Info
ormatiion Teechnology SServicees Re
eport to the
e Board off Trustees
Januaary 19, 20111 In
nformation Technologyy Services Janu
uary 19, 20111 (Prepared: December 22, 2010) STUD
DENT SUCCEESS Commiitment to Exxcellence •
The site
e license forr the new version of Pan
nopto Focus has increase
ed faculty adoption. LLecture Captture and Student Views There aare currentlyy 72 Recordeers installed on UA comp
puters includin
ng those in tthe Distancee Learning classrooms th
hat are share
ed by multtiple instruc tors. By the end of the FFall 2010 sem
mester, 4,162 unique users had logg
ged into the
e server 12,3334 times to
o view 217,0
000 minutes of recorded content. While tthere were ppeaks of actiivity prior to
o mid‐term aand final exams (as wou
uld be expeccted), there was also eviidence of an
n increase in regularr visits by stuudents to revview lecturees they misseed or to augment their notees and impro
ove their understandingg. Panoptto Focus is a simple solution for captturing lecturres and offering them fo
or later view
wing. It has tthe ability to
o capture au
udio, PowerP
Point lecturees with narraation, and sccreen capturres with narratio
on. It offers integratedd note takingg, enabling the viewer to
o take notes at any poiint in the preesentation aand revisit th
hem. •
C
Campus‐wide
e Innovation
n Spigit h
held a worksshop in earlyy December for memberrs of the oversigght committeee, which includes studeents, Deans,, VP/AVP, directo
ors, and IT st aff. The goal of the workshop was h
how to implem
ment, promoote, and evaluate the inn
novation inittiative. The wo
orkshop focuused on: •
•
•
•
•
Program fram
ming: objectivves success m
metrics Engagementt “levers”: rew
wards and reccognition Design Process mappping: evaluattion and implementation
Communicattions As of th
his writing, aa 90‐day pilo
ot of the tool is scheduleed for the Spring 2011 semesster. The pilo
ot will engagge students, faculty and prove studen
nt retention and successs. staff in identifying ways to imp
Througghout the pil ot, the committee will rreview the to
ool and its use. Near th
he end of thee pilot projeect, the comm
mittee will m
make a recomm
mendation tto senior management w
whether the University should continue ussing Spigit fo
or the remain
nder of the yyear or to disconttinue its use . 2|ITS UPDATE
•
Audio Visual Services Audio Visual Service installed seven general purpose classrooms in the Polsky Building during the holiday intersession. High resolution LCD projectors, eight‐foot electronic wall screens, audio systems, and DVD video capabilities are now permanently installed to encourage faculty and students use of video or audio presentation technology. GLOBAL RELEVANCE Develop Dynamic and Globally Relevant Programs •
With the installation in the National Polymer Innovation Center, ITS completed installation of the twentieth UA campus Distance Learning Classroom. Distance Learning: Academics and a Global Reach UADL added the following public high schools to our Distance Learning Post‐Secondary Enrollment Option courses for dual credit in Fall 2010: •
•
•
Malvern High School in Carroll County Green High School in Summit County Riverview High School in Coshocton County While Distance Learning rooms are academically focused, their technology helps UA reach around the globe. With UADL video bridging technology, Distance Learning Services connected with Henan University in China for China Week. UA was able to transmit real time interactive collaboration of national guest. Board members from UA & Henan University in China met face‐to‐
face via distance learning technology to hold the Semi Annual Confucius Institute Board of Trustees meeting •
The University’s New Web Pages The web team continues converting University departments and colleges to the new web design. Launched: •
•
•
•
Registrar Student Accounts – updates, improved readability and usability design for internal and external audiences New Student Orientation General Counsel Sites being completed: •
•
•
•
•
•
Arts and Sciences Phase II University College Summit College Workforce Development Purchasing University Police 3|ITS UPDATE
