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You, Me and IT
By Suzanne Montague, Vice President of Information Technology
Welcome to the second TechBytes newsletter
from the Office of Information Technology. The first newsletter was
printed in Fall 2006 and mailed across campus, in hopes that you
would find enough good information to keep a copy nearby. After
speaking with various constituents across campus, we have chosen to
move to an electronic newsletter this year, which will be e-mailed
to faculty, staff, and students as well as available at our Web
site www.uta.edu/oit. In this
fashion, you can quickly peruse the newsletter for articles that
are pertinent to your interests as well as providing a quick
reference for you as needed during the year. If you would like a
printed version of the newsletter, please e-mail cio@uta.edu and we will be happy to
send you one.
There has been a tremendous amount of information technology
activity on our campus over the last year. This newsletter will
cover many of these topics in order to give you some idea of
changes, new services, and topics of interest to our users and
audience. We hope you enjoy the newsletter and find topics that
interest you, as well as quality information that helps you with
your daily business.
We welcome suggestions for future topics, which can be sent to cio@uta.edu, as well as any comments
that help us to improve service. Your input is always welcome.
Contents
Teaching at UT Arlington with SMART Sympodiums
Statistics Say A Lot
Bigger E-Mailbox
MavSpace for Departments
New Directors
Security Savvy
Social Security Numbers - The Final Push
Web Standards Committee
Catching the Computing Wave
Mathematica©
Introducing MavMerge
Why Do We Need Computer Patches?
Campus Connection
Student Information Technology Committee
Participate in "Tech Peers" User Group
OIT Supports UT Arlington´s Recruitment Effort
What´s This I Hear about UT Arlington, UT Dallas, and UT Tyler in a Shared PeopleSoft Project?
Shared PeopleSoft Project 10 What Happened to UTACC?
Staying Connected
Your Document Imaging Solution!
Teaching at UT Arlington with SMART Sympodiums
By James Stewart, Manager Computing Services
OIT-managed computer classrooms have just
gotten smarter! The addition of the SMART Sympodium console and
software at all instructor podiums now gives you the ability to
write with a digital pen (called a stylus) directly over your
computer presentations, much like using a grease pen on an overhead
projector.
The SMART Sympodium interactive display is a pen-equipped computer
monitor that replaces both the computer and the traditional
monitor, and allows you to write in digital ink over applications,
write electronic notes on the computer screen, and control your
computer while facing your class. You simply touch the screen to
control software applications, write notes, or annotate directly
over the computer image. The computer image is simultaneously
displayed on our classroom´s large screen computer projection
system, allowing your students to easily follow along.
The required SMART Board software activates the screen so that you
can write over the top of applications and edit your notes. The
software comes with a wide range of presentation tools for
controlling the way in which information is highlighted, revealed,
and displayed on the screen It can also turn your computer screen
into a fully functioning whiteboard! You can still work with the
software you´re used to - such as Microsoft Word, PowerPoint
and Excel, or even your Web browser (anything you can display on
your computer monitor will be projected onto the SMART Sympodium) -
and save all your notes afterward. You can save all your work
directly to a file, or export as a webpage, e-mail it to your
class, print, etc.
Among many other things, it allows you to:
- Annotate over the slides of a PowerPoint presentation during class with the pen, highlighting important information or making ad hoc drawings to illustrate a concept.
- Create a virtual whiteboard (in effect, unlimited chalkboard space). It is easy to move back and forth between whiteboard pages and nothing needs to be erased to make room for a new page.
- Insert backgrounds and illustrations (including Flash programs) into your presentation from discipline-specific galleries of objects.
- Display and save classroom annotations in popular formats such as Adobe Acrobat (PDF), and post them to your class Web site for later review by your students.
- Prepare illustrations and notes in advance and then modify or supplement them in the classroom.**
- Capture whatever is displayed on the computer screen, make annotations on it using the pen, and save it as a graphic image.
** The University now has a site license that allows all faculty, students, and staff to run the SMART software, particularly the SMART Notebook. The software can be installed on your desktop or laptop computer so you can learn the software, prepare classroom presentation components in advance, or edit previously saved notebooks.
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The SMART Sympodiums are available in the following OIT computer classrooms: |
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Architecture 319 & 324 |
Fine Arts 404, 411, 411a, 412 |
I Had No Idea (Statistics say a lot)...
By Suzanne Montague, Vice President of Information Technology
General UT Arlington IT Stats:
- Of the 271 million e-mails that UT Arlington received between January 2007 and May 2007, only 5% were legitimate and 95% were classified as SPAM.
