Inside Iowa State

June 15, 2005

Information Technology Services a merger of four units

by Diana Pounds

Information Technology Services is the new name for Iowa State's new centralized information technology department.

Four units on campus merged to create a new department and a more coordinated approach to university information technology (IT) needs, says Jim Davis, chief information officer and leader of the department.

"Combining the central IT organizations will allow us to better align services with campus needs in support of the new university strategic plan" he said.

While the Information Technology Services department officially comes into existence July 1, the reorganization of IT services on campus has been under way for several months. The vision for the reorganization came from a committee, appointed by the President Gregory Geoffroy last fall, to study the information technology needs of Iowa State faculty, staff and students.

After an exhaustive study involving numerous groups and individuals, the group made a series of recommendations, one of which was to merge four central IT units -- Academic Information Technologies (AIT), Administrative Technology Services (ATS), Instructional Technology Center (ITC), and Telecommunications (See Information Technology Study Report.)

Work on the reorganization began in January, and Davis recently announced the administrative team that will lead the new department.

Joining Davis in the CIO office will be Maury Hope and John Kingland as associate CIOs and David Popelka as assistant CIO. Currently, Hope is director of ATS, Kingland is director of Telecommunications, and Popelka is associate director of AIT. Each will oversee different areas of the new IT organization, as well as lead new projects.

Following are the new directors:

• Richard Jones, Director, Systems & Operations
  Jones will implement and maintain the university-wide computing system infrastructure including desktop support, server support, enterprise architecture, data center operations, academic/administrative systems, software distribution, test and evaluation services, and public labs.
• Cheryl Langston, Director, Customer Services
  Langston will supervise retail sales and services and the Solution Center (help desk). Langston will also supervise campus relations involving collaboration among the library, Extension, and the colleges.
• Diane Beckman, Director, University Information Systems
  Beckman will coordinate the development of information system applications for student & enrollment services, HR/Payroll/Institutional Research, financial & business systems, departmental systems, contracted services, new technology and internal systems. Many of these applications are available through AccessPlus.
• Angela Bradley, Director, Networks & Communications
  Bradley will lead the areas of campus network engineering, border and wide area network engineering, PBX administration, systems and application support, traffic and plant engineering, cable records, and second-level technical support.
• Rhonda Fiscus, Director, Administrative Services
  Fiscus will oversee ITS budget, financial reports, software licensing, audits, vendor contacts, IT websites, newsletters, reports, marketing, internal and external communications, documentation, human resources, and training.
• Mike Bowman, Director, IT Security and Policies
  Bowman will be responsible for the university-wide effort to establish and review security practices and policies for the campus community. He also will assist with risk management, security education, and monitoring compliance with federal and state regulations.
• Jim Davis, Director, Academic Technologies
  Davis will serve as director of this area while the area's direction is refined. This area will include services offered by the Instructional Technology Center, software applications that support teaching and learning (e.g., WebCT), and research support for Geographic Information Systems and High Performance Computing.

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