It's a New Day at UB

There is a tremendous amount of pride in UB. Our faculty and staff are dedicated to giving our students the tools and knowledge they need to succeed in their college career and beyond. Information technology plays a vital role in these efforts and I look forward to playing a collaborative part with colleagues across the campuses.

Since joining UB late last fall, I’ve conducted a listening tour across the institution. It’s clear from speaking with the Deans, Vice Presidents, Vice Provosts, Faculty and Students that everyone is generally pleased with UBIT services and support. We’ve built a strong foundation on which to move the UB 2020 agenda forward.

I would like to share three of the major insights I’ve gained from this listening tour:

1. The staff involved with providing IT services and support across the institution are highly dedicated. All faculty, students and administration appreciate their expertise and accomplishments.
2. UBIT (all campus) is poised and anxious to collaborate and build upon the great IT foundation to enhance IT services for instruction.
3. There is a strong desire for enhanced wireless service and improved classroom technologies (local, blended and distance).

From an IT perspective, UB must always present itself like an AAU (Association of American Universities) school. By providing and maintaining the latest technologies, we give faculty and researchers the greatest chance to excel and make a difference. Robust, reliable, and secure network and computing infrastructure are examples of services critical for ensuring AAU-level competitiveness.

UBIT is committed to working together. We have renewed focus on strengthening our organization to act and be recognized as One UBIT.

UBIT accepts two key challenges ahead of us:

• We must understand and explain emerging technology trends to the campus and collaboratively implement these opportunities efficiently and effectively.
• UBIT is working hard to remove barriers: we’re here to work openly across the institution to find the best solutions for the UB community.

On behalf of UBIT, I welcome input, suggestions and collaboration in addressing these challenges. The purpose of this blog will be to enrich the dialog between and among interested UB members as we work together to achieve this vision.

Thank you,

J. Brice Bible
Vice President and Chief Information Officer