Transcript Overview - Wesleyan University

Webcentricity
and the liberal arts
John Meerts,
Director of Information Technology Services
Michael Roy,
Academic Computing Services
http://mroy.web.wesleyan.edu/talks/mtholyoke/
Agenda
• Organizational structure of ITS at Wesleyan
• Budgets and funding
• Evolution of ITS surround systems
to Webcentric portals
• Webcentricity and collaboration
CuRL
Department Website
WebTechs
Acad. Comp. Serv.
Techn. Suppt. Serv.
Systems, Network
Services & Operations
Arts & Humanities
Sciences
Social Science
Application Technology
Research & Planning
Training
World Wide Web
Dev & Administration
Regional Lab
Management
and Support
Instructional Media
Services
Telephony &
Video
Helpdesk & ResNet
Admin. Systems
FRS & CSS:
Finance
HR/Payroll
SFIS Project:
Admission
Financial Aid
Registrar
Student Accounts
Faculty Database
Residential Life
Coordinators Office
Millennium Project:
University Relations
Career Planning
Data & Database
Management
User Services:
Desktop Support, Wesleyan Computer Store and Service Center
Director’s Office: Budget and Administration
ITS
Operating Budget
• Regular operating budget of approximately
$4.5 million
• Includes telephony
• Represents 4-5% of E&G
• Increases at approximately 3.5 % yearly in
addition to annual $150K increase in TDF
Technology Development
Fund
• A growing fund intended for new
technology initiatives.
• Part of university long term fiscal plan
• Increases by $150K annually.
• Allows borrowing against future
funding
7/21/2015
Wesleyan University
Project-based Funding
• Significant projects have long term budgets, well
beyond implementation
• Projects budgets are created using variety of
sources: IT budget, TDF, new funding, grants
• Examples: PeopleSoft, Millennium, classroom
technology & renovation, curricular renewal
(SEP)
• Project budgets are all encompassing (staffing,
hardware, software, network, training desktop,
maintenance)
Evolving IT at Wesleyan
• Replacement of legacy system with
integrated, client-server systems while
upgrading IT infrastructure
• Enhancement of vendor systems through
surround systems
• Movement towards a Web-centric Wesleyan
culture
Core Transaction Systems
– Support routine/operational functions
– Are mission critical but do not distinguish the
university
– Are often vendor supported
– Tend to serve narrow (central) constituencies
– Tend to be narrowly defined with strict data
definitions
– Tend to be complex (multi-function)
Core Transaction Systems
(continued)
• Multiyear implementations
• Require in-depth training
• Examples at Wesleyan
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Peoplesoft SIS
Millennium alumni & development
FRS financials
ADP Hrizon payroll/hr
“Surround” Systems
• Tend to be less transaction oriented
• Are often homegrown
• Add specific functionality not found in vendor
supported systems
• Tend to directly support strategic initiatives
from the institution
• Need to have short implementation time
• Tend to serve broad, distributed constituencies
Surround Systems (cont.)
• Require little if any training
• Tend to be less complex (single function)
• Examples at Wesleyan
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–
–
–
–
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On-line registration
Frosh pre-registration
Student electronic portfolio
Career resource
Alumni remote access
Faculty course access
Different technology
• Core transaction systems
– Fat client, oracle based, formal data structures,
vendor based
• Surround systems
– Web (thin) client, with rapid development tools
such as Lotus Domino
Strategic use of the Web
• We are using the web internally for both academic
and administrative functions (best example:eportfolio)
• The web is beginning to be used more intensively
for 2 way communications
– Campus Community ( Athletics, Arts, Lecture series)
– Admission ( numerous)
– University relations (campaign, events, parents, etc.)
