OIT Technology News: May 2024 Edition

The education leader, honored for his contributions to the IT industry, has led SMU’s digital transformation since 2017. Hites will be inducted August 7, 2024, in Colorado Springs as part of CIO’s annual CIO 100 Symposium and Awards conference.

Curt Herridge, Associate CIO for Data and Application Services, received the "M" Award during the 2024 Hilltop Excellence Awards, for his continued leadership and partnership across campus.

For those of us using SMU-owned Mac devices, updates and patches for macOS Monterey will be discontinued this fall. Due to this support discontinuation, any devices that are incompatible with macOS Ventura will need to be replaced by August.

OIT has been closely following the development of various generative AI products and evaluating their potential implications for teaching, learning, research, and university operations. While you may want to take some time to experiment with these quickly evolving tools, we have some general guidelines that help you experiment safely with generative AI.

We are down to the final week of the 2024 Spring Skills Sharpener Training Series—but don’t worry; there is still time to learn and win! SMU faculty and staff have until May 15, 2024, to attend one of our remaining training courses or complete any of the LinkedIn Learning courses listed in our special Spring Skills Sharpener collection.

OIT's own Karie Conklin was recently recognized by the CIO Student Advisory Board for her efforts in being an integral advisor and confidant to the board.

With the guidance of the Faculty Technology Council, planning activities are underway for the various classrooms that will receive technology upgrades and changes during the new fiscal year. The OIT AV Team will complete most projects during the summer months to ensure availability for the fall term.

Our pilot users are experiencing notable success with the new platform, using its features to engage their alumni and supporters more efficiently and meaningfully. Analytics within the platform show open rates above 40% with a low email bounce rate.

During our Spring Skills Sharpener, we presented a session for managers about leveraging LinkedIn Learning to provide professional development content to your team and help your staff expand their skill sets.