UWIT Annual Report FY2026

Advancing from reliable service provider to strategic partner in support of the university mission.

ANNUAL REPORT FY2026

FY2026 AT A GLANCE

Strategic Alignment

INSTITUTIONAL EXCELLENCE

STUDENT SUCCESS

Modernized services and student-centered experiences

FINANCIAL STABILITY

Faculty, research, data, AI, resilience, and security

Data-informed advancement and resource stewardship

SUPPORTIVE COMMUNITY

STATEWIDE SERVICE

Training, digital literacy, safety, and campus life

Technology-enabled outreach and Wyoming partnerships

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY University of Wyoming Information Technology (UWIT) is transforming from a reliable service provider to a strategic partner in support of the university’s mission. Recognizing that the university’s foremost goal is to grow student enrollment, UWIT has focused its efforts on creating a technology environment that attracts, supports, and retains students while enhancing the overall educational experience. Guided by insights from the CIO’s First 100 Days assessment, UWIT focused on strengthening organizational effectiveness, expanding collaboration across the university, and building the foundation for an innovative, responsive, and future-ready technology environment. Throughout the year, UWIT enhanced the digital experience for students, faculty, and staff by improving access to technology resources, increasing the accessibility and usability of digital services, and supporting more efficient and data-informed decision making. These efforts contributed to a more seamless student experience, helping position the University of Wyoming as a destination of choice for current and prospective students. Investments in modernizing technology platforms and business processes helped improve operational efficiency, strengthen continuity of critical services, and position the university to better meet evolving academic, research, and administrative needs. UWIT also expanded its role in supporting student success, research, and institutional excellence through stronger university and community partnerships, proactive service delivery, and increased focus on emerging technologies. The organization continued to foster a culture of learning and innovation by advancing artificial intelligence exploration, expanding technology training opportunities, and equipping the university community with the skills and tools needed to thrive in a rapidly changing digital landscape. These efforts support the university’s ability to attract, engage, and retain students while preparing graduates for success in an increasingly digital world. At the same time, UWIT reinforced its commitment to stewardship and sustainability by improving operational processes, enhancing resource management, and developing strategies to ensure long-term financial and technological resilience. Efforts to strengthen governance, strategic planning, communication, and organizational alignment further positioned UWIT to deliver greater value and transparency to the university community. These accomplishments demonstrate meaningful progress toward a more connected, accessible, secure, and innovative technology ecosystem. As UWIT continues to evolve, it remains committed to empowering student success, enabling research and discovery, supporting institutional excellence, and serving as a catalyst for the University of Wyoming’s long-term transformation and growth.

CONTENTS 04 Enabling The University’s Strategic Plan

15 Cultivating Financial Stability

05 Enhance Student Success

16 Provide a Supportive Community

06 Pursuing Institutional Excellence

18 Engage and Serve the State of Wyoming

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ENABLING THE UNIVERSITY’S STRATEGIC PLAN Technology is a critical enabler of the University of Wyoming’s (UW) mission and strategic goals. Across teaching, research, student success, community engagement, and administrative operations, technology provides the foundation that allows the university to innovate, operate efficiently, and respond to evolving opportunities and challenges. Throughout the year, UWIT focused on aligning technology investments and services with institutional priorities, ensuring that digital capabilities support the university’s objectives of enhancing student success, pursuing institutional excellence, cultivating financial sustainability, fostering a supportive community, and serving the State of Wyoming.

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Enhance Student Success

 SPOTLIGHT: UWIT

UWIT advanced the university’s commitment to student success by modernizing systems and processes that support students from admission through graduation. Throughout the year, the organization focused on improving access to services, streamlining administrative processes, and implementing technologies designed to help students make informed decisions about their academic journey.

UWIT employees and student

Significant progress was made toward the implementation of next-generation academic planning and degree management tools that will provide students and advisors with personalized degree pathways, scenario-based planning capabilities, and enhanced visibility into academic progress. Extensive collaboration with campus stakeholders, advisors, and technical teams established the foundation for these solutions, positioning the university to deliver proactive advising and support improved student retention and completion outcomes. UWIT also supported the modernization of the athletic department’s medical support services and student health services through the transition to a more accessible and sustainable web-based platform for electronic medical records. While implementation challenges were encountered, lessons learned were incorporated into a revised deployment strategy, strengthening readiness and helping ensure a successful transition that will ultimately improve service delivery and accessibility for students.