Web-centricity
• Using the Web and Web technologies to:
– Directly facilitate many strategic goals and objectives
– Communicate externally as well as we communicate
internally
– Create a quality website, representative of Wesleyan,
used by all departments to engage in two way
communication
– Promote a culture that makes the web the preferred tool
for all our work
– Create a framework for collaboration within and
between colleges
What we need to have in place
• An easy to use web authoring tool
– FrontPage site license and content management tool
• Technology that facilitates two way
communication
– Implement portal technology and XML functionality
• Tools to access and use personalized information
contained in our institutional databases
– Create an online-data store
• Design talent that helps us communicate Wesleyan
excellence
– Retain a Web-design firm or hire talented designers
WesMaps:
on line
curriculum
Faculty
Class
Information
System
Student
information
system
Electronic
Portfolio
On-line
registratio
n
www.course
s
Admissions
Departmen
t
Website
CuRL
Learning
Objects via
Webtechs
WesMaps
• On-line, highly searchable course catalog
• One-way communication
• Initially not integrated with other curricular
information (e.g. faculty, department pages,
course home pages)
WesMaps
Student Information System
• Academic History
• Bursar bill
• Course schedule
• Stand-alone, not integrated
On-line registration
• Real-time interactive course registration
system
• Tightly linked to strategic goal of improving
student experience in the first two years
• Linked with Wesmaps to allow the
discovery of the richness of the curriculum
through hypertext
On-line registration
Faculty Class Information
System
• Class lists (with pictures)
• Request instructional services (webboard,
blackboard, class mailing list)
• Create simple web page using web form
• Creates linkages to Wesmaps
• Integration: towards one-stop shopping
• Easy to add new services
Faculty Class Information
System
www.courses.wesleyan.edu
• Webspace for all courses (organized by
course and semester)
• Spider to discover all instructional resources
(e.g. WebBoard, Blackboard, WebCT, Online reserves, etc.) and consolidate into a
single access point
• Consolidation without centralization
Course web pages
Spider
www.courses.
wesleyan.edu
Blackboard
cid.courses.
wesleyan.edu
electronic
reserves
Media
database
www.courses.wesleyan.edu
Electronic Portfolio
• Tool for enhancing advising
• Improved communication between student
and advisor
• Space for student to record work, plans,
thoughts
• Application within portal
• Services based on more granular notion of
roles
EP:student:academic interests
EP:student:work samples
EP: faculty view of advisees
Portal: Webcentricity and
collaboration
• Web-enabled communications with
prospective applicants
• Department Website Project
• CuRL
• WebTechs
Web-enabled communications
with prospective applicants
• Customized communications with potential
students
• Direct integration with Peoplesoft
• Makes obvious the variable quality of our
general web offerings
Web-enabled communications
with prospective applicants
PSAT results
Links to
areas of interest
(departments)
Customized
email to prospect
PeopleSoft
Customized
web page
WeSpam
Department Website
http://mroy.web.wesleyan.edu/department
• Allow customized look and feel but
eliminate redundant maintainence of data
• Eliminate non-value added, paper-based
forms/interactions
• Improve communications
• Integrated university calendar
• Link to curricular materials (e.g. library
resources, curl)
Sample faculty listing
Project CuRL (Curricular
Resource Library)
http://www.wesleyan.edu/curl/
•Discipline-specific collection of URLs
•Collected by faculty and cataloged by librarians
•To date, two sets of collections: Earth and
Environmental Science & European Intellectual History
•Collaboration between Dartmouth, Connecticut College,
Trinity College, and Wesleyan
•Want to extend collaboration both across more schools
and with more disciplines
library
Course
website
Blackboard
Williams
Dartmouth
dept
Wesleyan
Connecticut
College
CuRL
Trinity
Merlot
UPortal
Standford/MIT
Course Management
Project curl splash screen
Curl list
Curl Detail
WebTech
http://www.wesleyan.edu/its/webtechs/
•Discipline-based support for science faculty
•Focuses on first two years of the curriculum
•Provides instructional technology training for
undergraduates majoring in sciences
•Provides faculty with knowledgeable helpers (both
technology and course materials)
•Want to extend to social sciences, arts, and
humanities
Platform for Teaching and
Learning Initiatives
Necessary but not sufficient components:
1) Strategic project planning and funding models for IT
2) Robust infrastructure and core transaction systems
Next Steps towards Webcentricity
1) Portal technology
2) Focus on learning objects
3) Web as one-stop shopping for most transactions
Administration
Registering
Requesting Services
Scheduling
Announcing
Authorizing
Planning &
Advising
Selecting
Reflecting
Evaluating sources
Choosing texts
Categorizing
Learning
Writing, publishing,analyzing,
critical reading, discussing,
graphing,simulating, annotating,
comparing, contrasting,
mapping, editing
Assessing
Quizzing
Grading
Testing
Administration
Registering
Requesting Services
Scheduling
Announcing
Authorizing
On-line reg
EP
Reflecting
Evaluating sources
Choosing texts
Categorizing
WebTech
Learning
CuRL
Writing, publishing,analyzing,
critical reading, discussing,
graphing,simulating, annotating,
comparing, contrasting,
mapping, editing
Planning &
Advising
Selecting
Assessing
Quizzing
Grading
Testing