Defining Moments 2011: OIT's Year in Review

Working as "one IT," in partnership with information technology (IT) directors and leaders systemwide, we continue aligning our efforts to advance excellence, efficiency, access, and innovation in all IT at the University. Together, we deliberately lean toward the obstacles ahead, including the economic environment and the need for transparency and alignment of "one IT" across the University.

Shared purpose; shared vision; shared leadership. One IT.

Learn more on the Defining Moments 2011 page.

As President Kaler stresses, "Even as we work to attract academically exceptional students, we must also strive to keep the U accessible to all qualified Minnesota students, regardless of their family income."

OIT faces the same challenges and opportunities to keep leading-edge technology services and products accessible to the entire University community. In addition, we must be forward-thinking and be ready to offer the technological future when our constituents need it. This remains a difficult challenge for IT providers systemwide during a time of diminishing state investment.

Just a few examples of ways in which OIT helps to keep information technology products and services accessible and available to the University community:

• Campus computer labs and Tech Stops
• Cloud computing services including Google Apps and digital media management tools
• Discounted hardware and software
• Network and wireless access systemwide and statewide
• Service desk (help desk)
• Social media including Facebook, Google+, Twitter, and UMN IT News
• UMConnect

In addition to the initial core suite of Google Apps for Education implemented in 2010, OIT continues to release additional apps to enhance the collaborative Google experience for the University community. With the decommission of UMCal in October, Google Calendar became the University's official calendaring system. And, in November, the University became one of 22 institutions worldwide to offer Google+, Google's new social networking platform, on its launch date.

Learn more on the Google Apps for the University of Minnesota site.

Video conferencing is globally recognized as a practical means to save travel expenses, and improve the efficiency of business and education processes, by enabling face-to-face interactions across distances.

In 2011, select conference and classroom spaces were upgraded to provide high definition video conferencing in a standardized configuration.

These technology upgrades offer significant improvements, but more importantly, these upgraded spaces are much easier to use. Faculty can operate the technology themselves, or video staff can operate the technology remotely.

Learn more on the Video Conferencing Current Projects page.

IT services at the University have been managed through a highly distributed approach with diverse processes. The objective of the IT Service Management (ITSM) project is to create efficiencies and improve IT service delivery, support, and management through shared processes and methodologies.

The framework for the ITSM project is based on the Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL), the most widely adopted approach for ITSM in the world.

Phase 1 of the ITSM project, including selecting and implementing a new ITSM tool; defining IT processes and workflows around Incident, Problem, Knowledge and Change Management; and training OIT staff, has been completed.

Work to achieve the long-term goal, to make ITSM toolset available for all IT at the University, is underway.

Learn key concepts of ITIL in the ITIL Explained Simply & Visually video on YouTube.

The Change Approval Board (CAB) oversees the processes by which upgrades, fixes, patches, and other changes to IT infrastructure and applications are reviewed and approved by the Office of Information Technology (OIT). For each change that comes before them, the CAB considers rationale, risk, user impact, timing, communications, and feedback from stakeholders such as the IT Leadership Alliance and the Enterprise Planning Group.

The CAB exemplified its effectiveness in 2011 when it approved a mandatory, planned outage to the University's primary data center only after the CAB was satisfied that risk was mitigated, stakeholders were consulted, and the scope and timing were negotiated and communicated.

Learn more about the features of Change Management on our website.

The renovation of Folwell Hall, built in 1906-07 and named for the University of Minnesota’s first president, was completed in July. The Office of Information Technology (OIT) contributed to this effort by updating obsolete classrooms to accommodate digital technology. Working in partnership with the Office of Classroom Management, OIT made it possible for each student to have wireless Internet access in Folwell's classrooms.

In all, OIT revamped the main communication infrastructure from the ground up, supervised horizontal wiring, moved approximately 180 phones, and activated more than 450 data connections.

Learn more about the Folwell Renovation Project.

The University system began transitioning to Moodle as its sole course management system (CMS) began in May 2009 and will be complete when WebVista is decommissioned August 31, 2012.

In conjunction, the University implemented a major upgrade from Moodle 1.9 to 2.0. This transition is being carried out collaboratively in the spirit of Moodle’s open source approach. Throughout 2011, OIT worked alongside representatives from governance groups, colleges, and departments to determine the transition path and priorities.