Gives Back Through the Holiday Market staff members demonstrated their commitment to community engagement and service through participation in the annual Staff Senate Holiday Market with the UWIN booth. UWIN team members and students collaborated to create handcrafted ornaments and other items for sale, with all proceeds benefiting Robbie’s House, a local nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting individuals and families in need. Together, the team raised $374.22, with funds donated through the UW Foundation to support the organization’s mission. More than a fundraising effort, the Holiday Market reflected UWIT’s dedication to fostering a supportive community, encouraging civic responsibility, and creating meaningful opportunities for student engagement. By working alongside UWIT employees to contribute to a charitable cause, student staff members gained valuable experiences in teamwork, service, and community involvement while strengthening connections beyond the workplace.

In partnership with the Admissions Office and external education partners, UWIT advanced initiatives to simplify and automate administrative processes that impact students. Progress on digital onboarding tools allowing students to upload their own photos in advance of arrival helped improve the student experience by simplifying ID card issuance and reducing processing time during high-demand periods. UWIT is removing barriers, enhancing student support services, and improving operational efficiency to create a connected and student-centered experience that contributes to academic success and degree completion.

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UWIT exemplifies the belief that supporting the university community extends beyond technology services. Through volunteerism, collaboration, and community partnerships, UWIT continues to cultivate a culture of service that enriches the student experience, strengthens community connections, and creates a positive impact both on campus and throughout Wyoming.

Pursuing Institutional Excellence Faculty Excellence

UWIT advanced several key initiatives that support faculty success, research productivity, and institutional excellence by improving the systems used to manage faculty activities, research administration, and public-facing faculty information. A significant milestone was achieved with the successful deployment of the Interfolio integration between ROAMWyo and WyoVita. The automated nightly transfer of proposal and award data now eliminates duplicate data entry for faculty, reducing administrative burden and improving data accuracy and efficiency. This accomplishment resulted from strong collaboration among Information Technology, Research & Economic Development Division (REDD), and campus partners to enhance the overall research administration experience for faculty members. In support of the provost’s commitment to faculty excellence and institutional visibility, IT also successfully enabled the Faculty180 web profile functionality. This enhancement provides a centralized and sustainable approach for maintaining faculty information while improving the visibility, accessibility, and consistency of faculty profiles across the university. By positioning the Provost’s Office to launch enhanced faculty web profiles, the initiative strengthens the institution’s ability to showcase faculty expertise, scholarly achievements, research accomplishments, and academic contributions to students, collaborators, external partners, and prospective faculty.

Data as an Institutional Asset

UWIT is strengthening the university’s ability to leverage data as a strategic institutional asset by advancing enterprise analytics, modernizing critical data infrastructure, and improving the reliability and accessibility of information used for decision-making. These efforts support the university’s commitment to institutional excellence by ensuring leaders, faculty, and staff have access to trusted data that informs planning, operations, and student success initiatives. Significant progress was made in expanding analytical capabilities through the development and validation of Financial Sustainability and Strategic Enrollment Management (SEM) dashboards that provide enhanced visibility into enrollment trends, applicant activity, and institutional outcomes. These efforts delivered actionable insights for decision-makers while reinforcing the importance of data quality, consistent definitions, and coordinated stewardship across the university. The initiative also highlighted the need for a comprehensive data governance framework to establish standards, clarify accountability, and ensure longterm confidence in institutional data. 

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 SPOTLIGHT: North and South Hall: Supporting Student Experience The new North Hall and South Hall represent a major milestone in the university’s commitment to providing modern, student-centered living and dining environments, demonstrating how technology can directly improve the student experience. Through seamless integration of student ID cards, residence hall access, meal plans, room assignments, and mobile services, students benefit from a streamlined move-in process and convenient access to the resources they need from day one. UWIT teams collaborated to create a connected living and dining environment with reliable Wi-Fi, modern audiovisual systems, digital signage, package lockers, dining applications, and enhanced security systems. These technologies improve communication, increase convenience, strengthen campus safety, and support student engagement both inside and outside the classroom. The North and South Halls deliver secure, reliable, and student-focused technology solutions providing a strong foundation for student success while creating a welcoming and modern residential experience for the university community.

