The latest project updates from IT Leaders at November’s ITLT

    December 14, 2023

    This month’s IT Leadership Team meeting, held on Wednesday, November 29, featured discussions and updates on the following initiatives:

    Summer Internship Program

    Katie Cullen and Cheri Ross outlined the program’s process, deadlines, and expectations. The rotation is planned for ten weeks, starting June 3 through August 9, 2024. To date, 79 eligible students have submitted applications for next year’s rotation—well before the December 15 closing date. Managers were reminded to submit their intern requests before the January 12 deadline.

    Other important dates were reviewed, including:

    • January 2024 - Start screening interviews
    • February 2024 - Start panel interviews
    • March 2024 – Extend offers
    • May 2024 – Host kick-off calls with managers

    The planning process for new interns has started, with the Business Office, Human Resources, and Lead Administrators partnering to ensure efficient recruitment and onboarding. This includes setting up a workflow to obtain equipment, assigning designated workstations (in cubicles on the fifth floor), and conducting orientation.

    Intern supervisors will:

    • Orient interns to understand how their team fits within the IT organization and contributes to the university’s mission.
    • Assign each intern an Intern Assignment Plan that outlines responsibilities, expectations, and project timeframes.
    • Monitor and communicate effectively by providing feedback and being available for questions or concerns.
    • Conduct evaluations with action items at specific timeframes (at the internship’s start, midpoint, and end.)
    • Provide regular check-ins to discuss professional development/career goals and record them in the Intern Assignment Plan.

    Strategic Platform Solution Decision Tree

    Having identified OutSystems, Salesforce, and Hyland OnBase as critical strategic platform solutions for customs application development, Renato Cayuto presented attendees with a high-level overview of each offering. Cayuto also shared a strategic platform solution decision tree developed to aid in determining for each custom application which platform Yale is licensed with the required functionality for that application. The strengths and cautions for each solution include: 
    • OutSystems – Provides excellent customer experience and offers advanced low-code capabilities. The generally recommended solution absent specific reasons to use Salesforce or Hyland OnBase instead. 
    • Salesforce – Offers strength within its industry strategy, including market responsiveness, platform economy, and support for high-risk data, including PHI and HIPAA data. However, it lags in innovation, can be complex to develop in, and can be expensive. 
    • Hyland – Delivers a low-cost application build, large volume repositories, document management, and electronic signature approval workflows. Limited licensing is available for some advanced features. 
    These “low code” solutions provide increased agility and reduced maintenance overhead costs and have been used successfully in various IT projects such as the Law School Registration, Yale College Arts Calendar, LUX user feedback, and Health onTrack. Cayuto and his colleagues also recommend using similar functionality found in our ERP (Banner/Workday) systems. Visit the Systems Development Processes SharePoint site for ongoing updates on this effort. 

    AI Updates and Chatbot Pilot

    Vincent Guerrero and Franz Hartl presented highlights of the Notre Dame AI Forum. With over 150 representatives from 45 participating universities, including the University of Michigan, Harvard, Delaware University, New York State University, Carnegie Mellon University, and Arizona State University, the forum presented an opportunity for informative presentations and stimulating conversations on AI. Participants shared details on staffing challenges, promoting Artificial Intelligence literacy by connections to privacy, security, and information validations, and general ways to bring the community together around this critical topic.

    The University of Michigan, Harvard, and CMU shared how they were thinking about AI and their current approaches, which include FTE, roadmaps, and implementation outcomes. Additionally, strategic thinking and governance models provided food for thought. Harvard’s AI model focuses on guidance rather than gatekeeping, CMU’s on harnessing the excitement around AI, and Michigan’s model focuses on everyday innovation. There was a consensus among attendees that learning assistants would become widely available with the possibility of course integration. Representatives plan to continue collaborating to share ideas and funding and to maintain this forum as an annual event to advance the AI conversation in higher education.

    At the close, a demonstration of the first Yale AI chatbot, askYale, was provided. Learn more about askYale and the team who developed it in IT Update.