Information Services 2004-05 Annual Report Prepared by IS Management Group & Andrea Flanagan

Information Services 2004-05 Annual Report Prepared by IS Management Group & Andrea Flanagan Table of Contents CUSTOMERS PROGRAMMATIC ACHIEVEMENTS Enterprise Computing Services INITIATIVES TO IMPROVE ADMINISTRATIVE EFFICIENCIES 13 PROPOSED GOALS FOR FY06 14 SUMMARY 19 Introduction Oregon State University’s Information Services (IS) division serves as the Information Technology (IT) backbone for the University as we strive to achieve OSU’s strategic themes of optimizing enterprise, innovation and economic development Information Services serves as a cornerstone of IT innovation, providing the highest quality services and products to the OSU community Information Services directly aids the University, departments, teachers, and researchers in making OSU a world-class institution with regard to quality-of-intellectuallife, education, and research Some of the critical services making up this backbone include: • Technology in direct support of OSU’s primary goals: education, research, and outreach • Technical and administrative support to the OSU administration, affiliated colleges and universities, Oregon University System (OUS), and other off-campus customers • Enterprise network and telecommunications infrastructure • Enterprise Computing facilities, operation and management for OSU, the Chancellor’s Office and the four regional universities (EOU, SOU, OIT, WOU) • Telecommunications: “Hub” for all OUS schools • Desktop support for over 50% of campus colleges and departments • Education and training in support of IT literacy • Software and media development and delivery • Design and operation of general purpose enhanced classrooms and open access student computing facilities • OSU and OUS leadership in adaptive technology • Core web services provided by Central Web Services • COHO: University-wide helpdesk solution • Technological and management support of Wireless Instructional Network (WIN), Oregon Public Affairs Network (OPAN), K-12 Integrated Database Project, and other OUS-wide outreach endeavors • Software, media and graphic development and delivery • Outreach to regional and national news, research and public affairs networks Organization IS Administration Curt Pederson, Vice Provost & CIO Donetta Sheffold, Exec Asst Jim Corbett, Dir of Admin Svcs Personnel, Accounting, Marketing Shay Dakan, Director Network Services Catherine Williams, Director Central Computing Tammy Barr, Director Technology Support Svcs John Greydanus, Director Media Svcs & Outreach (36) (42) (25) (33) Telecomm Operations Network Eng Admin Computing Technical Services Open Source Lab Systems Admin 5th Site Admin Comp Community Network Help Desk Software Site Licensing Central Web Svcs Technology Access Prog Multimedia Services Technology Across Curriculum Technical Services Outreach (OPAN, WIN) Customers Information Services serves a number of different customer groups both on and off campus, including other universities, campuses and Extension Services Each of these groups has different needs Students Students form the backbone of any university culture, and are an important part of any service that OSU offers Students are dependent on Information Services for many services including residential networks, telephone and communications, learning environments, and personal and career development Administration The OSU Administration cannot function without many of the services that Information Services provides Critical administrative services such as accounting, payroll, research, communications, and facilities are all dependent on IS for daily operations and strategic initiatives Colleges and Academic Faculty Comprising the bulk of education, outreach, and research opportunities at OSU, colleges and academic faculty are critical users of IS services All of these activities make heavy use of technology services provided by IS Information Services adjusts to changing university needs in order to deliver quality, robust technology solutions and services that allow faculty to commit to new research, create new outreach programs, and educate students through new innovative means Other Schools, Campuses, and Extension Services Many other schools and campuses that are part of the Oregon University System rely on technology services provided by Information Services The IT superstructure for the four regional universities and the Chancellor’s Office is hosted and operated by IS In various configurations, this includes student, financial, human resources and financial aid support Information Services helps each of these units meet their technology needs as they grow and evolve within the Oregon educational community These customers include: • The OSU Cascades Campus • The “Fifth Site,” which includes: Western Oregon University, Southern Oregon University, Eastern Oregon University, Oregon Institute of Technology, and OUS Chancellor’s Office • Extension Services • Oregon Health Sciences University (telecom) • Portland State University (telecom & aggregate reporting) • University of Oregon (telecom & aggregate reporting) • Oregon’s Community Colleges Research Centers There are highly specialized research centers using services offered by IS including Hatfield Marine Science Center, the Northwest Alliance for Computational Science and Engineering, and the Food Innovation Center The Oregon, National and Global Community OSU has many programs directly impacting the public such as television broadcasts, scientific research, education, and outreach programs Information Services helps OSU reach these customers more effectively and promote OSU to regional, national and worldwide constituents through computer technology and video networks including the Research Channel, the Oregon Wireless Instructional Network (Oregon WIN) and the