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UWIT also modernized foundational technology infrastructure to implement data repositories that support modeling and institutional analytics. Implementation of an enterprise data platform enhanced data access and insights into university data and provided a foundation for evolving data-driven decision-making. In addition, UWIT made substantial progress in transitioning critical analytics and reporting processes to modern platforms, ensuring continued access to institutional reporting capabilities and minimizing risk associated with legacy technologies. These efforts protect the university’s investment in data and analytics while preserving access to the information necessary for operational planning, assessment, and strategic decision-making. By improving data quality, availability, governance, and infrastructure, UWIT is helping build an informed, agile, and data-informed university capable of making better decisions and achieving stronger outcomes.

Emerging Technology: Artificial Intelligence

UWIT advanced the university’s readiness for emerging technologies by taking significant steps to establish a strategic and responsible approach to artificial intelligence (AI). Recognizing AI’s potential to transform teaching, learning, research, and administrative operations, the department invested in building internal expertise and developing a framework to guide future adoption and implementation. During the year, UWIT strengthened organizational knowledge and preparation by sponsoring and coordinating an AI Strategy Workshop facilitated by Info-Tech Research Group. The workshop brought together representatives from academic colleges, faculty, staff, research, and administrative units across the university to explore AI governance, risk management, implementation best practices, and high-value institutional use cases. The resulting recommendations created a clear foundation for future AI initiatives and ensured alignment with university priorities. Building on this work, UWIT initiated a formal Request for Proposal (RFP) process to evaluate enterprise AI platform solutions that can support innovation while maintaining appropriate security, governance, and compliance standards. The completion of the RFP in June and selection of BoodleBox positions the university to responsibly leverage emerging technologies to improve operational efficiency, enhance decision-making, expand service capabilities, provide equitable access to faculty, staff, and students, and support long-term institutional sustainability. UWIT is helping ensure the University of Wyoming is well-positioned to capitalize on emerging technologies while managing risk and maintaining a strong focus on institutional values, student success, and operational excellence. UWIT ANNUAL REPORT FY2026 | 8

 SPOTLIGHT: Enhancing Campus Safety at War Memorial Stadium The installation of security cameras supporting the new addition at War Memorial Stadium was successfully completed, expanding monitoring capabilities and enhancing the safety and security of one of the university’s most visible community gathering spaces. The project improved situational awareness and security coverage across the expanded facility, providing a safer environment for students, employees, visitors, and event attendees. Successful implementation required close collaboration between UWIT and campus partners to ensure seamless integration with the university’s existing video management infrastructure. UWIT is commited to supporting a safe and welcoming campus community through technology investments. Enhancing security capabilities in a high-traffic campus venue strengthens the university’s ability to provide secure, reliable, and community-focused services that support campus life and engagement.

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 SPOTLIGHT: Empowering Innovation, Service, and Student

Development Through UWIN

UWIT extends its impact beyond traditional technology services through an active partnership with the University of Wyoming Innovation Network (UWIN), a university-wide network of makerspaces and innovation hubs that support creative problem-solving, entrepreneurship, experiential learning, and community engagement. Through the leadership of the Lab Imaging Team and direct participation in UWIN initiatives, UWIT provided staff expertise, mentorship, and technical guidance that helped students, faculty, staff, and community members transform ideas into real-world solutions. UWIN’s innovation spaces provide access to emerging technologies and hands-on learning opportunities, including 3D printing, digital fabrication, sewing, embroidery, vinyl cutting, and other maker technologies that foster creativity and innovation. As a key collaborating partner, UWIT helped support programming and service initiatives that connected students with meaningful opportunities to engage with and serve the local community. These efforts strengthened experiential learning, encouraged interdisciplinary collaboration, and provided students with practical skills that extend beyond the classroom. By supporting UWIN, UWIT reinforces the university’s commitment to innovation, workforce development, and community engagement, demonstrating how technology, creativity, and service can come together to create positive impact for both the university and the State of Wyoming.

