Information Technology Strategy
The University of North
Carolina at Asheville
The University of North Carolina at Asheville during
academic year
1999-2000 assembled an ad hoc IT task force (Appendix
1) to develop an information technology long-range plan (or strategy). This document is the result of many meetings
of that task force and its various sub-committees. The document is a working document, and has been updated twice
since its creation.
A common theme in the IT task force meetings
was the dire state of technology at UNCA and the corresponding urgency of
action. Most of the details in this
plan (particularly with regard to teaching and learning with technology) should
not be regarded as luxuries or even as suggestions for improvement. Rather, they should be considered as
essential steps towards maintaining UNCA's status as a quality liberal arts
institution. The reason is simple. As information technology becomes more and
more a part of everyday life, greater technological literacy is demanded daily
of our graduates, from securing a job to simple intelligent discussion of
current events. We have a
responsibility to provide our students with as rich and well maintained a
computing environment as possible -- an environment which is already being
offered at many other institutions.
The task force decided to base its work on the system-wide UNC Information Technology Strategy completed at UNC’s Office of the President (UNC-OP) in the fall of 1999 (www.northcarolina.edu/content.php/ir/strategy/strategy.htm).
The
UNCA task force organized its plan around the same information technology areas
used in the system-wide study:
Sub-committees of the task force were formed to develop planning goals and action steps for UNCA in each of the four areas. This report of the committee’s work will have the following format:
As
the UNC-OP planning process progressed, it merged Administrative Systems and
Services for Students into one planning area.
This report will do the same.
Goals:
Action
Steps:
A smart classroom consists minimally of a network-connected computer and a projector, and may contain additional audio-visual equipment. Smart classrooms enable faculty to employ Internet access and tools such as PowerPoint and WebCT in their classes.
2003 Status:
Significant progress has been made for this action
step. We have converted 26 general
purpose classrooms (54% of our inventory of 48 general purpose classrooms) to
“smart” status. Funding for this effort
came principally from the IT Infrastructure portion of the University system’s
comprehensive bond issue, passed in November 2000. Significant additional funding for Karpen Hall classrooms has
been provided by the Asheville Graduate Center.
A computer refresh program would replace old desktop computers with new ones on a regular basis (3-4 years), so that faculty and staff would be able to run applications necessary for their work.
2003 Status:
University Computing’s two advisory committees
(Administrative Computing, Academic Computing) have done important work for
this action step, but funding remains an obstacle. The academic committee, in the spring and fall of 2002, developed
detailed guidelines for refreshing faculty computers. Additionally, a subcommittee of the administrative committee
developed in the fall of 2002 a preliminary funding model for both faculty and
staff refresh, and presented it to university management for
consideration. Further progress in this
area awaits formal adoption of a funding plan, perhaps in the 2003-04 budget
year.
This program would keep technology in student computing facilities up-to-date, an important goal from both academic and “public relations” perspectives. Ideally, labs should get new equipment every two years.
2003 Status:
Progress on this action step has been very encouraging. In the fall of 2001, the Office of Academic
Affairs agreed to devote 70% of the student Education and Technology Fee
(approximately $200,000 annually) directly to the maintenance and enhancement
of student computing facilities. The
Academic Computing Advisory Committee solicits proposals for student computing
projects, prioritizes them, and recommends allocation of available
funding. In academic year 2002-03,
funds were allocated to overhaul five important computer labs, and other funds
were directed to smart classroom construction.
In addition, important student support units, such as the University
Writing Center, received improved technology as a result of this effort.
Our science labs need new types of equipment and replacements for aging equipment.
2003 Status:
This action step is being funded by 30% of the
student Education and Technology Fee, with the other 70% going to student
technology refresh projects (see above).
This training effort requires dedicated staffing (a professional trainer skilled with IT tools) and, ideally, a dedicated training facility. The identified funding is for staffing only.
2003 Status:
Lack of funding has prevented progress on this
action step, and emerging developments have increased the staffing needs in
this area to two positions – an Instructional Technology Consultant to support
faculty in their efforts to enhance their courses with technology; and a
trainer skilled with personal productivity software and information systems
access tools. UNCA lost a badly need
Instructional Technology Consultant position to budget cuts in 2001, and is
providing a reduced level of service in this area by redirecting the efforts of
another staff member on a part-time basis.
The need for a trainer, already significant, will increase substantially
as we migrate to Banner, a new campus information system, over the next five
years.
Goals:
Action
Steps:
The Alliance is a consortium of 11 UNC system schools that will use the SCT administrative software suite and software from other companies to implement the core student services capabilities identified by the GA Student Services Workgroup.
Specifically, the following systems have been or will be implemented:
--Web for Students (in service now)
--Web for Faculty (in testing now)
--Web for Alumni
--Campus Pipeline (student web portal and email system)
--Student housing
--Payment gateway (allows student credit card payment of tuition and fees)
Cost: $40,000 per year
Note:
software license costs are covered by central Alliance funding from
GA. Our costs arise from additional
software maintenance fees and training and staff development needs.
2003 Status:
Most of this action step has been
accomplished. Web for Students and Web
for Faculty are in stable production, providing a variety of web-enabled
services, including course registration for students, and course grading and
advising support for faculty. Web for
Alumni has also been implemented, and serves as a convenient means for alumni
to stay in touch with classmates and the institution. Campus Pipeline is now in service as the campus portal to Web for
Students and Web for Faculty, and as the preferred method for sending
personalized announcements to populations of students and faculty. All of these
products, it should be noted are web “front ends” to our legacy suite of
administrative software, the SCT Plus series.
