IT Community Message - 12/17/2020

In coming to the end of a year (and what a year), it always makes me want to reflect on the journey traveled. I recently crossed over my one-year anniversary at UCI, and while a lot got done, it was a far different year than I expected. I shared some of my observations and learnings in my blog - reflections on the first year.  

The biggest accomplishment over this time has been what all of us have achieved. The challenges of 2020 provided the opportunity for technology professionals to be recognized in ways that usually don’t present themselves. This happened at a pace that was downright frantic, but also in a way where our service mentality and professional approach allowed us to gain a level of visibility that we rarely attain. It gave us the opportunity to demonstrate our leadership skills in unmistakable and impactful ways.

To this I can only say thank you - as your effort, your commitment, your innovative spirit, and your professionalism has helped this institution maintain its education, research and patient care excellence at a time when it would have been easy to throw up our hands and just cope. It’s made our job as senior leaders easier and more fun, as we share the great things you all have been doing and use that momentum to position new ideas for the future of UCI.

I’d love to end this email by saying, "It’s been a fun ride."  But it has not. It’s been tough, grueling and quite frankly, a struggle for all of us. We’ve lost, missed out, and postponed our lives. But in the end we have remained a community and stayed focused on what’s really important. You should all take a moment to reflect on that. 

Thank you, and I wish to all of you health, happiness and most of all, safety in this most memorable of years. 

Here’s to another year of doing great things in 2021.

Tom