Registration for the Winter Innovation Expo is now open.
I wish all of you a happy and safe November. If you have any thoughts on ways we can continue to grow our Michigan IT organization, please reach out to me at rpendse@umich.edu. I would love to hear from you.
Take care of each other, take care of yourself, and thank you for everything you do for our university.
With gratitude,
Ravi
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Ravi Pendse PhD
Vice President for Information Technology and Chief Information Officer
University of Michigan
