Category: Projects

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!

It’s always nice to meet expectations. It’s another thing entirely to blow those expectations out of the water! Thanks to the hard work and dedication of our Web Team, that’s exactly what happened with the Online Degree Website Project.

Back in December (2019), John Chenoweth and Jason Jasinski from CoBE reached out to the Web Team. Their request was for help in developing an Online Degree website with a hard launch in April.

In late February, Kevin Hill began working off of designs provided by a third party firm, Shine. Leveraging components in Ingeniux that he had created over the past year (with a few additions), the Web Team was able to execute the responsive design to make the launch date.

The initial plan was to launch between 7 to 10 online programs, however, in a joint effort with CoBE and various department chairs, the Web Team launched the Online Degree website with over 35 Bachelor, Masters, and Certificate programs. Needless to say, this was an incredible achievement, once again showing off the caliber of people we have in our organization.

“Everyone at Shine is really impressed with what you accomplished. Personally, I’ve never seen a client development team execute a website as well as we would have done. Actually, I think your team probably did this faster than we would have done. Excellent work!” – Alex from Shine

“To the World’s Best Web Team, I wish that I had taken time to do this sooner, but I just wanted to say thank you and that the new site is outstanding. I know that a lot of time and effort was dedicated to launching a new website with a new template and 40 plus (!) programs—in the midst of our crazy “new normal”—but it really paid off. And I was just on the mobile site, and it looks amazing!” – Dana Krems, Marketing Specialist (CoBE)

Thanks again Web Team! We love the praise, and we will continue to shout out the great work that the entire ICIT organization is executing. Until next time, keep shattering those expectations!

As an organization, we are always trying to make it easier for our customers to do their job at UW-Whitewater. Thanks to some amazing work from our NOC team, we have done just that.

Last week, Aron Chowanec and Nick Ciesinski enabled a new VPN which now allows those who are using ImageNow remotely, to also access network drives through the same VPN. Prior to this, users had to connect, disconnect, and reconnect to a different VPN depending on what resource they needed to access.

Thanks to the great technical work, and outstanding customer service, our customers gave some very kind feedback regarding the new VPN:

“This is amazing!” – Steve Diesso, Admissions

“Awesome, thank you!” – Joanna Stradusky, CoBE

“IT WORKS!!! You are a miracle worker. Thank you so much for all your work in trying to make this a smoother transition for us. I really appreciate all that you do!” – Ruth Peterson, Graduate Studies

Until next time, thanks again for all of your hard work.

As we continue to move through this unique time, it is important to continue to acknowledge ICIT’s hard work, especially when the kudos come from the head honcho!

On April 1st, Elena was asked to provide an update to the Chancellor’s Cabinet during a Leadership Check-In session. The topic was: “Review of IT Transition to Online”.

After Elena gave her report, Greg Cook followed up with some feedback from Chancellor Watson:

“I just finished my one-on-one meeting with Chancellor Watson, and he told me he was very impressed and “buoyed” by all of the great work represented in your reports this morning. He’s very appreciative of all of things you are doing in Academic Affairs.”

“Thanks to each of you for your very informative reports, and for all that you and your staff do. Please thank you staff on behalf of me and Chancellor Watson.“

We hope you can feel proud of the jobs you are ALL doing, it’s always nice when leadership notices and appreciates outstanding performance.

We will keep the kudos rolling, until next time, keep up the great work!

“I enjoy being liked. I have to be liked. But it’s not like a compulsive need to be liked. Like my need to be praised.” – Michael Scott

As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, UW-W faculty, staff and students have been forced to adapt their work, teaching and learning methods, many for the very first time.

In light of this unprecedented situation, the members of ICIT have continued to support, serve, and guide our community with decisive action, outstanding customer service and technical expertise.

As an organization, ICIT has stepped up to the plate, and has provided much needed reassurances to our users in a time where uncertainty can lead to anxiety and panic.

We have truly been performing at our best during this unique time, and our colleagues have noticed. It is because of your hard work and composure, that our organization has received many messages of thanks and gratitude:

–March 24th, from Ben Dobner – Associate Director, Financial Aid
(Thanking Andy Peterson (NOC) for Jabber fulfillment)

“Thanks, Andy!  I really appreciate your quick turn around on this – you all are doing an amazing job during what I am sure are trying times for your department.” – Ben

“Hi Ben, I appreciate your kind words. However, the real heroes in all of this are the front line Help Desk people that are ensuring that the tickets have all of the appropriate information in them so that I can process everything as quickly as possible.” -Andy Peterson 

– March 25th, from Lana Collet-Klingenberg – Professor and Interim Associate Dean, CoEPS (Thanking Help Desk)

“Dear Helpdesk Colleagues – I am writing this afternoon to say thank you. I have heard from students and staff in COEPS that as they’ve been transitioning to more online learning and work and had questions or problems, that you have been incredibly responsive, timely, and helpful. No doubt you are being swamped daily with calls for help and you are rising to the demands like true champions. Again, thank you and keep up the great work.” – Lana

– March 27th, from Jeff Angileri – Director, Public Information, UMC
(Thanking Aaron Axelsen, LTC)

“Aaron, Thanks again for suggesting the Webex Facebook Live option. We did a practice run today and it went great – we’re looking at doing one next week with campus leadership. Appreciate all your efforts and great ideas during this unprecedented time!” -Jeff

– March 27th, from Brenda Rust O’Beirne – Associate Professor/Dept Chair, Counselor Education (LTC appreciation)

“Hi Elena, During a particularly difficult time for our university – and for our world, your staff has stepped up in ways that we all need to applaud! Our move to online learning has been traumatizing for many (faculty, staff and students alike), and your staff have responded with competence and kindness, patience and understanding. I am particularly grateful to Kirsten Mortimer and Ted Witt who have provided guidance and technical assistance with challenges I face because of the nature of the courses I am teaching. Kudos to them – and to all of your staff for helping us to meet this challenge.” – Brenda

– March 27th, from Cliff O’Beirne – Lecturer, Psychology
(Thanking Kirsten Mortimer, LTC)

“Hi Elena, I just saw my wife Brenda sending you a note of appreciation for your staff and realized I should do the same. Kirsten Mortimer has been very helpful, patient, and determined to help me be ready to teach online. That is no small task as she will attest! But she refuses to give up. Thank goodness. It does matter and it helps!” – Cliff      

Thank you to everyone in ICIT for your amazing ability to adapt and deliver. Difficult times absolutely bring out our best, so let’s remain strong and stay together as we continue to push through.

“I guess I’ve been working so hard, I forgot what it’s like to be hardly working.” – Michael Scott