Oregon Public Affairs Network (OPAN) Our successful Open Source Lab (OSL) is recognized as one of the top academic Open Source labs in the world Information Services The units within Information Services are often consumers of their own services and products The IS departments work not just to innovate new technology for the OSU Community, but to innovate in a collaborative fashion Each IS unit works together to expand offerings, reduce costs, and create strong new customer focus Programmatic Achievements Enterprise Computing Services Significant Accomplishments (FY05) • • Banner o Computer center upgrade including HVAC and generated power o Improved security and disaster recovery o Implemented electronic bills and eliminated paper bills o Implemented Internet Native Banner, which allows web browser access to Banner o OSU ID conversion from SSN to generated IDs o PEBB benefits implementation o Rewrote SCARF reporting in response to the Chancellor’s office redesign o Comprehensive Rate Information System (Finance & Administration Rate Proposal) implementation o Banner Self-Service Curriculum, Advising, and Program Planning (CAPP) implementation o Financial Aid Common Dataset for Princeton Review Survey Blackboard • • • • o Upgraded to three application servers for improved performance and failover ONID o Upgraded ONID mail and storage – Replaced single ONID mail server with multiple mail servers for increased performance and redundancy Upgraded and combined ONID mail and file storage into a SAN storage solution o Automated ONID account creation based upon Banner data o Increased frequency of account creation from once per business day to times per week day OSCAR o Migrated from ASP to NET o Made progress on new functionality for OSCAR tasks o Implemented spreadsheet tasks: A major complaint about OSCAR from departments was the requirement to each employee action separately The new spreadsheet tasks allow departments to some employee actions in a spreadsheet batch format Spreadsheet tasks are available for Fixed-term renewals/non-renewals for existing faculty members, Graduate assistant reappointments for fall term and summer leave for classified academic year staff The spreadsheet tasks were warmly received and we have more scheduled to implement for the next fiscal year o Added OSCAR to Banner data interfaces Warehouse Enhancements o Vendor information enhancements o Fixed Assets enhancements o Multi-fiscal year transaction ledger Milne Computer Center Upgrade o Improved security and disaster recovery: In FY05 Information Services partnered with Facilities Services on a project to greatly improve the Milne infrastructure Prior to FY05 Milne had a limited battery backup capability that did not power the server room HVAC A power outage of more than a few minutes required the doors to the computer center to be opened to release heat from the server room A power outage of more than twenty minutes put the Milne server room out of business Additionally, the HVAC was old and unreliable, causing additional failures in the server room The upgrade project provided new HVAC, a diesel generator and StarLine overhead power The new HVAC is redundant We can cool the room on two of our three air handlers The compressors switch from chilled water to compressors, in the case of a chilled water failure The new generated power configuration has two uninterruptible power supply (UPS) battery strings in series In the event of a power failure, the battery strings maintain power until the generator fires up The generator runs until city power has been restored for ten minutes All of the HVAC and power switching is done automatically without any human intervention The StarLine overhead power configuration allows us to add power circuits by snapping in a cable, eliminating the requirement for an electrician every time the server room needs an additional circuit This new configuration had a chance to prove itself on July 7, 2005 during a city power failure Everything worked exactly as it was designed To improve our disaster recovery capabilities we contracted with Iron Mountain in April to transport and store our production backup tapes and disaster recovery plan The Iron Mountain site is a 1.5 hours away from Corvallis giving us some protection from major disasters To improve security, Enterprise Computing partnered with the Office of Human Resources to automate the Banner account deactivation process when employees terminate employment at OSU Technology Support Services (TSS) Significant Accomplishments (FY05) • • • • • Open Source o COHO Help desk software being used at various higher education institutions, government agencies, and private companies throughout the world (including University of Newfoundland) Community Network Expansion o In the past two years the Community Network customer base grew from 1600 customers to more than 2200 New customers included Finance and Administration, University Publications, OSU Press, Academic Success Center, OSU Space Grant, and Alumni This growth is based on high customer satisfaction, quality services, and an effective cost recovery model We have been able to promote efficiencies through economies of scale and elimination of redundant services Continued Site License program savings Cascade Campus o OSU Cascades Campus Desktop Support: This has been an evolving project The original desktop support model for the campus was established in July 2002 Under this model, Central Oregon Community College (COCC) provided both the network resources and desktop support for the Cascades staff and faculty The following year, we evaluated the past year’s support model and decided to provide the desktop support services by OSU staff, while continuing to utilize COCC’s network resources These support level decisions were make after careful service strategy evaluation Time was