Introducing Northwestern IT Together
Recently, a group of community-minded IT staff members, with support from IT leadership, formed a new community group, Northwestern IT Together. Co-chairs Betsy Watkins and Lisa Hinkley provided an overview of this employee-led group, which facilitates activities to build community across IT and expand knowledge and skills, enabling us to work more effectively together.
Betsy Watkins is a systems engineer on the Collaboration Services team in Cyberinfrastructure. In her role, she supports all Microsoft systems, including OneDrive, SharePoint, and Outlook. Lisa Hinkley is a systems analyst on the Enterprise Systems team in Administrative Systems. She supports myHR and myHRLearn. Other members of the advisory board, include: David Nichols, Evia El-Habash, Jonathan Diehl, Josephine Anderson, Michael Campbell, and Samatha Bodanapu.
Why Northwestern IT Together?
Betsy: A strong, productive culture doesn’t happen by accident; it requires conscious effort and care, and we are fortunate to have the support of IT senior leadership in this effort, including Steve Christensen, director of IT communications and engagement, who helps inform our programming. Northwestern IT Together strives to create environments where people feel comfortable asking questions, sharing ideas, and supporting one another. It’s about getting to know each other beyond our everyday contexts and building networks that connect people and ideas, which helps us better understand one another and makes collaboration easier and more impactful.
However, we don’t work in a silo, right? We also must establish collaboration and connections with other parts of the University to achieve success. Some of us in Northwestern IT may not engage with colleagues from Weinberg College or Kellogg. So, in addition to expanding knowledge and skills within IT, we aim to collaborate with members of the broader campus community to offer customized learning and networking opportunities, keeping our IT community informed, connected, and empowered.
Lisa: We currently coordinate with and maintain regular contact with other campus organizations, including the Office of Community Enrichment, the Office of the Ombudsperson, Talent Development (HR), and Alumni Relations, to stay informed about the activities happening across the campus community.
We will also promote activities sponsored by internal IT affinity groups and for the various affinity groups at Northwestern. This involvement helps us expand our horizons of what we can and share with IT staff through the Northwestern IT Together programming.
Community building is something that I have always found myself naturally drawn to. I see Northwestern IT Together as an opportunity to bring different folks of various backgrounds and lived experiences together. It’s through these types of efforts that we all can make a difference in our respective communities. ”
Betsy Watkins
Co-Chair
Northwestern IT Together
What kinds of programming can IT staff expect?
Betsy: In addition to workshops, you can expect to see community volunteering opportunities, resource sharing, and field trips to areas on and off campus. The first summer event, Demystifying Digital Accessibility, is on July 31. We invited Jim Stachowiak, the accessible technology strategy and operations lead on the Teaching and Learning Technologies team in IT Services and Support, to discuss web accessibility and explore the many ways each of us can contribute to creating accessible and inclusive environments.
Lisa: In the upcoming months, there will be opportunities for IT staff to be involved in designing and implementing events. This will give all of us the chance to contribute to the collective intention of making Northwestern IT a place we are all proud to be part of.
What drew you to Northwestern IT Together?
Betsy: I enjoy solving complex problems and helping teams work smarter. I’m passionate about building inclusive and efficient systems, and I enjoy collaborating across teams to make meaningful progress, whether through one-on-one dialogue, resource planning, or community engagement. Northwestern IT Together seemed like a natural fit.
Lisa: Before I started at Northwestern, I knew people here and appreciated knowing that members from all levels of IT were actively engaging in book clubs and other activities (and were having sometimes challenging conversations), intending to improve the everyday experiences of staff and users continually. Northwestern IT Together supports our core work of keeping systems running while also developing the knowledge and skills necessary for growth.
Share Your Ideas
The Northwestern IT Together advisory board values your ideas to enrich our IT community. If you have a particular interest or would like to consider sharing your time, please email them at NorthwesternITTogether@northwestern.edu.