A Message from the New CIO
The past year has been one of meaningful progress and thoughtful transition for the Office of Information Technology. It is a year defined by steady leadership, resilience, and a deep commitment to Rice’s mission.
The year began with Dr. Paul Padley at the helm as Chief Information Officer, guiding OIT with clarity, pragmatism, and deep institutional knowledge. Under his leadership, the organization continued to advance critical technology capabilities while supporting the daily needs of our students, faculty, staff, and researchers. When Paul returned to his full-time role as professor and researcher, he did so after ensuring that OIT was on solid footing and ready for what comes next.
I stepped into the CIO role in August and have been able to build on the foundation Paul helped shape. His continued service as Senior Advisor to me and to Executive Vice President Kelly Fox has been invaluable. His insight, experience, and commitment to Rice continue to strengthen our work and support our decision making.
Transitions, even when thoughtfully planned, require focus, patience, and adaptability. I want to acknowledge the entire OIT organization for navigating this period with professionalism, diligence, and openness. Throughout the year, you continued to deliver for the university, support major initiatives, and embrace the evolving expectations of a modern and service centered technology organization.
This Year in Review highlights the breadth and impact of what you accomplished. It includes advances in research and academic computing, improvements in cybersecurity, strengthened service delivery, support for faculty and student needs, and the groundwork laid for the next era of technology enablement at Rice. These achievements reflect the dedication of every team member and the strength of our campus partnerships.
As we look ahead, we will continue building a modern, resilient, forward looking technology organization. OIT will play a central role in enabling Rice to thrive in a rapidly changing digital landscape and in helping realize the ambitions of the Momentous strategic plan. I am grateful for your trust and excited for what we will achieve together. Thank you for everything you do for Rice.
Thank you for everything you do for Rice.
Terrence Gee
Chief Information Officer
Rice University
Department Accomplishments
Center for Research Computing
New Web Interface for HPC Access Center for Research Computing (CRC) piloted Open OnDemand on the NOTS cluster, providing an easy-to-use graphical interface for interactive computing without requiring command-line skills. Open OnDemand will be available beginning next year.
Introduction to RANGE AI Cluster CRC unveiled RANGE, a high-performance AI-focused cluster with 80 NVIDIA Hopper GPUs and advanced networking with a successful early adopter program. RANGE will be open for broad campus use next year.
Expanded Training and Outreach CRC hosted 16 workshops, two Software Carpentry sessions, and multiple outreach events to over 200 participants. The CRC updated its website and documentation about our services to align with the CRC service catalog.
Enhanced Storage and Data Analysis A new 5 petabyte Hitachi storage system (RHF) supports large-scale data needs with high-performance I/O and is integrated with CRC’s HPC clusters for research using big data sets. The CRC team has installed hardware and a set of tools to collect data from our systems to help provide insight into how CRC services are being used and guide us in decision making and capacity planning.
Collaboration and Grant Support CRC partnered with the Ken Kennedy Institute, Kinder Institute, and Fondren Library for AI events on campus, workshops, and many research projects. The CRC also contributed to grant proposals through consultations, letters of collaboration, and technical expertise.
Constituent Technology Services
Enterprise Systems - Data & Analytics
New Strategic Sourcing & Procurement iO Dashboards The new dashboards built by the Data & Analytics team are transforming the way Procurement works by streamlining board-presentation preparation, improving the accuracy and consistency of the content, and providing clear, reliable insights at a glance. With faster access to trusted data, the team can spend less time gathering information and more time focusing on strategic decisions. These dashboards also support day-to-day operations by making it easier to investigate issues, track performance, and quickly answer questions from users—ultimately enabling Procurement to operate more efficiently and proactively.
Improved Campus Budget Season Support The improvements to EPBCS processes, reports, and business-rule optimization are delivering meaningful support to the Budget Transformation project. By streamlining workflows and enhancing system performance, these enhancements make budgeting activities faster, more reliable, and easier for users to navigate. Optimized business rules and refined reporting provide more accurate, timely insights, helping stakeholders make better-informed decisions. Overall, these upgrades strengthen the foundation of the budgeting process and enable a more efficient, modernized approach across the organization.
New Reporting Content for New iO Modules The Data & Analytics team worked with constituents and vendor consultants to implement new operational reports in support of new iO Performance and Learning module implementations.
New iO Notifications for Benefits Enrollments New notifications, building on the enhancements delivered last year, now provide clearer and more timely communication related to medical insurance benefits. These updates help ensure employees stay informed about important changes, available options, and key actions they may need to take. By offering more comprehensive and easy-to-understand guidance, the improved notifications contribute to a smoother and more confident benefits experience for all users.
