JMU Information Technology

Objectives 2007-2008

*elevated to Mr. King

To plan for the adoption of a new Mac operating system OS 10.5 (Leopard) on faculty, staff, student and lab Apple computers.

While Apple computers comprise only a small percentage of desktop/laptop computers at JMU, the plan for supporting emerging technology is still important. Information Technology will develop a plan for the testing, adoption, communication and support of a new Mac Operating System, Leopard, on campus for faculty, staff, student and lab computers.
Why: To support emerging technologies and attempt to ensure that new technology does not impact computing services and security and is compatible with existing applications, while providing additional functionality and security over existing systems.
Who Will Participate: Information Technology and potentially other technology personnel across the university..
What: Information Technology will test the compatibility of this operating system with existing central and desktop applications, make minimum hardware recommendations, develop a timeline for adoption, rollout and support, and communicate information about these to the JMU Community..
Specific Changes: Upgrade of some existing Apple operating system software to Leopard, installation of Leopard on new Apple computers, installation of Leopard in General Computing Labs, support of Leopard through JMU Computing HelpDesk.

*Develop a plan to deploy and support Windows Vista & Office 2007.

Microsoft has released a new operating system (Windows Vista) and a new version of Office (2007). Because of our need to support emerging technologies due to our diverse user base and dependencies on multiple hardware and software platforms for mission-critical central and core applications, Information Technology will develop and implement a plan to deploy and support these applications campus-wide and to provide technical and end-user training.

*Complete the discovery process and first phase of the university Identity Management solution as defined by the project plan.

To provide JMU the technology infrastructure necessary to support its goals, the university must implement a robust Identity Management system. An identity management system will automate the ability to dynamically reconcile access and authorization to various information systems by an ever-growing number of constituent types. As the university continues its outreach and life-long relationship efforts, such a system is critical. Identity management will enable services not only for current students, faculty, and staff, but also alumni, parents, donors, friends, and others.
JMU’s current identity management system was created in-house, possesses limited functionality, is cumbersome to use and maintain, and is not capable of supporting the university into the future.

*Complete the discovery process and the first phase of the university Desktop Management solution as defined by the project.

The implementation of Desktop Management for JMU-owned PCs allows for proactive management of university desktops and can provide the following benefits:

1. Automated software distribution
2. Patch Management will allow IT to distribute software updates and patches to users' computers with minimum disruption, and keep systems secure.
3. Software and hardware inventory of Windows-based computers used by faculty and staff.
4. Technical support tools such as Remote Control capability to allow the HelpDesk and other technicians to solve certain computer issues without making a visit to the user's site. This should provide faster turnaround for problem resolution.

*Manager/Employee/Student Self-Service Expansion

Expand current self-service capabilities to further enhance the manager, employee and student constituent's ability to work, serve and communicate more effectively and efficiently. Targeted enhancements will be determined based on a business analysis that will conducted with the appropriate University departments.

*Support Implementation of the New University Advancement System

Support University Advancement in the implementation of a new Advancement system. Work with University Advancement and the selected vendor to complete the initial phases of the 18-24 month.

IS Program Review - Organizational Structure

Review IS organizational structure with the intent of ensuring cross-team communication and resource sharing.

IS Program Review - Compensation Review

Evaluate staff models in order to increase compensation flexibility for IS.

IS Program Review - Job Shadowing

Pilot a "technical to functional" job.

*Review the IS Access Request Form

IS Security will review the IS Access Request form and methods for simplifying and enhancing the process. Access Controls are important to the University as they ensure the integrity of our Administrative Applications. IS Security team will work with customers, Administrative Systems Data Managers and development staff to develop a well-documented, concise, easy to follow process around requesting Access to our Administrative Systems.

*Web Accessibility

Evaluate JMU websites for compliance against federal and state of Virginia web accessibility standards. Determine plan of action for ensuring compliance of top usage sites with standards using an inverted pyramid model. JMU ITWEB staff along with other IS and technology staff will test applications using HiSoftware AccVerify accessibility testing software. This will help to ensure that those with disabilities are better able to use and navigate our web sites and applications.

*Portal Phase III

This is the third phase of the OneWeb Portal and Content Management project. The initial two phases focused on architecture and initial portlet development. This phase will focus on Content Management and begin the Identity Management and role based content portion of the project. This phase will involve JMU IT staff (AIS/ITWeb/Systems) and University marketing staff. Preview 2 will be rolled out and the new Web Manager 2 and content type tools will be rolled out as a part of this next phase of the Oneweb project.

*Risk Assessment

Work with Division Heads, Internal Auditing, IT staff and others to refine business impact and risk assessment practices associated with information technology.

*Level 2 Restructuring for Information Technology

Leveraging successful JMU processes, the work already done by Level 3 institutions and other best practices, position the university to receive and implement Level 2 authority for information technology.

*Reduce risk associated with university use/storage of sensitive data.

Building on previous work in this area, further develop policy statements, awareness activities and control measures around the collection, storage and use of sensitive data.

*Provide a network infrastructure that enables JMU to meet its mission and goals. Enhance our network infrastructure by upgrading both Internet connections, replacing old electronics with switch technology, re-wiring academic buildings and providing new services such as wireless access to the JMU community.

*Provide a secure network infrastructure.

Provide a secure network infrastructure to enable and support the mission of JMU.

*Continue to research and prepare for designing a data center environment to meet our long term needs.

Continue to research and prepare for designing a data center environment to meet our long term needs.

*Create and utilize a Student Technology Advisory Committee.

In order to more clearly understand, support and plan for student technology services, Information Technology will create a Student Technology Advisory Committee. Students will be selected to participate in a group that will meet two times each semester to help IT better understand the challenges students are facing with technology and to help offer solutions to the challenges. By receiving this information, IT will be better suited to continue to improve the technology services offered to students.