Updates on ITS Operations & Strategies

Dear colleagues,

“The new education must prepare our students to thrive in a world of flux, to be ready no matter what comes next. It must empower them to be leaders of innovation and to be able not only to adapt to the changing world but also to change the world.”
Cathy N. Davidson, “The New Education”

Like the world we live in, Andrews University is in a state of continuous transformation. With that reality, our University’s leadership, faculty and staff must work together to ensure our students continue to receive a life-changing education that prepares them to be World Changers for a changing world.

As you know, the arrival and impact of the COVID-19 global pandemic this spring has significantly accelerated the pace of transformation on a global scale, and there’s every indication the pandemic’s impact will continue to impact nearly all facets of our life here at Andrews University for the 2020–2021 academic year and potentially beyond.

Throughout our nearly 150-year history at Andrews University, we have navigated many challenges and embraced numerous opportunities as we have sought new ways of living out our mission and a commitment to service in this current world.

That commitment by Andrews University to effectively meet challenges will also include making proactive organizational changes that will allow us to thrive in this rapidly changing world.

LESSONS LEARNED AND APPLIED

Our experiences during recent years, underlined by the unprecedented changes we are now facing to our operations during the spring and summer semesters of 2020, have taught us several important lessons. These include:

1. While we cannot control the impact of fast-moving, global events, such as COVID-19, we can and must control how we react and respond to them.
2. In the face of uncertainty, it is essential to cultivate and deepen critical skills, such as agility, responsiveness, innovation, elasticity, grit and empathy throughout our Andrews community.
3. We must also acknowledge that education at all levels, especially amidst the challenges of this pandemic, is increasingly reliant on technology like so many areas of our world. So, as we work to ensure future years of optimal working and learning environments for all Andrews University employees and students, the robustness of our technology operations must play a central and critical role.

With these three strategic lessons in mind, we wish to confirm with you an important decision we have made to ensure Andrews University will continue to have and also further develop the information technology (IT) capabilities we will need to succeed in the coming year and beyond.

To take that step, we have chosen to deliver our Information Technology Services (ITS), beginning Oct. 1, 2020, in partnership with Dynamic Campus, a higher education managed services organization that has more than 18 years of higher education information technology support experience.

Dynamic Campus specializes in supporting smaller, private, faith-based institutions similar to Andrews University. Those include La Sierra University and Oakwood University, as well as other noted private universities and colleges, including Texas Wesleyan University, the University of Mary, Assumption College and more.

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?

• As we enter into our contract with Dynamic Campus, our existing ITS staff will continue to support the Andrews University mission as they always have. (NOTE, Oct. 1: Some ITS staff will continue to support the University in their current roles, while being employed by Dynamic Campus; others will continue as Andrews University employees for the short- or long-term, under Dynamic Campus management.)
• Our valued ITS employees will now also be supported and augmented by Dynamic Campus’ significant resources of more than 100 dedicated higher education information technology experts across the U.S.
• In addition, the Dynamic Campus shared services team is available to Andrews University, allowing us the opportunity to scale up our ITS support resources in near real-time when the need arises and then also scale back just as quickly when they’re no longer needed.
• With this partnership, Andrews University will also be able to take advantage of Dynamic Campus’ specific technical expertise, when and where it’s needed, in fields such as remote learning, cybersecurity, infrastructure, financial aid, records and more.
• This partnership will allow Andrews University the significant opportunity to develop and possess the same information technology strength, scalability and capability as a large public institution at a time when technology is especially mission-critical to the University.
• The outsourcing partnership allows us to gain these advantages with minimal disruption and maximum flexibility.

WHAT DOES THIS DYNAMIC CAMPUS PARTNERSHIP MEAN FOR YOU?

This partnership is one example of our Andrews University commitment to ensure that we remain equipped to respond quickly and flexibly to our changing higher education environment.

In particular, this partnership will help assure that we can get the most out of our ITS team and investments to date, while also expanding and deepening our ITS support and service levels for students, faculty, staff and administrators.

It will also allow us to also make additional key investments to ensure all of us have the tools, technologies and support we need to be as successful as possible in this academic year impacted by the realities of the COVID-19 global pandemic, whether we are on campus, online, learning remotely or pursuing some combination of the three.

Perhaps most importantly, we are making these investments with Dynamic Campus, a partner that is fully in line not only with Andrews University’s academic mission but also a partner that aligns with our Christian values and our focus on best serving others.

Andrews University will continue to carefully study how we can make sure we are relevant and prepared for the realities of this unusual school year but also with strength for the school years to come.

As a result, this new partnership with Dynamic Campus is a step we take with confidence, with purpose, and with a vision for our ability to be relevant and bring positive change to our 21st-century world.

Here at Andrews, we truly aspire to be World Changers for a changing world, including the world and work of our own campus and Andrews family.

Andrea Luxton
President

Christon Arthur
Provost

Chip Meekma
Vice President, Financial Administration

Darcy de Leon
Director, Human Resources