Jane Livingston, vice president and chief information officer
Office of Information Technologies
370 Information Technology Center
Notre Dame, IN 46556
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(574) 631-8111
We are laying the foundations to enable the future.
In partnership with nearly every college, school, division, and department, the Office of Information Technologies (OIT) has made a significant impact on the University of Notre Dame over the past year. I am proud to share with you this Impact Report chronicling some of these partnerships over the fiscal year.
This report demonstrates how technology has become a critical component across academics, research, administration, and campus life. There are numerous examples of our investment in our people and culture. We are a dedicated team of IT professionals who have worked tirelessly to enhance the digital landscape at Notre Dame, to empower students, faculty, and staff.
We are laying the foundations to enable the future. As Notre Dame looks ahead with a new strategic framework, IT is preparing our infrastructure, systems, and people to support and enhance that future.
This report is organized around five strategic themes we addressed this year:
We are excited to present this report that illustrates our commitment to excellence in technology as we support this University with everything needed to carry us forward. Finally, I want to express my heartfelt thanks to each member of the Notre Dame IT community for their hard work and unwavering support of our mission to harness the power of technology for the greater good.
~ Jane Livingston
Empower Students, the Academy, and Research
Strengthen strategic partnerships to implement and enrich technologies in service to research, teaching/learning and the student experience that allows partners to better fulfill their mission-centric goals. By allowing researchers, instructors and students to focus on their work, and not IT, we empower our partners to innovate and think beyond the present moment to the possibilities of the future.
Presidential Team Irish Award:
LMS Transition to Canvas
Canvas/LMS Replacement
Changing from Sakai to a new learning management system is no small feat. It provides an array of tools for instructors to manage course content such as assignments, calendars, messaging, quizzes, grading, and more. This change was in response to reduced community support for Sakai and faculty member requests for more academic applications that could be integrated in a learning management system. OIT’s Teaching and Learning Technologies team brought together stakeholders from several areas of campus to connect and collaborate on this important decision, including faculty, project and communication management experts, IT technology teams, academic departments, and the Registrar and Provost’s Office. The entire project spanned over two years, and included evaluating options, making the decision to move to Canvas, and development time to make it available campus-wide.
Canvas ExpaND
In partnership with Notre Dame Learning, the OIT’s Teaching and Learning Technologies team brought together stakeholders from several areas of campus to connect and collaborate in this important area. The Canvas Learning Management System (LMS) serves the credit-bearing academic needs of the institution. However, there are additional needs for administrative and academic programs which extend beyond traditional offerings. A software product called Canvas Catalog has been branded specifically for Notre Dame as Canvas ExpaND, and has been set up to address needs pertaining to continuing and professional education, and outreach targeting learners which are often distinct from our residential population.
The McGrath Institute for Church Life is among the early adopters of ExpaND, utilizing it to engage with global dioceses as well as to empower individual lay leaders. Additionally, programs such as Data Science and the Institute for Educational Initiatives have an established presence using ExpaND, extending their outreach efforts. This platform is an example of how the OIT is helping the University in fulfilling its mission as a force for good in the world.
This year so far, there are 4,367 enrollees in 214 courses in Catalog/ExpaND.
Academic Software
OIT’s Teaching and Learning Technologies (TLT) team leads the University Committee on Academic Technologies (UCAT) Subcommittee for Academic Software. The Subcommittee on Academic Software includes representatives from every college and school and Procurement, working together to provide a software review process and establish funding guidelines and deployment recommendations for software requests. The subcommittee for academic software guides the work of TLT’s Innovation Hub.
TLT Innovation Hub
We invite you to consult with us to learn more about the TLT Innovation Hub. We facilitate faculty incentive grants to pilot new technologies or integrations, and can assist, partner, and/or lead in the procurement of extramural funding to promote pedagogical innovation with technology and improve student success.
Evaluated and implemented over 100 teaching and learning software applications across campus.
