University of Oregon
IT Connections

Spring 2009 contents:




 Don Harrisquote from the cio
 

Don Harris
CIO, University of Oregon
  Living for the Moment

As a faculty member I’ve always enjoyed a great sense of satisfaction when I see students discover something new, make a connection between material in different courses, or take their understanding of course material to a deeper level. These moments sometimes come in classes, but are often realized while students are working with their peers on special projects, or with information technology resources that allow for innovation and discovery.

The same can be said for involvement in research work. We live for the moments when we realize that we are exploring something that no one else has examined. In those times we are energized to press on with our work and also to share our findings with colleagues and expand the knowledge base for our discipline. For those engaged in graduate education there is also the satisfaction of seeing students have this experience, either during their course of study at the university or in their professional career.

With most of my time in administ-ration at this point in my career, living for the moment has taken on a new meaning. Like many who work in an academic support role we live our lives vicariously through the work of faculty and students. In this issue of IT Connections we are introduced to several individuals who are using information technology so that we can be inspired by their work.

Paul Swangard, who recently won an innovative technology grant from the Northwest Academic Computing Consortium, shares a little about the work he is doing with simulation games in sports management. We are introduced to several faculty and students who took part in the Collaboration Center Symposium and Open House last November. And we are given a quick review of a regional programming competition that took place in the Information Services lab in the EMU. In each of these instances there were many “moments” for faculty and students as they made use of information technology resources for discovery, innovation, and communication with others.

The “.edu Tech Roundup” provides many other examples of our colleagues at other universities making use of information technology resources and finding their own “moments” in their teaching?/learning and research work. I hope that in exploring this section you will make use of the Internet addresses given and take time to explore these sites further.

At the time of this writing the university, like all of higher education, is dealing with difficult times due to the downturn in the world economy. Yet despite these difficult times it is exciting to see our faculty and students using information technology resources to create their special teaching??/learning and research “moments.” I for one am also thankful that they share these with us, and allow us to support them in their academic work. These are the moments that those who provide academic support live for.

Sincerely,

Don Harris
VP for Information Services and CIO
cio@uoregon.edu

 

  
 

 

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