I am excited about joining 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock as your new Associate Vice Chancellor and Chief Information Officer. I am grateful for the Institute鈥檚 warm welcome and confidence in me. As an alum, I have always admired 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock and its efforts to tackle the many challenges we face globally through research and advanced technology. I am extremely fortunate to now be a part of a talented team of individuals who contribute to that mission.

During my first few months with the University, I鈥檝e steadily met with many of you during what I call my initial 鈥淟istening and Learning鈥� sessions. During these times, I鈥檓 getting to know you and discovering the strong emotion and enthusiasm you have for what you do here at the University. I鈥檝e gained the privilege of seeing first-hand the hard work that each of you brings to the University each day.

I believe wholeheartedly that technology can be a massive force for good, and nowhere is that possibility felt more acutely, or demanded more urgently, than right here. I feel a personal call to contribute my skills to this exceptional team, and help create that lasting impact.

At the heart of my approach is a commitment to collective impact. I am focused on three vital objectives: championing a culture of absolute candor and openness, accelerating the growth of our systems, and establishing robust knowledge-sharing across all critical roles. While these steps are vital for our department鈥檚 success, my most important goal is simple: to invest in your success鈥攂ecause when you succeed, we all succeed.

Thank you for your time and attention. I am genuinely excited about the positive direction we are taking; and look forward to partnering with each of you for a long and successful journey ahead.

Jim

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It is hard to believe another semester has ended and we are heading into the holidays. I hope you have had a great semester!

This semester IT Services has been busy on several fronts with new applications, the Workday Student implementation, and increasing the cybersecurity stance on campus.

In the applications area, a large group of faculty and staff are working on the Workday Student Implementation. This will be a generational update to the current Banner/BOSS Student Information System. Workday Student will be the primary student administration system used to support the processes and services associated with a student鈥檚 progression from admission through graduation. The system will support student records, registration, course rosters, grading, advising, and transcripts. Workday Student will be used by all faculty and students and is easily accessible via a mobile app for Android and iOS.

IT Services is part of the team implementing SLATE on campus which will replace the current student applications system.

As a result of increased cybersecurity attacks on other Arkansas higher education campuses, cybersecurity audit findings, and recently the Little Rock School District cyber attack, IT Services has put a tremendous amount of effort into increasing the protection of campus data and systems. This includes Mobile Device Management, applying Data Loss Prevention on the email system, requiring Multi-factor Authentication, and bringing MAC users on campus into the network.

These changes can be disruptive, but the campus is clearly facing increased threats. It is important that each person on campus be aware of threats including email phishing attempts.

Together with the university’s entire IT Services organization, I take great pride in the accomplishments we have made this semester. The university, supported by IT Services, has made tremendous strides, and we have accomplished many of the goals set out in prior year鈥檚 strategic plans. We are anxious to develop an IT Component Strategic Plan next semester that tiers off of the five goals developed in the Chancellor鈥檚 Strategic Planning Committee.

Brian Keltch, Chief Information Officer

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