ITS Newsletter Vol 8, Issue 1

Collection: University Records
Sub-shelf: uvi.edu
Kind: Government Report
Island: St. John
Date: 2012-12-14
Pages: 10
Text: Native Text

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ITS NEWSLETTER VOL 8, ISSUE 1 In This Issue CETL News & Events……….....1 VC System Update..…....……....2 New Research Databases…….5-7 New Telephone System………..8 New ITS Staff……….…….…...9 STJAC News…………..……...2 ALE Project Update……..….3-4 Argos………………...……......8 Portal Corner………………….8 Employee Recognition………10 The new Blackboard Learn environment is available to faculty and students now. UVI will be moving 100% to the new Blackboard environment in Spring 2013. The ﬁnal accessibility date for Black‐ board 8 will be Noon on Friday, December 14th, 2012. Faculty is encouraged to archive their courses for their own records. Faculty who have not archived their courses and need assistance with the archiving process should contact the CETL at ext 1214 for assistance. The CETL has an online tutorial available, BlackBoard Learn (BBLearn) Basics, that introduces the new environment and provides instrucƟons for compleƟng basic tasks in the environ‐ ment. CETL also has weekly training sessions available for those interested or you may schedule a one‐on‐one session. CETL November Training Sessions are as followed: Friday, November 2nd 10:00a‐11:00a IntroducƟon to BBLearn for FACULTY LocaƟon:TED213/NWW103 Monday, November 5th 1:00p‐2:00p IntroducƟon to BBLearn for STUDENTS LocaƟon:TED213/EVC302A Wednesday, November 7th 12:00‐1:00p CollaboraƟve Tools in BBLearn LocaƟon:TED213/EVC302A 2:00p‐3:00p IntroducƟon to BBLearn for FACULTY LocaƟon:BUS101/NWW103 Wednesday, November 14th 11:00a‐12:00p IntroducƟon to BBLearn for FACULTY LocaƟon:TED213/EVC302A Thursday, November 15th 12:00‐1:00p Using the Library to Aid in Research IniƟaƟves LocaƟon:TED213/EVC807 CETL News & Events CETL News & Events Thursday, November 15th 2:00‐3:00p MyCampus Community Session LocaƟon: Library Conference Rooms Monday, November 19th 1:00p‐2:00p IntroducƟon to BBLearn for STUDENTS LocaƟon: TED213/EVC302A 2:00p‐3:00p IntroducƟon to BBLearn for FACULTY LocaƟon: BUS101/NWW103 Monday, November 26th 1:00p‐2:00p IntroducƟon to BBLearn for STUDENTS LocaƟon:TED213/EVC302A Wednesday, November 28th 10:00a‐11:00a IntroducƟon to BBLearn for FACULTY LocaƟon: BUS101/EVC807 Thursday, November 29th 2:00p‐3:00p MyCampus Community Sessions LocaƟon: Library Conference rooms on STT and STX Below are CETL Sponsored Workshops through the Sloan ConsorƟum for November and December 2012. November 7, 2012 ‐ November 16, 2012 Copyright Compliance for Online Educators November 7, 2012 ‐ November 16, 2012 Now Hear This! A Look at PodcasƟng Trends in Higher EducaƟon November 7, 2012 ‐ November 16, 2012 Using Your Personal Teaching Style in the Online Classroom November 7, 2012 ‐ November 16, 2012 Advanced Moodle: Adding Collabora‐ Ɵon and InteracƟvity to Online Courses November 7, 2012 ‐ November 16, 2012 IntroducƟon to Mobile App/Game Development November 28, 2012 ‐ December 14, 2012 Geƫng Started: The First Steps in Online Teaching November 28, 2012 ‐ December 7, 2012 Web 2.0 Tools You Can Use to Improve Learning November 28, 2012 ‐ December 7, 2012 Dismantling the Barriers to Digital Literacy for Students with DisabiliƟes November 28, 2012 ‐ December 14, 2012 Using the Quality MaƩers Rubric to Improve Your Online Course November 28, 2012 ‐ December 7, 2012 Assessing Learning in Social Media December 5, 2012 ‐ December 14, 2012 Fair Use and the TEACH Act: A Closer Look December 5, 2012 ‐ December 14, 2012 Pass the MERLOT: Encouraging Faculty to Enhance Their Classes with MERLOT December 5, 2012 ‐ December 14, 2012 Using Advanced PodcasƟng and Other Web 2.0 MulƟmedia in Your Curriculum December 12, 2012 ‐ December 21, 2012 HyFlex: A Hybrid & Flexible Course Design Process For Blended Learning 2 ITS welcomes Miss Ashley Till to the ITS and St. John Academic Center (STJAC) team. Her extensive background at South Carolina State University, research, and passion for students will conƟnue to broaden the inﬂuence of UVI on St John. July marked the ﬁrst Adult EducaƟon course, sponsored