DISTTINCTION Facilitate Faculty D
Developmentt and Successs by Expand
ding Clusterss of Interdissciplinary Teeaching and Research •
Springb
board (Desirre2Learn) Faculty Steerin
ng Committeee: SSpringboard (Desire2Learn) The firsst meeting oof the newly formed Springboard Faculty Steerin
ng committtee was helld on Thursd
day, Decemb
ber 2. The com
mmittee wil l meet oncee in the fall, sspring, and ssummer to discusss Springboar d, faculty co
oncerns, and
d feedback. The goaals of the steeering comm
mittee includ
de: •
•
•
•
•
•
R
Recruiting So
olutions: E‐R
Recruiting Improve communicatio
on with facullty Improve annd streamlineed features of Springboaard, making them as acccessible as p
possible for ffaculty and sstudents Ascertain faaculty trainin
ng needs. Discuss, doccument, and
d prioritize feature requests. Coordinate upgrade dates In Dece
ember, Cedaar Crestone, Inc. was selected througgh competittive biddingg to provide consulting sservices to h
help configurre and implem
ment the PeoopleSoft Reccruiting Soluttions module. Recruitting Solutionns is a web‐aaccessible, online system
m which will help to
o streamline and automaate the recru
uiting and hiring processs for ope
en positions at the Univeersity. The p
project team
m is being formed
d and the prooject is scheeduled to kicck off in earlyy January. •
G
Governance & Project management The inittiative to ex pand and im
mprove the p
process and framework tto manage
e all IT projeects continuees. Softwaree to help manage projects is beingg incorporatted into the fframework. Pilot prrojects utiliziing the new process and
d tools have been selectted and traaining for thee project teaam members for these initial projects is begin
nning. The p rojects seleccted for the pilot are sch
heduled to begin in
n the next seeveral montths. As the new process is refined through
h the pilot pprojects, training for add
ditional groups will be provide
ed. The govvernance prrocess relateed to the seleection and p
prioritization
n of all IT prrojects is beiing refined. Incorporatin
ng the use o
of software w
will help im
mprove this aas well. Train
ning is expeccted in the fiirst half of 2011. 4|ITS UPDATE
The selection committee is still evaluating the bids received from the Electronic Medical Records vendors involved in the RFP process. Attempts are being made to mitigate the costs associated with the bids by reducing the scope of what is required from the vendors or in reducing the number of user licenses that the three departments involved in the bid will require. •
Electronic Medical Records: Vendors Under consideration •
Time & Labor / Absence Management: Oracle's PeopleSoft Enterprise Time and Labor is designed to support the time reporting needs of a wide range of business functions, RFP Drafted including payroll, financial and cost accounting, project management, employee benefits, and organizational administration. PeopleSoft Time and Labor is part of Oracle’s PeopleSoft Enterprise Human Capital Management suite of applications. As of mid‐November, the project team, led by HR/Payroll and assisted by ITS, was ready to launch the project, i.e., build a charter, scope statement, project plan, and identify resources. This phase should be completed by mid‐December. A draft Request for Proposal (RFP) is being reviewed for improvements and modifications. Decisions are pending on the use of certain functionality within the module, i.e., labor distribution and leave reporting. The resolution of these issues will determine when the RFP can be posted for bids. Project structure continues to gain momentum with a project team outline and a charter initiated. Milestones and tasks for the project plan are being collected. We are currently researching the feasibility of putting in Absence Management in conjunction with Time and Labor. After some initial discussions with Oracle and a vendor familiar with putting in Time and Labor, this seems to be recommended practice. The cost/benefit analysis has not been done for adding this onto the implementation. Absence Management streamlines sick and vacation tracking improving accuracy and minimizing administrative cost. •
