FY16 Academic Priorities for Technology Enhancements
v Final Illinois State University Division of Academic Affairs FY16 Academic Priorities for Technology Enhancements College Technology Support Team Center for Teaching, Learning & Technology Learning Spaces & Audio/Visual Technologies TechZone & Student Technologies Web & Interactive Communications 16 March 2015 Office of Academic Technologies Always Connected FY16 Academic Priorities for Technology Enhancements Introduction..................................................................................................................1 Shared Priorities for Technology Enhancements...........................................................4 Information and Technology Services Provided by Administrative Technologies..............4 Technology Services Sought by the Office of Academic Technologies ..............................5 College Priorities for Technology Enhancements.........................................................13 College of Applied Science and Technology .....................................................................13 College of Arts and Sciences .............................................................................................16 College of Business ...........................................................................................................18 College of Education .........................................................................................................20 College of Fine Arts...........................................................................................................21 Mennonite College of Nursing ..........................................................................................22 Milner Library ...................................................................................................................24 Enrollment Management and Academic Services ............................................................26 OAT • Always Connected 16 March 2015 Page ii FY16 Academic Priorities for Technology Enhancements FY16 Academic Priorities for Technology Enhancements Introduction The Office of Academic Technologies (OAT) federates the activities of eleven units working together to provide academic technology services that support the goals of Educating Illinois and enhance the purpose of technology for teaching, learning, research and creative activity, and service outreach. Four units report directly to the Associate Vice President for Academic Technologies in the Office of the Provost. The Center for Teaching, Learning, and Technology co-reports to the Associate Provost. The seven members of the College Technology Support Team report to the deans of their respective colleges. These eleven units work together and with staff in Administrative Technologies and Student Affairs IT, to achieve a fiscally sustainable technology environment through collective research, planning, purchasing, and more. The formation of OAT reflects the importance of identifying and developing opportunities to apply technology innovations to the purpose of academic technologies in order enhance the academic enterprise and to attract and retain great students and faculty. One of the overarching Goals of OAT is to strengthen the collective voice for academic technology needs of units in the Division of Academic Affairs. Toward that end, this Report on the Academic Priorities for Technology Enhancements seeks to summarize and prioritize those needs. A description of the technology services provided by these units follows. College Technology Support Team The six colleges and Milner Library at Illinois State make up the academic core of the University. Each of these colleges provides technology support for the teaching, learning, research, and creative activity needs of faculty, staff, and students in those colleges as well as students across the University. Support needs vary from college to college and are often discipline-specific. The six colleges that make up the College Technology Support Team are: 1) College of Applied Science and Technology; 2) College of Arts and Sciences; 3) College of Business; 4) College of Education, 5) College of Fine Arts; 6) Mennonite College of Nursing; and 7) Milner Library. Center for Teaching, Learning & Technology The Center for Teaching, Learning, and Technology (CTLT) supports Illinois State University faculty and staff in their pursuit of excellence and innovation in teaching, student learning, and the effective use of technology. CTLT provides a wide range of programs, services and resources, including technology short courses, support for ReggieNet, and other instructional technology workshops. The director of CTLT reports jointly to the Associate VP for Academic Technologies and the Associate Provost. OAT • Always Connected 16 March 2015 Page 1 of 27 FY16 Academic Priorities for Technology Enhancements Learning Spaces & Audio/Visual Technologies Learning Spaces & Audio/Visual Technologies (LSAVT) is charged with the design, installation, and maintenance of multimedia equipment and technology to enhance teaching in all learning spaces. This service is also provided to any department looking to improve the audio/ visual functionality of any space, be it classroom, conference room, performance hall or office. Up-to-date technology in learning spaces includes computer, monitor, data projector, document camera, speakers, connections for a portable computer (video and audio), connections for a USB devices, and a user interface to make using the equipment simple and easy. TechZone & Student Technologies This unit has four primary functions most closely identified with the TechZone name: Sales Center (personal computer purchasing help and discounts, University purchasing), Service Center (walk-in technology support and warranty hardware repair), ResNet (support of residence hall networking), and Software Management (discounted & site licensed software). TechZone staff manage client-vendor relationships and coordinate the student technology orientation programs. Web & Interactive Communications Web & Interactive Communications (WEB) is charged with design, development and support for university, college, department and unit websites and mobile websites. WEB customizes web editing tools, provides basic training, and collaborates with other units to ensure the University is able to provide strategic, thoughtful and targeted messaging via the Web. WEB is also responsible for creating and maintaining web-based interfaces to public and authenticated university data. Such interfaces include, but are not limited to, My Illinois State, Go Illinois State, Campus Map, Events Calendar, Illinois State’s Stories news hub, Course Finder, and Guidebook. This Report is divided into two sections. The first section describes the priorities for technology enhancements to current IT services provided by Administrative Technologies and the priorities for new or expanded IT services shared in all units in the Division of Academic Affairs and, in some cases, the entire campus community. These are listed in priority order. The second section details the priorities for technology enhancements in individual colleges and Milner Library. OAT • Always Connected 16 March 2015 Page 2 of 27 FY16 Academic Priorities for Technology Enhancements A note on Run • Grow • Transform For the FY16 APTE Report, the priorities for technology enhancements are organized into one of three categories that focus more on the IT service portfolio and less on IT as a cost center. A primary goal of working together under the OAT banner is to further align IT support units with the institutional mission of Illinois State and with one another. To help with this, we classify whether a technology enhancement will help Run, Grow, or Transform the academic enterprise. What does that mean? • Run - These are IT activities related to ongoing operations. To “keep our computers working”… • Grow - These are strategic activities to accommodate incremental growth and improvements (e.g., expanding the installation of instructional technologies into all scheduled classrooms; upgrading an existing application, or replacing an application