Alumni Transformation Discovery Project Finds Wins in Support and Project Excellence
The project team behind the Alumni Transformation Discovery Project earned Northwestern IT's Fiscal Year 2023, Quarter Three Project Team Excellence Award. Launched in anticipation of a transformation program for Alumni Relations and Development (ARD), the project sought to determine a vision for the program, establish program governance, and document current state processes, strengths, weaknesses, and areas for opportunity. In the end, all of the work led to a selection process for technologies and implementation partners aligned to the documented needs of the organization.
The transformation discovery project ensured the continued success of ARD and Northwestern IT's support in this area. It helped solidify the trust of business partners and strengthened already firm confidence that Northwestern IT's collaborative service, technical expertise, and strategic planning will continue to sustain growth and achievement across the University.
On behalf of the Project Team Excellence Award Committee, Chair and Teaching and Learning Technologies Learning Engineer Lead Mike Dice noted, "Northwestern's mission depends heavily on alumni engagement, making the scope and impact of this project evident. Managing the various components across several units efficiently and maintaining organization while staying on schedule were among the factors that earned the project recognition as exemplary project work."
Elizabeth Summers, senior project manager in Research Computing and Data Services (formerly with the Office of Portfolio Management), and Chris Fowler, applications systems manager in Administrative Systems, led the project. The team received high praise from their ARD business partners, which helped to secure a rare honor of recognition for excellence in a discovery project rather than the more commonly awarded category of an implementation project.
The Alumni Transformation Discovery Project benefited greatly from successful cross-team collaboration. In addition to business partners in ARD, project members represent several Administrative Systems teams, including Application Development and Operations—Enterprise Applications and Custom Development, Data Management and Analytics, Office of Portfolio Management, and Enterprise Systems Alumni and Financial.Congratulations to the entire team: Chris Fowler, Priya Krishnamurthy, Karl Kooistra, Jessica Fiore, Joe Costanza, Justin Gudani, Brent Billows, Noel Gaceta, Armi Cachila, Karen Allen, Arnaz Alavi, Kate Maloney, Mary Strupeck, Elizabeth Summers, and Tad Kolke.
As a reminder, Project Team Excellence Award submissions are always encouraged. If you recently completed a project that you believe is worthy of recognition, please discuss the possibility of nominating the work with your project manager. Learn more about how to submit a nomination.