Voice of the Community: IT for Research
As Notre Dame prepares to welcome a new vice president of research, the OIT partnered with the Office of Research and University Libraries to gather feedback from faculty, post-docs, and graduate students on how the University is meeting its technology needs. Through focus groups, interviews, surveys, and other feedback, the research community described growing needs for scalable storage offerings, flexible computing services, and easier access to software. The report will provide valuable context to the Office of Research as Notre Dame embarks on the next phase of its research journey.
Research Security & Compliance Program
In partnership with the Center for Research Computing Information Security answered the call to help Notre Dame researchers comply with federal regulations to protect controlled, unclassified information. A new solution was needed to help the team store data. OIT worked with Amazon Web Services (AWS) to secure a computing space that would suit these needs. Through these efforts, OIT was able to get roughly a dozen projects into safe storage.
12
research projects
moved into safe and compliant storage
Global Gateways
In partnership with Notre Dame International, the OIT's accomplishments spanned throughout the world through upgrades to Notre Dame's Global Gateways. Updates for London include the successful hire of a new full-time IT Solutions Coordinator, a new Canon contract with significant cost savings, and an inaugural immersive learning experience for two Fellow Associates.
The most ambitious change the OIT pursued with the Global Gateways was the transfer of international classrooms to Registrar control and overall management to the campus Audio Visual team. Classroom technology in London and Rome was configured to replicate that of the main campus. As a result, main campus OIT staff can perform troubleshooting and remote management, freeing up Global Gateway staff to focus on the more specific needs of their college. This ensures that faculty and students will get the same experience abroad as they would here at home.
Architect Human-Centered Digital Experiences
Modern consumer technologies have established a new baseline of superior user experience, intuitive design, and strong customer support. Notre Dame must adapt to meet these high expectations by orienting around user-centered design since technology has become an integral component of every University initiative. We must create technology ecosystems that put people at the center. Similar to how we plan for the physical University infrastructure such as buildings and sidewalks, we must architect a virtual campus of modern technology ecosystems that support Notre Dame’s future.
Budget Tool Replacement (ARP) Financial Compass
The Office of Budget and Planning was in need of a replacement for Planful, the budget and planning system, as it did not meet their needs. They opted for Anaplan, a more dynamic and user-friendly system that provides comprehensive dashboards, reports, and the ability to track important metrics for improved reporting. The new system offers business and finance managers a robust tool for seamless completion of adopted, adjusted, forecasted, and multi-year budgets within a single continuous plan. It enhances intuitiveness, navigation, and flexibility, while also allowing for specialized planning models in specific divisions like UEE and Athletics. The transition to Anaplan has significantly improved the University's budgeting and planning processes.
HR Transformation
Human Resources at Notre Dame was in need of a new case management platform, but this time - they wanted something that would offer a better experience for employees. The Self Service Center is a one-stop shop for the most common employee needs and concerns.
The platform utilizes a Virtual Agent Chat powered by AI for case management that provides immediate answers to questions. The site also provides a suite of employment and benefits tools. Employees can even update their personal information, access pay stubs, and download applicable tax forms. Business and hiring managers can use the Self Service Center to submit position descriptions for review. Staff from the OIT partnered with colleagues in Human Resources and ND Innovates to deliver a new and vastly improved employee experience.
Storage Program
In 2021, Google announced it would stop offering free, unlimited storage to higher education customers. After this announcement, Notre Dame leadership began conversations that led to the creation of a strategic storage plan to address this change in a way that minimally impacted University Google account owners. With user needs and resource stewardship in mind, the University reached a solution and implemented Google storage allocations on May 23, 2023. These allocations were assigned to both meet users’ current needs along with anticipated growth.
The OIT worked to reduce campus storage through the launch of the Conquer Your Clutter initiative. This resource was designed to help any campus member reduce their digital footprint and increase productivity through a series of simple tips that can make a big impact on one’s storage use. Through diligent planning and effective communication to campus, the University has crafted a long-term solution that will meet the digital storage needs of campus members.
Learn more about the Smart Storage Program.
