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ITS Newsletter Vol. 6, Issue 1 SPECIALIZING IN FUTURES HISTORICALLY AMERICAN. UNIQUELY CARIBBEAN. GLOBALLY INTERACTIVE. Information & Technology Services PROVIDING THE TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS AND THE INFORMATION RESOURCES TO ACHIEVE VISION 2012 U V I niversity of the irgin slands October 2010 Letter from the CIO Service Desk, Hours of Operation Fall semester is already in session and moving fast. There is curiosity and frustration with the libraries construction on both campuses. We are very excited about completing the spaces so that students and learners can take advantage of the new study spaces, new technology and new environments – we are just as anx­ ious as you are for these projects to be completed! Outside of the disruptions caused by the renovations, we are excited about the progress as it will also mark the completion of the “technology plan to achieve VISION 2012” that was developed in the Fall of 2005 and presented to the Board of trustees in March of 2006. This means our new microwave is in place; major upgrades to the network are completed; most classrooms have been upgraded in some way; and the new Centers for Excellence are operating. Of course this also means that it is time to start plan­ ning for the next five years. ITS will embark upon a planning process in all departments of the Component that will involve and identify the needs of the stakeholders and develop the budgets to achieve those needs. Like the rest of the University, ITS is working to define GREATNESS and determine what it will take to achieve it. The ITS planning process will not be done in a vacuum. We hope to have informa­ tion ready and available when the planning begins for the next University strategic plan. 2012 and the University’s 50th anniversary are just around the corner. ITS is preparing to meet those challenges. Keep your eyes open for an invitation to attend important planning sessions with the University committees and the ITS staff. Tina M. Koopmans Chief Information Officer Are You a TWITTER Subscriber? Want to stay abreast of UVI technology changes? You will be informed of improvements, scheduled maintenance and down systems, as they are noticed or planned. Twitter notifications can be read through an RSS Feed and received on your cell phone. Be in the know with UVI technology. Follow UVICIO on Twitter! Not a subscriber? It’s easy to do. Go to http://www.twitter. com to subscribe. Once done, follow UVICIO. In order to receive the ‘tweets’ on your mobile device, text START to 40404 . You will be prompted to provide informa­ tion to register your device on Twitter. Once that process is completed, text FOLLOW UVICIO to 40404 to receive tweets from UVICIO on your device. Please note, standard texting rates apply. The ITS Service Desk has expanded its hours of operation in order to provide additional coverage to meet the needs of our customers. The desk will be open during the hours listed below: Monday thru Thursday 8:30 am to 10:00 pm Friday 8:00 am to 8:00 pm Saturday 9:00 am to 5:00 pm Sunday 1:00 pm to 8:00 pm The Service Desk is closed during the University’s Holidays and is open from 8:00 am to 4:30 pm Monday through Friday when classes are not in session. IN THIS ISSUE: Are You a Twitter Subscriber, Page 1 Service Desk Hours, Page 1 Portal/Single Sign On (SSO), Page 2 Portal Helpdesk Interface, Page 2 New Laptops for Check Out, Page 3 Email Storage, Page 3 STT Library Renovations, Page 4 STX Library Renovations, Pages 4-5 Employee Recognition, Page 6 Empowering Paradise Project, Page 7 New Faces in ITS, Page 7 Constitution Board, Page 7 Launch Milestones 6/1/2010 10/1/2010 7/1/2010 8/1/2010 9/1/2010 8/3/2010 Blackboard SSO 9/6/2010 PeopleAdmin SSO 9/29/2010 Portal Launch 9/22/2010 BanWeb SSO 9/15/2010 Password Change Portlet 6/8/2010 Outlook Web Access 8/16/2010 Student Email 7/5/2010 HelpDesk SSO Members of the University community now have the opportunity to access secure online informa­ tion seamlessly through the new “myCampus” (mycampus.uvi.edu) portal. From the UVI home page (www.uvi.edu), navigate to the area at the top of the page, to the right of the University wordmark, above the white search block. There you will find myCampus – a portal just for you. To access the UVI myCampus portal, log in using your UVI username and password. Once inside, you will find all of the information that was previously contained within the area that was Inside UVI, and a whole lot more. But unlike Inside UVI, you no longer have to remember a separate password. You now have access to internal documents and all of the applications that once required additional log-ins. With the one login, you have access to Blackboard, Banner, Help Desk, Outlook Web Access and People Admin. The portal is secure – the information contained within myCampus is only available to current members of the UVI family – students, faculty and staff. You can continue to navigate between