Barbara is a retired Senior Director - University Technology Office
and is responsibile for the leadership of web application development
and architectural systems design. She has worked in higher
education for 30 years.
Barbara has worked in various centralized and decentralized IT
departments over the years. Areas of work have focused in
desktop support, help desk, computer accounts, instructional
development, intranet web development, LAN support, database
development, project management, business analytics and web
application development.
Barbara has a passion for improving the student's campus
experience by leveraging technology, smart processes and open collaboration.
In 2007, Barbara led the team to implement eAdvisor at
ASU. eAdvisor is a suite of tools that have helped ASU
improve retention and graduation rates. In 2007, the 4 year
graduation rate was 33.2%, compared to 2010 when it rose to 49.2%.
Barbara and her team develop and support over 200 enterprise web
applications. These application include My ASU, Degree Search, Class Search/Course Catalog, Build a Major Map
(BAMM) and the Transfer Credit Guide.
Core systems she has help implement include PeopleSoft,
uAchieve/uDirect (Degree Auditing), ServiceNow, JIRA/Confluence,
Blackboard, College Scheduler, XpressConnect, CAS and Cenciz Hailstorm.
Awards:
">Arizona State University,
InformationWeek 500 Top Technology Innovators for 2013. Ranked 71
out of 500.
">Arizona Outstanding IT Professional
for Arizona State University for 2011.
">Arizona Digital Government Summit
In the News:
Reshaping Arizona State, and the Public Model,
The New York Times. April 10, 2015
20 Great Ideas To Steal In 2013,
InformationWeek. August 27, 2013
Improving Advising Using Technology and Data
Analytics, Change The Magazine of Higher Leanring.
January-Februrary 2013
College Degrees, Designed by the Numbers, The Chronicle of Higher
Education. July 18, 2012
Conference Presentations:
Sowden, Barbara. 'eAdvisor Deep Dive'. 2015. University
Innovation Alliance Presentation.
Sowden, Barbara, Lisa Flesher, and Natalie Nailor. 'Eadvisor:
High School Tracking Tools'. 2014. National College Access Network
(NCAN) Presentation.
Sowden, Barbara, Kelly Robles, and Lisa McIntrye. 'Arizona State
University: Creating A Culture Of Transfer'. 2014. AZTransfer Summit Presentation.
Sowden, Barbara, and Lisa McIntyre. 'Embracing Digital Culture:
Using Technology To Shape Student Success In A High Volume
Institution'. 2013. CollegeSource User Conference Presentation.
Sowden, Barbara, and Kristian Borkman. 'Sun Devil Tracking:
Avoid Elective Land Mines'. 2009. Alliance Presentation.