About Us

MISSION

To promote diversity and inclusivity with specific efforts focused on recruitment, retention, and leadership development.

VISION

To provide a welcoming environment which encourages individuals at all stages of their career to reach their full professional and personal potential by taking advantage of in-person networking opportunities, learning from and inspiring one another, and by fostering open dialogue about the unique challenges and issues faced by marginalized genders in technical fields.

Meet the Committee

The committee meets once a month to develop and coordinate monthly events. Committee members serve a two-year term, from January of odd-number years to the end of even-numbered years, at which time we accept applications for the new term. Committee positions are open to all WIT members; however, chair and co-chair positions are reserved for women employees in ITS. 


Urjita Dani, Chair
Assistant Director Finance HR Ecommerce Systems

Urjita has been with ODU since 2005 and takes pride in working closely with the Office of Finance, HR, Payroll, ISSS, Continuing Education, Procurement and other departments to provide IT support for ODU's ERP and Student Information System and supporting core university services. Urjita frequently collaborates with other departments within Old Dominion University to provide Ecommerce support and maintain online payment sites while ensuring those solutions are secure and PCI compliant.

She has worked on several new initiatives and provides primary IT support during fiscal year end, Internal Audits, State Audits and banner upgrades along with other IT projects throughout the year. Urjita has been active member with several user groups and works in partnership with peers from other Virginia schools.

Urjita has earned Bachelor's in Science, Bachelor's in Electronics Engineering and Masters in Computer Science. She has been recognized for the Gazelle and Roar awards. Urjita maintains certifications in oracle, project management and sysadmin areas - Oracle Database Administrator Certified Associate, Oracle PL/SQL Developer Certified Associate, PMI-ACP, and Sun Certified SysAdmin.


Rachel Crockett, Co-Chair
Classroom Central Senior Engineer

Rachel Crockett is an AV Systems Engineer with 25 years of experience in audio-visual technologies in educational spaces and video production.

Rachel has an MA in Humanities with a focus in activist filmmaking and a graduate certificate in Women's Studies. She teaches courses for the Women's Studies Department each semester, including Women, Gender, and Technology Worldwide. She is also a member of the AVIXA Women's Council.

In her spare time, she enjoys playing music and doing Zumba.


Rebecka Hall
Assistant Director, Web Innovation ODUGlobal

Rebecka, a dedicated member of the Monarch family for over a decade, currently serves as Assistant Director of Web Innovation at ODUGlobal, Old Dominion University's Division of Digital Learning. Formerly leading the Web Support Program (WSP), Rebecka brings a wealth of experience, boasting 15 years of design expertise, to spearhead a dynamic web team overseeing the enhancement of the ODUGlobal website. She is deeply committed to fostering diversity and inclusivity on campus, serving as both a past chair and a current member of the Women In Technology+Allies Committee.

 


Priya Sengar
Data Scientist

Priya joined the ITS team of ODU on September 10, 2020, and has been working as a Data Scientist, working primarily on building machine learning models to enhance students success. Prior to being a Data Scientist, Priya holds a Masters of Data Science from Northeastern University, Boston and Bachelors in Electronics and Telecommunication Engineering from Mumbai University, India. She believes in continuous learning and growing.


 

Dawn Witmer
Technology Communications & Marketing Specialist

Dawn joined the ITS team in 2014 as a writer and designer, having very little knowledge of actual information technology. She didn't even know how much she didn't know at the time. But thanks to brilliant and patient colleagues, a healthy curiosity, and a ton of googling, she is proud to share the stories of ODU's technology services with a wide and technically diverse audience.

Dawn has a degree in Communications from Virginia Wesleyan University, but that's not where her education ended. She is constantly learning new things, especially from her two children (one of whom is currently a Monarch as well!).


Previous Committees

Urjita Dani, Chair
Finance and Ecommerce Lead Systems Analyst

Rachel Crockett, Co-Chair
Classroom Central Senior Engineer

Sheila Carson
Manager, Desktop Technology Support Program

Rebecka Hall
Web Support Program Manager

Anusha Matcha
System Integration Specialist

Dawn Midgette
Technology Communications & Marketing Specialist

Rebecka Hall, Chair
Web Support Program Manager

Urjita Dani, Co-Chair
Finance and Ecommerce Lead Systems Analyst

Anusha Matcha
System Integration Specialist

Priya Sengar
Data Scientist

Dawn Midgette
Technology Communications & Marketing Specialist

Rebecka Hall, Chair
Web Support Program Manager

Urjita Dani, Co-Chair
Finance and Ecommerce Lead Systems Analyst

Dionna Campanella
Web Content & Media Specialist

Christine Prendingue
ITS Operations Manager

Idalia B. Reyna
Lead Project Manager (PMP), Project Management Office

Kate Rhodes
Assistant Information Security Officer for Risk & Compliance

Swetha Thiriveedhi
Senior Software Developer

WIT@ODU Logo

Contact

Women + Allies in Tech
contactwit@odu.edu