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ITS NEWSLETTER VOL 10, ISSUE 1 Next with Institutional Research & Planning InsƟtuƟonal Research and Planning (IRP) conƟnues to provide external data by compleƟng mandated federal and accrediƟng body reports as well as providing data for our stakeholders in standard and ad hoc reports. IRP reports annually to the Integrated Postsecondary EducaƟon Data System (IPEDS) and Middle States Commission on Higher EducaƟon. As you may be aware, the CooperaƟve InsƟtuƟonal Research Program Freshman Survey (CIRP), the Na- Ɵonal Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) and the Noel-Levitz Student SaƟsfacƟon Inventory Survey are used as assessment tools. IRP, in collaboraƟon with EDUS, is working on the development and enhancement of insƟtuƟonal dashboards and the development of a Banner data dicƟonary. In addiƟon, Ms. Laurie Blake, system administrator for SPOL, will pro- vide technical support and training for the Planning, Budget, and Assessment module in SPOL. For the 2014-15 AY, InsƟtuƟonal Research & Planning will complete the annual 2014-15 Integrated Postsecondary EducaƟon Data System (IPEDS), Middle States InsƟtuƟonal Profile, the Open Doors InternaƟonal Student Census, the Survey of Graduate Students in Science/Engineering, including the NSF 2013 Survey of Science and Engineering Re- search FaciliƟes, the ACT-IDQ, ConsorƟum for Student RetenƟon Data Exchange (CSRDE), College Board Annual Sur- vey of Colleges 2015, the Petersons Interim Expense Update for UG InsƟtuƟons 2014-15 as well as, the Peterson's 2014-15 Annual Survey of Undergraduates. The next important survey is the 2015 NaƟonal Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE), which will be administered spring of 2015. It is a criƟcal acƟvity in preparaƟon for UVI’s upcoming accreditaƟon. The first is the amount of Ɵme and effort students put into their studies and other educaƟonally purposeful acƟviƟes. Then survey results point to areas where colleges and universiƟes are performing well and aspects of the undergraduate experience that could be improved. IRP registered early to beat the closing deadline of September 25, 2014. IRP will administer the survey from mid-February through March. Flyers posted around campus and email communicaƟon will include more de- tails. Students who complete the survey 100% will have an opportunity to have their names entered in a drawing for a chance to win a “Grand Prize” of $500. IRP will also offer $25 iTunes giŌ card incenƟves. Past reports for NSSE are available via the myCampus portal under the CommuniƟes tab via the IRP website. The CooperaƟve InsƟtuƟonal Research Program (CIRP) Freshman Survey was successful with the support of the FDS coordinators, staff, instructors and students. This survey was administered during the first three weeks of classes on both campuses to incoming first year students (first-Ɵme, full-Ɵme freshmen, part-Ɵme and transfers). The survey ex- amined established behaviors in high school, academic readiness, admissions decisions, interacƟons with peers and faculty to name a few. Feel free to view reports for CIRP on the myCampus portal under the CommuniƟes tab via the IRP website. NEWS: DÊóĽʃ— UVI’Ý Ä›ó ƒÖÖ, UVI Mʐ®½›, ¥ÙÊà 㫛 GÊʦ½› P½ƒù ƒÄ— AÖÖ½› SãÊÙ›Ý NÊó! Next with IRP………..…………….....1 C2 Grant Update…………………...….2 CERS Project Launch…………...…….3 New Network Op Co Directors..…...…3 Calling All Students for STFC………..4 Portal Corner………………………….5 STJAC News………………………….2 VI EPSCoR Upgrade Plans…………...2 Library New Resources……….………3 New Student ID Process……….……...4 CETL News..………………………….5 SAILS Winners……………………….6 In this Issue 2 In Fall 2014, the St. John Academic Center staff recorded a total of 71 registered UVI St. John students, the highest numbers ever rec- orded. This year, thirteen classes are being held each week at the Center, twelve are VC classes; one is physical (PED 265 Beginning Yo- ga). At least three of the twelve VC classes at the Center connect to both campuses, St. Thomas and St. Croix. Undergraduate students at the Center are enrolled in CommunicaƟons, Business, PoliƟcal Science, Computer Science, and World Literature classes. There is a new graduate student earning a MA in Public AdministraƟon, while another graduate student is parƟcipaƟng in each of her three clas- ses at the Center. All are EducaƟon courses. The “STJAC VC Room (T102)” on STT is being used to relocate four of the STJAC students video requests this semester, a tremendous help. The University was awarded the NaƟonal Science FoundaƟon’s EPSCoR Research Infrastructure Improvement C2 grant in August 2011 Ɵtled "United States Virgin Islands EPSCoR RII Program: Intercampus and Intra-campus ConnecƟvity”. The award made under this grant provides 1 million dollars for up to 2 years to support the enhancement of inter-campus and intra-campus cyber connecƟvity within an EPSCoR jurisdicƟon. These awards are intended to enhance broadband access for academic research and the uƟlizaƟon of cyberinfra- structure consistent with the jurisdicƟon's Science and Technology (S&T) plan. The original proposals’ scope of work sought to provi- sion and maintain 'dark fiber' infrastructure from UVI’s St. Croix campus to the Global Crossing/Level3 collocaƟon