Technology Plan

College of the Sequoias

2014-2017

Contents

Introduction

Technology Plan Development Process

COS Mission Statement

ACCJC Technology Standards

COS Master Plan Goals

COS Strategic Plan Objectives

Technology Committee Guiding Principles

Constituent Surveys

Technology Services Project List

Approval

Appendix A - Technology Standards developed by Technology Services

Desktop Standard

Laptop Standard

Apple Standard

Server Standard

Network Switch Standard

Network Infrastructure Standard

Cloud Service Standard

Appendix B – ACCJC Technology Standards

Appendix C - Faculty Input on Technology Plan

Appendix D - Management input on Technology Plan

Appendix E - Student Technology Survey

Executive Summary

Introduction

The 2014 Technology Plan is designed to inform technology planning at College of Sequoias during the 2014-2015, 2015-2016, and 2016-2017 academic years. The plan was written by members of the Technology Committee, a subcommittee of the District Governance Committee, with input from campus groups including, faculty, staff and students.

Technology Committee Members

Abigail Gutierrez
COS Student (2014-2015)

/ Beverly Feleciano
Technology Services
Administrative Assistant

(559) 730-3800
Deborah Nolan
Academic Services
Distance Education Coordinator

(559) 737-6132
/ Robert Hinds
Adjunct Faculty
Fine Arts

Stephanie Collier
Student ServicesFinancial Aid
Dean, Student Services

(559) 737-5441
/ Stephen Meier
Technology Services
System Administrator

(559) 737-6210
Tim Hollabaugh
Technology Services
Dean, Technology Services

(559) 730-3843
/ Linda Yamakawa
Librarian

(559) 737-6173

Technology Plan Development Process

The Technology Committee is charged with “Prepare and monitor implementation of the Technology Plan”. It is with this document that the first part of this charge is accomplished. In addition to this Technology Plan the committee is also charged with “develop instructional technology standards” which is part of this document in the appendices. In addition to these tasks the Technology Committee is also charged with “Prepare an annual progress report on the Technology Plan”. This will be accomplished via an end of year report submitted to the District Governance Senate.

The current iteration of the Technology Plan comes during a transition during which the college is preparing a new Master Plan and phasing out the strategic plan based on the previous Master Plan. The plan authors intend for the current technology plan to be a living document that will be modified as the new Master and Strategic plans are developed.

The three-year technology plan development process at College of Sequoias (COS) involves alignment with the COS Mission and Vision, ACCJC Accreditation Standards, District goals as set forth in the Master Plan, District objectives as outlined in the Strategic Plan, the Technology Committee’s charges, and technology needs as identified in periodic technology surveys of students, faculty, and staff, as well as those needs identified in the District-wide program review process.

COS Mission Statement

College of the Sequoiasis a comprehensive community college focused on student learning that leads to productive work, lifelong learning and community involvement.
College of the Sequoiasaffirms that our mission is to help our diverse student population achieve its transfer and/or occupational objectives and to advance the economic growth and global competitiveness of business and industry within our region.
College of the Sequoiasis committed to supporting students' mastery of basic skills and to providing programs and services that foster student success.

ACCJC Technology Standards

The technology resources portion of the ACCJC standards state in part that technology will be used to support student learning and institutional effectiveness. This technology plan supports those standards by defining technology resources to be used and planned for. The technology resources of the district must be maintained and planned for to fully support the teaching and learning activities available. In addition to the teaching and learning activities the district must also maintain the infrastructure for college-wide communications, research and operational systems. This technology plan includes plans for the upkeep and improvement of all technology systems that support these efforts.

This technology plan works in concert with the Master plan, Strategic plan and departments individual Program reviews. This plan is used to inform individual departments on the direction that technology resources are taking so they can use that direction to assist in preparing their annual Program reviews. These program reviews then utilize that information to determine what technology is needed to support their individual programs.

In addition to the above standards the ACCJC standards state that technology planning is integrated with institutional planning. The COS Planning Model (below) requires that the College complete an annual planning cycle involving the use of data and regular evaluation to improve results. Technology planning is incorporated into the planning cycle by virtue of its reliance on the College Mission, Master Plan, Strategic Plan, Institutional Program Review, and Resource Allocation.

