Initiatives & Major Projects

Whether an ongoing, campus-wide initiative or a limited-term, school-level project, our efforts are successful due in large part to our partnerships and participation in committees and groups.

Initiatives

Much of our work aligns with campus initiatives, which are efforts that change how the campus does business; have broad campus leadership/executive sponsorship backing and commitment; and have significant campus resources dedicated to them to ensure their success.

Educational Innovation

The mission of the Educational Innovation (EI) Initiative is to engage and inspire students through enriched learning. The initiative strives to fulfill this mission by providing pervasive active learning to improve the student experience; building innovative, professional-level degree programs and other lifelong learning opportunities; and extending the university’s educational mission to Wisconsin and the world using new technology and partnerships. DoIT AT works with EI on multiple projects including the Blend@UW program and the Canvas Pilot.

Unizin

In 2014, UW-Madison joined Unizin, a consortium of like-minded institutions with the mission of improving the learning experience by providing an environment built on collaboration, data, standards and scale. The Unizin efforts at UW-Madison are co-sponsored by Steven Cramer, Vice Provost for Teaching and Learning, and Bruce Maas, Vice Provost for Information Technology and Chief Information Officer. DoIT Academic Technology (AT) plays a critical role in leading and supporting the effort on a variety of levels including the management of the Canvas transition.

UW Women In IT

Supported by the Office of the CIO, UW Women in IT (UW-WIT) is a campus organization dedicated to developing strategies to improve the recruitment, retention and advancement of women working in IT on campus. The 300+ member organization holds regular educational and networking events open to all members of campus, often partnering with organizations with similar missions to create the best possible workforce. DoIT AT staff participate in this initiative.

Major Projects

As part of initiatives, partnerships or our daily work serving campus, we contribute to many significant projects. The following are a few of newer projects sponsored by the Provost Office, cross-campus initiatives or the CIO Office. For a full list of our current projects, contact us.

Canvas Transition

Based on positive results from pilot studies and campus feedback, UW-Madison is transitioning to the Canvas learning management system (LMS) over the next two years. The plan is to adopt Canvas as the single, centrally supported LMS, and to discontinue campus licensing of D2L and Moodle by 2018. It will be integrated into the Learn@UW suite of learning technologies. DoIT AT staff provide support in the areas of technical development and training.

Digital Course Evaluation

UW-Madison has entered into a multi-year partnership with AEFIS LLC to provide a campus-wide digital course evaluation survey tool, which is part of a suite of digital learning assessment tools. The Office of the Provost, in partnership with DoIT Academic Technology, will provide consultative support, hands-on training and other resources. Find more information about digital course evaluation surveys.

REACH

The REACH project aims to improve student learning by increasing students’ engagement in large, introductory, lecture-based courses. It is anticipated that the redesigned courses will benefit tens of thousands of first- and second-year students over the next 5 years. In partnership with schools and colleges, and the Office of the Provost, the REACH project is co-sponsored by the Educational Innovation (EI) Initiative and DoIT Academic Technology. The departments of chemistry, mathematics and physics were the first departments to commit to participating and others are moving to join.

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