facility in order to extend UVI’s WAN services. Provisioning dark fiber to extend UVI’s WAN environment has proven to be a greater challenge than anƟcipated. As a result, the Uni- versity requested a change in scope and an extension. In June 2014, the extension was approved and now the new grant end date is January 2015. UVI is now partnering with The Virgin Islands Next GeneraƟon Network (viNGN) to provide fiber services in order to quickly meet the grant Ɵmeline and guidelines. viNGN is primarily funded by the Department of Commerce with a charter to provide wholesale broadband middle mile service to providers. The opportunity to work with viNGN to deliver fiber connecƟvity from Level 3 to the STX campus (and even expand fiber services to the St. Thomas campus) is a huge opportunity for the University because implementaƟon will be done to our specificaƟons and is less ex- pensive than the proposed ‘dark fiber’ soluƟon. The implementaƟon plan is to deliver 2 gigabit service that is scalable to 10 gigabits of Internet2 and commodity Internet services from Miami’s AMPATH colocaƟon facility via Florida InternaƟonal University. The service links will be delivered to UVI’s campuses using viNGN’s fiber infrastructure. The links will serve both the St. Thomas and St. Croix cam- puses, allowing for redundancy via UVI's inter-island radio link. It is anƟcipated that this will be deliverable in Ɵme for the Spring 2015 semester. The Virgin Islands Experimental Program to SƟmulate CompeƟƟve Research (VI-EPSCoR) which promotes the development of the Terri- tory's science and technology resources through mulƟ-disciplinary research and educaƟonal programs, has recently been awarded a 20 million dollar grant from the NaƟon Science FoundaƟon. The grant enƟtled Mare Nostrum Caribbean: Stewardship through Strategic Research and Workforce Development is intended to address the implicaƟons of changing environmental condiƟons for insular social- ecological systems. This project will support coral reef research that will integrate physical, biological and human factors to elucidate back up mechanisms of ecosystem dynamics, disease, and demographics along natural and anthropogenic gradients of mulƟple stress- ors from shallow near shore to deeper offshore reefs. Emerging research areas include oceanography, watershed dynamics and human dimensions. Results will lead to beƩer predicƟons of coral reef responses to changing climate condiƟons and anthropogenic impacts, and allow systemaƟc and informed formulaƟon and implementaƟon of intervenƟons. There are six project areas; coral reef research, workforce development, cyberinfrastructure, outreach, educaƟon and diversity, and seed funding for emerging areas. InformaƟon Technology Services (ITS) is responsible for the cyberinfrastructure porƟon of the grant which will allow for network infrastructure im- provements such as added network closet security and environmental, cloud-based disaster recovery, upgraded building cabling, up- graded core, distribuƟon & access layer switches, upgraded UPS in network closets, and upgraded wireless coverage throughout the campuses. The cyberinfrastructure funding, spread over 5 years, is just under 1 million dollars. St. John Academic Center News C2 Grant Upgrade EPSCoR Upgrade Plans 3 UVI Libraries, in partnership with the University of Florida, received a sub-award for $8,625 from the Center for Research Libraries (CRL) to support ongoing preservaƟon and digiƟzaƟon of collecƟons in the field of agriculture. The project will enable UVI Libraries to expand the digiƟzaƟon and organizaƟon of materials published by UVI’s RPS component between 1962-1988. Some materials were digiƟzed previously through the Libraries USVI History and Culture digiƟzaƟon project in 1999-2002. Through this project, metadata and catalog- ing of resources will be enriched and a bibliography produced to document Land-grant acƟviƟes at UVI during the years idenƟfied. Project CERES is the result of a collaboraƟon between the United States Agricultural InformaƟon Network (USAIN), the Agriculture Net- work InformaƟon CollaboraƟve (AgNIC) and the Center for Research Libraries (CRL) to support ongoing preservaƟon and digiƟzaƟon of collecƟons in the field of agriculture. The Project CERES targets agricultural resources at HBCUs, to ensure effecƟve access and preser- vaƟon. Keeping up with your library resources and services can be challenging in this age of mega-data and informaƟon tsunamis. Your librari- ans are here for your informaƟon support. Visit the Libraries web page through the myCampus portal or hƩp://library.uvi.edu, and explore the new and unique learning resources available there. A. ASK-US – Do you need research help but have trouble geƫng to the reference desk? Submit your query through the ASK US link on the Libraries web page: hƩp:// library.uvi.edu. Librarians respond within 24 hours during the normal work week. Help is just a click away. B. Earth & Environmental Science is a new scienƟfic research database from Springer publishers. It is included in the databases list on the Libraries website and through the Library Databases link in myCampus Launchpad. Be sure to uncheck the Preview Only box on the results screen to see content available for