Nicki Trinka serves as the Assistant Director of Technology for the Shared Services Center (SSC), which is part of the Business and Finance unit at U-M. They handle the university’s transactional work and focus on general business operations. As a Security Unit Liaison (SUL), Nicki serves as the primary point of contact between her unit and ITS Information Assurance (IA).
Outside of work, Nicki and her husband have made it a goal to explore all 160+ parks in the Ann Arbor area, aiming to visit a new park each week. Her current favorite is the Bluffs Nature Area (near downtown/ North Main Street) with its scenic paths and elevation changes. They often catch sight of a deer or wild turkey on their hikes. Nicki is also an avid gamer who enjoys the creative style and play of indie titles. She often finds herself stepping back in time to tackle the unforgiving gameplay of Nintendo classics. Since the COVID lockdowns, she has also reclaimed her love for building Legos and is currently working on an elaborate aquarium set.
This balance between creative outlets and technical complexity reflects Nicki’s commitment to IT security and her role in communicating its importance to her unit. The path she took to reach her current role was not exactly linear.
“I got my bachelor’s in English and bopped around a little bit before I started in networking when dial-up internet was a thing. It was my very first technology job. I just had an affinity for it and thought it was interesting, so from there I became a network engineer.” Before joining U-M as an employee in 2008, Nicki worked for Merit Network, which the university hosts.
Nicki was eventually brought in as the technology manager for the SSC. Her initial task was to hire the SSC’s first IT staff member, and together they implemented TeamDynamix. Now Nicki leads three teams for SSC: Technology Management, Business Analytics, and Robotics Processing Automation.
When asked how she builds security awareness within her unit, Nicki said it requires a multilevel approach. Urgent matters are always sent via email, but her unit also hosts quarterly town hall meetings where she presents security topics to raise awareness. Nicki said these meetings seem to foster the best engagement, and she often gets “a little flurry of questions afterwards,” unlike with emails. She also shares security tips and tricks in a weekly newsletter to staff, and holds weekly office hours where staff can drop in with questions on any topic, including security matters.
Nicki said that because the SSC handles so much sensitive data (e.g., social security numbers, personal health information, identifiable immigration data, etc.), her staff takes data protection very seriously. “We make sure that we have documented processes in place, and it’s one of the very first things that staff is trained on when they start. We also developed our own annual HIPAA course that everyone is required to take.”
She went on to describe their reporting process. “We try to make it really easy to report issues. We used to have a very detailed process, and we decided to streamline it. So if you see sensitive data somewhere it shouldn’t be, all you have to do is submit a ticket to my team, and they will dig into it. I think it really helps to be able to say, ‘Hey, I saw something that I don’t think should be there; can you guys look at it?’ And since we are the subject matter experts, we can guide them and help them.”
We asked Nicki if there were any nuggets of wisdom she would like to share with the IT security community, particularly those who are just starting at U-M. “Patience and understanding are key,” she said. “Staff will sometimes panic because it’s so serious, and we make it such a scary thing. So being able to jump on a call with someone and patiently walk through an issue can really make their day better. Just make sure they recognize the mistake they made and assure them this was a learning experience.”
Nicki also touted the importance of open communication. “Sometimes new staff members are scared to speak up. I think having open and honest communication can really help with that. We try to have information spread across multiple avenues, just so that we’re hitting all the different people and the different ways that they work.”
ITS Information Assurance would like to thank Nicki for her dedication to spreading cybersecurity awareness at the university.
