August 2009

As we begin moving into a new academic year, the InformationTechnology Services Division (ITSD) is looking at what was accomplished last year and making plans to build on that in the year ahead.  In this column, I’d like to touch on three major initiatives: Infrastructure, Support for Teaching and Learning, and Information Security.

Infrastructure

First, we have made great strides in improving the IT infrastructure of the University.  We’ve upgraded the network and rewired most of the campus buildings, providing faster and more reliable access to critical applications.    We have also upgraded our PBX and voicemail system which will allow us to provide a more robust set of services in telecommunications, including integration with email.  We have implemented a virtual private network (VPN) that  allows secure access to campus resources from off-campus locations.

In the coming year, one of our infrastructure focuses will be on enhancing our wireless network, extending it to all campus buildings and making it more secure. 

Last spring we introduced the Xythos file sharing and collaboration application to provide a secure way to store and share files within the University and with outside collaborators.  This year, we will be adding some new features to Xythos to integrate it with the Microsoft Office applications and provide a drop-box functionality for faculty to use with their students.  We will also be working with Enrollment Management to implement document management and workflow with Xythos to facilitate easier handling of the many documents needed in the admissions and enrollment process.

Teaching and Learning

In support of teaching and learning, ITSD collaborated with the Healey Library to introduce a new faculty liaison system which assigned a library-instructional design-technology support team to each college.  These support teams can work together to provide more coordinated and consistent support for faculty.  In the next year, we will be setting up a dedicated faculty support area in the Healey Library where faculty can work with their support team and also access tools to assist in developing instructional projects.

ITSD also made available a number of new tools last year including, blogging and wiki software as well as UMass Boston channels on iTunes U and You Tube.  In the coming year, we will be providing more content for these channels and working with faculty to expand the materials available in the UMass Boston Open Courseware space.   In addition, we will be piloting new methods of classroom capture and adding an anti-plagiarism tool to the Blackboard Learning Management system.

Information Security

Finally, we made significant progress in security initiatives.  We were able to hire a network security administrator and an information security officer last year.  ITSD developed a security training module which is offered every month. ITSD also worked with the senior executives and deans to establish an Information Security Council with representation from all academic and business units.  The Council has been reviewing procedures for compliance with state and federal regulations related to information security.

In the coming year, we will be documenting a formal information security program touching on network, server and desktop security as well as disaster recovery and incident management procedures.  In addition, ITSD will be working with members of the Council to pilot a new set of data protection tools.

All in all, we’re proud of what we were able to accomplish in the past year and look forward to making additional progress in these key areas over the next year. 

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