Information Resources - 2006-2007 Annual Report
Overview
Thanks to an energetic and highly knowledgeable team, 2006-07 was a successful year of noteworthy accomplishment. Everyone in Information Resources explored creative ways to expand and improve services and enhance the campus information and technology infrastructure. Information Resources librarians and technologists continued their active support and promotion of campus information and technology initiatives, and provided training and assistance in the library, offices, labs, and classrooms. The Learning Commons opened as a student-focused full-service information and technology point of contact, and the use of media and portable computing equipment increased dramatically.
Information Resources worked with faculty who began to use emerging technology-based pedagogies such as student response systems, virtual worlds, blogs, wikis, Webcasts and video production and streaming. IR was a leader in several Millennial Generation initiatives, including program planning for the President's Spring Semester Opening Meeting, which focused on the net generation learner and featured presentations on these new approaches to teaching and learning.
With the Director of Faculty Development, Information Resources coordinated the first Provost Institute on Teaching Strategies where fourteen faculty worked with two facilitators, two faculty members, librarians, and technologists to re-image and re-design their most challenging courses and to develop strategies to effectively teach millennial students. The Institute was well-received and evaluations were very positive. Throughout the year Information Resources hosted campus programs on a variety of topics including "Blogging as an Instructional Tool," "Tales of a Reluctant WebCT User," "Second Life Virtual World as a Teaching Environment," and "Embedding Voice Enabling Technology."
Information Resources continued conversations with academic departments to define "information and technology literacy" and to develop related skill set expectations. This was a discussion topic at the annual Information Resources Faculty Retreat, and as a follow-up a survey was distributed to all department chairs about technology expectations of their majors. There were two recipients of the CATE-Information Resources-sponsored grant for faculty to develop discipline-specific CAP courses. The number of CAP minors has grown to 107, enrollment in CAP courses has increased by 12 percent, and there are an increasing number of CAP courses being taught in the disciplines.
As technology has become fundamental to every college function, flexible and robust systems have been put in place to meet evolving campus needs and service demands. This year campus offices spent almost $600,000 on computer hardware and software. Enterprise systems, lab and classroom upgrades, and new hardware and software systems were implemented during 2006-07 to support the more sophisticated technology expectations of new faculty and millennial students. As a response to faculty requests and in compliance with Governor Spitzer's Executive Order Three, IR developed a Webcasting service that streams, records, and archives classes, lectures, and meetings which are accessible on a Web site.
Information Resources continued to lead campus electronic security and notification initiatives. IR technologists worked with University Police to expand campus security measures and with Institutional Advancement to develop a digital signage system, now in place in three campus locations. The state-of-the-art campus network again received national accolades when its new "virtualization technology" design for security, redundancy, and disaster recovery was featured as a best practice in the Winter 2007 Government Solutions.
Information Resources staff regularly volunteered to participate in and support campus events such as Open House, Scholars' Day, Community Roundtables, Orientation, Honors Convocation, Commencement and other cultural and intellectual programs. Their contributions to the success of such programs continued to be acknowledged with expressions of praise and appreciation. Information Resources technologists were involved in major campus projects including the many construction and renovation projects, campus security, identity management and emergency notification planning.
Information Resources librarians and technologists worked closely with an increasing number of faculty who were experimenting with new video technologies and teaching blended and online courses. In its first year, the iTunesU program was a success with the participation of 15 faculty using iTunesU in 22 of their courses and producing 344 podcasts. The use of TaskStream, a Web-based portfolio system with NCATE competency assessment tools, has increased by over 50 percent this year and is now being used by over 500 students and faculty. Faculty in the Biology Department piloted the use of the TurningPoint Student Response System in large lectures.
WebCT was renamed "eLearning" to reflect its broader applications and fuller integration with Banner and other classroom technologies. The number of faculty using WebCT continues to grow each year. During the year there were 782 courses taught using WebCT, many of which incorporate a variety of media applications. An eLearning online help center responded to almost 1,000 student queries.
There was a 57 percent increase in the number of online, asynchronous courses offered this year. Of the 99 online courses, 80 were held during summer and winter sessions. The Professional Studies blended summer school program had a successful first year with an enrollment of 28 students. Information Resources and Graduate Studies offered ten grants for faculty to develop online courses which will be offered during winter and summer sessions.
The number of visits to the Memorial Library Web page, which serves as a gateway to information and provides valuable online resources to the campus community, doubled. Students continued to make heavy use of the electronic resources to which Memorial Library subscribes. The growing database collection, coupled with increases in the costs of journals, negatively impacted the monograph collection again this year. The $18,000 permanent increase and one-time addition of $35,000 to the library budget was quickly absorbed by such increases.
