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| Quick Notes
ITS Staff Milestones
Congratulations to the following people for their years of service at Syracuse University:
Joshua Slade, Information Technology Analyst - 5 years
Mindi Stoffel, Office Coordinator IV - 5 years
Jason Porter, Communications Technician - 10 years
Susan Watts, Process Manager - 10 years
Vincent Cobb, Instructional Technology Analyst - 20 years
A big shout out to these July retirees:
- Lorraine Sauro, Administrative Specialist I, retired 7/15/09 after 10 years of service.
- Natalie Vincent,IT Analyst, retired 7/2/09 after 31 years with SU
- Frances Skardinski, Telephone Operator, retired 7/10/09 capping 23 years at the University.
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IT Professional Development
Staff on the cutting edge
Craig Chartrand of ITS Learning Environments attended Crestron Electronic's Intermediate Crestron Programming class. This class was held on May 20-22, 2009 in Reston, VA, and is the second step towards Crestron Certification. Intermediate Crestron Programming is a three day class that introduces SIMPL+, teaches how to use advanced symbols in SIMPL Windows, work with compact flash cards and e-Control® Power Applications, create multi-mode touch panels, perform advanced troubleshooting and more. This training will enhance Craig's ability to write the code for new Crestron systems that are installed and update the code for existing systems. This summer we are adding new Crestron control systems to Gifford Auditorium and NCC III 250.
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Updates
Keeping current with software, systems and devices
AirOrangeX Wireless Updates - Looking Toward Fall
Just some quick updates on wireless goings on at SU:
- ITS continues to roll out robust wireless coverage in new buildings, NMP upgrade spaces, and areas where specific departments request and fund new coverage.
- By the end of summer, we'll be somewhere near 2,400 access points in service.
- From a service standpoint, there won't be much new "in the air" for campus wireless users. "AirOrangeHelp" will continue to be the self-service network for configuration/reconfiguration of wireless clients. "AirOrangeX" is the general purpose, secure wireless network, and "AirOrange" continues to be for guests or non-AOX capable devices.
ITS is watching developments (and testing where possible) with Windows 7, Apple's Snow Leopard, and other devices and operating systems to ensure we see no surprises with our NAC system or configuration tools on AirOrangeHelp.
For those supporting new machines, whether for individuals or special-purpose applications like loaner laptops, configuring and testing the wireless and NAC settings before the start of the fall semester is highly recommended.
We've worked with DPS after the fact to react to a handful of stolen laptops over the last semester. If any laptops in your areas go missing, by all means call DPS and let them do what they do well. At the same time, we may be able to tell if the missing device is alive and on campus if we are contacted immediately after the device goes missing.
In Lyman Hall, as JPMC takes root in their new spaces, there are new wireless networks present. One common one is JPMCVisitor, and there will be others. JPMC's wireless networks will be tightly controlled by JPMC.
Finally- a reminder. If you have wireless trouble to report, all of the same bits of information that go into any good network trouble ticket are required. The more vague the reported trouble is, the harder it is to give a quality response. Whether reporting your own trouble or forwarding details on behalf of someone else, specifics are required:
- Who? (NetID, wireless MAC address)
- Where? (Not just a building- need room number or specific area)
- When? (Actual timestamp with date and time)
- What? (Specific trouble- weak signal, frequent dropped connections)
- Comparative tests? Did you test another machine in the same location for the same problem?
There are templates that could be used, but they don't tend to have great usage track records. Bottom line- please give good, complete, sensible information when reporting trouble (wired or wireless), for everyone's benefit. ITS Wireless information on the web: http://its.syr.edu/connecting/wireless/ By Lee H. Badman |
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Introducing Answers.syr.edu
Confluence now deployed to enhance ITS's support capabilities
Information Technology and Services (ITS) has opened Answers.syr.edu, a new public wiki space in Confluence. Initially, Answers will contain self-help IT information and support documents that were previously found in the CA Knowledge Tool product, as well as support information for the new Blackboard 9 learning management system. ITS's student employees have been busy adding new pages and working on formatting the new space. Answers can be found at http://answers.syr.edu. Other campus organizations will be using Answers to provide online support. The SU Library will be the first and others have it under active consideration. If your organization is interested in having a public space on Answers, contact Don Little at x1849 or dmlittle@syr.edu. For more information, please contact the ITS Service Center at x2677 or help@syr.edu. |
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New Version of Blackboard now Available Upgrades to application and infrastructure now complete
Information Technology and Services (ITS) is pleased to announce the completion of the upgrades to the latest version of Blackboard (version 9.0), called Blackboard Learn, and of the computing and network infrastructure that supports the Blackboard Learning Management System at SU. This enhanced system is now available to support Fall 2009 classes.  The current Blackboard system (version 8.0) will continue to be available until August 21, 2009 to support classes through the end of the 2009 Summer Sessions. Information from Blackboard used to prepare final grades will NOT BE AVAILABLE AFTER Noon, Friday, August 21, 2009. Blackboard Learn brings together the Blackboard and WebCT product lines. This new version features a new user interface for both instructors and students, along with new functionality and the addition of new collaborative tools for communication and group work. The infrastructure upgrade will improve Blackboard's reliability and responsiveness, resulting in improved performance and fewer application outages. Blackboard supports more than 2,400 classes (on-campus, distance learning and hybrid) and approximately 300 organizations per semester. The system has a periodic peak of more than 5,000 concurrent users. These numbers are steadily increasing, clear evidence of Blackboard's academic and strategic value to the faculty and students of Syracuse University. To access Blackboard, visit http://blackboard.syr.edu/. For current information on the Blackboard upgrade at SU, including the schedule of training and orientation sessions, visit http://blogs.syr.edu/blackboard9upgrade. Should you have questions or concerns about Blackboard or the upgrade please contact Michael Morrison, Manager of Academic Applications, at memorr02@syr.edu or (315) 443-1806). |
ITidbits
Facts and figures about IT
Only 409 MyMail accounts were over storage quota from among the accounts of the 14,258 returning students who will be transitioned to SUmail starting July 20.
