The IT Governance review board for instructional technologies.
About ETAC
The Educational Technology Advisory Council (ETAC) is the advisory body to IT Directors on educational technology system recommendations and changes, unless said changes are determined to be critical decisions that require review by the IT Gov Committee and CIO. For critical votes, a quorum of ETAC members must be present. All other votes will be taken by members who are present.
Upcoming Topics
Brightspace integrations will be reviewed by the council and topics will be added. See you in September.
Major Meeting Updates / Outcomes
Key Updates
1. Brightspace Engage Accessibility – ReadSpeaker Activated
- Read Speaker accessibility tools activated in public-facing Engage instance
- Provides same accessibility features as main Brightspace system
2. Panopto Updates – Automated Machine Captioning and Professional Captioning
- Automated Machine Captioning (AMC) enabled by default for all newly uploaded videos starting March 31, 2026
- Existing videos will not be retroactively captioned
- Professional human captioning services now available directly through Panopto
3. Brightspace Changes Scheduled May 15, 2026
- More details can be found at our website: https://its.uri.edu/tls/brightspace-improvements-2026/
Council Administration
Meeting Notes
October 23 ETAC Notes || December 23 ETAC Notes. || February 24 ETAC Notes || March 24 ETAC Notes
April 24 ETAC Notes || September 24 ETAC Notes || October 24 ETAC Notes || November 24 ETAC Notes
February 25 ETAC Notes || March 25 ETAC Notes || April 25 ETAC Notes || September 25 ETAC Notes || October 25 ETAC Notes || December 25 ETAC Notes || February 26 ETAC Notes || March 26 ETAC Notes
ETAC Chair (25-27): Alicia Vaandering, Library, Assistant Professor
Members (Italicized are non-voting members)
- Abbot, Sophia, ATL, Faculty Development Specialist
- Coyne, Robert, Physics, Associate Teaching Professor
- Fariello, Gabriele, IT, CIO
- Gray, Kevin, IT TLS, Project Leader & Brightspace System Administrator
- Harper, Allison, Kinesiology, Teaching Professor
- Hervé, Jean-Yves, Computer Science, Associate Professor
- Kogut, Stephen, Pharmacy, Professor
- Larson, Sarah, Nutrition & Food Sciences, Associate Teaching Professor
- Lavan, Christopher, ATL, Associate Vice Provost
- Lester, Ian, Pharmacy, Manager of Technology Services
- McGwin, Jim, Business, Adjunct Professor
- McGough, Ellen, Physical Therapy, Professor
- Peno, Kathy, Education, Professor
- Portman-Daley, Joannah, ATL, Associate Director of Online Education and Instructional Technology
- Rogers, Michelle, IT TLS, Director of IT Teaching and Learning Services
- Ramsdell, Paige, Disability Services, Assistant Dean
- Sharpes-Smith, Heather, Executive Director, URI Online
- Vaandering, Alicia, Library, Assistant Professor