Tag Archives: UTexas

The Heroes of Holiday Breaks

Thoughts, UTET,

Each year as the holidays approach, our campus becomes quieter. Students head home, faculty and staff enjoy a well-earned break, and the hallways of our buildings are momentarily still. But behind the scenes, something else is happening—our teams are hard at work.

Holiday breaks are a critical time for IT across campus. While many of us take time off to recharge, these dedicated professionals are upgrading systems, performing maintenance, deploying new features, and addressing the work that can’t be done during the busier semesters. They use the quiet of these breaks to carry out essential tasks that keep our digital infrastructure secure, up-to-date, and ready for the return of students, staff, and faculty.

Think about all the technology we rely on every day—the networks that connect us, the systems that enable our research, the learning platforms that bring classes to life. During the semester, these systems must be always on, always accessible. There’s no room for downtime when thousands of people depend on them. That makes holiday breaks the perfect opportunity for IT to do the behind-the-scenes work that ensures everything runs smoothly.

I was invited to the Winter Break IT Maintenance Coordination meeting today and was happy to see that it was a much broader group than just our teams in Enterprise Technology. On the call were many of the College IT directors whose buildings and customers will be directly impacted by all the planned work. At other places I have worked, we did meetings like this each year, but they were mainly for us to coordinate internally. It was a very nice surprise to see our campus-wide colleagues in the meeting giving feedback, taking notes, and sharing ideas.

Teams meeting in progress.

The team shared dozens of projects that they will be engaged in over the break, giving our campus partners the time and space to ask questions and provide feedback. One of the things I like about this meeting is that it levels the playing field in a way that gives all the critical information we need to do our jobs well.

To our IT colleagues: thank you. Thank you for your dedication, for working when others are resting, and for making sure the technology we depend on is reliable and ready. The holiday season may be a time of rest for many, but it’s also a time of incredible effort and teamwork for you. And for that, we are deeply grateful.

So, as you enjoy your break, spare a thought for the people working behind the scenes to make it all possible. Here’s to the IT teams—working through the quiet to support the future.

From Connection to Transformation

AI, Thoughts, ,

If I allow myself to think back a couple of years, the shift happened over the course of that first real year of the pandemic. What started in the spring of 2020, shifted into high gear that summer — those of us who have been leading the charge for the use of technology in teaching and learning had our moment. It wasn’t how we imagined it would arrive, but it happened none the less. Everyone was forced to rapidly adopt technology just to keep the wheels turning. What was amazing was how quickly everyone just did what was needed with a relatively open mind.

The pandemic forced us to implement the world we had been imagining for a couple of decades overnight. In those uncertain times, technology became the lifeline, connecting educators and learners from their homes to virtual classrooms. Tools like Zoom, Teams, and Canvas weren’t just platforms; they were bridges that sustained education when in-person learning was impossible. I’m not sure we got to what we had hoped for all those years, but the need was obvious, and the focus was clear: connection.

In the earliest days of the pandemic, we did some “social listening” across the country and what we learned was that during that first spring semester, students were both terrified of what was happening from a health perspective, but also they were mourning the lack of real world connectedness to get the work of being a student completed.

While we worked to answer questions, how do we ensure students stay engaged, teachers can deliver lessons, and institutions continue functioning in a world suddenly upended? What we really sought to do was build meaningful connections, so everyone felt more supported and hopefully engaged.

Fast forward a few years, and the narrative has shifted. While the need for connection remains real, the emphasis today seems to be shifting toward personal productivity, efficiency, and enhanced learning. The same tools we forced into service to overcome the lack of connection and that kept us afloat are now evolving into catalysts for transformation.

Take artificial intelligence, for example. During the pandemic, technology primarily enabled remote access to education. Today, tools like ChatGPT and Copilot are driving the post pandemic shifts we are watching. They’re not just supporting education—they’re reshaping it. Consider the shift in how meetings are held, content is created, and progress is tracked automatically through AI meeting participants. In 2020, the priority was getting people into virtual rooms. In 2024, faculty and students alike are turning to AI in ways that I am not sure would have been possible without the 18-month technology adoption crash course that the pandemic provided.

We are seeing it in how learning tools are struggling to remain relevant in a world that is becoming increasingly reliant on AI. Video conferencing tools are now paired with real-time collaboration software and AI-powered insights. Classrooms can no longer be just good at organizing students and connecting people; they need to inspire innovation and bring an extra layer of intelligence to the discussion. If these tools are placed into the learning environment in an appropriate way, they become an active participant in the teaching and learning environment. The rooms can take notes, provide additional context, record key thoughts, and be the scribe while active learning can take place. We wouldn’t have gotten to this level of thinking without the adoption efforts and the open-mindedness toward technology that emerged during the pandemic.

The journey from connection to transformation underscores the immense potential of technology to accelerate the transformation of teaching and learning. For someone like me, this is one of the most exciting moments of my career, and I am excited to be here for it.

AI Live Reflection

AI, Events, Thoughts, ,

Reflecting on the AI Live event hosted by the College of Natural Sciences at UT Austin last week, I am struck by the sense of community and collaboration that permeated the event. The gathering was a testament to our collective curiosity and commitment to exploring the vast potential of artificial intelligence within our unique context. I applaud Dean David Vanden Bout, Melissa Taylor, and the entire team that made this event a true celebration to cap off the Year of AI at UT.

