July 1 onward, Ithaca College’s Office of Analytics and Institutional Research and Department of Information Technology will merge into a new, separate department called the Division of Information Technology and Analytics.
In a June 22 Intercom post, President La Jerne Cornish announced the unification of the two offices. Cornish said this merger will streamline institutional research and data services offered to the campus community.
“For many years there has a been a strong partnership between the AIR and IT teams, with both working collaboratively to provide a full suite of analytics, business intelligence (BI), and institutional research (IR) services for the campus,” Cornish wrote. “As the college seeks to increasingly leverage data to inform strategic and operational decisions, it is the appropriate time to formally bring the two teams together in one comprehensive unit responsible for all aspects of analytics, institutional research, dashboards, data governance, and data services.”
David Weil, chief information officer in the Department of IT and member of the president’s cabinet, will be spearheading the division as Vice President and CIO for Information Technology and Analytics. Casey Kendall, executive director of applications and infrastructure, will be serving as Deputy CIO for the division and as vice president for applications and infrastructure.
Rob Snyder, director of enterprise applications, data, and integration in the department of applications and infrastructure, will be the director for analytics and special IT projects alongside Claire Borch, who is currently the director of the office of AIR, as senior associate director for institutional research.
In addition to this merger, the Department of Learning and Innovative Technology will be renamed the Center for Instructional Design and Educational Technology. Cornish wrote that the center will focus on offering a wider range of instructional design and technology resources and services.
While Jenna Linskens will remain in her role as director for the renamed Center for Instructional Design and Education Technology, Marilyn Dispensa, senior instructional designer for CFE, will move to IT as a senior instructional designer to serve as coordinator and bridge between CFE and IT.
