Last updated December 4, 2023
Understand your role as an IT professional at UW–Madison
UW–Madison is a large institution with thousands of employees who identify as IT professionals. Many of these work for UW–Madison’s central IT unit, the Division of Information Technology (DoIT), while many more work in “distributed IT” at other schools, colleges, and divisions on campus. As an employee of UW–Madison, you need to be aware of the university’s workplace expectations. Beyond that, as an IT professional, you are in a privileged position as a technical expert, a steward of cybersecurity, an administrator of systems, and a custodian of data. This carries with it some special responsibilities.
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Understand your people’s needs and demonstrate your value
Take the time to understand your people’s needs and roles, and keep them informed. Help them understand the value your group brings and how IT works in your unit. Manage change with people in mind and respect confidentiality. Build trust by understanding those relationships and their individual needs.
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Promote good practice within the university
Become aware of and encourage effective and efficient use of IT services and resources. Model good practices to provide others with examples and inspiration. Create a culture of feedback for encouragement and improvement.
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Resources for promoting good practices
- The Center for Leadership focuses on students, and the information equally applies to faculty and staff.
- Consider taking the “Giving and Receiving Constructive Feedback” course through HR.
Follow and improve standards and common solutions
In your unit, work to understand why specific standards and common solutions are in place and what standards you may need to offer excellent service and protect resources. The Universities of Wisconsin and UW–Madison IT policies often include standards, and some units may need to adopt additional standards that meet the mission needs of that unit. An academic field or business area may have formal or informal expectations that may influence what standards they adopt.
You’ll often hear the terms standards and common solutions used interchangeably, but they have distinct meanings:
- Standard: Something that you can objectively measure. There are often multiple ways to implement a standard.
- Common solution: A technical tool or solution that IT professionals in the university or industry use widely.
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Adhere to legal, policy and regulatory requirements
The Universities of Wisconsin and UW–Madison have established legal policy and regulatory requirements. Legal requirements may be based on state or federal law or contractual terms. Requirements may be linked to specific circumstances. Policies are created at multiple levels: UW Regents, Universities of Wisconsin, UW–Madison as a whole, and individual Schools, Divisions, or local units. Government agencies or third parties may create regulations.
If you are interested in getting involved in the policy landscape at UW–Madison, consider joining the UW–Madison IT Policy group by emailing itpolicy@cio.wisc.edu.
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Grow as an IT professional and in a broader IT community
Professional development is more than improving and maintaining your technical knowledge and certifications. Professional development includes being an active, contributing member of your professional community.
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Contributors
Document review and revision
2023 review team
The IT Professionals Committee is now the steward of this document.
- Cameron Cook
- Jason Erdmann
- Dexter Fierro
- Jim Helwig
- Conor Klecker
- Amanda Thornton
- Scott Winger
2022 review team
- Chris Poser, DoIT User Services (primary contact)
- Crague Cook, DoIT Application Infrastructure Services, Identity and Access Management
- David Parter, L&S, Computer Science
- Jason Erdmann, School of Education, MERIT
- Laura Grady, DoIT Academic Technology, Center for UX
- Sabrina Messer, DoIT Application Infrastructure Services
- Sara Tate-Pederson, College of Engineering
- Susan Weier, L&S, Learning Support Services (LSS)
Document development and advancement, 2017 teams
Development team
- Gary De Clute, Office of the CIO, IT Policy (primary contact)
- Alan Silver, L&S, Chemistry
- David Parter, L&S, Computer Science
- Jason Erdmann, School of Education
- Laura Grady, Office of the CIO and DoIT Communications
- Sabrina Messer, School of Education, MERIT
- Sara Nagreen, L&S, Mathematics
- Sara Tate-Pederson, Administrative Information Management Services (AIMS)
- Susan Weier, L&S, Learning Support Services (LSS)
Advancement team
- Laura Grady, Office of the CIO and DoIT Communications (co-chair)
- Sara Tate-Pederson, AIMS (co-chair)
- Alan Silver, L&S, Chemistry
- David Parter, L&S, Computer Science
- Jason Erdmann, School of Education, MERIT
- Sara Nagreen, L&S, Mathematics
- Sue Weier, L&S, Learning Support Services (LSS)