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Quick Notes
Congratulations to the following for their years of service at Syracuse University:
David Williams, Instructional Technology Analyst - 20 years
Stephen Sartori, Photo & Imaging Center Manager - 30 years
Kara Patten, Training Consultant - 25 years
Annmarie Kottmann, Telecommunications Analyst - 25 years
Louis Ruppert, Information Technology Analyst - 15 years
Staff News
Please welcome Mike Brady to SU and ITS. Mike joins the Core Infrastructure group as an Information Technology Analyst. He will be working with the Unix team helping with server migrations and upcoming software projects. Originally from Syracuse, Mike comes to SU from Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia where he worked as a Senior Unix Administrator. He holds a BS in Computer Science from SUNYIT Utica/Rome and has extensive experience with Linux, data center infrastructure, server hardware, and virtualization. Hobbies include kayaking, hiking, and WWI re-enactments. Mike will work out of Machinery Hall, room 215, and can be reached at mrbrady@syr.edu. |
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IT Professional Development
Staff on the cutting edge
Peggy Brown attended an American Society for Training and Development webinar titled "e-Learning: Great Design, Content and Technology is Necessary, but Effective Implementation is Required" on June 16.
Marlon D. Legaspi completed TRF 654 Music Recording at the Newhouse School in Spring 2010. In conjunction with the requirements of the class, he completed recording and producing three original pieces by Crimson Action and is recording and producing additional original materials for an album.
Conferences & Forums
Roger Merrill attended the 2010 NY Tech Summit June 17-18th. He also received a Certified Managers designation June 22 after completing a year-long course administered through SU Human Resources. Dan Turk and Marlon D. Legaspi attended INFOCOMM 2010 held in Las Vegas, NV June 11 to 17. This is the largest trade show for AV Professionals worldwide, with 300 educational seminars and 925 exhibitors. At the show, Dan and Marlon attended various vendor presentations, product demos, manufacturer's training programs, and walked the exhibit floor spread across the Las Vegas Convention Center and the Hilton Convention Center.
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IT Out and About
Connecting with the campus and beyond
During the week of June 7th, Cindy Hoalcraft and Susan Watts taught "Project Management - It's More Than MS Project!" to ten Student Affairs staff members and Collen Van Camp. This three-half-day class has been presented to nine different groups of SU employees, bringing the total people who have seen it to 86. Feedback from participants is used to improve the class, so each group gets a slightly different and hopefully better version. The class is composed of lecture and presentation interwoven with practical hands-on exercises. Contact Andy Clark on x2632 or ajclark@syr.edu if you're interested in future classes. SU was well represented at the 6th Annual NY Tech Summit held at Turning Stone Resort & Casino in Verona, NY on Friday, June 17 and 18. Chris Sedore made a presentation entitled " Greening the Data Center" and Dave Molta presented " Wireless Networking Trends and Applications in 2010." NY Tech Summit is a business-to-business exhibition and educational technology conference. Peggy Brown and Thomas Bunn, were presenters of " Lecture Capture Systems" at the 2010 Consortium of College & University Media Centers (CCUMC) Webinar on June 17. The webinar took a look at the rich media capture systems from the user's perspective. Peggy and Tom presented how the product, Panopto CourseCast, meets the iSchool criteria for their accredited distance learning program, and featured an overview of how the iSchool has set up the site license. The archive for this webinar will be available on the CCUMC website at http://ccumc.org/. Michael Fudge attended and was a presenter at the LabMan Conference June 7-10th in Bethlehem PA. Michael presented the design and use of VMware's Lab Manager for use in distributing "Virtual Labs" to iSchool students both in and outside the classroom. Also attending were Jim Spoelstra, Matthew Schug and James Powell. Michael Clarke was the instructor for the week-long SUPA (SU Program Advance) Summer session June 28 - July 2. Rich Pitzeruse | For the tenth year, Rich Pitzeruse helped organize and hold the CNY Rocket Team Challenge held at Skytop on June 5. Organized by the Milton J. Rubenstein Museum of Science & Technology (MOST) with the L.C. Smith College of Engineering and Computer Science, this year's tenth annual event hosted 88 teams (with 5 students in each team) from area high schools, middle schools and even a couple elementary schools. Each rocket carried an altimeter, video camera and raw egg. Each team had to simulate the flight of their rocket, estimate how high the rocket would go, and then recover the rocket with the egg intact. |
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Tech Updates
Keeping current with software, systems, issues and devices
LEMP Recieves Grant
Learning Environments received an equipment grant from Extron Electronics consisting of a Touch Link TLP 700TV Tabletop Touchpanel and an IPL 500 IP Link Ethernet Control. Self taught and with occasional assistance from Extron, Craig Chartrand developed a custom GUI and configured the system to replace an aging third party control system in Grant Auditorium. It is likely that this is the introduction of the future AV control system used on SU campus. A second system, purchased by SU, is slated for installation in Link 105 soon.  Orange Tracker Update
Orange Tracker currently has 32 projects in production and will continue to put projects into production as groups express interest. Participants are using Orange Tracker to assist with ticketing for a wide variety of business processes, from general IT support (e.g. the ITS Service Center) to specialized service requests (e.g. installation of Digital Signage technology). Currently, over 180 consultants have been defined in Orange Tracker. Over 300 new issues are being created each week, and this number is expected to grow as more units come on board. All current Service Desk queue owners have been contacted and either have a project in production or development. Some of the groups that are consistently using their production project and providing feedback regarding their experiences are School of Education, Visual and Performing Arts, Student Affairs, Admissions Office, BFAS, Desktop Support Services, EAS Application Security, and LCS IT Support. To optimize the Orange Tracker experience, the OT Team encourages users to participate in the JIRA project by submitting their feedback and voting on issues that are important to their project. The Orange Tracker Blog is used to post tips, upgrades, reminders, training times, etc. You can read and comment on the blog at http://blogs.syr.edu/ot. To request training, please submit an email to jira@ot.syr.edu. Questions about Orange Tracker? Contact Amanda Barber at x5657 or ambarber@syr.edu.
