CITES-Sponsored Campus Groups

A central IT organization is uniquely positioned to foster a mutually supportive community for IT professionals across campus. To this end, CITES sponsors a number of campus groups:

Computer Consultant Support Program (CCSP)

CCSP's goal is to create a collaborative community among those providing technical support and network administration to units across campus. Currently, CCSP has over 400 members. Membership in CCSP has a number of key benefits, including access to a lively listserv for IT professionals and invitations to the semiannual CCSP conference. The conference is a full-day event and includes education sessions, policy discussions, and personal networking opportunities.

Webmasters' Steering Committee/Forum

The Webmasters' Steering Committee provides opportunities for exchanging information about resources, techniques, good practices, and general news related to the campus web presence. For example, its brownbag series covers a range of topics for a wide range of skill levels. The Committee also designs and runs an annual forum with a prominent keynote speaker. Past keynotes have included Steve Krug, Christine Perfetti, and Eric Meyer.

Campus Windows Committee

The objective of the Campus Windows Committee is to propose strategic directions for services that are integral to or in support of the Microsoft Windows platform that fit the academic and administrative needs of the Urbana campus. In addition, they propose policies where needed and encourage the development of best practices in support of those strategic directions.

Help Desk Consortium

The CITES Help Desk Consortium members are departmental staff who provide direct computing support to their customers. The Consortium has three purposes: to facilitate and coordinate communication among members, to solicit input regarding how CITES can better serve members and their customers, and to provide information to members regarding CITES services and support tools.

Unit Coordinators Customer Forum

Communications Customer Service hosts an annual forum for the Telecommunications Unit Coordinators across campus. At the meeting CITES staff present important service updates, answer questions, and address the outcomes of suggestions from the previous forum.