Technology Update Reports

Goal 1: Provide an Excellent Customer Experience.
Campus Partners	Project	Status
	Between July 1st and September 1st 2019, the IT team:
	Resolved 1,322 reported incidents with a mean time to repair of 21 hours.
	Average satisfaction rating of 4.94 out of 5 in Incident Response surveys
Faculty, Facilities	Worked with faculty to propose making Pickett available as a 24/7 computer lab	Complete
	Implemented a remote password reset option for Office 365	Complete
	To better define our services, revise the IT department’s Service Catalog and present it in a self-service format online	In Progress
Conference Services, Student Activities	Worked with the college to develop an Audio/Visual support service definition to improve the college’s support services	In Progress
President’s Office, Conference Services	Evaluated several AV systems for use during PSC Board of Trustees meetings and that could be used more broadly across campus	In Progress
	Create a robust inventory process for PSC computer/peripheral technologies to help the college plan for future needs	In Progress

Goal 2: Ensure the security, confidentiality, integrity, integration, and availability of all enterprise software applications and systems.
Campus Partners	Project	Status
	Rename campus computers according to standardized naming convention, allowing better more efficient customer service and computer management	Complete
	Align our identity and asset management system (Microsoft Group Policy) with established best practices	Complete
	Evaluated and proposed a risk assessment and auditing software tool to improve the college cybersecurity posture	Complete
	Updated our network equipment’s firmware to improve security and reliability	Complete
	Replaced our network and server monitoring tool with a lower cost open source software suite	Complete
	Performed critical updates to the college’s network firewall	Complete
Library	Assisted the library in updating and migrating their library software systems	Complete
	Updated all of the college’s Windows Server 2008 servers to ensure continued support and security of our systems	In Progress
IT Advisory Committee, Provost, Executive Cabinet	Create an approved and supported comprehensive cyber-security plan for the college	In Progress
	Upgrade our virtualization software on our data center servers	In Progress
	Identify and updated all computer running Windows 7 – Microsoft Support ends January 2020	In Progress
Title IX Coordinator, Campus Safety	Review and optimized our Disaster Recovery plan to ensure its effectiveness and compatibility with campus plan	In Progress
Provost’s Office	Exploring cybersecurity internship opportunities with SUNY Canton	In Progress
Campus Safety	Establish a cybersecurity playbook to allow us to respond quickly and efficiently to security issues	In Progress
Admissions, Registrar/IR, Financial Aid	Implement a tool to ensure data integrity between our enterprise systems – our first project is to integrate Admissions Data (TargetX) and our Student Information System (Powercampus) using a tool called Axiom	In Progress –  99% complete – Testing Phase
Executive Cabinet	Create multi-factor authentication policy and plan for implementation	In Progress – Policy Approved

Goal 3: Advance administrative excellence and operational efficiency through the effective implementation of information technologies.
Campus Partners	Project	Status
Business Office	Research and Review existing telecommunications vendor agreements and seek opportunities to right size, improve, and save costs	Complete
	Create a software/project evaluation rubric and process for new high cost systems	Complete
	Increase productivity of IT Services project management through the use of technology – Adopted ClickUp for Library and IT	Complete
Business Office, ADK Health	Explored technology partnerships with ADK Health to find mutual benefits	Complete
Student Affairs	Researched and reviewed existing and alternative options for cable television and presented them to student affairs for further consideration	Complete
Facilities	Assisted in exploring upgrade options for electronic door access for campus spaces	Complete
Financial Aid	Assisted in departmental adoption of DocStar for electronic document scanning and access	Complete
Human Resources	Support the implementation of recruitment and onboarding tool, ClearCompany, for Human Resources	In Progress
	Implement a remote monitoring and maintenance solution for classroom technologies (projectors, podiums)	In Progress
	Migrate all staff/faculty computers from MS Office Enterprise to MS Office 365	In Progress
Business Office, Facilities	Expanding cell phone coverage providers on campus	In Progress
Financial Aid, Business Office	Assist in establishing connection between Financial Aid PowerFAIDS and Student Information System PowerCampus	In Progress
Financial Aid, Business Office	IT helped perform a process review for Financial Aid and Student accounts	In Progress
	Explored alternative data center options which could lead to significant savings for our data center maintenance and replacement	In Progress
Business Office	Research printer fleet replacement and support vendors and seek approval from the college for purchase	In Progress – Spring 2020

