The 2023/2024 academic year was a period of significant change for the UC Merced campus and the Office of Information Technology (OIT). The pandemic lessons of the past several years still fresh in our minds, OIT entered a period of reflection to rethink the way we organize ourselves, our work, and how we evolve to remain effective partners and contributors to the campus community. While this was a useful and fruitful exercise, the work of the day remains and is more important than ever - technology is deeply rooted in every aspect of our campus, from physical and business operations to teaching, learning, and research. “Keeping the lights on” is a monumental task shared by everyone in OIT, where the best possible outcome is that you don’t notice us at all - things “just work” in the way you expect.

Beyond keeping the lights on, my hope is that OIT can be a thought partner and problem solver for the campus. In my first full year as Vice Chancellor and CIO, my guiding philosophy was one of service and partnership. I ask myself (and many of you!) every day how OIT can effectively support the needs of the campus, be seen as enablers of our shared mission, and effective stewards of our resources. This remains my overarching objective, and I am grateful for your collective input, partnership, and honesty as we work to achieve these goals.

I hope you find this Annual Report useful, engaging, and informative as to the work IT has done, the spirit in which we complete this work, and as proof of our continued organizational commitment to support the UC Merced community.