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IS&T Spotlight:

IS&T and SSIT Join Forces!

Christine Fitzgerald and the IS&T/SSIT Transition Team

On July 1, Student Services Information Technology (SSIT) joined forces with Information Services and Technology’s Administrative Computing Department. Working together under the IS&T umbrella, SSIT and Administrative Computing will be better positioned to serve MIT in the development and maintenance of student and administrative enterprise systems.

The Driving Forces
Last year, Bob Redwine, the Dean for Undergraduate Education (DUE), formed an SSIT Advisory Committee, chaired by Professor Kim Vandiver. The committee was charged with

• Assessing SSIT’s ability to satisfy current and anticipated demands;
• Recommending organizational changes or capabilities to optimize the effectiveness of SSIT’s mission;
• Recommending qualifications for an SSIT Director.

The committee identified a need for substantial additional resources and organizational changes to provide excellence in student information systems to the MIT community.

Based on these findings – and with the support of the Executive Vice President and Provost – Dean Redwine and Jerry Grochow, Vice President for Information Services and Technology, made a joint recommendation to integrate SSIT with IS&T, to optimize resources and gain significant synergies.

Collaboration and Leadership
There have already been many collaborative working sessions between SSIT and Administrative Computing to leverage knowledge, technologies, and processes – such as J2EE skills and project management methodologies. Grochow has met with key leaders of client DUE offices to share his vision and thoughts about the reorganization and its benefits. DUE and IS&T look forward to working together to plan for the next generation of student information systems at MIT.

To this end, the Student Systems and Policies Coordinating Committee (SSPCC) will be appointed and co-chaired by Grochow and Redwine. The SSPCC will be made up of key clients (i.e. Registrar’s Office, Admissions, Student Financial Services, and Dean for Student Life) and will advise IS&T leadership on project prioritization and resource allocation decisions that impact student information systems at MIT.

A search is under way for a new Director of Administrative and Student Information Services to lead these mission-critical efforts.

Questions?
Community members who have questions or concerns about administrative or student IT services during this transition can send email to the Transition Team at <ist-ssit@mit.edu>. This email address will remain active through December 2005.