Goal 4: Advance the academic mission of the college through the effective implementation and support of technologies, resources and services.
Campus Partners	Project	Status
Academics	Created pre-populated Outlook Calendar files for each faculty to import into their calendars	Complete
Provost, Faculty, CAS	Perform a campus wide assessment of all learning spaces with a cross divisional team	Complete
Provost	Performed a comparison of online course evaluation tools	Complete
Provost, Facilities, Athletics	Assisted in the implementation of the college’s new eSports lab space	Complete
Faculty, Registrar, Academic and Career Success	Enhance advising by implementing a fully functional Degree Planner tool	Complete – Supporting Academic Goals
Provost, Library	Assist in development of information and digital literacy standards and services to support the academic mission of the college	In Progress
Provost, CACS	Building on prior success, the college has upgraded Starfish (Early Alert, Connect, and Degree Planner) to the “Guide and Complete” platform, increasing support and tools for advisor analytics, guided pathways, and student self-assessment and career exploration – PSC will be preparing the new system this spring.	In Progress
Provost	Assisted in the development of the Master’s Program	In Progress
Bookstore	Started work with the Bookstore to simplify and improve the college’s textbook ordering process	In Progress
Title IX, CARE Coordinator	Assisted in the creation and implementation of a Chosen Name Policy	In Progress
Academic and Career Success, Provost, Faculty	Support the optimization of the use of Starfish for student success – meeting planning and advising for Advisors, CACS, TRIO, CAS, HEOP and other support office, and onboarding freshman advising	In Progress – CACS, CAS, TRIO and Advising Complete
Provost, Faculty	Support the growth of online learning and instructional design through professional development opportunities	In Progress 19-20AY – New Goals Created
Faculty	Support the creation of high quality educational offerings through Canvas and other technologies	In Progress 19-20AY – New Goals Created

Goal 1: Provide an Excellent Customer Experience
Campus Partners	Project	Status
	Between January 1st and September 1st 2019, the IT team:
	·         Resolved 1151 reported incidents with a mean time to repair of 21 hours.
	·         Answered 1521 phone calls
	·         Responded to 1721 emails
	·         Helped 702 walk-in customers
	Average satisfaction rating of 4.78 out of 5 in Incident Response surveys
	86% of students report satisfied or very satisfied with IT Services Helpdesk (MISO Survey Spring 2019)
Faculty	Create additional on-demand help documentation for podium technologies in learning spaces	Complete
	Streamline ability to assist users remotely to more quickly resolve their issues	Complete
	Create on-demand documentation for top 5 FAQ requests to the ITS Department	Complete
	Upgrade and enhance IT incident management software to be more customer friendly and efficient	Complete
	Our helpdesk software asks you via email for feedback after we close a ticket – help us to improve our services!	Complete
	Create and maintain a vendor software catalog to track all college enterprise software systems	Complete
	Establish performance Key Performance Indicators (KPI’s) for the helpdesk to ensure service quality	Complete
	To better define our services, revise the IT department’s Service Catalog and present it in a self-service format online	In Progress
Faculty,	Establish a new student job role – Technology Services Digital Literacy Trainer	Piloting Spring 2019 – On Hold 19-20AY
Academic Support Services
	Implement a remote password reset option for PSC users	In Progress
Campus Safety,	Work with student onboarding to get student photos into enterprise systems	To Do
Admissions,
Registrar,
IR

Goal 2: Ensure the security, confidentiality, integrity, integration, and availability of all enterprise software applications and systems.
Campus Partners	Project	Status
	Implement an automated live monitoring tool to track server status’ and provide alerts	Complete
	Upgrade server hardware and migrated enterprise data center backup software	Complete
	Implement a logging management service to better track, notify and inform IT of issues with our enterprise systems	Complete
Student Affairs	Install 60 new wireless access points in dorm rooms	Complete
	Increase security of wireless network by offering unsecure and secure connections	Complete
	Offer 2G and 5G wireless split band options to improve utilization and performance of wireless network	Complete
	Improve critical network configurations that should increase campus wide network performance	Complete
Student Affairs	Remove underutilized copper phone line service from dorm rooms to decrease maintenance costs	Complete
	Replace problematic networking equipment in the student center	Complete
	Performed security audit and hardening to the college’s enterprise servers	Complete
	Upgrade Antivirus software on our data center servers	Complete
Facilities/SLIC (3rd party)	Upgrade our campus network fiber infrastructure through a partnership with SLIC = more reliable, consistent and faster network connections	Complete – Small Portion of Campus requires construction investment for finalization
Registrar,	With established cross functional team, assess the impact, cost, and priority of upgrading PowerCampus	Complete – Project on Hold
Student Accounts,
Campus Advocacy and Response Education
IT Advisory Committee,	Create an approved and supported comprehensive cyber-security plan for the college	In Progress
Provost,
Executive Cabinet
	Rename campus computers according to standardized naming convention, allowing better more efficient customer service and computer management	In Progress
	Upgrade our virtualization software on our data center servers	In Progress
Admissions, Registrar/IR,	Implement a tool to ensure data integrity between our enterprise systems – our first project is to integrate Admissions Data (TargetX) and our Student Information System (Powercampus) using a tool called Axiom	In Progress –  95% complete – Testing Phase
Financial Aid
Executive Cabinet	Create multi-factor authentication policy and plan for implementation	In Progress – Policy Approved
	Align our identity and asset management system (Microsoft Group Policy) with established best practices	In Progress
	Identify and updated all computer running Windows 7 – Microsoft Support ends January 2020	In Progress
Title 9 Coordinator,	Review and optimized our Disaster Recovery plan to ensure its effectiveness and compatibility with campus plan	In Progress
Campus Safety