Grants Management: Post‐award An RFP was created to obtain professional services with expertise in implementing PeopleSoft Grants Management Post‐award (e.g., accounting, grants billing, and receivables). It was determined because of the cost of the responses to reject all bids. The project was then split into two components; the first will focus on modifying the chart of accounts to better tract grants by project and sub‐project and the second will be to implement post‐awards. A new RFP will be drafted to seek consulting support for the post‐
award component only in February. 5|ITS UPDATE
ENGAGEMENT Build and Sustain V
Vital Relatio
onships and Partnership
ps •
The Un
niversity of A
Akron continues to support Lorain’s PeopleSoft ERP post “ggo live” envirronment. Deevelopment and infrastrructure supp
port continu
ue to be provvided for stu
udent, financial and hum
man capital manage
ement appli cations. SShared Servicce: Ongoing support; ccombine tech
hnical and fu
unctional u
units Combin
ning Units: A two‐day retreat was cconducted w
with senior IT
T manage
ement from Lorain and Akron to disscuss blendin
ng of the two organizzations. The meeting waas facilitated
d by ScottMaadden, Inc., a
a manage
ement consuulting firm specializing in shared serrvices with significant backgroound in publiic sector and
d higher edu
ucation. Focu
us of the initial meetinng was gathering data to
o compare tthe current of the futuree state. The outcome state and develop aa first draft o
he two shows tthere is a siggnificant advvantage to ccombining th
organizzations. Nextt steps inclu
ude gathering more detaailed data fro
om both scchools and bbuilding a mo
ore detailed business case. Standardizing the CChart of Acccounts: UA is organizingg a planning group ffrom other sschools to crreate a stand
dardized chaart of accoun
nt betwee
en Ohio schoools using PeeopleSoft fin
nancials. Thee meeting is planned for late Feebruary and will be hosteed by Akron. Schools invited include Loraain, Clevelan
nd State, Oh
hio State, Bowling Green, and Oh
hio Universit y. A commo
on chart of aaccounts is aa critical enabler for a broadder deploym
ment of shareed services.
•
C
Curriculum A
Approval Pro
ocess Review
w The Un
niversity‐leveel system of the Faculty Senate’s Curriculum Proposal Process Im
mprovement Project willl undergo a final review
w by m Committeee (CPSC) in January. the Currriculum Prooposal System
Followiing that revi ew, the CPSSC will make a recommendation to the Facultyy Senate at t he first full m
meeting of the Spring seemester. Pending approvals,, the new prrocess could be in place and ready fo
or use by mid‐Februa ry. Until that time, prop
posals will bee entered intto the old system. On ce the new system is in place, faculty will no longer be able to eenter propossals into the old system, though proposals already iin that systeem will be prrocessed in tthat system. Training for the new
w system is being developed simulttaneously an
nd will be available as soon as thee system is approved. Launch
h of the new system wass pushed to FFebruary to ensure time
e for full Faculty Senaate review. 6|ITS UPDATE
•
IUC Benchmarking study Along with other UA departments, ITS is participating in an Inter‐
University Council (IUC) benchmarking study. In September 2010, IUC’s Institutional Excellence and Shared Services (IESS) project was approved by the IUC Presidents Council. The IUC is conducting benchmarking surveys at all 14 IUC‐member institutions, which includes the University of Akron (UA). A final report will be provided to the UA leadership on March 1, 2011. This project is only an assessment of what services at IUC member institutions might share to achieve reduced costs and efficiencies. While it can inform decision‐makers about how they might choose to proceed, it is only an assessment. Taken alone, this study will not be at the level of detail to enable an organization to redesign or make changes to the workforce. UA anticipated the need for shared services several years ago and began building the UA/Lorain County Community College (LCCC) Shared Services