New Names, Same Service Provision

Recent announcements regarding the organization of Information Technology services within the UNT system may have readers wondering about how they will continue to receive IT services as we move forward under this new arrangement. The good news is that for those at most UNT system campuses and offices services will continue to be provided in the same manner and in most cases by the same people and IT groups that have historically been providing this support. There are a few changes coming to the names of the IT organizations at both the UNT System and the UNT flagship campuses that will replace the Computing and information Technology Center (CITC) name that is familiar to many.

Some New Names

September also saw the launch of the name Information Technology Shared Services (ITSS) for the IT divisions now under UNT System management. A fledgling website has already been established for ITSS at http://it.untsystem.edu/. More information about the management structure of ITSS will be forthcoming as this new organization continues to be defined.

The local IT services remaining associated with the UNT flagship campuses are Academic Computing and User Services (ACUS), Administrative Information Technology Services (AITS), Classroom Support Services (CSS), and Microcomputer Maintenance Services (MMS). These former divisions of the CITC will now operate under the name, University Information Technology (UIT).

The CITC name and branding will gradually be retired in favor of these new organization names. Since it may take a while to “disentangle” the elements that were formerly parts of the CITC, you may continue to see that name in documentation and be referred to parts of the CITC website until new online resources can be created. Benchmarks Online, however, will remain accessible at http://www.unt.edu/benchmarks/.

Same Service Provision

In spite of the changes happening in the management of IT services at the UNT System and UNT Campuses, most people should not notice any day-to-day change in the IT service they are receiving or in who is providing that service. While technically separate organizations UIT and ITSS will continue to closely coordinate and work together to ensure a high-quality IT environment for the UNT campuses. Members of UNT academic departments will still continue to receive their desktop support from the academic IT staff. Furthermore, all members of the UNT community can still contact the UIT Help Desk if they have an IT question for which they can’t find an answer.

First of all, the organization once known as the Computing and Information Technology Center (CITC) has ceased to exist. Instead we have Information Technology Shared Services (ITSS), IT divisions now under UNT System management, and University Information Technology (UIT). UIT consists of local IT services associated with the UNT flagship campus. These are Academic Computing and User Services (ACUS), Administrative Information Technology Services (AITS), Classroom Support Services (CSS), and Microcomputer Maintenance Services (MMS). As the aforementioned article states, however, "The CITC name and branding will gradually be retired in favor of these new organization names. Since it may take a while to “disentangle” the elements that were formerly parts of the CITC, you may continue to see that name in documentation and be referred to parts of the CITC website until new online resources can be created."