and funded by CooperaƟve Extension Services (CES), hosted at the STJAC. RegistraƟon for the Clothing ConstrucƟon class reached capacity within one week. The ten students completed the two month course, taught by Dr. Carol Johnson, with a fashion show that featured clothes constructed by the students. The local newspaper and members of the community aƩended the event. The next course is slated for January of 2013. On the leŌ: Kent making a presenta‐ Ɵon about the STJAC to Dr. Ogunmokgun’s MBA (Strategic Management) class on both campuses and the Center. The STJAC launched Advisor Trac/Tutor Trac in September. All St. John students can now reserve Ɵmes for tutoring and advisement sessions through the STJAC. Select tutoring subjects are now available at the STJAC for St John students. Currently, the STJAC staﬀ is working the Dr. Gabriel Okgunmokun’s MBA MarkeƟng class to developing markeƟng strategies for the STJAC. In Fall 2012, 19 classes were oﬀered, which included twelve (12) regular students ranging from freshman, graduates and sen‐ ior ciƟzens. The primary focus at the Academic Center is assisƟng students with accessing library resources and teaching InformaƟon literacy. These are lifelong learning skills that students will use throughout college and into their professional lives. Projects implemented are a pilot peer student group for e‐porƞolio development, ongoing library resource research sessions based on sub‐ ject topics, educaƟng students on selecƟng electronic resources for scholarly research, group discussions on career goals, reviewing curriculum requirements for majors, and providing technical experƟse. Students are also learning how to navigate the Internet eﬃ‐ ciently and how to evaluate if online sources are reliable and accurate based on domains, authors, and dates, etc. Videoconference (VC) best pracƟces are ongoing and hands on portal interacƟons training is regular to encourage students to access this as a central‐ ized source of UVI informaƟon. AddiƟonal training includes the features and uses of Blackboard and BanWeb tutorials are provided oŌen as students are learning that they do not physically need to be on St. Thomas campus to accomplish many administraƟve tasks that can be completed online (such as registering for the English Proﬁciency Exam). One of the greatest joys is seeing a student access a library resource independently aŌer showing the student how to access and navigate this resource. This is seen on the leŌ, as student Irah ChrisƟan, is researching the CQ database (made up of unbiased poliƟcal topics) for current poliƟcal candidate issues for her upcoming debate. While the new West Hall on the St. Thomas campus has been open for a while, the ﬁnishing touches were recently installed in the new Seminar Room on 2nd ﬂoor. This room has brand new videoconference equipment with tables and seats for approximately forty (40) people. The room is adorned with two high deﬁniƟon projectors. It also has microphones and speakers across the room for good coverage. ITS encourages everyone to visit the seminar room in the new West Hall and provide ITS with your feedback. ITS is working with Envision Technologies to maintain and standardize the controls of the VC systems in all rooms across the board. ITS is making progress working with the variaƟons of the videoconferencing systems to beƩer provide the University with beƩer soluƟons. St. John Academic Center News St. John Academic Center News Videoconference System Update Videoconference System Update 3 Phase I of the Advancing Learning Spaces classroom renovaƟon project was completed this quarter. Four model classrooms on St. Thomas (CAB 107, CAB 109, CAB 112, and CAB 306) and three model classrooms on St. Croix (EVC 501, EVC 502, and 716) were renovated to meet the needs of 21st century students and faculty. The renovaƟons included room repairs, paint, new student furniture, new instructor furniture, and state of the art technology for instrucƟonal delivery. Each of the new classrooms was designed to be easily adaptable for lectures or group work and provide the instructor with mulƟple mediums for content delivery. A new seminar room was