proof‐of‐concept. We’re hopeful that the platform we’re building with LCCC can be the platform for Northeast Ohio shared services and, potentially, the entire state. Shared Services consolidates operations in order to increase efficiencies and reduce costs. It is a service‐focused model that can take many forms, anywhere from consolidating transactions within a division or campus all the way to a standalone entity to serve portions or all of the University System of Ohio. While there can be many advantages to moving quickly, Shared Services initiatives usually take years to complete. This means that reductions in personnel and other costs are primarily realized through attrition as employees naturally move on or retire. Resources realized in this process are reallocated to better support the core academic mission and other support services. To evaluate the opportunities that Shared Services can provide, data must be collected to build the appropriate foundation from which to assess this business model. UA along with other IUC institutions is participating in the IUC state‐wide study to benchmark administrative services. The project is being coordinated at UA by Nathan Mortimer. A Shared Services web site: http://www.uakron.edu/it/shared‐
services/index.dot. Contact info: [email protected]. 7|ITS UPDATE
•
Followiing RFP and bidding procedure, the University h
has signed a contracct with Booppsie to supplly mobile ap
pplications th
hat will supp
port all majo
or mobile deevices: Applee, Android and Blackberrry. B
Boopsie: mobile applicattions Implem
mentation haas begun witth the first p
phase to coveer the applications •
•
•
•
•
people directory Campus maapping and p
Full library aaccess and ccourse inform
mation and reading listss Athletics, caalendar/eveents and shutttle schedule Emergency information
n Blogs and TTwitter as weell as third‐p
party content Tentatiive launch foor the appliccation is the first quarterr of 2011. Th
he applications will bee free for usee by anyonee desiring theem. COM
MMUNITY Promotte Vibrant annd Engagingg Environments and Facilities •
In orde
er to supportt the ever increasing dem
mand for alu
umni and ces, a group
develop
pment servi
p is investigating new tecchnologies to supporrt Contributoor Relations.. The objectiive is to overrcome software limitationns to enable greater inteeraction with
h alumni and
d friends of the University and to
o create more collaboration with more variouss constituenccies within tthe Universitty by using m
centralized data. C
Contributor R
Relations Preliminary intervieews were co
onducted with Developm
ment and other departm
ments usingg contributorr relations data to deterrmine what their crritical needs are. The datta indicated that the current application does noot provide m
mobile access, limits the ability to share data be
etween depaartments, an
nd appears tthat Oracle is not going tto continu
ue to enhancce the appliccation in favvor of moving toward their custom
mer relationsship manageement appliccation. A meetting with thee senior lead
dership of Deevelopment to determin
ne next ste
eps resultedd in a desire to conduct aan assessmeent of the currentt process an d requiremeents to determine a plan
n for moving
g forward
d. The assesssment is pro
ojected to beegin in late JJanuary. 8|ITS UPDATE
•
N
Nolij NolijWe
eb, the cam pus imagingg solution, w
will be upgrad
ded to versio
on 6.3 on February 211, 2011. ITS is preparing a trraining instaance to provvide as manyy training he campus ccommunity. Instructor le
ead opportunities as poossible for th
and self‐paced trai ning will be made availaable to ensure success in
n the miggration. This ne
ew version b rings a modernized approach to thee software in
n a true we
eb‐based moodel. Additio
onally, this u pgrade will provide the avenue into
o future improvvements andd application
n integration
n to better seerve the nee
eds of its ussers. NolijWe
eb is currenttly in use byy over 850 ussers across 1
108 departm
ments contaaining nearlyy 800,000 do
ocuments. INTEEGRATED PLA
ANNING Achieve
e Measurab le Success • LLegacy Elimin
nation The Un
niversity of A
