Tracks And Descriptions
What's the right track for my proposal? Which delivery method is right for me? Here's a description to get you started.
Data Driven Decision Making:
One of the most talked-about areas of technology these days – and perhaps one of the least understood – is that of data-driven decision making. Promises of transforming our institutions and the lives of our students through the collection and analysis of data now seem plausible and within reach, but the majority of us need to learn a lot more about how to actually do it. If your institution has been successful in developing and using dashboards, predictive modeling, reporting & analytics, and business intelligence, this track is the place to share those experiences, processes, and insights that can help faculty and administrators in measurable ways.
Example topics may include but are not limited to:
- Leveraging predictive modeling and analytics to assist with enrollment or retention
- Creating dashboards that matter
- Breaking down the silos of data
- How to become a data-driven institution
- Business intelligence/Data Management
- Learning Analytics
- Using data to optimize student learning in digital environments
Audiovisual and IT Services: Support Models and Practices:
The rapid pace of innovation in technology offers exciting opportunities for education professionals, but it also brings with it a corresponding need for flexible support services and delivery processes to keep up with the challenge of constant change. Whether your institution is evaluating and implementing new technologies and support practices, or has successfully updated your IT service operation’s technologies and procedures, this track invites you to share your strategies for providing effective and efficient IT support services and solutions to an ever-changing set of faculty, students, and administrators with uniformly high expectations.
Example topics may include but are not limited to:
- Help desk support applications (IM, Ticketing, self-service, remote support, etc.)
- Central vs. distributed support models
- Best Practices (ITIL v3, Pink Elephant, Six Sigma, COBIT 4.1, etc.)
- Classroom technologies and design (Computers, multimedia, and Smart Technologies, clickers, podiums, etc.)
- Students: consultant programs and technology support (ResNet)
- Training and documentation development
- Information and computer literacy programs
- Workstation standards, management, and peripheral support (multiuse printers, handheld devices, unified messaging, VoIP, virtual desktops, etc.)
- Media services (asset management, scheduling, event support, audio visual equipment, etc.)
- Managing software licenses and software access
- Hardware access and distribution programs
- Support for distribution of streaming, podcasting, distance learning, etc.
- Green technologies (power management, recycling, print management, etc.)
- Supporting the proliferation of consumer technologies in use by students
Leadership and Organizational Development:
Effective leadership takes place at all levels of an organization. We are continually asked to respond to changing client expectations, resource constraints, increasing calls for accountability, and proliferating technology alternatives. We seek to showcase strategies, both successful and not so successful, to create a shared sense of mission and allow all members of a team to contribute their ideas.
Example topics may include but are not limited to:
- Developing and advocating for a shared vision
- Creating and sustaining high performance teams
- Divergent paths to leadership, and leadership in every area and level
- Promoting diversity, inclusion and equity in your organization
- Strategic planning and strategic planning tools
- Innovative budgeting and funding models
- Aligning governance models and processes with institutional mission
- Succession planning
- Communication best practices
- Cross-organizational / cross-institutional professional networks
- Unconventional leadership
- Creative project management
- Building a culture of innovation and managing change
- Talent management
Libraries and Digital Scholarship:
As libraries seek to redefine themselves in the 21st century, branching out into content creation, makerspace management, and new partnerships around teaching, learning, and scholarship, the opportunities – and questions – for how libraries will lead the information age can seem overwhelming. What collaborative partnerships, decisions, and technologies should librarians take advantage of in scholarship and research? What strategic innovations can libraries share to help establish a new model of relevancy in colleges and universities? And given the continual pressure to justify budget requests and resource allocations, how can we define and establish new organizational structures and services? This track encourages the sharing of provocative ideas, ongoing projects and plans, and early-stage successes that can help our community begin to answer these provocative questions.
Example topics may include but are not limited to:
- Re-conceiving library spaces and services: new purposes, new partners
- Emerging workflows and best practices in digitization and digital preservation
- Issues surrounding 21st century scholarly communication: copyright, open access
- Supporting faculty in digital scholarship, digital humanities, and research
- Assessment in the Library: demonstrating the library’s contributions
- Innovations in delivery of content: eBooks, ILL, patron-initiated purchasing
- Instruction and Outreach: in information literacy programming and engagement
- Getting to know our users: ethnographic research, usability studies
- When cultures collide: changing perceptions of libraries’ roles and missions
- Integrating discovery tools and library management systems
- Lessons learned working with archives, repositories, and publishing platforms
- Campus and community outreach and partnerships
Policy, Regulations and Security:
Protecting critical data and services in a culture that puts a high value on openness and accessibility presents special challenges. With increasing numbers moving to “the cloud,” and more and more data available on mobile devices, how institutions deal with protecting data that is outside the control of central IT is a monumental challenge faced by every institution, no matter its size or focus. How campuses deal with issues such as the appeal and value of sites such Facebook and Twitter; the growing legal complexities surrounding data protection and personal privacy; and the consumerization of IT and the spiraling use of personal devices for work purposes, is of increasing importance to IT managers and academic administrators. This track seeks to highlight the role that campus policies and regulations, along with the growing technical challenges of securing devices and data, play in our institutions daily work, and to allow institutions to share their thorniest problems, brainstorm some attainable goals, and present examples of policy approaches and accomplishments.
