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| Quick Notes
Congratulations to the following people for their years of service at Syracuse University:
Bruce Boardman, Support Analyst - 10 years
John Capozzolo, Instructional Technology Analyst - 15 years
Dave Teidemann, Director of LEMP - 15 years
Cheryl Bonn, Telephone Operator - 15 years
John Allis, Instructional Technology Consultant - 25 years
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Hot Times at the ITS Picnic
Good time had by all
The big tent was full to overflowing at the ITS annual picnic at Drumlins Country Club on Tuesday, August 4. The dazzling if somewhat hot and steamy summer weather and pleasing setting ensured a wonderful time. Activities included board games, kickball, volleyball and a golf tournament. First place in the golf tournament with a score of 35 was team 1, consisting of Erik Anderson, Ed Kinlock, David Miller and Dan Lowe. Longest Drive honors went to Kathy Kinney and Phil Driscoll. Sharon Darling did a fabulous job pulling the party together! Click here to see some of Steve Sartori's pictures of the event. | |
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IT Professional Development
Staff on the cutting edge
Training & Education
Cindy Barry attended Cascade Developer training presented by Hannon Hill July 29-30. Conferences & Forums
Ron Kurdziel attended the MIR3 Education User Conference at the University of Pennsylvania July 16. There were representatives from the IT and/or Public Safety departments from: Temple, Brown, Columbia, University of Pennsylvania, Dartmouth, Wake Forest, Drexel, MIT, Thomas Jefferson Hospital and Syracuse. MIR3 is a supplier of intelligent notification systems for industry and higher education. Jim Pease attended the annual Blackboard Developers Conference Blackboard Developers Conference in Washington, D.C., on July 16-17. See related story below.
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Updates
Keeping current with software, systems, issues and devices
Getting Help with Confluence
Recently Information Technology and Services (ITS) opened the new public wiki space on our Confluence system. In line with this change, to obtain Confluence support or to request Confluence training, check http://answers.syr.edu or contact the ITS Service Center at help@syr.edu or X-2677.
Illegal Downloads Still a Hot Topic
If you think the heat's off of those who illegally download files, think again. This month a jury ordered a graduate student from Boston University to pay $675,000 for downloading and distributing more than two dozen songs that did not belong to him. Click here for the full story.
EDUCAUSE Top-Ten IT Issues, 2009
The latest issue of EDUCAUSE Review carries its tenth annual ranking of the Top Ten IT Issues for 2009. This list was developed using a survey of CIOs and other senior IT staff from EDUCAUSE member institutions and identifies the top-ten issues that IT leaders identified as the most important for their institutions to resolve for strategic success.
This year's top-ten IT issues are:
1. Funding IT 2. Administrative/ERP Information Systems 3. Security 4. Infrastructure/Cyberinfrastructure 5. Teaching and Learning with Technology 6. Identity/Access Management 7. Governance, Organization, and Leadership 8. Disaster Recovery / Business Continuity 9. Agility, Adaptability, and Responsiveness 10. Learning Management Systems
Click here to view the complete article.
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IT Folks Dominate SU's Top 2009 Corporate Challenge Finishers
SU fields largest team in Syracuse Challenge 27-year history
 On June 23, 2009 Syracuse University was honored again with the Largest Participant Award at the Syracuse Chase Corporate Challenge®. The SU team of 450 total participants was the largest single team in the Syracuse Challenge's 27-year history. SU was one of 243 companies and not-for-profit organizations that participated in the 3.5 mile walk/run at Onondaga Lake Park. The event had 6,151 individual participants. Six of the top twenty finishers from SU work in various Information Technology positions (in finish order):
- Neal Coffey, LEMP
- Roxane Niezabytowski, LEMP
- Aaron Miller, Energy & Computer Management
- DeAnn Buss, Library Information Systems
- Craig Chartrand, LEMP
- Lauri Francis, Arts & Sciences Computing Services
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ITidbits
Facts and figures about IT
As of August 16, 2009, 98% of all incoming students for the fall semester had activated their NetIDs.
During the 2008-09 fiscal year, the T-Metric servers in SU's call center processed 349,024 telephone calls for 15 university departments, with total talk time of 42,550,091 seconds.
The SU network is not one network but over 500 interconnected networks.
The College of Arts & Sciences Computing Services hosts 127 web sites for departments, programs, individuals and research projects.
Computers in the ITS public labs are now configured to automatically enter standby mode when they are not being used. This reduces energy consumption in the labs by about 85%, about the same amount of electricity used annually by eleven average US households.
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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. Last month's poll indicated our readers thought it most likely that Google Chrome would be the OS market share leader among new netbooks. Place your vote to see how that stacks up against other possible events.