COS Master Plan Goals

Technology planning focuses on supporting the achievement of College goals.

  1. The College of the Sequoias Community College District will increase student enrollment relative to population growth and educational and workforce development needs.
  2. The College of the Sequoias Community College District will improve the rate at which its students complete degrees, certificates, and transfer objectives.
  3. The College of the Sequoias Community College District will strategically tailor and implement academic programs and student services that match the needs of its unique student population and the demands of ongoing changes in workforce development.
  4. The College of the Sequoias Community College District Board of Trustees, administration, faculty and staff will engage in best practices and staff development to sustain and improve operational structures and systems for institutional assessment and continuous improvement.

COS Strategic Plan Objectives

  1. Provide effective academic support services as measured by an increase in the rate at which students successfully complete courses.
  2. Increase the percentage of faculty who use the Early Alert System to provide feedback on student progress.
  3. Provide a level of counseling and library services for all district students that is equitable across the sites and instructional delivery modalities.
  4. Pilot a program of deliberate counseling in which counselors and basic skills faculty collaborate to: individually contact all first-time students who declare an intent to complete the requirements for an associate degree, certificate, or transfer and who also placed into basic skills English or mathematics for the purpose of ensuring that this cohort of students complete their SEP in the first semester.
  5. 2015 Pilot a program of deliberate counseling in which counselors and English faculty collaborate on the following: counselors visit English classes for the purpose of encouraging and scheduling counseling appointments.
  6. Accelerate the schedule for offering the basic skills sequence in English or mathematics.
  7. Allocate resources based on an accountable and systematic District-wide planning and budget development process that links this allocation to Institutional Program Reviews and the Strategic Plan.
  8. Assess the effectiveness of the pilot program of requiring successful completion of English 251 as a prerequisite for social science transfer courses.

Technology Committee Guiding Principles

The Institutional Technology Standing Committee is charged by theDistrict GovernanceSenatewith the following:

  • Make recommendations to District Governance Senate on policies, planning and other matters related to technology.
  • Prepare and monitor implementation of the Technology Plan.
  • Prepare an annual progress report on the Technology Plan.
  • Develop instructional technology standards.
  • Monitor compliance with policies related to technology.
  • Coordinate practices as needed related to technology.
  • Serve as a forum for dialogue on ongoing technology projects.

The Technology Committee believes that adopting guiding principles for technology promotes good decisions about technology planning, acquisition, service, training, acceptable use, and evaluation. In support of the charge to the Technology committee to make and prepare the technology plan and develop instructional technology standards, it is with the following guiding principles that this document and the plans standards are built:

Access / All COS users must have equitable access to technology.
Currency / COS technology systems are current.
Reliability / COS technology is reliable.
Needs Assessment / Decisions about technology at COS are determined by appropriate and periodic needs assessment.
Support / COS technology users have adequate support for appropriate technology use.
Planning / Decisions about technology at COS are informed by institutional planning processes that are responsive to user needs
Learning / The ultimate goal of technology at COS is learning.
Environmental Awareness / Decisions about technology will include information about environmental impact.

Constituent Surveys

In the survey conducted in spring of 2013 one of the major themes that emerged was the desire by students and faculty to access network assets and the internet via personal devices wherever they are on campus.

The survey conducted in spring of 2013 showed that communications between students and faculty occurred either daily or weekly using the Internet in 85% of the respondents. Strictly using email this shows that the interaction between faculty and students utilizing other than face to face communication is important.

A customer satisfaction survey was conducted by the Research Office during the spring semester of 2013. This survey was sent electronically to faculty, staff and students. A total of 645 surveys were received. Of those 403 were from students, 133 from staff and 109 from faculty. The survey asked a variety of questions including the perception of the service provided by Technology Services. Specific questions were asked regarding the speed of response from the help desk as well as the performance received. (See Technology Survey Results 2013)

Several themes emerged from these surveys including the need for mobile computing and a desire to have network resources available on and off campus. A not so clear but underlying theme was to have a robust “always on” infrastructure that supports both student learning and college operations. To this end a list of projects was created that support both the constituent survey and the overall health and stability of the technology infrastructure.