- As of mid-June, there are 7,000 MavSpace users with around 140,000 total files.
- Students have access to more than 800 computers in 10 OIT computer labs.
- Between Sept. 1, 2006 and May 31, 2007,
-
- Students have printed 6.5 million pages through the OIT computing labs
- The HelpDesk has logged around 75,000 requests, with 84% from students and 16% from faculty/staff
- 196,030 unique IDs logged into OIT lab computers, with a total of 953,720 logins, at an average of 45 min. 51 sec. per login.
How Much Technology do Students Really Use?
By Suzanne Montague, Vice President of Information Technology
A recent study by Educause on Undergraduate Students and Information Technology in 2006 (based on a survey of 28,724 students and 96 institutions) revealed some interesting statistics.
- 97.8% of students own a PC
- 38.3% of 18 or 19 year olds own both a laptop and a desktop computer.
- 90% have broadband connections; 10% depend on dial-up access
- While they prefer laptops computers, 70% never bring their laptop to class. The primary reasons are weight of the laptop and risk of theft.
- 99.9% use e-mail and more than 80% use instant messaging. 84.9% prefer e-mail to instant messaging.
- 88.2% have more than one e-mail account
- As part of class work, 94.1% of the students use email, followed by 64.6% course management systems (like WebCT), 64.6% course Web sites, 63.3% presentation software, 7% blogs, 3.9% webcasts, and 3.3% podcasts.
- 19.8% own either a personal digital assistant (PDA) or smart phone
If you would like to learn more about this study (2-page executive summary, 12-page summary, or full study), please send an e-mail to cio@uta.edu.
Bigger, Bigger, Bigger E-Mailbox
By Sonny Dinh, Software System Specialist II
E-mail has become more than a tool to send and receive
electronic messages. It has become a collaboration tool for
calendaring, task management, and other purposes. The demand for
E-mail box storage has increased significantly in the past few
years. OIT has continuously been working to overcome the challenges
to increase E-mailbox size while keeping the messaging system
running at an optimized level. During the spring of 2007, the
mailbox size for faculty/staff increased from 80 Megabyte (MB) to
150MB. An averagesized "text-only" E-email is around 30
kilobytes (KB). With 150MB, an E-mailbox can store up to 5,000
messages or more!
What about sending large attachments? E-mail systems are not
designed for storing and exchanging files. Together, UT
Arlington´s messaging system (MavMail) and MavSpace removed
many challenges for file sharing via the internet. E-mail with
large attachments may not go through due to mailbox quotas and
system restrictions. Third-party E-mail providers such as Yahoo,
Google, and Hotmail only allow E-mail attachments of about 10MB.
You can bypass the restrictions by sending a MavSpace web link to
your file(s). For more information on using MavSpace, go to mavspace.uta.edu or call the
Help Desk at extension 2-2208.
MavSpace for Departments
By Larry Elmer, Director of Enterprise Operations and Systems (EOS)
In the last edition of TechBytes, OIT announced the
MavSpace service; an easy to use on-line storage system. Today we
are ready to take the next step, MavSpace for Departments. This
service is identical to the MavSpace that each of us is familiar
with but instead of assigned space for a single user, this space
will be available to the entire department, with a departmental
administrator who will define access to folders based on
departmental needs. This service will make sharing files easier by
bringing the "access from anywhere" technology to the
department level. If you can get to the Internet, then you can
access your files, anywhere, anytime. In addition, the departments
will have control of the file structure, access rights, etc. for
their departmental MavSpace. This additional service does not
replace any of the file services that you already have but, is an
additional storage service. It comes with all of the benefits of
the current MavSpace including the ability to allow "read" access
to some individuals while allowing "read/write" access to others.
More over, it provides the ability to insert a link to a file in an
e-mail instead of attaching the file to the e-mail, thus saving the
space on your e-mail quota, or as in the case above, not being able
to send the file. OIT has established a storage quota of 50
Gigabytes for each department. We are currently working on this
service with an anticipated roll out sometime in Fall 2007. This is
a great tool with tremendous potential to help your department be
successful. OIT hopes this tool will enable your departments to
better serve your missions.
New Director for Enterprise Operations and Systems (EOS)
By Mary Jane Pearson, Executive Assistant
Larry
Elmer joined the Office of Information Technology in March of 2007
as the new Director of Enterprise Operations and Systems at the
Arlington Regional Data Center (ARDC).
