Facing budget deficits, the Office of UW Technology cut 66 positions earlier this month in an effort to get budget numbers back on track.

The department became aware of the problem at the beginning of this year, said Norm Arkans, the executive director of media relations at the UW. At the time, the department was operating at an annual loss of $10 million. The layoffs account for about 15 percent of the department’s staff, trimming the department to about 360 employees.

Arkans said the cut is one of the largest reductions, in terms of percentage, within a particular unit of the University in recent years. The impact of the reduction upon the campus community is still being evaluated, said Scott Mah, the associate vice president of UW Technology Services.

“We’re still working through a lot of the details and trying to determine some of the work done by individuals who aren’t here anymore,” Mah said.

But students needn’t worry, because many have become self-sufficient in terms of technology and use home computers anyway, he said.

“The role we’ve had in providing support has been minimal,” Mah said. “Students come to campus pretty tech-savvy.”

Mah said the rapid development of technology has caused a similar effect in other UW Technology services.

“We used to build a lot of tools and services when technology was new,” he said. “Now, [people] know how to use technology better than we would be able to understand [with] not being in their discipline.”

The loss of business for UW Technology is partially due to the fact that people are using similar services offered for free by Microsoft, Google and other companies.

“Changes happen so rapidly in the private sector,” Arkans said. “Services are available outside, and they can go get it in the marketplace.”

Mah agreed.

“It’s not about whether we offer or don’t; people are just doing it,” he said.

In light of the budget issues and job cuts, UW Technology is planning changes to both its services and organizational structure.

“It is a complex set of circumstances and something that we’re still sorting out,” Mah said. “We’re in the process of restructuring the way our finances are set up in terms of supporting the organization.”

The restructuring involves shifting from one operating unit to four.

“Rather than running it as a single business, we now have four single units,” Mah said. “The money and resources are going to be allocated that way.”

UW Technology will also be re-evaluating the way it serves the campus and students. One goal is to cater more to students’ needs by integrating technology that students already use — such as Hotmail — with existing University programs like Pine e-mail.

“Features, capabilities and expectations are built on what students have been using in high school,” Mah said. “Instead of having to learn something special, we want to work with these providers to offer services. We want to empower people to do the things they more naturally do.”

Students are encouraged to take part in UW Technology customer advisory groups and give feedback about what services are most helpful to them.

“The [students] coming into the University now really know how technology will help them do what they need to do,” Mah said. “They might say, ‘E-mail? We don’t need e-mail. We need you to make sure our cell phones work on campus.’”

These changes will bring UW Technology into a new era, Mah said.

“We want to add some value,” he said. “Do bigger and better than an individual can do. It’s a transition, though."