IT@UofT annual report summary - Information Technology Services

This annual progress report highlights the work and achievements of University of Toronto’s (U of T) Information Technology Services (ITS) and our collaborative efforts with unit and divisional partners for the period of September 2020 to August 2021. It features key projects that advance our current strategic initiatives and support our core values. Despite the exceptional challenges we have faced, together with the IT@UofT community, our progress continues.

Pandemic response

We have been called upon to exercise agility in supporting the evolving teaching, learning, administrative and research needs of U of T as we navigate the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. As the University community prepares for re-entry to a hybrid workplace, we are prepared to support this new transition through:

COVID-19 response
Workplace support
Protecting individuals from security threats
Online tools for IT service access and information
Ongoing support for COVID-19 remote/online learning requirements
Access to data and cloud storage

Accomplishments from September 2020 – August 2021

Connect+Learn

75 sessions
4,720 attendees
Over 600 newsletter subscribers

UTORMFA

77.2 per cent of appointed staff enrolled
19.6 per cent of appointed faculty enrolled

Quercus

Total shells activated: 17,144
Total learning content added: 40.1 TB

DocuSign

The pilot has graduated to an enterprise offering, serving 11,400 envelopes across eight departments at the University.

EVE management system

There were 368 events hosted via EVE. This is a 24.7 per cent increase from 295 events during the same period the year prior.

IT@UofT three-year goals:

Enable a secure computing environment and protected management of information.

Leverage alternative service delivery models that can deliver enhanced security, increased agility, improved return on investment (ROI) and more flexible solutions.

Leverage shared infrastructure and technologies supporting research.

Pandemic recovery

While the community looks forward to the opportunity to return to campus, ongoing reliance on increased remote work options is also anticipated. We have addressed this anticipation through:

Tools and resources for return to campus
Information security for the institution
Strengthening administrative infrastructure
Community engagement
Emergent needs for digital teaching, learning and research
Network and data infrastructure
Enhancing research capacity

Value to the community:

As we ride the waves of the COVID-19 pandemic and get ready to return to campus, IT staff focus on ensuring that both remote and on-campus community members are supported in with tools and resources that leverage use of digital workflows and processes effectively and efficiently.

Reset to prepare for the future

We aim to take lessons learned from our emergency pivot to remote work and study, and apply it to planning for improvement of services or leapfrogging to new digitally enabled models. Initiatives currently on the horizon include the following:

Continue implementation of the Student Success Hub
Modernize current AMS financial operations
SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central
My Research Applications and Agreements System
Introduce Azure for Research
Connect+Learn training
Learning analytics infrastructure

Value to the community:

We have our eye on the future with plans to leverage what we have learned through our COVID-19 experiences to ensure that the University of Toronto is a leader in enabling use of information technology to support teaching and learning and research for a changed and changing world.

Collage of ITS employees.

Office of the Chief Information Officer
University of Toronto
Simcoe Hall, 27 King’s College Circle, Room 5, Toronto, ON M5S 1A1, Canada

cio@utoronto.ca | Tel: 416-978-8385 | Fax: 416-978-8903
https://its.utoronto.ca/about/ituoft-strategic-plan/