Spring 2024 Conference

All Systems  Go

The Spring 2024 IT Professionals Forum was presented on June 5 and 6, 2024.

Access Rights Management (ARM): Building a new AITS/DS security application

The Security Application Implementation project team is working to create one easy-to-use access management system that efficiently facilitates requests, approvals, provisioning, certifications, and governance related to University of Illinois enterprise systems. In this session we will tell the story of how this project came to be, share goals we aim ...

Achieving Immersion in Media Creation and Best Practices for Creating Immersive Media(VR/AR/MR)

Immersive Media Content captivates multiple senses, integrating sight, sound, touch, and sometimes smell. Examples include 360-degree media, Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR), and Mixed Reality (MR) applications. Immersive media content is used in wide range of application across various industries. Effective immersive content engenders a convincing experience, enveloping users ...

Adventures in “de-Googled” Android: The Pros and Cons of LineageOS and /e/OS

Do you think new phones are too expensive and/or too big? Extend your current cell phone's lifespan or revive a small-screen phone from the past with LineageOS, a volunteer-supported version of Android. I'll demonstrate how I installed Android 14 on a Google Pixel 3. I'll share my experience choosing a ...

Agile Fusion: Integrating Software Development and Business Process Improvement

Learn how continuous process improvement can be applied in an Agile software development work environment. Ginger Hundgen, Lead Business Process Improvement Analyst for Tech Services, will share core lessons from her training as a Six Sigma certified Process Improvement Specialist and Andy Gherna, Manager of Software Development for Tech Services ...

All Packets Go: Campus Network Updates

All systems are go on the new campus core (backbone) network that was refreshed over the last year. We will review that update and what interesting things it enables, as well as provide updates on WiFi and other things going on in networking. Presented by Ben Barkin-Wilkins, Technology Services; Brad ...

All Systems Secure: Navigating AI Trends

Join us for an in-depth exploration of the evolving landscape of artificial intelligence (AI) and its impact on Cybersecurity: Governance, Risk, and Compliance (GRC). Delve into AI trends in cybersecurity and the associated risks posed by emerging AI technologies. Explore governance, including guardrails and decision support mechanisms, and learn how ...

An Introduction to Axonius

The Axonius Platform is the system of record for all digital infrastructure to let IT and security teams understand all assets, their relationships, and business-level context. In this presentation, we will be going over the basics of Axonius and how IT Pros can utilize this tool. Presented by Richard Donovan, ...

Apple at Illinois Spring Update

Spring update on macOS, iOS and AppleTV at Illinois. Keith Mountin, our campus Apple System Engineer, will be on hand to answer questions. Presented by: Paul Roberts, Technology Services; Keith Mountin, Apple What you will learn: What's new with Apple products and how to integrate them into campus. Track: Service/Unit ...

Automated Software Testing with PyTest

How do you determine that the software you develop 'works'? Feeling bogged down by manually poking at your code from every angle until you're satisfied that it won't break in production? Or maybe (like many of us) you occasionally find yourself skipping the monotony by deploying software sans testing, just ...

AV in the classroom update from Technology Services

Technology Services has recently updated multiple classrooms to support Hy-Flex learning, so we will update campus on these rooms. In addition, we will also provide brief updates on the recent projects to establish standards and documentation for microphone RF frequencies on campus, as well as network multicasting as it relates ...

Azure Cloud: Deploy .NET Core Apps to Azure App Services

In this hands-on workshop we will walk you through deploying a .NET Core application to modern Azure App services (Platform-as-a-Service). Our workshop will include a demo of how to build the necessary infrastructure components in Azure as well as how to deploy a sample .NET Core App "Hello World". In ...

Bringing music to life: Accessible Music Remediation with SharpEye2 and Lime

Creating accessible sheet music for individuals using assistive technologies can be a real stumbling block for Disability Specialists more used to providing text files to their students who are blind/low vision. Bring your own laptop and work alongside the presenters in this hands-on workshop. Participants will learn a functional workflow ...