Goal 3: Advance administrative excellence and operational efficiency through the effective implementation of information technologies.
Campus Partners	Project	Status
Business Office,	In support of electronic document management, assist with the upgrade of Docstar software which is used by the business office to digitize paper documents.	Complete
HR
Financial Aid	Create and maintain a test server for our enterprise financial aid office	Complete
	Evaluate demos from alternative computer vendors to ensure we getting the maximum value for new purchases	Complete
	Create a maintenance calendar for all IT maintenance operations	Complete
Business Office	Research printer fleet replacement and support vendors and seek approval from the college for purchase	Complete
	Advise College Advancement on CRM Update/Acquisitions and billing	Complete
Business Office	Research and Review existing telecommunications vendor agreements and seek opportunities to right size, improve, and save costs.	In Progress
Human Resources	Support the implementation of recruitment and onboarding tool, ClearCompany, for Human Resources	In Progress
	Create a software/project evaluation rubric and process for new high cost systems	In Progress
	Implement a remote monitoring and maintenance solution for classroom technologies (projectors, podiums)	In Progress
	Migrate all staff/faculty computers from MS Office Enterprise to MS Office 365	In Progress
Business Office	Expanding cell phone coverage providers on campus	In Progress
Facilities
	Increase productivity of IT Services project management through the use of technology	In Progress
Financial Aid,	Explore next steps in having a supported connection between Financial Aid PowerFAIDS and Student Information System PowerCampus	On Hold
Business Office

Goal 4: Advance the academic mission of the college through the effective implementation and support of technologies, resources and services.
Campus Partners	Project	Status
Provost,	Provided educational professional development opportunities for the faculty and staff at Provost’s Day and other events	Complete
Faculty
Academic and Career Success	Migrate Center for Academic and Career Success from AccuSQL to Starfish in support of tutoring services	Complete
Provost,	Created LMS Learning Tools Interoperability policy for Canvas to streamline the user experience	Complete
Faculty
Provost,	Identify and select software for improving PSC’s ability to communicate campus events, track engagement, and offer micro-credentialing services	Complete
VP Student Affairs
Advancement, Academics	Worked with Culinary and Advancement Offices to get preliminary IT cost data for the Corporate Relations/Enrollment Development initiatives	Complete
Academic and Career Success	Transitioned software to a new platform for career services GradLeaders tool	Complete
Academics	Created pre-populated Outlook Calendar files for each faculty to import into their calendars	Complete
Academics	Upgraded the podium in the Adirondack room to be more BYOD friendly	Complete
Academic and Career Success,	Support the optimization of the use of Starfish for student success – meeting planning and advising for Advisors, CACS, TRIO, CAS, HEOP and other support office, and onboarding freshman advising	In Progress – CACS, CAS, TRIO and Advising Complete
Provost,
Faculty
Provost,	Support the growth of online learning and instructional design through professional development opportunities	Complete 18-19AY and In Progress 19-20AY
Faculty
Faculty,	Enhance advising by implementing a fully functional Degree Planner tool	In Progress – Registrar Building Plans for 19-20AY
Registrar,
Academic and Career Success
Provost	Perform a campus wide assessment of all learning spaces with a cross divisional team	In Progress
Provost,	Establish information and digital literacy standards and services to support the academic mission of the college	In Progress
Library
Faculty	Support the creation of high quality educational offerings through Canvas and other technologies	In Progress – Professional Development of Instructional Design

Goal 1: Provide an Excellent Customer Experience
Project	Status	Campus Partners
Between August 1st and December 31st 2018, the IT team:
·         Resolved 853 reported incidents with a mean time to repair of 21 hours.
·         Answered 993 phone calls
·         Responded to 932 emails
·         Helped 623 walk-in customers
Created on-demand help documentation for podium technologies in learning spaces	Complete	Faculty
To better define our services, revise the IT department’s Service Catalog and present it in a self-service format online	In Process
Establish a new student job role – Technology Services Digital Literacy Trainer	Piloting Spring 2019	Faculty, Academic Support Services
Establish performance Key Performance Indicators (KPI’s) for the helpdesk to ensure service quality	In Process
Work with student onboarding to get student photos into enterprise systems	To Do	Campus Safety, Admissions, Registrar, IR