Technology Change for Data Pipelines between Oracle Fusion and Oracle Analytics Cloud New pipelines to move all existing ones from Oracle Analytics Cloud replications to ADW Data Transforms. We are getting ready to cutover close to 170 data flows and remediate 80+ database views
Enterprise Systems
The team has delivered two highly complex projects this year, significantly enhancing our Oracle footprint in both process efficiency and user architecture:
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High-Impact Labor Distribution Streamlining: We successfully deployed a major Labor Distribution project that architecturally integrated substantial efficiency gains moving directly into the Oracle process workflow. This outcome yielded significant optimization of the core labor accounting logic.
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Enterprise Redwood UI Implementation: This was our most extensive undertaking, representing the single biggest User Interface and User experience paradigm shift deployed across our Oracle environment.
The Redwood implementation touched a vast transactional surface area, requiring rigorous testing and deployment across the following core modules: Absence Management, Benefits, Payroll, Recruiting, Core HR, Time & Labor, Compensation, Self Service Procurement, Supplier Registration and more.
These two projects represent a major step forward in both backend process optimization and front-end architectural modernization.
Student Information Systems
Banner Workflow Implementation The Banner Workflow product suite, which allows for the creation of workflows that will alleviate manual processing and improve visibility into task status, was implemented on our campus instance. 4 Workflows that are in process or in production that will enhance the student experience and save hundreds, if not thousands, of hours for our partners across campus.
Banner Integrations Successfully deployed and implemented a number of integrations, including: PointNClick (the new student health data platform), TerraDotta faculty data, Vivantio (FWIS assessment scores), Slate admissions data, Epigeum (a third-party training provider for the Office of Research), Starrez (a housing and residential management system, and consolidated the campus 12Twenty integrations into 1 shared instance.
Service Modernization The current Self Service Banner 8 (SSB8) Pages have been deprecated and migrated to SSB9. Upgraded DegreeWorks to a responsive, modern interface optimized for mobile devices with a cleaner design that reduces paperwork and supports real-time tracking of progress toward degree completion.
Parchment, Transcript Platform In partnership with OTR, we implemented a unified transcript fulfillment platform for our students, alumni, and Registrar's Office staff, who were burdened by a fragmented fulfillment process that created a confusing ordering experience for students and alumni. Parchment eliminates significant administrative overhead and processing bottlenecks for staff.
Consolidate Argos Reports Argos, is a reporting application used for a number of campus reports, predominantly in Financial Aid. A consolidation of reports was completed in partnership with the functional users. This consolidation will serve as preliminary work for replacing Argos with Tableau in 2026.
Teaching & Learning Technologies
Artificial Intelligence and New Tool Deployment We successfully executed AI Week, a campus-wide event dedicated to exploring artificial intelligence in higher education, which features insights and reflections from faculty, staff, and students. This effort was coupled with the rollout and integration of Google Gemini (including Notebook LM) into Canvas, which we supported with dedicated training sessions.
Digital Accessibility and Student Experience Digital accessibility compliance was significantly improved with the installation of the ALLY tool in Canvas, which helps faculty create more accessible courses and provides students with alternative content formats. We further enhanced the student experience by deploying the Morphic Toolbar in labs, introducing Dyslexia Specific Font in Canvas, and collaborating with the Strategic Services & Operations team to enhance the incoming students’ O-Week experience.
System Modernization and Security Hardening We focused on security by implementing DUO Multi-Factor Authentication on critical learning tools like Canvas, Zoom, Poll Everywhere, and Kaltura, and by applying Access Control Profiles to over 65,000 entries in the Kaltura video management system. The Canvas Provision integration was also upgraded to RHEL 9, improving operational security and modernizing the system.
Enhancing Teaching and Learning Tools Key instructional tools were enhanced with the addition of Discussion Checkpoints in Canvas to foster deeper student conversations. We also streamlined the faculty experience by adding Cengage Webassign to Canvas, improving the Video Digitization Process in collaboration with CAMT and Fondren, and saw a 50% growth in PollEverywhere usage semester-over-semester.
Strategic Engagement, Training, and Analytics To support faculty development, we launched the self-paced Canvas Basics Asynchronous Course. Strategically, we co-chaired the committee for the new Experiential Learning Campus Platform and maintained active participation across numerous campus and higher education peer/vendor advisory boards.
