INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
MAJOR ACCOMPLISHMENTS

2002-2003

CUSTOMER SERVICE

  • A new e-mail system was selected and successfully implemented. Over 22,000 e-mail accounts were migrated to our new Mirapoint System. Many efforts went into making this change as smooth as possible.

  • Created the Technical Advisory, a campus-wide, electronic newsletter that informs faculty and staff about new computing processes and changes in the campus computing procedures.

  • New security cameras were installed in Hillside to add to students' safety in the 24-hour lab. This replaces decade-old equipment and provides remote monitoring capability for staff and Police & Safety.

  • For the first time in many years, Information Technology took part in the New Faculty Orientation. Working with CIT, a small, wireless classroom was setup to assist new faculty in activating their e-IDs and setting up Netware, Falcon, Raven and Blackboard accounts. A brochure was developed to address the most common questions new faculty have about IT's services.

  • Created self-service applications for employees in support of state bonus selections and information update for the university telephone directory. These processes provided an easy way for employees to make their selections and updated the systems, freeing staff in Human Resources to answer questions rather than input data.

  • Added new features to student self-service. These include test scores, advisement reports and banking data input/update to support electronic refunding. The test scores include external ones such as SATs and internal ones such as assessment scores. The advisement reports are available to all juniors and seniors and provide information related to progress toward major and degree requirements. The banking data provides students the ability to enter banking data for use in electronic refunding. A new service to students, direct deposit of refunds, was made available beginning May 1st. Students will be able to enter their banking information on e-campus. This service will make refunding more convenient for students and save money in the process.

  • Provided new options for faculty and advisors on e-campus. Developed Follett faculty text submission verification that allows faculty to electronically submit their textbook requests. Completed work required on Faculty Grade Entry self-service feature and trained 227 faculty in the use of e-grading. This process has been well received by faculty. Additionally, faculty advisors were provided with access to advisement reports for their advisees.

  • Completed our first application upgrade to PeopleSoft Version 8. This upgrade of the HR system went extremely well and was completed ahead of schedule. Tremendous effort and care in support of this upgrade was provided by the staff of HR, Payroll and Information Technology. The HR system is now web-based.

  • Gigabit connections were deployed between nine major core buildings to provide more bandwidth to enhance delivery of user applications.

  • Medical Arts, Showker Hall, University Services and Rockingham Hall staff were upgraded to 100mb. This totals well over 1,000 ports over the past year and provides better response and throughput for our customers.

  • Wireless access was deployed in many common areas around campus. Some of the areas included were University Bookstore, CISAT, Showker, Alumnae, Wellington, Frye, Hoffman, and the College Center. We also installed a wireless link to connect Whitesel to main campus and a link from One Court Square to main campus. A student wireless access day was held in the fall to encourage students to use the new service and assist with any technical issues.

  • Wired Gifford, Bookstore, Art Center (Whitesel), Williamson Pharmacy and Funkhouser House as part of the renovations or new construction projects. We re-wired Showker Hall as our first project to move the campus to 100mbs at the desktop.

  • Installed new fiber optic communications throughout the south side of the quad in preparation of the Harrison renovation.

  • Begin accepting FLEX for payment of student telephone bills.

PEOPLE

  • Re-organized Desktop Services area to include staff from Computing Support and Technical Services. Becky Helmick was hired to manage the area. The group combines faculty, staff and student desktop support in one area and compliments the HelpDesk, leveraging staff and allowing more flexibility and consistency in meeting campus needs. Desktop Services will allow a more proactive role in planning desktop computing across the campus.

  • Took advantage of the federal H1-B grant for training, development and certification testing. H1-B grant and other opportunities pursued by staff include: HelpDesk Institute Certified Trainer, HelpDesk Analyst, Network+, A+, WindowsXP MCP, Office XP MOUS, Remedy ARS 5.1 Delta, and Novell Desktop Management with ZENworks for Desktops 4.

  • Implemented internal training where Telecom work control personnel periodically accompany technicians on service and installation tasks to provide a better understanding of work involved.

  • Formed IT Web group, consolidating IT's web development efforts and began work to promote collaboration among the major web development groups. Worked closely with University Advancement to implement the "Web Manager" tool and did extensive streamlining of the "Information Publisher" process used in support of managing the university's web environment.

PARTNERSHIPS

  • The first Dell Day was developed and held in October 2002. Hosted by Dell, this event is an opportunity for representatives from Dell to meet with our technologists across campus and to keep everyone up-to-date on the latest products. In January, we hosted an event where CISAT and College of Education presented to Dell the ways we are using technology in the colleges.

  • Contributed to the overall Transfer and Freshmen Orientation program by participating in the early morning activities, the afternoon presentations to parents, as well as the informational booths during the afternoon/evening sessions.

  • Participated in the "first" International Student Orientation. This was an opportunity for international students to activate their e-ID and learn about the computing services available to students.