Larry comes to us from Greyhound Lines Inc. where he was the
Director of Technical Services for North America. Larry brings with
him a demonstrated history of accomplishments in implementing large
projects, managing business relationships, strategic planning, team
building, operations and business management, along with multiple
years of experience in the management of data centers, IT
infrastructure, Windows/NT management, open systems and mainframes.
OIT Appoints Director of New Project Management Office
By Mary Jane Pearson, Executive Assistant
Walter Kisner joined the Office of Information
Technology in December of 2006 as the Director of Program
Management Services. Walter is charged with launching the Project
Management Office, which will provide professional project
guidance, tracking and metrics to medium and large IT initiatives.
Program Management Services will also guide OIT quality assurance
efforts and help to create comprehensive change control procedures
for the organization. In addition to his project management duties,
Walter has been appointed as the MyMav Coordinator, which enables
him to leverage his Enterprise Research Planning (ERP) system
background and remain involved in efforts regarding the current
student system.
Walter looks forward to being a part of the ambitious and
cuttingedge changes taking place in the Office of Information
Technology at UT Arlington.
Identity Information Theft and Fraud: How to Protect Yourself!
By David Wood, Security Analyst
You
hear about it all the time. A virus has infected a computer at some
institute and has now exposed potentially thousands of social
security numbers. You get a sinking feeling as you realize you may
be one of the victims. It is often at this time you ask yourself,
"What really happens when my information is exposed and what
can I do to protect myself"?
Identity theft is a multi-million dollar industry that can range
from someone buying a flat screen television with your identity, to
potentially funding terrorist organizations worldwide. Whatever the
money may be used for, it all comes down to the same thing: as a
victim, you are wondering how and why it happened!
A lot of identity theft is no longer committed by the shady
character rummaging through trash cans to find your credit card or
bank account information. Most identity theft is now a result of a
computer compromise. The compromise is often achieved by automated
malicious code known as a virus. When executed, this code searches
the Internet for computers that have either outdated anti-virus
programs or no anti-virus programs at all. They also may scan the
Internet for any computers that do not have the latest software
patches, which leave them vulnerable to an attack. Some malicious
code can be attached to programs - such as free software or
programs also known as freeware or software - that are downloaded
from the Internet by the computer user.
However, not all viruses are intended to collect sensitive
information about you. Some may be used to turn your computer into
a file server where your computer is used to store illegal content
such as copyrighted music, movies or pornography. These files are
often hidden to the average computer user and may never be
discovered, but can be shared from your computer with potentially
thousands of other persons who have now been granted access.
There is hope! There are a few things that you can do to be more
proactive, thus lessening the impact if identity theft happens to
you.
- Be more aware! Reviewing bank statements regularly and paying close attention to any "mystery" transactions can potentially thwart would-be thieves from draining your bank account. Even better call the bank and find out a way to check your bank account activity every week, if not every day!
- Know who you are sharing your information with and why they need so much information about you. Some businesses will ask for more information than needed. Ask them if they really need all of the information they are asking for and what they are planning to do with it. Oftentimes, you can choose not to provide certain information and still receive services.
- Be sure any transactions made over the Internet are as secure as possible. Make certain the computer you are using has a good anti-virus program installed and updated regularly. Check to see that the web page you are using has "https" in the address bar. The "s" indicates that it is a secure Web site; a lock should also appear in the bottom frame of the window. If it is a public machine, beware of spyware such as keyloggers, which are used to record your keystrokes. It is generally a good idea to avoid performing any financial transactions over the Internet from a public computer or kiosk.
- Know your credit and bank cards! Go through your cards and make a list of the names and contact numbers for each. Keep this list in a safe place. That way, if you ever receive a letter indicating your identity may have been stolen, you will have the information you need to quickly cancel the cards and notify the issuers of the potential threat against your identity.
- If you ever suspect that you may be a victim of identity
theft, or just want to be extra cautious, you can place a
temporary (90-day) initial fraud alert on your credit report and,
if necessary, re-issue the alert every 90 days by contacting one
of three credit reporting agencies (TransUnion 800-680-7289,
Experian 888-397- 3742, Equifax 800-525-6285). You should receive
letters from all three within two weeks saying an initial 90-day
alert has been added to your credit report. Keep these letters on
file so that if there is an issue with a creditor you have proof
of the alert.