Goal 2: Ensure the security, confidentiality, integrity, integration, and availability of all enterprise software applications and systems.
Project	Status	Campus Partners
Upgraded policies to improve security and process improvement – Clean Desk Policy, Password Policy	Complete	Provost’s Office/Cabinet
Performed a security audit of high priority technology assets	Complete
Implemented a multi-layer security entry point for all critical servers to prevent unwanted access	Complete
Performed an emergency upgrade to Powercampus	Complete	Registrar, Business Office
Performed a data center migration cost/benefit analysis on cloud based services	Complete
Performed research and cost/benefit analysis for Single Sign On solutions	Complete
Upgrade our virtualization software on our data center servers	In Process
Implement an automated live monitoring tool to track server status’ and provide alerts	In Process
Create an approved and supported comprehensive cyber-security plan for the college	In Process	IT Advisory Committee/Provost’s Office
Upgrade AntiVirus software on our data center servers	In Process – 95% complete
Implement a tool to ensure data integrity between our enterprise systems – our first project is to integrate Admissions Data (TargetX) and our Student Information System (Powercampus) using a tool called Axiom	In Process – Testing Phase	Admissions, Registrar/IR, Financial Aid
Upgrade our campus network fiber infrastructure through a partnership with SLIC = more reliable, consistent and faster network connections	In Process – South Campus Complete	Facilities/SLIC (3rd party)
Research multi-factor authentication solutions to increase security to enterprise email	In Process – Final Testing Phase
Align our identity and asset management system (Microsoft Group Policy) with established best practices	In Process
Performed security audit and hardening to the college’s enterprise servers	In Process
Implement a logging management service to better track, notify and inform us of issues with our enterprise systems	In Process
Rename campus computers according to standardized naming convention, allowing better more efficient customer service and computer management	In Process

Goal 3: Advance administrative excellence and operational efficiency through the effective implementation of information technologies.
Project	Status	Campus Partners
Automated Microsoft Licensing through the implementation of Microsoft KMS Server	Complete
IT department’s Strategic Plan draft approved by IT Advisory Committee	Complete	IT Advisory Committee
Analyzed our phone records to determine if we can reduce costs by reducing the number of door that have traditional copper phone line service	Complete	Residence Life
Migrated and upgraded Extract/Transform/Load software (Veera) used for campus data migrations/reporting	Complete	Registrar
Provided software vetting and recommendations for campus software FrontRush to support athletics recruitment efforts	Complete	Athletics, Admissions
In support of electronic document management, assist with the upgrade of Docstar software which is used by the business office to digitize paper documents.	In Process	Business Office, HR
Research printer fleet replacement and support vendors and seek approval from the college for purchase	In Process	Business Office
Research and Review existing telecommunications vendor agreements and seek opportunities to right size, improve, and save costs.	In Process	Business Office
Provide Professional Development on office productivity tools for Marketing Department	In Process	Marketing Department
Work with Student Affairs to research and vet software applications to improve student experience and operational efficiency	In Process	Student Affairs
Upgrade printer fleet	To Do
Explore next steps in having a supported connection between Financial Aid PowerFAIDS and Student Information System PowerCampus	To Do	Financial Aid, Business Office

Goal 4: Advance the academic mission of the college through the effective implementation and support of technologies, resources and services.
Project	Status	Campus Partners
Create and pass policies regarding LMS usage and permissions	Complete	Provost’s Office
Support the upgrade the library’s capstone database to increase security and functionality of the system.	Complete	Library
Support the Academic and Career Success department in the migration of career center software – AccuSQL and GradLeaders	Complete	Academic and Career Success
Research cable television options and work with Student Affairs to determine best service levels and costs	Complete	Student Affairs
Work with the Provost’s Office and faculty to support the pilot and implementation of online course evaluations	Complete	Provost’s Office, Faculty
Assist the Provost’s and Business Offices with grant applications for learning space renovations and upgrades	Complete	Provost’s Office, Business Office
Assisted Provost’s Office in locating vendors to assist PSC with academic strategy	Complete	Provost’s Office, Admissions
Provided educational professional development opportunities for the faculty and staff at Provost’s Day	Complete	Provost’s Office
Support academic support services (TRIO, HEOP, CASC, CAS) in piloting and implementing Starfish Kiosk to better manage walk-ins and meetings with students	In Process – CAS	CAS, TRIO, HEOP, CASC
Work with the faculty and facilities in two major Freer Renovation plans	In Process	Facilities, College Advancement, Faculty
Work with the Provost’s Office to create comprehensive classroom plan for the college	In Process – Learning Space Committee Formed and Working	Provost’s Office, Faculty, Staff
Enhance advising by implement a fully functional Degree Planner tool	In Process – Beta Launch Jan 2018	Faculty, Academic and Career Success
Working with the Library and Provost’s Office, establish information and digital literacy standards and services to support the academic mission of the college	In Process	Provost’s Office, Library
Support the growth of online learning and instructional design through professional development opportunities	In Process	Provost’s Office

One of the major initiatives that I think will have lasting impact is the creation of the IT Advisory Committee whose charge, simply, is to help the college set strategic priorities for technology on campus. This committee will help drive the priorities of the ITS department and will allow the department’s projects and tasks to have the maximum impact for the college.