Information Security
Identity and Access Management
Identity, Governance, and Administration (IGA) Project The IAM team completed the initial phase rollout of the new IGA environment from Fischer Identity. The initial rollout replaced internally developed and open source software with a commercial solution and implemented changes to support OIT’s email routing migration from Cyrus to Proofpoint.
Campus Password Manager We completed the RFP for the new campus password manager for rollout in early 2026. 1Password was selected and will be announced to campus in Jan/Feb 2026.
Duo Security Enhancements The IAM team adjusted the campus Duo Security’s app settings to provide a more secure one-time use passcode from the Duo Security app.
Information Security Awareness
Strategic Program Development Security Awareness Program Manager architected a comprehensive multi-year roadmap and annual strategic plan for Rice's Security Awareness Program, establishing clear milestones and measurable objectives that will guide the community's cybersecurity journey for years to come.
Innovative Engagement Initiatives Security Awareness Program Manager designed and executed a National Cybersecurity Awareness Month campaign with volunteers from the ISO and OIT that transcended traditional email communications by bringing gamified learning experiences to life, including the in-person "Save Sammy the Owl" escape room, virtual "Haunted Escape Room," weekly knowledge quizzes, and the unforgettable "Owl Pardy" game night. proving that security education can be engaging while achieving campus participation across faculty, staff, and students.
Phishing Simulation Program Launch Security Awareness Program Manager conducted comprehensive vendor evaluations and strategically selected Proofpoint's phishing simulation platform, successfully onboarding the solution and executing pilot campaigns with the ISO team that established the foundation for Rice's ongoing defensive security posture and real-time threat awareness training.
Information Security Operations
External DNS Security Review The ISO Security Operations (SecOps) Team took steps to identify and remove “abandoned” external Rice hosts (i.e., not on the Rice network) from the environment.
Google SecOps (SIEM/SOAR) Automation Expansion The ISO SecOps Team added additional alerting and ticketing automation to improve the speed of response and reduce repetitive work.
Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) Review The ISO SecOps Performed a complete review of all existing standard operating procedures (SOPs), including updating new procedures and removing those no longer in use.
Endpoint Security Migration The ISO SecOps Team migrated Windows workstations and Mac systems endpoint detention and response (EDR), advanced anti-malware, from Trellix to Windows Defender for Endpoint as part of an effort to improve endpoint security while saving OIT money.
Information Security Compliance and Research Cybersecurity
Tabletop Exercises The ISO Compliance Team conducted our first annual Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI-DSS) Table Top Exercise (TTX) with all Rice merchants who take credit cards to comply with PCI-DSS requirements. They also conducted an OIT-based TTX to assess and strengthen OIT’s incident response capabilities, evaluate interdepartmental coordination, and build confidence in crisis management. Lastly, they conducted TTX with Rice Trust Inc (RTI) to provide security awareness, specifically with social engineering in accordance with Texas Department of Banking regulations.
Research Cybersecurity - Secure Cloud Enclave The CISO and ISO Compliance Team completed the RFP and initial consulting engagement for a new cloud-based secure enclave to support research with emerging cybersecurity requirements. After partnering with the selected vendor, the ISO Compliance team began working with stakeholders across the University to work on a comprehensive CMMC readiness assessment through documentation gathering and review as well as stakeholder interviews in support of future CMMC certification.
Vendor Management The ISO Compliance Team migrated the vendor security assessment process into the IT Risk & Compliance Hub hosted by Isora. This expanded their compliance capabilities from the initial manual process by allowing for centralized communication with the stakeholder and vendor, a more robust intake process, better parsing of security documentation, and improved visibility into third-party risk. Additionally, the platform enabled a more comprehensive annual service review where all service owners were asked to review the controls in use and the vendors were asked for updated security documentation.
Vulnerability Management The ISO Compliance Team continued to mature the vulnerability management program by streamlining the vulnerability discovery, notification, and tracking processes through the use of built-in and custom automation. This maturation resulted in improved security exception and network restoration processes which resulted in better tracking, more standardization, and a better, overall, constituent experience.
Data Loss Prevention The ISO Compliance Team continued to improve the data loss prevention program by taking the next step into preventing data leakage. They began notifying object owners when files and folders were being shared to the public Internet. Through this notification process, the ISO Compliance team was able to terminate unnecessary shares to potentially sensitive or confidential data. Additionally, automation was tested and implemented initially by automatically terminating the sharing of credit card data to the public Internet.