downloading. Funding for Earth & Environmental Science is provided by VI-EPSCoR. C. EndNote reference manager applicaƟon is once again available for the UVI community. Users may access EndNote through com- puter labs, or contact the HelpDesk for installaƟon on personal computers. The site license for EndNote is funded by VI-EPSCoR. D. Search Everything with EBSCO Discovery Service, a one-stop search tool for locaƟng paper books, journals, video recordings, and eBooks. Use EBSCO Discovery Service for a quick way to get started in finding peer-reviewed, full-text resources for your research pro- jects. This resource also includes PublicaƟon Finder, a quick way to see Ɵtles of full-text journals included in ALL your library databases or journals and magazines that you may find on the shelves in your library. E. The Libraries subscribe to over 133,000 eBooks. Want to check out books using your laptop or other mobile device? Library eBooks may be checked out for 7-days at a Ɵme, or browsed online for easy access. Contact your reference librarian for assistance with checking out eBooks and exploring the Libraries eBook collecƟon. Librarian liaisons listed below: School of Business – Mrs. Celia Prince Richard (STX), cprince@uvi.edu School of EducaƟon – Mrs. Wenda Stephenson (STX), wstephe@uvi.edu School of Nursing – Ms. Tanisha Mills (STT), tmills2@uvi.edu College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences: Liberal Arts Department – Ms. Ashley Till (STJ/STT), ashley.Ɵll@uvi.edu; Mr. Elroy Richard (STX), erichar@uvi.edu Social Sciences Department – Ms. Sherna Gumbs (STT), sgumbs@uvi.edu; Mr. Elroy Richard (STX), erichar@uvi.edu College of Science and MathemaƟcs – Ms. Tanisha Mills (STT), tmills2@uvi.edu Libraries Launch Project CERES New Resources, Unique Tools & Updates for Library Research Staff members, Erik Paƫson and Alex Caraballo are jointly serving as Directors of the Network Engineering & OperaƟons department within ITS. CollecƟvely, Erik and Alex have been with UVI over 25 years. Alex started ITS as a temporary em- ployee and quickly made his mark with the component. For many years, Erik had worked in the UVI Media Center providing audio/visual equipment and related services. Together they will provide the knowledge, experƟse, and level of service needed to not only maintain but improve the UVI network operaƟons area. 4 Students have asked and the University has delivered. Students wanted to be afforded the opportunity to upload their own photos to a locaƟon, which can be used for their student idenƟficaƟon card (ID). Students now have the opƟon to have their photo taken by one of the Dean of Students staff or upload their photo to the ID Photos community that is located on the myCampus portal, which is very secure. This opƟon is open to new and returning students. Students must follow the guide- lines and post their photos in the respecƟve folder for their campus. The guidelines can be found here. To upload a photo, students can go to the following link: ID Photo Submission Image shown below. InformaƟon and Technology Services (ITS) conƟnues to improve the student learning environments in conjuncƟon with students to meet their technology needs. Funds from the Technology Fee enables ITS to purchase replacement computers for computer labs, add an addiƟonal videoconference rooms, and wireless access points on both campuses. The Technology Fee also funds two (2) IT Tech staff posiƟons on both campuses, and addiƟonal improvements to the University’s learning environments and network. Although the Student Technology Fee CommiƩee met a few Ɵmes last fiscal year there was a lack of parƟcipaƟon from the students that were part of the commiƩee. InformaƟon & Technology Services plans on reconvening the Student Technology Fee CommiƩee during fall semester of fiscal year 2014. Hence, students are urged to join forces with ITS to maintain the library and technology standards of the 21st century. Be part of a great CommiƩee that invest in students experience and future. If you are interested, please send an email to sƞc@myuvi.net with your name and contact informaƟon. New Student ID Card Process Calling Students for the Student Tech Fee Committee 5 The Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETL) is definitely commiƩed to the UVI vision, Pathways to Greatness. The CETL conƟnues its efforts to work with faculty on an on-going basis. To this end, a CETL Pilot Advisory CommiƩee has been restored to assist the Center and University with piloƟng and promoƟng technology, parƟcularly in teaching and learning. The CommiƩee has representaƟon from the ranks of full-Ɵme and part-Ɵme faculty in various schools and colleges. The CommiƩee was charged to test and pilot Blackboard’s managed hosƟng site during the Fall 2014 semester. As many of you are aware, Blackboard is currently being housed on-site, which will change as of Spring 2015 to managed hosƟng. Blackboard services and accessibility will remain the same. Users will conƟnue to consult with and report any issues to the CETL. What does this mean for you? Stable and Reliable plaƞorm - 24/7 support - Experienced staff - Timely updates - Security. The CETL conƟnues to provide high-quality pedagogical and technology training through the TLT