Alexandra Smith started her career with WCM straight out of college as a project manager. In just over five years, her work has evolved to oversee some of the most critical IT security projects at our institution, ensuring the safety of your data every day.
Hi, Allie! Can you tell us a little about what you do in ITS?
My current role is the Security & Identity Services manager. That’s basically a combination of a project manager, a liaison, product manager, and kind of everything in between. I gather a lot of the feedback from our users and other groups to go over how Security & Identity could improve, then figure out how to implement some of these changes.
Another big part of it is business analysis, like gathering requirements, talking to the technical team to see if requested changes could actually be implemented and would be secure. Sometimes, some of the things that people want to do are great in theory, but there may be a security factor as to why we can't do them.
Like what?
For example, Duo. I know it’s an extra push for users to go into, but it does really help keep everyone’s data and their passwords safe. And we try to implement it for as many applications as much as we can to make sure there are no hackers trying to log in from a different location or device.
Before working for Security, I know you used to be in the Project Management Office (PMO). What is it that prompted you to make the switch over to a Security role?
What prompted me to make the switch was probably my interest in some of the security projects that I was doing. I was managing a project to implement our Privileged Access Management system so any administrators had to have their privileges checked through a system that rotated passwords daily to better protect those accounts.
I worked on a few more security projects, and working with the Security & Identity team made me more interested in that field. For example, for one project, we had a list of systems we were disconnecting and we needed to figure out who owned them, what the systems did...
I had to go through each of those systems and figure those questions out. Typically, project managers aren't really responsible for that, but in this case we didn't really have a role for that. It kind of fell to me and I realized I really enjoyed it. When this role was created, and I saw it combined a few things I already did - gathering requirements, tracking progress on requested improvements, and developing education and outreach programs for users - and a few other things I was interested in, so I wanted to apply.
What did you do before you joined Weill Cornell?
I actually jumped here directly from graduation. I interned for ITS in the summer of 2015 in the PMO while I was still in college. When I was graduating, I saw a job posting for a Project Manager I position and went for it, and the rest is history!
Oh, nice! So your career started here! What are some projects or initiatives that you've worked on that you feel have really helped the WCM community?
One of the projects I worked on was the Listserv [the service used to create large mailing lists, like WCMC-ALL] upgrade project. The version of Listserv and server that we were running were very old, and by upgrading, a lot of users told us that there was a substantial improvement. Hopefully, they saw their emails going through Listserv faster!
I actually do remember that project, and as a frequent Listserv user, I thank you. It’s much, much better.
Yeah! I also took part in a project to have our systems on newer authentication methods, which definitely helps protect data more and makes the login experience a little more seamless. A lot of applications had to move to our now standard Web Login page, so users saw that their login experience was more similar amongst the different systems. In the past, many systems had different login methods, which was a pain for users, and not as secure.
We’ve also been doing a lot of initiatives around phishing awareness. We just launched a new online training course so staff understand how hackers try to access confidential information at institutions like Weill Cornell. There are so many little things people can do to protect their data here and in their own homes.
What’s your favorite thing about working at Weill Cornell?
We are working for an institution that just has so many good things around it and going for it, like helping patients. I know for me, when I was looking for a job after I graduated, it was really important to work someplace where I believed in the mission, and I think Weill Cornell is one of those places.
It's definitely a rewarding experience to know that some of the things we're working on will impact patient care and help students. Education is important to me, and I like knowing that improving our systems helps in some way. I even have friends who go to the medical school, so I definitely enjoy creating a good IT experience for everyone.
There’s also the people. I mean, everyone here is great. Working during the pandemic has been a little bit different, but I feel like everyone made it such a smooth transition [to remote work], still checks in on one another, and the friendships and camaraderie are still there, which I love.
Speaking of the pandemic, how has the adjustment to remote work been for you?
I think I've adjusted to it now, but in the beginning, it was a transition for everyone. As I mentioned, the people were a big part of why I like working at Cornell, so I did miss kind of those water cooler chats with coworkers or just seeing people around the office. It definitely was a little bit hard at first.
I also my I went from living with a roommate to living alone, so that's been a little bit difficult. But I think both the PMO and the Security teams helped the transition a lot – just making sure there are those check-ins to see that we’re all doing okay, and being able to “see” people on camera during meetings has been helping.
What do you like to do outside of work? What is it that keeps you motivated and inspired?
I do the typical hang out with friends and family, work out, try to get outside when I can, but one thing that I did pre-pandemic that I really want to get back into was I used to volunteer at an animal shelter.
Allie volunteers her time to help animals in need at the Bideawee Animal Shelter.
I don't have any pets just because I'm nervous about the space and having time to be able to take them for walks. I want to wait until I have a little bit more space or a backyard for them. But, I volunteered with the dogs at the animal shelter and I love dogs! I grew up with them, so not having a dog has been pretty tough for me right now. I love how happy the shelter dogs are, especially considering that some of these dogs had difficult backgrounds. It’s just amazing to me to see how excited and happy they still are. They’ve kind of helped me get up in the morning and feel inspired to keep doing things for others.
Who are some women you admire and why?
I feel like there are just so many! This is going to sound cliche, but obviously some of my family members. Both of my grandmothers are great people... and I have a lot of aunts and cousins who are amazing, strong women. Then there’s my mom – she's a woman I really admire. I admire her empathy, her kindness, and she’s a very, very hard worker. She’s also another woman in IT, so I guess it kind of runs in the family!
There's a lot of famous figures too, like Temple Grandin – someone I admire for her work with animal care and autism. Another person is Lizzo. I mean, she's unapologetically herself. She's such a great creator and musician.
Even closer to home, all of the amazing women in ITS! We work with so many people who are just so awesome. There are too many people to even name, but just working with all of these strong women really inspires me.