Strategy and Innovation
Campus Technology Services
Windows 11 Migration As Windows 10 went end-of-life in October 2025, we worked with system owners across campus to upgrade to Windows 11. Over the course of the project, we upgraded over 2,400 workstations and achieved our goal to upgrade 90% of capable systems by the end-of-life date.
OIT Chatbot Deployment We launched OIT’s Chatbot on our KnowledgeBase website. The chatbot provides our constituents with the ability to engage with our KB content in a conversational manner, offering a faster and easier way to find the answers they need.
O-Week Student Experience & Support Initiative This initiative successfully transitioned IT support from a reactive approach to a proactive, college-embedded model. The primary goal was to provide a seamless IT onboarding experience, thereby reducing student and parent anxiety during the critical first few weeks of the semester. We had hundreds of engagements with students, resulting in significant increases in students connecting to secure wifi and Canvas logins before the start of the semester. Dell Tech Rally On November 20, OIT sponsored the
Dell Tech Rally Mobile on campus. This is a special opportunity for Faculty, Staff, and Students to explore Dell's client products in person. Eighty-three people from the Rice community attended, and Dell is interested in making this a recurring event.
KnowledgeBase Improvements We are revitalizing our OIT KnowledgeBase. We have archived unused articles, revised the content guide and curation procedures, and prepared improved training materials for new KB contributors. We have also started a project to bring a more modern "look and feel" of the site.
Change Enablement
iO Guided Learning Improvements The Change Enablement team built guided learning content for the Redwood transition in the Time and Labor, Procurement, and Employee Self Service modules of iO, emphasizing contextual guidance over more complex process guides. This transition prioritized efficiency for both system users and OGL developers, aligning with Rice’s goals for operational efficiency. Where additional resources were needed, such as in the redesigned Labor Distribution process, we leveraged OGL toolkits within modules to provide links to commonly-used content. With a near doubling of the OGL content offered, engagement remains high: 78.6% of users engage with OGL content during their Oracle (iO) sessions. “The LD redesign project is a HUGE SUCCESS. I have been in the LD trenches since the transition to iO, and in FY22 felt that we would NEVER get a grip on this process. It’s truly amazing how far we have come with FY26 and entering our graduate payroll!!”
A Year of Creative Video Growth This year saw the creation of 15 new videos designed to support more effective communication across campus with several featuring engaging characters that are becoming widely recognized. Audiences are increasingly looking forward to each new creative release, and with 7 videos already in the queue for next year—and additional requests coming in—the excitement continues to build.
Expanded OIT CE Support In 2025, expanded change enablement support was provided for numerous OIT-sponsored projects. Hearing our colleagues ask for the 7x7 communications trackers is music to our ears. Our expansion across the division has provided consistent and coordinated communications for the Windows 11 and Gmail enhancements, the transition from MyNetid to WhooRU among others.
Cloud Architecture
The integration team supports more than 150 scheduled and on-demand integrations across different areas such as iO, Interfolio, Cayuse, Banner, Salesforce, and others. For 2025 we have finished the transformation of Labor Distribution, capture of user ISO security data for hacker prevention, capture of iO budgetary data, capture of detail iO data errors for Banner AR, PPM, and CM to help user diagnosis, and enhancement and fixes of Rice benefit information to the vendors. Upcoming projects include the redesign of the Banner and Balance Transfer integrations, Fidelity retirement Security 2.0 implementation, and Tririga PO/Invoice/Receipt designs.
Database Administration
Banner Technology Stack Upgrades Twice a year the DBA team upgrades many of the Banner ERP application server (Tomcat, OpenJDK, Linux packages, Load Balancer configurations, etc) and database components to maintain compatibility with upcoming releases, ensuring we stay up-to-date on prerequisites and are able to respond quickly to critical, time-sensitive releases such as Financial Aid upgrades. There were about 30 upgrades that spanned almost 20 application and database servers, in multiple environments. The upgrades took about three months to complete.
UiPath RPA Center of Excellence Last year the DBA team was tasked with configuring our UiPath RPA environment to allow Rice the capability to develop enterprise-class robotic process automation workflows and, in phase one of our deployment, the goal was to assist Rice staff and partners in automating repetitive, time-consuming tasks. This year we were able to hire our first business automation developer who led the charge to fully configure UiPath Orchestrator cloud admin portal, setup necessary virtual machines, connections, procedures, naming conventions, and robot/service accounts with assistance from the Data and Analytics, Infrastructure and IAM teams. Our UiPath contract has been expanded and a broader RPA deployment is underway.
