The department of Learning Technologies and Scholar Learner Services has won the 2007-8 University of Akron Shared Leadership award. UA President Luis Proenza presented the award to department Director John Savery on May 2 during the annual Founders Day Luncheon at the Martin Center.

The award citation commended the unit for, “providing significant leadership in supporting student academic success, and exemplifying commitment to engaging individuals in the department with other campus units and members of the community.”

In nominating LTSLS for the award, Savery noted the unit deserved the honor primarily for its extensive efforts to aid in the selection and adoption of a new learning management system (LMS) to replace WebCT. In September 2007, UA’s Board of Trustees approved a contract with Desire2 Learn for its LMS, which UA dubbed SpringBoard!. Hundreds of courses were migrated to the new LMS for spring semester.

Savery wrote that: “This successful project was the result of working collaboratively with many individuals and groups within the UA community and would not have been possible without the dedication of the staff in Learning Technologies who invested their time, talents and energy to make it happen.”

Part of Information Technology Services (ITS), Learning Technologies and Scholar/Learner Services consists of four units – Audio Visual Services, Distance Learning, Computer-Based Assessment and Evaluation, and Design and Development Services.

Previews of the new UA website have been unveiled and the community response has been overwhelmingly positive, according to Brad Rice and Eric Kreider of the webteam.

Kreider notes that many features of the new site were based upon the feedback of campus members. Although the site caters to current users, it was also designed for prospective UA students and their parents. The improved search tool and clearer navigation headings are one way that this audience will have a better experience with the UA website. Brad Rice adds that the site has the potential to be a great marketing tool for future employees, as an enhanced job search function will also be included.

The new look incorporates softer colors but maintains the dynamic look that President Proenza requested, says Rice. Another way the site will be more aesthetically pleasing will be the addition of photos and videos. Kreider says that there “will be more opportunity for rich media, including slideshows and video” that give end users a way to experience events or places within the University.

Once content is provided by the departments, the site has a tentative release date of June 1. Kreider and Rice both acknowledge that the structure and templates are complete, and the submission of text and photos for individual pages will complete the website upgrade.

Archived articles of the ITS Newsletter:

March 2008:

Meeting Honors IT Team of the Year; Reviews Projects

iTunesU Connects Users & Content

February 2008:

New Space for UA Testing Center

December 2007:

Debbie Hill Celebrates 30 Years of UA Accomplishments

Betty Seeley Retiring After 26 Years of Service

November 2007:

LMS Application Springboard! Ready to Launch

UA Top IT Team in Northeast Ohio

UA Web Upgrade Moving Forward

ITS Division Meeting

Jim Sage, Vice President and CIO, opened the meeting by thanking ITS for its hard work over the past year. He told the group that it was named the IT Division of the Year by the Northeast Ohio Software Association (NEOSA). In recognition of that accomplishment, he presented each member of the division with a dress shirt bearing the UA logo along the inscription “IT Team of the Year”.

Sage explained that it was a combination of ongoing work and an array of initiatives that drew the attention of both the UA faculty member who nominated IT for the award and NEOSA’s judging committee. A survey, available here, filled out by Sage outlining IT’s work was also part of the judging process.

During a break for lunch, the division was treated to a whimsical multimedia slide show featuring photographs of ITS folks at work and play. The show was designed, created and photographed by Jamie Newhall with assistance from Chris Collins.

In other business, a status report on the PeopleSoft v9 Upgrade & Architecture Migration project was presented by Rick Draper and Deb White.

John Savery provided details about the 30-day performance of Springboard!. All content from WebCT was migrated to courses for the Spring semester and the same is being completed for the upcoming Summer and Fall terms. Highlights of remaining Springboard! tasks are to conduct functional and pedagogical training for users, create master classes, and utilize the capabilities of Springboard! to support online degree programs.

A review of the University’s web was also part of the quarterly meeting. Eric Kreider provided a brief discussion about the ongoing work that is changing the look and feel of UA’s web site.

The next ITS division-wide meeting is scheduled for later this year.