Circuit Connections: A Networking Mixer (for that other kind of Networking)

Join us for an engaging and interactive networking experience! In this 'speed-dating' style workshop, participants will have the opportunity to connect with peers, share insights, and build valuable professional relationships in a fun and dynamic atmosphere. Whether you're looking to expand your professional network, explore potential collaborations, or simply exchange ...

Cloud Enablement: From Maintaining Platforms to Driving Innovation

Join the Cloud Enablement team on a journey from operations to innovation as we showcase our role in empowering the University of Illinois community through cloud computing. Discover how we manage Google Cloud, Microsoft Azure, and Amazon AWS platforms, assist users, and collaborate with others to explore options for modernizing ...

Cybersecurity Improvement Initiative (CII): What you need to know for 2024/2025.

The Cybersecurity Improvement Initiative (CII) is a multi-year effort supported by Provost, Deans, and CIO to enroll 100% of eligible endpoints into endpoint management and Crowdstrike. Through this effort we will be able to work together to set a baseline secure standard on university owned systems and enhance overall security ...

Data Analytics from Scratch at Gies College of Business

Established in July 2022, Gies College's Data Strategy, Analytics, and Reporting (DSAR) unit was charged with serving the College's growing data needs. Given the opportunity to design its model from the ground up, we implemented a consultant + specialist model, with a centralized data workflow and a defined system of ...

Free Advanced Computing Solutions from Illinois Computes

We will be updating everyone on Illinois Computes program. It's a great way for researchers to get access to advanced computing and storage resources, as well as a way to get help: Managing data from capture to cleaning to publication Analysis facilities where their group can log in and immediately ...

Getting Started with Google Analytics on WordPress

Been meaning to get around to setting up Google Analytics on PIE or another WordPress site, but intimidated by the hill to climb? Join the ad-hoc Google Analytics team for a hands-on lesson in how to start from square 1 and end up with a fully set up Google Analytics ...

Have your Canvas and Moodle Too: Leveraging the Power of LTI

In Summer 2023, the College of LAS announced that all LAS courses must be hosted on the Canvas learning management system by FA24. After two decades of using Moodle, many faculty members expressed concern about the future of their course materials. To aid Moodle users in this transition, ATLAS developed ...

Human Centered Design In Information Technology: It’s Not Just For UX Professionals

Join us for an overview of Human Centered Design and how we can use this ideology and it's processes to bring design thinking into everyday IT activities. Human Centered Design focuses on empathy and iteration to make user needs and goals understood, visible, and the driving force behind design and ...

Kaltura/Media Space update from Technology Services

Technology Services has been working on upgrading the current Kaltura media player to version 7, which will provide improved stability, security, and browser compatibility--as well as offer increased customization options, a better media playback experience with faster loading and less buffering, and additional accessibility compliance options. Technology Services has also ...

Launching into Mediawiki: Reflections on migrating away from Confluence

Wiki migrations are complex undertakings that impact knowledge sharing, collaboration, and organizational culture. In this session, we will share experiences and insights gained while migrating away from the campus Confluence wiki environment and onto the open-source and self-supported Mediawiki platform. Our goal is to share an alternative solution, challenges faced, ...

Libraries, Identity, and Access Management. A Practicum

This presentation will cover my practicum with the University of Illinois Library Systems to review and identify how IAM was handled in their Digital Repositories. When creating repositories or other applications, it is important to consider how the application or service will handle the users and administrator's identities and how ...

Lunch and Social

Come hang out with IT friends and learn about a wild assortment of things ranging from soundproofing paint to the professional burning of Kool-aid to who plays ukulele in their spare time! Zoom link ...

Managing Change in Higher Education: A New Era with Artificial Intelligence

Our presentation delves into the significant influence of Artificial Intelligence (AI) within the sphere of higher education. We will highlight AI's pivotal role in revolutionizing educational practices and outcomes, with a keen focus on its capacity to augment administrative tasks. The conversation will extend to Trustworthy AI, addressing the risks ...