UiPath RPA Workflow Development We started with a proof–of-concept automation for the IT Service Delivery team to generate the Wednesday change meeting agenda excel sheet which saved them up to an hour of effort each week, also allowing them the ability to quickly make last minute changes/additions to their report without having to go through the entire generation process each time.
Within the last six months, we have developed about seven attended and unattended automations for ourselves and different teams: OIT Helpdesk Ivy Chatbot weekly reporting, CRC monthly NOTS cluster billing, CTS Customer Satisfaction Spot Checks reporting, DBA Tenable Critical Vulnerability Reporting, DBA Database Storage Space Monthly Reporting, EI Mailman Mailing List Spam Record Cleanup, and iO TimeCo Payroll notification and verification. The most complex automation we worked on (CRC Billing) took us a few months and has saved the individual days worth of effort each month, extracting invoice data from PDF’s, performing billing calculations, and producing a final spreadsheet. This automation has significantly reduced the possibility for human error and completes in about one hour, freeing her up to work on other important tasks.
Database Uptime of 100% Zero Oracle database-related disruptions to production customer workloads thanks to proactive maintenance, updates, and testing/debriefs in lower environments.
Digital Accessibility
FY25 has been a period of sustained foundational effort within Rice University’s digital accessibility program with a focus on raising awareness, providing support, and addressing immediate accessibility barriers. Efforts continued in partnership with Level Access, the Accessibility Steering Committee and campus partners focusing on compliance, training & education as well as increasing campus awareness of federal law updates, ADA Title II web requirements, and Section 504. Digital Accessibility was featured during Ethics & Compliance Week with the Building an Empowered and Inclusive Campus Digital Campus article written by the Digital Accessibility Coordinator and shared out with campus.
Level Access Accessibility Training The partnership with Level Access remained a cornerstone of the training program, providing Rice faculty, staff, and students with unlimited access to their live training calendar. In FY25, 38 training sessions were conducted, and 14 consultations were held. A total of 165 individuals participated in learning about accessibility and how they could incorporate best practices into their work at Rice.
Access @ Rice Website The Access @ Rice website (access.rice.edu), which underwent a redesign and relaunch in January 2024, continued its redevelopment in 2025 to serve as a primary resource for information on the digital accessibility program, Policy 851, and best practices. The site offers seven new content areas, information, supporting materials, and clearer access to reporting digital accessibility barriers. Communications and marketing of the Digital Accessibility website created an increase of 125% of web traffic for the month of November.
Level Access Web Accessibility The partnership with Level Access for web accessibility continued to be crucial in FY25, providing a more holistic approach to web accessibility for Rice’s Drupal websites. Expanding the digital properties to include all Public Affairs’ controlled Rice Drupal websites in late September 2025 ensures accessibility data is available for 85% of Rice web traffic. New additions to the platform include data aggregation of common findings that clearly articulate accessibility issues with templates and themes, a program dashboard and AI integration for platform users.
Anthology Ally Acquisition of the new course accessibility tool Anthology Ally in early fall 2025 creates direct opportunities for faculty and students to improve the accessibility experiences in their courses. The Course Accessibility Report (Ally) scans Canvas course content, generates a list of accessibility issues, provides guidance to instructors on how to correct them, and includes a feature called Alternative Formats that allows students to generate alternative file formats. In the first 4 weeks of usage 1,100 accessibility issues were resolved across 90 different courses and over 1,500 alternative format files were downloaded.
IT Service Delivery
Tririga Change Control System Working with F&CP, and at zero cost, we created a new system for entering, tracking, and approving OIT system changes in a modern and supported cloud-based platform called Tririga. This new system follows the industry standard ITIL4 Change Enablement (nee, Change Management) Practice.
RT Roadmap (Phase I) We re-architected the OIT workflows and processes in RT by rationalizing all of the queues to align with our current service teams. We also implemented categorization that aligns with our service catalog, and applied new classifications that allow for improved tracking and metrics.
ITIL Training for OIT Building on our successful ITIL upskilling efforts across OIT in 2024, we continued to provide training opportunities to OIT staff this year. To date, 81% of OIT staff have completed the 3 day Foundations course.
Satisfaction Survey 3.0 We were challenged by leadership to revise our 2.0 survey with the goals of increasing engagement, and improving how we measure the experience for our constituents. On Dec 1, 2025, we launched 3.0 and after a single week, our engagement rate is over 400% higher than the last full month of the previous iteration.
Project Management Office
Supporting Our OIT Partners in Project Execution The Project Management Office supported several of the top priorities of internal OIT partners, as well as those of campus partners. Among the larger or more impactful projects that are likely referenced elsewhere in this document:
- Redwood, the new iO front-end user experience released by Oracle for HCM and Procurement functions.