the myCampus portal and the UVI website without logging out. The UVI myCampus portal works in tandem with the University website to create a secure, user-friendly online community where timely access to information is paramount. The myCampus portal also allows students, faculty and staff to create user profiles, publish profile photos and to communicate with friends within the University. Explore the myHome, myProfile and myFriends areas at your leisure and enjoy these new resources. You can vote for the date of the St. Thomas campus holiday party there as well. The portal will be useful for voting, social networking and will replace Blackboard as the place for groups and communities to meet and share information. Portal/Single Sign On (SSO) UVI Portal Helpdesk Interface With the introduction of the new Portal (mycampus.uvi.edu), Information & Technology Services will include the implementation of our Helpdesk web interface for users, Top Desk. Top Desk will permit UVI faculty and staff to record their own helpdesk requests. Users will be able to click a link on the Portal and easily register an ITS helpdesk request that will then be automatically entered into our helpdesk system. Once you enter your name and contact information, you will be able to enter a brief description of the problem that you are experiencing. A helpdesk representative will promptly and professionally respond to your request, make an assessment of your needs, and if necessary, schedule a technician to resolve the problem. When your issues are resolved, our helpdesk representatives will ask you to comment on the quality of service to ensure we continu­ ously make improvements. We are proud to provide this service to the UVI community. We see this as another way to demonstrate our commitment to excellence in customer service. If you have any questions and/or concerns about this service or any other service that we provide, contact us at 693-1466 or email us at helpdesk@uvi.edu. We are always here to help! Email Storage New Laptops for Check-Out on the St. Thomas Campus Great News! ITS heard your cry and we have responded. We have added an additional 20 computers that can be checked out at the ITS Service desk! Ten of these will be available in the CETL for Faculty and ten will be available at the ITS Service desk for student use. It is best to make a reservation at ext. 1466 or email helpdesk@uvi. edu so you can ensure that your laptop will be waiting for you. You can also stop by the service desk in the St. Thomas library and check one out as well! Email storage has more than doubled this past year. UVI email users are now using close to a terabyte in email storage for both campuses, not including daily backups. In an effort to immediately reduce the amount of storage used; please delete unneeded emails and AutoArchive emails regularly. Additionally, make it a practice to save emails with large attachments, such as pictures and media files, to your local hard drive (check first to confirm that your computer has sufficient storage space) or preferably to an external drive. This is also a good practice to use as an alternate backup of your important emails. Here’s how to quickly clean your Inbox in Outlook 2003/2007 If you receive a lot of emails every day, your inbox can fill up quickly. Out­ look 2003 has an easy way to clean up your inbox quickly without having to go through each email individually to decide what needs to be kept. To get to this, click on Tools \ Mailbox Cleanup. In this window you have several options to choose from. The easiest option is to select AutoArchive, which will move older items into the Archive Folder. You could also choose to empty the deleted items. One of the more useful features however, is to quickly find all large emails using the “Find items larger than” button. Deleting all the largest emails would very quickly bring your inbox size down to a reasonable size. Here’s how to configure AutoArchive in Outlook 2007 The AutoArchive feature can be used in order to control what email is kept on the server’s storage and what can be saved to your local hard drive or preferably an external drive. AutoArchive is turned on by default in Outlook 2007 and will actually remove some of the oldest files completely (you determine the amount of time). Open Outlook and click on Tools \ Options. Now click on the Other tab and click the AutoArchive button. This opens a menu of options and settings to pick from: for instance you can choose how often AutoArchive runs. In this example, we chose 20 days. We also placed a check next to “Prompt before AutoArchive runs” just in case there is something not to be deleted. This is also where you decide when to clean out old items. You can select the Browse button to indicate where you want to move items to (your local hard drive or an external drive). You can always select to permanently delete old items if you do not want to keep them around any longer. Click OK to save your settings. UVI Libraries