spent communicating and meeting with both Cascades and COCC staff to evaluate and refine the services Strong relationships with both COCC and Cascades staff has been built, and the model we currently have in place is successfully meeting their needs Tablet PC Pilot Project o Technology Support Services (TSS) joined into a partnership with Dell, Microsoft, and Motion Computing to develop a pilot program for an emerging technology, Tablet PC’s We chose two Colleges to participate in the pilot: the College of Veterinary Medicine and the College of Pharmacy Tablets were an interesting choice because of their mobility, application possibilities, digital pen and ink capabilities, and wireless technology $50,000 of pilot funding was provided by the Microsoft jumpstart program, a partnership between Dell and Microsoft to jointly fund solutions with strategic Microsoft/Dell clients Funding provided for equipment, software, and application development In the pilot for the College of Vet Med, it was decided that the first phase of the project would take place in the classroom, to introduce the students and faculty to the new technology and its multitude of uses Twelve (12) tablet PCs were randomly assigned to first year professional veterinary medical students and to four (4) first year faculty members The tablet PC digital pen and ink technology enables the instructor to engage the students by interfacing with the lecture presentation (e.g., Microsoft PowerPoint ), and the students to take real time notes and annotations to lectures To date we’ve deployed over 100 Tablets on and off campus for a variety of uses, in and out of the classroom Educational applications include administrative, teaching, research, and Extension arenas • • • IS Portal page o This was a result of the Information Technology Coordination Committee (ITCC) Faculty Technology Orientation Working Group initiative The charge was to 1) develop a faculty and staff technology orientation that contains information that both new and current faculty/staff members could use to obtain relevant information and access to IT services, and 2) revamp the Information Services web pages to make information more user-friendly so that faculty, staff, and students could find relevant information and services more quickly and efficiently The new Information Technology resource web page is live at http://oregonstate.edu/is This project has addressed a campus demand for IS information to be organized, easy to locate, and current OUS Merger o Assumed OSU statewide- 5th site responsibilities that include desktop support, site licensing and training o OUS IT mitigation: We held four positions vacant in TSS for a good part of the year to avoid layoffs and bumping once the Enterprise Technology Services (ETS) folks moved into IS units Related to TSS, a goal for the coming year is to save additional costs by investigating both multi-year license agreements and multi-institution agreements Network Services Significant Accomplishments (FY05) Network Engineering • Voice over IP (VOIP) has been deployed in the HP building 11 facility (the ONAMI nanotech lab) and in Cascades Campus in the last year The VOIP phones use the data network rather than standard telephone lines and have enabled us to put on campus telephones in both of those locations • We have been working to upgrade the connections between campus buildings all year This has included wiring upgrades and new high speed networking equipment at the core of our network We no longer have 10Mb/s building connections on campus, and have roughly 50% of the buildings on campus upgraded to Gb/s connections This means that we have significantly removed the potential for on campus network congestion and enabled high-end network uses in most of the campus buildings • In September of 2003 we culminated a 2-year project to build our own fiber optic cable from Corvallis to the I-5 corridor to connect to fiber that is managed through the NERO network consortium (the NERO network consortium provides us with both our commodity Internet connection and our Internet2 connection.) This meant that we were able to immediately increase the connection off campus from OSU to the outside world from 150Mb/s to any one destination, to a Gb/s With our own “dark fiber” we able to work with our colleagues within NERO to buy the equipment necessarily to use (“light up”) the fiber and increase our capacity as we need it rather than as commercial providers and supply it In fact we will be increasing our capacity another 10 fold this summer using this same infrastructure at very little relative cost • We have been working very aggressively to place wireless access points all over campus This has meant working on the underlying wired network, finding the funds to install the wireless equipment, and working collaboratively with departmental computing groups to ensure that the students and faculty have a consistent experience using wireless all over campus By the end of summer 2005 we will have approximately 90% of the buildings covered with the OSU_PUB wireless network and will enable new and exciting ways of teaching and learning by increased mobility and “always on” network connectivity • Network Engineering worked closely with the Open Source Lab to develop and sign an agreement with TDS Data Services under which the Open Source Lab can use up to 600 megabits in free network bandwidth (an estimated $3.2 million net value over five years) • We are now deploying the high-end Cisco core networking equipment, which places OSU at the leading edge of networking capabilities • Network Engineering has been designing and has begun deploying a new firewall architecture It has been reviewed Cisco and is considered in line with best practices for advanced security measures • Network Engineering has added a total of 400 new gigabit connections