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Graduate Student Employees Honored
LEMP student staff cited for outstanding job performance
Holly Rodricks was recognized this spring as SU's NEASEA Graduate Student Employee of the Year, and Sarah Bowers was chosen runner up. Holly Rodricks | Holly is a second year MFA candidate in the Transmedia program at VPA and has worked for two years as a Video Production Assistant in the Video Production Unit (VPU). "The impact of Holly's professionalism and creativity has been a valuable asset to VPU and the SU community," said her supervisor, Neal Coffey, in his nomination letter. "I view Holly as a trusted colleague that we can assign any media project to, and it will get done with style. I recommend her highly for this award." Sarah graduated in May from the College of Human Ecology, majoring in Social Work. Initially hired to work for Special Event support, during the summer of 2009 she moved to the front counter area of Learning Environment's Equipment Access/Faculty Loan group. "Sarah was a team player and provided outstanding customer support to faculty, staff and students," said Don Kilts, her supervisor. "She was extremely timely and well organized. Sarah was offered two jobs prior to graduating, which is a feat in itself during these tough economic times!" The Student Employment Recognition program runs under the auspices of Northeast Association of Student Employment Administrators (NEASEA), a nonprofit association of professionals involved with programs for students who work while attending college. Each year, NEASEA looks to supervisors and students at colleges across the Northeast to nominate student employees and supervisors who they feel are especially worthy of recognition based on their performance on the job. This program begins at the institutional level and students who are honored move on to district, regional, and, in some cases, national recognition.
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ITS Folks Lead SU's Top Corporate Challenge Finishers. Again!
SU fields largest team in Syracuse Challenge 28-year history
On June 22, Syracuse University was honored again with the Largest Participant Award at the Syracuse Chase Corporate Challenge®. The SU team of 507 total participants broke the record they set last year for the largest single team in the Syracuse Challenge's history. SU was one of 259 companies and not-for-profit organizations that participated in the 3.5 mile walk/run at Onondaga Lake Park. The event had 6,791 individual participants. Neal and Roxane | Three of the top fifteen finishers from SU work in Learning Environments and Media Production: - Neal Coffey, 1st place (21:06)
- Roxane Niezabytowski, 13th place (26:59)
- Craig Chartrand, 14th place (27:13)
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ECM IT Staff to Join ITS
New staff alignment takes effect July 1
Information technology staff from Energy and Computing Management (ECM) will move to Information Technology and Services on July 1. Desktop support and helpdesk staff, along with project analysts, and server / application administrators, led by Steve Rieks, will retain their current roles and responsibilities supporting BFAS initiatives when they become part of ITS. This move will streamline the campus's overall IT support model, reduce administrative operating costs, and enhance other central services offered to the university community. "We'll be working closer together and be better positioned to develop more efficient and effective delivery of desktop services," said Chris Sedore. In addition to Steve Rieks, other employees joining ITS are Ray Abdella, Kevin Bom, Jim Bombardo, Walley Francis, Deb Kristberg, Roger Lavin, Aaron Miller, Diane Oad, James Warne, and Stefan White. All will remain in their current offices for the time being. Contact Steve at x4912 or sjrieks@syr.edu with any questions. |
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University discontinues printing of SU directory Sustainable practice will avoid printing of 6.4 million pages
In an effort to reduce paper consumption and waste in support of SU's Climate Action Plan, the University will no longer produce a printed version of its annual campus directory for mass distribution. In reducing the amount of paper and energy it uses, the University is advancing its commitment to becoming climate neutral by 2040. Faculty, staff and departments with a University telephone number can be reached by dialing (315) 443-1870 or "0" or 3-1870 from a University extension and saying the name of the person or department you would like to contact. You won't have to look up or dial a phone number, just say the name and get connected. Directory information for students, faculty, staff and university departments is available online as follows: SU Directory InformationSU Student/Faculty/Staff - http://suds.syr.edu/ Department Listings - http://its.syr.edu/telecom/directory/ Campus Map - http://www.syr.edu/about/maps/ These and other links can be found by going to http://www.syr.edu/ and clicking on the "Directories" link at the top of the page. Beginning this fall, faculty and staff will also be able to log into MySlice and download a PDF containing Department and Faculty/Staff Listings, similar in format to the previously printed directories. This file will be able to be saved, browsed and printed as desired. Contact the Telecommunications Department at x4730 or telecom@syr.edu if you want more information. |
Dean Branham opens NYCHES meeting  |
Newhouse and ITS Host NYCHES Meeting
Higher education staff from across NY state meet to talk tech
On June 17 SU's S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications and Information Technology and Services sponsored a day-long NYCHES meeting (New York State Computing and Higher Education Symposium). NYCHES meeting agendas normally include a wide array of topics ranging from residential networks, student printing, labs and help desk, to desktop support, computing infrastructure and other campus technology issues. For the first time in several years, this meeting focused solely on classroom technology. The SU organizing team for the event included Neal Coffey, Ray Dow, Don Kilts, Gary McGinnis, Dave Tiedemann, and Dave Williams.