Group and Online Learning Consor- Ɵum (formerly known as the Sloan ConsorƟum). The TLT Group provides synchronous workshops, which also assist faculty with the improvement of the teaching and learning experience in the classroom. Online Learning ConsorƟum offers asynchronous, self-pace workshops for student-centered teaching techniques to improve students learning experience. More informaƟon can be found via the following link: hƩps://mycampus.uvi.edu/group/cetl/cetl-home The CETL also partners with a wide range of UVI departments to provide regularly-scheduled staff training in the following areas: Public RelaƟons for website, microsites and google analyƟcs; Human Resources for web Ɵme entry and career advancement policy (CAP); Dr. Lonnie Hudspeth for learning objecƟves/outcomes; AccounƟng for travel and expense management. Training on People Admin will be forthcoming. The CETL has scheduled and will conƟnue to schedule training on Strategic Planning Online (SPOL), DocuSign and Travel, Expense Management, and others. Between June 2014 and September 2014, CETL reported 120 aƩendees. The number referenced does not include aƩendees of training through the Online Learning ConsorƟum and the TLT Group events. Please follow the CETL on Facebook - hƩps://www.facebook.com/cetluvi; TwiƩer - hƩps://twiƩer.com/UviCetl; LinkedIn - hƩp:// lnkd.in/dKChzSC CETL News Click on hƩps:// mycampus.uvi.edu/ group/cetl/cetl-home to view and/or register for training! The myCampus portal is your message center. The myCampus portal allows users to send and receive messages in one locaƟon. Users are reminded of this great messaging tool that the portal provides. Are you Ɵred of trying to remember each recipient’s email address? The messages tool have groups already created that users can choose from, to include staff, faculty, and students. Do you dislike when your email address is exposed to other recipients when an email is sent to you? Messages will allow users to send messages to groups and not individual users, which ulƟmately protects you. Are you frustrated when recipients reply to all, especially when it has nothing to do with you? Messages will allow anyone who re- ceive a message to reply to only to the sender. How do you send a message through the myCampus portal? Please note that you must be an employee of the University in order to send an email through the myCampus portal. Simply log into the myCampus por- tal with your network credenƟals, click on the Messages tab, select the appropriate groups, enter the subject and content, and se- lect send. That easy! What if you have an aƩachment? The myCampus portal will allow you to upload your aƩachment(s) into a designated locaƟon for easy accessibility. Simply open a new window in your web browser, go the myCampus portal, select the UVI Projects tab, click on the Public Announcements folder and select Add Document. It is highly recommended to upload documents in PDF format. AŌer you have uploaded your document, go to where it is located in the Public Announcements folder, right-click on the document and copy the link locaƟon/URL. ThereaŌer, paste the hyperlink into your message and select send, when completed. Recipients will then be able to access your aƩachment. The great part about this feature is that you can update the document as many Ɵmes as you would like without resending to your recipients to reflect such. You can change a document as many Ɵmes as you would like, while recycling the same link for easy accessibility without any confusion. The myCampus portal also have quick answer resource for myCampus, Blackboard, Strategic Planning Online (SPOL), DocuSign and other applicaƟons, which can be found here.   6 Libraries administer SAILS assessment – Fall 2014 Since Fall 2012, the Standardized Assessment of InformaƟon Literacy Skills (SAILS) test has been administered to students enrolled in FDS 100 classes to collect informaƟon literacy data for incoming students. SAILS is a standardized test of informaƟon literacy skills that allows libraries to document research skill levels for groups of students. Results are used to idenƟfy areas for improvement and library instrucƟon needs. This year, the SAILS assessment was administered to incoming students, sophomores and juniors registered in Fall semester 2014. We liaised with the Summer Bridge Program, FDS instructors, and Schools and Colleges to promote the project to students. Prizes/ incenƟves were also used to encourage students to parƟcipate in the tesƟng. Results from Fall 2014 study will be used to determine extent of growth in Sophomores and Juniors aŌer informaƟon literacy instruc- Ɵon. The Baseline data for incoming students allows for trend analysis. The ulƟmate goal of this project is to idenƟfy areas of improve- ment and to develop new methods of instrucƟon to prepare our students for successful careers in the informaƟon age. The SAILS project is funded through an award from Title III. The results of the freshman SAILS test prize drawing are below. Students reported to the Help Desk with their UVI ID cards to claim prizes. SAILS Prize Winners Samsung Tablet Sandranah Cornelius (leŌ), with Library Specialist, Myoshi Osborne (right) Canon Digital Camera Antonio WaƩs Canon Digital Camera Kaytanne Greaves