Preferred First Name
This project began from an Undergraduate Student Government request for students’ preferred name to appear on their ID cards and in teaching-related systems. The University decided to expand this request to make a system available to the entire campus community.
Allowing individuals to specify name preferences helps to enable positive interpersonal interactions, while also promoting a healthy and positive environment for faculty, staff and students. Additional information is available on this OIT web page.
NameCoach
Encouraging correct pronunciation of names is an important step toward building an inclusive organizational culture. Namecoach is a software system, recommended by the University Council for Academic Technologies, that has been integrated into the Canvas learning management system, and allows students and faculty to record their names to provide appropriate pronunciation.
In an effort to advance the University’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion efforts, the OIT recently acquired a campus license for Namecoach to incorporate it in various systems and events campus-wide.
As of the end of the spring 2023 semester approximately 900 students have recorded their names in Canvas.
Parking Upgrades
In partnership with the Notre Dame Police Department, campus transitioned to a new hand-free parking credential for all faculty, staff, retirees, and post-docs, replacing previous clicker and badge scan technology. These digitally-enhanced hang tags now only require an individual to drive up to a gate to gain access to parking lots; making commutes to and from campus more efficient.
Future of the Network
The Notre Dame network is critical to the work, success and safety of the campus community. Over the past 10 years, the network and wireless connectivity has gone beyond an essential service into an expected service becoming the fourth utility—similar to power, plumbing, and HVAC.
This year, a long-range plan was developed that focus on these guiding principles:
To become a Wireless First campus by 2027 to meet the needs and expectations of connectivity anywhere
To plan for the next generation of connectivity and bandwidth needs by supporting 100G network capacity to any end device by 2033, especially research
To protect the University's digital assets and reduce its carbon footprint
The Wireless First pilot tests begin in June 2023 in some campus buildings, including the IT Center, Office of Research and Office of Human Resources in Grace Hall, as well as Alumni Hall and Johnson Family Hall (student residence halls).
Veoci Emergency Operations Center
The OIT partnered with Campus Safety and Emergency Management to support our Veoci Emergency Operations Center. The Emergency Operations Center (EOC) is comprised of five teams across the University that are dedicated to ensuring emergency readiness. The team has adopted Veoci, a new emergency management software, to centralize communications, planning, and training.
Veoci provides a centralized platform to respond to emergencies. University staff and first responders can communicate immediately through the tool, saving precious time during an emergency. Through Veoci, the EOC is able to send communications to staff and students during emergencies, providing timely updates and instructions.
App Lifecycle Management
The University keeps up with emerging technology by upgrading systems and opting to move to new platforms as software becomes antiquated. Some older tech and applications can stick around so long they are difficult to manage and maintain. This results in some processes being left with older platforms and other forms of “technical debt.” The repercussions of not addressing technical debt can be catastrophic. Even efficient organizations with adequate budgets can incur technical debt due to evolving technologies, time constraints, and the need to balance immediate deadlines with long-term software quality.
With the Application Lifecycle Management process, technical debt is evaluated and a strategy to move completely away from old systems is put into action. Decisions to retire or refactor software will be informed by the process. This cycle will ensure there is a structure to follow for software.
DataND
The past year marks a time of updates and enhancements to dataND. With a homepage redesign highlighting common datasets and starter reports, and the addition of a calendar that lists various data events and learning opportunities, the dataND team took concrete steps to improve user experience. As a resource that members across the University utilize for their data and reporting requirements, the dedicated dataND team continues to build and expand the resource to meet the data needs of our campus. Highlights of this past year’s growth includes the addition of 32 datasets and 35 starter reports including IPEDS and the Student Enrollment Collection.
Interested in learning more about this tool, check out dataND's dedicated blog.
Fortify Our Security & Compliance
Increasing security threats and compliance requirements require Notre Dame to continue to invest resources to appropriately protect the University, researchers, systems, and data. We must evolve security and compliance processes to use a risk-based, resilient framework that protects the Notre Dame community and enables the University's mission in research and education.
