Enterprise Technology & Services (ET&S), the network and IT provider for the University System of New Hampshire (USNH), is being repositioned as a centralized service across all three campuses in the system, according to an email sent to USNH faculty by Chancellor Cathy Provencher on August 22.
As part of the repositioning process, University of New Hampshire (UNH) and USNH Chief Information Officer Bill Poirier was appointed Vice Chancellor for Technology at the system office, according to the email. He began reporting to Provencher “effective immediately.” Poirier will also remain part of the UNH Cabinet as well as advising the cabinets at Keene State College and Plymouth State University.
At this time, nothing about how ET&S requests are received and processed will change, according to the email.
“Mechanically, all that has happened is I’m now reporting to the chancellor versus reporting to the president at UNH,” Poirier said in an interview with The Equinox.
Poirier said the repositioning will allow ET&S to have “easier external outreach” with each of the USNH campuses.
“When you’re coming from the system level versus coming from one of the campuses, it’s very clear to everybody that you’re representing all of the campuses and the needs and desires of the whole university system,” Poirier said.
Poirier said ET&S has never had an issue regarding doubts of objectivity, but the repositioning will further prevent any doubts. He said the repositioning will also allow technicians providing support on one campus to more easily receive remote help from technicians on the other campuses.
Plans are underway to launch Workday, the Enterprise resource planning system, according to the email. Workday will include system-wide finance, human resources and technology support.
Poirier said this effort began 18 months ago.
He added that the administrative change will be rolled out over the next four months.
“This is a really important transition that we’re doing that we believe is really going to make things operate more smoothly,” Poirier said. “The interface with faculty, staff and students will be much more intuitive and even the student information system with parents and alumni.”
The email included a mention of the Community College System of New Hampshire (CCSNH) and the goal of focusing on “initiatives in collaboration” between the two systems.
Poirier pointed to the transfer process between CCSNH and USNH as an area where ET&S’s repositioning could provide additional support. He said the integration of technology support would be in line with recent N.H. legislation regarding a closer relationship between the systems.
“If you’re a student and you want to move from the community college system over to Keene State College, we want to make sure that we have really good mapping of what those courses are,” Poirier said.
Another goal listed in the email was to provide support “through technology modernization.”
“We’re always in there replacing infrastructure to ensure the students and the faculty and staff have the best possible and affordable capability,” Poirier said.
Poirier compared the processing power of the technology infrastructure from several decades ago to the present day, pointing to artificial intelligence (AI) software as a notable development.
He added ET&S is looking into ways to implement AI alongside other cutting-edge technologies, giving the example of a recently implemented chatbot on the ET&S landing page.
Charlotte King can be contacted at
cking@kscequinox.com