in various datacenters in order to upgrade connectivity to critical OSU services • There are now 72 new ports for moving OSU campus buildings to gigabit connectivity, greatly increasing the performance of OSU’s network • Network Engineering has increased robustness of its technologies in order to reach 99.99% uptime for Networking Services Telecommunications • 2003-2004 Telecom strategically placed 1,152 strands of single mode fiber in the tunnel system for future backbone data deployment The single mode fiber will support our migration to gigabit Ethernet and well beyond 40-gigabit systems being tested in labs today The bandwidth capability of the single mode fiber will support our data backbone for over 30 years in the future • Telecom is completing a Data ThinNet Upgrade project in over 24 buildings The TRF funded project began in 2002 and was budgeted at 1.2 million dollars This wiring replaced legacy ThinNet infrastructures with ANSI/TIA/EIA compliant category horizontal cable and Laser Optimized 50 micron fiber optics This Campus standard will support gigabit Ethernet to the desktop and 10 gigabit Ethernet on the backbone The project installed 4,851 category data ports and over 5,000 feet of 50 micron, Laser Optimized Multi-Mode Fiber (LOMMF) fiber • The behind the scenes work to maintain our infrastructure and the dedication to automate many of the systems has allowed our Inter-institutional Network Operations Center (iNOC) to provide the most enhanced level of remote support for each of the campus’ in the Oregon University System This team has developed fault and • performance monitoring software that processes alarm receipt from all OUS phone systems and phone adjuncts and they provide the first line of support for alarm resolution They have created call detail recording software that captures all call detail and accurately bills each call They have created the mini-meet-me bridging system which enhances audio conferencing capabilities for all of OUS This service fits nicely within the expanded video conferencing capabilities of the video bridge which serves all administrative video conferencing needs for all of OUS Telecommunication Services tracks over 50,000 cable pairs with sufficient detail to make disaster recovery possible An on-line inventory system allows parts to be added to a work order, all staff time can be tracked per work order and all costs associated with the work order can be posted in the Telemanagement System for billing Members of the iNOC team have also created a WEB based billing system when coupled with their Telecommunications Management System (TcMS) allows each campus to enter and track all aspects of billing one-time and recurring charges associated with station equipment and call detail Through the utilization of document imaging, we now have images of thousands of pages of work orders on-line for immediate referral if there are any billing questions Open Source Lab • According to research completed by OVP Venture Partners, a Venture Capital firm located in and focused on the Pacific Northwest, the Open Source Lab is one of three leading Open Source research and development centers in the world • The Open Source Lab’s rate of return to Oregon State University is over 400%, saving the University almost $2 million in net value costs on an operating investment of $475,000 • The Open Source Lab has become a center for knowledge in Open Source technologies With our help, other IT units, research departments, the OSU library system, and state agencies are able to control their IT more effectively and at a much lower cost • The Open Source Lab has developed considerable outreach opportunities with the information technology community and with businesses forming strong relationships with Open Source projects, such as Mozilla and private sector companies such as IBM • The Open Source Lab sees over 20 million unique visitors to Oregon State University web sites per day • The Ockham project, a distributed repository for library services and meta-data, is being developed by the Oregon State University Library system in conjunction with a number of other university systems The Open Source Lab is engaged to develop OSU’s portion of the project • The Maintain project produces software to large enterprise networks such as the network at Oregon State University The Maintain project was founded by Oregon State University Network Engineering group, and has matured to the point where other large universities and private sector companies have deployed the product to manage their own large networks The development of this project has helped OSU realize a net savings of nearly $300,000 • The Kuali/Electronic Research Administration is a large-scale project for university administration in areas such as Research Administration, Financial Information Systems, and Human Resources The Kuali project is taking place jointly among a number of universities Oregon State University recently became the first “Investing Partner” in the Kuali project Other partners include Indiana University, University of Hawaii, University of Arizona, San Joaquin Delta College, Cornell, and Michigan State 10 IS Media Services Significant Accomplishments (FY05) Initiatives in support of Teaching and Research • Enhanced Classrooms: Installed upgrades in general use classrooms including document cameras, color touch panels and control processors, VHS/DVD players, close caption decoders, updated projectors, and enhance public address systems; upgraded 15 departmental classrooms • Researched and supported audience response systems for classroom use • Student computer labs: Provided computer lab resources for OSU students; Partnered with Community Network and the Department of Human Development and Family Sciences to create a "virtual lab" using Windows Terminal Server to deliver software