The Student Newspaper of Saint Joseph’s University
Volume XCV | Est. 1929 | www.hawkhillnews.com
Sept. 14, 2016
Office of Information Technology restructures Layoffs force changes within department SAM HENRY ’19 Assistant News Editor This past summer, the Saint Joseph’s University Office of Information Technology worked to restructure their department after being affected by the second round of layoffs. Eleven positions were eliminated in technology support roles, including five positions from central IT. Currently there are 53 staff members in IT. “As we were looking at a reduced work force, I began to think beyond the boundaries of IT and ways in which we could align differently,” said Francis J. DiSanti, the chief information officer of IT. In the restructuring process, DiSanti mainly focused on eliminating overlapping services and centralizing IT services. “It was looking across the organization to say, ‘OK, we used to do it this way, now we are going to do it differently,’” Disanti said. “But in doing it differently, it’s not going to be less than what we had done before, it’s just going to be different. I think that is an essential piece of what we did, is to say with less people, you have to think
differently about the way in which you are delivering service.” Some of the major jobs IT is tasked with are Blackboard support, making sure classroom technology is functioning properly, and supporting initiatives across the university, including the iPad initiative. “On the IT side, we support them [iPads] to make sure they can plug into classroom technology, so they can get their Apple T.V. to work and their iPad exercises and things like that to work,” DiSanti said. Though the staff in IT has been decreased, these services continue to run successfully. An immediate goal of the restructuring was to ensure that students and staff were not affected by the changes and to keep services running as they had in the past, DiSanti explained. “Over the summer there was a set of seven transition teams focused on various services that we offer,” Disanti said. “Those transition teams met to ensure that there was no break in service, that things like
Left to right: Richard Trench, Zachary McKenna, ’18, Daniel Ryan, ’18. (Photo by Joey Toczylowski ’19)
Blackboard, classroom support, and hardware and software support-that those services would be continued to be offered at the same levels that they had before.” One example of how these services are maintained is shown in how the department utilizes their student workers. The IT department trains student workers to become student technicians. Paul Rifino, ’17, has been working at the St. Joe’s IT center for nearly two years. His responsibilities vary from day to day, but some of them include working in the tech room fixing hard drives and getting rid of viruses, answering phone calls, and diagnosing student, faculty, or staff, tech issues. “Since I have started working at the
tech center, I’ve gained a deeper knowledge of both Mac and Windows operating system, I am able to configure customers wifi with ease now and am able to assist faculty and staff with Blackboard issues,” said Rifino. “As well as I have acquired hands on skills in reference to repairing and diagnosing computers.” Instead of having students like Rifino sit in the office and answer phones, they are now able to go out into the field and assist professional staff in resolving classroom issues, explained DiSanti. “That’s the kind of thing that we did across each of those transition teams, just thinking differently about the service delivery,” DiSanti said.
Restructure, remodel, revamp
Office of Inclusion and Diversity to occupy new space in early 2017 ANA FAGUY ’19 News Editor
This preliminary floorplan, which is subject to change, outlines the planned changes to the second floor of Campion Student Center. The renovations, set to be completed in early 2017, will create an expanded space for the Office of Inclusion and Diversity. The colored section of the floorplan represents the Office of Inclusion and Diversity’s future reception area, lounge, conference room, study area, and offices. (Image courtesy of Student Life)
The Saint Joseph’s University Office of Inclusion and Diversity will get a new home in early 2017. A portion of the second floor of Campion Student Center is currently undergoing renovations to provide space for the Office of Inclusion and Diversity, previously known as the Office of Multicultural Life. The upgrades come after Saint Joseph’s University welcomed Monica Nixon, Ph.D., assistant provost for Inclusion and Diversity, to campus this semester. “It’s been the possible topic of conversation for at least a year,” Natalie Walker Brown, director of Student Inclusion and Diversity, said. “At the beginning of the summer it turned into, ‘This is going to happen.’ It’s not just a space that we have because everyone’s in the same spot, but it’s a space where students who want to study can study, there’s a spot where students who want to socialize can socialize, there’s going to be a space where people who want to engage in these different conversations related to diversity and inclusion can. So, it’s a more intentional space.” The old office space for Multicultural Life, found in Campion next to the Student Senate office and behind the President’s Lounge, was too small to engage with all students, Walker Brown added. The office has temporarily moved to the second floor
of Simpson Hall for the fall semester while the renovations are taking place. Instead of trying to make the current Campion office configuration work, the university asked Walker Brown and others in the Office of Inclusion and Diversity what they needed in a renovated space, and then tried to accommodate their requests as best as possible, Walker Brown said. “It’s intentional, it’s not trying to make the current space work,” Walker Brown said. “So instead of saying, ‘We want two offices and one conference room and eight T.V.s,’ it was like, ‘We want a place again for people to study, we want a place for people to have private conversations,’ so I appreciated that.” Cary Anderson, Ph.D., vice president for Student Life and associate provost, was essential to putting the plan into action. “When Dr. Reed announced and really led to the conceptualization of a position with the assistant provost for Inclusion and Diversity, one of the other pieces of this, and what we wanted to do conceptually, was to start to bring people together,” Anderson said. “That title, ‘inclusion,’ is an important part of it, so we really wanted to find a student space, and that grew out of some conversations that he [Dr. Reed], and lately I as well, had with various students about the need for a space, if you will.” The space, which will likely be open
to the university community after winter break, is intended to be a place where students and faculty can cohabit and use in many ways. “[We want] people talking about inclusion and diversity, thinking about it, and understanding that it’s a value of the institution,” Anderson said. “That’s the conceptual or symbolic value or hope. And then, in terms of a space that any student can feel welcome to come and interact and start to have an opportunity to learn from one another, and kind of a place to feel at home or feel comfortable answering questions and asking questions and learning from one another.” Members of the St. Joe’s student body were also part of a strong push to create a new place on campus for the Office of Inclusion and Diversity. Alim Young, ’19, a frequent visitor of the Office for Inclusion and Diversity, was one of them. After many conversations and much planning, the vision for the new offices began to take shape. “When we saw the vision of a physical manifestation of our hard work towards making St. Joe’s a more inclusive place or all identities, that’s when we realized together it can be done,” Young said. “I am elated about the big move for the Office of Inclusion and Diversity, the new space is definitely a step in the right direction.”