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What Do You Think is On The Horizon?
Take this quick poll and voice your opinion
All kinds of things are likely to happen in the coming 12 months. Take this poll to indicate what you think is the most likely event on our horizon.
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First Group of Existing Students to be Transitioned to SUmail
Over 14,000 student MyMail accounts to be transitioned starting July 20
On Monday, June 29, 14,258 students returning to SU were made aware that their MyMail accounts will be transitioned to SUmail starting on July 20. The transition process will occur over several days. SUmail is the new student email system at Syracuse University and is managed by SU's Information Technology and Services (ITS) department and utilizes Microsoft's Outlook Live email service. Almost 10,000 users are already in the system. This group of returning students is comprised only of those who have retained their MyMail email routing and have not already enrolled in SUmail. Options are being explored for another group of 2,664 other students who have routed their email to other systems (i.e., Gmail, Hotmail); these students will not be transitioned at this time. Students have been given the option to enroll in SUmail now, or wait for the automatic transition that starts July 20. In the first week after the email announcement 1,182 students had opted in to the new system, with over 350 on the first day alone. Another email will be sent in advance of the actual transition. The emails also note that MyMail accounts will be accessible until the end of 2009, but will not receive new email messages after the transition. The emails include a link to instructions for moving saved email from MyMail to SUmail: http://its.syr.edu/email/sumail/mymail2sumail.pdf. You can find out more about SUmail at http://its.syr.edu/email/sumail. |
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SU to Host NYS Higher Education CIO Conference
IT Leaders from across NYS to convene at Whitman 7/22-24
The 8th annual New York State Higher Education CIO Conference will take place July 22, 23 and 24 at Syracuse University. This event is an opportunity for IT leaders to exchange ideas and experiences with peers from across New York State's Higher Education community and to participate in discussions on issues and challenges unique to our profession and our region.
Syracuse University is hosting the annual New York State Higher Education CIO Conference with the Whitman School of Management as the primary venue. The conference begins with a reception on Wednesday, July 22, and concludes at noon on Friday, July 24.
The agenda includes presentations on IT governance; the iPhone on campus; IT/Library partnerships; metrics, the evolving semantic web; and higher education in the age of cloud computing, along with a panel discuss on meeting economic challenges.
Host sponsors for the event are Syracuse University, the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and NYSERNet, Inc. Corporate sponsors are Cisco Systems, Inc., Dell, Inc., EMC Corporation, Hewlett Packard, IBM Corporation, ServerWare Corporation, Sun Microsystems, Sungard Higher Education, Time Warner Cable Business Class, and TW Telecom.
For more information visit www.nyscio.org.
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Informed view of ITS's work leads to bias towards action
Welcome to the new Fiscal Year! Due to our collective efforts to categorize, estimate and plan ITS's work, and then loading all that into TeamDynamix, we have-for the first time-all ITS work in one place, where we can look at it, discuss it and make better decisions about moving forward. Congratulations AND thank you for all your hard work. By identifying and assessing possible work, and then committing to and actively managing some of that work, we will improve our ability to deliver on our commitments. We'll continuously improve our ability to meet our promises by describing our work tasks, estimating the time required to complete these tasks, tracking the time tasks actually take, and then using this information to improve our ability to estimate future work. This work-related information will be used to communicate and assess the status of ITS work at any time, and provide data for estimating workload distribution and portfolio planning. Not only will this help us provide excellent services for our customers, it will also provide "Out of Office" information for our payroll system entry - so we can be paid for our hard-earned time off. TeamDynamix indicates that ITS staff will be contributing to the completion of 443 projects expected to be completed this fiscal year. These break down as follows:  We are in the process of developing additional information and guidance to help you make best use of TeamDynamix to manage your work. This will be available and communicated to you soon. As a group ITS is still in the process of learning how to use TeamDynamix, and this will be an evolutionary process as we acquire and hone our skills and insights. We will learn as we do the work, a true "design/build effort." Consequently, in many ways everything we do is dynamic and subject to change. In order to consistently meet our commitments to ourselves and others, we are knowingly taking some educated risks and choosing to move quickly instead of analyzing everything to death. This may be frustrating at times, but we believe this is our best approach to meeting department objectives. Your support, enthusiasm and, most importantly, your active involvement are appreciated and essential to our success. Thanks again!
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IT Connections is published monthly by Information Technology and Services at Syracuse University. Please submit story ideas and news items to Chris Finkle. |
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