without significantly redesigning the business processes). • Transform - These are strategic activities to plan and implement transformative change (e.g., implementing a business intelligence environment for the first time). These categories are not black and white, so it is difficult to classify some technology enhancement priorities. We are using this categorization to help prioritize the technology enhancements listed here. Transformative IT projects, for example, while inherently riskier, have a higher priority because of the potential to transform one or more aspects of the academic enterprise. Illinois State does not uniformly track spending using these descriptors. Administrative Technologies has made efforts to track their IT expenses along these lines. But it is difficult to say what portion of spending on Academic IT services is just to keep things Run-ning or to Grow or Transform. Is there a “right” mix of spending in these three categories? In higher education institutions, more resources are devoted to Running than to Growing or Transforming. In 2014, the EDUCAUSE Core Data Survey showed that 79% of IT spending was on running the institution. The remaining 21% was divided between grow (13%) and transform (8%). When accounting for IT spending in these categories is routinely practiced, then it is easier to follow the Balanced Scorecard methodology for tracking the “right” portfolio mix given a fixed amount of resources. So we start with a useful categorization, then we work out how to track expenditures in those categories, then we can work out whether we have the “right balance” of spending for Illinois State. OAT • Always Connected 16 March 2015 Page 3 of 27 FY16 Academic Priorities for Technology Enhancements Shared Priorities for Technology Enhancements Information and Technology Services Provided by Administrative Technologies LEAPForward Initiative [Transform] The LEAPForward Initiative is a 3-5 year effort to create the next-generation academic information infrastructure for Illinois State University. Begun in the Fall 2011, this nearly $24 million Initiative has the four primary goals: (1) re-designing administrative processes related to the student information system (SIS); (2) replacing the aging SIS; (3) building a robust business intelligence environment for reporting and analysis; and (4) modernizing the technology architecture supporting all of Illinois State’s information systems. The benefits of this Initiative will be to create simple, seamless access to information across all departments on campus and meet all technology needs for students, faculty, staff, and parents. All this will help Illinois State attract and retain high quality students and faculty to maintain its competitive advantage. Expansion of Wireless Internet Access [Grow] The use of wireless technologies on mobile devices from smart phones to tablets to laptops continues to expand yearly among students, employees, and visitors to our campus. The need for campus-wide wireless support for productive uses of these devices is a priority for both academic and technology leaders across the campus. Starting from the initial installation of wireless access points in “open-use spaces”, the campus-wide expansion of wireless access points focused on providing a convenient way to access the network. Successful deployment in those areas proved to be an excellent application of the adage “If you build it, [they] will come”. The devices connecting to the network through those wireless access points did come and in greater numbers every semester. At last count, there were over 33,000 separate devices that accessed the campus wireless network in a single day. What was designed for convenience quickly became the primary method for mobile devices to connect to the network. Now that wireless access to the network and the Internet is the primary method used by the majority of the campus community the original architecture needs to be enhanced. We are pleased with the Board of Trustees May 2014 approval of a resolution to upgrade and enhance wireless access at the University. Upgrades to the Bone Student Center, Milner Library, and Schroeder Hall have already been completed, with subsequent academic spaces to be addressed over the remainder of FY15 and FY16. OAT • Always Connected 16 March 2015 Page 4 of 27 FY16 Academic Priorities for Technology Enhancements Technology Services Sought by the Office of Academic Technologies Hiring and Retaining Qualified Staff [Run] While all of the previous items on this list dealt with hardware or software needs, it is important to also list priorities related to technology staffing. After all, IT support has three dimensions; people, process, and technology. Every year EDUCAUSE, a nonprofit association that supports the community of IT leaders and professionals in higher education, reports on the Top Ten IT Issues confronting colleges and universities. This year, the number 1 issue was “Hiring and Retaining Qualified Staff, and Updating the Knowledge and Skills of Existing Technology Staff”. While the wage gap matters at ISU as elsewhere, it is not the only reason higher ed loses IT staff to the private sector. Research by EDUCAUSE shows that 1 in 5 IT staff are at high risk for leaving higher education. The reasons can vary of course, but, after salary, the top two reasons staff leave their higher ed IT jobs is due to (1) a lack of advancement opportunities; and (2) the feeling that what they do is not important to the university mission…. Competitive salaries will always be a challenge to Illinois State because of local private sector hiring. But hiring and retaining qualified staff is about more than salaries. “Retaining talented staff requires a culture of teamwork that supports and encourages the growth of the individual and the team.” (Educause Review, Top 10 IT Issues 2015 - Inflection Point, January/February 2015, p. 17.) Investing in the training and professional development of our IT staff can help them maintain or grow their usable skills, or to pick up a new skill needed because of changes in the IT environment. Systematic investment in staff development will show IT how important their role is for Illinois State. EDUCAUSE also recommends “Establish[ing] some deliverables and accountability for the training so that employees return to the office with the anticipated insights and skill set.” Based on a review of the EDUCAUSE 2014 Core Data Survey results, the median annual spending on professional development for IT staff is $584 at Illinois Publics, $716 at our IBHE Peer schools, and $848 at all Doctoral Research Universities in the survey. Based on this data, the Office of Academic Technologies recommends that at least $716 per year per IT FTE be earmarked for professional development. For IT staff affiliated with OAT that sums to nearly $54,000 per year. They also recommend “Work[ing] with HR to develop career paths for the major divisions of or roles in central and distributed IT units. Career paths don’t have to stay within the IT organization; consider lateral paths that can broaden someone’s institutional or business experience. Develop paths that reward knowledge work as well as managerial talent, and understand that not every staff member need aspire to leadership.” (ibid. p. 18.) OAT • Always Connected 16 March 2015 Page 5 of 27 FY16 Academic Priorities for Technology Enhancements Ensure appropriate instructional technology is available in all scheduled learning spaces [Grow] One of the Strategies in Educating Illinois 2013-2018 is to “Enhance technology infrastructure for classroom[s]…” as a way to support the Goal of improving institutional effectiveness by building a modern IT infrastructure (Goal 4, Strategy 2C). Learning Spaces and A/V Technologies (LSAVT) is in the final year of updating the instructional technology infrastructure in what will soon become Registrar-scheduled classroom spaces. The $1.7 million funding for this Classroom Technology Expansion Project was provided by the Office of the Provost in FY13. When completed at the end of FY15 the equipment in 319 classrooms will need to be on rotation for replacement in either 8 month, 4-year, 5-year