Attendance

Karl Abrahamson, Vic Aeby, Tom Allen, George Bailey, Al Barnhill, Dana Brooks, Austin Bunch, Wendy Creasey, Jo Lynne Daughtry, Joanne Dehoney, Michael Dixon, Karl Faser, Rob Hudson, Richard Kerns, Donna McDonald, Joe Norris, Melissa Parsons, Charles Peele, Elmer Poe, Richard Ramirez, Len Rhodes, Joel Sweatte, Leonard Trujillo, Margaret Umphrey, Sergiy Vilkomir, Beth Winstead, Karl Wuensch

Chief Information Officer (CIO) Update

Joe Norris announced his recent appointment as the new Chief Information Officer for the university and thanked everyone for their support.  Norris briefly reviewed his plan to implement the ECU vision from an IT perspective.

Over the next eighteen months, IT will focus on four areas:  Operational Excellence, Innovation and Education, Research, Administration and Health Care.

Operational Excellence

• Enhance business processes beginning with the travel requisition system, currently a paperless system available to everyone through OneStop
• Update security standards to ensure they are appropriate for changes in cloud computing and mobile platforms
• Mature Planning Model – Enhance project planning model through the further development and adoption of the Enterprise Project Management tool

Innovation

• Explore cloud computing opportunities, such as Outlook 365, which is hosted in the cloud
• Consider Apple and new mobile applications for the future

Education and Research

• Mobility for learning and campus services – extending mobility for the learning environment (Blackberry, iPhone) and for campus IT services (newsfeeds, bus schedules). The focus will be to devise a single platform to deploy these services to the student population
• Social media tool implementation – we currently have a task force in place to draft a social media policy; once a policy and guidelines have been established, the next step will be to choose a tool that campus can support centrally as the approved social media device for the university

Administration and Healthcare

• HealthSpan implementation with PCMH
• Web enhancements – significant upgrades to current homepage
• Revamp the ITCS website
• Implementation of OneStop2
• Reengineer business processes

Technology Steering Committee

Norris reviewed the current IT governance structure and announced implementation of the Technology Steering Committee (TSC). This committee offers guidance, prioritization of products, oversight and then strategy campus-wide in regard to IT. The TSC will feed into the Academic Council, the Executive Council, and/or the BOT as appropriate. This will help define a clear path for information to flow into and out of IT. The TSC will function in addition to the IRCC. This group will be chaired by Joe Norris. See below for the complete membership representation.

• Rick Niswander, A&F representative
• Stacie Tronto, Audit representative
• Nasseh Tabrizi, Faculty Senate representative
• Dr. Larry Boyer, Library representative
• Dean David White, Deans representative
• Ron Mitchelson, Research and Graduate Studies
• Gary Vanderpool, Health Sciences representative
• SGA, President or his appointee
• Paul Zigas, legal representative

Creasey to Chair IRCC

Norris appointed Wendy Creasey, Assistant Director of IT Services, as the new chair of the IRCC. The IRCC will continue to function in its current capacity and in addition to the TSC. Norris will address the IRCC twice a year and provide CIO updates during those times.

New Director of IT Strategic Programs

Norris introduced the new Director of IT Strategic Programs, Joanne Dehoney. Dehoney comes to ECU from Ohio State University with a background in instructional technology, receiving her PhD from Georgia Tech. Her role as Director of IT Strategic Programs will be to promote areas of IT Excellence at state and federal levels as part of an overall funding campaign in coordination with Academic Affairs and Research & Graduate Studies. In this role, she will seek and develop strategic vendor alliances (CISCO, Dell, Lenovo, IBM, EMC) that will enable campus departments to benefit through internships, donated hardware/software resources and job placement for their graduates.

Director of IT Infrastructure

Norris announced plans to conduct a national search for Director of Infrastructure Services. Rob Hudson, Director of Networking, will lead the search committee for this position and help the new director transition into his/her role. Hudson will then transition to the role of Chief Architect in the CIO Office, overseeing large technology projects such as cloud computing.

Long Distance Update

Hudson, Networking Director, announced that as part of the conversion of VOIP, Networking is preparing to turn off the old telephone switch. The conversion has made it possible to expand the local calling area for the campus community. Most cities which were previously considered long distance can now be dialed directly without incurring a charge. Hudson will email the complete list of cities to the group at a later time.

Web Update

Daughtry gave a brief update on web changes.