According to Chris Collins, Multi Media Producer, faculty and departments at UA are able to upload content that can be used to reach current and prospective students. The iTunes software needed to is available for free at Apple’s website. He also explains that “at this time, the general public may access promotional and informational materials created by UA departments and organizations. Content created for specific credit courses will require UA net ID and password authentication to allow access only to students registered for that specific class.”

Associated Student Government (ASG) is one of the first groups to take advantage of the program. Steve Sedlock, Senator for the College of Business Administration, says that the organization chose to use iTunesU for a variety of reasons, including that “it’s an excellent and reliable distribution hub because so many people already have iPod and iTunes and are familiar with the environment. It is a very user friendly environment both from the administrative angle with adding, deleting, and updating content, and also from the end user and obtaining the content.”

ASG is currently using the application for audio podcasts and PDF files that summarize the senate meetings. Sedlock remarks that in the future the group plans to “start using video content for special events and guest speakers in order to promote ASG sponsored events and important University dates and announcements.”

More information about iTunesU can be found at the Apple website as well as by visiting the UA iTunesU site.

Schrank Hall is the new home of the Office of Computer Based Assessment & Evaluation. The testing center, formerly located in Carroll Hall, allows UA students to complete online exams by appointment six days a week.

Rose Marie Konet, Manager of Computer Based Assessment & Evaluation, explains that the decision to move the lab was based on a few important issues, aside from the scheduled demolition of the building. “The first was that we were out of space with nowhere to expand. Each year the number of courses using online testing increased and the number of students enrolling in those courses increased. In order to help us get through Fall 2006 we received permission to create a temporary “satellite” lab in a vacated area of Carroll Hall that helped us get through the busiest periods.” She also notes that “the testing lab was on the top floor of the building which only had one elevator. It was also somewhat removed from parking, making it difficult and inconvenient for students who wanted to make a quick trip into the lab for a test.”

Careful planning was necessary for the move because assessments were scheduled to continue throughout the entire process. The center worked with Hardware Systems Services to make arrangements for testing to occur over winter break. After a temporary laptop lab was set up for students in Leigh Hall, Rose Marie “found out that the wireless situation in the building would not allow 60 laptops running at the same time on the same tests. Another group in IT (Network Services) put together a wired lab for us in less than a day.” Throughout the week, staff and student assistants offered testing support and worked with the movers.

The Schrank Hall location already solves many of the challenges that the previous center faced. “The new lab is more centrally located on campus and conveniently located near plenty of parking. The area designated for testing also gave us more room to create a bigger lab including creating two rooms for special accommodations testing. There are two elevators in the building both of which are located near the entrance to the lab,” says Konet.

With the addition of 16 new computers, the center now has 84 stations to use for testing. The new space along with other planned upgrades will allow the testing center to provide continually improved service to UA students.

Tuesday, Dec. 11 will be Debbie Hill’s last day as Manager of Enterprise Operations at the University of Akron Computer Center. Her career with the University began in 1978, and since then she has contributed to many important and successful projects of the ITS division.

Hill has always worked in the Computer Center, but her roles have changed over the years. She held the titles of Programmer Analyst and Software Specialist until her transfer to Operations in 1994.

“There were three accomplishments I wanted to complete as Manager of Operations,” Debbie says. The first two tasks were creating an automated tape library system and installing a UPS system for the computer room. Both projects were successful and have been updated since their initial completion. On the third goal of redesigning a computer room, Hill remarks, “I was hoping to accomplish this in 2007, prior to my retirement, with the conversion of the tape library to a server room. The project was approved, but has been postponed to 2008.”

Debbie hopes to spend the winter in Florida and is looking forward to visiting with friends and family, but will not forget the ties made at UA. “I will miss the people. The people are what made this career enjoyable. Many friendships were made and will hopefully stay into retirement.”

The Cashier’s, Student Accounting, and Financial Aid divisions have all benefited from Seeley’s presence, as providing for these departments was her primary focus. “I enjoyed developing and supporting projects such as the Installment Payment Plan (IPP) and PC Receipting in the Cashier’s office, and Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) and automated refunding in Accounts Receivables Office.” Betty was also a part of implementing PeopleSoft in the Payroll Office.

