NEWS: Eric Martin Wins the Gold Sustained Impact Award at the 2025 UC Tech Awards

Overview

Eric Martin’s 23-year career at UC Riverside demonstrates consistent excellence in project management, impactful contributions to the university’s technology landscape, and a commitment to innovation and improvement, resulting in the Gold Sustained Impact Award at the 2025 UC Tech Awards. His leadership and expertise have modernized critical operations, streamlined processes, and enhanced UC Riverside’s technological capabilities.

Portfolio of Work

Eric’s contributions span a wide range of initiatives critical to UC Riverside’s technology infrastructure and operational efficiency. He has:

Led the technical management of the Gender Recognition and Lived Name policy compliance, ensuring the university’s IT systems comply with State and UC Office of the President requirements and, more importantly, respect individuals’ identities.

Successfully completed multiple UCPath projects over 3+ years, contributing to the modernization of payroll and human resources systems.

Led the team in equipment migrations for data center operations in 2023, ensuring smooth transitions and minimal disruption to critical services.

Led projects for the source selection of a Project & Portfolio Management Tool and a Cloud Logging system in 2023, laying the groundwork for improved IT management and security.

Oversaw the deployment of the new iGrade system and code enhancements in 2023, improving the student experience and academic processes.

Led the deployment of the new Facilities Management System in 2022, enhancing the efficiency and effectiveness of campus facilities operations.

Spearheaded the electronic, automated coursework transfer project for the campus Student Information System in 2022, streamlining student onboarding and academic advising.

Managed the deployment of StreamlineVerify for the School of Medicine and WellSpring Sophia for Research and Economic Development in 2020, supporting critical research and academic functions.

Led the deployment of the new eFilePlus system in 2018, modernizing the academic personnel merit and promotion process.

Provided leadership for the IT Rationalization initiative from 2015 to 2017, optimizing the university’s IT resources and services.

Managed multiple projects for the Application and Creative Services group, including the Student PhotoRoster, HUB ticketing and equipment checkout system, Course Request System, and graphics design for PI grant proposals and campus marketing.

Facilitated the SharePoint 2010 to SharePoint 2013 upgrade in 2015, ensuring continued collaboration and information sharing capabilities.

Managed the Academic Personnel Merit and Promotion system (eFile) from 2006 to 2017, supporting faculty career progression and recognition.

The Journey to Excellence: Navigating Complexity, Impact, and Mission Alignment

**Eric Martin**, UC Riverside, sharing remarks on his award-winning submission

Eric’s work consistently demonstrates the qualities recognized by the Sustained Impact Award. Eric has been with Information Technology Solutions (ITS) since 2001 and has been engaged in IT management and project management since 2005. During that time, he has gained a wide range of leadership and management skills and applied them to teams and projects of varying complexity and scope from simple to multi-year and highly complex.

Eric has recently learned and rapidly applied the concepts of Agile/Scrum for projects and team workload management. He successfully supported the adoption of Agile methodologies across multiple Scrum teams. He directly supported the efficient adoption of the agile processes and the new Project and Portfolio Management (PPM) tool, Adobe WorkFront.

Eric has been recognized as an Employee of the Month and as a member of the Team of Quarter many times over the years, most recently August of 2023 for the employee of the month and involved in Team of Quarter awards in July to Sept 2023 for the GRLN Implementation Team and April – June 2024 for Core Workfront Implementation Team. These are only the most recent examples of Eric’s recognition for outstanding contributions and support of UC Riverside.

He has shown dedication to the profession of IT Project Management by earning both Certified Scrum Master and Project Management Professional certifications in 2024 and more importantly by taking on and delivering several intricate and complex IT projects with departmental, campus-wide, and UC Office of the President projects. He is our go-to person for UCPATH impacts and changes and Eric led several projects that directly contributed to achieving ITS’ strategic goals for Sustainable Operations at Scale and Business Process Automation.

Complexity

He has managed projects of significant complexity, involving diverse stakeholders, technical challenges, and integration with existing systems. For example, the CA Gender Act project involved coordinating multiple ITS teams and applications, demonstrating his ability to navigate complex integrations and stakeholder groups. His ability to deliver successful outcomes in these challenging environments underscores his expertise and leadership.

Impact

The projects Eric has led have had a tangible and positive impact on the UC Riverside community. From modernizing critical systems like UCPath and eFilePlus to improving student experiences through iGrade enhancements and streamlined coursework transfer processes, his work has enhanced the university’s operational efficiency and effectiveness. He consistently receives positive feedback from stakeholders and colleagues for his contributions to projects like Gender Recognition, Customer Relationship Management Advising, and ITS Project and Portfolio Management tool selection and implementation.

Mission Alignment

Eric’s commitment to leveraging technology to enhance university processes directly supports UC Riverside’s mission of teaching, research, and public service. His projects have modernized operations, improved efficiency, and enabled the university to better serve its students, faculty, and staff. By streamlining administrative processes, supporting critical research initiatives, and improving the student experience, Eric’s work has demonstrably contributed to the university’s ability to fulfill its core mission “To transform the lives of the diverse people of California, the nation, and the world through the discovery, communication, translation, application, and preservation of knowledge – thereby enriching the state’s economic, social, cultural, and environmental future.”

Read the team’s complete UC Tech Awards application

Learn more about the UC Tech Awards Program