Reserves continued as an active area of Circulation, and the electronic reserve program, in its second year, has proven very popular. This year electronic reserves more than doubled the number of traditional reserves. There continued to be growth in the use of Interlibrary Loan services. In 2006-07 the number of items lent to other libraries remained steady at 10,611 and there were 5,816 requests from students and faculty to borrow materials from other libraries, a six percent increase.
Use of instructional technologies in classrooms continued at record levels. Five additional technology classrooms (including two in the SUNY Main Street facility) and one computer lab were built and an additional classroom in Old Main will be complete by Fall 2007. With the re-opening of Sperry, there will be an additional 11 state-of-the-art classrooms: five dual projection lecture halls, four technology classrooms, and two interactive video classrooms for a total of 47 technology classrooms on campus. These technology-enhanced classrooms are heavily used; there were 1,018 courses scheduled in these spaces during the year. As budgets and staff resources permit, Classroom Media Services continued to standardize controls in the classroom, upgrading nine systems.
To meet increased demands, Classroom Media Services now has 15 computer carts for data projection in non-technology classrooms. There were 5,722 requests for equipment in non-technology classrooms, a 25 percent increase from last year. While computer carts offer an alternative to the current scheduling limitations in technology classrooms, they also place a strain on the limited staff who must move the equipment and contend with the new authentication process, all within the 20-minute interval between classes.
In addition to classes being taught in technology classrooms, 243 semester-long courses and 1,653 individual classes or events were scheduled in computing labs where there is a workstation for each student. As technology has become more discipline-specific, Information Resources has created more labs and classrooms designed specifically to meet departmental needs. Many academic departments also maintain small special-purpose labs. These labs are necessary to meet the needs of a college-wide curriculum that has embraced technology, but the labs are expensive to maintain and upgrade and require staff to oversee.
Programming time was dedicated to developing a process to accommodate the New York State Education Department's TEACH system, to further develop the TECAS system, and to accommodate the new mandated student insurance program. Banner programmers further developed the CAPP degree audit system, financial aid systems, billing and student accounts, admissions, residence hall, field placement, judicial affairs, and university police processes.
Information Resources assumed leadership in the campus rollout of OnBase, a document imaging and workflow system, and developed databases for departments to manage, monitor, and assess departmental resources and activities. The campus relied heavily on reports generated through Banner; there was a five percent increase in requests, and over 4,000 reports were produced for academic and administrative offices.
Information Resources professionals worked closely with various constituencies to determine how to create desired learning/work environments. The Technology Help Center responded to 6,950 requests for assistance (a 17 percent increase) and Academic Computing technologists installed 1,044 pieces of computer equipment (a 31 percent increase). Information Resources technologists supported 49 databases for campus departments (a 4.2 percent increase).
Administrative users met weekly with Banner programmers and a campus OnBase users group met regularly. The Director of Academic Computing met with 16 academic departments to discuss their technology needs, and the Associate Provost convened two meetings and one retreat with the Technology Liaison Partnership. Nineteen IR teams worked together on specific initiatives such as the Learning Commons, hardware and software evaluation and deployment, iTunesU, and eLearning, etc. Such collaboration is necessary for successful planning and project management.
Costs for contractual services that support the information and technology infrastructure continued to rise as did costs to maintain the growing number of labs and classrooms. There was a $30,000 increase (over 50 percent) to provide the additional bandwidth required to meet campus needs. The 2007-08 technology fee was raised by $10 per semester to fund the expanded networking and classroom infrastructure. There are still deficits in the telecommunications budgets, which are no longer supplemented with revenues from the student long-distance telephone charges that were a revenue stream in the past. At Cortland and other colleges and universities, student use of long-distance services has declined to the point where telephone services are now a major cost center. As a result college telephone expenses should be treated as a necessary utility with a centralized budget allocation.
Information Resources began its formal strategic planning process, developing goals and operational objectives that are consistent with the College and Academic Affairs strategic goals and that have outcomes that can be assessed. IR continued to collect data (included in the Appendix to this report) that is used in strategic, tactical and operational planning and assessment. Longitudinal data has proven useful in identifying and predicting trends and allocating resources, and has been a basis for decisions about organizational changes, staff reconfigurations, and policy revisions.