Meet Cybersecurity – Birds of a Feather

Cybersecurity continues to evolve and change. We have new threats, new regulations, and new risks every day. The team tasked with providing both reactive and proactive cybersecurity support to the university seeks to be more engaged with our community of fellow IT professionals. Cybersecurity is a shared responsibility. In this ...

Navigating the New DesignPLUS Sidebar: A Beginners Guide

The New DesignPLUS Sidebar is a powerful tool available in Canvas designed to elevate course design and content creation. In the last year, the sidebar has an available upgrade (that you can opt into now!) that provides an improved interface and additional functionality to help you quickly create engaging and ...

Opening Ceremonies

8:45 - 9:00 - Greg Gulick Service Excellence Award 9:00 - 9:45 - Keynote (Chris Tidrick) The Greg Gulick Service Excellence Award is awarded annually to two IT professionals at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. The award honors campus IT professionals who exemplify Greg's values and commitment to collaboration and ...

Operational Excellence – Project Management Best Practices

As an integral part of Operational Excellence, the Service Excellence team created a comprehensive best practices document. This resource applies universally to project management endeavors. During this session, we will explore essential best practices, address common trouble areas, and equip participants with practical tools for successful project management. Together, let's ...

Optimizing Higher Education: Executing Data Projects for Operational Excellence

In this presentation we will provide a high-level overview of the various projects that are underway, have recently been completed and are on the horizon for the Strategic Project Management Office's Data program that align with the campus-wide Operational Excellence initiative.This presentation will consist of a panel of presenters that ...

Partnering with a Vendor to Improve Accessibility

Higher-ed institutions rely on third-party software for all sorts of necessary functions, but the vendors developing that software don't often prioritize accessibility. In my role as Senior Cybersecurity Training Specialist, I've worked with the University of Illinois' cybersecurity training vendor, Proofpoint, to help them make their training modules and platform ...

Power Up with Power Automate

Unlock the power of automation and boost your productivity with Power Automate! This beginner-friendly workshop will introduce you to the fundamentals of Power Automate, guiding you through hands-on activities to create your first Power Automate flows. You'll learn to integrate Power Automate with popular applications and services, automate common tasks ...

Privacy Team’s Power Hour for IT Pros!

In today's digital landscape, privacy and data protection are paramount concerns for businesses and individuals alike. As IT professionals, understanding the latest developments in privacy services is crucial to maintaining compliance and safeguarding sensitive information. This presentation aims to provide an overview of the Privacy Team services and highlight recent ...

Saying Goodbye is Never Easy

Information Technology "better" practices -- Retention Guidelines for Higher Education Data and IT artifacts -- When to say When: Applying Disposition practices to Data and the artifacts produced by daily business processes and those related to related IT . Focusing on retention and disposition guidance for various storage utilities (TEAMS, ...

Spring 2024 Keynote Address

8:45 - 9:00 - Greg Gulick Service Excellence Award 9:00 - 9:45 - Keynote (Chris Tidrick) The Greg Gulick Service Excellence Award is awarded annually to two IT professionals at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. The award honors campus IT professionals who exemplify Greg's values and commitment to collaboration and ...

Tracking Accessibility: Four New Accessibility and UDL Certificates

This session will introduce four new CITL certificate programs focused on accessibility and UDL: Accessible Course Design, Accessible Document Design, Accessible Multimedia Design, and Foundations of UDL. Presenters will discuss major topics covered in each of the tracks and the badging system underpinning them. There will be ample time set ...

Vulnerability Management

This presentation offers a look at a few key features of Qualys, the University Vulnerability Management tool, which should provide IT Pros with practical insights in how to not only effectively manage vulnerabilities on their assets, but also identify those vulnerabilities which impose the largest risk. We'll highlight common challenges ...