also added in the new resident dormitory on the St. Thomas campus. The results of the new renovaƟon, including before and aŌer pictures are listed below. Advancing Learning Spaces Project Update Advancing Learning Spaces Project Update 4 Advancing Learning Spaces Project Update Advancing Learning Spaces Project Update 5 ITS is pleased to inform the UVI community that there are several new trial research databases available to you. Details and links are provided below for your convenience. Trial access is open for the next 90 days, so I encourage you and your students to make full use of these resources. To begin uƟlizing these new databases, please go to hƩp://library.uvi.edu; click on Databases in the silver bar; click on EBSCO Host Research Databases; click on the name of the database(s) you wish to use. 1. Academic Search™ Complete The world's most valuable and comprehensive scholarly, mulƟdisciplinary full‐text database Featuring thousands of full‐text journals, this scholarly collecƟon oﬀers unmatched coverage of informaƟon spanning a broad range of important areas of academic study including: anthropology, astronomy, biology, chemistry, civil engineering, engineering, ethnic & mulƟcultural studies, geology, law, materials science, mathemaƟcs, music, pharmaceuƟcal sciences, physics, psychology, religion & theology, veterinary science, women's studies, zoology, and many other ﬁelds. Content Includes: · Nearly 13,000 abstracted and indexed journals · More than 8,750 full‐text journals · Full text for nearly 7,800 peer‐reviewed journals · PDF content daƟng back as far as 1887 · Searchable cited references provided for more than 1,400 journals · Daily updates 2. Business Source® Premier This is the industry's most popular business research database, features the full text for more than 2,100 journals. Full text is provided back to 1965, and searchable cited references back to 1998. Journal ranking studies reveal that Business Source® Premier's full‐text coverage outshines its compeƟtors in all business disciplines, including markeƟng, management, MIS, POM, accounƟng, ﬁnance and economics. AddiƟonal full text, non‐journal content includes market research reports, industry reports, country reports, company proﬁles and SWOT analyses. Regional Business News™ is a supplemental database for customers of Business Source Premier, provided at no addiƟon‐ al charge. With daily updates, Regional Business News provides comprehensive full text for regional U.S. and Canadian business publicaƟons (including Ɵtles from Crain CommunicaƟons). Regional Business News has full text for nearly 100 sources. Business Source Premier contains: · Full Text for more than 2,100 journals · Full Text daƟng back to 1965 · Company Proﬁles · Country Reports · Industry Reports · Market Research Reports · Searchable cited references daƟng back to 1998 · SWOT Analyses Libraries New Research Databases Libraries New Research Databases 6 3. Newspaper Source™ Plus Newspaper Source™ Plus includes more than 1,000 full‐text newspapers, providing more than 38 million full‐text arƟcles. The database contains comprehensive full text for major newspapers such as the ChrisƟan Science Monitor, San Francisco Chronicle, The Sydney Morning Herald (Australia), The Times (UK), Toronto Star, USA Today, The Washington Post, The Washington Times (DC) and others. All staﬀ arƟcles are also included from many newspapers, including The Philadelphia Inquirer, Houston Chronicle, Star Tribune (Minneapolis), etc. Content includes: · More than 1,000 full‐text newspapers, providing more than 38 million full‐text arƟcles · More than 902,000 television and radio news transcripts · Videos & Podcasts (coming soon) 4. World PoliƟcs Review World PoliƟcs Review is a daily online publicaƟon and resource for foreign policy professionals and readers with a serious interest in internaƟonal poliƟcs and foreign aﬀairs. Its original arƟcles are wriƩen by a network of more than 400 contributors from around the world, including subject‐maƩer experts from journalism, research organizaƟons, academia, government and elsewhere. MulƟple Areas of Study Covered This database currently has thousands of