intervals. Following the strategy in Goal 2 of the IT Strategic Plan 2015-2018, the continuing task for LSAVT is to “ensure appropriate instructional technology is available in all scheduled learning spaces” on the ISU campus. The annualized cost of replacing the projector bulbs every 8 months plus the core hardware every 4-5 years comes to a total of $491,260. LSAVT currently allocates about $100,000 out of its operating budget to keep the bulbs and hardware current. The expanded number of classrooms will require an additional $391,260 in operating funds to support. This does not include the annual cost to replace the more long-lived special equipment that make up the instructional technology tools (i.e., Switcher, AMX, etc.). Designing Learning Spaces for Emerging Pedagogies [Transform] The Academic Facilities Advisory Committee produces an annual Report on the Academic Priorities for Facilities Improvements that is the older sibling of this Report. One of the Priorities in that Report calls for designing learning spaces for emerging pedagogies. The Office of Academic Technologies shares in the belief that “Design and renovation of learning spaces should reflect the trend toward utilization of more flexible, interactive, and engaging pedagogies. Such design concerns go beyond the basic needs to maintain infrastructure systems, to ensure an aesthetic pleasant environment, and to update classroom technology and equipment as needed.…” OAT enthusiastically supports the “call for consideration of current and future trends in classroom design whenever we have an opportunity to build or renovate learning spaces, because it is mission-critical to support twenty-first century pedagogies.…” Support a Robust Learning Management System [Run] Increasingly, students come to college with “significant expectations regarding the use of technology to support learning” (Roberts, EDUCAUSE, 2015) expecting to have immediate, 24/7 access to course materials and grades, and anticipating that they may be asked to complete some course work in online environments. Similarly, an increasing number of faculty at Illinois State are coming to appreciate the instructional conveniences and opportunities afforded by a robust learning management system. Since June 2013, when the University completed its OAT • Always Connected 16 March 2015 Page 6 of 27 FY16 Academic Priorities for Technology Enhancements transition from Blackboard CE 8 to Sakai — branded as ReggieNet — LMS usage has increased steadily, with 80% of courses offered being published in ReggieNet as of Spring 2015. That said, current resource constraints in Administrative Technologies challenge the university’s ability to remain current through regular updates and additions to the LMS. For this reason, we continue to encourage exploration of the option to provide ReggieNet services from a “cloud” environment. This will improve the timing of software updates and reduce considerably the amount of staff time needed for such updates. Such a new arrangement could conceivably include expansion of the LMS to include frequently requested features such as iRubric and webconferencing software. Ideally, such a move will also reduce the overall cost of the LMS to the University. Running ReggieNet in a “cloud” environment is expected to cost nearly $110,000 per year. One of the most requested assessment tools to use with ReggieNet is iRubric software addin. iRubric is an assessment tool that lets faculty set up and score student mastery of rubrics created for their course or mandated as part of an accrediting body and have those scores recorded directly into the ReggieNet grade book. Use of this software requires a setup charge of $6,000 and an annual licensing fee of $17,000 as well as a $1,000 annual fee to have code written and maintained to integrate iRubric into the Sakai software underlying ReggieNet. The Associate Vice President for Academic Technologies has pledged allocation of funds for all, or most, of the cost to purchase and maintain iRubric. Because the moratorium on nonLEAPForward Initiative projects extends to May 2015, it is not likely this project will be able to begin until FY16. Increase the Availability of Productivity-enhancing Software [Grow] Several unmet academic technology software needs were discussed by the OAT Leadership Team. Many of these software tools have been requested, some formally, but a lack of resources keeps them on a “wish list”. Once again, Goal 2 in the IT Strategic Plan 2015-2018 encourages the University to “Support rigorous, innovative, and high impact academic programs and facilitate University research with state-of-the-art information assets and technologies”. These are listed in priority order. 1) Software that facilitates synchronous delivery of instruction over the Internet is often referred to as Web conferencing software. This software is used to support video-enabled conversations ranging from one-to-one private to one-to-many public sessions (e.g., classes). Such software is particularly helpful to those teaching and learning in blended or fully online environments and has been identified as a key “missing component” by those at CTLT who prepare faculty to teach in these environments. Several such tools are in use at the University right now, including Blackboard Collaborate as well as Skype and other free web-based software. Currently the College of Education, the Mennonite College of Nursing, and Milner Library have jointly purchased a license to Blackboard Collaborate at a total annual cost of $15,500 (not counting COE student staff hired for tech support). OAT • Always Connected 16 March 2015 Page 7 of 27 FY16 Academic Priorities for Technology Enhancements An annual campus-wide license to Blackboard Collaborate would cost at least $132,250 in the first year (depending on options). A campus license to a similar product, Cisco WebEx Training, would cost about $50,000. Because that cost covers both WebEx Meeting and WebEx Training (as well as two other less useful applications) the cost could be shared with the other University divisions. A third option is to use an open source application called Big Blue Button (BBB). Asahi Net International, the firm that provides updates and bug fixes for our Sakai learning Management System (ReggieNet), will soon start hosting BBB and would make it available to ISU at no additional charge if we moved from an on-campus architecture for running Sakai to one that is hosted in their environment. 2) Not having a quick and convenient way to provide closed captioning for videos used in online courses is increasing legal risk. On 12 February, Harvard and M.I.T. were sued over lack of closed captions in videos on their edX online courses. The lawsuits, filed by the National Association of the Deaf, seek an injunction requiring that closed captioning be provided for all online materials. (Tamar Lewin, NYTimes, 13 Feb. 2015, p. A18) The accessibility of learning materials to all students, regardless of disability, is a huge issue in online learning and an integral consideration when designing an online course. Koemei is a $40,000 per year subscription service that provides "online tools to transcribe, edit, caption and index the world's growing educational rich media content." Koemei offers automatic machine-captioning with a very high degree of accuracy. Without Koemei, CTLT staff estimate (based on experience and experimentation) that it will take professors and/or teaching assistants about 10 minutes of transcription time per minute of media time. Purchase of Koemei would result in a huge savings of time for faculty and CTLT staff developing course material, regardless of the delivery mode. 3) Illinois State University invested in a university-wide license for Select Survey, a locallymanaged web-based survey platform, to help avoid the duplication of effort that resulted from offering support for various software programs of varying capabilities in multiple departments. The annual cost to campus is $550 (paid for by WEB). Having a single platform available for web-based surveys increased familiarity among faculty and staff on campus and helped ensure its successful adoption institution-wide, as well as its