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Strengthening Institutional Resilience, Security, and Reliability Data Center and System Infrastructure

UWIT continued to strengthen institutional resilience and AI readiness through strategic investments in facilities technology, infrastructure modernization, and enterprise monitoring capabilities. These efforts focused on improving the reliability, visibility, and sustainability of critical systems that support research, academics, and university operations. During the past year, UWIT completed several important data center upgrades to support the University of Wyoming’s growing demand for advanced research computing and artificial intelligence. New liquid-cooled server cabinets expanded the facility’s capacity to support high-density AI compute environments, including the expanded AI capabilities being developed by the Advanced Research Computing Center (ARCC). This investment maximizes the data center’s cooling capacity and positions the university to support emerging AI initiatives that require power-intensive computing infrastructure. In partnership with UW Operations, UWIT also launched a critical cooling infrastructure project designed to improve system reliability and long-term resilience. The upgrade will strengthen the integration between the data center and the university’s Central Energy Plant, providing dependable backup cooling capacity and future expansion of high-performing computing resources. UWIT further modernized core server and infrastructure platforms through the implementation of a new Pure Storage solution delivered through a hardware-as-a-service model. This approach improves financial predictability, eliminates the need for significant capital expenditures and provides flexibility to scale storage capacity as institutional needs evolve. The result is a sustainable and cost-effective storage strategy that aligns technology investments with long-term operational priorities. To enhance operational visibility and reduce costs, UWIT also began transitioning from SolarWinds to Zabbix, an enterprise monitoring and observability platform. The new solution expands monitoring capabilities across servers, network devices, and critical infrastructure while reducing recurring licensing expenses. The platform’s flexibility, scalability, and advanced alerting capabilities will strengthen UWIT’s ability to proactively identify issues, improve service reliability and support future growth.  UWIT ANNUAL REPORT FY2026 | 11

Collectively, these initiatives improve the institution’s ability to anticipate and withstand disruptions, maintain continuity of critical services, and effectively manage essential facilities and technology infrastructure. By modernizing foundational systems and enhancing operational visibility, UWIT is helping build a more resilient, sustainable, and future-ready university.

Security and Digital Resilience

Throughout FY2026, UWIT strengthened the University of Wyoming’s security posture and operational resilience with strategic investments in cybersecurity, infrastructure modernization, endpoint management, and enterprise communications. These efforts focused on reducing institutional risk, maintaining reliable technology services, and ensuring the university is well-positioned to support teaching, research, administration, and student success in an increasingly complex digital environment. A significant achievement was the enhancement of cybersecurity protections across the university through the implementation of advanced email security controls and comprehensive system maintenance efforts. By adopting industry-leading email authentication standards and maintaining a disciplined approach to security patching and application upgrades, UWIT reduced exposure to phishing, spoofing, and other cyber threats while strengthening trust in university communications. UWIT continued to modernize critical technology infrastructure to improve reliability, security, and longterm sustainability. Extensive server upgrades, operating system modernization, and the retirement of legacy technologies reduced technical debt, improved system performance, and ensured continued access to vendor-supported platforms. These efforts enable the university to respond more effectively to emerging threats while maintaining uninterrupted access to essential services. Advancements in endpoint management, including the continued use and expansion of Microsoft Intune, further strengthened institutional resilience by moving the university toward a modern, centralized approach to device administration. Improvements in device management, security policy deployment, and operating system planning support a more consistent and secure user experience across campus, regardless of device location. Enhanced troubleshooting and monitoring capabilities improved UWIT’s ability to proactively identify and address threats and issues, reducing downtime and improving service quality. Substantial progress was made in deploying Admin By Request to Windows-based computers across the university. The solution enables UWIT to remove permanent local administrator privileges while maintaining a controlled method for providing elevated access when necessary. This approach gives UWIT greater oversight of software installations, reduces the risk of unauthorized changes, and improves security for the entire campus community. Through proactive risk management, continuous modernization, and long-term strategic planning, UWIT is helping ensure the university can confidently support its mission today while remaining prepared for the challenges and opportunities of the future.

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 SPOTLIGHT: New Student Day Support UWIT played a key role in welcoming and preparing incoming students for success by providing comprehensive technology support during New Student Day events. The WyoOne ID Office and Service Center delivered on-site services, including ID photo capture, account assistance, password resets, and technology guidance for new and transfer students. By proactively creating temporary accounts, enabling access to campus technology resources, and supporting advising activities with dedicated printing services, UWIT helped students engage immediately with registration and advising processes. Early ID photo collection also allowed student IDs to be produced in advance, streamlining move-in and reducing delays at the start of the academic year. These efforts enhanced the onboarding experience, strengthened collaboration with Admissions, and ensured students could begin their university journey with timely access to the tools, services, and resources needed for academic success.

