The IT Conference held at UMass Dartmouth on June 5, 2025 was attended by over 200 UMass Information Technology employees across all campuses. This was an annual event prior to Covid and our Dartmouth contemporaries celebrated the opportunity to reboot this important occasion to gather, network and learn amongst campus colleagues.
Vala Afshar was the keynote speaker and gave a lively discussion on AI and IT Trends. He is a UMass Lowell Alum and Salesforce’s Chief Digital Evangelist. He is also the author of “Boundless: A New Mindset for Unlimited Business Success,” and all attendees received a complimentary copy of his book.
Some highly attended sessions were:
- “UMass, AI, and the New Cybersecurity Frontier,”
- “Transforming IT Services at UMass Dartmouth”
- “From Zero to SOC Hero: The Security Operations Center at UMB”
UITS presented engaging topics including:
- “Integration Strategies for a Connected UMass,” presented by Scott Szajna
- “Project Management Roundtable,” led by Allison Bamforth
- “Modernized Shared Data Management and Analytics Platform,” presented by Shahriar Panahi
An attention-grabbing segment called CIO Fireside Chat, moderated by Peggy Dias of UMD, included rapid-fire questions, along with one uniquely specific question posed to each of our six UMass CIOs.
Rapid-Fire Questions/Answers:
- There are now 25 hours in a day, what do you do with that last hour…In 3 words or less?
- Michael Milligan (UMPO) – Sleep, Eat, Drink
- Michael Cipriano (Lowell) – Definitely Recreational
- Ray Lefebvre (Boston) – Time with Family
- Lee Leiber (Chan) – Netflix, Reading, and Sleep
- Chris Misra (Amherst) – More Rock Climbing
- Holger Dippel (Dartmouth) – Time with Family
- You are required to give up one device: computer or smart phone?
- Holger Dippel – Computer
- Chris Misra – Computer
- Lee Leiber – Computer
- Ray Lefebvre – Smart Phone
- Michael Milligan – Smart Phone
- Michael Cipriano – Computer
Individual Questions/Answers:
- UMass Amherst, Chris Misra – When asked about the timing, staff engagement, and critical factors driving his multi-year organizational change project, Chris indicated that they are engaging with the core business of the campus. He said, “We have to align with the business, and the organization should follow…The work in my organization happens at the staff level. If our business transformation isn't informed at the staff level, it's not going to succeed.”
- UMass Chan, Lee Leiber – After being with UMass for only 2 months, Lee was not given the softball question he expected! He was asked how he envisions the role of the CIO in shaping a long-term digital transformation strategy that supports research in education, ensures the institution of agility and resilience among rapidly changing technology and budget uncertainty in academic medicine. Lee said he takes issue with the reference to “long-term” as IT is rapidly changing, and it’s impossible to create a 10 or even 5-year plan. Echoing Chris, Lee said, “We have to retool our organizations; we have to be nimble; we have to deliver in weeks and not months”. Lee is preparing for the challenges he faces in this crisis of funding cuts in our academic medical centers.
- UMass Lowell, Michael Cipriano – “It’s no surprise that my answer is AI,” said Michael of his question to name one IT skill that will differentiate a UMass IT professional in FY26. “AI is clearly the most transformative skill, and IT has come a long way since I learned to code on punch cards”. He said the whole world is using AI, and it presents an incredible opportunity in IT and how we service our customers.
- UMass President’s Office, Michael Milligan – Michael said, “What comes to mind first is listening and empathy,” of his question on how to ensure a deep understanding of his stakeholders’ needs. “And from a system’s office perspective we are listening to our stakeholders and customers and we have empathy for what y’all are doing because it is the core mission of why we're here - a pedagogical solution for our students… and our mission is to provide value and ensure the 5 campuses are the best they can be”
- UMass Dartmouth, Holger Dippel – Peggy pulled rank over her boss, Holger, who hoped to go last; she asked, What's one technology-related success story at your campus that you think other institutions could adopt? Struggling with recruitment and eventually retention has put a focus on student success. We tried a platform for an advisory board that didn’t work, and realized that failure is what led to success. “Never step outside your means and learn from your mistakes.”
- UMass Boston, Ray Lefebvre – Peggy mentioned that Ray is last for a reason, but first, his question is How do you foster effective collaboration and communication across teams, and why are these elements crucial to the success of IT initiatives? Ray went on to describe several initiatives at UMass Boston encompassing IT collaboration, including “IT Syzygy”, alignment of his IT departments in a monthly meeting. “One IT” brings together all distributed IT professionals at UMB, including super users, shadow IT groups, and the whole IT department. Ray implemented Teams during COVID and utilizes channels for communication; one in particular, “Stronger Together,” is intended for shout-outs. And finally, Ray has “IT Outcomes,” which is an annual publication celebrating success stories of people implementing IT successfully.
Drumroll please!
Peggy announced that UMass Boston will host the IT Conference next year, so be on the lookout for your invitation to participate and attend the 2026 IT Conference at UMB.
Thank you to UMass Dartmouth for hosting and to the 2025 IT Conference Committee:
