The Division of Information Technology (DoIT) is a story of collaboration. It was born from the increasing collaboration of 3 major IT organizations at UW–Madison whose work to support campus became entwined. Even when its own structure pulled staff apart, employees quickly regrouped to strengthen their community. When faced with projects and external challenges, DoIT employees have worked together to solve problems, bounce back—and envision the future.
The division’s story
Explore the Division of Information Technology’s history through the timeline below. Learn more about particular narrative threads by viewing historical documents and images, and listening to audio clips from people who are part of DoIT’s history.
Find information about DoIT’s leadership and our annual reports in the quick lists section.
1960s & 70s
In the ’60s and ’70s, mainframes and microprocessors debuted, leading to various IT units across campus—and the formation of Administrative Data Processing (ADP), Madison Academic Computing Center (MACC) and Telecommunications.
UW Telecommunications was the university’s main provider of billing and administration for campus phone services, and played a key role in the efficient transfer of information. Read more about UW Telecommunications
The Madison Academic Computing Center (MACC) provided a wide range of computing services to support researchers and their instructional and outreach programs. Read more about Madison Academic Computing Center (MACC)
Administrative Data Processing (ADP) was created in 1972 and focused on developing, supporting and operating mainframe teleprocessing applications, and providing IT services to academic and business faculty, staff and students for their administrative needs. Read more about Administrative Data Processing (ADP)
1980s
In the ’80s, computers shrank from room-sized behemoths to desktops, becoming accessible to all. This shift united DoIT’s founding organizations, shaping IT history.
Telecommunications, Administrative Data Processing (ADP) and Madison Academic Computing Center (MACC) varied in size, with different missions and hierarchies, but they often delivered similar services to overlapping user populations. Redundancy and financial issues led to questions surrounding the future of IT on campus. Read more about Should the IT units merge? (1980)
Tad Pinkerton brought a proposal to the University Administrative Committee in Chancellor Irv Shain’s cabinet to create one IT organization. This would institutionalize the coordination he’d explored over the past 18 months. Read more about No, but… (1982)
The Office of Information Technology, led by Tad Pinkerton and a small staff, was a precursor to the Division of Information Technology (DoIT). Read more about The Office of Information Technology (OIT) (1983)
Support for a single IT division continued to build over the next decade. As the IT landscape changed and the technology used by Telecommunications, Administrative Data Processing (ADP) and Madison Academic Computing Center (MACC) became further entwined, the practicality of a merger became stronger. In addition to the reasons for a merger presented in 1982, some changes added more incentive to combine. Read more about Efforts to create one division continue
1990s
In the ’90s, laptop computers and the emerging “World Wide Web” dominated the IT landscape—and the newly-formed DoIT adapted.
UW–Madison decided to merge the campus technology organizations to:
- Resolve conflicts between organizations over overlapping services
- Provide more cohesive technology services and better customer service
- Promote budget efficiencies
- Respond to the increasing demand for tech support and changing technology on campus
Read more about We’ll create a Division of Information Technology (1990)
Between 1990 and 1992, staff stayed at their current organizations and leaders developed and started the process of creating the Division of Information Technology. A planning group of 12 people in leadership positions at the 3 organizations met over the course of the year to have deep conversations about what the organization should look like. Read more about Planning process (1991)
When Mark Luker became the chief information officer (CIO) for the Division of Information Technology in August 1992, he began planning how to organize DoIT’s divisions and their relationships to each other. Read more about Organizing DoIT’s divisions (1992)
It was a stressful time. Uncertain whether they would soon be working with an entirely new set of people, staff members also needed to simultaneously learn how the new internal economy system worked. Read more about Organizing the division (1993)
While DoIT staff were busy planning the reorganization, the first 24-hour computer lab opened on the UW–Madison campus in 1993. The labs had PC and Mac computers for anyone with a UW ID to use, loaded with basic popular software programs. Read more about Computer labs, kiosks & media centers (1993)
Administrative Data Processing (ADP), Madison Academic Computing Center (MACC) and Telecommunications staff gathered at the Memorial Union on February 28, 1994, to learn where they would report in the new organization. Read more about It’s official… DoIT exists (1994)
Over the years, DoIT’s logos have gone through many makeovers, starting from the “grape and green” color scheme back in 1994 to the university-inspired rebrands that followed. Read more about DoIT branding (1994)
UW–Madison Printing (formerly Health Science Printing) became part of DoIT in 1994. It provided campus-wide infrastructure for networked printing and access to information. Read more about Digital Printing & Publishing Services (DPPS) (1994)
For many on campus, the Help Desk is the beating heart of DoIT and its most accessible program. As the use of personal computers grew, in 1994 DoIT created a 24-hour Help Desk to support students working from their residence halls and homes. Read more about May we help you? (1994)
DoIT’s work became much more visible through its first website, which was launched in 1997, the same year as UW–Madison’s website. The homepage has changed significantly over the years, both aesthetically and in the depth and breadth of information it offers.
More broadly, it.wisc.edu launched in 2016 as a site for all campus IT information. Read more about On the “World Wide Web” (1997)
The Information Technology Academy teaches IT skills to high school students in underserved and underrepresented communities. Many of the program’s graduates have had successful IT careers at UW–Madison and elsewhere. Read more about Information Technology Academy (ITA) (1999)
2000s
The year 2000 ushered in a thriving tech era, but Y2K exposed our reliance on digital systems. Facing new threats and leadership changes, DoIT focused on innovation and community-building.
In 1989 and 1999, concerns grew from IT departments across campus about problems to expect when the year changed to 2000—and how DoIT planned on stepping in. Read more about Preparations for Y2K (2000)
By 2000, many of DoIT’s employees wanted organizational change. A 1999 staff survey indicated staff dissatisfaction with DoIT culture. Among the priorities for improvement was rethinking the division’s organizational structure and model. Mark Luker’s departure in 1997 presented an opportunity for UW leadership to hire a CIO with a different approach and vision. Read more about Dismantling the organizational model (2000)
Annie Stunden made diversity a large priority during her tenure as CIO. Although diversity had been improving over the decade, with Stunden’s leadership, DoIT achieved greater gender equity in numbers and leadership positions. Read more about Diversity initiatives (2000)
DoIT has been at the forefront of improving access to digital resources. It helps diversify the workforce and the number of people who want to learn at UW–Madison. Read more about Digital accessibility (2000)
DoIT creates the systems that they and the rest of the campus use in daily work life. This work stretches back to its founding organizations, but many administrative tools used today were created in the early 2000s. Read more about Administrative tools (2001)
DoIT consolidated many of the IT administrative services used by the campus community into the MyUW portal. Staff maintaining all the separate systems now worked together on the portal. For example, the Integrated Student Information System (ISIS), completed in 1999 to compile student data in one location, was moved to the web via the My UW–Madison portal. Read more about An innovative portal (2001)
In July 2002, work began on the 21st century network to provide high-speed connectivity and security to all areas of campus. It paved the way for the implementation of a campuswide wireless service and firewall deployment—which saved departments significant staff and hardware expenses and provided more robust security features. Read more about 21st century network (2002)
Becoming widespread around 2003, cloud computing created a demand for storage and changed needs for bandwidth, security and connectivity. People wanted to convert their information to a digital format for storage, and they wanted to safely upload and access their information from anywhere, at any time. Read more about Connecting campus (2003-2004)
In late spring 2003, DoIT released a virtual private network (VPN) service that allowed off-campus faculty, staff and students to connect to the network remotely as if they were on campus. Read more about Expanding campus digital borders with VPN (2003)
DoIT created or modified tools to allow instructors and students to manage and even attend courses digitally.
Read more about Courses (2003)
Until 2004, User Services consisted of 6 interrelated groups: Help Desk Support, Advanced Desktop Support (ADS), Repair & Desktop Support (RaDS), User Services Showroom, Product Sales and Logistics. Read more about Unified customer center (2004)
A budget cut and staff turnover led to changes and challenges for DoIT staff in 2005 and 2006. Read more about Budget & staffing changes (2005-2006)
As IT has grown more complex and varied, security has, too. By 2005, cybersecurity became such a large part of DoIT’s activities that the division hired its first chief information security officer, Jim Lowe. Physical security of IT systems grew to include security of digital systems in the early 2000s. Read more about Cybersecurity’s increasing importance (2005)
The first thing most UW–Madison students, faculty and staff do each day is use their NetID login. A precursor to the NetID was a UW account. Read more about NetID login (2005)
In 2006 and 2007, DoIT experienced several physical and digital threats that staff worked together to combat. Read more about Near disasters (2006)
The DoIT Tech Store’s roots stretch back to about 1984, when the Madison Academic Computing Center started selling first Apple and then IBM personal computers, later expanding to other vendors. The store provided product consultation and recommendation. Read more about DoIT Tech Store (2006)
In an indication that campus leadership recognized the importance of IT to the UW–Madison campus, the title “Vice Provost for Information Technology” was added to the chief information officer (CIO) title. New responsibilities that came with the title included aligning campuswide IT resources and services, and working closely with campus IT departments, schools, colleges and groups. Ron Kraemer was the first CIO to have the additional title and responsibilities. Read more about Vice Provost for Information Technology (2007)
DoIT staff organized fun all-staff activities, like an annual talent show, annual picnic, and field trips including excursions to Milwaukee Brewers baseball games. Individual teams, buildings, or folks with similar interests formed their own groups, as well. Read more about Community led community building (2007)
2010s & 20s
With the birth of the iPad kicking off the decade, the 2010s saw an unprecedented boom in consumer technology. Demand for mobile applications and websites grew just as quickly—and DoIT kept stride.
When Bruce Maas became CIO in 2011, he provided funding for anyone in the IT community to participate in MOR IT leadership professional development programs. These programs developed future UW–Madison IT leaders and helped connect IT professionals across campus. Read more about Investing in IT leadership (2011)
DoIT’s staff searched for ways to satisfy the growing hunger for digital data storage with local and cloud space.
Read more about Satisfying storage hunger (2003)
The DoIT Service Team Handbook was created in an effort to document best practices and strategies for managing Division of Information Technology services. Read more about DoIT Service Team Handbook (2014)
When an emerging global pandemic shifted the university’s operations largely online in March 2020, UW–Madison faced the daunting task of moving over 9,000 courses into a virtual format in the frenetic span of just 2 weeks. Almost overnight, DoIT needed to help almost the entire campus community—including themselves—figure out how to work and learn remotely. Read more about COVID-19 pandemic remote work (2020)
Some remote work infrastructure already existed on campus, such as virtual meeting platforms, cloud file sharing, virtual private network (VPN) and laptop lending. When COVID-19 emerged in January, DoIT began preparing for the possibility of a remote workforce by doubling the capacity of the VPNs and ensuring the Help Desk was adequately equipped to work remotely. Read more about Contingency planning (2020)
(Photo by Brian Huynh /UW-Madison)
Widespread campus adoption of remote work tools was inconsistent—and not everyone on campus was equipped to work from home. Read more about Rapid shift to remote work (2020)
DoIT quickly added new services to help with remote work and COVID research, care and testing. Read more about New services (2020)
With the exception of parking garages, Administrative Data Processing (ADP) was the first building to install card scanners to safeguard computer equipment in 1985. ADP and the Office of Information Technology began installing “door security” card scanners and alarm systems for keeping campus safe, in conjunction with the Madison Police Department and campus police. In 2022, DoIT helped replace the then 16-year-old building access system with an electronic security system that uses Wiscards. Read more about Wiscard building access (2022)