The Silent Architect: Billy Schneider Honored with February 2026 Gritty Award

Tue, 24 Feb 2026 11:36:16 -0500
news, success

The Division of Information Technology (DoIT) is excited to announce that Billy Schneider has been awarded the February 2026 DoIT Gritty Award! This award recognizes Billy's technical leadership, his knack for solving problems before they even start, and his deep commitment to making our digital spaces accessible for everyone.

Billy's work is often behind the scenes, but his influence is everywhere you look online at the university. As the original architect of the Sites platform, Billy didn't just build it, he scaled it to support over 500 websites. He was also instrumental in keeping things stable during our major redesign partnership with University Communication & Marketing.

What sets Billy apart is a rare "tech-sense", an ability to anticipate downstream issues before they even materialize. By proactively shaping solutions and stepping into lead roles with minimal direction, he has saved the university countless hours of troubleshooting.

Making Accessibility Possible

Most recently, Billy has served as the engine behind the Sites Digital Accessibility Project. Beyond his day-to-day responsiveness, he developed a substantial suite of custom WordPress tools specifically for this initiative. While many of these tools function "under the hood" to help the project team track and manage remediations, their impact is university-wide. Thanks to Billy's code, they are able to make sites more inclusive with minimal disruption to the users.

"Billy has been an essential, key part of the Sites Digital Accessibility Project rollout and has gone way above and beyond in doing so."

~ Darcie Adams, Website Digital Accessibility Lead

Beyond Technology

Beyond his technical contributions, Billy is the kind of teammate every organization needs but rarely recognizes. He brings a calm, collaborative presence to every discussion, generously sharing his knowledge and helping others think through complex problems. His development skills rank among the best on campus, yet he wears this expertise lightly, focusing instead on mentorship and team success. While his work rarely receives visible recognition, it forms the backbone of a platform that hundreds of clients depend on daily. Billy delivers exceptional results with professionalism and a positive attitude that makes everyone around him better.

Congratulations, Billy, on a well-deserved Gritty Award!

About the DoIT Gritty Award

The Gritty Award recognizes outstanding work within the Division and beyond. Full-time employees, student employees, and teams are all eligible. Do you know someone going above and beyond? Complete the Gritty Nomination Form today!

The first draft of this article was generated by GenAI and edited by the Communications Team.