applications wirelessly to student-owned laptops; Upgraded network and server infrastructure for New Media lab to enhance video editing capabilities; Assisted in design, implementation, and operation of new digital studios for Music department; Entered in partnership with the Writing Center, Academic Success Center, Minority Education Opportunities, Psychology department, and Technology Across the Curriculum to support and maintain computer labs for student and faculty use • Streaming video upgrades; automated streaming processes and upgraded servers to improve campus access to video streams for instruction and outreach • Provided ITV classroom design assistance for the Kelly Engineering Center • Student Multimedia Center (SMC): Integrated Graduate Student Multimedia Presentation Center (GSMPC) with Digital Imaging and Graphic Services, added undergraduate services and changed name This will provide all OSU students with access to high-end presentation services for class projects and related instructional displays and presentations • Converted over 10,000 instructional slides to electronic formats for use in enhanced classrooms • Enhanced poster printing services to better address marketing and research display needs • Technology across the Curriculum (TAC): Created a new department in Media Services to focus on integrating technology and teaching, created the Strategic Implementation of Technology for Education (SITE) Lab as a multimedia resource and learning environment for faculty and staff; Produced a broad curriculum of 108 workshops for 747 faculty, staff and students; Formed working alliances with major academic programs at OSU including Academic Success Center, WIC, The Valley Library, Center for Teaching and Learning, and others; Designed and secured funding for OSUWrite a university blog solution • Technology Access Program (TAP): Supported learning for OSU students with disabilities including captioning of over 200 hours and transcribing over 400 hours of instructional videos; converted over 6,000 pieces of curricular materials to alternative formats; developed and initiated DVD captioning process Initiatives in support of Administration processes • Moved the Technology Resource Fee (TRF) proposal process online, greatly improving quality, focus and evaluation of proposals • Integrated OUS web support; improved 5th site services without layoffs • Headed review of digital asset management solutions for Information Technology Coordinance Committee (ITCC) 11 • • • • • • • • • Provided campus leadership in reviewing and developing accessibility technology policy and guidelines through committee work and collaboration with Services for Students with Disabilities Re-aligned units in Media Services to increase productivity and focus resources on classroom instructional technologies, central web services, multimedia production and faculty/staff training and development in information technologies Also consolidated and hired new Media Services leadership Collaborated with the Registrar’s Office to convert Media Services scheduling platform to Resource 25 to make better use of current campus resources and better interface with Banner Provided the technology and technical assistance to complete an online graduate application for Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Upgraded Business Affairs webpage to improve services for students, faculty and staff NUTCH - Designed and implemented an new open source web search engine for OSU providing a cost effective, unbiased search engine solution for the campus Webnibus: Created an open source grant proposal process for submission and processing grant application for OSU Sea Grant and other Sea Grant institutions Worked with student Health Services to create “The Answer Spot,” a feature of Student Health Services' (SHS) web site that enables you to ask health question anonymously Upgraded student timesheet program used across campus to give departments more control in administration of the program Major outreach/engagement initiatives • Supported media outreach for athletic events and facilities, including new Reser Stadium • Produced and distributed the 2005 graduation ceremony to OPB • Completed installation of presentation technology in Austin Auditorium in LaSells Stewart Center, providing OSU with high tech presentation facilities for large lectures, conferences and seminars • Completed all audio/video needs for Dixon Recreation Center including classrooms, PA system, video play back systems • Completed installation of digital signage units for OSU Marketing • Provided resources and network distribution for KEZI’s on-campus studio • Converted WIN spectrum to digital licenses and completed sublease to ClearWire for commercial broadband wireless deployment • Continued to operate and support OPAN; produced hours of public affairs programming nightly including OSU lectures and conferences; worked closely with Legislative Media and OPB to create an “Oregon Channel” to continue OPAN’s public affairs mission • Advanced OSU’s ongoing role with the national distributed PBS program, Smart Gardening OSU will remain a partner for 05-06 and will work to form a consortium of Land Grant institutions to co-produce Smart Gardening in future years • Produced four programs for distribution on the Research Channel, a nationally distributed television channel focused on research occurring at the countries leading research institutions • Purchased audio booth and Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) line to promote OSU faculty and researchers to radio networks including NPR, BBC, and other international radio networks • Completed numerous satellite uplinks with national and international television networks to highlight OSU faculty and researchers 12 • • Provide national and regional leadership in assistive technology planning and