Information Technology and Services

Staff Milestones
Stephen Rieks, Associate Director - 15 years
Phyllis Campbell, Telephone Operator - 10 years
Carl Ivan Mahar, Communications Technician - 30 years
Jose Camacho, Computer Consultant I - 10 years
Elizabeth  Moore, Instructional Technology Consultant - 5 years

Staff News
Please welcome Nolan Ray as a new IT Analyst for Online Platforms. Nolan comes to ITS from right here at Syracuse University where he studied aerospace engineering as an undergraduate in the L.C. Smith College of Engineering and Computer Science. For the last year and a half he has been working as a student consultant in ITS’s Spiders web development group run by Jonathan Chowdhury, to whom he will continue to report. Nolan enjoys programming for the Arduino and other open-source embedded platforms in his free time. His primary focus will be on maintaining the SharePoint and Adobe Connect Pro platforms. He will be located in CST 1-205 and can be reached at ntray@syr.edu and (315) 744-4514.

Trudi Porter has been promoted to Director, Enterprise Application Systems. Her new role will expand her area of responsibility beyond enterprise application development to also include enterprise business analysis, enterprise technology support, and OnBase system support.  In March Trudi celebrated her 16-year anniversary at SU, a career that has included roles as a DBA, Manager of the Enterprise Support and Security Team, and Manager of the Enterprise Development Team. Through those role changes Trudi has demonstrated an outstanding ability to work with new customer groups, learn new business processes, and help lead large system upgrade projects.  You can congratulate Trudi at tporter@syr.edu and x1815.

Peter Giovinazzo has been promoted to Manager, Enterprise Application Systems and in his new role will be adding the oversight of the PeopleSoft Financials development efforts to his existing responsibilities for enterprise application security, scheduling and ancillary system support. May marked Peter’s 12-year anniversary at SU, a span that has highlighted Peter as an outstanding enterprise security analyst and supervisor.  While this will be Peter’s first experience leading enterprise development efforts at SU, he brings those skills with him from previous career experience. Peter will receive your best wishes at pgiovina@syr.edu and x3941.

IT Professional Development
ITS staff on the cutting edge of technology

Conferences and Forums

Susan Watts and Glenda Ranallo attended the second annual TeamDynamix User Group Meeting hosted by the TeamDynamix Advisory Council (TAC) May 16-18, at McGill University in Montreal,  Canada. Due to an unplanned series of events, Glenda ended up acting as the chair for the conference. Susan served as a panelist on a discussion entitled “Implementation & Training Strategies” and talked about what we’ve done here in terms of our Quick Guides & training.  Both were also involved in the TeamDynamix (TD) segmentation discussion that focused on an enhancement (requested by SU and others) to TD wherein different users can put projects into TD that other users can’t see.

Dawn Havill attended Confluence training and the Atlassian Summit conference in San Francisco, May 30 – June 1. The conference and exhibiting vendors focused on Confluence (the software behind answers.syr.edu) and JIRA (the software used for Orange Tracker), and the numerous plugins available for the two products. Attendees included corporate and educational users of Confluence and JIRA from around the world. Networking with other users, comparing notes on installations and configurations, and hearing how other organizations are using JIRA and Confluence was as educational as the sessions and training, according to Dawn. She said one of the most interesting speakers was Jeff Ma, a member of a blackjack team comprised, he said, of “MIT nerds.” His team used math and team work to beat the odds playing 21 at several casinos and their adventures were the basis of the book “Bringing Down the House” and the movie “21.”  Jeff is now part of a company that is producing a JIRA plugin on analytics.   

Publications

Lee Badman has both hands on the wheel as a blogger for Network Computing.

IT Out and About
Connecting with the campus and beyond

Andy Clark says “Thanks to those who voted for me to again serve in the University Senate. I was successful and will serve both as a University Senator and a member of the Senate Committee on the Library.”  Congrats, Andy!

David Jasper, of the Technical Services Group for the Division of Student Affairs, was recently elected Vice President of the Board of Directors for the Technology Alliance of Central New York (TACNY), est. 1903. In addition, David was appointed Chair of TACNY’s Technical Societies Council (TSC) for the greater CNY region. David was elected to the Board of Directors after over half a decade of service and is well known as “The Rocketman” through his involvement with the annual CNY Rocket Challenge as the event announcer. The CNY Rocket Challenge is held at SU’s Skytop fields each summer for middle and high school competitors across the region. David is enthusiastically involved with several outreach programs that engage youth in fun science and engineering oriented programs to increase their interest in these fields as they explore careers. “I believe that encouraging our youth to think critically, using innovative approaches, while mixing in the fun activities will help interest individuals to explore the worlds of Science and Engineering,” said David, “These outreach programs help expose kids to Science and Engineering as viable career options. I hope the participants will go on from these experiences to eventually become the creators and innovators for our future.”  David can be reached at dajasper@syr.edu and x1574.

Rich Pitzeruse of ITS’s Academic Applications and Service Centers group did a presentation during Spring Reception for 34 incoming students who are part of the Posse Foundation.  SU partnered with the Posse Foundation to bring students who have demonstrated high academic and leadership potential to campus this Fall from Atlanta, Miami, and Los Angeles. All of these students went through a very selective nomination and application process.  Each city has its own "posse" and the students meet with this group once a week until August to develop a support network for each other once they arrive in Syracuse. Rich’s presentation covered a variety of topics for students, including NetIDs, SUmail and numerous ITS services.

Kick up your heels! Dennis Punch’s country band Kickin’ in the Sticks was recently selected to open for national recording artists Steel Magnolia and Gretchen Wilson at the NY CountryJam in Bouckville, NY on July 13.  Check out the Friday Lineup!