University Celebrates Cross-campus Technology Collaboration: All Schools and Colleges Represented

David Stowers, IT Services

Paige Francis, associate CIO, gives an Achieve IT lapel pin to Devyn Moore, network enterprise systems team lead.

On Aug. 9, the Office of the CIO and IT staff from across campus celebrated the completion of four of the 26 projects planned for the Achieve IT: Excellence in Technology initiative.

The Network Everywhere enterprise technology project was completed, as well as the project workgroups for Classroom Technology Everywhere, Virtual Desktop Everywhere and Service Desk Everywhere.

"These are the first projects delivered by the campus IT team. It signifies major progress on the Achieve IT initiative," said Chris McCoy, chief information officer. "I want to highlight the work of Chris Clanton, Scott Zemke, Chuck Mitchell and Devyn Moore. These projects wouldn't have been completed to this level of quality without their leadership."

The Achieve IT: Network Everywhere project added 996 new wireless access points in 30 academic buildings on campus. The project also included the new UARK Wi-Fi network, which replaced UARK 2G and 5G, making it easier to get online from any device, anywhere on campus.

The Network Everywhere team worked long hours and late nights to design and build wireless backend infrastructure. According to Ryan Moore, network service delivery team lead, "Major kudos should go to Devyn Moore, our network enterprise systems team lead. Devyn worked tirelessly since the Achieve IT project began with meetings, budgeting, network closet surveys, attenuation surveys, designs, workflows and many other tasks building up to the summer deployment.

The three workgroups, which included members from across campus, explored how the University of Arkansas can best share essential services such as classroom technologies, service desk and desktop support, and software distribution and licensing.  

The CIO selected a chair and core members for each workgroup based on their expertise and involvement related to the workgroup's charge. Final recommendations from Achieve IT workgroups will provide direction for forming shared services and teams as described in the workgroup charter, including the characteristics of the service, the principles for operations, and the processes for selecting tools and technologies. 

"The enthusiastic support from campus leadership, including the deans, the provosts, and Tim O'Donnell, the vice chancellor of financial affairs, also contributed mightily to the success of the project," McCoy said. "Finally, the journey of working together as a diverse team is just as important as the destination. The collaboration as 'one team' laid the groundwork for the momentum of the remaining 22 projects."

"The Service Desk workgroup was the first time we've had a collaborative IT project that involved representatives from across campus," added Chuck Mitchell, computer support manager and Service Desk Everywhere workgroup chair. "We started as a very diverse group that didn't see how we could work together, and we brought campus IT together as one team."

Over the next three years, additional shared services workgroups will be established for:

• Software Distribution Anytime
• Software Licensing Everywhere
• Desktop Support Everywhere
• Student Labs Everywhere
• Print Solutions Everywhere

Other project teams in Achieve IT are bringing together infrastructure experts from departments across campus. These project teams are working to improve and strengthen essential infrastructure by rebuilding the server environment for high availability, implementing a new telephone system, and planning for future growth in research and high-performance computing. These and other projects will pave the way for modernizing campus technology and maturing IT processes. 

Find out more about the Achieve IT initiative at campusit.uark.edu.

Network Everywhere:

• Devyn Moore, chair
• Ryan Moore
• Birajan Bista
• Brandon Bitner
• David Boyster
• Michael Davis
• Scott Gardner
• Cody Villar
• Louis Wessels
• Imashi Wijewickrama
• Ashlin Cox
• Porter Avise
• Nile Stephenson

Classroom Technology Workgroup:

• Chris Clanton, chair
• David Stowers
• Mark Morgan
• Martin Bailey
• Ariful Islam
• Terry White
• Jeff Waits
• Phillip Stephens
• Eric Sarquist
• Aaron Jones
• Nathan Powell
• Robert Wheeler
• Eli Hanson
• Luke Gabbard

Virtualization Everywhere:

• Scott Zemke, chair
• Michael Gibbs
• Brian Bopp
• Garn LeBaron
• Jon Kelley
• Will Allred

Service Desk Workgroup:

• Chuck Mitchell, chair
• Brent Phillips
• Martin Bailey
• Aaron Rogers
• Abi Moser
• Bart Cohen
• Cindy Knott
• Daniel Traynham
• David Stowers
• Donnie Blagg
• Eric Gorder
• Eva Owens
• Glen Dunn
• Jeff Thomas
• Lonnie Deavens
• Mark Morgan
• Matthew Rose
• Paul Morstad
• Roy Hatcher
• Sean O'Bryan
• Shelly Walters
• Stacy Crotser
• Travis Lynch
• Vince Capps
• Will Simmons