Remember that having an alert on your account means you may have to temporarily remove the alert anytime you want to check your credit report or obtain a line of credit. Do this by contacting the reporting agency with whom you filed the alert. It is general practice for one agency to notify the others when you request an alert. - Protect your computer at home and at work! UT Arlington has a software site license agreement with Symantec AntiVirus. The site license makes the software available free for installation on any inventoried UT Arlington computers, and provides a generous discount of seven dollars per license for personalowned computers. If you do not already have Symantec on your computer, please visit http://www.uta.edu/antivirus for software download and installation instructions. Visit www.uta.edu/oit/ computerstore for more information on how to obtain a license for your home computer.
- UT Arlington has taken precautions to guard sensitive information by following guidelines that are outlined in the UT System Policy UTS165 (formerly known as BPM66) http://www.uta.edu/oit/policy/ qa/ssn/index.shtml reducing the collection, use or disclosure of all social security numbers contained in any medium, including paper records. By following this policy, all UT Arlington faculty and staff can help prevent the accidental disclosure of sensitive information that might lead to identity theft and fraud. If you are UT Arlington Faculty or Staff, please become familiar with UTS165. UT Arlington has also implemented a unique identifier to replace SSNs called the UT Arlington ID Number that is generated for students when applying for admission to UT Arlington and for employees by their administrative assistants once they are hired.
By taking these few easy steps you can help prevent identity theft and fraud. Don´t wait; start taking precautions today! Visit the UT Arlington Information Security Office Web site www.uta.edu/security to learn more on how to secure sensitive information at UT Arlington from potential threats.
Social Security Numbers - The Final Push
By Chauncey Jackson, Assistant VP of Information Technology
So what is UT Arlington doing about SSNs?
The University of Texas System has stated its policy on this issue
- one that we all have been continually aware of: Business
Procedures Memorandum 66.
The University of Texas at Arlington recognizes that it collects
and maintains sensitive information relating to its students and
individuals associated with the University. Over the past two
years, our faculty, staff and administrators have been dedicated to
ensuring the privacy and proper handling of this information by
actively restricting the use of SSNs.
Proactive steps have been taken to use the new UT Arlington ID in
the MyMav Student System, and UT-EID in the DEFINE System in lieu
of SSN. These IDs are the main identifier used for university
record-keeping and links to database records. Also, our databases
have been shielded from intrusion, and all departments either shred
or store paper forms containing sensitive data in secure locations.
Personal computer files containing SSNs have been identified and,
if not needed, have either been deleted or moved to secure network
drives. These important steps are being taken as a positive
response to an April 19, 2007 memo stressing the need to destroy or
protect all SSN documents and files.
These changes have been a part of a multi-year effort to protect
members of the University community´s personal information.
Further examples include the placement of the UT Arlington ID on
MavExpress cards rather than the SSN; performing ongoing security
assessments of systems containing sensitive information; and
eliminating methods of accessing sensitive information that is not
encrypted.
On the less technical side of things, SSN education and awareness
training for all university employees took place on April 6, 2007.
And, we recognized the appointment of a UT System-wide Chief
Information Security Officer (CISO), whose full-time
responsibilities will be focused on the protection of all sensitive
data, not just SSN.
As a result of all these actions, UT Arlington remains on track in
meeting its stated objective regarding SSN.
Web Standards Committee
By Bill Daley, Director of Enterprise Information Services (EIS)
What is it? And why is it being created?
The Web Standards Committee (WSC) was recently created to foster
coherency of content, functionality, design, and usability across
UT Arlington´s official web presence. On approval of the
President, the committee establishes guidelines and standards, and
recommends policies and procedures for the strategic and longterm
evolution of the Web site and all of its components.
Several meetings of this committee have been held for the purpose
of determining its goals and objectives, identifying membership,
and determining next steps. Specifically, the WSC will:
- Set and disseminate web guidelines and standards and recommend policies and procedures for consideration by university administration.
- Identify the roles and responsibilities regarding the web presence of Office of Information Technology, University Communications, and individual departments.
- Proactively identify and recommend tools for ongoing web development, the use of emerging web media, and managing web presence.
- Promote the use of technology standards and enterprise development tools.
Who are we?
The WSC is overseen jointly by the Vice Presidents for University
Communications and Information Technology and chaired by a
representative from Information Technology. Permanent members
consist of representatives from University Communications, Research
Administration, Library, Student Enrollment Services, Graduate
School, Business Services and Financial Affairs, Distance
Education, Information Technology and several Academic Departments
(determined by the Office of the Provost).