Technology Services Project List

Based on the technology survey, Master Plan, Strategic Plan, guiding principles and operational concerns a list of projects was developed. These projects are separated into three areas; Systems, Educational Technology, and Hardware. Each of the individual projects are further broken down into which District Objective they support or if they are an Operational Objective.

Systems Projects are those that will require multiple departments’ involvement for specifications, development and testing. These projects generally support a district objective that has been identified by constituents in either the Strategic plan or the surveys.

Educational Technology Projects are those that have a direct effect on the teaching and learning environment in the district. These projects include district wide events that promote the use of educational technology in the teaching/learning experience.

Hardware projects are predominately those operational tasks that ensure the infrastructure of the district is maintained and kept up to date.

Systems Projects

  • Student Success – implement a degree audit system that will track and monitor student achievement toward degree and certificate completion – District Objective 1
  • Student Portal – implement a single sign on system that will enable students/faculty/staff to access all systems through a common single point of entry – District Objective 1
  • Enhanced Counseling services – implement a real time distance counseling system that enables student and counselor to connect via an online interface – District Objective 3
  • Mobile Access – Enhance existing systems to allow for mobile device interaction – District Objective 1
  • Disaster Plan – ensure business critical functions are available in the event of a disaster (natural or otherwise) – Operational Objective
  • Virtual Infrastructure extensions – implement virtual desktops, virtual applications for student and faculty – Operational Objective
  • Converged Communications Platform – Upgrade phone system to all voice over IP (VoIP) across the District while integrating the voice system into other technology services – Operational Objective
  • Remote/Distance meeting – implement systems for distance meetings between campuses and external entities – Operational Objective

Educational Technology Projects

  • Technology Summit – Create an on-campus event for showcasing new technology – District Objective 1
  • Classroom experience – insure all classrooms are equipped for current technology systems – District Objective 1
  • Lecture capture – investigate technology available for instructors to “capture” lectures for viewing at a later time and place – District Objective 1
  • Environmental scan – annually research and report on “new” educational technologies – District Objective 1

Hardware Projects

  • Desktop replacement – insure all computers are refreshed on a 5 to 6 year cycle – Operational Objective
  • Server replacement – insure all servers are refreshed on a 5 year cycle – Operational Objective
  • Network equipment – insure all switches and routers and other network equipment is refreshed on a 7 year cycle – Operational Objective
  • Classroom projectors – replace all projectors with LED style systems and begin a 7 year refresh cycle – Operational Objective
  • Wireless Access – insure all buildings and common areas are covered with wireless access – Operational Objective
  • Printing Services – insure all printing devices are refreshed on a 7 year cycle. – Operational Objective

Approval

Technology Committee – October 20, 2014

District Governance Senate – October 28, 2014

Appendix A - Technology Standards developed by Technology Services

Desktop Standard

PC Standard (Acer BTO Core i7)

  • Base Model BASE MODEL FOR VM6630G
  • Operating System MICROSOFT WINDOWS 7 Enterprise 64B EN
  • Processor INTEL CORE I7 4790 3.6G 8M 1600FSB
  • Memory 8GB DDRIII SDRAM 4GX2
  • Storage 500GB SATA 7200RPM HDD
  • Graphics VGA CARD GEFORCE GT620 1GB VGA/HDMI/DVI
  • Connectivity EMBEDDED NETWORK INTERFACE CI
  • CD/DVD-ROM 16X SATA DVD BURNER DVD-/+RW DL
  • Keyboard USB MULTIMEDIA WIN8 KEYBOARD ENGLISH BLK
  • Mouse USB 3D WHEEL MOUSE OPTICAL BLK
  • Sound Card SOUND CHIP INTEGRATED ON BOARD
  • Power Supply UPGRADE TO 500W ES 5.0 POWER SUPPLY
  • Accessory Option STANDARD ACCESSORIES FOR VM6630G
  • Warranty WARRANTY UPG. TO 3 YR. ON-SITE
  • Upgrade to 4 years on-site
  • (146.EE254.004):

Laptop Standard

Laptop Standard (TravelMate P455-M-6401 Notebook I5-4200U 500GB 4GB 15.6")

