WashU IT employees and distributed IT partners gathered last week for the September IT All Hands meeting, where leaders shared organizational updates, celebrated employee milestones and heard presentations on the upcoming election season and AI advances. WashU IT Chief of Staff Jen Stedelin welcomed attendees and led the hourlong meeting.
Legislative and election preview
Julie Baker, Assistant Vice Chancellor for State Relations from WashU’s Government and Community Relations team, followed with a state legislative overview and a preview of the upcoming November election. With early voting underway, Baker’s update offered a timely look at the issues and races that could affect the university in the coming months.
AI partnership spotlight
Theo Ossinga, Associate Director of Advancement Communications Projects for University Advancement, and Michelle Fuertes, Executive Director of WashU IT’s Administrative AI team, presented on a new AI proofreading assistant now in its pilot phase within University Advancement. The tool is one of several use cases the Administrative AI team has explored as it works to identify ways technology can support and enhance the work of staff, faculty, researchers and clinicians across the university. Ossinga and Fuertes discussed how the partnership between their teams has already led to meaningful efficiency gains.
Organizational updates
Stedelin also shared several reminders and announcements. Employees were asked to complete mid-year reviews in Workday by 5 p.m. Sept. 18 and to finish Code of Conduct training by 5 p.m. Oct. 2. She announced last week’s rollout of Claude Secure for protected health information, news of particular importance to WashU Medicine and the Epic team and asked distributed IT partners to help share the update within their units.
Stedelin also announced the latest installment of AI Literacy for Staff, which includes three new micro-learnings covering AI and PHI, AI and copyright and AI with Claude Edu. The micro-learnings are available now through Workday, and distributed IT partners were again asked to help spread the word within their units.
In addition, Stedelin reminded employees who must receive a seasonal flu vaccine or file an exemption to follow the instructions in a September 14th email from Human Resources.
Welcomes, promotions, anniversaries and employee engagement spotlight
Stedelin welcomed several new team members to WashU IT in August, as well as recognized a recent promotion and several work anniversaries. A full list of those recognized for milestones is available in the meeting materials, which will be shared soon in the IT All Hands archives. Additionally, several teams and individuals were recognized for standout work over the past month. Those recognized this month were from Academic and Administrative Technologies and IT Shared Infrastructure.
Employee engagement update
Stedelin shared an update on the WashU IT Employee Engagement initiative, following a connecting and giving survey that employees completed during the summer. Another update is planned for the October All Hands meeting.
IT Operating Model and ITSM Roundtable
Stedelin provided context on WashU IT’s four operating model priorities: Knowledge Management, Demand and Capacity Management, Service Portfolio and Service Level Management. She noted the next ITSM Roundtable, open to all WashU IT employees and distributed IT partners, is scheduled for 2 p.m. Sept. 25 and will focus on IT service management and the operating model’s ongoing projects.
Other highlights
Stedelin closed the meeting with a few additional reminders. Employees can still sign up for the CITY Sprint 5K at Energizer Park on Sept. 27 as part of WashU Days and Nights. She also reminded attendees that AI Perspectives Week began on Thursday, Sept. 17, and programming is planned through Wednesday, Sept. 30. Workshops and forums are covering topics such as AI in mental health, film, law and scholarship, and are being hosted by the Office of the Provost, the Center for Health AI, the Digital Intelligence and Innovation Accelerator, several schools and units, and WashU IT.
The next WashU IT All Hands meeting is scheduled for 3 to 4 p.m. CT on Wednesday, Oct. 21. Review the archives for recordings and meeting materials from previous IT All Hands meetings.