On behalf of the 131 full-time professionals working in the UTPA Division of Information Technology (IT), welcome to our home on the web. Information Technology in a university is different from IT in any other setting. Besides providing the technology and infrastructure to carry out the University’s strategic mission, we also participate in that mission ourselves. For example, in the past year we brought a high-speed network connection to UTPA that serves the business, educational, and research needs of the University. Everyone benefits from a major infrastructure improvement like that: researchers using supercomputers, students viewing educational videos, and server administrators protecting our systems from a hurricane.
I’m pleased at the part IT has played working collaboratively with other areas on campus to bring new services to the University and to use technology to simplify life and make things easier. For instance, we worked with Environmental Health and Safety and the UTPA Police Department on an emergency notifications system that will allow students, faculty, and staff to receive text messages and other alerts if there is a dangerous condition on campus.
We’ve installed printing stations on campus to free wireless computer users from having to go to a computer lab just to do a printout. And we’re working on a campus mobile support vehicle that will take computer support to where the students are: the Student Union, the Library, and so on. This year, we’re replacing the oldest computers on campus with new, energy-efficient machines that will let faculty and staff work more efficiently while helping the environment at the same time.
We work with the Student Government Association and have semesterly meetings with our Advisory Councils from the Faculty and Staff. During HESTEC, the SGA and IT co-sponsored a Town Hall that let several hundred students talk with Microsoft about careers and technology. Our Advisory Councils give us critical guidance and feedback on how well we’re serving the University and have made some great suggestions. We know IT can only be effective if it is an active and involved member of the University Community.
In the next year we plan to virtualize the Academic Computing Labs, so students can use Lab software from anywhere on the Internet. Rest assured we’re not closing the real-world Labs, but there will be an online option if you don’t want to come to campus. Fewer cars on campus mean less fuel being consumed, which helps your pocketbook and the planet.
As the University journeys to becoming a top-flight organization, Information Technology will be there every step of the way, leveraging our skills and capabilities to help enable the institution to achieve its strategic mission. By staying abreast of the constantly transforming worlds of academia and technology, we will lead and we will serve UTPA: an institution so vitally important to the history and future of South Texas.
Vice President for Information Technology - Bob Lim
