Technology Advisory Committee 10/3/2003

In attendance: Randall Popp, Sheila Ortego, Eric Christoffersen, Sylvia Medina, Colleen Lynch

Facilitator & Note taker: Colleen Lynch

Public Website Update from Randall Popp

Randall met w/ Pres Cabinet to discuss current status
Outlined obstacles to meeting Oct 15 deadline
Quite a lot of content is still missing, but OIT is ready with the servers and software
M/PR and Academic Departments will work on content generation and choices
New roll-out date = 10/31/2003
Sheila offered to assist with editing/adaptation for web if folks involved will provide raw content
New site will have decentralized web mastering—individuals will be identified in each area to update content—M/PR will overview content for consistency and accuracy
Question: will the same people be responsible for the decentralized catalog/schedule planning and decentralized web mastering in each department?
There will be a meeting Monday; people will be identified to be the web masters at this meeting

Student Infowindow Project

Randy, Kathy, Ken, and Katrina met to discuss this project
Target date for completing this project is before Spring Registration begins
Eventually, (3 - 4 years down the road) we can use a student portal that is part of SCT Banner. Banner’s product will provide individualized links to registration, transcript, degree plans, student government, student activities, etc. as well as academic chat rooms, student surveys, and other tools.
For now the goal is to create a page to bring students updates about registration, advisement, counseling, academic support, student government, student activities, and links to campus connect
Sheila asked about possibility of working with companies to do targeted marketing on the site (like travel agencies promoting special student fares, reduced New York Times subscription rates for students, etc. -- to generate revenues for college/for support of web site/other technology projects)
Jackie is coordinating this effort with help from Chantel
A meeting is scheduled for Tuesday Oct 7 at 10 am in the Board breakout room

NCA Follow-up Report

Sheila is writing a report for NCA on linking Technology and Facility Planning with the College’s strategic plan. She will plan a meeting with Randall, Frank Joy, Jackie and Randy next week.

Update from OIT—provided by Randall via email and listed below.

JASI (Joint Administrative Software Initiative)

Summary (June-November 2003)

The month of June 2003, marked the beginning of the JASI SCT Banner Implementation phase. The start of Finance functional training and the use of remote instruction are the most significant accomplishments in the last two months.

The JASI teams have completed the following training classes in the months of June and July:

06/20/03Finance visit #1 - Overview and Chart of Accounts

07/25/03Finance visit #2 - COA, cont., Reporting & Conversion Strategy

07/18/03Banner General and Security Technical Training

Remote Instruction was up and functional for Banner General & Security Technical Training on 07/08/03. The broadcast successfully originated in Espanola from the campus of NNMCC. The JASI project managers worked tirelessly to ensure that all team members reaped the benefits of the experience and to diffuse the stress associated with traveling to another campus

Most project activities are on schedule.

As part of the project management effort, a robust spreadsheet has been created to represent all training visits scheduled through 2006. Utilized training hours can be balanced to the spreadsheet and used to verify invoices. This format was chosen to alleviate JASI project managers from investing time in learning MS Project.

In the month of August 2003, the JASI consortium worked on identifying a report writing software they will use to produce a variety of reports and charts. Additionally, the consortium researched various hardware platforms to identify a hardware solution that will benefit each for up to five years. Web servers were also identified. JASI kicked off the data conversion process by holding a one day conference call with SCT to identify the tasks involved, potential issues, and resources needed.

In September 2003, JASI teams completed the following training classes:

09/09/03Finance training visit #3 – Finance Purchasing

07/25/03Technical training visit #2 – Introduction to Oracle

07/18/03Student training visit #1 – Student Module Overview

In September, the JASI consortium selected and ordered a HP 9000 server to run the SCT/Banner administrative software. Installation of Banner 6.0 and Oracle x. are scheduled to take place the second week of November 2003. In addition, two web servers were ordered to support Banner Core Components and Student Web. JASI selected BRIO as their preferred report writing tool and placed the order to purchase the software for each consortium institution to keep the project on track.