Goal 1: Provide an Excellent Customer Experience
Project	Status	Campus Partners
From January 1st to September 1st the IT team has:	Ongoing
·         Resolved 1395 reported incidents with a mean time to repair of 19 hours.
·         Answered additional phone calls, walk-ins and emails
Further refined and improved our helpdesk operations processes.	Complete
Assisted the SOAR team in technology account creation and education during summer SOAR days.	Complete	Student Affairs, Academic and Career Success
Hire and Instructional and Enterprise Technologist to support campus needs – Welcome Ian!	Complete
Researched Computer Vendor Agreements to simplify student computer purchasing.	Complete
To better define our services, revise the IT department’s Service Catalog and present it in a self-service format online.	In Process
Establish performance Key Performance Indicators (KPI’s) for the helpdesk to ensure service quality.	To Do
Work with student onboarding to get student photos into enterprise systems.	To Do	Campus Safety, Admissions, Registrar, IR

Goal 2: Ensure the security, confidentiality, integrity, integration, and availability of all enterprise software applications and systems.
Project	Status	Campus Partners
Upgraded our primary bandwidth from a 700Mbit to 1000Mbit and changed internet service providers to take advantage of cost savings.	Complete
Performed Network and Server Security upgrades to harden our systems.	Complete
Upgraded and migrated servers and software for the Academic Success and Career Center, Registrar/IR, and Financial Aid departments.	Complete	Academic and Career Success, Registrar/IR, and Financial Aid
Implement an automated monitoring tool to track network status’ and provide alerts.	Complete
Replace aging Version 1 network access points in all buildings.	Complete	Facilities, Registrar
Implement a password security vault for technology management accounts.	Complete
Updated our server RAM capacity to meet enterprise software demands.	Complete
Upgrade policies to improve security and process improvement – Clean Desk Policy, Password Policy.	In Process	Provost’s Office/Cabinet
Implement an automated monitoring tool to track server status’ and provide alerts.	In Process
Create an approved and supported comprehensive cyber-security plan for the college.	In Process
Upgrade AntiVirus software on our data center servers.	In Process
Upgrade our virtualization software on our data center servers.	In Process
Implement a tool to ensure data integrity between our enterprise systems – our first project is to integrate Admissions Data (TargetX) and our Student Information System (Powercampus) using a tool called Axiom.	In Process	Admissions, Registrar/IR, Financial Aid
Upgrade our campus network fiber infrastructure through a partnership with SLIC.	In Process
Research 2-factor authentication solutions to increase security to enterprise systems.	In Process

Goal 3: Advance administrative excellence and operational efficiency through the effective implementation of information technologies.
Project	Status	Campus Partners
Advised and project managed the Bookstore and Marketing Department on exploring a POS solution for the bookstore.	Complete	Marketing, Bookstore
Created and IT Advisory Committee designed to allow campus input on how to best utilize IT Services to advance the college’s mission.	Complete	Faculty, Staff, Provost, VP Finance and Administration
Purchased new computers according to the college’s computer replacement policy – we will be distributing them this fall and winter.	Complete	Chair’s Council
Assist health and counseling services to implement an Electronic Medical Records system.	Complete	Health Services, Counseling Center
Assist administrative offices in transitioning between video conferencing solutions, GoToMeeting to Zoom.	Complete	President’s and Provost’s Offices
Upgraded IT Helpdesk incident management software.	Complete
Automating Microsoft Licensing through the implementation of Microsoft KMS Server.	In Process
Get approval for the IT department’s Strategic Plan draft.	In Process	IT Advisory Committee
In support of electronic document management, support the upgrade of Docstar software which is used by the business office to digitize paper documents.	In Process	Business Office, HR
Analyze our phone records to determine if we can reduce costs by reducing the number of door that have traditional copper phone line service.	In Process	Residence Life

