Armchair Discussion on the ROI of DEI
(9:30 a.m. – 10:30 a.m.)
Join McMaster AVP & CTO Gayleen Gray and President of Cisco Canada Rola Dagher for an animated conversation around diversity, equity & inclusion (DEI) as a core element when building a positive and productive workplace culture. Gayleen and Rola have both experienced unique and rich career trajectories and will be able to tap into their personal experiences as they discuss reinventing one’s self in the workplace and how diversity of thought translates to team success.
Birds of a Feather
(10:45 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.)
This session will be an opportunity for IT community members to float between topics and find “birds of a feather” who share similar challenges or recognize shared opportunities. Each table will feature 1-2 colleagues who will share cursory insights into a project, a challenge or a new technology. Think of it as a tradeshow of ideas and advice. See schedule for table rotations. First come first served.
- Converting Blended Learning for AODA Compliance
- Enhancements to UTS Support Model
- Advertising on Instagram: Measuring ROI
- IT Governance Guidelines – bring project and initiative ideas for assessment
- LinkedIn Learning
- Computer/AV Purchases via MacBuy
- Campus wireless upgrade
- Technology Roundtable
- Web Analytics
- Wireless Presentation Systems (Crestron)
- MacSites
- Containing the Chaos: Efficient Management of Distinct Web Environments Using Linux Containers
- Sharing Documents – What is working for your team?
Deep Dive Sessions: 1:45 p.m. – 2:30 p.m.
This is an opportunity for audience members to walk away with a deeper understand of a project, challenge or new technology. The IT Forum will offer eight deep dive sessions, and attendees may pick two to attend during the afternoon. Attend the session of your choosing on the day of the event. First come first served.
Speaker: Carmalita Larkin
This session will provide a high-level overview of McMaster’s upcoming email and calendaring migration for Faculty, staff, retirees, and medical school students to Office 365 Cloud solution. Get a preview of what this initiative will mean for you and how we, the IT Community, can support this critical change.
Speakers: Nick Marquis, Clark Cipryk
This interactive session will focus on four technologies that handle live or machine captioning: Google Slides captions, captions in PowerPoint for Office 365, ava.me, and otter.ai. The presenters will speak to their experiences experimenting with such technologies inside and outside classroom situations, their work consulting with the disability community, and working with instructors who use these technologies in the classroom.
Speaker: Chrissy Doolittle
This session will provide an overview of the Enterprise Room Booking System, including current user groups, functionality, reporting, planned projects, and potential uses. Audience members will gain an understanding of the current and potential uses of the Enterprise Room Booking System at McMaster.
Speakers: Nevine Chawra, Sarah Mooney, Darren Simpson
This session will explore two elements of the Registrar Office’s digital transformation— digital diplomas and university tickets:
Digital Diplomas
Imagine carrying around your diploma in your pocket! Learn McMaster University’s process of issuing Faculty of Engineering graduates a digital version of their diploma at no extra cost. The digital diploma is encoded and verifiable using an MIT-developed Blockcerts® application and is secure and verifiable on the blockchain.
University Tickets
Special event tickets at a click of a button. Learn more about a newly implemented online ticketing system to simplify guest tickets for convocation.
Deep Dive Sessions: 2:45 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.
This is an opportunity for audience members to walk away with a deeper understand of a project, challenge or new technology. The IT Forum will offer eight deep dive sessions, and attendees may pick two to attend during the afternoon. Attend the session of your choosing on the day of the event. First come first served.
Speaker: Jessica Blackwood
This presentation will discuss the available knowledge and tools at McMaster that facilitate the creation and modification of digital content to satisfy Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA) requirements. Participants will be provided with resources to plan, develop, and validate their digital media, including Online and Blended Learning content.
Speakers: Ron Harwood, Angela Di Nello
The RHPCS research software development team helps researchers refine their existing software tools to improve usability and robustness, disseminate research software beyond the lab, and enhance existing functionality – all at no cost to the researcher.
This session will provide an overview of this team’s project proposal process and the tools they have created to support researchers.
Speakers: Nevine Chawra, Alex Harris, Nadia Buri
This session will explore two elements of the Registrar Office’s digital transformation— AwardSpring and MyTimetable:
AwardSpring
Find out about a new system designed to streamline the online scholarship & bursary application process. Coming this August, AwardSpring will enable students to view and apply for all eligible awards available to them at McMaster University by completing one easy-to-use online application.
MyTimetable
MyTimetable (VSB) was implemented in June 2018 and transformed how students created conflict-free class schedules. Learn more about this system and how digitalization can significantly improve student experiences.