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Director of Technology Retires After 20 Years of Service
October 31, 2022 -- After 20 years of working in the Information Technology Department at Columbus City Schools, Michele VanDyke is moving on to the next chapter of her life: retirement.
VanDyke started with the District as a project manager in October 2002, a role she stayed in for nearly 12 years. During her tenure, she has served as Interim Chief of Information and, most recently, the Director of Technology for the past eight years.
“I feel like the District is just a great place in general. While the delivery methods have changed over time, the mission and responsibility to the students have not changed throughout the years. Through the highs and lows, this District has remained laser-focused on the students, and I have been proud to be a part of it,” VanDyke said.
Students and teachers in the District have benefited tremendously through the advancements in technology.
“Technology opens the world for learning, discovering, research, future opportunities, and more. The same goes for the staff at the District. It was a huge transition to move to all electronic processing, but the accuracy of data and processing time alone have greatly increased the efficiency in the work that is done and allows for more time to be spent on the core mission of the District and the nearly 50,000 students in the district,” VanDyke said.
Technology is one of the six attributes of the District’s Portrait of a Graduate. Students and staff are actively leveraging traditional and emerging technology to consume, create, communicate, and connect. In an increasingly digital world, the IT Department provides the tools and support needed to propel the District forward.
VanDyke credits the members of the IT Department for the team’s success over the years.
“When there is downtime in the District or something goes haywire as it does from time to time, it is a priority for this very small group of the finest, most talented team of people to get things back on track. There is such a sense of pride in the IT group to offer these tools to the students and the District. It is a small, but incredibly dedicated team and they literally work day and night to prevent and resolve issues,” VanDyke said.
The District has prioritized the need for increased technology in its classrooms and facilities. VanDyke outlined some of the technology updates and advancements she has seen over the course of her time with the District:
- The IT Department moved the district from mainframe to Virtual Desktop Technology (VDI). Today the district runs on virtual servers, and downtime of the data center is rare.
- Computers used to be large, clunky hard-wired machines. Today, everyone has wireless access, and all students have access to a Chromebook. We are a 1:1 district; CCS has deployed and maintained over 50,000 mobile Chromebooks for every student and laptops for all teachers.
- The District went from 100MGB connections to 10GIG connections to meet the demand for devices on the network.
- Districtwide upgrade of its phone system to IP telephony in a partnership with the City. They are fully mobile-enabled as well.
- Applications in the District have gone from paper to electronic over the years. The District moved to an ERP solution for managing Financials, Human Resources, and Purchasing.
- Transitioned the District e-mail system to Microsoft Outlook from the Lotus Notes platform, including upgrading the student information system to a more robust product.
With all the computers, tablets, smartphones, and other high-tech devices society depends on, VanDyke offers this advice for anyone interested in working in the IT field.
“If you are interested, do it. Technology is fast-paced and just really cool. I certainly do not see technology stopping, reversing, or slowing down. You will not be bored in a technology job,” VanDyke said.
As for the future of technology in the District, VanDyke stressed the importance of being alert, aware, and cautious of cyberattacks.
“Between phishing campaigns and ransomware attacks, everyone needs to be hyper-vigilant. In order to keep the district and all of the 70,000 active account users protected, there needs to be people dedicated to cyber security and good digital citizenship,” she said.
As she prepares for retirement, VanDyke will miss the people she’s helped, those who have helped her, and everyone at CCS she has met along the way.
“In the 20 years I have worked for the District, I have encountered many things, but all have contributed to what the District stands for: engaging education for the students. For that I will always be incredibly grateful for my time with the District,” VanDyke said.
Thank you for your service to Columbus City Schools!