To ensure representation from across campus, adhoc and permanent
sub-committees may be established to address specific needs and
functional areas. Look for more information about the WSC committee
in the near future.
Catching the High-Performance Computing Wave
By Suzanne Montague, Vice President of Information Technology
Research is a hot topic at UT Arlington. The Office of
Information Technology (OIT) is partnering with the Office of
Research to provide researchers with high-performance computing
tools and resources for those who require intensive
number-crunching capabilities.
In the Spring of 2007, a new and improved High Performance Users
Group was created to give researchers the opportunity to define
needs and set the future for high performance computing services at
UT Arlington. The group will meet at least twice a year (fall/
spring), with additional meetings as determined to be of value. Not
only does the Users Group provide the ability to give input, it is
an excellent setting to share information and perhaps generate
ideas for future projects. If you are interested in becoming a
member of the Users Group, please send an e-mail to cio@uta.edu. We will be happy to add
you to the listserv so you can receive news and information about
future meetings.
There are two excellent avenues for UT Arlington researchers to
take advantage of high-performance computing services. The first
option involves high-performance computing equipment at UT
Arlington, where we have around 304 processors and 10 TB of
aggregate storage. For more information, please visit http://hpc.uta.edu/. This fall, one
of the topics of the High Performance User´s Group meeting will be
the new equipment that was installed over the summer.
The second option is provided by the University of Texas Board of
Regents, who funded a large computing system through the Texas
Advanced Computing Center (TACC), located at the J.J. Pickle
facility at UT Austin. TACC has two large HPC systems available to
UT Arlington researchers, Lonestar is available now and Ranger
should be available in January 2008. For more information, please
visit http://www.tacc.utexas.edu/.
Click on ´New Users´ to learn about the steps to
request allocation of services from TACC.
Mathematica© Software Available to the UT Arlington User Community
By Dr. Nancy Rowe, Manager of Statistical Services
UT Arlington´s Office of Information Technology, in
conjunction with the UT System, has entered into a license
agreement with Wolfram Research Inc. to offer the Mathematica©
software to students, faculty, and staff. Faculty and staff can
have license copies of the software for both their campus and home
computers at no cost to themselves. The license runs from January
to December and must be re-licensed each calendar year regardless
of when the software is installed during the year. The software
renewal date is December 15 of each year.
Students can acquire Mathematica© for $30 per calendar year by
purchasing a license at the UT Arlington Computer Store in Ransom
Hall. The expiration dates are the same as for faculty and staff
but the $30 per-year fee is not prorated. To learn how to obtain
your copy of Mathematica©, visit the appropriate Web site
listed below.
http://www.uta.edu/oit/cs/desktop/software/wolfram/mathematica601windows.htm
http://www.uta.edu/oit/cs/desktop/software/wolfram/mathematica601mac.htm
http://www.uta.edu/oit/cs/desktop/software/wolfram/mathematica601linux.htm
Introducing MavMerge
By Melissa Ferguson, Manager OIT Production Control
The OIT Production Control Office is pleased to announce a new
data service called MavMerge that should become available to the
general campus in Spring 2008.
We will be working with select beta customers during the fall. If
you would like to be considered part of this beta group, please
email the OIT Production Control team at oit.ctl@uta.edu.
MavMerge is similar to Microsoft mail merge capabilities, which
automate processing of your printed correspondence. But MavMerge
takes it a step further to allow for the merging of a data file
with your custom template to generate e-mails. It also allows for
the ability to take spreadsheet information and encapsulate it into
the body of the printed correspondence, making it quite a
sophisticated and versatile product.
Many of you are already customers of OIT Production Control and
know that we create student data files based on desired run
criteria. For MavMerge requestors, we will merge that file with
your letter or e-mail template to create the finished product. For
example, if you wish to identify all students with a certain major,
GPA, and over 60 hours, a file of students with these criteria
could be extracted, then merged to send a personalized e-mail or
letter to the identified students.
Look for announcements of its availability as soon as the beta test
is completed, with a target date of Spring 2008. We look forward to
hearing from you.
Why Do We Need Computer Patches?
By James Stewart, Manager of Computing Services
In computing, a ´patch´ is a small piece of software
designed to update or fix problems with a computer program or its
supporting data. This includes fixing bugs, replacing graphics and
improving the usability or performance. Patches have the
particularly important role of fixing security holes.
Security patches are the primary method of fixing security
vulnerabilities in software. Currently Microsoft releases their
security patches once a month, or as soon after a vulnerability
announcement as possible.