arƟcles in its archives, and produces more than 75,000 words of original content per month. World PoliƟcs Review covers topics of key relevance to foreign policy, internaƟonal poliƟcs and foreign aﬀairs. These include the following: · Aid and Development · Crime · Culture · Defense and Military · DomesƟc PoliƟcs · Economics and Business · Homeland Security · Human Rights · InternaƟonal Law · PoliƟcal Theory · Public Diplomacy and Propaganda · Terrorism · U.S. Foreign Policy · War and Conﬂict · Weapons of Mass DestrucƟon · And many more. Libraries New Research Databases Libraries New Research Databases 7 5. Environment Complete™ This resource oﬀers deep coverage in applicable areas of agriculture, ecosystem ecology, energy, renewable energy sources, natural resources, marine & freshwater science, geography, polluƟon & waste management, environmental technology, environmental law, public policy, social impacts, urban planning, and more. Environment Complete™ contains more than 2.5 million records from more than 2,350 domesƟc and internaƟonal Ɵtles daƟng back to 1888 (including over 1,350 acƟve core Ɵtles). The database contains full text for more than 930 journals, including many of the most used journals in the discipline, such as Environment (back to 1975), Ecologist, ConservaƟon Biology, etc. AddiƟonally, Environment Complete provides full text for 190 monographs, such as Encyclopedia of World Environmental History (3 volumes), Advances in Water Treatment & Environmental Management, etc. Content includes: · More than 2,350 domesƟc and internaƟonal Ɵtles · Full text for more than 930 journals · Full text for over 190 monographs Subject coverage includes: · Agriculture · Ecosystem ecology · Environmental law · Environmental technology · Marine & freshwater science · Natural resources · PolluƟon & waste management · Renewable energy sources · Social impacts · Urban planning Should any quesƟons arise or if you need assistance, feel free to contact your respecƟve library and/or liaison librarian: St. Thomas ‐ 693‐1367; St. Croix ‐ 692‐4130. The annual Open House on August 22‐23, 2012 was an opportunity to orient new students and faculty to resources of the libraries and Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETL), and other educaƟonal technology tools supported by the ITS component. The event featured “lightning rounds”, 10‐minute overviews on a variety of topics including: library databases, myCampus portal, Blackboard Learn, CETL resources, library special collecƟons, and videoconference Crestron controller, to name a few. Students were oﬀered raﬄe prizes of giŌ bags, iPods and TI‐84 calculators for parƟcipaƟon in lightning round training sessions and trivia contests, as well as tasty treats for visiƟng the libraries during open house. Approximately 100 persons parƟcipated in training and trivia events on both campuses. A new feature of open house this year was the community feedback event called “Let’s Talk”. ParƟcipants commented on the topic: Impact of the HOVENSA closure on current and future VI economic condiƟons. Feedback from parƟcipants was thoughƞul and engaging. Despite the approach of tropical storm Isaac that interrupted STX events on the second day, Library open house was a lively, fun, and educaƟonal start to the academic year. Libraries New Research Databases Libraries New Research Databases Libraries Celebrate Open House 8 Evision's Argos was selected as the enterprise reporƟng tool for use by ITS and Banner funcƟonal users in the human resources, student, insƟtuƟonal research and ﬁnance areas. Programmers will design reports which can be manipulated by report writers or consumed by others via the myCampus portal or directly through the Argos applicaƟon. Argos accommodates unlimited number of users and user types and includes a user community where users can share reports. This will allow UVI to upload reports created and download those created by others. Argos is an easy to use applicaƟon which allows quick access to data and Ɵmely and informed data driven decisions in all areas. Unlimited free online training is also available for designers, writers and report viewers. ITS and funcƟonal