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Jim Pease and Michael Morrison Win Catalyst Award
Sakai Connector provides seamless integration with Blackboard
Congratulations to Jim Pease, Information Technology Analyst, and Michael Morrison, Manager, Academic Applications, for winning a Blackboard Catalyst Award in the category of Innovative Development. Presented July 15 by the Blackboard Development Community at the annual Blackboard Developers Conference in Washington, D.C., this award recognizes Jim's work to develop the Sakai Learning Environment Connector, a solution that allows for a more flexible virtual learning experience. Jim and Mike join a select group of e-Learning professionals, system administrators and institution staff from the around the world whose participation has been recognized as a significant contribution and notable improvement to the Blackboard community. The Sakai Learning Environment Connector is software that allows institutions to connect their Blackboard learning environment with the open source Sakai course management system, allowing seamless integration between the two systems. The Connector is a Blackboard Building Block™, an application that institutions or third-parties develop to enhance and extend the Blackboard learning environment. The Sakai Learning Environment Connector has been released as open source and joins more than 150 free or open source Blackboard Building Blocks currently available to the entire Blackboard community. The Connector has been integrated into release 9, the latest version of Blackboard. For nearly a decade, Blackboard has had a client awards program, now known as the Blackboard Catalyst Awards, that has annually recognized and honored innovation and excellence in the Blackboard global community of practice, where millions of teachers and learners work every day to redefine what is possible in e-learning. The Innovative Development Award honors those who enable educational innovations by sharing their expertise to develop tools that directly impact teaching and learning. For more information contact Jim Pease or Michael Morrison. |
Faculty Now Have Secure Online Access to Student Photos
MySlice Faculty Center Class Rosters now include photo of each student
This summer Information Systems' development staff, along with staff from the Registrar's Office and the Office of Undergraduate Studies, enhanced the MySlice Faculty Center class rosters to include each student's photo. As part of the project, photos of active students were extracted from SU's ID Card System, resized to reduce digital storage requirements, and loaded into a Peoplesoft Campus Community table. In late September a follow-up project will provide similar capability for advisor rosters.
Although simple on the surface, the project will provide secure access to photos of students, and thus eliminate the need for faculty to take student photos and upload them. Not only will this save class time, it will reduce the need to store personal student information on desktops, laptops, and other less secure locations.
According to Associate Provost, Sandra Hurd, "This enhancement, which has been high on the faculty's wish list for a number of years, will allow faculty to get to know their students more quickly, encourage intellectual engagement, and facilitate earlier academic intervention. These are all critically important outcomes in supporting the academic success of our students."
Many thanks to everyone who participated!
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VPU Wins Two Telly Awards
Holidays at Hendricks and First Year promo trailer honored
ITS's Video Production Unit (VPU) won two Telly Awards in this year's competition. Their production of Holidays at Hendrix took a Silver award, while the promotional trailer for First Year earned a Bronze award. The Telly Awards ( http://www.tellyawards.com/) honor the very best local, regional, and cable television commercials and programs, as well as the finest video and film productions, and work created for the web. Since 1978, the Telly Awards have been the most prestigious awards in advertising and video and film production and have recognized the finest in creative work. Winners include the most creative agencies, production companies, in-house creative departments and TV stations in the world. The 30th Annual Telly Awards received over 11,000 entries from all 50 states and around the world.  The sounds of the season are celebrated with Holidays at Hendricks, an annual tradition for the thousands of people throughout Central and Upstate New York. The Syracuse University Brass Ensemble, Hendricks Chapel Choir, and University Organist Kola Owolabi are featured in a special program of traditional songs, carols, and classical favorites. This 90-minute program was simulcast on WCNY and WCNY-FM on December 24 and 25, 2008. Neal Coffey, Manager of VPU, was Director of Photography, Roxane Niezabytowski (VPU) was a Cameraperson, Mary Kasprzyk (VPU) was Editor, and James Abbott (CVPA) was the Audio Engineer. Student employees included Frank Hegyi, Sean Horsford, and Charlie Weeks as Camerapersons, and Oswaldo Colon, Production Assistant. Click here to view clips from the program.  First Year was produced as part of the Syracuse University campus Healthy Monday Campaign ( http://healthymonday.org/) which promotes Monday as a day dedicated to increasing health awareness, empowerment and action. The six-part dramatic series follows two first year roommates, Alex and Jen, and the issues they face as typical college students. The award-winning 2 ½ minute promotional trailer features highlights from the 6-episode series, and will be used to promote the program here and at other universities and colleges. The trailer was directed by Neal Coffey, and edited by Mary Kasprzyk. Roxane Niezabytowski did the sound mixing. For information about First Year visit http://vpu.syr.edu/firstyear. Click here to view clips from the program. For more information, contact the Video Production Unit at (315) 443-5644. |
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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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