In Moodle, instructors can create course websites that include learning resources such as text, links, activities, and media. A rich set of tools and features facilitate student learning, collaboration, and group engagement.

View a video of students sharing their thoughts about Moodle above and learn more on the Moodle site.

In partnership with the Office of Planning and Analysis and the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities (MNSCU), OIT created the first Minnesota Symposium on Analytics in Support of Advising (PDF). More than 85 participants represented higher learning institutions from across the state of Minnesota.

“Minnesota Analytics” leverages data measurement resources to stimulate visioning and collaboration at public and private Minnesota colleges and universities.

This conference was made possible by a grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Students study whenever they can and wherever they find themselves. The University of Minnesota provides the Internet access that enables them to get the online resources they need from wherever they are on campus. During the first two days of fall semester 2011, nearly 400,000 wireless sessions took place.

University affiliates and guests on the Twin Cities and Rochester campuses, as well as at University Extension Services and Research Outreach Center sites, can access our wireless network.

OIT installed more than 1,000 additional wireless access points this year, bringing the total to more than 4,300. Additionally, nearly 180 of the existing access points have been repositioned to ensure maximum output.

Learn how to connect, review coverage maps, and about the future of wireless on the Wireless website.

University President Eric Kaler has challenged us all to contribute in whatever ways we can to become “a game-changing, global university for the 21st century, in everything that we do, from teaching to research to community engagement to operations.”

It is imperative that OIT remains a leader in providing a more efficient, effective, and innovative IT model that advances academic priorities. We will continue to work diligently with all faculty/staff/students/citizens to adapt IT and increase the value it brings to all those we serve.

The Advancing Excellence in IT at UMN working group recommended a highly-coordinated IT organizational model systemwide and endorsed the following principles:

• alignment with academic direction and coordinated oversight with academic units;
• highly-coordinated deployment of IT across the University system;
• transparency and oversight, commitment to standards and best practice strategies, standardization in support of interoperability, and disciplined innovation;
• focus on outcomes and analytics;
• alliances for shared infrastructure and inter-institutional collaboration; and
• use of “above-campus” viable commercial services whenever and wherever possible.

Learn more about Advancing Excellence in Information Technology at the University of Minnesota (PDF).

In 2011, OIT implemented technologies that enable the University to, in essence, extend the University network anywhere it’s needed, even off campus and beyond traditional network borders.

When University staff are required to work at an off-campus building, such as a hospital or extension site, they often are required by policy to remain on the University network.

In those instances, OIT provides what is essentially a copy or duplication of the University network for off-campus partners to deploy across their infrastructure. In turn, we deploy their networks over our own campus infrastructure, enabling their staff to access their own networks within our borders.

This technological flexibility and partnership enables staff to remain compliant with OIT security rules that govern campus networking, regardless of geographic location.

Learn more on the Network site.

Business intelligence (BI) tools and techniques enable improved, evidence-based decision making by collecting, analyzing, and leveraging data. BI can provide decision makers at all levels of the University with relevant, accurate, and consistent data, as well as the ability to analyze them.

A three-month pilot focusing on financial content began September 2011 with volunteer participants from a number of different employee groups, colleges, campuses, and departments.

Scheduled to launch in early 2012, the toolset, branded as “UM Analytics,” will enable users to create standard reports, ad hoc reports, alerts and analyses, forecasts, and predictive models.

Learn more from the Business Intelligence article.

The University of Minnesota's IT governance framework consists of enterprise-level processes and relationships that lead to reasoned decision making in the use of information technology. This framework is used to ensure that IT is aligned with University strategy; delivers value to the University; and manages risk, performance, and resources.