Goal 4: Advance the academic mission of the college through the effective implementation and support of technologies, resources and services.
Project	Status	Campus Partners
Implemented Mobility Print, enabling PSC community users to print from their mobile devices.	Complete
Upgraded Picket, Cantwell, and Freer classroom podiums, creating an easy to use and consistent teaching environment that supports Bring Your Own Device.	Complete	Facilities, Faculty
Project managed the acquisition, pilot, implementation and launch of Canvas, the college’s new LMS to support teaching, learning, and distance education.	Complete	Faculty
Work with the library to implement a pilot of a digital signage room scheduling tool call JOAN.	Complete	Library
Enhance advising by implement a fully functional Degree Planner tool.	In Process	Faculty, Academic and Career Success
Support the Academic and Career Success department in the migration of career center software – AccuSQL and GradLeaders.	In Process	Academic and Career Success
Working with facilities and the Provost’s Office, expand power options in classrooms.	In Process	Provost’s Office
Work with the faculty and facilities in two major Freer Renovation plans.	In Process	Facilities, College Advancement, Faculty
Create and pass policies regarding LMS usage and permissions.	In Process	Provost’s Office
Support the upgrade the library’s capstone database to increase security and functionality of the system.	In Process	Library
Work with the Provost’s Office to create comprehensive classroom plan for the college.	To Do	Provost’s Office

Provide Excellent Customer Service
In 2017, the IT team:
• Resolved 2,469 reported incidents
• Answered 2,313 phone calls
• Responded to 4,504 emails
• Helped 1,353 walk-in customers

Over that time, we have received more service requests from the campus and have decreased the time it has taken to complete fixes (from 41 hours in spring 2017 to 30 hours in fall 2017). Anecdotally, I have been hearing positive feedback on the customer service you have been receiving. IT will continue to streamline and improve this area of service for you.

In alignment with the college’s strategic plan goal of ensuring “campus infrastructure is reliable, secure and adequately meets campus needs”:
• Data Center:
o We continue to implement updates and configuration changes to harden the security of our data center servers by creating firewall rules on servers to only allow specific protocols to connect to applications on the servers.
o We implemented best practice automated technologies to automatically “snapshot” our services periodically, allowing us to easily roll them back to previous points in time as might be needed in the case of an emergency.
o In order to continue to provide secure and functional file sharing services to campus, we migrated our file shares (P Drive, G Drive, U Drive, etc.) to a new updated version of Windows server.
• Networking:
o In an effort to provide excellent internet and network services to our students in dorms and classrooms, we conducted a survey on student satisfaction of their wireless internet experiences and continue to tweak network configurations to improve their experience. Overall, we have received a drop-in network related incidents and have partnered with Student Affairs to let us know if they hear issues from students so we can respond promptly.
o We continued implementing updates and configuration changes to harden the security of our network to keep threats at bay.
o We conducted a “Phishing” test, and subsequent emails and a lightning talk, to educate end users on the best practices to help secure our accounts and systems.
• Data Strategies
o The IT department is partnering with the Registrar’s office and Admissions department to provide resources and advice to better integrate the data in our enterprise systems and streamline employee and potential student workflows.

In support of the College’s strategic plan goal of providing inspired learning and “Implementing systems that will support both on-campus and remote activities”:
• After an extensive selection process, the college had decided to pilot a new Learning Management System to replace Moodle. Canvas was chosen as the final vendor and roughly 15 faculty and staff are using the software this spring in courses. Canvas will provide current, easy to use, ubiquitous access and allow for a variety of delivery modes to meet the needs of our faculty and students. This project also has the potential to improve retention and student success.
• To improve student success through improved advising, after an extensive selection process the college had partnered with Hobsons to provide a Starfish Degree Planner, an academic planning module of the Starfish platform that makes it possible for us to efficiently provide each student with a proactive, personalized, step-by-step roadmap to the finish line, even as their goals and circumstances change. This product is expected to go live at PSC in Fall 2018.
• The IT department has provided a way for faculty, staff and students to securely, and remotely, access their campus files on the network via a webpage at https://webfiles.paulsmiths.edu/htcomnet/

Adding Valuable Services for Students, Faculty and Staff.
• Upgraded computer labs with new projectors and lighting – With improved wireless services complete, the IT department has completed phase 1 of improving classroom technologies – we installed new, brighter projectors and adjusted the lighting in Pickett, Cantwell and Freer classrooms. Phase 2 will include assessing the need for the remaining classrooms and upgrading the podium equipment to create a common experience for teachers and students, enabling them to bring their own devices to project to the screens.
• Updated our website and online on-demand documentation for our most frequently asked questions.
• In support of the BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) student initiative, we are researching options to provide incoming students with consistent and compatible computer hardware options for purchase through our vendors.
• To improve and support the campus BYOD initiative, we are almost complete with a project that will enable campus faculty, staff and students to print to our printers using their own devices (Windows, MacOS, iOS, Android). More information to come soon!
• We have renamed some of our printers on campus to make them easier to identify.
• We have created a “Phone-A-Thon” in a box – a mobile set of preconfigured phones, laptops, and networking equipment that can provide phone and computing services anywhere on campus and can be set up and torn down quickly and easily. College Advancement will be responsible for the equipment, but the “Phone-A-Thon in a box” can be used to support any of our future campus business needs that require a phone center environment.
• Partnering with the Student Affairs department, we met with the RA’s to provide training to help field technology questions and issues that may arise with students.
• We checked all of the dorms and classroom spaces prior to the start of the spring semester to ensure everything was working well.
• The IT department has been streamlining the user creation process in our systems to ensure that new students, faculty and staff will have a positive onboarding experience.