extension to uses beyond research. Over time, expectations of the power of survey software, especially for research, have grown and the features in Select Survey have not grown apace. Faculty and staff are once again turning to other sources (SurveyMonkey, Google Docs, etc.) because of the enhanced features offered. In addition, maintenance to patch security vulnerabilities for Select Survey has become very time consuming for OAT staff. OAT has begun a campus-wide review of the gap between the survey services offered by Select Survey and the services desired, in order to write a Business Case to get support OAT • Always Connected 16 March 2015 Page 8 of 27 FY16 Academic Priorities for Technology Enhancements for an RfP to purchase a modern web-based survey tool to offer to faculty, staff, and students. This RfP could be issued during the fall semester 2015. If all goes well we can begin training on and deployment of an improved web-based survey tool during FY16. The cost of that software service is currently unknown and will, of course, depend on the firms that respond to the RfP. 4) Select Survey has also been used on university websites as a form for collecting static data (e.g., seminar sign up sheet). After extensive research and collaboration with Administrative Technologies and the Information Security Office, and with the approval of the Stewardship Council, Formstack was identified as a solution that allows users to create secure and mobile-friendly data collection forms & work flows, without heavy involvement from OAT staff. An Enterprise license for Formstack is $6,000 per year for 100 users. This is a Software as a Service cloud solution that eliminates the need to have dedicated staff doing server maintenance, database administration, and security patching for the application. The Enterprise license for Formstack is currently paid for out of the GR budget of the Office of Academic Technologies. 5) Adobe Creative Suite software (Photoshop, Acrobat, InDesign, Premiere Pro, After Effects) has been a standard in multiple industries including, but not limited to, graphic design, marketing, concept design, print layout, and video and audio production. Mastery of these software are part of the curricula for the Colleges of Business, Fine Arts, Arts & Sciences, and Applied Science and Technology. In May 2013 Adobe announced they would no longer be selling Creative Suite as a stand-alone software package but instead their creative software would only be available via their Adobe Creative Cloud subscription service. There is no industry-recognized or feature-equivalent alternative to the Adobe Creative Cloud suite of application. Although contract negotiations are on going, a single annual subscription could cost as much as $480 per computer, per year. Over the last five years, TechZone has received over 550 orders from campus colleges/departments for approximately 2,500 Create Suite products costing about $340,000. Within this new subscription model these same departments could expect spend approximately $192,000 annually. So over a similar five-year period that would cost $960,000. In light of this considerable increase in cost we recommend investigating what a sitelicense may cost the University. In the past Adobe has only offered such terms based on a count of all faculty, staff, and students. No estimate can be made of this cost without pursuing such a negotiation with Adobe. It is our hope that a site license may offset or decrease the cost with the added benefit of allowing all faculty, staff, and students access to the software. OAT • Always Connected 16 March 2015 Page 9 of 27 FY16 Academic Priorities for Technology Enhancements 6) There are other software tools that are already in use by one or more units or are used by CTLT in faculty development workshops (such as Camtasia Studio). Some of these software tools have been purchased under separate contracts and, in some cases, at different prices. Better information on these contracts needs to be assembled and attempts made to renegotiate the prices on those contracts at an enterprise level (where usage is extensive) or local levels (for niche software). 7) In previous years, this Report has noted shared interest in providing “faculty, staff, and students with Web-based IT training options available 24/7”. Toward that end, the University could subscribe to online software training services such as those offered by Lynda.com, Atomic Learning, Element K, and others. These hosted services present quick Web-based text and video tutorials on a wide variety of software tools in use at Illinois State (such as MS Office, Adobe Creative Suite software, etc.) on topics useful for beginners and experts alike. Purchase of a subscription from Lynda.com has a list price of around $86,000 per year. Right now the University offers no support for students who have questions about productivity software use beyond what the Technology Support Center can provide. 8) While this is the highest IT priority for the College of Arts and Sciences, it is a priority shared by the College of Applied Sciences and Technology, Milner Library, the Office of Admissions, and the ISU Foundation. That priority is to obtain a site license for ESRIArcGIS Software as well as the server and storage capacity necessary to meet campuswide needs. One may consider this a technological imperative for a university wishing to remain relevant in the state of Illinois because all Illinois high schools have access to the software and our ability to train their future teachers and make scholarly and administrative applications of GIS for the university’s broad benefit. ISU is the only state university in Illinois without a GIS site license. A business case proposing the consolidation of licenses into one campus-wide license has been supported by the Data Stewardship and IT Services Council. A preliminary estimate of a campus license to the ArcGIS software is $25,000 per year. Facilitate Research With State-Of-The-Art Information Assets And Technologies [Grow] One of the Strategies under Goal 4 in Educating Illinois 2013-2018 is “Enhance technology infrastructure for ... research activities” (Strategy 2.C). In support of that Strategy, Goal 2 in the IT Strategic Plan 2015-2018 encourages the University to “…facilitate University research with state-of-the-art information assets and technologies”. The Office of Academic Technologies endorses these goals and pledges to work with faculty and research staff to seek out the best means of enhancing the infrastructure in support of research activities. OAT • Always Connected 16 March 2015 Page 10 of 27 FY16 Academic Priorities for Technology Enhancements Mobile Device Management and Security [Run] Laptop and mobile device security and encryption are a major item of interest to the colleges. As more devices are in use with faculty and staff and their uses proliferate the likelihood of theft and other risks increases dramatically. Per ISU internal audit recommendations and best practices the colleges will be working together to develop a laptop and mobile device management strategy that includes device encryption, inventory tracking, application management, and theft prevention/recovery tools. Efficient Fixed Asset Management [Run] The Office of Academic Technologies has identified a need for new tools and processes relating to inventory tracking and management. In large part this is because the limitations of the current processes make it difficult to comply with security and auditing obligations. OAT is interested in an inventory management tool capable of tracking items and their location over time via data entry from devices (like bar-code scanners), communications tools (like ticketing systems), or via automated tracking or management systems (like SCCM or Mobile Device Management (MDM)). Using a modern inventory management tool would decrease staff hours required, improve accuracy, and minimize liability and security risks. Provide Access to Information Resources on Mobile Devices [Transform] Mobile devices continue to transform how students engage with the institution, as well as to influence their learning preferences, both within and outside the