Innovation. By definition it means introducing new things or methods. “A Culture of Innovation” was the theme of the 2025 IT@ND retreat held Jan. 8 and 9 at Mendoza College of Business.
Over 300 IT staff members from across the University attended this year’s retreat to participate in a variety of educational, collaborative, and celebratory activities. It explored how clarity, purpose, and prioritization create room for innovative thinking and creativity.
A Culture of Innovation
Jane Livingston, vice president information technology and chief information officer, opened the retreat. In her presentation, she asked the audience to think about how to craft a culture that not just allows for, but inspires innovation.
She shared examples of innovative projects, processes, and technologies—such as the evolution of the Service Desk, AI enablement and migrating ND Studios media production to the cloud. “The critical achievement of unifying our planning, priorities and processes will serve us well as the IT community works together and builds toward the University’s future and its mission,” Livingston stated.
She concluded her presentation by challenging the IT@ND staff to seek opportunities to prioritize innovation and share their ideas for future initiatives.
Turning Challenges into Success
Keynote speaker Eric Johnson, principal developer advocate at Amazon Web Services (AWS), gave a powerful presentation about how to move through challenges toward success.
Born with one finger on each hand and one toe on each foot, Johnson stated, “Everyone is challenged. But approaching a challenge as an opportunity, you open yourself to more possibilities to succeed.” His advice was simple:
- Make a daily choice: Are you blessed or cursed?
- Instead of saying, “I can’t,” say “I can’t yet.”
- If the first solution doesn’t work, figure out what to do next. Rarely do people find the right answer the first time.
- Have fun. If you aren’t having fun, what are you even doing?
Collaboration, Learning & Accomplishments
IT@ND staff took part in opportunities for professional development and learning, collaborating, and celebrating accomplishments.
IT colleagues gave presentations in 26 breakout sessions that spanned both days of the retreat. Topics ranged from artificial intelligence and ways to increase productivity to defining IT stewardship and navigating change.
Other accomplishments that were celebrated included:
- Acknowledging the hard work of hundreds of individuals completing 34 projects from April through December 2024.
- The newly-established IT@ND excellence awards recognized eight individuals and five teams for their commitment to excellence, nominated and selected by their peers.
- The team of IT engineers who worked over holiday break to restore most of the network, telephones and other campus service that went down due to the tunnel fire on Dec. 21.
One IT Community
What is IT@ND? “It is a community of technology professionals at Notre Dame who have been coming together to share experiences, knowledge and skills development,” stated Livingston.
“The purpose of IT@ND is to think strategically and act collaboratively as one IT organization in support of the University's mission to be the leading global Catholic research university,” said Dan Skendzel, assistant vice president for academic & community technology experience, OIT. “This is extremely valuable because, regardless of reporting lines or organizational structure, we can work toward consistent IT strategy, security, and user experience objectives.”
“As a non-OIT IT professional, the OIT@ND initiative fosters a strong sense of community within the broader IT community at Notre Dame.”
“The IT@ND retreat provides a platform to align goals, celebrate achievements, and energize participants to drive meaningful progress,” said Roberto Casarez, academic technology & AI literacy specialist, Office of Information Technology (OIT).
It is one example of how the campus IT community continues to engage in technology discussions to meet the needs of the Notre Dame community. There are also quarterly town hall meetings and topical communities of practice groups, as well as an intranet, newsletter and chat group that bring IT staff together to explore new and innovative technology solutions.
According to Chris Fruehwirth, IT Director, Mendoza College of Business, “IT@ND enhances collaboration, improves processes, and streamlines IT services while fostering a culture of learning and mutual support where teams challenge each other to innovate.” He also stated the efforts create an improved IT experience, optimize resources, and advance the University’s mission and strategic goals.