Akron is plan
nning to retirre the mainfframe by Jun
ne 2011. In order to d o this, the d
data and in some cases, programs th
hat are on this system will need to
o be removed
d or convertted. Currenttly, the projeect charter aand project plan are being reviewed
d. Data re
etention poliicies are also
o being exam
mined to maake sure thatt all require
ed data is rettained accorrding to policy. • C
Campus‐Wid
de Scheduling: SSeries25 • ITTS Metrics The Entterprise Sch eduling Solu
ution Projectt continues tto make progresss. The impllementation
n team has b
been runningg test academ
mic course placementss. As each pllacement is defined, sign
nificant time
e and efffort has beenn expended validating d
data and ensuring correcct system output. Thee frameworkk for scheduling requestts has been determ
mined and te sting has beegun for enteering Event Requests intto the sch
heduling systtem. We expect the info
ormation provided by th
his new scheduling sysstem will enable us to im
mprove spacce utilization supporrting our conntinuing grow
wth withoutt proportionate capital investm
ments in new
w space. The mo
ost current ITTS metrics aavailable at tthe time of this report arre attache
ed. If a line ittem does no
ot have a tarrget, the metric is intend
ded to indiccate the amoount of workk or activity being deliveered. Lines w
with targets indicate levvels of performance we strive to ach
hieve. 9|ITS UPDATE
ITS DEPARTMENT SCORECARD – NOVEMBER 2010
DAILY SERVICES PROVIDED
Support Center (Help Desk)
Number Support Center calls
Average Speed of Answer
1st Call Resolution Rate
Number of tickets opened by HD
Total tickets opened
Calls closed within four hours
Calls closed first day
Calls over one week old
Support Center abandoned calls
# of Users serviced at walk-in centers
# of Laptops checked out at walk-in centers
Central Servers (Data Center)
Data Center uptime percent (% of posted hours)
Mainframe uptime percent (% of posted hours)
Unix/Linux server uptime percent (% of posted hours)
Windows/Apple Server uptime percent (% of posted
hours)
Web Server www.uakron.edu uptime percent
Total number of virtual/physical servers on platform
Total number of data center outages
Messaging & Network
Total email accounts (UAnet IDs)
Total active email accounts (UAnet IDs)
Total forwarded email accounts (forwarded off campus)
Total emails processed (originates internally + originates
externally and accepted)
Total emails filtered (originates externally and either
tagged spam/virus or rejected)
Percent of emails filtered (percent of total mail originating
externally either tagged or rejected)
Email uptime percent (weighted by percent users
affected)
Total active network nodes
Data network uptime
Wireless network uptime
Total number of reported network outages
Web
Total Web page views
Total unique Web visitors
Total ZipLine (portal) logins
Total ZipLine (portal) unique logins
Printing
Total print jobs processed
Training
Total attending and completing class
Contact hours for classes
One-on-one training sessions
Application support – one-to-one assistance (tickets)
Number of visits to online tutorials
NOV.
TARGET
*1
N/A
*2
>64.8%
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
<2%
N/A
N/A
*3
100%
99.9%
99.9%
99.9%
99.9%
N/A
0
N/A
N/A
N/A
NOVEMBER
OCTOBER
SEPTEMBER
3381
55s
82%
4170
4794
3578
3926
227
14%(472)
1479
3130
3931
1m24s
83%
4226
4973
3787
4134
84
17%(683)
1117
3240
5169
1m09s
82%
6230
6240
4666
5123
117
17%(885)
2445
3351
100%
100%
100%
100%
100%
100%
100%
100%
100%
100%
100%
100%
100%
414 / 204
0
100%
400 / 206
0
100%
392 / 207
0
203760
31664
109
8138555
202284
52870
108
8295913
202433
52391
105
8142822
1625
991
1620
0.05%
0.03%
0.05%
100%
100%
100%
17215
100%
100%
0
17718
100%
100%
0
17837
100%
100%
0
N/A
N/A
N/A
99.50%
N/A
100%
100%
0
3,037,667
3,210,690
2,963,853
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
328,083
818,744
35,407
342,755
847,182
34,936
340,695
819,920
35,568
1,381
142
138
195
100
45
N/A
N/A
152
57.75
N/A
6
101
46.75
N/A
4
245
71
N/A
16
1,000
500 Atomic
Learning
tutorials
1,065 Atomic
Learning
tutorials
943 Atomic
Learning
tutorials
10 | I T S U P D A T E
NOV.
