Beyond disruption
IT Day @ York
IT Day @ York is a one-day in-person conference for those involved in IT planning, support and decision-making at York University. It's a forum to see the great work our IT colleagues are doing, to exchange ideas, and make new contacts. Join us this year in discussing how we navigate beyond disruption and define the new normal!
What to expect
Keynote speakers
Hear perspectives and ideas from speakers working across higher education, innovation and technology.
Presentations from colleagues
See the work, approaches and ideas taking shape across York's IT community.
Time for networking
Connect with colleagues involved in IT planning, support and decision-making across the University.
Keynote speakers
Morning keynote
Dawn Ressel
Senior Director, Research Advisory Services · EAB
Bio
Dawn is a Senior Director on the Research Advisory Service team at EAB. With over twenty-five years of experience in institutional effectiveness and data analytics, she works with higher education institutions to enhance financial sustainability and resiliency by identifying and implementing efficiencies that support both the academic enterprise and administrative operations.
Dawn holds a Master of Science in Statistics from the University of Arkansas and a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics from the College of the Ozarks. When not supporting institutions in their pursuit of financial sustainability, she enjoys traveling, hiking, and camping with her family, including her beloved four-legged companions.
Higher Education in a Changing Landscape
Canadian higher education is navigating mounting financial pressures, shifting public expectations, changing student and workforce needs, and the rapid rise of artificial intelligence. This session will examine what these forces mean for the sector and how institutions are responding. It will then connect these challenges to the work of York’s IT community, exploring how IT professionals can improve institutional processes, support responsible innovation, and use their knowledge of systems and services to help York become more agile and resilient.
Afternoon keynote
Stephen Friedman
Director, Schulich Teaching Innovation Studio · Adjunct Professor of Organization Studies
Bio
Stephen Friedman is an award-winning adjunct professor and educational innovation leader at the Schulich School of Business, York University, where he serves as Director of the Schulich Teaching Innovation Studio (StudioT). With more than 25 years of experience spanning organizational behaviour, psychology, leadership, adult learning and executive education, his work focuses on how people think, learn, lead and adapt.
At StudioT, he leads initiatives in generative AI, assessment innovation, educational technology and faculty development, translating real teaching and learning challenges into practical solutions. Stephen is also Senior Faculty with Schulich Executive Education and has written for Harvard Business Review, Financial Post, Psychology Today and The Conversation Canada.
Stop Looking for the Right Answer
Our world is simply not going to settle down and suddenly become predictable. Many of the challenges that matter most are genuinely complex and unknowable: they cannot be figured out or solved once and for all. What if, instead of endlessly chasing root causes, simple explanations, and predictions, we learned to use that uncertainty to make room for innovation and agency? This session explores how sitting in uncertainty can help us challenge the assumptions that constrain our thinking, widen what we can imagine, and find room to influence what becomes possible.
A look back
A few moments from previous IT Day gatherings at York.
