I am writing to announce that Helen Norris, director of IST–Client Services, has accepted the position of Associate Vice President, Administrative Computing Services, at California State University, Sacramento, and will be leaving UC Berkeley in January 2009. While I am delighted for Helen in her new opportunity, her departure is a loss for IST and the campus. Her experience, skills, creativity, and energy will be very much missed.
Helen has been with UC Berkeley for almost 12 years. She came to campus as the IT Director for University Health Services (UHS) in 1997. She moved from UHS to Budget & Finance in 2000, where she served as the IT director until joining IST in early 2006. During her tenure with IST, Helen played an instrumental role in the development of the new IST services strategy and organization, and took on a leadership role in the creation of the new Client Services unit. Under her direction, we have launched the TAM organization, consolidated numerous help desks into a single service desk, and defined a new business model for computer sales at Berkeley. Helen has had many other notable achievements at Berkeley, including her leadership of the e-Berkeley Initiative and the major BFS upgrade in 2005.
I am extremely grateful to Helen for her passion and commitment to Client Services, IST, and Berkeley's success. Her deep understanding of the departmental IT perspective and her work as a mentor to campus technology professionals will be very much missed. Helen and I will be working together through December on a transition plan for her organization, and we will provide more details later. In the meantime, please join me in wishing Helen all the best in the future, and thanking her for her service to UC Berkeley.