• CommonSpot read-only server (www.ecu.edu) is being upgraded to Windows 2008 to help reduce out-of-memory errors
• An additional Google search appliance has been purchased to assist with searches on the ECU homepage
• Preparing to upgrade CommonSpot 5.X to 6.0.  Plan to have on a test server by Christmas and make the full upgrade by spring or summer 2011
• Currently offering the campus community the option to create a mobile version of their CommonSpot site
• We now have a pilot Yammer community for CommonSpot users called CSUG (CommonSpot Users Group)
• There is currently a CommonSpot blog (blog.ecu.edu/CommonSpot) to post new and up-to-date CommonSpot information
• In an effort to ensure that the homepage has the most up-to-date information, ITCS is asking all departments to update the contact phone number found in the footer of their website. This number is typically 328-6131, the university switchboard. Daughtry stressed that departments should update the 328-6131 number to one that rings directly in the department
• Departments should check the alphabet index on the homepage and verify that department information is current
• The ECU phonebook has been converted into pdf format. This is updated daily to provide the most current information at all times
• Currently research a website redesign. Considering features, such as the width of the screen, website terminology and removal of icons. Researching a mobile application interface. The mobile application would be available on multiple devices, such as blackberry and iPhone

Education and Technology Fee Update

Wendy Creasey gave an update on Education and Technology fees. ECU is currently the second lowest ed/tech fee across the state. Schools that are most similar to ECU in the system (State, UNC, Wilmington) tend to have an ed/tech fee that is consistently at least $200 higher. This year there is a potential increase of $60. Creasey shared the following explaining that an increase will help add new services and continue support for the following:

• Increase Help Desk and access to trained resources
• Increase learning tools on software and technology
• Create mobile versions of Blackboard and other learning platform tools
• Increase lecture capture capabilities to create more opportunities to review lectures and access
• Create multiple use space model which is a combination of smart classrooms, computers, and collaborative spaces
• Renew and increase software available through the Virtual Computer Lab
• Provide access to more advanced equipment such as video editing and specialized software for all programs with technology incorporated
• Provide additional services and support through increased staffing resources
• Pending computer lab requests for social work, criminal justice, political science, art, math
• Continued support of infrastructure, software, and services
• Educational lab supplies, such as microscopes.

Google News Article

George Bailey forwarded an article to Rob Hudson concerning a security breech that occurred when Google’s robotic car collected personal data while obtaining street-view snapshots for Google Maps. Hudson informed the group that there were best practice guidelines available through IT Security to help keep wireless protected while working from home. Hudson will email the pdf document containing this information to the IRCC.

Confidential Security tips

Margaret Umphrey, IT Security Director, presented the group with a handout containing confidential data security tips. The handout will be emailed to the group after the meeting. She informed the group that there is a Security Awareness session available through OneStop that provides helpful security tips as well. If anyone has data that contains Social Security Numbers, driver’s license information or confidential student information, then the NC Identity Theft Act requires that  additional security measures be implemented in regard to these items. Additional tips include:

• Don’t store confidential information on a laptop or flash drive unless it is encrypted
• Use VPN to download confidential information
• Use a secure server or download through Piratedrive
• There is a tool available through the Help Desk that scans your PC to see if historical confidential data is stored

Attendance

Karl Abrahamson, George Bailey, Dana Brooks, Austin Bunch, Wendy Creasey, Michael Dixon, Ray Drake, Rob Hudson, Richard Kerns, Donna McDonald, Joe Norris, Melissa Parsons, Charles Peele, Elmer Poe, Richard Ramirez, Len Rhodes, Jeff Shinpaugh, Joel Sweatte, Don Sweet, Nasseh Tabrizi, Leonard Trujillo, Margaret Umphrey, Beth Winstead, Karl Wuensch

Combined Pricing Initiative

Norris reviewed the exception process from the Combined Pricing Initiative (CPI) mandated by the UNC-GA.

• The campus may only use up to 20% of the total expenditure of state funds actually used for PC purchases (as there are several sources of State appropriated funds, we will track the actual purchases rather than the State appropriation)
• This limit of 20% of funding for non-standard purchases will become more restrictive in the future as less will be allowed for non-standard hardware configurations.
• All non-standard purchases must be submitted to an approved “exception process” prior to the purchase order creation.

In lieu of the Exception Process, a committee will be formed consisting of ECU Faculty that will review requests for exceptions from individual departments. Joe Norris suggested that the committee be SharePoint-based in order to make quick approvals and/or suggestions in regard to departmental purchases. Norris has to notify the GA that our IT Committee has reviewed and voted on the Exception Process. George Bailey moved to approve the process and Wendy Creasey seconded the motion. The Exception Process was thereby officially approved by the IRCC.

