Ravi Blogs about IT Topics

I was asked to talk to the library staff about what ITS plans to do in the new year. I spoke for about 30 minutes today. I am summarizing what I spoke about and then what I probably should have mentioned that I did not have time for…

I told them that the major focus of ITS is going to be in three areas: New Financial System implementation, Classroom and Lab support and WesFiles rollout. In addition, I told them how I constantly challenge my staff about the big question – Why Not Google Apps for Education?
The New Financial System is the most obvious and simplest one. We have no choice and we have to do it. In collaboration with Finance and Administration, we have chosen PeopleSoft Financials and are in the process of finalizing the contract with the consultant that we have chosen. Once this has been worked out and the contract is signed, then it is a matter of getting it done on time for use on July 1, 2009. Many ITS staff members will be working on this and like all other implementations, this will require some of them to work much harder than usual, but I am confident that our hard working and dedicated staff will make it happen…

In terms of classroom and labs, despite the fact that we have managed to support them really well, the reality is that it is becoming one of those where there is absolutely no room for error, no matter what the reasons are. Faculty members are preparing for their classes assuming that all components of a multimedia classroom is fully functional all through the class. Many of them come early to the class to make sure things work and get trained at the beginning of the semester. We have had a few instances last year, where equipment failure and other network related issues caused interruptions that resulted in faculty losing valuable class time. I want to stress that in terms of percentages, this was rather a small number, but, as I said before, percentages do not matter much in this game!

However, whenever hardware and network is involved, 100% uptime is a scary thought. So, I have asked Jolee to work with IMS to look at some of the current practices, involve others in TSS to see if there are ways we can use technologies in clever ways and come up with a plan to basically work towards a “Zero Downtime” model for the classroom hardware and networks. I know that this is a stringent requirement, but we really need to set such high goals. After all, this is in support of the core academic mission of the University. I have already seen a preliminary plan and it is a step in the right direction.

This also means that we are going to rely on many of the ITS staff members (especially in acadamic computing and desktop support) to help when needed to attend to any classroom related issues. You will hear from us on what the plans are for the upcoming year.

WesFiles rollout has been slower than we had planned for various reasons. Those who use it really like it. It is like any other software – cannot satisfy all the needs of our varied audience. However, it is functionally richer than the environment we have been able to provide. I also mentioned that there is no particular plan at this point for administrative departments, but, if they are interested, we will work with them to transfer them to WesFiles.

The other topic, which I will write later in much more detail, is the question that I always ask. Which is, “Why should we not move the faculty and students to Google Apps for Education?” Every time I look at what they have to offer, I am simply bowled over. Google Docs is improving leaps and bounds. The Spreadsheet functionality is so rich, I can see how valuable a pedagogical tool it can become.

I fully understand and appreciate the argument that when our data is being hosted elsewhere, trust and privacy can soon become a huge issue and that is one of the major reasons why we may not want to do this. However, many of our users are already using Google. Are these questions not an issue for them? There are many institutions which have already taken the plunge. Were these questions not an issue for them?

Of course, we need to have a debate on all of this. And contrary to what you may think, I really have an open mind about this. My own preferences are clear, but I do understand that there are issues that have to be discussed and vetted and we need to come to the right conclusion. If that means not going to Google, I am fine with it!!!

The thing that I did not get a chance to talk about are the several successful collaborations we have had with the library during the past year:

• Supporting the CTW servers
• Voyager – FRS AP Voucher Automation
• NITLE/DSPACE Digital Repository pilot for Honors Theses.
• Henry Merritt Wriston project
• Digital Commons as the new repository and the system for scholarly communication (WesScholar)
• Joint Papers for Strategic Planning Process
• Participation in WesFiles selection

We hope to have many more such collaborations in the coming year.