Information Technology Services Report to the Board of Trustees May 2, 2012 Information Technology Services May 2, 2012 (Prepared April 16, 2012) STUDENT SUCCESS Commitment to Excellence 
The Textbook Alternatives Work Team is beginning implementation of recommendations to reduce the cost of textbooks for students. e‐textbooks/Digital Content The team has designed a web‐based information clearinghouse with content on Open Standards for Digital Resources, Open Educational Resources (OER), Open Access (OA) and Creative Commons Licensing, Copyright, Fair Use and the Teach Act. Phase 2 will include: 
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The Akron Experience an Innovator Recognition Program to be announced in May and launched in September 2012, posting of testimonials/best practices/war stories provided by UA faculty, development of a repository for OER and OA materials developed by UA faculty, professional development workshops during the summer for faculty to support course re‐design that includes textbook alternative content and, the inclusion of interactive elements ‐ blog, twitter and Google+ functions. ITS staff engaged with the Akron Experience Implementation Teams has collected information on the technology needs of each team. A systems‐requirements specification is being completed. Several projects required to enable the Fall launch of The Akron Experience are in progress. These projects include: 
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modifications/enhancements to the ZipLine web portal, integration with UA Events calendar, a website with information about The Akron Experience, design of a website for the Culture Quest initiative, and additional interactivity to the ZipWay Career Planning process. 2|ITS UPDATE
GLOBAL RELEVANCE 
Develop Dynamic and Globally Relevant Programs Shared Service: Supporting PeopleSoft UA continues to work with LCCC (Lorain County Community College) to manage and upgrade PeopleSoft Tools, Campus at LCCC Solutions, Human Capital Management and Accounting applications. UPGRADE: On April 1, an upgrade was performed for the Campus Solutions and Human Capital Management applications for LCCC. WORK MODEL: Due to the recent loss of a technical analyst supporting the Campus Solutions application, UA has spent a significant amount of time helping LCCC with break/fix support, providing direction and advice for configuration and setup, and assisting with the planning and managing of application upgrades. The cost of this support was billed back to LCCC. UA and LCCC are working together to create a model that would enable both development staffs to work more closely. The concept attempts to leverage the knowledge and expertise at UA for the benefit of LCCC. PROJECT MANAGEMENT: UA also continues to provide project management support for LCCC. All projects are tracked and reviewed at departmental meetings. HELP DESK: A project to assess the business case for combining the Help Desk operation for both schools was approved. Kickoff is expected the week of April 23. The objective is to eliminate redundancy, expand coverage, consolidate technology, and reorganize into a single business unit. POSSIBLE COLLABORATION: A meeting was held with the Ohio Department of Administrative Services, Office of Budget Management, and Ohio Board of Regents to discuss areas of possible collaboration. The talks were focused on Software‐as‐a‐
Service (SaaS) applications and how local government might participate as a shared service partner. Further conversations are planned. 3|ITS UPDATE
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Shared Service: Innovation Alliance The Innovation Alliance is a partnership between Lorain County Community College, Stark State College, and The University of Akron. The partnership is intended to accelerate educational efficiency, knowledge creation, and economic development within an area called the Innovation Corridor. One of the initiatives of the group is to study shared services as a way of controlling the costs of administrative services. A project to assess the business case for combining the Human Resources and Payroll business units between the schools was approved. A kickoff meeting was held on April 11. The study is funded by a Lumina Foundation Grant. The project will examine: 
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the current state of operations, create a future state design, and develop the business case for consolidating services. Project team members from each of the business units will participate in the study. Much of the UA data for the study will come from the Accenture shared service study that occurred last year. The current project is expected to take nine weeks to complete. The study will conclude by the end of June. A recommendation to senior management will follow. 
Data Warehouse/Business Intelligence ITS is working closely with Institutional Research on the Data Warehouse/Business Intelligence project. During the first two weeks of March, fit‐gap analysis workshops (phase one) were conducted with various departments across the University. The initial data loads are now 75% complete, with technical issues occurring with the hosting solutions putting this task slightly behind schedule. Once these preliminary loads are complete, this will accommodate the reporting and dashboards. In June, when all the data is populated, we will begin to see some results of the analysis capabilities. Further work will be done to enhance the ability to report on research and other cross‐
functional data analytics. 4|ITS UPDATE
DISTINCTION Facilitate Faculty Development and Success by Expanding Clusters of Interdisciplinary Teaching and Research 
The eLearning pilot with Pearson has a total of 157 enrollments in 11 courses. Students and instructors in the fully online Postsecondary Technical Education programs (BS and MS) are participating in their Spring 2012 courses via the Pearson LearningStudio platform. Pearson continues to provide around‐
the‐clock technical support. Online (eLearning) Learning Pearson’s Learning Management System and support services have been tested and some functionality gaps have been identified. We are assessing how well those gaps have been addressed. In addition, we will be assessing Pearson’s wrap‐around services, including: 
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instructional design assistance, course conversion, course development, student persistence services, faculty support and training, 24/7 Help Desk, and marketing and enrollment strategies. Those systems are being addressed by committees that include staff and faculty representatives appointed by the Faculty Senate. Meanwhile, committees of faculty and staff are developing proposals for UA’s eLearning programs. Any academic issues and policy recommendations are being forwarded to the Faculty Senate Executive Committee for referral to the Academic Policies Committee of the Senate, so that such proposals may be considered and voted on by the Senate. Operational decisions will be reviewed and proposed to the Board in conjunction with any academic proposals from Faculty Senate. 5|ITS UPDATE
ENGAGEMENT 
Build and Sustain Vital Relationships and Partnerships Governance and Project Management The Project Management Office continues to encourage the use of a structured project process. Documents and templates have been created that should simplify the PM requirements. As part of the effort to help ITS and the University make use of PM methodology, the PMO's methodology and tools are going through the certification process by the Project Management Institute (PMI), which will allow attendees to obtain Professional Development Units (PDUs) as another byproduct of this training and use. Training to provide detailed business cases in support of project initiatives is being developed to supplement the project management training offered. 
