January 2009

Congratulations on the completion of another successful semester and the beginning of a new year. In light of the challenging economic times, it remains important to recognize our successes and focus on our core mission. That’s always exemplified at this time of the year as we welcome students and faculty back to campus and celebrate the recent group of graduates that joined the Kent State family of alumni.

I hope you all found opportunities to relax and rejuvenate over the holiday break by enjoying the extra time shared with family, friends or other loved ones. And to those members of the division who spent part of their break working to upgrade our Luminis portal, monitor systems or check e-mails to the Helpdesk, we are thankful for your extra efforts.

As the New Year inspires reflection — and perhaps even a resolution or two — let’s all resolve to face each day with the same emphasis on excellence, dedication, commitment, collaboration and, yes, humor, that has become synonymous with our staff.

I’m always looking for more ideas and for your feedback. Share your thoughts with me at cio@kent.edu. And, mark your calendars to attend our next full-division meeting on Thursday, Jan. 15, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the Kent Student Center Kiva.

Ed Mahon
Vice President for Information Services
and Chief Information Officer

Infrastructure and Operations

Client Infrastructure Group

• The Client Infrastructure Group, in conjunction with Network Services, is preparing to launch a new wireless configuration tool to simplify the initial connection to FlashZone wireless. Handling Windows and Macintosh platforms, the tool walks users through an easy, one-time configuration process. It also can assist Information Services staff in troubleshooting. FlashZone Xpress Connect will be in place for Spring Semester 2009.
• Preparations are in place to bid the second phase of the Active Directory optimization project. Commencing this spring, the project will migrate more than 100 departments to the standardized Active Directory structure, allowing for easier and secure provisioning of Altiris and other client management tools.

Network/Telecommunications Services

• FlashZone wireless coverage was expanded in the Michael Schwartz Center, Campus Environment and Operations Garage and the Art Annex building.
• Additional structured fiber cabling was installed in the Library Data Center to extend Storage Area Network connectivity to new server infrastructure. The cabling is part of an ongoing infrastructure redesign to move away from single cable pulls under the floor to a more resilient, flexible and secure infrastructure. This is a joint initiative among Data Center Operations, Server Support Group and Network/Telecommunications Services.
• Telecommunications engineering work on the Tuscarawas Campus Private Branch Exchange was completed to upgrade the local calling trunk capacity from 14 analog lines to a digital Primary Rate Interference providing 23 lines. The upgrade provides more calling capacity and bi-directional caller identification at a lower cost.

Operations

• From Dec. 26, 2007, through May 22, 2008, the Data Center Production Services group scanned and scored 222,693 bubble sheets. This five-month count compares with pre-Enterprise Resource Planning years in which 600,000 sheets were scanned annually. Additional demand may exist due to the Banner integration with Vista and will continue to be monitored.

Security and Access Management

• Splunk, a log consolidation tool, has been put into production in conjunction with Systems Administration and Server Support. This will give database administrators, developers and others access to logs relevant to the applications they manage. The product has extensive searching capability to troubleshoot application issues much more quickly.

Server Support Group

Ed Farnbach joined the group as senior systems administrator. Ed previously performed systems administrator work as a contractor. Please stop by to welcome Ed when you have the chance.

• Migration to the new Storage Area Network is nearly complete. The only remaining applications to migrate are the file servers. The new network offers more growth potential, as well as a two-fold performance increase over the previous one.
• The Exchange disaster recovery project has been initiated with CDW/Berbee. This project will provide replication of the Exchange e-mail system at a Berbee Data Center in Wisconsin. Berbee will own and mange all of the hardware. The project is scheduled to be completed before the start of the spring semester.

Educational Technology

• Working with Associate Professors Gary Hanson and Barbara Hipsman Springer in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication, Ben Hollis developed a database and Web site; Web-based administration workflow; and Web-based, student entry form for uploading stories and multimedia for a “Voice of the Voter” project. Students interviewed voters in Kent about issues they wanted the 2008 presidential candidates to address. According to Springer, “As a team with some of the student media workers, Hollis established what we think is an innovative piece that will continue as the cornerstone of our teaching of ground-level reporting that combines multimedia and the interviewing skills we expect our students to master.”
• Educational Technology recently completed a Web site and blog for Professor David Dees at the Salem Campus. The Web site, Discover Innovative Rural Teaching (DIRT), is part research, part course. Dees’ goal is to improve the quality of education in rural settings and to bring rural educators, who may otherwise feel isolated, together to share resources and methods for instruction. 

End User and Business Services

• On Dec. 1, James Vanek joined Information Services as a director in End User and Business Services. Jim has more than 27 years experience in the information technology field, with expertise in systems integration, managing infrastructure engineering resources for large/complex projects and engineering cost-effective infrastructure design solutions. Since 1997 he has worked at National City Bank, serving most recently as lead integration engineer and AVP.
• Christa Skiles joined the department in December as editorial communications manager. Christa has assisted the division with communications since September 2007 through her role with University Communications and Marketing. Prior to that time, she served for seven years as the public relations director of the two-time Tony Award-winning Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, a professional regional theatre in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Enterprise Support and Application Services

• The project to transition all students, part-time and emeriti faculty and alumni from FlashMail to Google E-mail moved forward successfully. From Nov. 3 to Nov. 30, more than 22,400 users activated their Google accounts through the simple sign-up at http://google.kent.edu. From this Web site, they also were given the opportunity to migrate their e-mail and contacts list from their FlashMail to new Google E-mail accounts. Beginning the week of Dec. 1, the Information Services team began automatically provisioning accounts for members of the alumni and emeriti community, splitting the users into four groups in an effort to mitigate the impact to the Helpdesk. Following the completion of the fall semester, on Dec. 15, all remaining student and part-time faculty users were moved to the Google E-mail system. Users received e-mails the week and day prior to their move with details about what to expect and instructions for retrieving their older mail items. The implementation team included individuals throughout the Information Services division working carefully with stakeholders from across the university to communicate and prepare for the transition.