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 SPOTLIGHT: The Everyday Technology Behind Campus Life Every day, students, faculty and staff depend on UWIT to keep the university connected, supported, and ready to learn, teach and discover. From resolving technology issues and preparing classrooms to providing loaned devices and maintaining critical learning environments, UWIT delivers the services and infrastructure that enable the university’s mission. The UWIT Help Desk serves as the front door to technology support, connecting the campus community with the expertise, tools, and resources they need to succeed. Through student technology programs, software access, equipment lending, device repair and hands-on support, UWIT reduces technology barriers and helps ensure equitable access to the digital resources essential to academic excellence. Across campus, UWIT teams work behind the scenes to maintain classrooms, instructional technologies, computer labs, and collaborative learning spaces. Their efforts ensure that technology is available, reliable and ready when needed. These everyday services represent more than operational excellence, they reflect UWIT’s evolution from a trusted service provider to a strategic partner in advancing the university’s mission, one student, one classroom, and one interaction at a time.

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Cultivating Financial Stability

 SPOTLIGHT:

The university’s long-term financial sustainability and growth rely on technology, data, and business processes that enable advancement, fundraising, resource stewardship, and strategic decision-making. Through strong partnerships with the University of Wyoming Foundation and campus stakeholders, UWIT leveraged data and technology to enhance constituent engagement, improve operational efficiency, and support revenue-generating initiatives.

A comprehensive review of

A key focus area was the continued advancement of data integration efforts, ensuring that student, graduate, and employee information remains accurate, current, and available to support fundraising, alumni relations, and advancement activities. In addition to improving data availability, this work strengthened reporting practices, enhanced data quality, and established a more reliable foundation for future technology modernization efforts. These improvements support informed decision-making, reduce organizational risk, and position the institution for continued success as advancement systems evolve. UWIT also played a key role in supporting the University of Wyoming Foundation’s annual Giving Day campaign by providing timely and accurate data services that enabled targeted outreach, donor engagement, and campaign operations. By ensuring advancement teams had access to trusted information, UWIT created the technological foundation necessary to support one of the university’s most impactful philanthropic initiatives, directly contributing to fundraising success, stronger constituent relationships, and institutional growth. The department further strengthened the university’s financial stewardship through initiatives designed to reduce costs, improve efficiency, and maximize the value of technology investments. Contract management, modernization of business processes, and improvements to financial data workflows enhanced operational effectiveness while providing greater predictability and sustainability for managing university resources. UWIT supports the university in cultivating financial stability and diversification by enabling data-informed advancement activities, supporting philanthropic success, improving operational stewardship, and ensuring the university has the technology foundation necessary to sustain growth and achieve its long-term strategic objectives. UWIT ANNUAL REPORT FY2026 | 15

Adobe Enterprise Licensing Adobe licensing costs across the university revealed an opportunity to reduce costs and improve access through an enterprise-first approach to technology investments. Prior to this initiative, colleges and administrative units were independently purchasing Adobe subscriptions, creating duplication and limiting the university’s ability to leverage its collective purchasing power. By transitioning to a centralized Adobe Enterprise licensing agreement, UWIT secured a set of industry-leading creative and productivity tools. The new enterprise licensing model provides all faculty and staff with access to the full Adobe Creative Cloud software suite and extends Adobe Express and Acrobat to all students. This approach demonstrates how intentional review of software expenditures and strategic enterprise licensing can reduce overall spending, streamline license management, and provide equitable access to essential digital tools across the campus community. The result is a cost-effective, scalable and impactful technology service that supports teaching, learning, research and administrative excellence.

