A few months has passed since the layoffs of 11 Information Technology Services workers in the fall.

Restructuring was finalized in October to move away from mainframe computing and because of the need for more support in areas like web development and the rise of mobile computing problems.

Employees say the process has gone fairly smooth for the ITS department so far.

William Weber, vice president for business affairs, said he has been meeting weekly with ITS managers about the new structure for the unit.

“A restructuring that we went through is never easy,” he said. “It’s never easy to do layoffs.”

Kathy Reed, a manager in the ITS department, said no bumps have occurred since the restructure.

“Whenever employees are laid off, employee morale is going to suffer for a time,” she said. “No one wants to see a person lose his/her job. However, ITS staff have adjusted admirably. Some have assumed new duties, some are working with different co-workers and supervisors, some are learning new skills.”

In contrast to the number of layoffs last semester, five new positions have been added to ITS, including four in the area of web development and design and one in database administration.

“We were aware we needed more support in those areas,” Weber said.

Four out of the five new positions are part of the Center for Academic Technology Support department.

These positions include Senior Graphic Designer, Web Developer, Web Copywriter and Graphic Designer Associate.

Ryan Gibson, a web-master for the Center for Academic Technology Support, said all applicants would be evaluated by Human Resources and then face-to-face interviews with the top three candidates would be conducted.

He hoped face-to-face interviews for the senior graphic designer position could start later in the month.

Mike Hoadley, assistant vice president for academic technology, said the goal is to get all four positions filled by June.

Weber is also in the process of appointing a new interim assistant vice president to replace Chat Chatterji.

Weber said Chat Chatterji, former interim assistant vice president, wanted to move on to other matters and has been reassigned to other duties off-campus.

“We both decided it was time to move on,” Weber said. “He strongly believed in a centralized ITS unit and lots of people who work with IT also work elsewhere, such as CATS.”

Weber is currently in the process of consulting with ITS staff in regard to appointing a new interim assistant vice president.

Heather Holm can be reached at 581-7942 or at haholm@eiu.edu