Provide Excellent Customer Service
Since January 1st, the IT team has:
• Resolved 1430 reported incidents
• Answered an estimated 1435 phone calls
• Responded to an estimated 2800 emails
• Helped an estimated 800 walk-in customers

• This past Spring we implemented a new training program for our student workers – this program allows them to improve their technology and customer service skills making them more marketable for their post-PSC careers and allow them to deliver great service to our PSC community.
• One of our goals this fall is the improve the operations of our help desk services. We plan on implementing changes in our processes and procedures to better align with best practices in IT.

Mitigate Risk and Improve Network, Systems, and Data Security
• Data Center:
o Our data center has now been backed up to the cloud and we have the ability to, in the event of a disaster, continue our technological business operations by running our servers on cloud based infrastructure.
o Installed a smaller, cheaper, more efficient Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) with greater capabilities to replace our 15 year old unit. We are currently installing software on our server to allow for safe shutdowns in the event of a server room power outage.
• Networking:
o Installing Uninterruptible Power Supplies (UPS) in all of our switch closets around campus to ensure as much continuity of service as possible for our network and internet services.
o Changed our network configurations to provide users with an easier wireless experience – all of campus will now see “PSC Wifi” as their main wireless connection point. Dorm room access points have been incorporated into this naming scheme.
o The college signed an agreement with SLIC Network Solutions to obtain improvements to our fiber optic network at no cost to the College in exchange for providing bandwidth to SLIC for its seasonal customers.
o Implementing updates and configuration changes to harden the network. We have been conducting network penetration testing to find vulnerabilities. Though done informally at this point, the IT team has been sending out educational notices to the campus community warning them of popular security best practices.

• Systems, Software, Data and Operations:
o Organized some of our Identity Management Services (Active Directory) – These services provide permissions (username and password authentication) to many of our technology services and they were in desperate need to being updated. This project was significant and required a lot of time, energy, expertise, planning and collaboration. Our partnerships with other departments including the Provosts Office, Human Resources, Admissions, College Advancement, the Registrar and the Academic Success Center have helped us get started at putting in place processes to keep these lists accurate and up to date, allowing us to provide consistent, secure and well managed services now and into the future.
o Provided business analyst services to the Provost’s Office for several enterprise software systems in consideration for purchase.
o Drafted new policies and procedures for the department to increase transparency and improve operational efficiency.

Adding Valuable Services for Students, Faculty and Staff.
• Upgraded and moved computer labs – we installed new computers in Pickett 110 and replaced the aging computers in Library 108 with the computers from Pickett 214. This work was done in accordance with the college plan to reduce the total number of computer labs down to two. Both computer labs (P214 and L108) now have dual monitors at every station and Pickett 214, now empty, will have work done this fall to install power around the classroom on the desks to better support our Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) initiative. All of the classroom spaces now have strong wireless in support of BYOD.
• Assisted upgrading features for our Great Plains finance software which will improve operations and reporting for the campus.
• Installing Titanium EMR (Electronic Medical Records) Software for use by the Student Counseling Center. This software provides support for the department in their business operations and storage of their medical records.
• Finalizing the cleanup of loose and messy wires in the library computer spaces.
• Ordered replacement computers for qualified faculty and staff (laptops older than 4 years, desktops older than 5 years are being replaced as per college policy) and the team will be preparing and rolling them out this fall and winter.
• Completed the college dorm room Wi-Fi installations by installing in-wall access points in Livermore.
• Wireless access points are scheduled to be installed in the newly renovated student center.
• Provided support for Conference Services in hosting and configuring the new room reservation software.
• Partnering with the Student Affairs department, we met with the RA’s to provide training to help field technology questions and issues that may arise with students.
• Checked all of the dorms and classroom spaces prior to the start of the fall semester to ensure everything is working well. We found a few issues that need resolution and a few easy but meaningful opportunities for improvements. I’ll be sending a separate email with more details.
• We have provided updates to our website which includes support documents and instructions on how to let us know if you need help.

Provide Excellent Customer Service
• The Helpdesk has been busy and very productive, resolving your issues on average within 21 hours – Since January 1 we have:
• Resolved 476 reported incidents
• Answered an estimated 543 phone calls
• Responded to an estimated 944 emails
• Helped an estimated 319 walk-in customers

The Helpdesk staff also created an updated student worker training guide and incident response procedure to help ensure you are provided with the best customer service possible.

