Category Archives: Top Stories

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U-M moves exclusively to slacks

By | April 1, 2022

The Michigan IT Steerage Committee is happy to announce that the university has signed an enterprise licensing agreement to use slacks. Effective April 1, 2023, only khaki slacks will be allowed for all faculty and staff on the Ann Arbor, Dearborn, Flint, and Michigan Medicine campuses. Dresses, jeans, kilts, shorts, skirts, and swimsuits will no longer be considered… Read More »

Hybrid meetings best practices

Hybrid meetings have become the norm as people have returned to campus while others work from home. That’s why Information and Technology Services created a guide to navigate those meetings. See a quick breakdown of the tips and best practices for how to get the most out of your hybrid meetings. The communications toolkit can help you share… Read More »

ITS and Central Student Government team up to improve student org reimbursement process

In order to make events like alpaca yoga, Quidditch matches, improv shows, and pierogi cooking nights possible, student organizations across campus often request funding reimbursement from Central Student Government (CSG) to cover various event costs. CSG’s Student Organization Committee partnered with Information and Technology Services’ Support Services team to improve the efficiency of their processing technique. After successfully implementing a ticketing system using TeamDynamix software, turnaround times have been cut in half.

Message from the VPIT-CIO

By | March 1, 2022

As the university begins the search for our next president, I find myself reflecting on the qualities that create great leaders. We do not need to look far to find inspirational models. Within our own Michigan IT community and in every pocket of the university, there are examples of leadership at all levels regardless of position and role.

Profiles in IT Interview: Jennifer Wilkerson—Engaging educator

Jennifer Wilkerson is a lead performance support analyst on the Information Assurance team. She promotes IT security and privacy awareness within the U-M community and her work often involves change management. She loves being outside and walking in her neighborhood as a form of self-care. She also enjoys reading, traveling, and spending time with her family and three dogs.

New cross-university project aims to solve email marketing issues

Units across the university use email to market to external audiences, including prospective students and parents, alumni, donors, corporate or foundation partners, and the like. Even where it might be convenient for university units or stakeholders to see our unit activities as separate, other stakeholders and the law see our activities as stemming from a singular source. Learn… Read More »

Understanding the strongest electromagnetic fields in the universe

Alec Thomas is part of the team from the U-M College of Engineering Gérard Mourou Center for Ultrafast Optical Science that is building the most powerful laser in the U.S. Dubbed “ZEUS,” the laser will be 3-petawatts of power. That’s a ‘3’ with 15 zeros. All the power generated in the entire world is 10-terawatts, or 1000 times less than the ZEUS laser.

Message from the VPIT-CIO

By | February 4, 2022

New opportunities for us to grow individually and as a community are arising all of the time, and I am excited to see what 2022 has in store for us. What new insights can we gain — in technology topics and other areas of personal interest —by making a point to hear and learn from others with a variety of backgrounds, perspectives, and roles? I love hearing your ideas.

Profiles in IT: Candice Wilson—Constructive creator

Candice Wilson is a solutions architect and Jira project manager for HITS. She has been passionate about tech since childhood and her love of creating has led to an exciting career at Michigan Medicine. Candice’s interest in making things extends beyond her work at the university and can be found in her hobbies — from 3D printing to cooking and more. She particularly enjoys creating things to gift to others.

Michigan IT Symposium breakout session videos — Watch what you may have missed

The eighth annual Michigan IT Symposium, “Moving Forward Together,” took place December 14–16, 2021. The three half-day virtual event offered something for everyone, hosting 16 breakout sessions, two spotlight sessions, and 36 poster presentations. Dr. Ravi Pendse, vice president and chief information officer for the university, kicked things off and closed out the symposium, hosting a leadership panel… Read More »

Coming February 23: A new look for time reporting

Information and Technology Services (ITS) is working with partners in schools, colleges, and across the university’s three campuses and Michigan Medicine to roll out a new design and additional functionality for time reporting. The upgrade will impact all employees who report, approve, or modify time. The upgrade will support a more mobile-friendly time reporting experience and ensure that… Read More »

U-M leading the way in assistive technology testing, design

By | January 13, 2022

U-M will be a beta site for Morphic, a new system that makes technology significantly more usable for individuals with disabilities and others who have difficulty using standard digital setups. Morphic is now available on all Campus Computing Sites computers on the UM-Ann Arbor campus. Learn about how Morphic came to U-M, the benefits of Morphic, and how you can provide your feedback on new features as they are developed.

Message from the VPIT-CIO

By | December 14, 2021

The energy and innovation at the Michigan IT Symposium is outstanding. I appreciate the ways in which our Michigan IT community can come together with the shared purpose of supporting one another and the university. Recordings of the keynote and technology & DEI panel are now available.

Profiles in IT: Christopher Visel—AV innovator

Christoper Visel, senior technical engineer at the U-M Ross School of Business, is dedicated to providing high-quality technology services to all classrooms and spaces in Ross. In the next 5-years, he would love to learn AV programming and be able to do that work in house in the future. Outside of work he enjoys playing games with his son and is currently learning about 3D printing.

Technology helps preserve Michigan’s musical history and culture

From Kentucky bluegrass “noodlin’ and doodlin’” to Louisiana Zydeco to German hurdy-gurdy to East European Klezmer to Indian Manipuri dancing to Native American pow wows, and much more, the Michigan Musical Heritage Project has been documenting Michigan’s folk history and culture since 2014.  The project is led by ethnomusicologist Lester P. Monts, Arthur F. Thurnau professor emeritus of… Read More »