staﬀ will parƟcipate in onsite training the week of November 5th. The University has been well‐served for many years by the Deﬁnity PBX (telephone switch) and Audix Voice Mail Systems. The Deﬁnity was the last in a line of circuit based PBX hardware manufactured since the late 1980s by Avaya. Due to the growth of the University, the University has exceeded its capacity of the current system. The University will be upgrading the system to Avaya 8800 Media Servers and G650 Media Gateways. The new system adds features for Call Centers (skill‐based rouƟng, call reporƟng), Finance Manage‐ ment (least‐cost rouƟng), and End Users (follow‐me features, mobility, and IP Telephony). Overall, the migraƟon to the new system will be minimally intrusive to users. Your current phones will work with the new system; however, you will required to setup your new voice mailbox. ITS will noƟfy the University community of the cut‐over period prior to the installaƟon of the new phone system. Argos Argos - Banner Reporting Solution Banner Reporting Solution QuickLaunch From the portal quick launch, UVI persons have single sign on access to UVI applicaƟons. Instead of separately visiƟng sites and entering usernames and passwords, from visiƟng the portal at hƩp://mycampus.uvi.edu, one can with just a click get to BanWeb, Blackboard, Email (Gmail and Live@edu), EMS (room and class schedule; request use of rooms), download MicrosoŌ Oﬃce (students) and PeopleAdmin (evaluaƟons and job descripƟons). Set the portal as your homepage and make sure to login daily! myMessages ITS has great news to report! myMessages in the myCampus portal is working more smoothly and failed messages concerns have and will conƟnue to be addressed. Upon log in, in order to delete messages, you will be required to view and/or acknowledge the respecƟve messages ﬁrst. The myMessages feature allows the UVI community to share informaƟon about events and acƟviƟes. Faculty and staﬀ can send announcements to the enƟre community while students can send announcements to each other. Messages should be sent to one group at a Ɵme; however, you may also opt to send to mulƟple groups at once. For example, an announcement should be sent to faculty, then staﬀ, then students. Click on Messages from the portal home page to start sending a message. Please note that you may share graphics, images and other alike via a hyperlink in the content of the respecƟve message. The hyperlink informaƟon (graphics, images, etc) may be stored within or outside of the portal. Message delivery can be to your email and/or via SMS (cell phone delivery). Messages are also available upon login to the portal. To set your delivery choice, click on the Preferences tab at the top of the myMessages secƟon on the main portal page. If you select SMS, make sure to go you your account and input your cell phone number. This is done by clicking on Menu from the top right of the portal menu bar, then My Account. On the right side of the page will be SMS. Click on SMS and enter the cell number in the format required (6261234567@messaging.sprintpcs.com). For further guidance, to create a community and/or to automate your operaƟon, please send requests to the helpdesk via telephone at ext 1466, email helpdesk@uvi.edu, or UVI portal hƩps://mycampus.uvi.edu/. New Telephone System New Telephone System 9 Mr. Adam Robinson joins ITS as the Network Engineering Manager. He will be based in St Croix, but will oversee InformaƟon Technol‐ ogy Infrastructure on STX, STT, and STJ. Adam has 14 years of IT experience with deep technical roles in Network AdministraƟon, Telephony, System AdministraƟon, and Web Design. He has built and managed Network OperaƟons Centers (NOCs) for mulƟple Fortune 500 Companies including Bank of America, Symantec, and American Express. He also holds Business and Technical CerƟﬁca‐ Ɵons including Cisco CerƟﬁed Network Professional RouƟng & Switching (CCNP R&S), Cisco CerƟﬁed Design Professional RouƟng & Switching (CCDP R&S), VMware CerƟﬁed Professional on vSphere 5 (VCP5), PMI CerƟﬁed Associate in Project Management (CAPM), ITIL v3 FoundaƟons. Please give Adam your support. Ms. Ashley Till joins ITS as a new