Risk Management Program
The Information Security IT Risk Management program offers services that help campus constituents understand Notre Dame’s security posture. The mission is to improve decision-making by aligning IT priorities, investments, and business operations to a standard measurable IT risk framework. The IT Risk Management program helps identify and assess where the University is most vulnerable to cybersecurity threats. The services include a University risk register, software vendor risk evaluation, campus IT risk assessment, consulting and threat assessment. With participation in these services, the University will be able to strengthen security and continuously improve.
Payment Fraud Protection
The University works with tens of thousands of suppliers and contractors. Invoice fraud and vendor impersonation scams are growing threats for many institutions. In partnership with Accounts Payable and Procurement, the OIT implemented new payment fraud protection features and digital processes to minimize risk, ensure that payments are made to legitimate vendors, and replace less efficient manual processes.
“Confirming the identity of our payees and their banking information helps everyone sleep more soundly at night knowing we are all better protected."
Paul Van Dieren, associate controller
Security Awareness Training
Managing the risks of cybersecurity has become a daily part of all of our lives, leading to additional tools and protections like two-step authentication and more diligence when dealing with important data. In summer 2022, the OIT launched its first formal security awareness training program to all staff and faculty, with an impressive 78% of all employees completing the program in its first year. The training educates our community about phishing, password security, mobile devices, and other common threats. Full story: Security Awareness Training Now Available
78%
employee participation in first year
“Everyone is a potential target. Criminals cast a wide net and hope that they catch even a few victims. Training like this is the first line of defense in preventing attacks.”
Leilani Lauger, chief information security officer
Email Security/DMARC and BIMI
Notre Dame cybersecurity engineers tightened email safety this past year with the introduction of two new email verification standards: DMARC and BIMI. These two tools work to verify that an email using an @nd.edu address is actually coming from an OIT-authorized account, not a scammer. These two protocols will help practically eliminate one of the most common phishing attacks on University members and provide Notre Dame with more control over nd.edu. The implementation of this change will continue to protect the University both now, and in years to come.
Cybersecurity Carnival
Getting people excited about security training is a tall order. For Cybersecurity Awareness Month in October 2022, the OIT leveraged interactive learning to teach students about the biggest threats to cybersecurity. The carnival featured home-grown cybersecurity games, activities, prizes, a comedy sketch show, and yummy fair favorites. More than 1,000 students, staff, and faculty attended the event.
On the day of the carnival, the event initially drew traffic from promotional efforts. As the day went on, people started to come from all over campus after hearing about the carnival from those who had already visited. The event was sponsored by big names such as Google and AWS, as well as many others.
Connect, Partner, Unite
Foster a culture of shared partnership and planning to better steward IT investments. Strengthening relationships with leaders of every division and building trust among all distributed IT and central IT will propel the University to better leverage current IT investments, prepare for those that are needed in the future, and prioritize efforts that will deliver the most value to Notre Dame.
IT@ND: Building COMMUNITY
The Office of Information Technologies (OIT) is the central and the largest IT department on campus. However, more than 40% of Notre Dame IT professionals work in colleges, schools, and departments outside of the OIT. In 2022, IT leaders from across the University came together to establish IT@ND - a community approach to create opportunities for professional development, shared standards, and collaboration across the organization. This includes the launch of the IT Insights intranet website, its companion semi-monthly newsletter, and unified IT leadership meetings.
The IT@ND initiative capped off its first year with the first University-wide IT Retreat in June 2023. This three-day event not only brought together IT staff from different areas of campus, but also brought in fully remote employees to ensure all staff shared in an unique opportunity of networking and development.
IT Stewardship
The IT Stewardship process is the newest evolution of technology governance with an emphasis on shared planning, prioritization, and investment of IT resources across the University. The IT Stewardship initiative established new committees, responsibilities, and processes to ensure that University IT projects have visibility to stakeholders, strategic value to the University, and the appropriate resources to succeed. "The IT Stewardship process will provide multi-year planning, transparency, and shared processes that allow University leaders to prioritize technology efforts that enable the University's mission and vision," said Katie Rose, associate vice president for IT strategic excellence and engagement.