Mitigate Risk and Improve Network, Systems, and Data Security
• Created two new encrypted wireless networks for IT employees and all other managers utilizing information technology to manage Paul Smith’s College systems. This increases security while maintaining an easy to use, open wireless network for all other wireless users.
• Implemented network Access Control Lists (ACLs) and industry leading best practices to protect critical Paul Smith’s College systems from well-known vulnerabilities. In addition, these ACLs allow only authorized IT members access to these systems.
• Optimized, verified and stabilized our server backups – this better prepares us for unforeseen events and allows us to best prepare for a disaster recovery solution to restore critical IT systems in the event of a large scale disaster.
• Replacing aging server room uninterrupted power supply infrastructure.

Adding Valuable Services for Students, Faculty and Staff.
• Installed ~75 new wireless access points in classrooms to allow full classes to have a better experience when using their wireless devices.
• Performed a major upgrade to our Student Information System – PowerCampus/Self-Service.
• Completed a campus-wide computer inventory in preparation for replacing aging computers on campus.
• Created new servers for counseling center software and a campus data management server.
• Implemented wireless network features (“Air Time Fairness”, “Band Steering”) to improve performance for wireless devices.

The Short Version:
We have been working on adding over 100 wireless access points to classroom spaces, completed tests of technology in our classrooms (1 issue found), patched our servers with security updates, updated our server backup configurations, tightened security on our network, added redundancy to some of our critical systems, upgraded our IT help desk software, proposed policy changes, and moved towards completion of (a) a major PowerCampus upgrade, (b) conference services room schedule web server installation, (c) and scheduled demos for a book store Point of Sale system. Additionally, we updated software in some computer labs, pushed out some faculty and staff computers, worked on completing a computer hardware inventory, and are having USB and outlet power installed in the Cantwell 101 computer lab to prepare for mobile access…and we worked to answer all of your calls, emails, and walk-in questions.

The Long Version:
Network:
• We are adding over 100 wireless access points to classrooms accommodate classroom capacity and give users a more consistent and better experience when using mobile devices. As of last Friday, the electricians had finished installing the necessary network wiring in all of the rooms and we are busy installing the access points. So far Cantwell and Saratoga are complete and the other classrooms will be coming online in the coming weeks. I will provide an update when the project is complete.
• We are improving our tracking, configuration and redundancy of our network assets by adding the devices MAC addresses to the DHCP reservations and adding the devices to our inventory spreadsheet.
• We are actively planning the work required to tighten some of our network security configurations and policies to limit access to critical systems by outsiders.

Classroom Spaces:
• Each of our 42 classrooms was inspected for a 9 point hardware check. We found 1 outstanding issue that we are working to resolve – Cantwell 217 is experiencing a pink hue on the projector.
• We performed software upgrades in Library 108

Servers:
• We performed security updates on our windows servers.
• We implemented a backup DNS server to work in case of failure of our primary DNS server. DNS is critical software that enables users to log into our network and access the internet.
• Our new Systems Administrator spend some time verifying that our server backup system is functional and configured correctly.

Software:
• We upgraded our helpdesk software making our processing of incidents much more efficient and making the creation of a ticket much easier for you, our customer. From now on sending an email to helpdesk@paulsmiths.edu will automatically generate a ticket in our system. To ensure the best service, please do not email us individually but rather use this email address. It ensures your issue will not slip through the cracks in the midst of our overflowing inboxes.
• We are working to complete a major upgrade to Ellucian Powercampus, our student information system. This is a major technical project spanning several months and involving the coordination of many departments on campus for planning, implementation, testing and verification of data, and resolution. Major progress has been made on this project to keep it on time and on budget and it is scheduled to be complete in February.
• We have completed our responsibilities for the implementation of an upgrade to our new room scheduling software (KxSoftware).
• We are working with the bookstore and the marketing department to implement a point of sale system for our retail operations – a multi-month project plan. The team completed an RFP this fall and saw demonstrations from a variety of vendors in January. Final selection and implementation is tentatively schedule for the spring semester.

Administration
• We submitted a proposal to the college for improving our hardware replacement process on campus in the most efficient and predictable way.
• The IT department is conducting a thorough inventory of our computer assets.
• We worked on preparing and allocating computer replacements for some faculty/staff as part of an ongoing project.
• We are hiring a new IT Operations Manager to fill the role Stacie Hurwitch had.

And we enjoyed our holiday break. On behalf of the Information Technology Team at Paul Smith’s College, welcome back and we hope you have a great semester.

Still have questions?
We want to provide great service so please let us know if you are having any issues or need help.
1. Ask us in person. We’re located in the first floor of the library – Room 112
2. Email your issue to helpdesk@paulsmiths.edu
3. Contact us via phone at (518)327-6465
4. Submit a support ticket to us via the web: http://helpdesk.paulsmiths.edu/Login.jsp