classroom. Access to information and personal data via mobile platforms has rapidly become the norm rather than the exception for user interaction and communication. Gartner research predicts that more than 50% of all web traffic will originate from mobile devices in 2015. Web analytics on Admissions and several Student Affairs websites report that 40% of the traffic to those pages come from smart phones. In the past year we have seen an 85% increase in mobile traffic at Illinois State with more than 5 million mobile phone sessions and 1.4 million sessions from tablets. The EDUCAUSE Center for Analysis and Research, summarizing their report on Higher Education’s Top 10 Strategic Technologies for 2015 note that “The year 2015 is all about mobile. Seven of the 2015 top 10 strategic technologies are directly or indirectly related to mobile computing”. These numbers reveal an increasing demand from the University community for information to be mobile ready, and for communications and input to occur on whatever device one may be using at the time. Dedicating additional resources to our mobility related efforts will promote and advance the University's reputation and brand (Educating Illinois Goal 3, Strategy 4). Support for mobile access to University data also presents an opportunity to help instructors learn and integrate mobile technologies into the curriculum, while providing the opportunity to increase recruitment and retention for the university as a whole. To the extent possible, key institutional web resources and applications should be fully accessible in a suitable mobile format. As a OAT • Always Connected 16 March 2015 Page 11 of 27 FY16 Academic Priorities for Technology Enhancements result, the first Strategy in Goal 1 of the new IT Strategic Plan for 2015-2018 is “Provide access to information resources anytime, anywhere, and on multiple devices”. To be able to increase the number of institutional web resources and applications that are fully accessible in a suitable mobile format, WEB will fill two current staff vacancies with personnel experienced with building modern, mobile accessible website. Server-hosted Virtual Desktop Infrastructure [Transform] Desktop virtualization has multiple deployment models. In all of these models one can use a variety of computing devices to access as little as a single application running in a hosted server environment (application virtualization) or as much as an entire computing experience — operating system, applications, and storage — (remote desktop virtualization) running on those servers. Desktop virtualization can provide significant improvements in computer manageability and cost savings by consolidating the services offered by a number of supported computers onto a centralized service in a hosted server environment. Many departmental lab computers provide students access to specialized and limited-license software. Some of this software is no longer compatible with the latest operating systems. A virtualized environment allows these applications to be delivered outside of the boundaries of a specific lab, and it allows those applications to be administered more efficiently. Also, desktop computers require regularly scheduled recapitalization. The cost of recapitalizing a zero client, thin client, or bare-bones desktop computer is minimized as the cost of that equipment is less than that of a normal desktop computer and the useful life-span of the client equipment is likely to be longer. The Office of Academic Technologies supports the deployment of a server-hosted virtual desktop infrastructure on campus to improve the computing experience of faculty and students, and to reduce the cost to colleges of providing computing services from desktop and lab environments. At a minimum we would encourage the move to application sharing so that more students can have access to full-featured academic applications from their own computer. OAT • Always Connected 16 March 2015 Page 12 of 27 FY16 Academic Priorities for Technology Enhancements College Priorities for Technology Enhancements College of Applied Science and Technology The College of Applied Science and Technology (CAST) provides technology support and services to faculty, staff, and students in order to meet the needs of its eight Departments and Schools, most of which have unique and challenging requirements that serve to promote faculty and student fluency in the use of technology. Our efforts with technology are driven by the Departmental, School, and College Strategic Plans which have a direct “line of sight” to Educating Illinois. From the College Strategic Plan: CAST provides state-of-the-art technology and infrastructure that is sensitive to a healthy, safe, and environmentally sustainable campus. Strategy A: Promote student technology fluency, as well as relevant faculty and staff development, in the use of technology for teaching and scholarship. Strategy B: Establish up-to-date technology and infrastructure to support teaching and research activities. Strategy C: Collaborate with university technology units (e.g., CTLT, AT, and OAT) to more efficiently deploy resources. Strategy D: Explore permanent funding for additional support staff in areas of demonstrated need. Strategy E: Promote initiatives and activities which incorporate sustainable practices in support of Education Illinois (Goal 4; Strategy 5). Run 1. Continue to implement a sustainable faculty office computer replacement model with the goal of being able to replace/upgrade faculty computer on a 3 year cycle. 2. Support equipment/software in the Physiology Assessment Lab, Biomechanics lab, and Sport Psychology lab. 3. Support the Caterpillar Integrated Manufacturing Laboratory where students learn how to write programs for Programmable Logic Controllers (PLCs) and ABB Industrial robot arms. 4. Support Visual Retailing software for the Apparel, Merchandising, and Design sequence. 5. Support Past Perfect – museum management software – in order to provide a system for managing the Lois Jett Historic Costume Collection. OAT • Always Connected 16 March 2015 Page 13 of 27 FY16 Academic Priorities for Technology Enhancements 6. Support Superior Observation software for video analysis by KNR faculty and students. 7. Investigate solutions for central Macintosh computer management. Grow 1. Explore the use of tablets in a variety of programs (i.e. – teacher education, parks and recreation) both as a learning tool for students and as a classroom/teaching tool for faculty. 2. Expand the use/knowledge of ARC GIS in AGR, CJS, HSC, IT. 3. Install a lighting laboratory for the IED program. 4. Explore the use of PigCHAMP software (the leader in swine farm management software) for use by AGR students and faculty. 5. Develop a media lab for student use where video podcasting and similar projects are supported. 6. Explore the application of social media as a curricular instrument in the classroom. 7. Explore the installation of a dedicated Research & Innovation space in Turner Hall to support faculty, student, and community member ideas and product prototyping. 8. Explore the development of a shared learning space located adjacent to a CAST School or Department that will accommodate a variety of teaching and learning technologies. 9. Continue to develop and supply specialized computing labs for students (i.e. - ADM Convergence lab, Enterprise Computing Systems lab, Internet 2 lab, Data Security/ Wireless lab, Human-Computer Interface lab). 