Mary Bromfield, director of telecommunications for ITS, resigned from her position by mutual agreement last week, according to officials in the Student Union. According to Executive Assistant for Union Affairs Adam Herman '04, Bromfield's position was not needed anymore because the new Cisco's Voiceover IP phones run over Ethernet lines and are maintained entirely through Internet connection, thereby eliminating the necessity of human operation within the system.

Silverman said that she was hired originally to reform the Brandeis telecommunication system to make it more efficient and responsive to students. As part of her job, Bromfield changed the phone system at Brandeis and outsourced the long distance services to Paetec Communications and increased the cable channel lineup to add channels that students requested like Comedy Central and the Cartoon Network.

"[ITS] has decided that she has done it so well they don't need her anymore," said Union Secretary Danny Silverman '05.

He pointed out that it could be problematic that the staff that oversees computer technology will now oversee the phone system as well.

"We don't have anyone who understands phone systems," Silverman said. "Keeping it running is a complex task because people expect phones will never go down."

Silverman added that Bromfield was a wonderful advocate for students and their pursuits. One project included working with Mods Senator Joshua Benzwie '04 to better accommodate the new phone system to two floor apartments and suites including the Mods. According to Benzwie, the project entailed forwarding separate phone lines from different rooms to one central phone in the common room.

"I hope that we will still be able to get that kind of help from ITS," Silverman said.

Dean of Student Life Rick Sawyer said that Bromfield was a good and collaborative administrator who always took into consideration the student concerns about the phone system and other student services that came from his office.

Perry Hanson, chief information officer and associate provost for education technology, and other ITS staff would not comment on Bromfield's resignation. Bromfield did not respond to contacts made by the Justice.

-Matthew Konjoian