Wireless Microphone spectrum management

For those of us managing wireless microphones for classroom use, managing wireless spectrum can be daunting, but there are some basic considerations that can make all of our lives easier. I will discuss some of the key stumbling blocks to setting up wireless mics, and the common problems that are ...

Spring 2024 Speakers

Aaron O’Banion

Sr Software Developer, IT Partners @ Gies …

Alan Bilansky

Senior Application Services Specialist, Technology Services …

Alex Cordain

Office Support Specialist, DRES …

Amy Edwards

Assistant Provost and Director of Division of Management Information, DMI …

Andy Gherna

Manager of Software Development, Technology Services …

Andy Weaver

Business Analyst, OVCAO SPMO …

Ben Barkin-Wilkins

Lead Network Engineer, Technology Services …

Ben Galewsky

Solutions Architect, NCSA …

Beth McCarter

Assistant Director TAM, AITS System Office …

Brad McDuffie

Lead Network Engineer, Technology Services …

Brandon Dohman

Adjunct Lecturer, Siebel Center for Design …

Brendan Trauth

IT Support Associate, Technology Services Help Desk …

Bryan Jonker

Senior Web Developer, College of Education …

Calvin Shirley

Network Engineer, Technology Services …

Chris Tidrick

Chief Information Officer and Senior Director, IT Partners, Gies College of Business …

Christy Blew

Disability Specialist, DRES …

Cindy McKendall

Senior Cybersecurity Training Specialist, Technology Services …

Colin Ruud

Associate Director, Data Strategy and Analytics, IT Partners, Gies College of Business …

Damian Behymer

IT Specialist, Library IT …

Dan Carani

IT Technical Associate, Tech Services Help Desk …

Dan Dalpiaz

Senior Web Application Developer, Library IT …

Dan Ogwal

Cybersecurity Risk Analyst, Tech Services …

Dave Mussulman

Teaching Faculty, School of Information Sciences …

David Wheeler

Technical Program Manager, NCSA …

Dejan Trencevski

IT Solutions Architect, IT Partners @ Gies …

Dena Strong

Lead User Experience Design Specialist, Technology Services …

Eric Frahm

Manager, Internet Communications Team, Technology Services …

Erica Ohman

IAM Specialist, IAMU …

Geet Verma

Senior Cloud Infrastructure Specialist, Technology Services As a member of the Cloud Enablement team within Technology Services, Geet serves as …

