Alumna named Agile Technology Solutions director

LAWRENCE – The Achievement & Assessment Institute (AAI) at the University of Kansas has announced the hiring of Susan Dressler Martin as director of Agile Technology Solutions (ATS), one of AAI’s four specialized research centers. Martin, a 1983 KU computer science graduate and a Kingman native, comes to KU after nearly 20 years in management at Hewlett-Packard Enterprise.

“ATS supports an outstanding group of educators across three research centers who work diligently to serve their constituents and communities,” said AAI Director Neal Kingston, professor in the Department of Psychology and Research in Education in the School of Education. “We are very excited that Susan is joining our team. Her breadth of experience will enhance our capacity and allow us to provide a greater depth of expertise to all of our partners.”

Martin has spent her entire career working in software development and integration. At Hewlett-Packard Enterprise, she led a delivery team of 65 technical professionals supporting HR, payroll and financial applications. Using agile development methodology, she coordinated with key stakeholders to identify strategic business goals and vision, and worked closely with those clients to define and prioritize business and system requirements.

Her work included leading project management, business analysis, development, database administration and quality assurance teams. Martin received the American Airline Customer Award for Service Excellence for the work she and her team performed for them.

“I look forward to working collaboratively with my peers to continue to develop a robust IT platform that can service numerous constituents,” Martin said. “We will continue to provide innovative solutions utilizing agile development principles to promote early delivery and continuous improvement, enabling us to be flexible and responsive to change. This is a high-pressure environment requiring a team to juggle multiple tasks. The ATS team is ready for the challenge, and we look forward to providing new capabilities and features to support the ever-evolving needs of our user community.”

About ATS
ATS helps public agencies develop high-volume, highly scalable and multi-device-compatible Software as a Service (SaaS) web applications to meet public needs. Its major project currently is the development of KITE, a SaaS-based testing platform that is used by multiple state departments of education through contracts with the Center for Educational Testing & Evaluation (CETE). ATS also works with the Center for Public Partnerships and Research (CPPR) on DAISEY, another SaaS-based data-collection and reporting application.

About AAI
Established in 2012, AAI is the umbrella organization for four specialized research centers at KU: ATS, the Center for Educational Opportunity Programs, CETE, and CPPR. AAI builds partnerships, products and programs in educational practice, assessment and evaluation. These initiatives benefit children, adults, communities and publicly funded agencies at the local, state and national levels.