10. Provide opportunities for students to be involved in the design and construction of the ISU Solar Car. (With the use of modeling software and plotters, plastic parts are designed on computers and panels are printed to scale on plotters for cut out.) 11. Provide faculty and students access to open-source Micro CNC Mill to enable the making of circuit boards. These machines have played a crucial role in the development of the new Renewable Energy Lab by creating custom electronic housings and electrical circuit boards for the new Solar PV Lab Stations. Transform 1. Establish a dedicated space for the 32 channel cognitive biofeedback system for collaborative use by CAST units to examine consumers’ cognitive and affective response to stimuli by measuring physiological states such as brainwaves, muscle tension, heart rate variability, eye movement, and respiration rate. 2. Integrate teaching & learning technology in the renovated FCS Culinary Arts Laboratory scheduled to open in August 2015. OAT • Always Connected 16 March 2015 Page 14 of 27 FY16 Academic Priorities for Technology Enhancements 3. Implement desktop virtualization technology (HVD) and application virtualization with the intent of utilizing virtualization to increase availability of software to students and faculty both on and off campus. OAT • Always Connected 16 March 2015 Page 15 of 27 FY16 Academic Priorities for Technology Enhancements College of Arts and Sciences The College of Arts & Sciences (CAS) has focused on continuing and enhancing services provided to faculty, staff, and students while cooperating with central IT units to reduce the amount of redundancy throughout the university. Our efforts with technology are driven by the college's mission and vision statements which are influenced by those of the university. Run 1. As changes in IT personnel have illustrated over the last few years, a lack of salary standardization threatens the stability of IT staffing across ISU. Within and across IT units personnel have been lured out of existing duties for "greener pastures" to be found in another unit, often times with a lateral or even lower levels of responsibility. Indeed, the inconsistency of pay between colleges leaves us with fundamentally unfair situations which make retention of key employees unlikely. We have seen the same dynamic in play between employees of Administrative Technologies and those in the colleges. We urge central administration to take steps to address these inequities. 2. Multiple levels of end-point support 3. A Training and Advanced Projects office focused on services for CAS departments, faculty, or researcher needs not offered at a university level or offered at a level that does not meet their specific needs 4. Select Survey until the university implements a new campus wide solution 5. Enterprise level services such as personal file services or collaboration file services until the university provides a superior service (like OneDrive with Office 365) 6. Faculty and staff consultation on use of CAS or university provided services and equipment purchasing 7. Point and Click software for CSD Clinic medical billing (hosted by AT) 8. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) 9. Server infrastructure for files, licenses, database, etc. 10. Continue involvement with university-wide projects as subject matter experts or partners in combined service 11. Work with Research and Sponsored Programs on a University Research Grant submission system 12. In-house developed budget request system 13. Continue to migrate CAS departments from a CAS-IT hosted news system (built on WordPress) to the university hosted “Stories” system 14. Continue to consolidate equipment in our server room and reduce duplication of services within CAS-IT and campus wide OAT • Always Connected 16 March 2015 Page 16 of 27 FY16 Academic Priorities for Technology Enhancements Grow 1. The College of Arts and Sciences highest IT priority is to work in consultation with the other ISU colleges, Milner Library, Office of Admissions, and ISU Foundation to obtain a site license for ESRI-ArcGIS Software as well as the server and storage capacity necessary to meet campus-wide needs. We consider this a technological imperative for any university wishing to remain relevant in the state of Illinois as all Illinois high schools have access to the software and our ability to train their future teachers and make scholarly and administrative applications of GIS for the university’s broad benefit. ISU is the only state university in Illinois without a GIS site license. 2. Use of Digital Measures as a productivity tool and syllabus repository 3. Use of About.IllinoisState.edu website CMS system for faculty reputation and small campus organizations 4. Process efficiency utilizing asynchronous communication technologies and automated work flows (SharePoint, Formstack) 5. Self-help options for faculty and staff training and knowledge of CAS provided services 6. Continue to improve proactive alerting and monitoring of CAS-IT hosted services and their dependencies 7. Consistencies within CAS-IT related to general processes and services 8. Value of the newly formed CAS Technology Advisory Board comprised of faculty and staff from across CAS as a guide to new or changing services Transform 1. Implement a MDM or EMM suite to increase staff efficiency/reduce response time, data security, minimize service disruptions 2. Formalize a sustainable faculty and staff equipment recapitalization plan 3. Utilize the Student Information System (SIS) as a single data warehouse and tool for use of that data 4. Inception™ software & hardware support: This hardware and software provides a platform for managing and disseminating news and other information packets across all media (print, broadcast, digital, etc.), including blogs and social media, and provides a physical location for “converging” all of our information packets (classroom, WGLT, WZND, the Daily Vidette, TV-10) for access across all of our communication methods, from interpersonal to mass media. Students, staff, and faculty will operate this system which is integral to producing the modern journalism, mass media, public relations, and communication professional. OAT • Always Connected 16 March 2015 Page 17 of 27 FY16 Academic Priorities for Technology Enhancements College of Business Run 1. The COB is currently engaged in a small-scale desktop virtualization effort that supports specialized business applications (like Morningstar Direct for instance) and provides a secure development environment for the Accounting Department’s Business Information Systems curriculum. Despite users needing additional permissions for accessing databases and debugging code the virtual machines return to a “zero state” at log-off, minimizing security risks. This desktop virtualization effort has also been utilized to support components of the MBA program that require access to particular software packages. This solution has proven to be both effective and popular with both faculty and students. 2. The COB completed the first phase of a major reworking of the wiring in all State Farm Hall of Business Computer Lab spaces in the late summer of 2014. This has resulted in fewer technical issues reported in the computer labs and has minimized damage to, computers, cables, and devices. 3. The COB began leveraging SCCM nearly two years ago for production applications and on November 6th, 2014 was the first non-AT division to fully implement the SCCM production environment. COB staff have participated in the SCCM user group and are now helping other academic areas launch and configure their own SCCM implementations. 4. In the spring of 2014 the COB began to improve many security practices by simplifying security access group structures and creating systematic naming conventions for accounts, groups, and resources. Some of these naming conventions have since been referenced by other colleges and the COB intends to continue this effort into FY16. 5. Also starting in the spring of 2014 the COB began a long-term effort to improve system performance, stability, reliability, and survivability. This has already resulted in far fewer outages of critical services than was typical in the past. Additional changes underway will continue to improve on these gains and should continue to improve the COB’s up time and general service reliability. 