2024 – Boston College

The 38th AJCU-CITM conference was held at Boston College on March 4-7, 2024.

Previously, Boston College hosted the 1st conference in 1986 and the 27th conference in 2012.

Mike Bourque, CIO, and John Berardi, Program Committee Chair organized a memorable conference. Attendees stayed at the historic Lenox Hotel, which was in keeping with the special accommodations the CITM organizes. The Lenox was a short walk to the Boston Public Library, Newbury Street, and Copley Place. 

This year’s conference didn’t include keynote speakers and created an ample number of opportunities for attendees to meet and network with familiar and first-time CITM colleagues. This year’s 136 attendees represented 23 of the 27 AJCU schools, with 5 representatives from 4 Jesuit universities in Latin America. More than 36 sessions were held with topics ranging from teaching with technology and data analytics to artificial intelligence and beyond, with the shared goal of advancing the mission of Jesuit higher education in a rapidly evolving digital landscape.

Four of our Latin American colleagues attended in person, plus one virtually.  The Jesuit universities in the Dominican Republic and Uruguay were represented in person for the first time at CITM.  At an open discussion session Tuesday on International Engagement Activity, new and novel ideas for future engagement were suggested, including the possibility of CITM participating in a regional meeting of CIOs from AUSJAL.  Two thirds of session attendees indicated that they would be ready to travel to Latin America for such a meeting. 

In addition to the many excellent presentations and panel discussions, there was a Sponsor Showcase, including more than 20 sponsors, in Lyons Hall (snacks included) on Wednesday along with a campus tour along with a tour of the BC Data Center. The CITM Business Meeting – Gasson Hall was held after lunch on Wednesday. The Business Meeting spotlighted the new SIGs that had been formed, including: Enterprise Apps, IT Support Services, and IT Infrastructure. The growth and strength of current SIGs could be found in items like:  Project Management is up to 75 members, Information Security has a large and well used document repository, AJCU Exchange (previously called HiveBrite) now has 250 active members and marketing materials are expected soon, and participation in the Mentoring Program increased by 87% from last year to this year.

Highlighting the business meeting was the presentation of the O’Hearn Service Award to Borre Ulrichsen at Gonzaga University. 

Social activities included the opening night reception at City Table in the Lenox Hotel, dinner and a tour of Fenway Park on Tuesday, and an amazing seafood extravaganza at Row 34 on Wednesday! 

Additional highlights are included below.

Agenda

  • 36+ sessions
  • Mike Bourque, CIO and John Berardi, Technology Director and Conference Program Committee Chair, provided Welcoming Remarks, including a presentation of the history of Boston College. 
  • Breakfast and lunch were held in Gasson Hall

Speakers

  • Wednesday morning, Welcome from William P. Leahy, SJ, President of Boston College
  • Roberto Osorno from ITESO (Guadalajara) gave a spirited presentation on Creativity and Innovation in Constrained Environments, providing an international perspective on a problem we all face.

Highlights

  • Monday evening Welcome Reception at City Table in the conference hotel, the Lenox Hotel
  • Tuesday evening included dinner at the Fenway Park’s Royal Rooters Club, followed by a night-time tour. 
  • Wednesday evening at the Row 34

Materials from the 2024 conference

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