Personnel
The dedication, commitment, and hard work of each and every Information Resources staff member are evidenced throughout this report. Three Information Resources professionals were publicly recognized for their outstanding work. Scott Thomas and Joshua Peluso received the SUNY Cortland Excellence in Innovation within Profession Award for their research and deployment of new technology that provides fiscal efficiency along with power and agility to maximize the College's investment in technology. Chris Poole received the SUNY Cortland Excellence in Institutional Service award for his outstanding customer service, his commitment to the College and community, and his ever-evolving role to support campus desktop computing.
Gretchen Douglas was promoted to Librarian, and Joshua Peluso assumed supervisory responsibilities and was promoted to Assistant Director of Administrative Computing. Bryant Withers, Hailey Ruoff and Kevin Puukila received in-rank promotions to recognize their expanded responsibilities. Rob Buckley's part-time position in Classroom Media Services was made full-time, and a part-time position in Academic Computing Services that became full-time is currently being searched. Three faculty (Marc Wildman, Lorraine Melita and Mark Connell) and two professionals (Victoria Hess and Gerard Hill) received campus recommendations for permanent appointments effective in 2008.
There was the usual staff turnover throughout the year. When Bruce Drowne retired in December, his position was reconfigured to Database Systems Analyst and filled by Joel Coulson. The position vacated by Joel was filled by Matthew McCarthy. A new position in Academic Computing Services, OnBase Coordinator, was filled by James Durr who had been working part time. Jim's replacement and a new full-time position in Administrative Computing Services are currently being searched. In October Tera Doty-Blance began as Software Training and Support Specialist. There was also turnover in three clerical positions in Memorial Library.
Information Resources staff have continued to be professionally active. Cortland is well represented in SUNY-wide professional organizations, and many Information Resources professionals are involved beyond SUNY. There were 195 IR staff registrations at 117 off- campus workshops, conferences, and training sessions. Details of professional activities are found in the departmental annual reports, included in the Appendix.
Diversity
In the recruitment process for IR positions, efforts are made to attract minority candidates when possible. It still remains difficult to find qualified candidates with the required combination of technology experiences to meet specific needs in higher education, and there continued to be failed searches.
Currently there are 66 full-time and 4 part-time Information Resources Staff members - 26 males and 44 females - including one African-American female. There is more diversity among the 119 Information Resources student employees: 23.5% percent are from underrepresented groups. IR will continue to attempt to recruit ethnically and culturally diverse candidates whenever possible.
Each Information Resources department makes a concerted effort to create an environment that is welcoming to everyone. Librarians are aware of the issues of diversity when they select materials for the library. Subject areas such as Women's Studies, Africana, and Jewish studies have been assigned to reference bibliographers, and these areas have budgets so that materials can be routinely selected to create a diverse collection.
IR Strategic Goals and 2006-07 Supporting Activities
Provide secure centralized information and technology services to the College community (supports Academic Affairs Strategic Goal 1)
4,198 Banner-generated reports were produced for academic and administrative offices, a five percent increase.
The Technology Help Center responded to 8,480 telephone and in-person and 4,707 e-mail technology requests from faculty, staff, and students.
Information Resources departments supported 49 databases serving academic and administrative needs.
Wireless access was expanded, and there is now complete coverage in Old Main.
Information Resources facilitated the procurement and installation process for a total of $520,726 in hardware purchases and $46,203 in software purchases for offices across campus.
Academic Computing Services installed 233 new and 368 reassigned computers and 443 pieces of peripheral equipment in offices throughout campus. They also performed over 3,000 software installations.
Bandwidth was increased from 45 to 85 Mbps at an additional cost of $35,000 (total annual cost $85,000).
The authentication process was completed to include all public labs and classrooms.
Physical security measures are in place in all Old Main labs and classrooms and in most other locations considered to be at risk.
A new more powerful and flexible SPAM filter was installed for better protection.
New physical, logical, and policy measures to protect security and manage identity were implemented.
A video streaming server was installed to support academic programs and campus-wide events.
The campus OnBase rollout was expanded to include Financial Advisement, Advisement and Transition, and Institutional Advancement.
IR oversaw the migration to new versions of the following enterprise systems: Aleph, Banner, WebCT, and Perception.
Serve an information, coordination and advocacy role in the College regarding matters relating to technological developments and innovations (Supports Academic Affairs Strategic Goal 1)
Information Resources/Memorial Library/Friends of the Library hosted 12 programs during the year.
The Director of Academic Computing met with 16 academic departments.
The CATE director surveyed departments about Information Literacy expectations of their majors.
WebCT was upgraded, rolled out to faculty via training and course retooling, and renamed eLearning to change emphasis from technology to learning.
Support and enhance the instructional mission of the College (Supports Academic Affairs Strategic Goals 1 and 5)
IR supported 15 instructors who participated in iTunesU, teaching 22 courses with 344 podcasts.