- Rollout of the redesigned Labor Distribution process within iO, which streamlines how payroll costs are charged to departments, projects, and grants.
- Expense Reporting improvements in iO, including simplifying expense entry and automated expense type matching.
- Email Modernization, to migrate nearly 4,000 faculty, staff, graduate students, and retirees from the legacy Cyrus (Webmail) system. Surveyed users reported an average satisfaction rating of 4 out of 5 with their migration experience.
- International Travel Registry to assist Rice Global in providing enhanced support to Rice employees and students, and to have better information should an emergency situation arise.
- High Performance Computing for AI in partnership with CRC.
- OIT Chatbot to more easily find the right answer to customer questions in the OIT Knowledge Base (KB).
- Network Access Battery Replacement of aging batteries in network access closets across 250 locations at Rice University, completing months before the scheduled project deadline and more than $30,000 under budget.
The PMO is also assisting with the Digital Accessibility project, along with OIT colleagues from Digital Accessibility, the Office of Change Enablement, Teaching & Learning - as well as external partners including Public Affairs, the Student Disability Resource Center, HR, Compliance, and Digital Learning and Strategy.
Providing Expertise to Our FC&P Partners in Facilities Construction This year saw several major construction projects delivered, and the PMO Facilities Construction project managers played a key role in ensuring A/V, cabling, network, cameras, security and other technical solutions were successfully deployed. As well, this team ensures that relocation spaces are built out so the occupants can continue their work while their future building is under construction. The team regularly handles over 30 projects at any one time. Notable projects include Sarofim Hall, the Helix Building, RUPD move to Mudd (and back), as well as enhanced security across campus.
Expanding Project Management Concepts Beyond the PMO PMO members hosted two workshops for OIT professionals. Sessions were well attended, with 30 - 40 attendees each, actively participating in discussions. The first, in Spring 2025, covered verbal and nonverbal communication. In Fall 2025, the second workshop focused on deployment readiness prior to releasing new technology. The PMO has also partnered with the Fondren Fellows program again this year to walk through project management principles as they begin work on their own initiatives.
Analyzing Capacity and Effort across OIT In order to evaluate and prioritize projects with campus partners, members of the PMO have been working with customers to collect and estimate OIT resource impacts of strategic project requests. A capacity tracking tool was developed, in partnership with the CRC, to assist leaders in understanding workload and leveling out team effort where possible.
Web Systems
OIT Website Redesign The OIT website redesign, we focused on improving the structure, navigation, and usability of the OIT web presence. Work included reorganizing content, refining information architecture, and updating page layouts to better support campus users and clarify services The project involved close collaboration with developers, content owners, and stakeholders to ensure designs were practical to implement and aligned with OIT goals. Front-end updates were supported using HTML, CSS, JavaScript, Bootstrap, and CMS tools, with attention to usability, accessibility-informed design, and long-term maintainability.
Digital Accessibility Project The Digital Accessibility Project is an ongoing, campus-wide effort to improve accessibility and usability across all Rice.edu websites. This work is separate from the OIT redesign and focuses on supporting compliance with WCAG 2.1 AA standards. Project activities include reviewing sites and content for accessibility issues, providing guidance to site owners and content creators, and recommending practical remediation approaches. Training, documentation, and tutorials on tutorials.rice.edu have been created to help users manage accessible content independently. Platform support and RT tickets are also used to identify recurring issues and inform broader accessibility improvements.
Web Tutorials, Training and How-To Videos Staff, faculty, and student leaders are trained on how to update and manage their sites using Drupal, LiveWhale, and CampusPress, and they are encouraged to use the new tutorials.rice.edu site that was reworked alongside WETI and Public Affairs. The goal is to help people understand what to do, avoid mistakes, and feel confident working in the web systems. To support this, training videos and tutorials have been created. These videos show step-by-step how to do common tasks, check for accessibility issues, and more. The videos are to be recorded, edited, and published on tutorials.rice.edu, hosted in Kaltura, and shared across the Rice web tools so people can find and reuse them whenever they need.
CampusPress Site Audit and Accessibility Support We conducted a comprehensive review of all CampusPress sites to identify inactive sites, those not recently updated, or with low traffic. From this audit, we archived approximately 5,000 sites, and so far, only a handful (fewer than five) have requested to be reactivated. We currently maintain around 4,000 active sites, and we will be reaching out to site owners to ensure their sites are either made accessible or removed. Guidance and resources for accessibility improvements will be provided (see 3. Web Tutorials, Training, and How-To Videos section).