Patch management involves maintaining current knowledge of
available patches, and deciding what patches are appropriate for
particular systems at a specified time. UT Arlington uses a patch
management system called Windows Server Update Services (WSUS) to
distribute the patches released by Microsoft to each of UT
Arlington´s 6,000+ departmental computers. These patches are the
same patches available from Microsoft´s Windows Update Web site,
but WSUS allows us to update computers locally and withhold any
patches we know will introduce new problems. WSUS is a great tool
for managing and distributing critical, security updates for both
Windows and Office products within UT Arlington. It will also
update MS Visio and MS Project.
To subscribe to WSUS and/or to make sure you have the newest WSUS
features, please point your Web browser to the following URL, http://www.uta.edu/oit/clientservices/antivirus_sus.
This service is set to run daily at 12 noon. Users logged onto
their computers will be prompted to reboot once the updates are
installed. When prompted, save your work, exit all programs and
reboot. If no one is logged onto the machine, the computer will
reboot automatically.
For more information visit http://www.uta.edu/oit/cs/antivirus_sus/
or call the OIT Help Desk.
The Blogs are Coming!
By Dr. Pete Smith, Assistant Vice President of Academic Affairs
In the past several years, Weblogs or
"blogs" have popped up everywhere: personal journals
written by friends and colleagues, blogs for business and industry
to create a dialogue with their customers, as well as millions of
blogs on diverse topics from "aardvarks" to
"zoology." Weblogs on the topics of current events and
politics are especially visible in the run-up to a presidential
election year, and many political candidates now make blogging a
part of their internet presence. In May of this year, Technorati,
the blog search engine, was indexing more than 70 million Weblogs!
What is a blog? In short, it is an easy-to-use form of Web
publishing, allowing the "blogger" to present text,
graphics, embed media, link to other blogs and resources, and to
engage in online discussions with readers/viewers through comments
left by visitors to a blog post. Wikipedia provides a more detailed
description of this phenomenon at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blog.
On campus, blogging has quickly emerged to support teaching and
learning. One well-known example is the blog to support our
campus-wide One Book program, which provided members of the UT
Arlington community digital resources and recordings of program
activities and presentations.
Blogs have also emerged for numerous campus classes, programs, and
activities. One of UT Arlington´s best-know bloggers is
Jeannine Hirtle (Education), who utilizes Weblogs in all of her
on-campus and on-line classes, as well as to support electronic
communities such as that for the Bluebonnet Writing Project
(National Writing Project).
Another faculty blogger on campus is Chris Conway (Modern
Languages), who utilizes his Weblogs for both teaching and
research. Available at http://drconway.wordpress.com,
his blog also embeds numerous examples of new media as well as
live, Webbased chat via Meebo.
His recent post entitled "´Only Connect´?: Top 10
Reasons College Professors Should Blog? (http://drconway.wordpress.
com/2007/05/12/only-connect-top-10-reasons-college-professors-should-blog/
provides a wonderful overview of the potential of blogging in
academia.)
And there is good news on the blogging horizon. Starting this
August, the Office of Information Technology, in cooperation with
the Center for Distance Education, will make available a campus
enterprise blogging solution, allowing faculty and staff to create
and use Weblogs for academic purposes with the protections of NetID
security, system back-up, and quality of service. Stay tuned for
more details as the fall semester approaches!
Student Information Technology Committee: Provides Funding to Campus Technology Projects
By Mary Jane Pearson, Executive Assistant
When the technology fee was first established, a portion of that
fee was set aside to give students a voice in student technology
initiatives above and beyond university administrative direction.
In the past, these funds have been used for outstanding initiatives
across campus, including laptop checkout at the Library, wireless
access in open areas of the campus, computing equipment in computer
labs, and much, much, more. Currently, $250,000 is allocated each
academic year, giving students an important role in determining
where technology dollars should be spent to give the best value to
the student community.
A Student Information Technology Committee is formed annually each
fall semester and consists of appointed representatives from each
of the academic colleges. The committee is under the leadership of
the Student Body President and the direction of Jeff Sorensen,
Assistant Vice President of Student Affairs. Each fall, the
committee begins by notifying eligible departments of the request
process for available funds and appropriate deadlines. When the
deadline is reached, the committee reviews all requests to
determine if they meet pre-established criteria, and then forwards
eligible requests to the Office of Information Technology (OIT) to
be reviewed for technical accuracy, compatibility with UT Arlington
systems and best price recommendations. In January, the committee
meets with the CIO and OIT directors to discuss the viability of
each request and sets priorities on their value to students and the
University. OIT attends in a consulting capacity with no voting
privileges. Final decisions are based on the amount of funding that
is available, prioritized requests, and their costs.