Social Media Strategy Committee

Joe Norris has been charged by Provost Marilyn Sheerer and Dr. Virginia Hardy to establish a committee to ensure that university standards are being upheld in regard to social media (Twitter, Facebook, etc.). The charge is to establish reasonable guidelines regarding the use of social media for university purposes. Norris hopes to have a policy in place by Christmas and will present a draft copy to the IRCC as soon as one becomes available.

Web Oversight Committee Update

The Web Oversight Committee is currently reviewing the style and content of the ECU home page. After a discussion at their last meeting, it was decided to seek the approval of the Executive Council to initiate a website redesign.

New IRCC Site

Creasey previewed the new IRCC site. The new site features a snapshot of IT projects, key metrics, pilot projects, IRCC minutes, information about the IT Governance structure and a link to the FITC website. The site will also include a link to the ITCS services catalog which will show all services within ITCS. The site can be found via the following link. www.ecu.edu/cs-admin/ircc/index.cfm

Smart Classrooms Plans

Wendy Creasey gave the following update on Smart Classrooms.

• There are a total of 425 spaces with technology (chemistry labs, conference rooms, lecture halls, etc.)
• There are 219 spaces that are centrally scheduled that have technology in them. (110 rooms)
• There are 206 spaces that are not 110 rooms.

Priority funding goes to the 110 rooms so that a critical mass of centrally scheduled rooms with technology is available to faculty and students.

Smart Classrooms are categorized into four types:

• Minimal – projector and laptop connection
• Basic – projector, computer, podium
• Basic Standard – projector, computer, annotation device and document camera
• Advanced – video conferencing and class capture

This year, approximately 1.5M will be spent on smart classroom maintenance, upgrades, and new rooms.  S&T lecture halls and 50 other smart classrooms will be upgraded this year.

Blackboard Upgrade

Wendy Creasey announced a Blackboard upgrade from 8.0 to 9.1. The upgrade features a new grade book and has additional social media tools filtered and integrated into the tool. There is currently a small pilot group working with the upgrade. The target date for complete installation is first summer session 2011.

New Multiple Use Space Model

Creasey announced the implementation of the Multiple Use Space Committee. The charge for the committee is to look at labs/classrooms on campus to ensure proper and adequate use of the space. Committee members include Kim Higdon, Fiona Baxter, Hunt McKennon, Angela Anderson, John Swope and Wendy Creasey. Creasey asked for faculty representatives from the IRCC. George Bailey volunteered. Wendy encouraged anyone wanting to participate on the committee to contact her via email.

Banner Survey Results

A recent Banner survey revealed an overall satisfaction rating of 86%. The survey was sent to nearly 5000 users via ECU Official and Announce. 500 people responded to the survey and made close to 1000 comments. Don Sweet compiled the comments and submitted them to the IRCC for review. Sweet was pleased with the current approval ratings but plans to submit another survey in January 2012 in a continued effort to track the progress of Banner, user feedback and satisfaction.

Systems Management

Ray Drake reviewed the new KBOX Systems Management appliance. This tool is designed to make IT more efficient in managing desktop resources across campus. Capabilities of the KBOX system include:

• Device Discovery
• Asset Management
• Patch Management
• Remote Control
• Imaging
• Software Distribution
• Power Management

Malware Mitigation

Drake also reviewed steps that ITCS is taking to limit malware on campus computers. ITCS currently uses a variety of security features to prevent malware including firewalls, AV (desktop/email) patching and user education. A common target of malware is the individual’s profile folder. Drake’s team will use group policy to restrict executables (EXE, PHP, ASP and VBS) from running in the profile folder. They have been piloting this technique in ITCS since July and plan to rollout to campus by late October.

Email Archiving

Drake announced the following changes in email archiving:

• Changing email archiving from 30 days to 60 days
• Changing email retention from 3 years to 7 years

October – Security Awareness Month

Margaret Umphrey announced that October is Cyber-Security Awareness month. This is a national campaign designed to promote internet security awareness. Umphrey’s office will be targeting social networking. They will provide tips on how to participate responsibly and what information is safe to provide on a social networking system.

Bb University Security Awareness Training

Umphrey also announced the launch of Blackboard Security Awareness training. The course will be offered to the university on an annual basis. It is a 15-minute session designed to offer the user tips on security awareness.

SSL VPN Announcement

Rob Hudson announced the installation of a new VPN. Detailed information on the installation can be found in the next issue of Technology Digest. The new VPN works on Macintosh as well as Windows and appears to be much easier to access. You can access the new VPN at www.ecu.edu/cs-itcs/itsecurity/vpn.cfm