Ginger Hundgen

Lead Business Process Improvement Analyst, Technology Services …

Gosha Nikiforov

ATLAS …

Heidi Gharst

Enterprise Managed Systems & Services, Tech Services …

Howell Dean

Managing Director, Deloitte …

James Hamilton

Swanlund IT Services …

Jamie Stadnik

Software Developer, Technology Services …

Jeffrey Fox

Chief Information Officer, Veterinary Medicine …

Jesse Marsh

Cybersecurity Risk Analyst, Technology Services …

Kasy Spence

Cloud Infrastructure Specialist, Technology Services …

Katie Lackermann

Lead Cybersecurity Engineer, Technology Services …

Keith Mountin

Systems Engineer Manager, Apple …

Killivalavan Solai

Digital Art Director, Center for Innovation in Teaching and Learning …

Krista DeLeeuw

Data Analyst, IT Partners, Gies College of Business …

Lauren Gray

Data Analyst, IT Partners, Gies College of Business …

Leslie Sherman

Assistant Director of Application Development, College of Education …

Liam Moran

ATLAS …

Lindsey Sharp

Senior eLearning Specialist, Technology Services …

Liz Shallenberger

User Experience Design Specialist, Tech Services …

Lori Lane

UDL Specialist, CITL …

Luane Mayorga

Assistant Chancellor for Strategic Programs and Partnerships, IHR …

Marc Thompson

Asst. Dir. Teaching & Learning Experiences, CITL …

Mark Wenneborg

Lead Cybersecurity Engineer, Technology Services …

Matthew Drain

Project Manager, Technology Services …

Maude Yacapsin

UDL Specialist, CITL …

Megean Osuchowski

Help Desk Coordinator, Library IT …

Mendi Drayton

Senior Data Breach and Incident Analyst, Tech Services …

Michael Curtin

Innovation Coordinator, Campus Research IT …

Pat Schlehuber

Assistant Director – Assurance, AITS System Office …

Paul Roberts

Senior Endpoint Specialist, Technology Services …

Prabha Manda

Manager, CSOC, IPC …

Rachel Martiniak

Senior eLearning Specialist, Technology Services …

Rebecca McNaught

Executive Director for Project Management and Business Service Quality, Strategic Project Management Office …

Riana Beachy-Hasenick

Educational Technology Specialist, ATLAS …

Richard (Rich) Gegg

Records and Information Management …

Richard Donovan

Cybersecurity Engineer, Privacy and Security, Tech Services …

Ryan Ladd

Assoc. Director of IT Strategic Planning and Portfolio Management, Office of the CIO, Technology Services …

Sarah Follmer

Associate Data Analyst, Office of the Chief Information Officer …

Scott Cimarusti

Manager, Enterprise Teaching and Learning Technologies, Tech Services …

Sheena Bishop

Sr. Privacy Analyst, Privacy Team, Office of the Chief Information Officer …

Stephen Collette

Manager, Privacy Operations, Tech Services …

Steven Rodela

Cybersecurity Analyst, Technology Services …

Tanya Williamson

SR. Project Coordinator, AITS System Office …

Taylor Judd

Assistant Director, Cybersecurity Operations and Engineering, Technology Services …

Tim Morgan

Lead Cloud Infrastructure Specialist, Technology Services …

Tony Donatelli

Spectrum management for wireless microphones, A/V …

Uros Marjanovic

Lead Network Engineer, Technology Services …

Xiao (Helen) Zhou

Assistant Director of IT Accessibility, UIC, Technology Solutions …

Zachary Schnepp

Senior IT Specialist, Swanlund …

Zane Budnovich

Cybersecurity Risk Analyst, Tech Services …
Spring 2024 Committee Members
  • Prijo Andrews, Technology Services
  • Travis Ashmore, Engineering IT Shared Services
  • Rob Bennett, Center for Innovation in Teaching & Learning
  • Christy Blew, Disability Resources and Educational Services
  • Monica Campbell, College of Applied Health Sciences
  • Michael Cervone,Technology Services
  • Em Charny, Center for Innovation in Teaching & Learning
  • Nikkole Duda, Facilities and Services
  • Debbie Fligor. Technology Services
  • Ann Fredricksen, Disability Resources and Educational Services
  • Ginger Hundgen, Chair, Technology Services
  • Becky Kammin, IT Partners Gies Business
  • Lorenzo Kindle, Administration Information Technology Services
  • Matt Macomber, Administration Information Technology Services
  • Mark McCarthy, Administration Information Technology Services
  • Luke Mesenbring, Administration Information Technology Services
  • Liam Moran, Center for Innovation in Teaching & Learning
  • Joey Morton, Student Affairs Technology
  • Priyanka Pradeep, Technology Services
  • Trent Sanford, Technology Services
  • Joe Sebright, Technology Services
  • Amrita Sehrawat, Technology Services
  • Lindsey Sharp, Technology Services
  • Jyotika Sirohi, Technology Services
  • Lauren Stream,Technology Services
  • Dena Strong, Technology Services
  • Katy Thompson, Office of Strategic Project Management
  • Ashley Valentijn, Vice Chair, Technology Services
Spring 2024 Sponsors
CDWG: People who Get It
Cohesity Logo
ScreenBeam Logo
SHCI Logo
Office of the Chief Information Officer

  • CDW
  • Gies at IT Partners
  • Student Affairs (SA)
  • Pier Group
  • AITS
  • DRES
  • Cohesity
  • ScreenBeam
  • SHCI
  • Tech Services