Rutgers.eduRutgers IT Annual
Review 2020 – 2021
Information Technology Advancing the University Mission
Message from Michele Norin, Senior Vice President & Chief Information Officer
In my role at Rutgers, I have the privilege of working with many accomplished, dedicated people. During this past year, as we continued to face the pandemic, I watched how IT professionals across the university rallied to ensure the university’s operations continued in the face of immense challenges. These staff members keep the Rutgers network running. They assist faculty members and students with everything from Canvas to ScarletMail. They’re the people behind essential tools and resources, from myRutgers to the Amarel research computing cluster. It’s no understatement to say these IT professionals power Rutgers, and the university wouldn’t function without them.
For this year’s Rutgers IT annual review, we wanted to try something a bit different and introduce you to the IT professionals whose behind-the-scenes smarts and savvy keep Rutgers running. It’s a fun, diverse, and talented bunch, and I hope you’ll spend the time to get to know them.
Sincerely,
Michele Norin
Senior Vice President
and Chief Information Officer
Meet people who power IT at Rutgers
Check out some awesome Q&A’s and photos of Rutgers IT staff members describing their lives outside of the office!
Rutgers IT by the numbers
Explore impressive statistics, numbers, and milestones during a time of much-needed resilience and challenges.
Supercomputers solve
super complex problems
The Office of Advanced Research Computing (OARC) is the go-to resource for Rutgers researchers facing super-complex computational programs like modeling the climate or analyzing human proteins. OARC offers world-class supercomputers like Amarel and experts who can help researchers use them.
faculty, staff, and students from 130 departments across Rutgers campuses have attended high-performance computing training since inception in 2017
dollars in new research awards for OARC-partnered projects since March 2016
Rutgers departments, institutes, and organizations performing research on systems maintained by OARC
Enhanced education technology
In today’s world, you need tech tools that can help you both virtually and in-person. The Rutgers community was able to learn, instruct, and work in any situation thanks to resources including:
- Adobe Creative Cloud
- Canvas
- Computer labs
- LinkedIn Learning
- Office of IT Accessibility
- Rutgers Software Portal
New Digital Learning Commons (DLC) at Alexander Library
Web conferencing and collaboration
Web conferencing tools have been proven to be vital in an increasingly digital world. With three different options at Rutgers, Zoom, Webex, and Microsoft Teams usage continues to multiply.
Keeping data safe and organized
Producing information is one of the most important things that a major research university like Rutgers does, so protecting that critical information is a must for Rutgers IT. We store it securely, back it up to protect against data loss, and organize it so the entire Rutgers community can find it when it’s needed.
Remote support for remote work
When the pandemic made remote work a necessity, Rutgers IT provided faculty, staff and, students with the tools they needed to keep working and the support they needed to keep their technology running.
Innovating support and service with Rutgers IT Help
The implementation of Rutgers IT Help (ServiceNow for IT Service Management) continues to unify service and support for the Rutgers community. The focus this past year has been to increase awareness of Rutgers IT Help and IT Service Management initiatives and provide Rutgers IT units access to start using the platform in various ways.
IT essentials during the pandemic
Throughout the pandemic, Rutgers IT provided essential resources, implemented new technology, and played a major role in keeping the Rutgers community as an effective learning and working environment. This COVID-19 timeline highlights the key moments and milestones throughout our transition to a different world.
Did you
know?
The Office of Information Technology provided access to Altice (Optimum) Wi-Fi hot spots in New Jersey in 2020, so students without home Internet could work and study remotely.
Rutgers University-Newark deployed three laptop kiosks on campus that allow students to borrow a laptop for the day if needed.
RU-Camden IT developed a virtual microphone solution to amplify masked students’ voices so they could be heard.
Rutgers IT has provided the university with all of its technology needs – both on and off campus, near and far. These are just a few of the many IT projects and initiatives that made a major impact on the university this year.
Rutgers IT website highlights
it.rutgers.edu is the home to find out information about various services that are available to the Rutgers community. From news to alerts and documentation, the official website of Rutgers IT provides a key hub for accessing tech at the university.
IT news, alerts, and social media
Read up on university technology in the newsroom, get updates on your favorite services in alerts, and find tips on how to best use what Rutgers provides on social media. Regardless of the medium, Rutgers IT provides the university with the latest info.
IT community resources
Did you know that the Rutgers IT website features an IT Community webpage for IT staff across Rutgers?
IT email lists, a list of “official Slack” channels, and links to important IT policies are just a few available resources for review.
Inside look at Rutgers IT resources
Learn about Rutgers IT and the wide variety of resources offered to faculty, staff, and students, including the Rutgers IT newsroom, Tech Guides, security tips, web conferencing best practices, and more.
About Rutgers IT
Helpful Resources
Remote Tips
Social
Annual review 2020-2021 credits
- Produced by the IT Communications team within the Office of Information Technology
- Communications planning, creative direction, and project management by Allan Hoffman and Amanda Pecora
- Writing and research by Allan Hoffman, Amanda Pecora, Andrew Smith, and Stephen Connelly
- Website design by Anita Desimone, Rich Sese, and Amanda Pecora
- Graphic design by Rich Sese and Jenna MacNeill
- Website development by Rich Sese
- Also, thank you to the numerous IT staff members throughout various OIT divisions and Rutgers schools, departments, and units who provided statistics and data for the 2020-2021 annual review.
Data refers to fiscal year 2021, unless otherwise noted.