Michael is a career designer – a 3D storyteller of events, experiences and environments. For over 40 years, he has filled roles as varied as Experiential Designer, Creative Director, Production & Scenic Designer, Environments Designer, Video Content Designer, Illustrator and Art Director, and he has over 990 productions to his credit…in 43 countries spanning 5 continents, and across 49 of the 50 United States. Michael’s process has helped drive cohesive creative solutions for a wide variety of clients and is considered a creative hybrid, capable of contributing inventive ideas from the very beginning of any creative process. He transforms project strategies and theatrical challenges into visual stories for audiences to experience. He then translates his creativity and ideas into completely unique, multi-dimensional, awe-inspiring designs and environments to support plays, ideas, screenplays, film and TV and brand or product messaging.

Washburn University implemented Dynamic Forms in early 2021. In the past year, we have created over 100 electronic forms featuring dynamic form content, conditional workflows, email notifications, digital signatures, and integrations with Ellucian Banner and Banner Document Management/ApplicationXtender. Many of these new forms have replaced paper processes, clunky PDF forms, and even a handful of custom PHP web applications. In a world where online learning, virtual meetings, and telecommuting are increasingly common, Dynamic Forms was the perfect solution. Join us to learn more about how Washburn University is using Dynamic Forms to drive our digital processes.

Join WSU, Pittsburg & KU for a round table discussion on the Microsoft Defender Endpoint deployment. This discussion will cover why we chose Microsoft Defender, planning, process, project timeframe, communication, challenges, and what we would do differently!

Cohesity delivers a software platform to consolidate, protect, manage, and radically simplify your data workloads on premise or in the cloud. Learn how you can achieve a superior total cost of ownership while providing the best possible protection and recovery against ransomware for your backup data - your last line of defense.

Wichita State University Information Technology Services (ITS) started January 2021 to create strategic metrics, eighteen months later, there are key lessons learned. Each step of the way from strategic concept to ongoing maintenance of metrics had multiple challenges and lessons learned. We are better and stronger as we learned about ourselves through data and how to set up metrics for long term use. We focused first on what our customers said and built on it as we learned.

The impact of Industry 4.0 and role of technology is reshaping both the business landscape and that of education, as we are currently preparing students for jobs that don't yet exist. The World Economic Forum's Future of Jobs Report list by 2025, the top 3 most desired skills and roles in the workplace will be Data Science, AI and Machine Learning and Big Data Specialists. HP is at the forefront of many of these industries and technologies including VR/XR, Data Science, 3D Printing-Additive Manufacturing, Microfluidics and more. In this session, we will review top emerging tech and trends and the opportunity in Education.

IT Trainers shifted to remote training sessions during the pandemic -- hilarity ensued. Come to this session to hash through the challenges of remote training and hear some solutions that worked for ITS trainers at WSU. (Bonus tip in the title, no extra charge).

This panel discussion will explore the ways different institutions are supporting our students with checkout or borrowed technology. During the pandemic, most of us were challenged with minimal resources to send staff and students to shelter in place. Now, even though the pandemic is waning, the need for borrowed technology is still high with more hybrid and online classes being offered. How are we addressing these issues and the related problems that accompany them?How are we finding funding and other resources? How do we determine need? The panel will share their individual problems and solutions and field question and comments.

Today's world is constantly in flux, for every Institution. Business agility has rapidly become the primary currency for every organization across the globe. Workday architecture allows for better organizational agility in support of digital initiatives and better business outcomes across the enterprise. Workday customers are disrupting the industries that they operate in by leveraging our 'Power to Adapt' Enterprise Management Cloud. Come learn why technology matters, especially in the cloud.

We are moving to the next generation of our Systems, focused on the Intel 12th Gen Alderlake processor, as well as the AMD Ryzen 6000. This sesssion will provide a brief overview and highlight what is changing as well as answer any questions that you might have.

One of the best measures of a strong team leader/manager is how effectively the team can function when you're not there. In this talk, we'll look at techniques for building a high performing remote team - whether you're new to a management role or have been doing it for a while but have had to shift to remote.

