More than 110 information technology personnel from 11 colleges and universities attended the New York Higher Education Technology Forum (NYHETF) on Friday at St. Joseph’s College.
SJC Long Island hosted the daylong event inside O’Connor Hall, with St. Joseph’s staffers serving as presenters in 10 of the 28 topical sessions. Additionally, the event proved as solid training ground for three students in the campus’ Hospitality and Tourism Management (HTM) program.
“In IT, we’re not in competition with our peer institutions,” said Michelle Papajohn, St. Joseph’s vice president for information technology and chief information officer. “There are so many areas where we can help each other.”
Carol Ann Boyle, chief information officer at Adelphi University, noted that the forum provides an opportunity for IT employees to collaborate about the unique challenges presented by the higher education environment.
“It’s not just about today,” Boyle said. “It’s about the ongoing discussions that happen afterwards.”
The attendees were served breakfast, lunch and — in between sessions — snacks. The service provided an opportunity for HTM senior Isabel Wong to put into place what she’s learned in the classroom at SJC Long Island.
“This is a good opportunity to practice setting up for events, and to work with my professor, Tina Ferro,” said Wong of Albertson, New York, who graduates this August. “It’s rewarding when the food display looks nice and everybody is well-fed.”
Wong, who during her junior year served as president of the Brothers and Sisters in Christ (BASIC) club, is an intern this summer with Discover Long Island, and is also doing work for the Riverhead Chamber of Commerce.
“This event provides valuable hands-on experience for the HTM students,” said Ferro, the HTM chair. “They are helping make the College look good, and the program look good.”
The following sessions were presented by St. Joseph’s IT staffers:
• PM Method Melding and Future Trends: Sherley Beausoleil, director of the ITS Project Management Office.
• Empowering Student Employees: Ilham El Bakhar, help desk specialist.
• Optimize Your Course with Effective Instructional Design Tips: Michelle Cino, instructional technologist.
• Security is All of Our Problems … Here’s How We Solve It: Michelle Papajohn, vice president for information technology and chief information officer, and Ted Dec, executive director of network operations.
• Process Improvement: Christopher Burke, enterprise systems programmer/analyst.
• Student Engagement with Video, Kaltura Personal Video Capture: Maureen Williams, executive director of technology education, and Diane Casalotti, instructional technologist.
• Women in IT: Sherley Beausoleil, director of the ITS Project Management Office.
• Facilitate Innovative Discussion Boards: Michelle Cino, instructional technologist.
• Enterprise Antivirus: Ted Dec, executive director of network operations.
• Video Conferencing: Lichele Abear Lucatorto, executive director of client services.
