August 21, 2007

To: IET Staff, Technology Infrastructure Forum, Deans’ Technology Council, and Campus Council for Information Technology-Steering Committee

Dear Colleagues:

This summer has seen transitions of several important IET leadership functions; now is a good time to review these with you.  If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me or the IET management team.

Babette Schmitt, who assumed responsibility for strategic planning and communications earlier this year, continues to oversee the research and analysis components previously handled by Doug Hartline, now at UC Santa Cruz. In addition to heading IET's communications unit (Information and Events), Babette coordinates input from a wide range of constituent groups to inform IT strategic planning and to ensure IT services align well with campus needs. 

Lisa Chance assists Babette with some of the responsibilities outlined above, in particular supporting critical venues such as the Deans'

Technology Council, the Campus Council for Information Technology (CCFIT), the Technology Infrastructure Forum (TIF), and the IET Leadership Council. All of these venues and many more have greatly benefited from Lisa's work. In addition to these and other duties, Lisa oversees executive support for the Office of the Vice Provost, and in that role she has already identified and implemented improvements to our internal day-to-day operations.

Debbie Lauriano assumed full responsibility for the IET Application Development Unit upon Ray Reveles' retirement earlier this summer. To support this expansion of Debbie's responsibilities, Curtis Bray has assumed responsibility for technical direction and leadership of the IET Middleware, Communications Resources, and MyInfoVault application development teams. Hampton Sublett has joined Curtis as project manager for the Middleware and CR teams, while also assuming responsibility for many aspects of project development and logistical support.

To ensure progress in critical areas such as identity management, Debbie has agreed to chair a new campus IT Architecture Advisory Council. We have asked IT Security Coordinator Bob Ono and Associate Vice Chancellor Mike Allred to join Debbie in establishing the oversight and leadership needed to make significant progress.  I believe this group will have an important role even after appointment of a campus IT architect.  (As was announced in a recent communication, recruitment for the campus IT architect continues, with my sincere appreciation for the time, effort, and thoughtfulness of those participating in this effort.)

Tom Arons has relocated and now lives with his family in Texas. He will work under contract on several critical initiatives, including gathering requirements related to identity management and evaluating role management technologies. We are pleased to have the benefit of Tom's expertise and experience to help move these projects along.

Our work to promote collaborative, campus-wide approaches to critical projects such as the administrative computing policy and the development of a campus IT roadmap continues. The Web page at http://vpiet.ucdavis.edu/initiatives.cfm provides descriptions and updates for these projects and a number of others. I encourage you to visit this site for updates on a wide range of important activities.

I appreciate your interest in our initiatives on behalf of the UC Davis community, and, as always, look forward to your questions, comments, and suggestions.

Peter M. Siegel
Vice Provost and CIO
Information and Educational Technology