Approximately 35 people from 14 schools attended. In addition to presenters from Colgate University, St. Lawrence University, and the University of Rochester, several people from SU made presentations, including Neal Coffey, Ray Dow, Tiffany Koszalka, Peter Morrissey, Peter Pizzimenti, Dave Tiedemann, and Dave Williams. Session topics included:
- physical accessibility in technology classrooms
- streaming services from production, server, and networking perspectives
- cutting edge classroom technology
- open discussion covering HDTV in the classroom and HDCP, digital convergence and analog sunset (no more composite HD outputs allowed after 2013), and faculty adoption of technology
- SU technology classroom tour
Newhouse Dean Lorraine Branham welcomed the group to start the meeting. After the meeting several attendees mentioned how much they valued the opportunity to have a dialogue on classroom issues. NYCHES members are making plans for meetings on classroom technology issues at least twice each year. For more information contact Dave Tiedemann at x5643 or tiedeman@syr.edu. |
2010-2011 Course Catalogs Now Available
Graduate and Undergraduate Catalogs online July 1
In keeping with efforts to improve functionality and conserve resources, Enrollment Management is pleased to announce that both Graduate and Undergraduate 2010-2011 Course Catalogs will be available online beginning July 1, 2010 at http://coursecatalog.syr.edu. The directories will not be mass produced, but will be available as PDFs for download.
In addition to saving over 7,500,000 pages of paper, the online course catalogs will provide: - Enhanced search capabilities
- Improved navigation and mobile support
- Utilization of the PeopleSoft HRSA system as the authoritative source for course information
- PDF print capabilities for the entire catalog or parts thereof
- Archives of past catalogs
The project to bring the enhanced catalog to life was a joint effort between Enrollment Management, the Registrar's Office, the Graduate School, the Office of the Provost, and all of the schools and colleges. Development efforts were provided by Internet Consulting Services. Feedback or questions may be directed to SUCourse@syr.edu. |
| Green Data Center Migration Update
On schedule; full-load and EPO testing imminent
The Green Data Center Migration (GDCM) uses this 4-layer approach to provide structure to the complex project. |
Physical Layer Update
Since our last update the University has taken ownership of the data center and is in the final stages of testing and certification. Over the last several months, contractors have been working on the programming, setup and testing of the Micro Turbines and Tri-Generation System. A full load test and the test of the emergency power off (EPO) system remain to complete the building's final commissioning. The full load test involves obtaining special equipment that will generate approximately 500Kw of load in order to exercise the entire power system, including the backup systems. EPO is a safety feature intended to power down the entire data center in an emergency in an effort to protect personnel and equipment.
Network Layer Update
In order to increase the availability of the network at the GDC, redundant fiber connectivity is planned. The first leg of the fiber has been successfully installed and has been in use for several months.
A majority of the network design was first set up and tested in a lab configuration. The GDC router has been installed and is actively routing to the Machinery Hall data center as well as the campus core network. Most of the supporting switches have been installed and are being configured to support the high-availability architecture. Production VLANs have been extended from MH to the GDC in support of production VMware and enterprise systems.
The redundant fiber link installation is in progress. Since the installation required crossing roads underground, approval from the City of Syracuse Common Council was required and has been obtained. Contractors have installed the aerial and campus underground portions of the fiber build and are in the process of obtaining the required permits from the City to perform the remaining work. Completion is pending receipt of those permits.
Infrastructure Layer Update The migration of ITS Enterprise equipment will be split into phases. The first phase of systems/servers to move has been selected. These systems are all VM test environments with no interdependencies. This will allow the team to develop a repeatable process for future moves as well as test the necessary infrastructure.
Application Layer Update
As the phases of systems to move are being built, the application group will be reviewing the strategies and dates to reduce the affect on application project timelines. During the first phase of migrations, there will be one new test environment built at the GDC. This is not a migration, rather it is a new build in order to meet a project deadline.
Look forward to progress reports in future IT Connection issues. In the meantime, if you have any questions or concerns please feel free to contact Colleen Van Camp at x1623 or cavancam@syr.edu. |
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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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