Archived legacy coldfusion web sites We reviewed and archived 35 legacy coldfusion websites and we are working on migrating the rest of them to new platforms.
Service Catalog We built the OIT service catalog. Now it it contains 45 active services
Touchnet and legacy website support We created 14 Touchnet stores for Rice colleges, band, and parking office and provided the follow up training and support. We also provided the tech support for the legacy Coldfusion and Django based web sites.
Technology Platforms
Enterprise Infrastructure
Collaboration and Cloud Platforms
Endpoint Engineering and System Administration
Email Modernization Project Late this Spring, the project team successfully migrated 100% of all legacy Cyrus user mailboxes, totalling over 3,500 mailboxes. Proofpoint Secure Email Relay was successfully deployed as the future secure solution for on-premises systems that need to route application and notification emails. In July, the focus shifted to reconciling email aliases and other routing information in preparation for Identity and Access Management (IAM) upgrades and integrations with Fischer.
Windows 11 Deployment / Infrastructure The Endpoint Engineering team led and built the base infrastructure in support of the university's campus-wide upgrade to Windows 11. Collaborated closely with our OIT partners and successfully upgraded more than 90% of endpoints spanning academic departments, administrative offices, research labs, and learning environments. The project was executed with minimal disruption while significantly strengthening endpoint security and laying a much-needed modern foundation for future technology advancements across campus.
Infrastructure Monitoring Successfully upgraded the Zabbix monitoring system from version 4 to version 7 with improved features in the areas of scalability, performance, security, and integration.
Ansible Automation The Ansible solution used for automation and orchestration of the EI Linux server estate was upgraded to a containerized version 2.5, aligned with the Red Hat strategic shift toward a model for the Ansible Automation Platform (AAP) that is modern, secure, portable, and maintainable.
Request Tracker Completed sequential upgrades of Request Tracker ITSM from version 5.0.4 to 5.0.9 with bug fixes and improvements for UI, lifecycle mapping, reports, and more.
Isilon to Pure Storage Migrations Migrated all EI managed NFS shares from the Isilon storage system, moving 23 shares and over 32TB of storage to the Pure storage system and freeing up precious space on the Isilon system.
Private Cloud Modernization (VMware) Negotiated a new 3-year Broadcom agreement to provide price protection and scalability for our VMware private cloud environment. Deployed four new VMware servers in the PDC and BRC, along with a virtual SAN (vSAN) setup to support further business continuity and availability across data centers. Upgraded the DEV private cloud cluster full VMware stack, including NSX, vCenter, and vSphere, to version 8 for scalability, performance, and lifecycle improvements and to stay aligned with the Broadcom product support window.
Azure Landing Zone & SSO in the Cloud Deployed a predefined, scalable, and secure environment in Microsoft Azure, known as an Azure Landing Zone, that is aligned with the Cloud Adoption Framework (CAF) that defines best practices for governance, security, and compliance. Built the foundational Azure Kubernetes environment and infrastructure to support Rice SSO and LDAP in the cloud, reducing a significant long term BCP-DR risk (2026).
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint Implementation In support and collaboration with ISO, led the endpoint engineering of the campus-wide migration from Trellix (formerly FireEye) Endpoint Security to Microsoft Defender for Endpoint across Windows, Apple Mac, and Linux endpoints. Designed and executed phased agent decommissioning, scripted bulk removal of Trellix HX agents, and enabled full Microsoft Defender capabilities. Delivered seamlessly in parallel with the ongoing Windows 11 rollout with zero end-user impact.
MS Power Platform / Fabric Deployment and Support Implemented and supported enterprise-scale Microsoft cloud solutions by deploying three MS Fabric instances across multiple groups at Rice. Provisioned two instances for the EDBI team and one instance for the Rice Management Company. Deployed all Azure subscriptions and resources for associated business activities leveraging those Fabric instances (authentication, access controls, storage, compute, Power Platform apps, webapps, EntraID apps), and delivered ongoing customization and configuration to ensure secure, optimized operations.
Network and Connectivity
From Reset to Results: Network Services, Data Center Operations, and CAMT transformed OIT’s relationship with Athletics by embedding themselves in pre-game operations, stabilizing fragile systems, and delivering fast, innovative solutions to real business needs. Their partnership enabled the creation of a Tech TA “game-day concierge” program; placing trained students in the R-Room, press box, and broadcast booth to provide immediate support and elevate the football game experience for guests, staff, and student-athletes. This unified operating model that is anchored, aligned, innovative, and transparent, has rebuilt trust, improved reliability, and demonstrated a repeatable approach now strengthening partnerships across campus, including Humanities.
