By Abigail Vannatta, Staff Writer
Newman is in the process of restructuring its IT department, resulting in the departure of several longtime staff members — including former Chief Information Officer Icer Vaughan, a 27-year university employee.
Newman has transitioned to using an IT outsourcing company, OculusIT. Anthony Beata, Newman’s vice president for finance and administration since 2020, said the switch in management is due to the changes in Newman’s student information system, Jenzabar One, or J1.
J1, which was launched in January 2026, combined the process of enrollment, advising, grading and billing into one platform. Prior to its launch, OculusIT reviewed Newman’s IT employees to determine if they should be hired under its management.
“After a close to four-week process, it was determined that none of the former team members would be successful long-term in the positions they needed to fill,” Beata said. “Newman provided severance pay to all those not hired by Oculus or offered an alternative position on campus with Newman.”
Among those not hired was Vaughan, a Newman alumnus who’s been maintaining the university’s computer systems and performing other IT-related jobs since he was hired in September 1997.
“It happened in January,” Vaughan said about being let go. “It was great to work with the Newman community daily to solve their problems, plus planning and implementing next technology hardware and software.”
Vaughan received Newman’s Staff Excellence Award in 2024. He also was recognized for his leadership in IT within the Wichita area in 2015 as one of 17 of the Wichita Business Journal’s Chief Information Officer Award recipients.
He is now the chief information officer at Strategic Data Storage, a local IT services provider. Two of the other Newman IT employees who were let go now work for the same business.
“Max Wheeler and Mark Graber, who were also in IT at Newman, are also working at Strategic Data Storage doing roles equivalent to their former roles at Newman,” Vaughan said.
As part of the shift to OculusIT, Newman introduced a centralized ticketing system for IT support. Students and faculty now must submit requests through an online portal or designated email, replacing the previous practice of contacting Vaughan directly.
“As the transition has evolved, OculusIT is learning more about our current systems, needs, and opportunities to improve customer service, including upgrades to the helpdesk ticketing system and its setup,” Beata said. “There are many moving parts and adjustments to prioritize.”
The change to ticketing was announced on Feb. 25 through the Jet Broadcast, an email sent out to students and faculty with the latest university news, stating:
“We know this is a change from what many of you are used to, but we're confident this new system will mean faster response times and better communication throughout the process.”
Beata said additional details about the transition are expected to be shared with campus as OculusIT finalizes its plan.
PHOTO: Dannicka McGrath, Photo Editor
