I would like to extend warm wishes to you from all of us at IS&T. We remain committed to our mission of providing cutting-edge technology solutions and superior customer services in support of the University’s Strategic Plan, our path to Greatness, and to meet the curricular, creative, and scholarly needs of the Chapman University community.

As the Fall 2023 semester progresses, IS&T has partnered with our colleagues across campus to make progress on the university’s goal of organizational effectiveness. We have several collaborative projects focused on improving processes for students, with a particular focus on streamlining registration and advising. We are also providing additional data and dashboards to support decision-making in the oversight of Research and Graduates Studies.

At IS&T, excellent customer service is a point of pride for us. This year, we have leveraged two recently implemented tools, Jira and PantherBot, to continue improving in this area, expanding the use of both into new areas. PantherBot’s knowledgebase contains over 3,000 responses, and since its introduction, it has had over 15,000 conversations with users and answered nearly 40,000 questions.

We continue to enhance the effectiveness of Canvas to support faculty and students, adding functionality such as Atomic Search and NearPod and integrating PantherBot directly into the Canvas learning management system.

Many of these tools take advantage of AI technologies. We are partnering across campus to ensure that the university takes advantage of these exciting new technologies in a responsible manner. Please visit the AI Hub to learn more.

We’ve also upgraded classroom audio-visual systems over the summer, including the Film School. In partnership with Campus Planning and Facilities, we completely redesigned LLB17, a computer classroom, including new furniture for student collaboration and a new high-quality projection screen.

Finally, we are delighted to welcome our new CISO, Keith Barros. Keith joined us in August, bringing over 25 years of experience working in Information Security, more recently as the CISO at Seton Hall University. Keith and I will partner to keep the university safe in the face of new threats to our environment, protecting the critical business of the university.

 

Warm regards,

Helen Norris