History of the CIT

In September of 1996, then-Provost Mark Yudof brought together three smaller entities to form the core of a new Center for Instructional Technologies, to champion the development of innovative instructional technologies on campus: the College of Natural Sciences multimedia lab, the Office of Distance Education, and Project QUEST.

The new organization was consolidated under the umbrella of ACITS, Academic Computing and Instructional Technology Services, and grew out of recommendations proposed in 1995 by an interdisciplinary multimedia instruction committee.

Since its inception, the organization has grown to incorporate information and Web-based design, Web courseware support, database development, and expert technical staff devoted to research and development of emerging technologies. When the Taylor Hall closure forced the Visualization Lab to find a new home, a natural alliance was with CIT, and in 1998 the high-performance computer system and its related research projects were moved into space within the CIT multimedia lab until its new space within the ACES building was constructed.

When the University appointed a vice president for information technology in January of 2001, ACITS moved to that new group, Information Technology Services, ITS, while the CIT remained with the Office of the Provost to be more closely allied with organizations serving the instructional and assessment needs of the campus. It soon became a unit of the new Division of Instructional Innovation and Assessment, DIIA.

The CIT now offers help with advanced technologies to far more of the UT Austin campus and beyond than it could through the individual efforts of its original members. It serves as a training, teaching, and consulting center, and as an incubator for projects using promising new technologies, all aimed at enriching teaching and learning