Note: The accomplishments listed on this page are current as of Fall 2013.

Gale Fritsche

Gale Fritsche is currently the Manager of Computing Support Services for Lehigh University. He holds an AS degree in Computer Science from Mesa College in San Diego CA, a BS Degree in Management from California State University and an MS Degree in Instructional Technology from Lehigh University.

Service to higher education and the computing profession:
After serving six years in the US Navy as an Assistant Chief Master at Arms (Military Police/Paralegal), Gale decided to change his career to something more technology related. He began his technology career in 1990 as a Junior System Analyst working for a government contractor in San Diego, CA. It didn’t take him long to realize that programming in a confined workspace with little human interaction was the wrong career path for him. Therefore, he took a position as a Computer Literacy Instructor at California State University where he also continued his education. Since then, he has devoted his entire career to user support services and higher education. Prior to joining Lehigh, Gale worked as the Coordinator for Academic Computing and Adjunct Professor at Albright College. At Albright, he managed the helpdesk, computing labs, user support services and taught courses in computing and communications. Gale has been at Lehigh for seventeen years holding various positions including Senior Computing Consultant, Senior Instructional Technologist, Manager of Desktop and Scientific Computing and Manager of Computing Support Services. His current position provides oversight for two computing support areas, second level desktop computing support (eighteen computing consultants) and computer repair services (two hardware repair technicians) where both warranty and out of warranty computer hardware repairs are completed for faculty, staff and students.

Service to SIGUCCS: 
Gale has been involved in SIGUCCS since 2005. He published and presented at the Fall User’s conference five times and presented at the Management Symposium five times as well. He served on various SIGUCCS conference-planning committees including Treasurer for the Management Symposium (2009-2011), Vendor Chairperson for the Management Symposium (2010-2011), Program Chair for Management Symposium (2011) and Program Chair for the Management Symposium at the SIGUCCS Annual Conference (2012).

Greg Hanek

Greg Hanek has been a staff member in Indiana University’s University Information Technology Services IT Training team for more than 15 years. He holds a B.Sc., an A.A.S., and an M.Ed., earned in that order, and was lured away from his final semester of a Ph.D. program by the challenge of raising a family.

Service to higher education and the computing profession:
As part of Indiana University’s UITS IT Training team, Greg has been dedicated to their mission of improving the IU’s user education and training for students, faculty, staff, and the general public, across the entire iU system and its affiliates. By running the SIGUCCS Communication Awards program, Greg has contributed to the profession by raising the profile of, and recognizing excellence in, the communication publications of universities’ IT departments internationally. In addition, he has taught undergraduate and graduate academic courses for Indiana University’s School of Education and the Department of Computer Science. He is currently teaching an IT Management course for the IU Bloomington School of Public & Environmantal Affairs, targeted at undergraduates who eventually will be the business managers overseeing the IT departments in organizations.

Service to SIGUCCS:
Greg has been active in SIGUCCS for many years, and chaired the Communication Awards program from 2004-2011. As Chair, he organized the judges and oversaw the adjudication process, arranged for production of the awards and their presentation, and due recognition of award winners at the annual conferences. As the types of university communications have evolved, and methods of delivery changed, Greg continually revised the submission categories and judging criteria to keep them relevant, and to recognize the skills required to produce these publications.

Beyond his support of SIGUCCS as Communication Awards Chair, Greg has been an active participant in SIGUCCS conferences since 2001, as an author and presenter, workshop presenter, Communication Awards judge, conference program committee member, willing volunteer, and collegial attendee.

He is most proud of stealing and implementing the following idea from a smarter SIGUCCS conference attendee: After the conference, the Communication Awards Chair would work with the SIGUCCS Chair to send a physical letter describing the award’s significance to each awardee’s supervisors, further recognizing that team’s outstanding efforts.

Patti Mitch

Patti Mitch works at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville in the Office of Information Technology. In 2000, after 13 years in law enforcement, she began a new career at UW-Platteville serving as the Help Desk Manager and maintained that position until moving to her current position as Administrative Support Specialist in 2011.

Service to higher education and the computing profession:
Patti continues to be very involved in the UW-Platteville community through volunteer and outside organizations. She co-chaired the local Relay for Life for 6 years, as well as working with Habitat for Humanity of Grant County. She also serves as the advisor for a campus sorority, Colleges against Cancer and volunteers for the athletic department. Patti has also served as the Head Cheer and Stunt Coach at UW-Platteville for 8 years and recently helped implement the nation’s first inclusive cheer team at the college level.

