At the close of the year, we often take time to reflect upon the best and worst of the year that has just passed. This has got me thinking about how far our department—Faculty Instructional Technology Services (FITS)—has come in a mere eight months. In fact, FITS didn’t even officially exist until July 1.

Looking back, I can hardly believe that most of the staff responsible for doing all the training for the Blackboard to D2L transition hadn’t even started nine months ago. Until the third week in May, none of the individuals who would eventually provide all the training had themselves been trained. In seven short months, the FITS Central Support group has done an amazing job writing documentation and developing online tutorials.

This group is also responsible for developing, revising, and delivering the D2L training sessions. Heroically they have, to date, trained more than 650 faculty and 80 support staff. This transition could not have been as smooth without this dedicated team of individuals who sometimes found themselves training with an unstable system or for less than enthusiastic audiences. Throughout it all, they have kept their humor and their desire to help. I am also heartened to see the faculty we have trained embrace the new technology. We know that change is often hard, and we appreciate the effort that so many of our faculty have made to be open minded and willing to make a change.

As I look forward to the new year (and a full implementation), I am thankful for my colleagues and their willingness to always go the extra mile—so a public thanks to Eric, Alex, Lori, Sarah, Kayte, Liz, Elizabeth, Megan, Josh, and Emily. Happy New Year!