  • Formed a Technical Advisory Group for computer labs and technology classrooms. Members act as liaisons between their college's faculty and Computing Support. This enhances communication with academic departments to better understand their needs as well as providing another vehicle for communicating updates and other important information.

  • Developed an on-line voting module for SGA elections and supported its use by providing staff and coordinated placement of computers in strategic areas around campus to assist with the elections. Overall voting increased and the SGA credits the electronic voting method provided for the increase.

  • Completed the interface to the state procurement system, Electronic Virginia (eVa.) As a result, the Procurement staff now buys the majority of the university's goods through the system. The data is then auto-loaded into the Finance system.

  • Worked with other VASCAN (Virginia Alliance for Secure Computing and Networking) partners to complete arrangements for initial service announcement/go-live. VASCAN is a consortium lead by JMU, GMU, UVA and Virginia Tech to share information and support services related to information security. Training, best practice information, discussion forums and incident alerts are all part of the offerings to be made available soon on the VASCAN website.

  • Continued to enhance partnerships with core vendors, by developing a model that includes meeting at least quarterly to keep abreast of the latest technology, current trends, we share our direction and work together for best results. Our Core vendors include Cisco Systems, Dell, Hewlett Packard, Dimension Data and Novell.

  • Presented over 25 lectures and demonstrations to various College of Business, Computer Information System's classes regarding telecommunications and networking.

EFFICIENCIES

  • Contributed to the development of the JMU Freshmen "OneBook" through the process mapping of The Experience of an Incoming First-Year Student--Matriculation through Orientation.

  • Worked with Procurement to coordinate bulk orders from Dell Computer in August, November, and April. A number of departments took advantage of the cost savings allowed by consolidating orders and getting more aggressive pricing. In total, the university saved approximately $158,000 over our normal Premier pricing level. Using Rockingham Hall as a staging area, many of the machines had their software images installed in bulk, shortening the set-up time spent in customers' offices.

  • Offered the HelpDesk Analyst Boot Camp certification training to 10 Computing Support staff at a $20,000 savings over sending staff to attend this training elsewhere. The H1-B grant paid $1,000 for Debby Boyle, our HelpDesk Manager, to attend the course, $198 for her certification exams and $1720 for the manuals to teach the course to staff. This was a tremendous opportunity for establishing baseline understanding of industry concepts and "best practices" within the staff.

  • In response to the budget deficit, the Wampler and Wilson computer labs were closed in December, 2002. This is projected to save approximately $50,000 per year in maintenance, hardware costs, and machine replacement. The Hillside lab has been designated as a dual-purpose lab that is available for student use 24-hours per day, but can also be reserved periodically for assessment tests.

  • Worked to streamline functionality in support of Student Financial Services. Implemented customizations for SFS to deal with performance issues when running the Credit History process. As a result, run time was reduced from 21+ hours to 45 minutes. Credit History is a prerequisite to the Collections process currently being implemented. Completed work on Collections module research for Student Financial Services. Additionally, changes were completed to student bills so that choosing "do not print zero balance" actually means that and "credit balance bills". The bills also take financial aid into account before printing the final amount. These changes save Student Financial Services 20,200 discarded bills, $640 of wasted paper, and 30 staff-hours per year.

  • A series of electronic reports on majors and other related student data were created and provided to academic departments. The process behind providing these reports was very complex. We're receiving lots of positive feedback.

  • Two new Packet shaping routers were added to our Internet connections to manage the peer-to-peer file sharing applications and restore needed bandwidth for the business of JMU.

COMMUNITY SERVICE

  • At the request of the Lifelong Learning Institute, taught basic word processing to senior citizens as part of the campus outreach to the community. Over 25 senior citizens enrolled in the five-part, ten-hour workshop.

  • Chaired an Employee Appreciation Day subcommittee for developing and maintaining EAD web pages. These pages communicate the committee's activities with the campus community and provide information to JMU employees about the committee's purpose, membership and current projects. These pages provide a central location for links and communications relevant to employees.

EXTERNAL RECOGNITIONS

  • The JMU Computing HelpDesk was recognized and featured online by the Customer Service Group http://www.csweek.com/ for their Customer Service Week 2002 Celebrations. The HelpDesk Institute has asked to publish our events in Support World magazine.

  • The University of Tokyo and the School of IT, International University in Germany began using our online tutorials and handouts for their students. Keiicki Nakata, PHD, and associate professor comments included "impressive Office workshop handouts" and "I would like to congratulate you and your staff on the production of such impressive material."

  • Educom Training, a company in the UK, asked permission to reproduce and copy "the excellent tutorials you have on your website" for students in a program designed by the UK government. Eventually it was determined that we didn't have the time to complete the process and make the additions requested by this company.

  • The faculty and staff of the College of Education selected Camilla Washington's (Computing Support) design for their college's banner. Her winning design will be made to fly at this year's graduation ceremony for the College of Education.