WESLEYAN
u n i v e r s i t y
InformationTechnologyServices
265ChurchStreet
Middletown,CT06459
To: From: TheBoardofTrustees
DaveBaird
VicePresidentforInformationTechnology&ChiefInformationOfficer
Date: August26,2016
Subject:
InformationTechnologyServicesGoalsfor2016-2017
Wesleyan2020Goals:
1. EnergizeWesleyan’sdistinctiveeducationalexperience
2. EnhancerecognitionofWesleyanasanextraordinaryinstitution
3. Workwithinasustainableeconomicmodelwhileretainingcorevalues
Majorgoals(oneperteam)forthecomingyearareoutlinedbelow,togetherwiththeir
relationshiptothethreeoverarchinggoalsdetailedinthe“Wesleyan2020”frameworkfor
strategicplanning.Thesearefollowedbyapartiallistingofothersignificantprojects,bothnew
andcontinuing,withinInformationTechnologyServices.
MajorGoalsandInitiatives(listedalphabeticallybyteam)
1)AcademicComputing:RestructuringSupporttoIncreaseCapacity (Tiestogoal1)
Wearereorganizingthewayweprovideservicetofaculty.Thenewteamwillcombinestaff
fromInstructionalMediaServices,AcademicDesktopSupport,AcademicComputingManagers,
andtheCenterforPedagogicalInnovation.Thislargerteamwilltriageallrequests,fromcourse
redesigntoclassroomtechnologytraining,matchingstafftechnologyexpertisewithfaculty
needswithoutregardtoacademicdiscipline.
2)AdministrativeComputing:ePortfolioReplacement (Tiestogoals1,3)
Wesleyanfaculty,staff,andstudentsaccessthemajorityoftechnologysystemsthroughtheir
ElectronicPortfolio.TheePortfolioisahome-grownsuiteofapplicationsbuiltin1999.Manyof
theseapplicationsareinsecure,outofdate,andmustbere-writtenorabandonedinfavorof
modern,scalablesolutions.Tothatend,theAdministrativeSystemsteamhascreated
WesPortal,whichwillreplaceePortfolio.Followingasuccessfulpilotthisspring/summer,the
productionversionwillbelaunched(forstaffonly)inthefall,2016semester.Developmentof
thefacultyandstudentversionswillfollowimmediately,withexpectedrolloutinlate2017.
3)AuxiliaryServices:VoicemailMigrationtotheCloud (Tiestogoal3)
Infall,2016,wewillreplaceour21-yroldOctelvoicemailsystemwithacloudsolutionfrom
AVST.DoingsowillgreatlyreduceourvulnerabilitytosystemfailureswiththeOctelhardware,
andthisisthefirststepinimprovingtheoverallcommunicationsinfrastructureforWesleyan
facultyandstaff,andthebuildingsinwhichtheywork.Wewillbepositionedtomigratetoa
modern“UnifiedCommunications”solutionprovidingphone,voicemail,instantmessaging,
audio/videoconferencing,andevendocumentsharing,allintegratedwithourexisting
MicrosoftOfficesuiteofsoftware.
4)UserandTechnicalServices:Office365Rollout (Tiestogoals1,3)
WesleyancurrentlyprovidesMicrosoftOfficetoallfaculty,staff,andstudents.Overthe
summer,weimplementedMicrosoft’scloudservice,Office365withsinglesign-onforWesleyan
users.Thisyear,wewillevaluatethepossiblemigrationofemailandcalendaringtothis
platform.Doingsowouldimprovethereliabilityandcapabilityofthisservice,asuserswould
haveaccesstoemailandcalendaringevenifournetworkweretogoofflinetemporarily.We
wouldalsobeabletoreducethenumberofsupportedemailsolutionsfromthreetoone,
improveoursecurityandspamprotections,andreducebudgetforon-campusserverhardware.
5)WebandVideoServices:WebRedesigntoSupportCoreMessaging (Tiestogoals1,2,3)
Approximately~150universitywebsitesarelefttoredesignformobileviewing.Thisworkis
necessarypreparationforsupportingWesleyan’scoremessagingproject,andwillprovidea
moreuniformviewingexperienceacrossalluniversitywebsites.Arelatedproject,scheduled
forcompletioninFebruary,2017isthemigrationofthealumniwebsitefromanexternal
vendorbacktoWesleyan.Thiswillenablethealumnisitetobepartofourrebrandingeffort.