Renovations Ralph Paiewonsky Library, St. Thomas Campus The overarching goal of the library renovation is to create an academic learning environment that promotes student success, enhances learning outcomes and transforms the library into an information/learning commons. To begin the process, in 2005 ITS and Library staff were merged into one component. Once the merger was completed the focus was shifted in 2008-09 to providing additional seating and technology to improve student and faculty study and training areas. Technology upgrades included the installa­ tion of additional wireless access points throughout the library, a new 24/7 lab, upgrades to existing computer labs, smart and videoconference rooms, as well as five new smart rooms and a state of the art library videoconference room. There is now additional space for distance education and learn­ ing collaboration. There have also been ongoing electrical upgrades to facilitate the changes in the environment. The major renovation action in 2009 – 2010 was to upgrade access of the St. Thomas library resources. This will ensure that new and existing services are available to all students. The changes will make the facility ADA compliant in the following: 1. ADA compliant circulation desk provides additional space for staff and a specialized workstation for ADA access. 2. ADA compliant reference desk is accessible to all and enhanced as library staff can now use new technology to provide “teachable” moments to empower students in the research process. 3. ADA compliant self-check system allows all students a self-service option for checking out items. 4. ADA accessible library entrance provides access to those with special needs. 5. ADA compliant access to collection allows ADA compliant access to all stack material by utilizing compact shelving. The next phase of the renovations will occur in November and December 2010. Two lounge/reception areas are being created, located just past the newly installed circulation/helpdesk area and will have access points for technology use. The Melchior and Caribbean Collections will be relocated to the main level, stored in compact shelving, and have a librarian present to provide quick access and retrieval of the materials. Furthermore, four high tech study rooms will be constructed in the main reading room and a technology lounge and café will be housed in the northwest corner of the library. As a result of the continued maintenance and upgrading of learning resources and technology services, the library is closer to being a central hub for educational research on campus. St. Croix Campus Library The St. Croix campus Library has come a long way from 1977 when it opened in the Evans Center. By 2006, with continuing growth of collections, staff, and students, the library was bursting at its seams. It was at this time that the library committee meeting of the faculty determined to address student complaints about the quality of the study environment within the library. With the Library and IT staff having recently integrated (2005), there was a need for improving the combined work space as the main point of contact for customer assistance. Thus began the quest for funds to expand the facilities, re-position functions, and re-focus collections as a means of meeting student needs. St. Croix Campus Library Renovations Continued A successful Title III proposal in 2008 provided $282,000 and allowed ITS to attempt the following objectives: 1. Promoting student learning by establishing collaborative areas within the library to combine technology and library learning tools by September 30, 2010. By the end of FY 2010, increase the number of group study areas from zero to three. 2. Increasing the number and variety of user seating to accommodate an increased number of students using the library and reduce noise and congestion. Increase seating capacity throughout the facility from 79 to 110. 3. Creating enough space to provide an ITS Service Desk and develop a single point of contact for all library and technology needs without disrupting library operations. Reduce the number of complaints regard­ ing noise in the first level study area; and create additional space to effectively accommodate various ITS functions. a. Reduced number of complaints regarding noise in the first level study area. Baseline 2008 noise-related complaints: 12 in one week; Target 2010 noise-related complaints: <5 in one week b. Additional space to effectively accommodate the various ITS functions. Current space: 9,500 sq. ft. Space to be added: 1,130 sq. ft. 4. Expanding the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (on the St. Croix campus) by 100 square feet to accommodate more faculty. Expand the size of the Center to double its current size. The library balconies were identified as the most likely areas to give additional space. Further, space would be gained by reducing collections considerably in favor of spaces for group or individual study, and for presentation and