We are at the beginning of a five-year migration to another SCT software
suite, Banner, which, in a client-server and database-driven environment, will
provide significantly higher levels of functionality, and richer, more flexible
access to university data.
The decision to migrate to Banner led to a
decision not to implement the SCT housing application. The member institutions of the Alliance
decided to wait and implement Banner’s highly functional housing application,
rather than convert to SCT Plus’s older technology, and then convert again as
part of the Banner effort.
Payment gateway has yet to be implemented,
although we are ready to do so as soon as UNCA negotiates the appropriate
contract with Wachovia, the vendor of payment gateway services to the UNC
system. All UNC systems have been
cleared to accept credit card payments and to pass the attendant credit card
charges along to the students who use this method of payment.
· Add web enhancements to existing administrative software systems to increase their functionality, accessibility and ease of use … specifically, purchase and install SCT’s Web for Employees application.
Web for Employees provides intuitive web front ends for SCT’s Financial Records and Human Resources systems.
Cost: $32,000 for license, $5,000 in recurring
annual maintenance expense
2003 Status:
Web for Employees will be implemented as part
of the Banner project.
1.3 Distance Learning
Goals:
· Continue active and effective support provided by Distance Learning Services for the Asheville Graduate Center and NC State Engineering and, increasingly, for UNCA pilot distance learning projects, including the German studies consortium, involving six UNC campuses.
· Assess the need for distance learning at UNCA, establishing a clear definition of what distance learning looks like, and determining a baseline for the technology needed to support it.
If distance learning is to be implemented at UNCA:
· Provide for an infrastructure to support distance learning.
· Design programs appropriate for the technology available to distance learners.
· Design a mechanism to assess the quality of learning taking place in distance learning courses.
Action Steps:
· Convene a special exploratory task force to address the issues involved in a significant implementation of distance learning at UNCA.
Cost: No additional funding is needed for the
exploratory task force. However, as the
distance learning sub-committee reported, significant costs are involved in the
implementation of an effective distance learning effort (faculty stipends for
course development, network infrastructure, professional staff support, etc.)
2003 Status:
Although an exploratory
task force is yet to be convened, progress has been made in several different
areas of distance learning:
--Costs and usage
patterns of our existing teleconferencing facilities have been identified
--Significant campus
expertise has been developed in web curricular delivery tools, specifically
WebCT.
--Several distance
learning pilot projects have been undertaken, the results of which will inform
UNCA’s efforts to define a mission-appropriate implementation of distance
learning.
2. Planning Areas, 2003-2004
In addition to continued work on the three (formerly four) planning areas identified above, UNCA needs to address the following areas in 2003-2004.
1.
Governance
What mechanism will be used to decide which projects will be funded and staffed, and how IT funding will be allocated to insure effective operations? Who will decide when issues arise involving supported hardware (servers, desktop systems) and software (operating systems, web servers and browsers, email systems, user web portals, personal productivity software, etc.). With at least six significant budgetary players -- Academic Affairs (101), Enrollment Services, Special Academic Programs, Ramsey Library, University Computing, and the Center for Teaching and Learning – how can we make sure we’re all pulling in the same direction? Do we need to consider a consolidated governance structure?
2.
Logistical needs
UNC GA created an additional planning task force, Logistical Needs, for the system-wide IT strategy. GA used this planning area to address the on-going support requirements generated by initiatives in the other planning areas. Logistical Needs areas of concern include network maintenance and enhancement; faculty, staff and student training; increasing software maintenance costs; and collaborative procurement.
All of these issues pertain directly to UNCA’s current IT environment and need to be addressed in our next cycle of IT planning. We face substantial network maintenance costs as our network equipment and network management software go off warranty at varying times between now and 2005. Additionally, we have ongoing needs to enhance the network, especially in the area of network security. Training has already been identified in this document as a critical need, particularly in the two areas of instructional technology deployment and Banner project implementation.
The Banner project in itself will require significant hardware and software procurement efforts, and ongoing hardware and software maintenance costs. New goals and action steps related to Banner will emerge in our next IT planning cycle … orderly migration from Plus to Banner over a five-year time span, attainment of expertise by support staff in the use of the Oracle database product, and user training in the Banner application interface and associated reporting tools … to name a few.
Appendix 1
Members, UNC Asheville IT task force
Chuck Bennett, Director, Center for Teaching and Learning
Tom Cochran, Associate Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs
Karen Cole, member, Academic Computing Advisory Committee
Robin Daugherty, Manager, Administrative Computing Services
Greg Dillingham, Manager, Distance Learning Services
Elaine Fox, Director of Special Academic Programs
Archer Gravely, Director of Institutional Research
Mike Honeycutt, Manager, Academic Computing Services
Jim Kuhlman, University Librarian
Mark McClure, member, Academic Computing Advisory Committee
Rudy Moorees, Director, Media Center
Kern Parker, Director of University Computing
Glenn Shepherd, Coordinator of Educational Technology
Mike Small, Director, University Telecommunications
Mark Stoffan, member, Academic Computing Advisory Committee
Phil Weast, Assistant Vice Chancellor, Enrollment Services
Richard White, Manager, Systems and Communications