10/02/23

Principal Project Manager

Prior to joining CU, PhuLan worked 20+ years with Kaiser Permanente in multiple roles including project leadership where she streamlined processes and facilitated collaborative initiatives to achieve organizational goals.

In her role as principal project manager for the Data Governance and Management Project, she will spearhead the planning and implementation of use cases to fortify data governance and management, ensuring that people, processes, tools and technology work to create a culture that values data and leverages trusted data. 

Outside of work, PhuLan indulges in her favorite hobbies by savoring diverse culinary experiences and embarking on scenic hikes, happily blending the joys of good food with the exhilaration of exploring nature.  

Katelin Fisher

11/06/23

Student Assistant II

Katelin is currently studying for her bachelor's degree in psychology at the University of Colorado Denver.

Her position as a student assistant on the UIS Service Desk centers around resolving IT issues for CU System Administration staff and campus partners.

In her free time, Katelin likes to ski and travel.

Vani Sakati

12/04/23

Production Services Professional

In Vani’s prior roles, she worked as a QA analyst for enterprise resource planning applications. In her new role, she will provide support in setting up and monitoring the batch processing for enterprise systems across the university. This includes uploading data into databases for use by the various business applications, enabling reporting and access to information.

She lives in Broomfield with her husband and two sons. When not working, Vani enjoys playing with her boys and going out for short runs. 

Gillian Grocke

12/11/23

Previously, Gillian was an IT supervisor at the University of Minnesota Duluth, overseeing degree audits, transfer credit processing and various other PeopleSoft processes.

Gillian is the new business system analyst for the Financial Aid and Student Financials Modules within the CU-SIS Services team.

Outside of work, Gillian likes to spend time with her family, play golf and indulge in video games.

Brandan graduated from CU Boulder's Leeds School of Business in Finance and Information Management in May 2023. Prior to working at UIS, he was a repair technician with Best Buy’s Geek Squad.

Brandan’s new role consists of supporting System Administration staff with their computers, software, email and other technical issues.

In his free time, Brandon likes to play video games with friends and helps run a nonprofit called Ascent Lion Dance Association where traditional Vietnamese culture is shared through the form of lion dance.

1/08/24

Jean is a data engineer with more than 18 years with data integration and migration experience. She is joining the Data and BI’s team supporting data warehousing activities.

Despite not being a fan of winter, Jean enjoys snowshoeing with friends. She loves traveling with her family to see new places and try new cuisines.

Tawanda Ngondo

1/16/24

Data Governance Lead

Tawanda brings over eight years of experience as a data governance analyst, working on various projects and initiatives related to data management, quality assurance, and compliance.

As the CU Data Governance lead, his primary responsibilities will include overseeing the data governance program, developing and implementing data management strategies, ensuring data compliance with regulatory requirements, and collaborating with cross-functional teams to drive data governance initiatives.

Outside of work, Tawanda finds playing chess and tennis help him relax and unwind.

Faraz Ali

10/3023

Lead Cloud Applications Engineer

Faraz’s previous work as principal cloud applications engineer for the UIS Integrations Platform team included handling a variety of technologies like Container Orchestration tools, DevOps, CI-CD pipelines, Axiom, Anaplan and more.

Faraz is now the lead cloud applications engineer. In this role, Faraz architects and develops various cloud-based integrations on cloud providers, such as AWS. Faraz was also a 2023 President’s Employee of the Year nominee and received the 2023 UCSC Staff Excellence Award.

A strong advocate for machine learning, Faraz continuously explores ways to blend AI with his daily work, adding a touch of innovation to his projects.

Jillian Callaghan

11/1/23

Senior Financial Analyst

After getting an accounting degree from Eastern Michigan University, Jillian worked for the University of Michigan and the University of Arizona. In 2018, she came to Colorado and worked for CU South Denver in Lone Tree before joining the System office.

As a senior financial analyst within UIS Business Services, Jillian assists in financial administration and provides departmental support in other areas such as procurement management and special projects.

Like so many in Colorado, Jillian enjoys taking in the wonderful views all year long, skiing, camping, and hiking with her husband and daughter. 

Shirley Eaves 

11/1/23

Senior IAM Security Administrator

Shirley joined UIS in April 2019 as an application administrator on the service desk team. In June 2021, she was selected to fill the role of identity and access management (IAM) security technician. The IAM team provides authentication services, application firewalls, and identity management for CU enterprise applications and CU System Administration.

After relocating from Iowa to Colorado in 1960 with her parents, Eaves came to consider Colorado the only home she knows and will always love. The one thing that takes her away from Denver is her grandchildren. Spending time on the Western Slope with her two adult children and their families brings the most rewarding fun, with so much to do and experience in the Colorado mountains.

ATV riding is her family’s all-time favorite activity. 

Brian Schaeffer 

11/1/23

Principal Business Systems Analyst

Brian has 18 years of experience working for CU and has been a valued member of the UIS CU-SIS team since July 2019. In that time, he has helped to deliver on work items such as event-driven degree audits, Sunapsis email intake and XML transcript importation, which received a CU Innovation & Efficiency Award. In his expanded role, he will be assuming day-to-day responsibility for CU-SIS release management.

In his own time, Brian likes to travel to places both new and familiar. Over the summer, he and his family took a road trip to see Ontario and several U.S. states. They are now planning a trip to the West Coast.

Om Tandukar

11/1/2023

Program Success Manager

Om started working for the University of Colorado in 2013, mainly working on automation in various enterprises with UIS.

In his new position, he will be involved more in Automic administrator duties, maintenance and upgrades.

When not working, Om enjoys spending time with his family and friends, taking vacations and playing soccer.

Sean Welshimer

11/1/23

Principal IAM Security Administrator

Sean has been with UIS Identity and Access Management since June 2016. In this new position, he will continue supporting all campuses with their identity and access management needs and providing OIM, AD, and Ping expertise.

In his free time, Sean enjoys spending time with his wife Alicia and two (soon to be three!) kids, playing bass or guitar and watching soccer.

11/201/23

Enterprise Applications Administration Manager

Mayank boasts a distinguished and extensive career as a PeopleSoft Administrator (PSAdmin), demonstrating a profound understanding of the intricacies of the role. This experience equips him with the necessary tools to proficiently lead the PSAdmin team. 

In his new position as the PSAdmin Team Manager, Mayank is committed to providing unwavering support and empowerment to the team, fostering an environment conducive to innovation. His goal is to enable the PSAdmin team to deliver exceptional support for CU’s PeopleSoft Applications, thereby creating innovative solutions that add substantial value to the entire organization.

Outside of his professional commitments, Mayank likes to spend time with his family, playing and watching cricket. Furthermore, he occasionally indulges in his passion for video games.

Joanna McCord

12/1/23

Senior Business Systems Analyst

Joanna joined UIS in 2022 as a business systems analyst supporting the Admissions and Campus Community modules on the CU-SIS team. She will continue that work in a new, senior role.

Prior to starting at CU, Joanna worked at private and public institutions since “records chose her” many years ago.  Most recently, she served as an assistant registrar for a Midwest university. 

Outside of work, Joanna likes to camp, hike, and ski in the Northwoods of Minnesota with her family.