  • Processor: Intel Core i5-4200U (3MB cache
  • 1.60GHz
  • up to 2.60GHz with Intel Turbo Boost Technology) Memory: 4GB (upgraded to 8GB RAM) (4/0) DDR3L SDRAM Storage: 500GB SATA hard drive
  • 7200RPM
  • Acer Disk Anti-Shock Protection; integrated Super-Multi drive; SD (Secure Digital) card reader LED TFT LCD: 15.6" (1920 x 1080) Graphics: Integrated Intel HD Graphics 4400 (200MHz base frequency
  • 1.0GHz max dynamic frequency) Communications: Intel Centrino Advanced-N 7260 802.11a/b/g/n WLAN
  • Bluetooth
  • gigabit LAN
  • All inclusive 3yr warranty

Apple Standard

Mac Desktop Standard (21.5-inch iMac)

  • 2.7GHz Quad-core Intel Core i5, Turbo Boost up to 3.2GHz
  • 8GB 1600MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 2X4GB
  • 1TB Serial ATA Drive @ 5400 rpm
  • Intel Iris Pro Graphics
  • Apple Mouse
  • Apple Keyboard with Numeric Keypad (English) & User's GuideAccessory Kit
  • Pages, Numbers, Keynote
  • iPhoto, iMovie, GarageBand
  • OS X
  • AppleCare Protection Plan for iMac - Auto-enroll

Apple Laptop Standard

Mac Laptop Standard (MacBook Pro)

  • 2.6GHz Dual-core Intel Core i5, Turbo Boost up to 3.1GHz
  • 8GB 1600MHz DDR3L SDRAM
  • 128GB PCIe-based Flash Storage
  • Intel Iris Graphics
  • Backlit Keyboard (English) & User's Guide
  • Accessory Kit
  • Pages, Numbers, Keynote
  • iPhoto, iMovie, GarageBand
  • OS X
  • AppleCare Protection Plan for MacBook Air / 13" MacBook Pro - Auto-enroll

Server Standard

  • Dual 4 core CPU 2.4 Ghz
  • 16GB Ram
  • 3 Hard drives in Raid 5 configuration
  • Dual 1GB Nic
  • Redundant Power supply
  • 5 year warranty

Network Switch Standard

  • Hewlett Packard

Network Infrastructure Standard

  • In progress

Cloud Service Standard

  • In progress

Appendix B – ACCJC Technology Standards

Standard IIIC. -Technology resources are used to support student learning programs and services and to improve institutional effectiveness. Technology planning is integrated with institutional planning.

1. The institution assures that any technology support it provides is designed to meet the needs of learning, teaching, college-wide communications, research, and operational systems.

1a.The institution provides quality training in the effective application of its information technology to students and personnel.

1b.The institution systematically plans, acquires, maintains, and upgrades or replaces technology infrastructure and equipment to meet institutional needs.

1c.The distribution and utilization of technology resources support the development, maintenance, and enhancement of its programs and services.

2. Technology planning is integrated with institutional planning. The institution systematically assesses the effective use of technology resources and uses the results of evaluation as the basis for improvement.

Appendix C - Faculty Input on Technology Plan

1. What technologies and technology support services for faculty and students do you believe are essential to the viability of the College's academic programs? / Bb or equivalent, smart classrooms, wifi, publicity regarding available student services, installed applications, IT support , JSTOR
2. How could academic programs and student learning experiences be enhanced through technology and technology support for faculty and students? / Bb, classroom response systems, installed applications and training, JSTOR, newsletter about how COS instructors integrate technology, computers in the classroom
3. What are ways in which the District administrative functions could be accomplished more effectively and efficiently using technology? / access to data, form reform, video recording, Bb training, online chat for student services, accounting of technology updates
4. What are ways in which services to students could be enhanced through improved technology and technology support? / wifi, Bb mobile, free Word, increased use of student email, student helpdesk, health services appointment booking online, more computers on campus, smart classrooms, faster Internet, single sign-on, wifi, blended orientation
5. In what ways do you believe technology and technology support requirements for the District will change during the next five years? / more Bb, tech training, regular assessment of existing technology and tech support, mobile, distance education ebooks
6. What are technology and technology support improvements that would have the greatest positive impact on the District? / technology literacy as focus, texting, JSTOR, wifi, degree audit system, computer labs and information about availability online, continue upgrades to website

Appendix D -Management input on Technology Plan