Rollins IT Managers Blog

CIO Search Announcement

2009-07-24T17:32:00.000-07:00

Following a lengthy search process, I am pleased to announce that Dr. Patricia Schoknecht has been selected as Rollins' next Chief Information Officer. Dr. Schoknecht currently serves as the Director of Information Technology and Professor of Biology at Wagner College in Staten Island, NY. Prior to joining Wagner, Dr. Schoknecht served as Director of the Center for Teaching, Learning and Technology and Associate Professor of Biology at the University of Richmond, and as Assistant/Associate Professor of Animal Science at Rutgers University. Dr. Schoknecht holds a PhD in Animal Science from Cornell University, and an MS and BS in Zoology from Virginia Tech and George Washington University, respectively.
Dr. Schoknecht will begin her new role at Rollins College on September 8th.

Unified Communications Update

2009-06-19T10:06:00.000-07:00

The IT Department is working diligently with Embarq and Cisco to implement the new Unified Communications system. There are several major tasks within the scope of this project. Take a look below at what is going on simoultaneously:
1. The IT staff is replacing all of the battery backup systems in the network closets across campus
2. Embarq is preparing the network switches that will be replacing the current ones.
3. Embarq and IT are completing wireless surveys for internal and external wireless locations.
4. IT is creating and verifying a name, number and location database.
5. Embarq and IT are meeting with all departments on campus to establish a baseline configuration and equipment requests.
6. Weekly meetings with Embarq and Cisco to ensure all items are on track.
Tasks to come:
1. Deployment of network switches
2. Server configuration and installation.
3. Configuration and Deployment of phones
4. Configuration and Deployment of new wireless access points.
We will continue to update on the status of this project.

CIO Search Update

2009-06-02T15:36:00.001-07:00

The field has been narrowed to three candidates who will visit the campus in June and early July. The campus will be notified by email about the candidates, and when various constituents will meet with them. Watch for more news on this sometime in July!

Update on Telephone/United Communications Project

2009-04-22T13:50:00.000-07:00

Below is an email sent to the Rollins community updating everyone on where we are with the telephone, unified communications project.
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Hello,
I am Mark Johnston, Alan and Sandra Gerry Professor of Marketing and Ethics at the Crummer School, and Chair of the Rollins College Unified Communications (UC) Committee. As Chair, and on behalf of the entire UC committee, I want to share with you what we have been working on this spring.
At the start, I want to identify members of the Unified Communications Committees:
Josh Truitt - Crummer Student, Residential Life Hall Director
Brynne Piotrowski - SGA Senator
Kyle Magee - SGA, Honors Student
David Meyers - SGA Technology Chair
Mark Johnston - Crummer Faculty, Technology Committee
Marc Sardy – International Business, Associate Professor
Eileen Gregory – Biology, Professor
Jonathan Miller - Director - Olin Library
Udeth Lugo - Associate Dean - Holt School
Matt Hawks - Director - Human Resources
Steve Booker - Director - Financial Aid
Anne Blankinship - Assistant Director of Advancement Research
Cat McConnell - Project Coordinator - Provost Office

IT Project Team:
Carrie Schulz, Co-Interim CIOJim Spitzer, Sr. Network AdministratorTroy Davis, Sr. Technical Support SpecialistTroy Thomason, Email System Administrator
As you can see the committee included individuals from across the Rollins Community – faculty, staff, and students.
Now, what has the committee been doing and why is it important to you? I will frame the discussion in terms of:
1) Problem
2) The Committee’s task
3) Committee recommendations for Phase 1
4) Committee recommendations for Phase 2
The Problem – Quite simply, the Rollins voice and communication system is old and needs to be replaced. We have all experienced telephone outages in the last few years and the problem is only going to get worse.
The Committee’s task – The committee was charged with learning about the current communications platforms available from leading vendors and recommending features and functions that are important to the Rollins community. As part of that task, the committee learned about “unified communication” which is really bringing together telephone communication and data transfer with new technologies in wireless and digital networking, in other words, building a communications platform utilizing available technologies for Rollins’ future.
There was some urgency to the committee’s work as the goal is to have the first phase of the new phone communications system in place for the start of the fall semester. The actual target date is August 1st.
We met with leading vendors and considered a wide range of options. Then we met to prioritize the options. We were asked to provide a list of important features divided into two phases.
Committee recommendations for Phase 1 (up and running by August 1, 2009)
Improve reliability of current voice transmission
911 and reverse 911
Ability for user to choose Soft phone (i.e. your computer is your phone) or hard phone (i.e. a traditional desktop telephone) or their own mobile device as their primary voice communication device.
Connectivity with Apple or PC computers – full functionality across Windows XP, Vista and Mac OS X operating systems.
Conference call capabilities with document sharing such as is currently available with Adobe Connect (also shared whiteboards)
Voice functionality with iPhone, Blackberry models, and a wide range of other mobile devices
Have the ability to create individual preferences for voicemail, email, etc.
Work with a variety of e-mail and calendar solutions (for instance, Microsoft Exchange, GroupWise, and Gmail) so that we are not restricted to a particular e-mail system in the future.