 SPOTLIGHT:

Supporting Research Through Innovation

UWIT partnered with the Department of Economics to develop a custom ID card swipe-in solution for the College of Business’ Teton Lab, a research facility that supports in-person, fieldbased, and online research activities involving students and community participants. The solution enables automated participant checkin and attendance tracking, reducing manual processes and improving the accuracy of research data collection. During the year, UWIT completed and delivered a functional prototype and collaborated with stakeholders to refine the solution based on user feedback. Once fully implemented, the tool will provide researchers with more reliable participation data, improve reporting and analysis capabilities, and offer greater insight into lab utilization and student

Provide a Supportive Community Fostering a supportive and empowered university community requires expanding technology training, strengthening digital literacy, and equipping faculty and staff with the skills needed to succeed in an increasingly technology-driven environment. During FY2026, the UWIT Training Program achieved record participation, delivering 90 workshops and open labs, maintaining 17 on-demand courses, and supporting 2,225 enrollments, the highest level of engagement in the past five years. A major focus of the year was helping the university community navigate emerging technologies. Artificial Intelligence became the most requested training topic for the first time, prompting UWIT to expand offerings that introduced faculty and staff to AI tools, prompt engineering, and practical applications for teaching, research, and administrative work. Through workshops, open labs, and individualized consultations, UWIT served as a trusted partner in helping campus users understand and responsibly adopt new technologies. The UWIT Training Program is also strengthening the university’s culture of security and shared responsibility by delivering mandatory cybersecurity awareness training to 4,778 full- and part-time employees. The training enhances campus-wide understanding of cybersecurity risks and contributes to a more secure institutional environment. Beyond traditional training, UWIT expanded its impact through active participation in university committees, collaboration with Institutional Marketing and Staff Senate, customized departmental training, accessibility education, and leadership in faculty development initiatives. These partnerships supported professional growth, encouraged innovation, and increased access to technology resources across the institution.

engagement. By streamlining research operations and reducing administrative burden, this initiative supports faculty excellence, strengthens research infrastructure, and advances the university’s research mission.

Participant feedback reflected the effectiveness of these efforts, with training programs earning exceptionally high satisfaction ratings and strong recommendations from attendees. Access to learning opportunities, expert guidance, and a supportive environment for technology adoption strengthens digital readiness, increases employee confidence, and cultivates a culture of continuous learning across the University of Wyoming.

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 SPOTLIGHT: Enhancing Campus Life Through Technology

Innovation

UWIT partnered with Dining Services and Business Enterprises to support the implementation of a new mobile ordering platform designed to modernize the campus dining experience. Through technical leadership, system integration support, and oversight of security and compliance requirements, UWIT helped lay the foundation for a more convenient and accessible dining experience across multiple campus locations. The new platform will provide students, faculty, staff, and visitors with expanded ordering options and integrated delivery capabilities, making it easier to access dining services and reducing barriers to campus engagement. By ensuring seamless integration with existing university systems and maintaining secure payment processing standards, UWIT is enabling innovative services that directly enhance everyday life on campus. Leveraging technology to increase convenience, accessibility, and service quality helps create a connected, responsive, and supportive environment for the University of Wyoming community.

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Engage and Serve the State of Wyoming UWIT enables the University of Wyoming’s statewide mission by partnering with academic, outreach, research, and community organizations that serve citizens, professionals, businesses, and communities across Wyoming. Through strategic technology investments and collaborative partnerships, UWIT helped expand access to education, training, research, and public service opportunities while strengthening the university’s ability to engage and serve the state. Throughout the year, UWIT modernized technology environments for several universityaffiliated organizations that provide critical services to Wyoming residents. These upgrades enhanced collaboration, hybrid learning, training delivery, and community engagement by replacing aging technology with modern conferencing, presentation, and interactive collaboration systems. Improvements support the work of organizations focused on disability services, transportation education, entrepreneurship, workforce development, and community outreach, enabling them to effectively connect with stakeholders throughout Wyoming. UWIT also supported the University Libraries’ role as a statewide research and information resource by updating technology in key event and collaboration spaces. These improvements expand the Libraries’ ability to host larger in-person and virtual audiences, support research activities, and provide greater access to educational resources for the university and broader Wyoming community. In support of economic and workforce development, UWIT partnered with organizations that help entrepreneurs, businesses, and local agencies access training, expertise, and innovation resources. Modernizing collaboration spaces and enabling more effective virtual engagement expands the reach and impact of programs that foster entrepreneurship, technology adoption, and professional development throughout the state. UWIT further promotes public service through partnerships that promote cybersecurity awareness and education. In collaboration with CyberWyoming, UWIT helped provide outreach and training opportunities designed to increase cybersecurity knowledge and reduce risk for businesses, nonprofits, and community organizations across Wyoming. UWIT extends the university’s impact beyond campus boundaries, providing modern technology, supporting collaborative partnerships, and enabling statewide engagement to advance the university’s role as a vital educational, research, and service resource for the people of Wyoming. UWIT ANNUAL REPORT FY2026 | 18