Due to leftover funds from prior years, the funds allotted for the
fiscal year of 2006-2007 totaled more than $600,000, funding
projects in 15 different units on campus connected to Student
Affairs, Academic Colleges and OIT. Funds will be used to provide
technology for areas such as the new Maverick Activities Center
computer lab, Student Governance and Organizations, the School of
Architecture, replacing outdated equipment in computer labs,
continued expansion of wireless technology to classrooms, and many
more. For a complete list of funded projects and requirements to
participate, please contact Jeff Sorenson in the Office of Student
Affairs.
The 2007 committee spent many hours in discussion and debate about
the best use of funds for both students and UT Arlington. They
should be commended for taking this responsibility of spending
student funds in a fair, consistent and cost conscious manner.
Participate in "Tech Peers" User Group
By Jason Hardy, Manager of Open Systems
Earlier this year, the Office of Information Technology began
sponsoring monthly "brown-bag" lunches for technology professionals
around campus. The event, which usually takes place on the first
Wednesday of each month, provides an opportunity for two-way
information exchange in which representatives from various
departments can learn about current projects within the Office of
Information Technology and report on their own progress. Meeting
locations have rotated to accommodate individuals who might
otherwise be unable to attend a meeting at the Arlington Regional
Data Center in Fort Worth.
The meetings usually begin with a short technical presentation or
status update on a major project and wrap-up with a structured,
open question & answer session. Bring your lunch and plenty of
questions!
If you are interested in attending this event, please contact Jason
Hardy at hardy@uta.edu or join
the mailing list by sending an e-mail to listserv@listserv.uta.edu
with the following as the body of your message: "subscribe
technology-peers".
OIT Supports UT Arlington´s Recruitment Effort
By Walter Kisner, Director of Project Management Services
We work in an increasingly competitive environment as
institutions of higher education in the North Texas region and
across the nation vie for the same qualified pool of student
recruits. Increasingly, our prospective students choose us, as much
or perhaps, more than we choose them. To keep up with such a
competitive environment, we have to employ equally competitive
tools and strategies to encourage prospective students to pursue
their academic careers here at UT Arlington.
OIT is proud to have played a part in a recent effort to begin
supplying admitted students with a UT Arlington-branded email
account. The account will allow direct communication to potential
students who are weighing their response to our offer of admission.
In addition, that communication will occur via a UT Arlington
inbox, which will keep our institution in the forefront of their
minds and will demonstrate the kind of service they can expect as a
member of a community of quality students.
What´s This I Hear about UT Arlington, UT Dallas, and UT Tyler in a Shared PeopleSoft Project?
By Suzanne Montague, Vice President of Information Technology
BACK ROW LEFT TO RIGHT: Scott Kelley, Executive Vice
Chancellor of Business Affairs, Greg Lesson, Chief Business
Officer-UT Tyler, Dale Wasson, Senior Associate Vice President-UT
Arlington, and Marg Knox, Interim CIO-UT System
FRONT ROW LEFT TO RIGHT: Sherri Whatley, CIO-UT Tyler,
Suzanne Montague, CIO-UT Arlington, Jim Gary, CIO-UT Dallas, Dawn
Stoyanoff, Director of Shared Services-UT System
UT Arlington is participating in two exciting projects related to
UT System Shared Services. Both projects involve UT Arlington in
the supporting role for other UT institutions that will use our
services in a collaborative or consolidated manner.
The first UT System Shared Service is the usage of UT Arlington´s
data center to support computing equipment from other UT
institutions as co-location or disaster recovery solutions. For
more information, please see the newsletter article below titled, What Happened to UTACC? by Jon Harris.
The second UT System Shared Service is a multi-institution
PeopleSoft Student System with shared computing equipment, but
separate instances of data. UT System wants to take advantage of UT
Arlington´s recent PeopleSoft implementation by supporting similar
separate implementations for UT Dallas and UT Tyler, under the
direction of a UT System Director of Shared Services with
cooperation from UT Arlington. The schedule for these two
implementations is set for completion in Fall 2009. What is the
impact on UT Arlington? There should not be much immediate impact
on our campus other than our participation in a shared Data
Warehouse and reporting solution that will occur over the next two
years. The long-term gain will be shared software solutions among
all three institutions, providing more value with fewer resources.