librarian providing support for the St. John Academic Center and the Ralph Paiewonsky Library on the St. Thomas campus. Ashley comes to us from South Carolina State University, where she served as archivist and librarian. Below is a liƩle informaƟon to help us get to know her. Staﬀ is looking forward to having her start VC yoga classes! Ashley graduated from Emory University with Ecology and Anthropology double majors, graduated from Colorado State University with MA in cultural anthropology; while there, she received a grant to conduct ﬁeld research in South Africa, two years aŌer apartheid ended. Ashley received MLIS from University of South Carolina, specializing in informaƟon technology. Ashley grew up on a farm in South Carolina, really enjoy being in nature, hiking, swimming and reading. She is a cerƟﬁed yoga instructor and have been pracƟcing yoga for 20 years. She loves being a librarian at an academic library because it's an opportunity to teach students life long learning skills, work with innovaƟve people, and use the most state of the art technology. Ashley moved to the Virgin Islands on August 1, 2012 with her dog, Belle, and look forward to being part of the UVI and VI community. Please give Ashley your support. Mr. Ehrin Lynch started as a temporary employee earlier this year as an IT Specialist on the island of St. Croix. We are proud to announce that he is now a full‐Ɵme staﬀ member in the same capacity, eﬀecƟve July 2012. To help you in geƫng to know Ehrin even beƩer, see addiƟonal background details below: "Ehrin was born on the island of St. Croix and raised in Frederiksted. At the age of 14, he moved to Atlanta to pursue beƩer opportuniƟes. Ehrin completed high school in 2005 with a College Prep DisƟncƟon diploma, as well as mulƟple full and parƟal athleƟc scholarships to Division I and II schools. Ehrin aƩended Paine college and majored in Management InformaƟon Systems. In 2011, he graduated with his bachelor's degree in MIS. Then, in January 2012, Ehrin decided to return home, ﬁnd a job, and uƟlize his knowledge gained." Please welcome Ehrin into the ITS component, if you haven't done so already, and give him your support. Mr. Alex Caraballo began studying computers at the tender age of 9. Alex started learning about computers with Windows 97, the basic ﬁle system, ﬁle operaƟons, and command prompt (now known as cmd). In addiƟon, Alex worked with TV Channel 12, also known as WTJX. Throughout high school and college, Alex was very tech pro‐acƟve. In college (UMASS Dartmouth), Alex worked with the MCLP (Mobile Computer Leanding Program Team) /LSIRT (Library Services InformaƟon Resources Technology Team). Alex graduated with his Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Engineering, which provided him with an opportunity to work with NAVSEA on a school collaborated project. The basic‐core of the project was to create a system to keep track of sailors on a submarine (class Virginia). The team created a acƟve RFID that is on‐demand pinged to keep track of every sailor that was on‐board the submarine. Sailors wore beeper size RFID which weighed less than 16 oz / 1 lb, performed their daily operaƟons, while submarine commanding oﬃcers would query their locaƟon on a web site app. Please give Alex your support. New Members of ITS New Members of ITS 10 Ms. ChrisƟne Freeland and Dawn MaƩhew have demonstrated excepƟonal customer service and dedicaƟon to the component throughout challenging Ɵmes. For the last several months, Dawn and ChrisƟne worked Ɵrelessly to ensure that the ITS Service Desk and users in the ﬁeld had adequate coverage on the St. Thomas campus. They conƟnue to work closely with the enƟre component to ensure that ITS maintains the highest level of customer service to our customers. ITS is pleased to recognize Dawn and ChrisƟne for their hard work and commitment to the University of the Virgin Islands. Thank you Dawn and ChrisƟne! Employee Recognition Employee Recognition Dawn Christine Above: ITS as well as staﬀ from the President, Sponsored Programs, Student Housing & AcƟviƟes, and VI EPSCoR’s oﬃces parƟcipated in ITS’s annual staﬀ retreat on August 10, 2012 aboard the KonƟki.