idea exchange. Current practices in librarianship focus on greater use of electronic resources for research over print. The architectural design developed by architect Rene d’Adamo, and executed by Wilson Construction, accommodated the expansion of rooms by removing walls to integrate the balconies, creating study rooms for group and quiet study. Previously, there were no study rooms within the facility, only open reading rooms which led to the conflict between group and individual study needs and the subsequent noise complaints. The 700 level of the library houses staff offices and workroom, reference and periodical collections, and the main customer service desk. Also on the 700 level, the periodical collection, consisting of current and back issues, and the reference collection occupied a major portion of the “living spaces” (interior design terminology for a room with a view). The periodical collection was evaluated according to usage, currency, duplication with Paiewonsky Library, and duplication within the online databases. Results were used to deselect periodical back issues and open up the space for student quiet study and computing. The rear balcony on the 700 level was the location for outdoor seating which worked well during sunlight on breezy dry days, but was unused in the evening, on hot days, and during inclement weather. The rear balcony with its new roof will provide a quiet study room with seating for seven or eight. The re-positioned service desk and relocated catalog workstations opens up the entrance for a more inviting lobby area. The library entrance has been moved out five feet creating an additional alcove for copying and collating materials. It is on the 900 level that we gain the most space from the renovation. Room 901-C, which had been created when a high ceiling was reduced after Hugo, had been modified in 2007 to create a media viewing room and faculty/staff training room for technology support. Both spaces were quite cramped and in need of re-vamping. This room has been opened up and now house the periodical back issues that were retained after the weeding project. Room 902, formerly a regular classroom, was converted into a library computer lab in 2005 for information literacy instruction and a few academic courses. With exterior access to the room removed, the outside balcony was no longer used, and became the ‘bridge to nowhere’. The renovation has enclosed the balcony giving two additional study rooms and expanding the former library lab in preparation for the new multi-functions. The library computer lab equipment has been relocated to NWW 133 where it could eventu­ ally become a third computer classroom for academic needs which currently compete for space with infor­ mation literacy sessions. With acquisition of the appropriate equipment, the expanded 902 will be used for student, staff, and faculty training. In response to this need, librarians have revised content and instructional methods for information literacy, and have significantly increased the number of courses receiving training. Student Instruction 2009/2010 2008/2009 2007/2008 Students served 1749 1690 606 Sessions conducted 94 80 59 The expanded room 902 provides the St. Croix campus with a CETL to address the needs of the faculty and students without competing for limited space in the learning environment. Faculty training has also increased considerably within the last 3 years. The CETL on St. Croix provides the opportunity to continue this growth and encourage student and faculty participation in library and academic technology development. Edward Fort, better known as Ted, is the consummate team player. He works for the strength of the team. He stays in tune with the overall health and well-being of the team, which he believes are important for the devel­ opment of the individual team members. His dedication to the team has led to his taking on many projects, working with departments (CELL, Institu­ tional Advancement, Bookstores) during evenings and weekends on their applications. Ted has personified his promise when he first joined the UVI family – “The University of the Virgin Islands is my new home and team, you are my family. My mind-set is here, to give you all, the best customer service that I can provide. I look forward to work­ ing with all of you side-by-side to achieve higher standards that I know a University can bring.” Ted can be relied upon to assist with any issue, at any time. He remains positive and focused. He takes time to research what he does not know, sometimes reaching out to persons known and unknown to help with an issue. He took on the task of making Blackboard a single sign on application. He researched the steps needed and joined a listserv to be able to pull from the experience of others. He was able to positively impact how students and faculty access this significant application, all through his dedication to UVI and its constituents. We would like to recognize Mrs. Celia Prince-Richard. We have