6. Laptop and mobile device security and encryption are a major item of interest to the COB. As more devices are in use with faculty and staff and their uses proliferate the likelihood of theft and other risks increases dramatically. Per auditor recommendations and best practices the COB will be working with our campus partners to develop a laptop and mobile device management strategy that includes device encryption, inventory tracking, application management, and theft prevention/recovery tools. Mobile Device Management (MDM) should be a key part of this effort. OAT • Always Connected 16 March 2015 Page 18 of 27 FY16 Academic Priorities for Technology Enhancements Grow 1. Beginning in the fall of 2014 the COB partnered with IT and Milner Library to bring a simulated SAP environment to campus. The Department of Accounting is now utilizing SAP as their primary simulated (and cloud-based) Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) tool. This replaced the existing Microsoft Dynamics Great Plains installations that had become difficult to maintain. As part of this effort the COB sent two faculty and one technical staff member for training. This agreement also allows Milner, IT, and the COB to leverage other cloud applications available under the SAP umbrella. 4. The COB continues to invest in Camtasia Studio as it has become a very popular application with faculty. Many faculty utilize Camtasia in support of online teaching (this has proven true with COB faculty as well). Considering the current push for online summer courses (and the application’s prevalence/utility) it is recommended that the University consider purchasing a campus license for Camtasia Studio. 5. COB-IT reiterates it would like to be an early adopter of the new ITSM tool when it becomes available and would like to partner with Technology Support Center in the tool’s configuration, testing, and roll-out. OAT • Always Connected 16 March 2015 Page 19 of 27 FY16 Academic Priorities for Technology Enhancements College of Education Run 1. An updated inventory management system a. Location changes are not recorded in a timely manner (or at all) b. Reports from Property Control are often inaccurate c. Historical records for item locations cannot be retrieved d. Hand-recording of records are too easily affected by transcription error 2. A Mac Management platform a. Macs require much more support time than Windows machines because we do not have remote management tools 3. A more robust survey/data collection tool a. Current tools lack the functionality that is needed by our faculty 4. A virtualized solution, that allows ISU students to access expensive/course specific software on their personal machines 5. A room/resource scheduling service that requires less manual intervention from tech staff. 6. A faculty/staff on-boarding tool, that would advise ISU employees of technology procedures as they begin employment a. Ideally, the tool would also enroll them in services, such as Exchange without manual intervention from the tech team. Grow 1. More space and technology for Studio TEaCH 2. Shared printing OAT • Always Connected 16 March 2015 Page 20 of 27 FY16 Academic Priorities for Technology Enhancements College of Fine Arts As we work with our faculty advisory group to develop our strategic plan for technology, we will be focused on how to deliver IT services in the most efficient manner as we plan for our new and renovated facilities, and the displacements during the construction process. We do not anticipate receiving enhancement funding for technology in this next year, but we are conscious of these needs. Run 1. Our IT audit urges us to upgrade faculty computers more frequently. To be able to meet the suggested 3 year rotation, we will need an additional $50,000 annually. This presumes we continue our current course of keeping faculty laptops to a minimum. There is increasing demand on us to provide laptops rather than desktops, and we will address this in our strategic plan. Laptop cost, maintenance, and refresh times (generally laptops need replacing more frequently than desktops) would add to this annual cost. 2. We will be replacing one staff position in spring of 2015, and we need an additional position to manage the support needs of our College. 3. We need to expand the inroads in Mac management we have made with Munki and Deploy Studio by investing in an MDM solution such as Airwatch or JAMF. We will work with others academic technology areas to bring a solution to campus within the next 8 months. We are committed to partnering with other units in Academic Technologies to provide services to each other where a cost and effort savings can be achieved. We hope investment in a MDM can be a model for this kind of collaboration. 4. We are invested heavily in Adobe products for teaching and for faculty work. An affordable agreement with Adobe must be reached and financed. It is not clear to what degree our contract with Adobe will need to be managed centrally; if the cost of Adobe products from local budgets exceeds current levels, we will need additional permanent funding to continue to offer a quality education to our students. Grow 1. We desperately need more ergonomic furnishings for our labs, both our present spaces and our planned spaces in the new Fine Arts Complex. Any investment we make before construction is complete must be mobile and adaptable to new configurations. OAT • Always Connected 16 March 2015 Page 21 of 27 FY16 Academic Priorities for Technology Enhancements Mennonite College of Nursing The Mennonite College of nursing provides technology services and support for faculty students and staff in Edwards Hall and the Nursing Simulation Lab. Many of the current technology priorities below focus on determining how to best use our existing technology resources to reduce costs associated with providing IT services, while maintaining our current level of service. Run 1. Replace Simulation Manikin MCN is currently working towards the purchase of a new SimBaby simulation manikin for the nursing simulation laboratory. This manikin will replace an existing obsolete manikin used in the Nursing Care of Children course. The new SimBaby will play the role of a middle aged infant in simulations and will have the capacity to present a large variety of diagnostic cues including abnormal heart and lung sounds, cyanosis, and a bulging fontanel. This allows for new and complex training scenarios to which students would otherwise not have access. These capabilities are integral to the Nursing Care of Children course. MCN relies on simulation technology to provide clinical experience in a safe environment which would not otherwise be available to our students. Ultimately, this will allow MCN graduates to better serve our communities most vulnerable members. The purchase of a new simulation manikin will also provide valuable training to new MCN staff which will allow them to support and take full advantage of simulation technology. 2. Replace Web Conferencing Tool MCN currently uses Blackboard Collaborate to provide Web Conferencing capabilities to our faculty. Faculty us this service to host lectures online, to record lectures, to make pre-recorded lectures available to students, and to host online office hours. Licensing for this software is shared with the College of Education and Milner Library. The College of Education, which caries the majority of the licensing expense, has decided to abandon this product and is currently looking for a less expensive vendor. While this is understandable, the resulting uncertainty represents a significant risk to MCN's online programs. This capability is critical to MCN's online programs because it provides online students with access to their instructors comparable to that which traditional students enjoy. Furthermore, this capability is critical if MCN is maintain parity with competing institutions. The ability to provide interactive access to faculty in an online format has become a standard for online education. Without this capability it will become more difficult for MCN to recruit and retain students in its online programs. Ideally this capability would be provided by a single campus wide solution. This would have the advantage of providing a uniformed experience to students and would also reduce the overall cost to the university. OAT • Always Connected 16 March 2015 Page 22 of 27 FY16 Academic Priorities for Technology Enhancements Grow 1. Replace Customized Items with Configurable Items The MCN currently relies on customized scripts to provide core services such as printing, shared drives and workstation configuration. These items are inherently difficult to maintain because they are often poorly documented and