LOOKING AHEAD UWIT remains focused on empowering student success, enabling research and discovery, supporting institutional excellence, and serving as a catalyst for the University of Wyoming’s long-term transformation and growth. In the coming year, UWIT will focus on strengthening collaboration, improving the user experience, and advancing the technologies that support the university’s academic, research, and operational priorities. These efforts will directly support the university’s highest priority of growing student enrollment by enhancing the student experience, improving institutional effectiveness, and enabling data-informed decisions that support recruitment, retention, and student success. Central to this work is a commitment to greater transparency, stronger campus partnerships and the strategic adoption of emerging technologies that position the institution for future success.

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Coming Year Initiatives Strengthening Communication and Campus Engagement

UWIT will expand efforts to engage faculty, staff and students through proactive, consistent and transparent communication. These efforts will help the campus community understand available technology resources, upcoming changes and opportunities to participate in technology planning and decision-making. Enhanced communication strategies will include expanded service announcements, project updates, maintenance notifications, knowledge resources, and targeted outreach to ensure stakeholders are informed early and have a clear understanding of how technology changes may affect their work. By creating opportunities for feedback and collaboration, UWIT will ensure technology investments and priorities remain aligned with the evolving needs of the university community.

Expanding AI Access and Adoption

A major priority for the coming year will be the campus-wide implementation and rollout of BoodleBox as the university’s supported AI platform. BoodleBox will provide faculty, staff, and students with secure access to multiple leading AI models through a single, centrally supported environment. The platform will enable users to compare model outputs, collaborate with colleagues, work with institutional data, and apply AI tools effectively across teaching, learning, research, and administrative functions. The platform is expected to support secure document-based prompting, shared and collaborative AI conversations, coaching features that help users improve prompts and evaluate results, and integration opportunities with learning platforms such as Canvas. By providing equitable access to advanced AI capabilities, UWIT will help the university accelerate innovation while strengthening governance, security and support, promoting the ethical and responsible use of AI across the University of Wyoming. UWIT will also continue to identify opportunities where artificial intelligence and automation can improve efficiency, streamline business processes, and reduce administrative burdens. These efforts will help the university leverage emerging technologies to enhance productivity and create greater value across academic and operational areas. By providing broad and equitable access to AI technologies, UWIT will help prepare students with the skills increasingly demanded by employers while enabling faculty and staff to deliver innovative educational experiences that strengthen the university’s ability to attract and retain students.

Advancing the Digital Student Experience

UWIT will continue its partnership efforts to improve and streamline the student technology experience. Key initiatives include the full deployment of SmartPlan and broader efforts to enhance the digital student journey by improving how students access services, information, support, and technology resources throughout their academic experience. By focusing on the student experience, UWIT aims to reduce complexity, improve engagement, and ensure technology supports student success from recruitment through graduation. These investments will create a more seamless and connected student journey, supporting enrollment growth through improved student satisfaction, persistence, and retention. UWIT ANNUAL REPORT FY2026 | 20

 SPOTLIGHT: Strengthening Institutional Excellence Through

Cybersecurity

Cybersecurity remains a critical component of institutional excellence, safeguarding the university’s ability to support teaching, research, administration, and public service in an increasingly complex threat environment. During FY2026, UWIT strengthened the university’s cybersecurity program by enhancing governance, improving risk management practices, expanding monitoring capabilities, and increasing campus-wide cybersecurity awareness. A significant milestone was the establishment of a dedicated Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) role, aligning the university with Research 1 best practices and providing focused leadership for cybersecurity strategy, risk management, and incident preparedness. UWIT also expanded core security capabilities through vulnerability management, penetration testing, annual risk assessments, identity and access management controls, network segmentation, and advanced threat monitoring systems that process billions of security events each day. Recognizing that cybersecurity is a shared responsibility, UWIT launched the university’s first Cybersecurity Awareness Month and partnered with academic and community organizations to deliver educational programming for students, faculty, staff, and the broader Wyoming community. These efforts strengthened the culture of security across campus while increasing awareness of emerging cyber threats. UWIT is also investing in the future cybersecurity workforce through the development of a student-staffed Security Operations Center model and expanded opportunities for experiential learning, certifications, and regional engagement. These initiatives reinforce the university’s commitment to resilience, stewardship, and proactive risk management while ensuring a secure foundation for institutional success and effectively supporting emerging IT leaders.

