Welcome Jacob Baldridge!

On behalf of the entire ICIT organization, we would like to welcome Jacob Baldridge as the new User Support Technician with Security Emphasis.

Jacob’s responsibilities will include diagnosing and resolving desktop problems, configuration and troubleshooting printers, mobile devices, and other campus technologies as well as providing support to Tier-1 technicians over the phone, chat, and in person.

Jacob comes to us as an experienced IT Technician, with a background in Windows Server Administration, Active Directory Administration, Windows Desktop Support, Mac OS Support, Customer Service and Communication, and Troubleshooting. He previously worked for Leap Managed IT and Ball State University in Muncie Indiana.

Jacob, his wife Sarah, and their Beagle Callie just recently finished their move from Indiana to Wisconsin, let’s try not to overwhelm them with beer and cheese recommendations!

In his free time, Jacob enjoys diving into a good movie, playing a weekly Dungeons and Dragons campaign with his friends, and honing his saxophone skills. Jacob has also recently continued his pursuit of learning Spanish as a second language!

We are thrilled to have Jacob join our team, please take some time to welcome him when you can!

Welcome George Vu!

On behalf of the entire ICIT organization, we would like to welcome George Vu as the new Director of Administrative Information Systems.

George’s responsibilities will include providing leadership, management, and guidance to SIS development, business analysis, and project management teams. Plan, coordinate, and execute all activities related to the development and support of the university’s SIS and departmental systems and applications. Manage the integration architecture strategy and foster project management methodology and culture on campus.

George comes to us with more than 20 years of IT experience and previously worked for ProHealth Care as the Business Systems Manager. His responsibilities included planning, monitoring, staff management, and implementation of projects in support of ProHealth Care’s business systems. Prior to this position, George worked in numerous IT roles including helpdesk support, computer technician, server engineer, and application support engineer.

George and his wife Laura have two children, Delaney and Ethan. They also share the house with their pet dog, Max.

In his free time, George enjoys playing Tennis, watching movies, and playing video games with Ethan. He is also into cars, unfortunately, his taste currently exceeds his budget :). Fun fact, the “George” nickname was given to him in high school after impersonating a teacher. He did such a great job that it stuck!

We are thrilled to have George join our team, please take some time to welcome him when you can!

UWS Presidential Search

Please take some time to read about the upcoming interview schedule for Dr. Jim Johnsen. Dr. Johnsen will be interviewed on June 9th for the position of President of the UW System.

A virtual forum will be held from 10:15-11:55 where Dr. Johnsen will make a presentation and answer questions. Questions will be solicited in advance. The most frequent questions will be asked during the forum but not shared with Dr. Johnsen in advance. If you would like to attend, you will need to register. Registration is available through this link.

Selected administrative and government leaders will be chosen who can ask follow-up questions on the spot. A recording of the virtual forum will be available on the UW System Presidential Search website on Wednesday, June 10th including an opportunity for people to share feedback on the candidate.

The forum content will include:

  • Formal Presentation by J. Johnsen: Leading the UW System – Opportunities and Challenges (20 min)
  • Solicited Q&A (20 min) – The link to provide questions is already available from the main website (https://www.wisconsin.edu/presidential-search/campus-forum/). Common themes among the questions will be asked of the candidate who will not know the questions in advance.

  • Campus Leadership Q&A (30 min) –  All registered individuals are welcome to listen but the questions will be limited to a group of individuals representing SSAOs, CBOs, Provosts, etc. The Chancellor at each campus is allowed to choose one individual per campus to represent campus senior leadership for the purpose of posing questions.

  • Shared Governance Q&A (30 min) –   All registered individuals are welcome to listen but the questions will be limited to a group of individuals representing shared governance. The Chancellor at each campus is allowed to choose one individual per campus to represent shared governance for the purpose of posing questions.

In addition to the forum, Dr. Johnsen’s schedule includes (all held virtually, June 9):

  • 9:00 – 10:00 am: UW System Presidential Search Committee
  • 1:15 – 2:15 pm: UW System Chancellors
  • 2:30 – 3:15 pm: UW System Administration Leadership
  • 3:30 – 4:30 pm: Board of Regents

The presidential search website can be found here: https://www.wisconsin.edu/presidential-search/

Thank You Justin!

(Justin and his girlfriend, ladae’meona McDowell)

Learning Technology Center Graduate Assistant Justin Notto’s last day will be Tuesday May 19. For this academic year, Justin has worked as the Emerging Technology Project and Research Assistant. During this time, he has worked closely with instructors involved with piloting new technologies in their teaching.

Justin is completing his Master in Social Work (MSW) this summer and has already accepted a position as a Human Service Professional, as part of a comprehensive community service team at Rock County Human Services.

Justin has been an exceptional member of the LTC team, especially during the sudden switch to remote teaching and working, and though we will miss him, wish him the best!

Kudos: Workstation

Outstanding customer service will always be a cornerstone for any successful IT organization. For many individuals, technology is not their primary language, and when those people reach out for help, it is vital that we (IT professionals) are there to translate. As we end another week in this new remote reality, let’s keep the thanks and kudos coming.

The workstation team has always been on the front line when it comes to customer service, including our Help Desk. Because of their dedication, more and more UW-W colleagues have been able to transition to remote work successfully. This includes enabling remote access to specific applications, device setup and configuration, and on-demand troubleshooting.

While this may just be business-as-usual for ICIT, our customers are starting to take notice and reach out,

Elena,

I wanted to share a consistent sentiment from my teams on campus.  Everyone has been so happy and appreciative of the support and service they have received from ICIT in what must be extremely difficult times for all of them with so many demands on top of typical demands. 

I wanted to thank you so much and each and every team member so much because no matter how tough of a transition this has been, you and your team have made it so much better than it could have been. 

I know I am going to short change some people by not listing – but from Joel (Koszyczarek) working with us to get Peachtree access remotely in fairly short order to Bryan (Allen) providing support well into after-hours time because he knew we needed a resolution to support for laptop setup which allowed more of my staff to stay safe and work remotely, to you personally understanding where we stand in initiatives and being willing to be flexible while at the same time helping push to make things happen that we needed.

I have always enjoyed working with you so much even before I came to UW-W and am so appreciative to be part of the same University team now.
Taryn Carothers, Assistant Vice Chancellor for Administrative Affairs

I hope everyone in ICIT is able to enjoy their weekend. Thank you for your continued dedication and hard work as we continue to ride this wave together!