In a recent team meeting, a colleague reminded me that we’ve worked together for the past ten years. We reflected on how training has evolved—from in-person sessions to hybrid models and a vast array of online learning options, from microlearning to professional certifications.
Over the years, our team has delivered everything from full-scale tech days to targeted workshops, visited departments across campus to share productivity tips, produced countless online tutorials and guides, and hosted IT events many focusing on security awareness. We also launched a Microsoft Office Certification program initially with a goal of certifying 65 students—last semester, we surpassed 8,200 certifications.
As technology and learning continue to evolve, we’ve seen a growing demand for training but also a drop in workshop attendance. More often, we hear: “I’d love to attend, but my plate is just too full.” To help bridge that gap, we’re launching this pilot newsletter focused on staff training.
We know—no one wants more email. But we’re confident we have resources and insights worth sharing. For the rest of 2025, you’ll hear from us every other month. We’ll be tracking the metrics to see how this is received, but numbers don’t tell the whole story—your feedback does. If you find value in this newsletter and want it to continue, the best way to let us know is to reply with a topic you’d love to see covered.
Now, before we dive into our insider tips, here are a few people you may interact with along the way…
Ian Aberle
Ian Aberle is about to start his 29th year with SMU. Over those years, he has helped the SMU community use technology and implement digital and web media through multiple roles, first by adding digital production and services to the Digital Commons, then assisting with faculty digital projects as the manager of the SMU STAR Program, and now leads OIT’s social media efforts, newsletter, and other communications, plus provide training to SMU community on topics, such as digital signage, blogging, email communications, and the solutions provided by many of the Adobe creative applications, with his role in the Office of Information Technology (OIT). Ian holds professional certifications in Visual Design, Marketing Design, and Web Design and is an Adobe Creative Educator. Ian is also an award-winning photographer and enjoys road trips with his family in his free time.
Valeska Fahey
Valeska serves the training team as the program coordinator for the Microsoft Office Specialist (MOS) Program. She’s been at SMU for six years and is also a proud SMU mom. She often tells her daughter, “I came to SMU to help you get an education, but look who’s also receiving one!”
Since joining SMU, she’s earned 15 certifications—most in Microsoft Office applications such as Outlook, PowerPoint, Word, and Excel. She’s also certified in Professional Communication, among others. She speaks highly of LinkedIn Learning and recently obtained their certification on using Microsoft Copilot for Productivity. You might see Valeska representing OIT at the HR fair or Staff Association events promoting MOS program around campus. If you’d like to talk about getting certified, she’d be happy to help!
Laurene Klassen
Laurene is currently in her 17th year of training with OIT. As a Microsoft Certified Trainer, she’s clearly passionate about Office training and productivity tips and she loves seeing both students and staff have the aha moment when they find a quicker way to accomplish something. In addition to professional development workshops, Laurene has helped document a myriad of processes for my.SMU, and other campus-wide applications. Laurene holds a bachelor’s in Business Administration from Dallas Baptist University, and a Master of Liberal Arts and an Executive Coaching and Leadership certification from SMU.
Zach Peterson
Zach has worked for OIT for over 12 years now, first working with the IT Help Desk and moving to the Training & Communications team in 2015. He regularly teaches classes and workshops on Sitecore, Microsoft applications like Teams, Excel, OneNote; Adobe Creative Cloud, and more. Other recent major training initiatives have included the Microsoft Teams Phone Project, STABLE Implementation, and my.SMU training content. A Texas native, he grew up in Valley View, Texas and currently resides in Dallas. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Radio, Television & Film from the University of North Texas and a Master of Liberal Studies from SMU.