rely on proprietary knowledge. The capability exists to replace these customized items with configurable item, such as Group Policy. This will simplify the process of supporting these services and free up staff time for other activities. Transform 1. Reflective Portfolio The function of the reflective portfolio for the MCN traditional undergraduate program is multifaceted. It serves to assess students' progress of their professional development over the course of the nursing program through critical reflection of our desired program outcomes. Through critical reflection, students learn to think on a metacognitive level, integrating theory and scholarly research with their own personal experiences. While completing their portfolio, students will gain a greater understanding of what they have learned, how they have learned, and why they have learned. The reflective portfolio also provides faculty with invaluable feedback which augments traditional assessment and informs program evaluation by identifying gaps as well as strengths in the program. This will help to improve the program overall, as well as contribute to the reaccreditation process. We seek to provide students with the capabilities to create and maintain a reflective portfolio electronically, ideally with a service which would integrate ISU’s existing learning management services. This service will provide a central location where students will curate content on an ongoing basis though out their undergraduate program. Students will be able to share their portfolios with faculty for feedback and assessment purposes. We anticipate that this will have the benefit of enhancing students’ ability to meet program objectives and enhancing the ability of faculty to respond to the needs of their students. OAT • Always Connected 16 March 2015 Page 23 of 27 FY16 Academic Priorities for Technology Enhancements Milner Library Milner Library developed its annual technology plan through conversations coordinated through the Library Operations Council. Milner utilizes its Strategic Map, 2014-2019 to help guide the development of its annual technology goals and projects for each of its six strategic priorities. Optimize access to information 1. Work with Web staff in the Office of Academic Technologies to accelerate Milner website redesign process – Implement plan for redesigning library web site by utilizing campus and library resources and user feedback. - Grow 2. Improve campus-wide streaming options for videos – Participate in discussions to improve reliability of campus-provided streaming options for faculty and explore options for students. - Grow Advance transformative teaching and learning 3. Work with networking staff in Administrative Technologies and audio/visual staff in the Office of Academic Technologies to explore wireless environments for Milner’s collaborative workstations – Lessen patron frustration and library service demands by replacing current, cabled collaborative workstations. - Grow 4. Expand discussion of Milner learning spaces – Explore active learning classrooms pedagogy and principles to help guide Milner development of library learning spaces. Transform Enhance strategic partnerships 5. Initiate discussion on gaming needs – Identify faculty and student needs related to a gaming collection and space in Milner. - Transform 6. Engage faculty in discussions about emerging technologies, pedagogies and research tools – Milner Library, in collaboration with CTLT and other campus partners, will survey faculty to identify their needs to better inform development of collaborative partnerships and future space planning. - Grow Design a facility that enhances learning and research 7. Investigate group study room scheduler – Explore options for an online and easy-to-use scheduler that allows patrons to check status and easily reserve Milner’s group study rooms. – Grow OAT • Always Connected 16 March 2015 Page 24 of 27 FY16 Academic Priorities for Technology Enhancements 8. Analyze wireless usage – Work with networking staff in Administrative Technologies to continue to monitor wireless capacity and usage in the library to ensure patrons’ need are continually met and explore options that allow users to identify areas with greater capacity. – Run 9. Investigate new kiosk – Improve patron way finding and access to essential library services with new kiosks that utilize touchscreen technologies, as seen in the Bone Student Center. – Grow Encourage library faculty and staff excellence 10. Expand Library Intranet – Utilize campus and library resources to further improve Milner’s SharePoint instance to enhance staff communication, information sharing and planning. - Grow 11. Implement campus’ new System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM) – Improve internal end user experience through successful implementation of campus solution. Run Align library resources with strategic priorities 12. Implement campus Information Technology Service Management (ITSM) application – Improve Milner’s information technology support through investigation and appropriate integration of ITSM applications. - Run OAT • Always Connected 16 March 2015 Page 25 of 27 FY16 Academic Priorities for Technology Enhancements Enrollment Management and Academic Services The Office of Enrollment Management and Academic Services (EMAS) oversees various university policies, procedures, and requirements related to university and program enrollment management in addition to initiatives which promote the academic success of prospective and current students. The Office of Admissions, Financial Aid Office, the Office the University Registrar, and University College are included as EMAS units. EMAS Technical Support Staff provides technology support to staff and students in Admissions, Financial Aid, University Registrar and University College. Run 1. We currently support over 150 full time staff members, as well as additional extra help, student workers, graduate assistants, and part time employees. We provide technology support and services to over 250 users. Our priority is to have all computers used by full time staff on a 4 year rotation. We are also heavily invested in laptops and various mobile devices to support the recruiting, registration/orientation, and retention efforts. 2. We continue to significantly reduce the number of personal printers and networked LaserJet printers, as printing to networked copy machines has proven to be much more cost effective. 3. We continue to virtualize servers as time/workload allows. 4. Continue to assist AT in supporting Imagenow across campus. Grow 1. Once settled in our new student information system (Campus Solutions) we will research the technology involved in sending and receiving electronic transcripts. This will provide a much greater service to prospective, current, and graduating students. Although we do currently receive some electronic transcripts, they are in .pdf format and require manual work to enter the data into the mainframe. In the future we plan to accept .xml files which could be directly uploaded into our SIS, eliminating staff time to enter data manually. 2. Upgrade SQL Server 2008 to SQL Server 2012 within the next 2 years. Transform 1. Significant efforts have been and will continue to be put into the redesign and development of a multitude of existing systems to interface with Campus Solutions. This will only continue to grow as the new system comes online. 2. We are beginning to use SCCM to push software out to users. We recently sent one staff member to Administering System Center 2012 Configuration Manager training. He will serve on the SCCM Steering Committee and be a resource to campus as they implement SCCM in their departments. Using SCCM to push software out to users will save OAT • Always Connected 16 March 2015 Page 26 of 27 FY16 Academic Priorities for Technology Enhancements technical staff members a considerable amount of time when installing or upgrading software. 3. Migrate EMAS Pro functionality to RightNow CRM when new CRM comes online. Rewrite Admissions’ websites to integrate with RightNow. OAT • Always Connected 16 March 2015 Page 27 of 27
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