Message from the CIO
Moving beyond COVID
As we reflect on the past year, I am proud of the ways our team has continued to move forward amidst the challenges and constant curve balls thrown our way by the pandemic. Having joined the William & Mary community in June 2020, I witnessed firsthand the extraordinary work that was done by our team and our colleagues across campus when responding to COVID. As we look ahead at 2023, we are looking back on the progress and innovations we have made over the course of the past year.
Throughout the pandemic, our team has supported the university converting to online teaching, learning and work. As we move beyond COVID, we are helping W&M envision and plan for what comes next, and shape what life, work and technology will look like moving forward.
In this report we share our team’s great achievements, highlight some of the projects that have made an impact on our students, faculty, and staff and give a glimpse of what is coming next.
This year we defined a new mission statement, vision and set of strategic goals that we are diligently working towards. It has also been a year of significant strategic planning at the university level. With the launch of Vision 2026, the university’s strategic plan, we know that IT will play an integral role in helping W&M reach its goals and initiatives over the next five years and beyond. Additionally, we took the opportunity to collaborate with W&M’s Studio for Teaching and Learning Innovation and University Libraries to devise a collaborative strategic plan for our three units.
This year we supported key university projects like implementing buyW&M and Blackbaud CRM, and completed other important projects like launching new accessibility and communication tools in Blackboard and improving the student lab printing experience by deploying a new tool called PaperCut®.
We also kickstarted many exciting and important initiatives like transforming our campus phone system to a modern, converged communication experience called Teams Calls, partnering with the Office of Sponsored Programs on a new tool for managing research activities and conducting an extensive review of the university’s digital learning environment including our learning management system.
As we continue to adapt to new ways of teaching, learning and working on campus and beyond, we look forward to uncovering all the ways we can use technology to enhance the lives of our community. We are proud to serve our campus and support the university’s goals and initiatives as we embark on another year at this historic institution.
Dr. Edward Aractingi
