Jody Couch
Chief Information Officer (CIO)
Assistant Vice-President, Information Technology Services
Jody is the Chief Information Officer (CIO) and Assistant Vice-President (AVP) of Information Technology Services (ITS) for Dalhousie University. She plays a leadership role in mapping Dalhousie’s new Digital Strategy to actionable priorities, processes, and associated investments. Jody works in partnership with senior leaders across the University to develop and implement systems, uphold and establish progressive cybersecurity standards and supervise and support process improvement initiatives within the organization. Jody manages a strong senior leadership team within ITS and over 130 staff across 7 departments.
Heather Fraser
Deputy CIO & Director, Enterprise Application Services
The Enterprise Application Services team in ITS provides services and products to support administrative processes for the university. We provide many services to the campus community within the applications space, including but not limited to: application planning and testing, custom software development, project management, database administration, systems architecture, support and operations. Our EAS team is comprised of more than 40 skilled technicians, project managers, and managers, all working in partnership with Dalhousie’s campus community to improve university administration.
Jay Pasemko
Director, Business Operations
Business Operations supports the operations of ITS through its management all of finance, human resources and communications related activities. From a financial perspective, the Business Operations team has responsibility for procurement, accounting, payments, contract renewal as well as budget development, tracking and reporting. The team also provides advisory services to ITS leadership on cash flow management and expense recovery. Our Business Operations communications team is responsible for branding and the dissemination of information to Dalhousie’s stakeholders including staff, faculty and students. As well, support to ITS employees in the form of onboarding and employment related inquiries is also handled by the Business Operations team.
Manjula Devaraj
Director, Service Delivery
Manju and her team ensure our clients (students, staff and faculty) get the best possible service as they navigate their study and work life at Dal. The team is scattered across both the Halifax and Truro campuses. Services her team provides include technical support from the Service Desk, hardware break-fix services, lab and imaging services, and end point device management. If you have a question or a problem to solve, reach out and one of the capable team members will find the answer for you.
Scott Wilson
Chief Information Security Officer
Scott and his team in the Information Security Office (ISO) orchestrate Dalhousie’s cybersecurity efforts by focusing on a risk-based approach to safeguard the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of Dalhousie’s information, data, and digital services. The team has a commitment to protect personal and institutional information, through adherence to ethical principles and via a strategy of simple, effective information security practices. The team’s strategic work leads the university’s cybersecurity initiatives through policy, standards and process guidelines, education efforts, technology controls, and building a culture of responsible information management.
Michael Bennett
Director, Digital Infrastructure
Michael and his team of more than 20 network and security professionals work collaboratively with Dalhousie’s teaching, research, and administrative communities to deliver fast, secure, and reliable network and compute services. Through the design, operation, monitoring, and maintenance of network, data center, and security platforms, we deliver connectivity solutions across Halifax, the province and nationally through Canada’s Research and Education Network. Our Digital Infrastructure team plays a strategic role in adapting to changing technological landscapes and is dedicated to delivering enterprise services with a seamless and secure experience.
Robert Harrie
Director, Systems Operations
Systems Operations monitors and manages the infrastructure and systems that underpin digital services in use by all Dalhousie Students, Faculty, Researchers, and Administration. Servers and compute, data storage, voice technologies, private/public cloud, and Microsoft 365 are among the many systems that are monitored and managed by the team around the clock. The care and quick response of Systems Operations helps ensure that digital services at Dalhousie are secure, reliable and ready.
Jonathan Amyotte
Director, Collaborative Solutions
Jonathan and his team provide software and services for digital collaboration and productivity across the Dalhousie community. Platforms operated by the team include web authoring tools such as the Dalhousie website, and Microsoft 365 productivity tools including SharePoint, Office suite and Power Platform. Our team of analysts and developers also provides consulting on the use of our platforms and how to leverage them in the wide variety of projects underway across the university. The team consistently has strategic initiatives in progress to further enhance and integrate the provided platforms into a cohesive, usable, and secure digital ecosystem.