In October 2003, the JASI consortium will attend the following training courses:

10/07/03Finance training visit #4 – Finance Accounts Payable and Bank Reconciliation

10/21/03Student training visit #2 – Student Catalog, Schedule, and Local Management of Faculty Crossover

10/28/03Technical training visit #2 – Introduction to Banner Administration

TBDHP 9000/Unix Administration training

OIT Updates

Over the past ten months, OIT has been working on several projects to stabilize our network infrastructure, increase client (student and employee) satisfaction, and to minimize downtime. Below is a list of some of our accomplishments and projects that are in progress:

Network Infrastructure Upgrade Phase I: Installation of a Cisco 3550 Catalyst switch and several Cisco 2950 switches to help reduce network congestion and stress until the Cabletron 6000 Smart Switch can be replaced this winter (December 2003).

Corporate Antivirus Server: A Symantec Corporate Edition Antivirus Server has been installed and is pushing virus updates to clients (user computer systems) on the network. The server allows users to automatically receive virus definition updates from Symantec and have the updates installed automatically. This service takes the guesswork out of do I have the latest virus definitions to protect my computer from malicious virus attacks?

Foundation Server: The Foundation server was replaced to support Raiser’s Edge, the Foundation’s software application and to support the application’s database.

Financial Aid Server: The Financial Aid server was replaced to support PowerFaids, the Financial Aid’s software application and to support the application’s database.

Altiris/Ad Astra: An Altiris/Ad Astra server was installed to support the new OIT Enterprise Software Suite and our new scheduling system, Ad Astra. The Ad Astra scheduling web client has been installed and will be available the week of October 6, 2003, for the SFCC community to use.

SyncSort Backup Server: A campus wide network storage server has been installed to backup network servers on the campus network.

CLEP/Nursing Server: A CLEP/Nursing server was installed to support the growing needs of the Testing and Nursing areas.

Plant Operations Maintenance MetaSys Server: A server was installed to support Plant Operations Maintenance air conditioning and heating at the College.

Fitness Fit-Trac Server: A server was installed to support the Fitness Center student physical fitness and health tracking/progress software and associated database.

Small Business Development Center Server: A server was installed to support the Small Business Development Center’s software application requirements and associated database..

Administrative System Upgrade: Our administrative server that supports such functions as Payroll and Student was replaced with an updated server that was configured with dual processors, more memory (RAM) and a hard drive array to prevent downtime.

Campus Connect (Online Registration System): Campus Connect was installed and moved to production in mid April 2003 to allow students another convenient way to register for classes. Additional enhancements, such as allowing a student to update their demographic information, should be made before early Spring 2004 registration this November.

Distance Learning Computer Lab: A fully equipped distance learning computer lab in room 611B was designed, installed, and integrated to allow for SCT Banner training. The classroom is fully integrated with a touch AMX panel Smart Sympodium to allow for ease of use.

Core Switch Upgrade: This December 2003, we will replace the Cabletron 6000 Smart Switch (core) with a Cisco 6513 Layer 3 Switch to increase network stability. The existing Phase I switches, the Cisco 3550 and 2950 switches, will be relocated to remote locations.

Domain Consolidation Project: This fiscal year, we will collapse our two domains, santa-fe and sfccmain, into one domain called SFCCNM or SFCC. This will eliminate client confusion, increase stability, ease management of devices on our network, and bring commonality to our network without risking security.

Exchange 5.5 to Exchange 2003 Migration:This fiscal year we plan on migrating from an aging Exchange 5.5 (email) software application and server platform to Exchange 2003 to take advantage of continued support, web enhancements, and redundancy (minimizing downtime).

VPN for SFCC Employees: This fiscal year, we will implement a Virtual Private Network (VPN) gateway that initially will be tested by OIT employees and selected users outside OIT. The purpose of the VPN is to allow SFCC employees the ability to log into the campus network to work with their office computer desktop environment off campus.

KIOSK Update: All six KIOSKs have been moved to location. The following locations are currently in use:

Info Desk (Main)

600 Wing

Fitness Center

We are working with Plant Operations Maintenance to have the following KIOSKs installed:

Visual Arts Wing

Instructional Technology Center

200 Wing

According to POM, all installations should be completed by November 2003.

Document Imaging and Retention Project: In conjunction with the Document Imaging and Retention Committee, this fiscal year we will develop a plan to address document retention and archives at the College.

Employee File Server: This fiscal year, a new employee file server will be installed to give all SFCC employees storage to save job related documents to reduce data loss.

Symantec Spam Server: This fiscal year, OIT will install a new Symantec Spam server to help eliminate unwanted electronic junk mail or junk newsgroup postings.

Agenda items for next month’s meeting should be sent to Chantel.