History

The User Advisory Group (UAG) was established early in 2012. Its initial purpose was to help inform the transition from Blackboard to NYU Classes, make recommendations on customization of the local NYU instance of the Sakai base code for NYU Classes, and give faculty a greater voice in the configuration of NYU’s educational software packages. As educational technology use has expanded beyond the LMS, the UAG now provides user-focused recommendations on a range of platforms, including NYU Web Publishing (WordPress) and Global Home.

Membership

The UAG is made up of representatives from all NYU Schools and Programs, including NYU-Global. UAG membership is composed of faculty members and instructional technologists who work closely with faculty; its focus is articulating user needs for educational technology, broadly defined.

User Advisory Group

Mission and Place in Educational Technology Governance

The User Advisory Group is a recommendatory committee intended to capture the needs of our user community; it develops granular User Needs Reports (see below) both on topics that its own members surface, and at the behest of other governing committees. It is not a decision-making committee; its recommendations must be reviewed by the policy-making committees to which it reports before final review and potential adoption. The UAG’s User Needs Reports inform the landscape reviews of available platforms for meeting particular needs (e.g., web conferencing) that the Instructional Technology Committee conducts. The UAG:

  • Reviews requests for the adoption of specific features, tools, and platforms that come from any faculty or administrative body (after they pass an IT review on technical and security grounds), recommending to NYU IT whether or not a pilot is advisable, and, if so, at what scale (e.g., restricted to particular programs, or for interested faculty University-wide);
  • Develops User Needs Reports for specific educational technology areas (e.g., high-stakes testing, accessibility tools, etc.);
  • Designs comprehensive surveys for user analysis of NYU Classes, NYU Web Publishing, and pilot projects;
  • Evaluates educational technology pilots and makes recommendations to NYU IT on their continuation, expansion, or discontinuation;
  • Recommends priorities for implementation of NYU educational tools to NYU IT on a twice-yearly cycle.

Committee Records and Recent Reports

Report: NYU Web Publishing and Stream Survey, Spring 2022
User Needs Report: Classroom Technology, Spring 2022
Report: NYU Web Publishing and Stream Survey, 2019
User Needs Report: Blogging Tool Fall 2018
UAG Pilot Benchmark Report Fall 2018
Report: NYU Classes Survey, 2018
User Needs Report: eLearning Modules
User Needs Report: Library Integration
User Advisory Group: Pilot Benchmark Report
User Needs Report: Project Management
User Needs Report: Discussion Tool
User Needs Report: Rubrics
User Needs Report: Gradebook Improvements
User Needs Report: Google Calendar Integration & UI/UX Improvements
UAG Report on Pilot Benchmarks for F17
NYU Classes Site Templating and Site Copying
Priorities for Development of Existing Ed Tech Enterprise Systems
User Needs/Requirements: Social Reading/Text Annotation
UAG Priority Recommendations: Spring 2017
Web Publishing Survey
Pilot Benchmarks: Spring 2017
User Needs Report: Response Technologies
User Needs Report: Web-Conferencing
User Needs Report: Video Annotation
User Needs Report: High-Stakes Testing
User Needs Report: NYUser Forum Platform
UAG Report: Attendance Tool
Report on Integration Priorities for Summer 16
NYU Classes Survey 2016: Report
UAG Process and Criteria for Prioritization
LMS Evaluative Report

UAG Committee

Leadership

Sean Diaz, Co-Chair
(since 2021)
Assistant Director Learning Design, Stern School of Business
Fan Jiang, Co-Chair
(since 2020)
Instructional Technologist, NYU IT
Matthew Leingang, Co-Chair
Clinical Professor, Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences
(since 2022)

Committee Members

Dominick Bagnato, Service Manager, Educational Media Production, Tools and Facilities, Digital Studio, NYU IT
Jayson Cabrera
Manager, Academic Technology, NYU Abu Dhabi Library
Hui Soo Chae
Executive Director of the Center for Academic Excellence and Support (CAES), School of Professional Studies
Augie Cummings
Educational Technologist, NYU Tandon School of Engineering
Marian Tes
Instructional Technologist, NYU School of Global Public Health
Elise Eisenberg
Senior Director Of Informatics, Technology and Informatics Services, College of Dentistry
Nancy Gleason
Director of the Hilary Ballon Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning, NYU Abu Dhabi
Andrew Greene
Senior Educational Technologist , FAS Ed Tech
Parker Hollingsworth
Senior Learning Digital Designer, NYU Steinhardt
Yona Jean-Pierre
Director, Faculty Innovations, Academic Affairs, NYU Tandon School of Engineering
Trace Jordan
Clinical Professor, College Core Curriculum, Faculty of Arts and Science
Jenny Kijowski
Associate Director, Educational Technology, Gallatin School of Individualized Study
Kathrina LaPorta
Visiting Assistant Professor, Department of French Literature, Thought, and Culture, Faculty of Arts and Science
Sam Mandani
Online Instruction Librarian, NYU Libraries
Jonathan Martinez
Assistant Director, Global Academic Planning, Academic Support, Global Programs
Claire Menegus
Senior Instructional Technologist, Administration & Finance-Tech Services, Steinhardt, Education and Human Development
Kristopher Moore
Community and Partnership Manager TLT/Interim Educational Technologist for Tisch School of the Performing Arts
Lillian Moran
Senior Educational Design Technologist, NYU College of Dentistry
Joyce A O'Connor
Interim Associate Dean, Academic Affairs, Clinical Associate Professor, Director of Technology Enhanced Education, NYU School of Global Public Health
Phillipe Ortanez
Service Manager, Web Publishing, Digital Studio, NYU IT
Scott Palmer
Coordinator for Instructional Technology and Digital Initiatives, NYU-Florence
Jeff Pasch
Director, Academic Application Development, Application Development, NYU IT
David Resto
Director, Technology and Client Services, Rory Meyers College of Nursing
Elisa Rincon
Senior eLearning Specialist and Team Lead, Instructional Technology Tools and Services, NYU IT
Jenni Rodda
Manager, Digital Media and Computer Services, Institute of Fine Arts
Amy Rowe
Assistant Director for Faculty Affairs, NYU London
Henry Samelson
Associate Director, Educational Technology, School of Social Work
Timothy Schaffer
Educational Technology Specialist, FAS/LS Educational Technology
Craig Schott
Administrative Aide II, Academic Programs, Robert F Wagner Graduate School of Public Service
Christopher Stahl
Senior Language Lecturer, Expository Writing, Faculty of Arts and Science
Johan Starr
Instructional Technologist, Digital Media and Computer Services, Law School
Nadia Sultana
Clinical Assistant Professor, Rory Meyers College of Nursing
Samara Sweig
Director of Strategy and Operations, ASD Nest Support, NYU Steinhardt
Angela Wang
Digital Learning Manager, NYU Shanghai
Brane Zivkovic
Teacher ,Undergraduate Film, Tisch School of the Arts