Vulnerability management is an ongoing program that uses a variety of technologies and tools to identify cyber exposure risks across your entire organization, align them with your operational goals and objectives and then remediate vulnerabilities in a timely manner to secure your network and keep your operations safe. This session will outline some ways vulnerability management can be done from scratch in an organization with limited resources.

What IT challenge involves novel research, data, sensitive information, and global reputations? Complex Microsoft Word templates? LaTeX templates? Evolving technologies? Dozens of source citation methods? Local domain-based conventions? Professorial quirks? Multiple web-facing databases? Hard deadlines that can be costly if missed? Electronic theses, dissertations, and reports, better known as ETDRs! This presentation describes a real-world context in which a staff retirement (and its non-replacement) resulted in the need for fast learning of the ETDR space and an effort to enable graduate student work with thorough documentation, updated templates, and web conferences, in the backdrop of the pandemic. The solution here is only partial, and the challenge is still being worked, but some objective progress may be seen.

Organizations have come to rely on cyber insurance to mitigate the impact of increasingly sophisticated, disruptive, and wide-spread cyber attacks. As a result, insurers are issuing more policies, and the amounts of protection available are increasing. In 2020, the global insurance community saw the first cyber insurance program that exceeded $1 billion in coverage.

During the development of a new project request, we used the requirements and the "wish list" as an avenue to learn the ins and outs of a new framework. Learn how we were able to implement a new framework and continue to move forward with the latest tech.

Our state-of-the-art production facility, Shocker Studios, maximizes collaboration between students, faculty and industry professionals. Students and community members have access to over 35,000-square-feet of production and collaboration spaces. Please wear your name badge to this event.

Join us for a dinner buffet and drinks at Distillery 244! Dinner buffet catered at Distillery 244 by Sabor Latino bar and Grill.

Light breakfast and coffee are available in the Room 233 on the 2nd floor.

Changes in technology bring changes in procedure, policy, and more. In this session, hear from Pittsburg State University's CIO and PMO on what they have learned regarding change management and re-engineering processes on their campus through major IT implementations. In addition, they will share how they work with key individuals to create understanding and buy-in to change.

In this presentation, we will discuss why EDU accounts have become so valuable. Additionally we will discuss how they're being leveraged and potential solutions to mitigate EDU account acquisition.

Join us for this interactive session that will outline the challenges facing colleges and universities as they embark on their digital transformation journey. Attendees will learn how AWS is working with institutions to address their most pressing questions related to modernizing and securing the academy, turning data into wisdom, enriching the student experience, and empowering and accelerating research. Real-world examples will be provided from universities that are thinking about digital transformation and the power of cloud computing to enable changes that provide a modern experience for students, faculty, and staff.

Kansas State University currently has a successful IT Service Desk supporting approximately 27,500 faculty, staff, and students. The make-up of the IT Service Desk support staff is 25 - 30 student consultants, an operations manager, a trainer, and a co-manager, all reporting to a Service Desk Director. This heavy reliance on students has yielded a successful professional staff that has served a critical support role for the university. This presentation will cover a brief history of our evolution and the benefits and drawbacks of our current staff structure. We will also discuss the unique hiring, training, and continuous regular training our student staff goes through. We will also talk about the extraordinary evolution of their abilities, and the first point of contact resolution to IT support issues we provide. We will also discuss the benefits the consultant has gained in the form of experience and skills for their future career prospects. Lastly, we will provide historical metrics on the levels and proficiency of our support.

One of the pain points identified by Wichita State's ITS group during strategic planning workshops last year was projects that were dropped on us without warning and needing a quick turn around. This lead to unhappy users and unhappy staff. Toward the end of 2021, ITS brought together a group from both outside ITS and ITS staff members. We armed them with the skills and knowledge of how to engage with constituents from around campus and how to engage the right resources in ITS to create projects sooner, provide feedback easier, and to learn about ITS services and initiatives.