Advances in technology are the only portion of her service that Seeley considers important. “I’ll remember the challenges, the camaraderie, and the innovations, but most of all, I’ll remember the many good friendships I’ve made at the University. I hope to keep in touch with friends at the Computer Center and other offices on campus.”

Betty Seeley has enjoyed her experience at the college and plans to stay involved by continuing to be a member of UA Women’s Golf and Women in Higher Education, and may join the Retiree Association.

UA students and faculty can look forward to a kick-off event for Springboard! in the next few days. Dr. John Savery, Director of Learning Technology and Scholar Learning Services, said the the system was in place by Monday, December 3, which marks the end of the learning management system search.

The next few weeks will involve “answering student and faculty questions, getting the word out and making announcements about training programs,” said Savery. The committee is currently working on a printed flyer in The Buchtelite that will explain key points and important information.

“Making contact with part-time instructors” is one of the challenges involved with this project according to Savery. In addition to training sessions for full-time faculty, evening meetings will be held in both December and January in order to support as many UA professors as possible.

Careful timing of the launch of the application has been an essential consideration. Glitches during the migration of course content from WebCT needed to be smoothed out, and a premature activation of the program could cause many problems. Savery said the next few weeks serve as an opportune time to introduce Springboard!, mainly because “it allows instructors to have enough time to get their courses ready.” Students and faculty will both benefit from being able to acclimate themselves with the software before the beginning of the next semester.

Springboard! is the name the University has adapted for this system otherwise known as Desire2Learn. Online resources are available at the Desire2Learn website and by visiting the ITS Training Materials page. Video demonstrations on almost every aspect of working with the program can be found at Atomic Learning via Zipline.

Although the committee to find a replacement program was formed last spring, WebCT has been destined for replacement since 2004, when it was acquired by Blackboard. According to Savery, this purchase led to a variety of issues including that “there were no new versions of the product, no significant improvements or patches provided and support became increasingly difficult to find.” In addition to these problems, the fact that the software was developed in the late ’90s meant that significant improvements were available in newer systems.

The search involved several weeks of gathering input from students and faculty as well as participating in vendor demonstrations. More details about this process can be found by visiting the Learning Management System Search website, which has documented each step of the project. Desire2Learn was officially recommended by the search committee in July and has since been approved by the Board of Trustees. The University of Akron will be implementing version 8.2, under the name Springboard!.

Information Technology Services at The University of Akron was named the IT Team of the Year for 2007 by the Northeast Ohio Software Association (NEOSA). UA is the first university to receive the honor.

The award acknowledges ITS’s commitment to student success along with a dedication to outreach activities that enhance the well being and economic development of Northeast Ohio and the state.

In selecting UA as the non-profit organization of the year, NEOSA recognized the ITS division’s strategic objectives of engaged leadership, enabling infrastructure, and seamless and secure access that empowers the university community, creates a collaborative environment, and fosters engaged outreach.

Nominated by Dr. Bindiganavale Vijayaraman, a member of the UA faculty and Professor of Management & Information Systems, IT received the award in recognition of its past and ongoing work.

The award was presented to Jim Sage, VP Information Technology & CIO, during NEOSA’s Nov. 14, 2007, CIO Forum.

“I want to thank the Information Technology team at Akron. The team consists of 140 full-time people and 100 students. Without each and every one of them, receiving this award would not have been possible,” Sage said in accepting the award on behalf of IT. Sage was also named CIO of the year.

“In IT, we’ve been working hard to create a culture that’s team and change oriented while being passionate about serving our customers and current technology. Our customer satisfaction surveys have shown that we are reaching that goal. We’re also proud to be able to build on the University’s reputation as a technology innovator with our networking, distance learning, and student relationship management initiatives,” Sage said.

The NEOSA award was based on the division’s work that demonstrated a commitment to excellence driven by innovative thinking and a strategic focus.

To reach the division’s objectives for the coming year, IT leadership has identified several strategic initiatives for 2008, including:

Established in 1998 as the Northeast Ohio Software Association, NEOSA is a membership-based organization that promotes the advancement of the Technology Community and IT Industry of Northeast Ohio. NEOSA is made up of more than 700 member companies representing all facets of information technology. In 2004, NEOSA merged with COSE (the Council of Smaller Enterprises).