policy development with the Federal Department of Education and worked with the Oregon Association of Higher Education and Disability work on the proposed Oregon Textbook Access Act Initiated a collaborative effort among Media Services, KBVR-TV and New Media to upgrade the KBVR-TV studio to facilitate broadcast quality programs and events for regional and national distribution Secured initial funds for project IS Administration Significant Accomplishments (FY05) • • • • • • • • • Continued long term budget model Continued redesign on TRF model Larger statewide responsibility as OUS continues to evolve and reorganize IS has received additional responsibilities for special projects, such as Articulated Transfer Linked Audit System (ATLAS), K-16 Data Base Project, etc Developmental and exploratory work will also be done to provide additional central IT services to the fifth site Emergency planning and disaster recovery plan Marketing and planning enterprise established Completion of first diversity plan Regional networking collaboration including PNWGigapop State and County outreach and collaboration Increased volume of support activities experienced by IS Personnel as a result of the integration of OUS Enterprise Technology Services into OSU Information Services With the OUS merger, IS Administration has experienced a dramatic increase in personnel responsibilities, as shown below The library employee numbers are included because IS also provides personnel support for the library, and they are growing as well FY 2004 total employees IS = 101 Library = 78 FY 2005 total employees IS = 148 Library = 83 FY 2006 (to date) total employees IS = 153 Library = 87 Initiatives to improve administrative efficiencies • • Enterprise Technology Services – In FY05, Information Services assumed the responsibility for IT support for the OUS Chancellor’s Office, and Western Oregon University, Southern Oregon University, Oregon Institute for Technology, and Eastern Oregon University Staffs formerly with OUS were integrated into the appropriate Information Services work units, with the goal of reducing costs through a more centralized approach to IT service delivery Software Licensing function: The Software Licensing function of Technology Support Services is responsible for developing strategies associated with software licensing for the University, implementation of those strategies, evaluation of results and recommendations for change This position has grown from FTE to 1.0 FTE over the past several years, and the efforts have been extremely well-received throughout campus This past year this software licensing coordination function saved OSU more than $350,000 in software licensing costs Over the past three years, the cumulative cost savings is $1,952,645 We are beginning to investigate both multi-year license agreements and multi-institution agreements 13 • OSU Helpdesk project (Coho): Over the last several years many attempts have been made to obtain commercial help desk software for and by various departments on campus In each case the initial investment and recurring costs were found to be too excessive Several departments developed their own in-house products but found continued maintenance and upgrades to be difficult and expensive The cost savings generated by using open source software can be substantial Server licenses and commercial help desk costs can cost tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars annually OSU has been able to leverage open source software to successfully move forward projects that were otherwise cost prohibitive The OSU Helpdesk project was launched in January 2003 by Information Services' Technology Support Services unit Interest from a myriad of Colleges and departments quickly expanded the scope of the project with the goal evolving into a help desk solution that could be utilized by all The OSU Helpdesk system is based on Bugzilla, the open-source bug tracking system which was developed for use at Mozilla.org The OSU Helpdesk system is module-based and includes call tracking, knowledge base, scheduling, and equipment inventory The software allows a call center to record all support requests, communicate with the customer, monitor consultant responses, and track support issues and trends across a variety of problem categories The ticket tracking portion of the system is closely tied to a searchable knowledge base The "service desk" module gives you the ability to schedule on-site appointments with customers and connect the appointments to the help desk ticket An equipment inventory module is also included The OSU HelpDesk project has been very successful to date The system is being adopted in various units both on and off the OSU campus It has also generated interest across the country, and in fact, the world The high level of interest from both on and off campus folks has made this a really exciting and rewarding project We’ve been showcasing the software at various events this past year, including the regional and national Educause conferences, the CIO Alliance, Oregon State government, and others We maintain the following web site for both our on and off campus interested parties: https://helpdesk.tss.oregonstate.edu/ Proposed Goals for FY06 Enterprise Computing Services Goals for FY06 • • • 5th Site o Improve the reliability of service to the 5th Site customers o Move the 5th Site servers from Kerr to Milne Banner o Implement Banner o Implement FUPLOAD – FUPLOAD will allow departments to upload Journal Vouchers (JVs) from a spreadsheet, a big improvement over entering them all by hand The data will then be validated before it enters Banner, eliminating multiple steps in the Banner approval queue o Implement time tracking and project management system for Enterprise Computing employees Blackboard 14 • • o Implement self-enrollment for Blackboard “Communities” OSU has had limited use of the “Communities” feature in Blackboard because the administrative overhead for creating communities and managing enrollment was prohibitive We have created a self-enrollment feature that we hope will facilitate student involvement in extra curricular activities on campus We expect to begin offering this feature by August 1, 2005 o Upgrade the aging Blackboard database server ONID o Implement roll based authentication – Currently ONID authentication is binary -either you have all ONID privileges or none There is increasing need to have differentiated privileges based upon a person’s role with the university OSCAR o Implement two servers dedicated to OSCAR, which will provide load balancing and failover o Complete the Office of Human Resources tasks remaining in Omniform o Make significant progress on the Business Affairs tasks Technology Support Services (TSS) Goals for FY06 OSU HelpDesk software (COHO) Continue to develop and deploy OSU HelpDesk software throughout campus as well as other institutions and agencies; present at regional and national conferences and other events as appropriate Community Network Continue to expand and provide services to campus as appropriate OSU Computer Help Desk Several areas we will be looking at over the coming years include: • Increase presence on campus so we become the first point of contact for additional departments and Colleges • Improve Information Services Computer Consulting (ISCC) performance through use of industry best practices • Improve self-serve and online technical support offerings – i.e complete helpdesk/ knowledge base implementations, improved website and possibly chat/remote control tools • Increase funding to allow longer business hours and/or expansion of services OUS IT Merger Continue to assimilate former ETS employees and services into Information Services and proceed with the migration paths for desktop and network services Network Services Goals for FY06 Open Source Lab • The Open Source Lab will continue to focus on its core competencies in 15 infrastructure and Development (especially middleware development) The Open Source Lab will continue to develop new projects that directly impact University operations, technology, and administration while creating additional opportunities for student learning • Beyond expanding existing lines of operations, the Open Source Lab will also begin to engage new communities in Open Source use and development In October 2005, the OSL will present GOSCON 2005, the first annual conference Government Open Source Conference This conference will help not-for-profit entities, education systems, and state and federal agencies understand how Open Source can directly benefit government, education, and not-for-profit business The Public Sector Open Source conference will be a critical outreach opportunity for the Open Source Lab, creating new collaborations in the development of important technologies that OSU will not only be able to benefit from, but will also be able to disseminate to other groups Network Engineering • Create a completely redundant core network allowing for greater robustness and failover of the OSU network This means that OSU’s network will have far greater uptime, and upgrades and maintenance will not impact University operations • Deploy intrusion detection and prevention system In an effort to enhance security across campus, Network Engineering will deploy systems that allow them to immediately be aware of and respond to attempts to infiltrate network security at OSU This is a critical goal for ensuring that all data and systems on the OSU network are properly secured • Network Engineering will complete its campus wide firewall initiative in order to enhance and ensure security of information stored by computers around OSU When combined with Intrusion and Detection, the firewall will make OSU Networking a bestpractices leader among universities for security IS Media Services Goals for FY06 Initiatives in support of Teaching and Research • Enhanced Classrooms ensure instructional technologies are universally available in all 123 general-use classrooms on campus and a growing number of departmental classrooms Upgrades include new computers, additional document cameras, improved security, and the introduction of new whiteboard technologies that support multiple presentation windows, digital writing and note taking and the ability to manipulate and reorganized captured notes and graphics A faculty survey will also be administered to assess future upgrades • Select and implement a campus-supported audience response system for classroom use • Student Labs provide OSU students access to information technology resources and training through general use and departmental labs Updates include new leases for Dell machines, software updates for all Window machines and new a new Apple XSAN lab for editing and storing digital video files • Streaming video Appropriately staff and establish protocols and resources to expand archiving and indexing of video streaming files • Promote and expand the number of ITV course offerings to Cascade Campus and Portland to meet growing demand 16 • • • • Promote SCOLA distribution via video streaming and assess use of foreign language news and programs by international student groups and the Foreign Language department Expand Student Multimedia Center (SMC) to include all students (undergraduate, professional and graduate) to improve professionalism in student presentations on and off campus Technology across the Curriculum (TAC) Complete OSUWrite: University-Wide Blog Solution to serve the educational needs as well as personal, professional, and organizational uses; Fund and develop WR121 Essay Power Tools to use online technology and the Blackboard Learning System in ways to help students become more organized