Service to SIGUCCS:
San Antonio, in 2004 was Patti’s first SIGUCCS conference and she expressed interest in becoming more involved in the organization. She worked with Leila Lyons to increase our marketing efforts and was asked to chair a committee for marketing and membership since the two areas were closely linked. She quickly took on the task of consolidating and cleaning up membership and conference attendee data. Patti also investigated other higher education IT mailing resources that could be used to publicize SIGUCCS.
In 2008, Patti was appointed to the SIGUCCS Board as Information Director. One responsibility of this position is the SIGUCCS web site and the Board decided that its re-design was long overdue. A team was formed consisting of Patti, Christine Vucinich and Leila Lyons. This team worked with a volunteer from the University of Delaware to complete the redesign of the web site.
Patti has been an active participant in SIGUCCS conferences since 2004 as a presenter; newsletter editor, photographer, volunteer coordinator, paper reviewer and conference help desk volunteer. She is always a welcoming presence for SIGUCCS newcomers and is always quick to extol the benefits of belonging to SIGUCCS and fully participating in all the activities that SIGUCCS has to offer.

Carol Rhodes

Carol Rhodes is Assistant Manager of IT Training at Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana. In this position she is leader of statewide online IT training efforts, manager of daily operations, communications liaison, and mentor in the design, development and delivery of campus-wide IT training services. She earned a BA from Indiana University with a double major in journalism and psychology.

Service to higher education and the computing profession:

Carol has served in various roles for Indiana University for the past 25 years, acting as university academic instructor, technical writer, local support provider and technology trainer. For the past 18 years, she has been developing and facilitating software training workshops. During that time, her classes and workshops have included: Electronic Publishing for IU School of Journalism; Photoshop for IU School of Education masters students; electronic art classes for IU Continuing Studies; and myriad graphics, layout, and communications software workshops for faculty, staff, and students. Her current projects focus on online IT training efforts at IU. In her spare time, she functions as President of the Bloomington Watercolor Society and as Vice President of Pets Alive, a not-for-profit spay/neuter business serving Southern Indiana.

Service to SIGUCCS:
Carol first attended SIGUCCS in 1998, when her home campus in Bloomington hosted it. She has attended all but two conferences since, with increasing involvement: she began as a presenter in 1999, then served as track chair three times, moving into program coordination twice. Carol’s most important achievement with SIGUCCS was serving as Conference Chair in 2012. Carol has presented six papers and two posters for SIGUCCS.

Carol’s comments:
Helping SIGUCCS has always been a way for me to maintain global perspective and involvement in issues pertaining to the evolution of IT in higher education. I have been proud to work and associate with like-minded colleagues who influence their own institutions. Moreover, it is enlightening to hear people from the rest of the world share specifics about the development of IT strategies in their universities. Over the years of working with SIGUCCS teams, our planning teams have in fact familiarized me with developing technologies that have helped us to organize and work together. I enjoy working with others toward a worthy goal, and SIGUCCS has provided me with opportunities to do so. I am honored to receive this recognition from an organization that has had such a positive impact on my own professional life.

Cindy Sanders

Cindy Sanders was the Director of Client Services in the Center for Information Technology (CIT) at Oberlin College for 14 years, retiring at the end of June 2013. She holds an MS in Computer Science from the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California. Prior to her role at Oberlin College, Cindy spent 21 years in the United States Navy, retiring as a commander.
Service to higher education and the computing profession:
As the Director of Client Services, Cindy provided leadership to the Client Services team, responsible for operating the CIT Help Desk, providing computers to faculty and staff, maintaining open-use and departmental computer labs, managing software acquisition and licensing, providing written and online documentation and training, and communicating with clients. Among her many accomplishments at Oberlin, Cindy was key in development of Oberlin’s Academic Commons, relocation of the Help Desk to a more user-friendly setting, adoption of Google Apps for Education, and acquisition of an advanced backup system for all administrators’ office computers. She also established many positive initiatives for her staff, including annual off-site retreats, and a more effective performance appraisal process. Additionally, Cindy helped interest community youngsters in the computing profession by speaking to them about “Women in Computing” and mentoring them.
During her time in the Navy, Cindy served mainly in the computing field. Among other roles, she worked on vital administrative and shipboard computer systems. At the U.S. Naval Academy, she taught computer courses and managed the computer network, phone system, and administrative computing systems. She developed and used advanced technology in support of war-gaming at the Naval War College. A life lesson for Cindy came early in her career when she met the renowned Grace Hopper, who advised her to always remember, “It’s easier to ask for forgiveness than permission”.
Service to SIGUCCS:
Cindy has been very enthusiastic about, and active in, SIGUCCS. She authored and presented five papers, co-authored papers and participated in two panel discussions, led a LeadIT discussion, and volunteered many times in various roles. In 2005, Cindy co-chaired the conference in Monterey, California, and filled in for presenters absent due to Hurricane Katrina. In 2009, she served as the lead Newsletter Editor for the conference held in St. Louis. Her staff is now very involved with conference activity, since Cindy always ensured half of them attended each year, and consistently encouraged them to present papers, serve on committees, and otherwise volunteer.

Leila Shahbender

Leila Shahbender is the Senior Manager of Customer Services for the Office of Information Technology at Princeton University. She has been with Princeton for twenty five years where she started as a consultant and trainer in their Information Center before advancing through the department with increasing levels of responsibility. Leila has worn many hats at Princeton, but has always been in the technology department, supporting end users. In addition, Leila is a long standing member of Princeton’s Sustainability Committee, and this year has been elected to represent the staff on the Council of the Princeton University Community. Leila has a BA in Psychology from Syracuse and an MSIS from Drexel University.