Kansas State University, Michael Nease, Fort Hays & Jeremy Pennington, KU Med

The differing journeys of Emporia State, Washburn, KU Med,K-State, and Pittsburg State of implementing multi-factor authentication (MFA).  We all have implemented Duo MFA, but our journey to get there has been different. Some of the topics we will cover will be our implementation process, verification options usage, what to do with students, and issues with shared accounts. Click here to view presentation slides.

Recognized for their pedagogy approach to higher education and providing an exceptional experience for their students, Pittsburg State University has become a leader in HEIT innovation. Join us to hear PSU share how they transformed the way they deliver software to their students with the help of AppsAnywhere. Pittsburg State University has improved student delivery, increased IT efficiencies, and minimized annual spending by enabling BYOD, providing equitable access, and enhancing the user experience on and off-campus.

Washburn University's website has an interactive method of searching available programs as seen here https://www.washburn.edu/academics/aos/index.html. This presentation will be about how we extended the functionality of that web feature to also include courses. Our VPAA department desired a way to promote courses to the general public. At first we created a way to display courses specifically within the topic of Diversity as seen here https://www.washburn.edu/diversity/di-courses.html. Then it evolved into courses that we wanted to promote for Summer and then also courses that are recommended for high school students as seen here https://www.washburn.edu/academics/courses/index.html. The presentation will go over how this feature evolved, the challenges we faced and why it has been a successful addition to the website. Click here to view presentation slides.

As a savvy business professional, you know that it's not a question of if you'll be attacked by cybercriminals—it's when. That's why it's so important to know what to do when an attack happens. At ISG, we've seen both sides of the spectrum first-hand. Clients who are prepared for the attack recover quickly and minimize their losses while others suffer crippling effects that have a long-term impact on the organization. The difference is what you do in the first 48 hours after the attack.

A look at how WSU handles data integrations between the Slate CRM and the Banner SIS related to Admission Applications. Topics discussed will include file handling, person/app identification, dup processing, linkage tables, custom PageBuilder forms used in field and linkage checking, and more. Click here to view presentation slides.

Journey with me as I share our pre-pandemic work style, through the pandemic, and finally (hopefully) post-pandemic. I will go over our prep, transition, and finally how we came through the other side to work in a completely different way. I will share strategies we used to bring administration on board, keep our team cohesive, and find a good work/life balance.

A traditional ticket typically takes more time to create, reopen, fill in the solution and close than it does to give the solution or even fix the problem. This presentation will show how to capture and close a ticket in less than 15 seconds enabling more phone solutions, lunch solutions, water cooler conversations and drive by fixes to be documented. Click here to view presentation slides.

Virtual Desktop Infrastructure technology has been around for more than a decade. In early 2010, every IT administrator would have had a dream of running a fully-fledged robust VDI system in their organization if they had the right budget for it. However, the interest in VDI did not last long, especially with the advent of cloud-hosted applications and SaaS. VDI did not seem to be the most attractive and the most cost-effective technology anymore, compared to other remote and cloud service delivery solutions. With the pandemic forcing all people to work and study from home, VDI started absorbing attention again, mostly due to the large number of use-cases that it can play in. Join us on our journey of deploying the Virtual Desktop Infrastructure at Washburn University and learn about how we utilized VDI to fulfill a portion of our students, faculty and staff needs during the COVID-19 pandemic.

This CIO panel will discuss long-term work arrangements, remote work, university policies and best practices for effective team operations and maintaining culture.

Chris Weber, Firmware Development Engineer, based out of NetApp’s new Wichita office will provide an update on NetApp’s Wichita operations including an overview of all the activity happening within their new building located on the WSU Innovation Campus, labs and partnerships with students as well as future plans that are being considered.  Additionally, Chris will highlight some of the work being done for NetApp to achieve SuperPOD certification and will provide insights to our collaboration on campus to achieve this certification.

Head up to Beggs Ballroom on the 3rd floor for lunch and closing remarks...