The Technology Training Center offered 70 group workshops with 128 attendees and an additional 31 one-on-one training sessions.
The instructional materials designer provided training to 251 faculty in WebCT and related software applications.
Web pages were designed and developed for a variety of academic programs including curriculum information, iTunesU, Research and Sponsored Programs, and the Digital Atlas Project Earth and Sky.
Nearly 2,000 digital images were produced and incorporated into Web pages, gallery displays, and podcasts.
Five new classrooms and one new computer lab were built; six labs and three classrooms were upgraded.
Classroom Media Services Media Operations responded to 5,722 requests for equipment, a 34 percent increase.
Through the SCAP process Information Resources awarded ten faculty grants, totaling $35,000 to purchase instructional hardware and software.
The Periodicals area of Memorial Library was transformed into a full service area with staff available to assist students, faculty and staff.
Use of the Memorial Library's Website, a gateway to electronic resources, has doubled in one year; 778,308 searches were performed on databases subscribed to by Memorial Library.
Memorial Library faculty and staff taught 142 instruction sessions to 2,484 students, a 5.2 percent increase.
Library faculty taught 60 CLIP sessions to 1,014 students, a 10 percent decrease.
Librarians taught 65 sessions in subject-specific areas, a 4.5 percent increase.
Information Resources provided technological support for development of the Professional Studies blended summer cohort graduate programs.
Funding was identified for the faculty computer replacement plan.
iTunesU, Webcasting, and video streaming were made available for faculty use.
Continue as a full partner in the Teaching Learning Center (Supports Academic Affairs Strategic Goals 1 and 5)
Mission and vision statements along with guiding principles were drafted.
The Learning Commons Leadership Team met regularly to review services and policies and to make recommendations to best meet student needs.
449 uses of the multimedia rooms were recorded; the use of digital video cameras increased by 12.5 percent, and there was a 30.6 percent increase in the circulation of laptops to students.
Strengthen the collaboration among Information Resources departments and personnel (Supports Academic Affairs Strategic Goals 1 and 6)
Annual IR Staff Development Day was held in January 2007.
Nineteen IR cross-departmental teams met throughout the year.
Progress was made towards consistency in local titles and responsibility levels among IR departments.
Actively participate in campus-wide initiatives (Supports Academic Affairs Strategic Goals 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5)
The Director of Administrative Computing led a task force to recommend a campus emergency notification system and also participated in the Chancellor's Task Force; an emergency notification system (InformaCast) has been installed and testing has begun.
Information Resources provided a technology infrastructure in the Beard Building that included the construction of two classrooms, creation of a data communications network integrated with the main campus, and installation of desktop computer technology.
Information Resources supported the following major construction projects: Sperry renovation, residence halls renovation projects, New Education Building, Moffett and Bowers planning.
Provide opportunities for Information Resources staff to grow and develop professionally (Supports Academic Affairs Strategic Goals 1 and 6)
Staff pursued professional development opportunities locally, regionally and nationally.
Planning Ahead
Faculty and staff in the five departments which comprise Information Resources - Academic Computing Services, Administrative Computing Services, the Center for the Advancement of Technology in Education (CATE), Classroom Media Services, and Memorial Library - will continue to work collaboratively to advance the campus technologically and to support faculty, students, and staff. As a unit, IR staff will deal with new challenges, meet greater expectations from the campus community, and handle workloads of greater complexity.
New technologies are enriching the SUNY Cortland educational experience and enhancing the ability of the College to attract and retain students. Cortland's technology-rich environment will continue to improve the College's ability to maintain accurate and timely data with which to operate more efficiently and the role of Information Resources will become even more critical to campus success.
Goals for 2007-08:
Working with Facilities, develop a program study for Memorial Library.
Develop policies and procedures for implementing the Faculty Computer Replacement Plan.
Work with faculty who attended the Provost Institute on Teaching Strategies in redesign of their courses.
Working with Auxiliary Services Corporation and the Business Office, investigate public computer printing and duplicating practices and efficiencies.
Begin the campus rollout of Office 2007 and make recommendations for the Vista operating system.
Formalize and promote the new Webcasting service, using interns from the Communication Studies program.
Working with selected faculty teaching media production, formalize the Learning Commons Student Internship Program
Continue to coordinate the campus rollout of OnBase.
Integrate the eLearning system (WebCT) with Banner.
Implement a college portal.
Working with others on campus, implement an emergency notification system.
Continue to build wireless access to the campus network so that it is available throughout campus.
Develop a plan to make library materials easily accessible to students enrolled in the summer school blended cohort program.