Committee recommendations for Phase 2 (the date for this phase has not been determined)

Ability for phone calls to find you across locations also known as “Find me Follow me”
Evaluate cell phone contracts for employees in lieu of desktop phones in offices
Single phone number for all communication
Text messaging integration with all communication
Ability to send voice mails to email
Ability to connect a variety of devices over short distances via Bluetooth
On campus wireless everywhere
Emergency notification
Ability for the user to configure phone communication from their computer.
Instant Messaging capabilities
Integrating Blackboard with the communications platform
Ability to use plasma screens on campus for digital messaging
Video conferencing

What this means for you is that on August 1st, we plan to have a system in place that is reliable, efficient, and provides opportunities for advanced communications. You can also be assured that extensive training will be provided at the appropriate time to insure you are able to maximize this feature-rich communications package.
I apologize for the length of the email; it was designed to give you a sense of the changes that will be taking place in our communications system. The new Rollins communications system will provide everyone with more features and reliability. During the summer and into the fall the committee will provide additional updates. In addition, IT will be updating all of us on the implementation of the new system. Please feel free to contact me or anyone on the committee with ideas, suggestions, or questions.

Take care, have a great day

Best Regards,Mark

Conficker information

2009-03-31T11:21:00.000-07:00

Many Rollins community members have read or heard recent news reports about Conficker (also referred to as Downadup and Kido). Conficker is a computer worm that threatens the security of Microsoft Windows computers that have not been regularly patched.

To protect your system from the Conficker infection ensure that your computer system:

is set to automatically download updates released by Microsoft for Win XP and WinVista
has an updated anti-virus software.

More information regarding Conficker:

http://www.symantec.com/norton/theme.jspthemeid=conficker_worm&inid=us_ghp_link_conficker_worm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conficker
http://www.microsoft.com/protect/computer/viruses/worms/conficker.mspx

Update on CIO search

2009-03-19T11:10:00.001-07:00

A committee has been formed for the CIO search, and they are as follows:

Jonathan Miller (Library) (Chair)
Ed Huffman (IT)
Yvonne Berry (Advancement)
Toni Holbrook (Dean of Faculty Office)
Mandy Booker (Bursar)
Allen Kupetz (Crummer)
Dick James (Computer Science)
John Sharkey (Web Strategy)
Udeth Lugo (Holt)
Matt Hawks (HR)

The committee has indicated that they are open to input from the Rollins community. The target start date for the new CIO is August 1, 2009.

Wireless Troubles?

2009-03-18T05:24:00.000-07:00

We've been able to help some users with wireless problems recently by simply updating the wireless device drivers on their laptop. If you have issues with wireless and others around you don't seem to be experiencing the same problems, please contact the repair shop or Help Desk and we will help you update your wireless device drivers to see if that might help.

Novell Client Updates

2009-03-18T05:21:00.000-07:00

During the login process users may be asked about upgrading their client. We are doing this slowly and proceeding alphabetically by FoxID. We're currently up to about D for the first initial. When prompted, please allow the update to proceed and contact the Help Desk if you experience any difficulty with this.

Three Classrooms Upgraded Over Spring Break

2009-03-17T09:47:00.000-07:00

CSS 221 is pictured above.

The Classroom Technology team upgraded three classrooms in the Cornell Hall for Social Sciences (CSS) over Spring Break. CSS 170 and 221 both received new podiums, new projectors, classroom PCs, document cameras, integrated audio, and Crestron control systems. CSS 167 received a new projector and refreshed Crestron programming.

Wireless Work Continues

2009-03-05T11:18:00.000-08:00

The Network team is actively seeking input from students about areas where wireless is not working properly on campus. We're excited to be opening the lines of communication (pun intended), and making steady progress to identify and eliminate problem areas.

Reporting Tool Search Update

2009-03-05T10:46:00.001-08:00

We recently began in earnest to look for a reporting tool to supplement or replace Access. There are several front runners, and our Enterprise Computing Group is talking to their peers at other schools to see what they are using. We'll bring that information back to the group in April, and decide on next steps.

Look here for updates after that meeting.

Change Management in process

2009-03-05T10:26:00.000-08:00

We will be implementing a change management tool as an add-on to our support system, HEAT. The goal is to track all important infrastructure changes, including major upgrades to Banner, and changes to the network and servers. Implementation begins next week.

This really affects I.T. staff only, except for Banner upgrades. The auditors have said that we need to have a testing and approval process for them, so our Banner liaisons will be called upon to approve in the new system. Training will be provided when the time comes.

2009-02-20T08:23:00.000-08:00

Rollins has posted the CIO position on our jobs website, fyi, so the search is officially underway. We'll keep you posted as the search progresses.

Jumping into the world of blogging!

2009-02-19T11:07:00.000-08:00

The managers of the Rollins College I.T. department have created this blog to keep the community updated on various projects, initiatives, CIO search, etc. All of the managers will post here, so if you are interested in our world, check back!