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Modernizing IT Service Delivery

To improve service accessibility and responsiveness, UWIT will continue modernizing its service management environment through enhancements to TeamDynamix, including improvements to the ticketing system, knowledge base, service catalog, and customer support experience. UWIT will also further develop its project intake, review, and prioritization processes to provide greater visibility into technology demands across the institution. These improvements will help ensure that resources are aligned with institutional priorities and that technology investments deliver measurable value. Improved service delivery will allow faculty, staff, and students to access support more efficiently, reducing barriers to success and ensuring technology services effectively contribute to the university’s student-centered mission.

Investing in People and Strategic Capacity

UWIT will increase investments in professional development to ensure IT staff possess the knowledge, skills, and expertise needed to support a rapidly evolving technology landscape. Training opportunities, industry engagement, and exposure to higher education best practices will improve technical capabilities, leadership development, service delivery and innovation. Particular emphasis will be placed on artificial intelligence, with UWIT staff serving as leaders and trusted advisors in evaluating, implementing, and responsibly using AI technologies across the institution. By strengthening the skills and capabilities of UWIT staff, the university will be better positioned to deliver innovative and reliable technology services that support institutional growth, student success, and operational excellence.

Preparing for the Next Generation of Computing

As emerging technologies continue to reshape research and innovation, UWIT will begin exploring the infrastructure, partnerships, and expertise needed to support next-generation computing technologies, including quantum computing. While widespread adoption remains on the horizon, early planning and engagement will allow the University of Wyoming to anticipate future requirements and position itself as a leader in supporting advanced research capabilities. These investments will help ensure the University of Wyoming remains competitive in attracting talented students, faculty, researchers, and partners who seek access to advanced technologies and cutting-edge research opportunities. UWIT ANNUAL REPORT FY2026 | 22

Closing from the CIO As the University of Wyoming advances its mission and strategic vision, UWIT will continue aligning technology strategy with the university’s highest priorities. Recognizing that growing student enrollment is the institution’s foremost objective, UWIT is committed to helping create an exceptional student experience that supports recruitment, engagement, retention, and graduation. Technology will remain a critical enabler of teaching, learning, research, service, and innovation across every aspect of the institution. Guided by the newly adopted UWIT Strategic Plan, the organization will focus on transforming technology from a support function into a strategic driver of institutional success. Key priorities include strengthening data governance and analytics, modernizing the student experience, expanding responsible adoption of artificial intelligence, enhancing cybersecurity and institutional resilience, and improving transparency through governance, portfolio management, and stakeholder engagement. These efforts are designed to ensure that technology investments directly support the university’s mission and strategic goals while creating measurable value for students, faculty, staff, researchers, and the people of Wyoming. Collectively, these investments will help ensure the university is well positioned to attract, support, and graduate students while advancing institutional effectiveness and long-term sustainability. As a land-grant university, UW has a unique responsibility to serve communities across the state. UWIT will continue extending the reach and impact of university programs by improving technology environments that support outreach, healthcare, workforce development, research, and public service. Through strategic partnerships and innovative technology solutions, UWIT will help strengthen the university’s role as a trusted resource for Wyoming’s citizens, businesses, educators, and government partners. Supporting the university’s research mission will remain a central focus. UWIT will invest in modern infrastructure, trusted data resources, advanced analytics, and emerging technologies that enable discovery, accelerate innovation, and support interdisciplinary research. At the same time, the organization will continue preparing the university for the next generation of technological transformation through responsible AI adoption, workforce development, and exploration of emerging fields such as quantum computing. Ultimately, UWIT’s vision is to be a catalyst for possibility, helping the University of Wyoming navigate change, embrace innovation, grow its impact and enrollment, and achieve its mission. By combining reliable operations with strategic leadership and forward-thinking technology investments, UWIT will continue building a secure, resilient, and future-ready digital ecosystem that empowers the university to serve Wyoming, advance knowledge, and lead in an increasingly technology-driven world.

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