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| Quick Notes
Congratulations to the following people for their years of service at Syracuse University:
Melissa Tucci, Telephone Operator - 10 years
Peter Vinette, Network Operator - 25 years
Julianne Hughes, Telecommunications Network Coordinator - 20 years
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IT Professional Development
Staff on the cutting edge
Conferences & Forums
A number of folks from across campus, including Sam Scozzafava, Trudi Porter, Larry Roux, Peter Giovinazzo, Tom Sproull, Erik Anderson, Cheri McEntee, Debbie Gardner and Lana Pettit, attended the Higher Education User Group Alliance 2010 conference February 28 - March 3 in San Antonio, Texas. Sam co-presented Putting Documents Just a Click Away in PeopleSoft with Hyland Software; Larry presented Integrating with External Systems Using Web Services; Peter presented Security Migration Request Application (Bolt-on); Tom presented Documenting Queries in the SU Hyperion System 9 BI+ Repository; and Lana presented Asset Management Implementation - Round peg into a square hole.
June is also on the planning committee for the NYS Higher Education CIO Conference 2010, along with representatives from University at Buffalo, Buffalo State College, Marist College, and NYSERNet. This will be the 6th annual conference, to be held at the University at Buffalo July 14 - 16. |
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IT Out and About
Connecting with the campus and beyond
Lee Badman is teaching IST 233, Introduction to Networking, at the iSchool, focusing on computer hardware and operating systems (DOS/Windows, UNIX), communications and LAN hardware and LAN operating systems, modern communications, network application development. Scott Nadzan is teaching eee439 Digital Commerce and Entrepreneurship at the Whitman School. The course focuses on the role of emerging digital technologies and the internet in creating entrepreneurial opportunities. Michael Wunderlich currently has two teaching assignments for the iSchool. He teaches IST346 Operating Systems Administration each spring and fall semester, one of three core iSchool technology courses that include hands-on instruction. The course deals with System Administrator (SA) best practices, IT project management, Data Centers, Namespaces, Security and Ethics, and OS hardware and software. The hands-on component has students working with Windows 2008 and Linux Servers, Windows and Linux workstations, and linux-based firewalls, all within a virtualized lab environment. The semester project ties all of this learning together as students complete the design of hardware and software for a small business, including vendor selection and budget planning. Mike's other teaching assignment is to develop and teach a course offered to high school students through Summer College, a partnership with Whitman. The course is a two-week intensive program where students learn what it takes to plan and start a small business. The Whitman professor works with students to develop a business plan, and Mike teaches how to associate the business needs with appropriate IT resources. Students complete the course by developing comprehensive business and IT plans, and presenting their business proposal to a public audience of faculty and family. Mary Hudson, who was formerly the Director of Information Technology at the College of Human Ecology, on February 1 joined Hendricks Chapel as the University's first Pagan chaplain in the chapel's 80-year history. She will minister to the University's Pagan student population and be a member of Hendricks' Chaplains' Council. |
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Tech Updates
Keeping current with software, systems, issues and devices
MyMail, the old student email system at Syracuse University, is scheduled to be decommissioned and will cease to operate on or soon after April 9, 2010. Existing MyMail accounts will continue to function normally and be accessible until that date. MyMail accounts can be logged into to retrieve saved email, or forward any existing messages to another email account. Account holders will not be able to retrieve or forward any saved messages in MyMail after April 9. Due to low use, ITS will not be renewing its subscription to The Burton Group after it expires on July 31, 2010.  SU's original building, built in 1870, has fully entered the twenty first century and is now 100% wireless. "The Hall of Languages is an icon-the oldest and one of the most architecturally interesting buildings on campus," says George M. Langford, dean of The College of Arts and Sciences. "Now that it has Gigabit Ethernet and the AirOrangeX Wireless Network, our students, faculty, and staff can access data faster than before in any part of the building." ITS Network Wiring Services (NWS) has finished the wireless installation work at the Green Data Center, as well as the non-residential spaces in Ernie Davis Hall. Both of these areas are now 100% covered by AirOrangeX, and join the list of other buildings serviced by this important resource, as listed here: http://its.syr.edu/connecting/wireless/locations.cfm. Meanwhile, while Network Master Plan (NMP) work proceeds (see related article, below), the occasional departmental purchase of wireless networking for targeted locations arises. Archbold is a good recent example of one of these departmental adds ( http://its.syr.edu/connecting/wireless/maps/archbold1st.cfm). |
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ITS Launches New Website
Cascade enables strong alignment with SU web presence
Information Technology and Services (ITS) launched its new web site (http://its.syr.edu) on March 2, 2010. Cindy Barry, project leader for the website redesign, with technical support from Eric Mumpton and John Newlen from the AASC web team, started development work in the Fall of 2009 following more than a year of planning.
"Our key objectives were to redevelop the public ITS website to be consistent, organized, intuitive, visually appealing and easy-to-use," said Cindy, "and to ensure that content is accurate, current and aligned with ITS strategies and objectives."
The ITS site is being redesigned in several stages. The March 2 launch completes phase one, and deploys a new home page and top-level organization-wide pages as well as some special features. Redesign of the remaining site is currently underway, and expected to be completed by the end of 2010.
Built in the Cascade web content management system, the new site uses the SU website Style Guide and assets as its design foundation. This approach closely aligns ITS with SU by employing a visual look and feel consistent with the University's web presence. Cascade knowledge and assets developed during this process will do more than just benefit the ITS web site.
"Our strategy was to utilize the redevelopment of the ITS site to acquire competency in Cascade, and showcase Cascade as SU's website content management and publishing tool," Cindy said. "We intentionally set out to contribute to the development of Cascade templates, operational guidelines, definitions, content reuse processes, and services offered to the campus at large."