TARGET
DAILY SERVICES PROVIDED
Critical Application Data
Administrative logins PeopleSoft
Administrative users PeopleSoft
Logins to PeopleSoft self-service via ZipLine (students,
faculty, staff)
Number of PeopleSoft users via ZipLine (students, faculty,
staff)
NT Process Scheduler statistics
App Engine
Crystal
COBOL
PSJob
RoboFTP Script
SQR
XML Publisher
Admissions applications loaded: Grad
Admissions applications loaded: Law
Admissions applications loaded: Undergrad
Self-service enrollment requests (by students)
Self-service enrollment requests unique users (students)
Administrative enrollment/maintenance requests (by staff)
Administrative enrollment/maintenance requests unique
students
Transcripts produced
Enrollment verifications produced
Grades posted
Student financial transactions, unique students
Student financial transactions
Charge
(16,178 students)
Financial Aid
(1,049 students)
Payment
(6,457 students)
Refund
(897 students)
Waiver
(356 students)
Financial aid ISIRs loaded
Financial aid ISIRs loaded, unique students
Financial aid award transactions
Financial aid award transactions unique students
Financial aid disbursements
Financial aid disbursements unique students
University-Enterprise Managed Computers
Total Windows desktops clients
Total Windows laptops clients
Total Apple clients
Total Managed Clients
Lab Computers (count & utilization)
Windows Laptops (ITS managed)
Students Checkout
Mobile Teaching
Special Use
Total Logins
Total Unique Users
*4
*5
*6
NOVEMBER
OCTOBER
SEPTEMBER
N/A
N/A
96,837
949
87,772
929
100,985
929
N/A
215,012
222,289
171,100
N/A
N/A
30,180
28,881
28,701
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
1,645
2,611
1,845
3,049
159
12,164
12
642
182
4,230
86,699
11,680
24,698
1,614
3,166
2,049
3,081
166
10,170
20
335
87
2,939
84,668
11,682
17,173
1,760
3,258
2,770
3,345
159
11,246
14
255
0
1,508
3,349
1,406
7,023
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
9,145
14,172
1,569
211
18,974
173,663
148,552
2,213
21,368
1,110
420
1,506
1,184
10,548
3,920
1,533
1,041
6,786
17,315
1,845
190
19,852
191,326
163,194
5,198
19,969
1,968
997
1,531
1,158
10,609
4,809
3,282
2,127
3,110
14,875
2,480
516
15,760
108,219
54,327
15,226
30,261
7,921
484
2,944
2,019
17,313
5,070
9,427
5,098
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
4,950
2,948
460
8,358
4,138
2,721
459
7,318
4,103
2,750
454
7,307
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
627
390
167
70
12,926
3,796
592
345
177
70
12,529
3,677
592
345
177
70
14,909
3,955
*7
11 | I T S U P D A T E
DAILY SERVICES PROVIDED
Windows Desktops (ITS managed)
ITS General Purpose
Departmental
Total Logins
Total Unique Users
Kiosk Stations
Main Campus
MCUC
Total Kiosk Logins
Total Kiosk Unique Users
Apple Labs
Departmental Laptops
Departmental Desktops
Total Logins
Total Unique Users
Distance Learning/Audio Visual/Academic
Technology
Number of DL class sessions
Number of Springboard active course sections
Number of Springboard unique active users
Number of unique instructors using clickers
Number of course sections using clickers
Number of students (all sections) using clickers
Number of Audio Visual equipment deliveries
Department & Administration
Total ITS headcount at end of month
Full-time
Part-time
Consultant
Approved openings
On leave
Student
Total "Ask the VP" questions
Total department hours accrued for vacation
Total department reported vacation
Total department reported sick time
NOV.
TARGET
*8
NOVEMBER
OCTOBER
SEPTEMBER
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
775
112
663
34,057
7,552
132
124
8
23,525
7,644
197
27
170
3,637
1,058
707
108
599
29,869
6,535
132
124
8
26,576
8,409
181
27
154
3,633
991
673
104
569
32,247
6,645
132
124
8
30,894
9,328
181
27
154
5,327
1,318
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
2008
3,342
26,107
56
86
4580
3308
1639
3,255
26,752
54
84
4485
3204
2153
3,186
27,606
51
74
4237
3077
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
126
122
4
1
7
2
136
N/A
23,670
729
730
126
122
4
1
4
0
135
N/A
23,072
1,821
676
126
122
4
1
4
0
135
N/A
23,345
2,695.50
676.75
Footnotes
*1.
*2.
*3.
*4.
*5.
*6.
*7.
*8.
There are 10 days with no phone reports
Industry standard for the first call resolution rate is 65.8%, for Higher Education 58.8%, industry target is 70.9%.
Cost savings to the institution for first call resolution is about $150 per call. Outsourced Support Desks FCR is 66.3%.
** HDI best practices survey 2007.
Laptop Check-out centers included in report Student Union
Process Scheduler Stats are cleared weekly.
Total is higher than unique users because individual students may have had more than one transaction.
FAFSA applications for financial aid.
ITS managed clients logged in to the University network in the last 30 days.
Includes UA on-campus rooms and Medina County classrooms. This includes both distance and local use.
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