Vice President of Information Technology Shannon Wilson and Vice Provost Marc Booker provide insights on establishing successful cross function collaboration to support working adult learners

University of Phoenix is pleased to share that Shannon T. Wilson, vice president of information technology, and Marc Booker, Ph.D., vice provost of Strategy, presented together at the 2023 Anthology Together conference in Orlando, Florida, on July 18, in a session titled, “Creating Value Add Partnerships Between Academics and IT on Campus,” as part of the conference theme track in Teaching, Learning & Inclusion.

“Demonstrating the power of partnerships between IT and Academics really makes me proud,” shares Wilson. “Integrating a product model that facilitates innovation for our students has allowed the University to transform the role of IT from a support function to that of a strategic partner. Proactive collaboration is so important and is embedded in all our activities, from day-to-day business and technology operations, planning, communication, and change management - all with the intent to serve working adult students to the fullest.”

The conference is an annual global gathering for educators and institutions highlighting education technology thought leadership, insights and innovation.

Booker and Wilson’s session highlighted how the modern higher education institution requires a strong partnership between academics and technologists on campus to ensure digital dreams can be transformed into engaging experiences. While this connection can be hard to realize institutionally with competing interests and limited resources, Booker and Wilson discussed how, using a strong product and partnership model at University of Phoenix, these barriers have been broken down with the benefit of year over year student retention gains, and shared the journey and best practices.

“I feel privileged to have been able to share our message at this event because at University of Phoenix collaboration is the engine that feeds our ability to innovate and best serve our working adult learners,” Booker states. “In many organizations today, this process can be impeded by silos or sending requirements back-and-forth over a fence, but at our institution we have created an integrated product model that looks to solve our students’ problems first, and this could not be done without an equal partnership between our academic and technology teams.”

Wilson is the Vice President of Information Technology at the University of Phoenix, a role in which he is responsible for application engineering and all technology infrastructure, platforms, client services, network, and data center operations, including a combination of public/private cloud services, hybrid-cloud, and co-location hosting services. He has oversight of more than 15 Agile product teams. With over 25 years of experience managing and hiring for IT teams, his diverse background spans IT leadership, application engineering, hybrid-cloud infrastructure, public-private cloud services, business operations, marketing, project management, finance, financial analysis, budgeting and sales.

Wilson has been an employee with University of Phoenix since 1993.

As Vice Provost for Strategy at the University of Phoenix, Booker oversees critical path academic initiatives to improve the student experience such as learning platform implementations, curricular enhancements, and developing empathetic solutions to drive improved student outcomes through data. Booker also serves as dean of the Pacific Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers (PACRAO) Leadership Development Institute and was President of PACRAO in 2016. In 2020, Booker received a Hall of Fame recognition from Blackboard for his contributions in providing thought leadership and innovation in education.

Booker has been an employee of the University of Phoenix since 2001.

About University of Phoenix

University of Phoenix is continually innovating to help working adults enhance their careers in a rapidly changing world. Flexible schedules, relevant courses, interactive learning, and Career Services for Life® commitment help students more effectively pursue career and personal aspirations while balancing their busy lives. For more information, visit phoenix.edu.

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