Example topics may include but are not limited to:
- The evolving role of the Information Security Officer
- Policy development and governance models
- Identity and access management policies
- Policies that address emerging technologies
- Policies on cloud services and social media
- Strategies to manage the impact of social media on institutional brand/identity
- e-Commerce challenges such as PCI compliance, mobile merchant accounts
- Information security awareness, education and communication
- Secure guest and/or remote access
- Security audits, penetration testing
- Data classification schemas
- Endpoint security / remediation strategies
- Data encryption tools
- Data and network security risk assessment
- Incident response / computer forensics
- Intrusion detection and prevention
Systems and Solutions:
No matter the size or scale of the institution, user expectations are always high and systems are always assumed to be running efficiently and without any glitches. But keeping systems stable and agile, secure yet accessible, complex but easy to use, is no easy task. How does an IT department implement best practices, provide cutting-edge innovation, and remain cost effective – all at the same time? This track looks to offer examples and ideas from the widest range of institutions – from Ivies to community colleges – that can help us all understand some of the creative and non-traditional solutions to both age-old and new problems in enterprise computing. Whether it’s keeping up with the instantaneous tech expectations of our students, the work-from-everywhere needs of our faculty, or the dashboard-and-data demands of our top-level executives, come and share your stories of experiences and challenges for the benefit of the community.
Example topics may include but are not limited to:
- Green IT
- Virtualization
- Cloud Computing
- Software as a Service
- Identity/Access Management
- Document and Records Management
- Building a PM culture that extends into the business and technical domains
- Unified Communications
- Data De-duplication
- Disaster Recovery/Business Continuity/Backup Strategies
- Administrative/ERP Systems and Integration
- Systems Integration
- SDLCs and software release management
Teaching and Learning:
The changes that have taken place in teaching and learning over the past ten years have been dramatic, and technology has been a motivating force behind many of them. From active and project-based learning to increasingly sophisticated means for engaging students online, the nature of higher ed pedagogy has undergone a true transformation. The richness of these new approaches, methodologies, and techniques are the focus of this track, which seeks to demonstrate the innovation and creativity that so many professors, instructional designers, and tech support professionals are bringing to their classrooms (both physical and virtual). All manner of teaching and learning stories are welcome, as we share in each other’s triumphs – and “back to the drawing board” moments.
The range of questions includes:
- How are digital technologies transforming the enterprise of teaching, learning, and assessment in higher education, both in the classroom and beyond.
- How is the use of technology transforming faculty and student interactions?
- In what ways can the digital landscape support diverse learning styles as well as engage increasingly mobile and continually networked students?
- How can we know if our use of technology improves the learning experience for our students? How can we assess our use of technology?
- What opportunities are on the horizon -- what developments should we be paying attention to?
- How do we put theory into practice?
Example topics may include but are not limited to:
- Strategies for faculty development and support, along with best practices for supporting change, innovation, and emerging technologies.
- Approaches to providing applications and resources for mobile learners.
- Determining the effectiveness of learning space design.
- The evolution of the learning management system.
- Assessment strategies for learning, course improvement, accreditation, technology adoption decision-making, etc.
- Models for project planning, development, and instructional design
- Use of assistive technologies and principles of universal design
We especially encourage co-presentations that include faculty members and students, as well as inter-institutional collaboration.
Transforming the Student Experience:
The world that today’s college students live in is overwhelmingly digital (and increasingly mobile), and offers a wealth of opportunities that’s only begun to be tapped by our institutions. With the potential to transform everything from recruitment and retention to academic success and alumni engagement, these constantly evolving digital technologies may provide the key to a new and more closely connected kind of student/school relationship. This track encourages submissions that share current and completed projects as well as visions for how the personalized world of today’s technology can bring new opportunities to our students and our institutions.
Example topics may include but are not limited to:
- Using mobile technology to make service easier
- Creating one-stop shopping
- Using software or business processes to improve recruitment or retention
- Improving student community experience
- Innovative ways to engage with students (or to keep students engaged with the campus community)
- Leveraging cloud-based solutions as a cost-effective means to enhance the student experience
Miscellaneous: Sessions may include User Group meetings, vendor workshops, series, and sessions targeted at areas beyond IT (e.g. Admissions, Communications and Marketing, etc.)
Professional Development Formats and Modes of Delivery
- One Day Workshops
- Virtual Workshops (generally 1-2 hours in length and use Zoom)
- Unconferences (can be a full day session using a less structured approach/format to learning about a specified topic
- Series (workshops that consist of a group of sessions over a span of time) – e.g. Managers Series)