Classroom and Meeting Technologies
Classroom Quality Management Team (CAMT) The CAMT team completed several capital funded technology projects in collaboration with the Classroom Quality Management Team including full system replacements in 4 classrooms and system enhancements in 3 classrooms.
IT Construction The CAMT team contributed to several major institutional construction projects, including building out dozens of spaces in the new Sarofim Hall building as well as planning steps for the new Chao and Lovett colleges and the Moody Center for Student Life.
Institutional Event Support The CAMT team provided support for several major institution events, including Summer and Winter Commencement Ceremonies, Quarterly Board of Trustee’s meetings, Hybrid Administrators Forum, and the President’s State of the University address.
Hoot Hub Expansion Responding to demand from students, CAMT deployed 46 additional 32” Monitors w/ USB-C connectivity (HootHubs) in student labs around campus, bringing the total to 56 HootHubs. This initiative is helping satisfy evolving student demand, as well as lowering annual support and refresh costs.
Recognition From the CAMT team, Hector Pineda was recognized by both the Board of Trustees and received the Above and Beyond Award OF&S leadership for his outstanding support.
By the Numbers
- Spaces under Support
- OTR Classrooms/Labs: 104
- Non-OTR Spaces: 300+
- Lab and Classroom Computers under Support: 345
- Dispatch Metrics
- Median Time to Solution/Status: 13.5 Mins
- Positive Outcome (Restoration of Instruction): 97%
- Videos Assets Digitized: 148
- Events Supported: 221
- TechTA Program
- TechTAs: 40
- Class meetings supported: Approx 1550
- Events assisted: 156
Data Center Operations
High-Performance Computing Infrastructure Expansion The Data Center Operations team, in partnership with CRC and Network Services, successfully delivered the installation of the AI Cluster in Pod B, establishing the high-performance compute foundation required to advance Rice’s research ambitions. All network uplinks were provisioned and validated, and Cambridge completed configuration of the ToR switches. This initiative strengthens Rice’s research computing capabilities and aligns with the Momentous plan’s emphasis on next-generation infrastructure. The project reflects effective coordination across Data Center Operations, CRC, Network Services, and external partners, demonstrating the organization’s ability to manage complex, multi-vendor deployments at scale.
Network Infrastructure Battery Backup Lifecycle Network Services and Data Center Operations strengthened the university’s digital foundation by completing a campus-wide replacement of nearly 1,000 network closet batteries. This effort improves resilience across the environment, reduces the risk of power-related outages, and reinforces our commitment to delivering stable, uninterrupted service for research and instruction.
By the Numbers
- Data Center Operations maintained a service uptime of 100.00% for the last calendar year
- Working in coordination with a 3rd party (RAKI), we successfully recycled over 5,800 items.
Network Services
Upgraded Connectivity to All Internet Services The Network Services team pushed Rice forward by making us the first university in Texas to deploy 400G connectivity to the internet. With two upgraded circuits now online, our total external capacity reaches a theoretical 1.1 Tbps. This investment secures the performance and headroom we need to support high-performance research, campus growth, and the AI-driven work central to the Momentous plan.
Network Infrastructure Battery Backup Lifecycle Network Services and Data Center Operations strengthened the university’s digital foundation by completing a campus-wide replacement of nearly 1,000 network closet batteries. This effort improves resilience across the environment, reduces the risk of power-related outages, and reinforces our commitment to delivering stable, uninterrupted service for research and instruction.
Dark Fiber Across Houston To increase capacity and long-term flexibility, Network Services partnered with Crown Castle to deploy a dedicated dark fiber ring connecting The Ion and the IBC, delivering significantly more bandwidth at a lower cost than our previous provider. In a parallel effort, we established an independent dark fiber path to the Primary Data Center, creating true physical carrier diversity and strengthening our Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery posture.
IT Construction Network Services participated in dozens of active capital projects across campus; from BRC lab buildouts and campus security enhancements to the McNair expansion, Sarofim Hall, the new Moody Student Center, stadium infrastructure improvements, and major facility upgrades. These efforts represent millions in coordinated investment and reflect the close partnership between OIT and Facilities & Construction Planning to ensure every new space is delivered with the digital infrastructure needed to support Rice’s growth and strategic priorities.
By the Numbers Network Services maintained a network uptime of 99.96% for the last calendar year.
