What does it take for women to thrive in higher ed IT leadership? Despite their contributions, women in IT remain underrepresented in decision-making roles, with a 2023 global survey reporting 14% of tech leadership positions held by women . In higher education IT, systemic barriers such as workplace biases, lack of sponsorship, and pipeline gaps continue to hinder progress . This panel examines these challenges while offering actionable strategies to foster equity and inclusion. Drawing on research and real-world experiences, the discussion will focus on: ● Mentorship and Sponsorship: Research shows that visibility and support are critical for women to advance. Panelists will explore how to champion women through mentorship and advocacy. ● Breaking Barriers: Success stories of women overcoming systemic challenges provide insights into strategies for creating inclusive environments and leadership opportunities. ● Institutional Change: The conversation will address how higher ed IT organizations can improve hiring practices, reimagine leadership pipelines, and embed inclusion into workplace culture. This session is designed for leaders, aspiring professionals, and allies who want to champion inclusion and work towards leadership development that ensures women have a seat at the table and are empowered to lead. Join us to learn how we can collectively build equitable pathways for women to thrive and shape the future of higher ed IT.
Learn how giving colleagues access to data through familiar tools like Excel can enable better decision-making and bring people together through shared and easily accessed information. If you have data from one or more systems that can be exported to csv and access to Excel, you have everything you need to build dashboards that will give both your techy and non-techy staff access to those systems data! Microsoft’s Power Query makes it simple to work with .csv files by letting you filter, sort, split, and clean your data through an easy-to-use interface. Once you’ve set it up, all you need to do is save a fresh .csv file and click “Refresh All,”. Excel will automatically apply the same steps and show the updated data in the familiar Excel interface. This allows even non-techy folks to navigate and access shared data. This session will showcase examples of existing Excel and Power BI dashboards used to elevate data driven decision-making, and then walk attendees through the steps to make their own in Excel using Power Query. You’ll leave with example dashboards and the steps you need to get started building your own Dashboards using Power Query in Excel or Power BI. Elevate your discussions to be more data driven by giving all your staff access to your data in the familiar Excel interface.
Methodologies used to deploy and configure Windows PCs have evolved significantly. This paper examines a 20-year timeframe at Lehigh University and chronicles changes in tools and techniques, as well as lessons learned. Microsoft 365, Microsoft Intune, Autopilot, and other elements of modern endpoint management are discussed in detail.
Hi, My name is Devin Jayetileke. I work as a library and computing consultant for Lehigh University. In my job i am involved in many projects including working with deployment of both Apple and Windows devices as well as working at our helpdesk providing IT/Library support to faculty... Read More →
In this presentation, two junior IT staff members will share their journey of learning and implementing advanced endpoint management systems, specifically JAMF Pro and Microsoft Intune, within a resource-constrained higher education environment. We will provide a look at our experiences, from initially being overwhelmed to growing competence, highlighting the unique challenges we faced and the strategies we developed to overcome them. We will delve into our process of self-directed learning and team knowledge transfer. We will highlight the mistakes we made and what we learned from them, along with the small victories that kept us motivated. We will continue with a discussion with attendees to create a supportive space for professionals at all levels to share experiences, brainstorm solutions, and develop strategies for success in endpoint management. Whether you are new to the field, facing similar resource constraints, or an experienced professional looking to mentor others, our discussions will focus on providing insights and practical takeaways for navigating endpoint management.
This presentation aims to demonstrate that migrating from on-premise Windows device management to cloud-based management is possible and outlines the steps Universities should take to accomplish that. Any organization that has windows devices in their fleet likely uses some sort of domain binding to join their devices to a Microsoft Active Directory domain. The most basic level is Active Directory join where a device talks to an on-premise domain controller to receive authentication information, group policies, and resources. A more common way is hybrid join. This is for organizations utilizing Microsoft Entra ID, formerly known as Azure Active directory. This type of domain join sends information from on-premise servers up to the Microsoft cloud. It enables endpoint devices to authenticate with Azure and allows users to use things like Microsoft Teams, OneDrive, and Office 365. However, Windows authentication is still handled primarily by an on-premise domain controller. This mode, despite its name, has become outdated with the rise of hybrid work scenarios. Users working off campus are required to use a VPN in order to access on-premise resources. While the effects of this are not immediate, it does present challenges for users that change their password remotely or rarely, if ever, visit campus especially to log on to their device for the first time. Enter Entra-Join. This mode joins the device solely to Microsoft Entra ID and requires no connection to on-premise domain controllers. Only an internet connection is required to perform Windows authentication, not a VPN. This empowers users to change their password off campus without worrying about syncing issues. It also empowers IT staff to ship devices to users where they can perform their first login from home. The road to Entra-join is not without its challenges, however. There are many primary and secondary systems that rely on on-premise resources and must be transitioned to the cloud or restructured entirely. Examples include: automatic certificate-based WiFi connections, application deployment, group policies, provisioning and more. Each hurdle requires a unique solution and big picture planning. In our presentation, we will discuss the reasons why organizations should switch to Entra- join, the barriers to doing so, and how to overcome them.
The ultralight backpacking community builds their practices on the idea that, when you venture into the wilderness, you “don’t pack your fears.” This concept keeps backpackers from being weighed down by unnecessary items that, at best, hinder their progress, and, at worst, put them in danger. In college and university IT support, there are many fears that weigh down effective solutions and interfere with collaboration. Whether it’s a fear of escalating problems, customer dissatisfaction, new and threatening technologies, or internal conflict, those anxieties lead to a “backpack” full of extraneous tools, procedures, and preparation. These result in overinflated, inefficient solutions that rely on protection, rather than aspiration. In this interactive presentation, we will explore how both IT-specific and universal fears manifest in our work environments, and how we can move forward with intentional solutions. Participants will be encouraged to share real fears accompanying challenges in their workplace, allowing the group to collaborate on identifying what are essential and what are extraneous tools to address them. Participants will leave with ideas of how to incorporate fear-free approaches that lead to specific solutions at their own organizations.
Assistant Director: Service and Process, Hope College
Reagan Chesnut (she/her) is the Assistant Director: Service and Process at Hope College in Holland, MI, where she equips users with skills and knowledge to self-sustain technology use, designs training and resources for community confidence and competence, and performs as part of... Read More →
Our panel discussion will be on moving from on premise network share drives to Microsoft 365 SharePoint. The panel will include viewpoints from 3 different institutions at different stages in the migration process, as well as the benefits experienced by end users.