The first phase of the University's new, enterprise digital signage system will place monitors in the Residence Halls (12 screens), Library (10), Student Union (8), and the Law School (3). Digital Signage A test monitor is operating in the Computer Center. This screen will be used to test the process, templates, and other aspects of the signage. The new system will replace the Novicast signage currently being used in a few locations. While IT is providing and implementing the software from Four Winds Interactive (FWi) and managing the project, each location will purchase their own hardware (screens, brackets, CPUs, cabling costs, etc.). Working with Institutional Marketing, guidelines for use of the signage are being developed. Institutional Marketing has been asked to take ownership of the signage process following the initial implementation. The enterprise digital signage will enable individual colleges and departments to run messages on their own video monitors. At the same time, the University will be able to send a single message throughout the campus as needed, for example during an emergency or during the President's State of the University. A steering committee overseeing the project includes Charles Fey, Jim Sage and Bob Kropff. 6|ITS UPDATE
COMMUNITY Promote Vibrant and Engaging Environments and Facilities 
The University of Akron Police Department has partnered with the City of Akron Police Department to share the City's Computer‐
Aided Dispatch and Records Management System to track and document public safety incidents. Sharing the system will enable University and Akron police to have the most complete and accurate information, which will enhance their safety and improve service quality. Police Dispatch – 911 Merger An initial estimate for the effort, cost and timeline to have the University supported on the City's system is being completed at this time. Additionally, an outline of the service level agreements is also being developed to clarify the expected roles and services of both parties. We expect to go live on the shared system on January 2, 2013. 
Software‐as‐a‐Service (SaaS) Investigation for Human Capital Management The RFP for Software‐as‐a‐Service (SaaS) application software, a delivery model that provides the functionality currently provided by PeopleSoft at a much lower cost, has been placed on hold so we can focus on other strategic priorities (e.g. student success / retention, Akron Experience and online). We plan to restart this project later this year or early next year. 
Contributor Relations The Contributor Relations assessment team has created an RFP to search for a possible replacement for the existing PeopleSoft application to increase the ability of the Office of Development to reach greater numbers of alumni/friends of UA and increase giving. RFP responses were due to Purchasing by March 30. The evaluation process is expected to take approximately six weeks.  Emergency Medical Records (EMR) This project was scheduled for an April kickoff. However, it has been placed on hold to focus on other priorities. We expect to revisit this project this summer. The need for a system to automate patient scheduling, patient accounts/billing, and electronic medical records was identified by representatives from the College of Nursing and the Speech‐
Language Pathology & Audiology program. In addition, we need to provide our medical students exposure to and training on a current generation EMR system. These groups partnered with ITS to research and identify software applications that meet identified requirements. Other medically oriented programs have been included in discussions to ensure that the selected solution meets University needs. 7|ITS UPDATE
 Network The University data network continues to experience an ever‐
increasing demand from faculty, staff, students and university guests for additional bandwidth to meet growing technology demands. Bandwidth‐intensive applications such as streaming media and social networking are straining existing University resources. In addition, during the last three years the number of devices accessing the network has more than tripled. To meet these requirements for additional bandwidth, ITS has developed a three‐step plan to enhance network performance. Step 1: Currently, the network team is working with our Internet provider to increase bandwidth by 250% – from 400MB to 1GB. We will also segregate the wireless network for UA employees and students, which will prioritize faculty traffic to improve video quality in the classroom. Step 2: By Fall 2012, we will dynamically allocate bandwidth between main campus and the Residence Hall network by time of day. This will allow us to maximize the bandwidth available to students during University “off hours”. Step 3: In addition, the Network Team will develop an open dialogue with University departments’ technical support staff (Tech Team), students, and other clients to identify unique needs and future network requirements. INTEGRATED PLANNING Achieve Measurable Success  Grants Management Post‐award There are two predecessor projects to the Grants Management Post‐award application: 
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the General Ledger chart field restructuring, and the upgrade to PeopleSoft Financials application V9.1. The plan was to stage the work so both predecessor projects and the Post‐award effort could be worked on simultaneously until the Post‐award project required completion of the predecessor projects. The project to implement the Grants Post‐award application has been placed on hold until July 1. However, work is proceeding on the two predecessor projects. Work is continuing on the project to modify the UA chart of accounts for supporting Grants Post‐award. This includes adding projects to track individual grants and modifying the current account code structure because the application is nearing the upper limit of available codes. Work continues on testing the new version of PeopleSoft Financials, V9.1, which is scheduled to be placed in production by June 1. 8|ITS UPDATE
 ITS Metrics The ITS scorecard has been eliminated from this report. We are re‐evaluating the dashboard of IT services and attempting to identify which measures will be most meaningful to the Board. ITS plans to resume providing a "Scorecard" in the future. 9|ITS UPDATE