and more thorough researchers; Implement TAC pods as a template for online tutorials that teach specific skills with information technology; Produce report on blendedlearning and hybrid course options for large scale courses Technology Access Program (TAP) - Continue development and expansion of the WinTriangle project in conjunction with Harvard University and the California community college system to fully implement MathML and support for LaTEX, an alternative format application for math symbols; Fully implement the INFTY mathematical OCR project with a projected impact of reducing alternative format math and science production costs by 50%; Implement fully digital system for books on tape based on the NIMAS standards from the federal Department of Education Initiatives in support of Administration processes • Online TRF proposal upgrades Add an online Final Report Form and process to collect reports and assess the use of TRF funds • Adoption and implementation of accessibility technology guidelines and begin staff and faculty training and awareness building activities • Fully integrate SSD and TAP database systems to provide for a single management portal and automation of a variety of current management tasks such as materials tracking and distribution Full transition of all production based alternative format and captioning activities from SSD to TAP • • • Present ITCC with a final report for a campus wide digital asset management solution Establish an electronic stock file of campus and off-campus images Campus Web Calendar Develop and implement a consolidated university calendar with multiple data input formats and a layered display format Expand the online graduate school application process to serve additional schools and departments Outcome Assessment Tool (OAT) for Extension Services will be implemented OAT is an online tool for monitoring, tracking and assessing professional growth and advancement of Extension staff and faculty • • Major outreach/engagement initiatives • Support media outreach for athletic events • Produce and distribute the 06 graduation ceremony to OPB • Host and provide network distribution feeds for KEZI’s on-campus studio • Migrate OPAN to the “Oregon Channel.” Work to keep a strong higher education presence in Oregon Channel programming 17 • • • • • • • • Assist Extension in creating a land grant consortium to co-produce the national distributed PBS program, Smart Gardening Integrate Research Channel programming with the OSU Research Magazine and work with departments on campus to produce high quality and informative programs on current OSU research Actively promote OSU’s regional, national and international television and radio connections to better promote OSU faculty, athletics and campus community Provide national leadership in accessibility technology training and development including development of national AT specialist certificate standards in conjunction with EDUCAUSE and AHEAD Host the annual North American Computers and Philosophy Conference This international event brings scholars and practitioners concerned with uses of information technology to affect human thought TAC will work with other OSU departments, the private sector and national organizations to initiate and advance a common set of information technology literacy standards necessary for university students, faculty, and staff Team Oregon, developed in collaboration with ODOT, is an online project to register, track and advance motorcycling safety training and licensing The program helps tracks licensed motorcyclists and ongoing safety training opportunities Complete major video productions using shared studio facilities that highlight OSU on a regional and national level including teleconferences, cable TV or OPB programs, music events and other public affairs programming Enhancing Diversity • Actively support the IS Diversity Plan o Actively seek to hire minority students for positions in Media Services The OSU student population remains the most diverse population in the community and offers a positive way to bring diversity into our organization • Complete Student Involvement Project to highlight student cultural nights and group activities • Host regional conference on disabilities in postsecondary education IS Administration Goals for FY 06 • • • • Implementation of activity based budgeting Implementation of IS strategic and marketing plans Design and implementation of web-based efficiencies in accounting and personnel Significant increase in outside funding from IT and Open Source community Major Barriers to Implementation of Goals • Space • Competitive salaries 18 • Planning Time Summary As a division, perhaps the most important thing we have accomplished is our continued improvement of what we In addition, we continually seek out the new and innovative technologies and practices which will support the mission of the University We are most proud of the fact that, despite having very limited resources, we continue to grow and contribute to the University community This comes in part from the efforts of dedicated IS employees as well as supportive campus colleagues We are excited about the future and doing even more in support of the long-range goals of the University 19 ... activities experienced by IS Personnel as a result of the integration of OUS Enterprise Technology Services into OSU Information Services With the OUS merger, IS Administration has experienced... (OSL) is recognized as one of the top academic Open Source labs in the world Information Services The units within Information Services are often consumers of their own services and products The IS. .. information and services more quickly and efficiently The new Information Technology resource web page is live at http://oregonstate.edu /is This project has addressed a campus demand for IS information