Andy Jones strengthens faculty connections in new role at IET

Story updated Sept. 29

Andy Jones, a familiar and respected UC Davis instructor, has rejoined Information and Educational Technology. His new job is academic associate director of Academic Technology Services (ATS).

Andy  Jones Andy Jones

Jones, a continuing lecturer in the University Writing Program, and an educational technologist, began the part-time ATS position July 1. In this job, he will expand connections between IET and faculty, particularly concerning SmartSite and other ATS services for instructors.

"I look forward to providing faculty with pedagogical contexts for the tools that we use as teachers," Jones said. "To that end, I shall establish a new Faculty Users of SmartSite group--we'll meet monthly on Friday afternoons at 2--where we can discuss practical concerns and our teaching-related objectives.

"Faculty can also look forward to additional and enhanced forms of communication and outreach from ATS, including a blog, a monthly newsletter, and improved documentation," he said. "We look forward to hearing from faculty about their priorities, and communicating widely the many examples of teaching innovation and best practices here at UC Davis."

Details about the new SmartSite meetings for faculty, and other new ATS communications, are posted here.

As academic associate director, Jones works alongside Paul Ver Wey, the acting operational manager of ATS. Previous ATS Director Liz Gibson resigned in May. Jones reports to Peter M. Siegel, UC Davis ch ief information officer and IET vice provost, on academic ATS matters, and to Ver Wey on operating issues relating to SmartSite and Gradebook2.

ATS offers a range of more than a dozen services, from illustration, Web and graphic design to special event support, audio/video recording, and computer lab management.

Jones worked for ATS (then known as Mediaworks) in the 2000s as a part-time faculty liaison. He helped establish SmartSite in 2007 as the main UC Davis service for managing courses and collaborating online.

Among other accomplishments, Jones:

  • Led the Faculty Mentoring Faculty Program, for what is now the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning, until spring 2010.
  • Was named Educator of the Year for 2006 by Associated Students of UC Davis.
  • Coordinated the Summer Institute on Teaching and Technology until 2010. It presented a week of talks, seminars and workshops, primarily for instructors and graduate students, on topics that often included both imaginative and practical uses of educational technology.