Academic Technology Specialist Program

Mission Statement

Stanford’s Academic Technology Specialists work in alignment with the University's commitment to excellence in education and its general vision to improve teaching, learning, and research by implementing and developing new technologies. Academic Technology Specialists provide faculty and staff with department level consulting in the effective uses of information technology for education.

In order to provide maximum assistance, Academic Technology Specialists are placed within schools, programs or departments based not simply on technical expertise, but on discipline-specific expertise. As members of both the academic and IT community, Academic Technology Specialists are uniquely positioned to bridge the two different cultures and to facilitate a positive exchange of information between the two groups.

Within their respective departments and programs, Academic Technology Specialists have the explicit mission of understanding the individual needs of faculty and their students and of exploring and expanding the potential of technology to serve as a tool for improving learning, teaching, and research.

To this end, Academic Technology Specialists actively cultivate partnerships with faculty, staff, students, libraries, outside vendors, scholarly organizations, and others interested in the intersection of technology and academic work. They participate in university-wide technology initiatives, engage in technology-oriented research, and openly pursue opportunities to expand and enhance their own understanding of pedagogy, curriculum design, and the beneficial relationships that can exist between technology and education.