What Happened to UTACC?
By Jon Harris, Assistant Vice President of Technology Infrastructure
Many of you may have just become used to the UTACC
acronym (UT Arlington Computing Center), but we have changed names to better
describe the mission of the Randol Mill facility.
Our new name is ARDC (ARLINGTON REGIONAL DATA CENTER).
A critical need has arisen for UT System institutions to have
access to additional high-quality data center space. Hence, the UT
System has chosen to make ARDC the first of three Regional Data
Centers planned for the UT System. This will allow UT institutions
to utilize our excellent data center to its greatest potential and
provide a location for other UT institutions to have space where
they can co-locate critical hardware for both disaster
recovery/avoidance and co-production. This has already been
successfully tested with the location of critical co-production
from UT Southwestern Medical School at the ARDC facility.
Several other institutions will be moving equipment to ARDC in the
future. They include UT-Austin, UT Medical Branch Galveston and the
new North Texas Student Information System for UT Dallas and UT
Tyler.
Over the next 12 months, we will be making many infrastructure
enhancements to ARDC as Phase One of a two-phase project that will
bring the ARDC to an UPTIME Institute classification of TIER III,
which is exceptional in higher education computing centers. Phase
Two will begin as soon as additional funding can be identified.
The other planned Regional Data Centers will be located in Houston
(currently being refurbished) and Austin.
Staying Connected
By David Caldwell, Director of Network Services
Network traffic destined for off-campus destinations can travel
along several different pathways once the traffic leaves the
boundaries of the campus network. Besides the normal commodity
Internet connections, traffic from UT Arlington bound to some sites
will end up traversing either the National Lambda Rail (NLR)
PacketNet or the Internet 2 Abilene network systems. Both of the
NLR PacketNet and the Internet 2 Abilene networks offer nationwide
high-speed backbone services to member institutions.
The Internet 2 Abilene Network is primarily organized around the
concept of connecting regional network aggregations points,
typically referred to as gigapops, to provide advanced network
services to the gigapop members. UT Arlington is a charter member
of the North Texas Gigapop (NTG). This is where any UT Arlington
traffic bound for, or coming from, the Abilene network is
transferred. The other members of the NTG are the University of
North Texas, University of Texas at Dallas, Texas Christian
University, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center,
Southern Methodist University, and the Southern Regional Branch of
the National Weather Service.
Participation in the NLR is primarily organized around the concept
of connecting state or regional research and education network
organizations. UT Arlington is one of the 33 charter member
institutions of the Lonestar Education and Research Network
(LEARN). LEARN is the state´s new optical fiber network, originally
funded in September 2004, which is continually being expanded to
provide high-speed connectivity between member institutions as well
as to research networks across the country in support of higher
education´s research, teaching, health care, and public service
missions.
Both Internet 2 and NLR provide advanced networking capabilities
for use by the nation´s research and education community. In the
case of the Internet 2 network, the fiber backbone is leased from a
commercial entity while the focus of the NLR network was to create
an infrastructure that is owned and controlled by the research
community. Currently, an effort is underway to merge these two
organizations in hopes of consolidating the enhanced capabilities
each group possesses while providing cost reductions to the
communities they serve.
For more detailed and current information concerning NTG, LEARN,
Internet 2, NLR, and the proposed merger please visit the following
sites.
North Texas Gigapop
LoneStar Education and Research Network
Internet2
National Lambda Rail
Internet2-NLR Merger
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Your Document Imaging Solution!
By Walter Kisner, Director of Program Management Services
What is document imaging anyway?
In this instance, document imaging describes a software system that
captures, stores and can reprint images. Our system, ImageNow, can
obtain images by scanning documents, taking screen shots from
interfaced software systems or by electronic delivery (i.e.
transcripts). Once these images have been captured they can be
stored and recalled by our users at any time. The images can be
printed or electronically transmitted to other recipients.
The result of such document imaging systems is a reduction of
stored paper, greater security, preservation of data and a near
seamless integration with existing primary software systems
(MyMav). Our current system users include Financial Aid, the School
of Nursing, Student Enrollment Services, the Testing Center, the
University Advising Center and the Office of Graduate Studies.
Images captured by these various offices include transcripts,
placement tests, student and parent tax returns, verification
worksheets, citizenship documentation, student applications and
application support materials such as essays or recommendations as
well as many other documents that demand retention and storage.
Over the next few months, we will be researching other areas that
might be interested in this technology.