Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences


WCAS NU

WeinbergIT Mission

Mission and Organization

WeinbergIT facilitates computing technology for teaching, research, and administration in the Weinberg College of Arts & Sciences (WCAS) at Northwestern University.

WeinbergIT services are defined within a distributed support model. WeinbergIT operates in cooperation with the central organization for information technology, NUIT, and in tandem with the college unit, MultiMedia Learning Center (MMLC), and the NU Library. NUIT provides the network infrastructure and all other central technology resources.

WeinbergIT is organized into three functional groups, focusing on the faculty and staff within WCAS: Faculty and Staff Computing Support, Systems and Network Administration, and Web Infrastructure and Applications Development.

WeinbergIT staff are available through a web-based Service Request system. A WeinbergIT staff member serves as a liaison to each department or program to coordinate computer related support and to serve as an informational resource.

Underlying Goals and Guiding Principles

  • Provide a world class computing environment to match the world class research and teaching environment.
  • Support the WCAS model where diversity of interests and research demand diverse methodology and priorities.
  • Whenever possible, identify economies of scale and leverage these to benefit the majority of WCAS without sacrificing this breadth of interests and methods.
  • Identify technology solutions at the College level; establish specific implementation priorities within the departments.
  • Consult with a broad range of department chairs and faculty in assessing and setting direction for technology support in WCAS.
  • Foster an outward-facing, service-oriented work ethic within WeinbergIT.
  • Maintain strong technology-based working relationships with WCAS staff.
  • As technology changes, services and infrastructure will develop and improve. Strive to be on the leading edge, not the bleeding edge.
  • Optimize the relationship with NUIT to insure that NUIT standards best serve WCAS and that WCAS can take advantage of NUIT resources. Any particular service may move over time from WeinbergIT to NUIT or vice versa.
  • Collaborate with other groups across campus to take advantage of existing or mutually beneficial technical solutions.
  • Adopt a long-range and inclusive perspective to strategically manage competing priorities.