Service to Higher Education IT and the Computing Profession:
Leila’s entire technology career has been in higher education at Princeton University. Starting in the Information Center as a consultant and trainer, Leila quickly became a Lead Consultant, responsible for supervising staff and students . In addition, Leila coordinated a large series of hands-on training workshops and lectures for faculty, staff and students, and taught many of the classes. When Leila moved to part time work so she could stay home with her daughter, she moved to the documentation team, responsible for technical documentation for students. After a brief hiatus from Princeton, Leila returned to work in the Desktop Support group, where she assisted faculty and staff with their technology issues. Leila’s next role as Manager of Student Computing involved responsibility for the campus computing clusters, student printing, the Residential Computing Consultants and the non-mandatory laptop purchase program. In 2006, the Help Desk and Telephone Support and Administration was added to her management portfolio. Leila lead the conversion of the Help Desk into a 24x7x365 Support and Operations Center, and rolled out a mobile technology center. Leila’s most recent assignment is the integration of Princeton’s Media Services group into Customer Services, which includes a foray into classroom management. Leila’s favorite part of her job is working with the fabulous people at the Princeton and encouraging her staff to develop their skills and blossom in their careers.

Service to SIGUCCS
Leila attended her first SIGUCCS in the Fall of 1989, followed by the next two fall conferences, and then after a pause, she came back to the nest in 2004. Since then, she has served as track chair, co-program chair for the Management Symposium in 2010, co-conference chair for the Management Symposium in 2011, and most recently as session chair coordinator. In addition, Leila has presented at the conference as well as serving on panels and moderating sessions. Leila is a strong supporter of SIGUCCS because it provides technology staff in higher education with a strong community in which to learn and grow.

Christine Vucinich

Christine L. Vucinich, MA is the Technical Education & Outreach Coordinator at Duke University.

Service to SIGUCCS:
Christine became a member of SIGUCCS in 2003. She co-presented her first of four papers at the 2004 conference, conducted a pre-conference workshop at the 2010 conference and is a regular contributor to the new SIGUCCS Newsletter, “Plugged In”. Christine is also an active volunteer. Her most significant contributions include serving as chair of the Marketing and Membership Committee (2008-2011), serving on the committee to redesign the SIGUCCS Website, the SIGUCCS Mentoring Program Advisory Committee and the SIGUCCS 50th Anniversary Committee. Her nominee said about her contributions to the marketing and membership committee, “Her enthusiasm and creative ideas quickly showed as well as her ability to see the big picture and propose a more holistic approach to our marketing efforts.”

Service to higher education and the computing profession:
Christine has over 13 years experience in higher education. She was an IT Training Specialist at Penn State University from 2000 – 2007. Christine became Technical Education and Outreach Coordinator in the Office of Information Technology at Duke University in 2007. She is responsible for all aspects of the central IT Training program. She is also in the academic classroom regularly helping students using technology as part of their courses. In addition to SIGUCCS, Christine has presented at several conferences including a recent Educause Southeast Regional Conference and a New Media Consortium Summer Conference. She successfully completed the Educause Management Institute Program in February 2012.

Christine’s Comments:
It is such an honor to be included among the SIGUCCS Hall of Fame. I am especially thrilled to be recognized during the 50th anniversary conference/celebration and am humbled by all of the great inductees that I follow. While it is difficult to put in words what this organization means to me, I will say that SIGUCCS has enabled me to meet so many wonderful people from many institutions throughout the world – some who are colleagues, some who became friends and some who have become mentors and all who have become great resources and sources of inspiration for me as I grow professionally and contribute to the Higher Education Community.

Jim Yucha

Jim Yucha serves as the Deputy Directory of Application Services and the Director of Web Services at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU). He holds a bachelor’s degree in computer science and master’s degree in statistics.

Service to higher education and the computing profession:

Jim has worked in higher education at three different institutions for a total of 30 years. Prior to his time at VCU, he served as East Carolina University’s first manager of Academic Computing and worked at Virginia Union University on the administrative computing side, primarily as a statistician. He started at VCU 27 years ago in academic computing and went on to begin the Web Services department, which currently supports the web, mobile, portal, directory services and many web-related applications.

While at VCU he helped develop WEAVEonline to handle the university’s reaccreditation process. The application was subsequently commercialized to help other universities through the process and is currently used by nearly 200 universities across the globe.

Jim has also presented at more than a dozen national and international conferences on topics ranging from application development and management to customer service.

Service to SIGUCCS: 

Jim has been involved with SIGUCCS since 1993 when he attended his first management symposium in St. Louis. In the fall of the same year, he presented at the conference in San Diego. He has served as the webmaster for the management symposium website (since 2003), the fall/combined conference website (since 2010) and the 50th anniversary website.