"Attaining great milestones is the result of many small victories arising from focused collaborative effort over a long period."
Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C.
Help Desk Dispatch Support Service
The Help Desk Dispatch Support Service (HDD) team provides deskside support for University-owned computing devices and approved, commonly used operating systems and applications for Notre Dame faculty and staff on the main campus. This support originates through the OIT Help Desk. If the Help Desk staff is not able to resolve the issue, it may be escalated to a technician for further research and resolution.
The team is staffed with a combination of full-time employees, IT Fellows and temp/on-call employees who are experienced in IT, along with people interested in entering the field. Help Desk Dispatch focuses on providing IT skills to individuals who want to join the Notre Dame community. Additionally, this team acts as a shared resource to provide support at times when OIT teams are short staffed due to retirements, promotions, new initiatives, etc.
Make IT a Workplace of Choice
In order to amplify, expand, and support Notre Dame’s needs for digital transformation and to maintain existing IT solutions, OIT needs to establish a comprehensive framework that supports the continued growth of our workforce. Within the current dynamic and extraordinary context, it is crucial that OIT acquire, develop, grow, and retain a diverse and highly-skilled workforce that will support Notre Dame’s aspirations in the coming decades.
IT Pathways Program
In order to build a strong talent pipeline, the OIT made a conscious investment in its future through the development of its IT Pathways program. With the launch of this program, the OIT has brought in 10 new full-time employees; six Fellows Associates and four IT Fellows Technicians. This initiative has also created a pathway for high school students to learn about IT careers through an outreach program that led to the hire of four full-time summer networking interns.
The OIT is excited to provide opportunities to members of our community to build IT careers close to home. These pathways are designed to holistically develop and upskill individuals so they can pursue jobs that excite and inspire them, whether at the OIT or elsewhere. With the initial success of the first year, plans are already in the works to amplify these roles to provide our young employees with even greater opportunities to grow their careers in ways that serve the individuals, the OIT, Notre Dame, and our broader community.
Culture & Events
The OIT ranked 12th in Computerworld’s 100 Best Places to Work, making this the tenth year the organization has made this prestigious list. With pandemic regulations subsiding, the OIT welcomed back our community through a host of in-person and hybrid events throughout the year. Traditional OIT staff events such as the monthly Coffee, Tea, and Meet, Thanksgiving potluck, and Spirit Week brightened workdays with celebrations and conversations with colleagues new and old. Moreover, the OIT’s annual tailgate and the summer carnival on the Library quad brought together staff and their families for an afternoon of camaraderie and fun outside of the office. Regardless of time or day, OIT staff showed up in force to foster our signature community.
Professional Development
We succeed when our people succeed and OIT staff are constantly pursuing learning opportunities to further grow their skill sets. The scope and variety of development opportunities in our organization were vast, including:
Six OIT staff participated in the MOR IT Leadership Program.
The OIT sent 13 members to Educause hosted in Denver. Highlights of this conference include two poster sessions and five presentations.
Additionally, members from the OIT hosted Prosci Change Management Certification workshops which resulted in 19 people across campus achieving their certification. Ten team members from the OIT gained their Prosci Change Management Certification, bringing the OIT’s total to 65 employees with this distinction. Team members from our partners across campus also achieved the Prosci Change Management certifications including: the College of Arts and Letters, University Enterprises and Events, Human Resources, and Biological Sciences.
The Office of Technologies has provided the University of Notre Dame with all of its technology needs–both on and off campus. The above highlights represent a few of the many IT projects and initiatives that made a major impact this year.
Thank you
for partnering with us.
Copyright © 2023 University of Notre Dame
The OIT Impact Report was designed and produced by Krista Moats, Lenette Votava, Casey Kiel, Courtney Kroschel, Taylor Garrett, Emily Scott, Crystal DeJaegher, and Chas Grundy.