The University’s vice president and chief information officer (VPCIO) leads the implementation of the IT governance framework and its associated processes, working in tandem with University leaders:

• Academic Technology Advisory Committee (ATAC)
  Key faculty and IT directors who provide insight and input on the University’s academic technology directions and priorities.
• Enterprise Planning Group (EPG)
  Technology leaders from the University's core administrative management functions who collectively have responsibility for managing core administrative business processes and systems.
• IT Leadership Alliance (ITLA)
  IT directors representing the University's coordinate campuses, collegiate, and large administrative units who have responsibility for leading their individual units, and who also collectively help set institutional technology direction.
• Senate Committee for IT (SCIT)
  Faculty, academic professional, civil service, and student representatives appointed by the faculty senate, who provide guidance and direction for the University's information technologies.
• Chancellors, Deans, and VPs (PDF)
  Leaders with whom OIT senior leadership regularly consult in an effort to align IT with coordinate campus, collegiate, and large administrative unit priorities.
• Executive IT Oversight
  Institutional leaders who provide the highest level of executive IT oversight to systemwide IT priorities and investments.
• Budget Group
  Institutional senior executive leaders who provide the highest level of oversight to the University's systemwide overall priorities and investments.
• University President and the Senior Vice President for System Academic Administration
  The two senior executives to whom the VPCIO is directly accountable for the University's IT investment portfolio, prioritization, and performance.

The VPCIO is responsible for:

• Aligning IT strategy with University strategy
• Facilitating sustainable technology-related institutional investments and resource prioritization
• Providing organizational structures that facilitate the implementation of strategy and goals
• Managing the adoption and implementation of an IT control framework
• Measuring IT performance
.

Office of Information Technology (OIT) and its partners have remodeled an existing training and collaboration space in Blegen 90 to provide a unique atmosphere for both individual and group work, as well as a variety of services offered by OIT and its partners.

The space is called “Tech Stop: learning. support. research.” It is a pilot for OIT as we begin to rethink the design and purpose of traditional OIT computer labs on campus. The remodel is a research-based design intended to foster education and innovation through state-of-the-art space and services, including tech support, training, managed printing, and collaborative work areas.

Although students are the primary clientele, the redesigned space is different than traditional computer labs in that it’s more campus community-focused, and serves faculty and staff, as well.

Learn more on the Computer Labs site.

OIT and University partners welcomed Google Executive Chairman Eric E. Schmidt to campus in November for his presentation, "The Future of the High-Tech Economy: How Technology is Changing Business, Education and Government."

Schmidt said,

"I love the hospitality here, and I wanted to come visit partly because you guys were among the earliest and strongest adopters of a lot of our technology, but also because I've learned a lot by watching what you guys do with what we've been able to build."

At the time of his visit, the University of Minnesota had migrated more than 90,000 accounts to Google Apps for Education, the second largest number in higher education.

Learn about upcoming IT events on the News and Events page.

In fall 2011, the Constituent Relationship Management (CRM) project was initiated to help academic and administrative units across the University to:

• be more effective in communicating with internal and external audiences,
• improve the quality of the services they provide, and
• deliver additional services to contribute to student success.

Once fully implemented, the new CRM tool will document interactions individuals have with the University. The information collected can be used to help the University make better decisions, for example, by informing how we market to prospective students.

Check the current status of the project on the FY2012 Q1 Status Report (PDF) and find future updates on the IT Project Portfolio Status Reports page.

OIT's Collaborative for Academic Technology Innovation fosters inter- and intra-institutional partnerships with colleges, campuses, central units, and other institutions to define and pursue major initiatives that aim for strategic and innovative uses of academic technologies.

Learn more on the Collaborative for Academic Technology Innovation page.

The University of Minnesota is at the leading edge of learning space innovation as exemplified by:

• Active Learning Classrooms,
• the new Science Teaching and Student Services building,
• SMART learning commons,
• newly-designed student study spaces, and
• faculty development, research, and technology support services that enable students and instructors to use these spaces effectively.

OIT's Research and Evaluation team has partnered with faculty and staff from across the University to conduct systematic research on these spaces, centered on the question, "To what extent do formal and informal learning environments shape teaching and learning?"

Learn more on the Learning Environments Research page.

IT Rationalization and Optimization is a University of Minnesota effort to create a highly coordinated, efficient, effective, and innovative IT model that advances academic priorities. This involves:

• assessing the University’s IT function to determine the best source of services and reduce inefficient and redundant services systemwide;
• striking the right balance between IT capabilities and costs;
• investing in IT growth, innovation, maintenance, and productivity; and
• aligning IT governance.