One of the most memorable moments for me was witnessing the enthusiasm of the students. During Sal Kahn, founder of Kahn Academy, spoke the excitement was palpable as students waited in the hall to get in. It is a reminder of the thirst for knowledge and the drive to be part of discussions that will define our future. It was inspiring to see such a diverse group of individuals come together, united by a shared interest in AI and its implications. I loved his personal reflection on his journey to bring knowledge to everyone, everywhere. It was a reminder of the power of the Internet and its ability to create impact at scale.

Sal Kahn speaking.

The event itself was a tapestry of learning opportunities, spanning various tracks from research to health to ethics. It was a celebration of how AI intersects with different facets of our lives and how it can be harnessed to address complex challenges. The sessions were not just informative but also deeply engaging, sparking conversations that extended beyond the scheduled times.

What stood out to me was the collaborative spirit that defined the event. It wasn’t just about the presentations or the panels; it was about the interactions and the shared insights. The AI Live event was a microcosm of what we strive for in our roles – fostering an environment where innovation thrives through collaboration and where every voice can contribute to the dialogue.

Looking back, I am reminded of the importance of creating spaces where ideas can flourish and where the community can come together to explore new frontiers. It really reminded me of the early days of my career and the events we held at Penn State. Those small gatherings that turned into the TLT Symposium where we would routinely host over 500 faculty and staff to discuss innovations in the use of technology to support teaching and learning is what specifically comes to mind. The AI Live event, like the TLT events from PSU, was more than just a symposium; it was a celebration of our collective potential and a glimpse into the future we are building together. It reinforced my belief in the power of community and the incredible things we can achieve when we come together with a shared purpose.

AI Platforms, Products, and Features

AI, Thoughts, ,

Bear with me, I am going to just do some outloud thinking. I want to make sure I get my thoughts down on leveling the vocabulary around the AI explosions happening around us. What are the differences between AI platforms, AI products, and AI features and why each has a critical role in our strategy.

I believe in an enterprise as large and diverse as ours, an AI platform will provide the foundation. In my mind, platforms are flexible, scalable, and built for creating custom solutions. They give us the ability to develop, integrate, and innovate on top of a common framework. I believe that investing in a campus-wide AI platform that serves as the bedrock for much of what we’re doing across research, teaching, and operations is the right thing to do. It’s the engine that drives AI innovation and allows the community to participate at scale to create solutions tailored to unique needs.

Visual representation of the UT.AI platform.

Then there are AI products like M365 Copilot. Copilot enhances collaboration, improves workflow, and helps us get more out of the underlying Microsoft 365 platform we’ve already embraced. An AI product is standalone, one that fits into a larger AI strategy. It exists above or adjacent to our platform, enhancing daily operations while complementing the custom AI solutions we’re building.

Finally, there are AI features like Apple Intelligence, which come baked into devices like your iPhone. These are the quiet, background AI capabilities that make your user experience more intuitive and personalized. But by themselves, they’re limited in scope—enhancing specific tasks rather than transforming entire workflows.

The strategy that I am envisioning begins with a platform approach. It gives us the power to drive true innovation and adoption by the community. Providing a common platform does not preclude us from also investing in AI products like M365 Copilot, bringing in vertical solutions that can serve parts of the university. The platform is our foundation for building and adapting AI to meet the diverse needs of our students, faculty, and staff. By leveraging one platform at this level, it allows us the greatest chance to innovate, grow our internal expertise, and control our long-term success.

Advancing the AI Revolution: What’s Next?

AI, Thoughts,

For the last several years, I have tried not to be in the business of chasing trends. My early days leading ed tech organizations, I was always looking to adopt the next digital promise — the use of the internet, the new world that Web 2.0 gave us, mobility, tablets, blah. I’ve done a lot of thinking about the impact of all that evangelism and much of it isn’t immediately measurable. Disruptive technology is often an investment in future returns, but it requires playing a longer game. With AI, I’m not sure if that holds true — the returns may be much more immediate.

To me, that nudges me toward thinking more about the diffusion of AI to as diverse of a population as possible across campus. In today’s world, I can’t think of another digital investment one could make to immediately advance human potential holistically. Can you?

Three principles emerge in my mind: shrinking the digital divide, scaling AI expertise, and building strategic partnerships that fuel innovation.

  1. Shrinking the Digital Divide: AI has the potential to change everything, but only if we make it accessible. Providing AI tools to all members of the community will foster creativity at scale, from every possible perspective.
  2. Scaling AI Expertise: We are a community that’s engaged, curious, and ready to make change. Our advantage is that community. We should be scaling the expertise that’s already here and providing thought leadership across campus.
  3. Building Strategic AI Partnerships: I know that what we plan to do will require partnerships and that is how I am approaching these opportunities. I believe as the ways that we operate will only improve by leveraging this moment to modernize operations and infrastructure.

Here we are back to the start of something new. We get to build it from the ground up. That’s pretty exciting.