The new site is compliant with Section 508 of the Federal Rehabilitation Act for accessibility and, like the SU site, uses navigation based both on visitor type and content desired. Other new key features include:
- ITS Spotlight pages focusing on individual programs, services, systems, and other items of interest
- Quick Links box leading to "most used" pages by visitor type
- Visitor survey to supply feedback on the site
- Across Campus box featuring a collection of links highlighting ITS's commitment to and collaboration with the SU community, including a new interactive map of student computing resources on the SU campus
- SU ITS News section with content reuse functionality and aggregated feeds from SU News, Wired and NY Times technology sites
- RSS feed option for SU ITS News articles and announcements
- IT News Crunch section, a roundup of technology-oriented web sites, RSS feeds, blogs, podcasts and more
- Mobile-device-friendly versions of all Cascade pages via a link in the footer section
- Department-specific pages featuring the various areas that comprise ITS
Please visit the new site and take the survey to let us know what you think! Contact Cindy Barry (cbarry@syr.edu or 443-4500) with any questions or suggestions.
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ITidbits
Facts and figures about IT
The SU Video Showcase is closing in on 4,000 videos. As of March 1 it carried 3,950 videos, and will probably hit 4,000 by the time you read this.
iTunes U usage is increasing, with Engineering and Whitman faculty delivering a variety of course content (media and documents) via iTunesU.
Just to confirm a trend we've all been living: there are thirteen landline phone subscriptions in the SU residence halls, two of which are on South Campus. Think of all that idle copper!
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Save Money with the Dell Big Buy
Order by April 30 to get group discounts
As in the past several years, a number of IT units are coordinating their Dell purchases in order to take advantage of greater discounts. By approaching Dell with a large commitment of purchases over an agreed time period, all units can take advantage of the same discounts regardless of order size. This buying opportunity is colloquially referred to as the Dell "Big Buy." This year, special discounts will be applied to anything purchased from Dell between April 1, 2010 and April 30, 2010 through the Dell web portal in eProcurement. You can get access to the Dell web portal by making a FAST request for the eProcurement module in the PeopleSoft Financials through your Information Coordinator. To access the Big Buy quotes, find the section titled " SU Promotional Pricing April 1 - April 30" located on the first page of the Dell web portal. There you will find standard configurations of systems, laptops, desktops, printers, and monitors that can be customized to meet your needs. Also available will be low-cost computers recommended by the Technology Leadership Council (TLC) Desktop Working group as part of SU's next generation desktop initiative. If you can't find what you need, email Stanley Ziemba at the Maxwell School or Sue Joyner in Purchasing with special requests. If you plan on ordering 25 or more of an item with a special configuration, please send Stan the quote in advance and it will be added to the Dell web portal. Another "Big Buy" will be organized later in the summer for units who prefer to purchase at the beginning of the fiscal year. For questions or requests contact Stanley Ziemba ( sjziemba@maxwell.syr.edu, x9011) or Sue Joyner ( sejoyner@syr.edu, x2500).
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Network Master Plan Update
Project progressing steadily, aggressive summer schedule ahead
The Phase II Network Master Plan (NMP) has seen the completion of the Hall of Languages in February and the ongoing construction in H.B. Crouse, due for completion late in May 2010.
Pending approvals, an aggressive summer 2010 construction schedule will include:
- Archbold and Flanagan Gymnasia (currently being bid)
- 111 Waverly (Henry Health Center)
- Hoople Special Education and Rehabilitation Building, including the Gebbie Clinic
- The Institute for Sensory Research, Parking Services, and the Anechoic Chamber areas at Skytop
- Smith Hall
- Bowne Hall (non-renovated spaces)
This schedule has many buildings in the construction queue simultaneously and measures are being put in place to efficiently manage construction management and internal resources.
In addition to having multiple buildings under construction, many Phase III NMP buildings will be in design stage this summer, including:
- Crouse College
- Heroy Hall
- Steele Hall
- The Women's Building
- Bird Library
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Protecting the University's Institutional Data
A message from Chris Sedore
It seems a week doesn't go by when we see or hear news of a data breach that took place at a corporation, government agency, university or other major institution. It serves as an important reminder for us here at SU that we must remain vigilant in ensuring we are doing all we can to protect University data.
As a general rule, data not intentionally made public by the University, especially financial, student, alumni, donor, and employee data, is considered confidential. Confidential data should never be moved or sent from systems owned or controlled by the University to any other system or device without a review by Information Technology and Services (ITS) to ensure that the transfer is secure and that the data will remain secure. This includes common Internet services like Google Mail (gmail), home email accounts, home computers and/or portable storage devices. Laptop and portable storage devices should also receive special attention-confidential data should always be encrypted when transported on these devices.
In particular, the following activities expose the University's data to unacceptable risk and must be avoided:
- Sending confidential data to personal email accounts for any reason, including convenience or off-campus access;
- Storing confidential data on personally-owned computers or storage devices (i.e., USB drives, CDs, external hard drives);
- Collecting, storing, or sending confidential data on systems not owned or controlled by SU without a contract reviewed by ITS to ensure the security of the data; and
- Transporting confidential data on laptops or other portable storage devices without encryption, even if the devices are owned by the University.
When there is a business purpose that requires sending, collecting, or storing confidential University data on systems not owned or controlled by SU, please contact my office to obtain help to ensure that we are taking all necessary steps to protect University data. For more specific information about protecting SU's data and standards of encryption as well as online tutorials, visit http://its.syr.edu/security or send your question to itsecurity@listserv.syr.edu.
Christopher M. Sedore
Vice President for Information Technology/CIO
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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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