had the pleasure of working with Mrs. Prince-Richard indirectly and directly for the past several years. She has always shown a willingness to learn new technology. She has been the one responsible for teaching several classes to the freshman students, MANY who have overtly stated that the way she delivered the information was very interesting. In addition to this, they found her to be very approachable and knowledgeable. Shelly Anslyn-Jones epitomizes excellent customer and public service. Shelly has always gone above and beyond on a dai­ ly basis without exception for many years. She interacts with students, faculty and colleagues in a warm, professional, and courte­ ous manner, while integrating several of the 7 management values into the learning environment. Shelly is Service Oriented: No request that is in the realm of possibility is turned away; she always goes the extra mile to ensure customer satis­ faction. Her work ethic reflects her Uncompromised Integrity as well as the values she hold. In the area of Emotional and Spiritual Health, Shelly is always positive and upbeat. Need an emo­ tional lift? Call over to St. Croix and speak with Shelly. You can “see” “ her smile over the phone. She always stands ready to offer words of encouragement. In UVI’s quest to become a High performance Institution with a focus on Quality, I would say that the quality of an institution is often a reflection of those persons it employs. Shelly always aims at providing the highest quality in all service areas. Shelly is an example of the professionalism and dedication in the workplace. She went the extra mile--staying late in the evenings and coming in on Saturdays to ensure that the St. Thomas campus’ periodical holdings were migrated to our new Integrated Library System (ILS.) This was done, not at the insistence of her Supervisor, but voluntarily and without being asked. Thanks Shelly, for all that you do for the University. Employee Recognition Empowering Paradise Project The Empowering Paradise outreach project got off to a rewarding start with presentations to the St. Croix BSN students at UVI on Wednesday, September 15th from 5:30 – 7:10 p.m. The group of six students and instructor were a lively audience, and were eager to hear about the rich resources of the National Library of Medicine that are freely available to them. The project is funded by the National Networks of Libraries of Medicine/Southeast Atlantic (NN/LM SE/A) region to teach UVI students, public health and hospital healthcare workers, and community AIDS educators to access online quality information resources. The Librarians expect to reach many more students and faculty from schools before the project ends in April 2011. Rachel Fenske, Training Coordina­ tor, will announce schedules and promotional activities at a later time. New Faces in ITS Constitution Day Board We are pleased to welcome Mr. Lance McKay as an Information Tech­ nology Specialist II/Infrastructure Specialist I on the St. Thomas campus. Lance joined the ITS Staff on April 5, 2010. Lance has been in the IT industry for the past 12 years. After graduating in 2001 with his degree in Computer Information Systems, he returned home to St. Thomas and started his IT career at PC Paradise. In April of 2010, Lance decided that he needed a change; he transferred to the University of the Virgin Islands ITS department as a level II technician in desktop support. For the past six months he has been embedded in the fabric of the IT department. He hopes to meet and exceed the expectations of all who require his services and to learn all there is to offer here at UVI. ITS also welcomes Ms. Dannica Thomas as the Administrative Special­ ist III/Assistant to the Chief Information Officer (CIO). Dannica joined the ITS staff on August 30, 2010. She has a Bachelor’s and a Mas­ ter’s degree from UVI, both in Business. She previously worked at the SBDC as an Administrative Assistant and briefly as an Administrative Specialist. Dannica is the main point of contact for the Office of the CIO within the University community and the public. In addition to other duties, Dannica is responsible for the operations of the office. Dannica brings experience as a support staff as well as events coordinat­ ing. She also brings experience in “Getting Organized Today”. She can be reached at ext 1460, dthomas@uvi.edu. St. Thomas Campus #2 John Brewer’s Bay St. Thomas, Virgin Islands 00802-9990 Admissions - (340) 693-1150 The University of the Virgin Islands is accredited by the Commission on Higher Education of the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools, 3624 Market Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104 Phone: 215-662-5606. The Commission on Higher Education is an institutional accrediting agency recognized by the U.S. Secretary of Education and the Commission on Recognition of Postsecondary Accreditation. St. Croix Campus RR 1, Box 10000 Kingshill St. Croix, Virgin Islands 00850-9781 Admissions - (340) 692-4158