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Contents
Annual Report 2004-05
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Major Accomplishments
This report highlights the significant, new IT accomplishments for the past fiscal year. Many more accomplishments in day-to-day operations are not mentioned here. None would have been possible without the sharp, dedicated staff of DoIT, and the efforts of our campus partners.
Campus Community Services
Student Orientation, Advising, and Registration (SOAR)
SOAR at UW-Madison is a summer program designed to introduce students, parents and guests to the UW community. DoIT provided Web registration to make sure that the 33 sessions for freshmen and five sessions for transfer students ran smoothly. Over 6,700 parents and guests of incoming students were introduced to DoIT computing resources. Staff also distributed 8,400 desktop security CDs. During the four-week “Back-to-School” period in fall 2004, DoIT staff also advised nearly 5,000 UW-Madison students, faculty and staff, helping them identify and obtain IT solutions to meet their academic needs.
Campus-wide Firewall Initiative
The Firewall Services Pilot Project was begun in the spring of 2005 to test and customize a solution that supports centralized investment in firewalls with decentralized administration, giving departments the greatest possible flexibility. A three-zone structure was defined. A pilot implementation in Zone 2 (local area networks) was begun. Maintaining security at the borders between departments and groups of machines involves the implementation of firewall capabilities for the campus, including creation of standards and guidelines for firewalls in this zone.
Security Improvements
The continuing challenge to support and secure campus desktops, servers and hand-held devices was met through creation of a “Zone 3 Security and Support Team.” The team is focused on computer platforms, locations, security concerns, and solutions. They completed a thorough review of current needs and made recommendations for the fall 2005 academic year.
Help Desk
The Help Desk implemented a popular new service that provides automated self-service NetID password management, reducing by half the number of calls to the Help Desk requesting NetID password resets. Two Service Desks were merged, improving the walk-in customer experience. Last year also saw the arrival of a new, award-winning Knowledgebase Content Manager to continuously review and improve this searchable online database of support articles. Finally, the group successfully upgraded and enhanced Clarify Clear-Support, the Help Desk’s customer-service management system.
My UW
DoIT started the process by which the My UW-Madison portal’s current underlying software will be replaced by uPortal, an open-source software product created by a national consortium of higher-education institutions. DoIT also significantly improved the availability and reliability of the My UW- Madison Web Portal, with reports of better overall availability than last year’s average of 99.95%. Despite the amount of work involved in preparing for the migration to uPortal, the My UW service team improved the portal’s Academic tab, as the popular “Course Resources” module was extended to include instructor information as well as Library Reserves by department and by instructor.
WiscMail
Over 52,000 (97%) of eligible students and 19,707 (59%) of eligible faculty and staff had active accounts. Daily message volume jumped from two million to three million last year. WiscMail spam filtering identified and filtered more than 40% of messages as junk mail.
My WebSpace
DoIT implemented this new Web hosting service in the fall of 2004. Students, faculty and staff can take advantage of My WebSpace for hosting Web sites, storing documents, sharing files and the like. By summer 2005, 20,000 accounts had been set up.
Unified Messaging
This new software-based system is available to all voice mail users at no cost beyond the standard cost of voice mail telephone service. Among other benefits, the new software system allows users to receive a copy of their voice mail messages in email message form as an attached audio file that they may play back using their favorite email client. There were 20,000 accounts by year-end.
Digital Academic Television Network (DATN)
DoIT deployed a free video transmission service (DATN) in conjunction with the rollout of the 21st Century Network across campus. The upgraded campus network enables speedy transmission of huge data files, such as television broadcasts delivered over Internet Protocol (IP). As soon as a campus building is connected to the new network backbone and outfitted with the proper electronic equipment, UW-Madison faculty, staff, and students located within that building are able to watch closed-captioned university cable and satellite programming from their workstations and personal computers.
Back to ContentsThe Network
UW-Madison’s research networking capabilities rely on high-bandwidth, on-demand links at local, regional and international levels. Progress was made in each of these areas this past year.
Local -- 21st Century Network Upgrade
Great progress was made on this campus network upgrade. Approximately 725 Cisco switches were installed in 350 telecommunication rooms on campus. The project is almost halfway complete.
Regional Links -- WiscWaves
UW-Madison engineers have assembled a 250-mile, fiber-optic, dense wave division-multiplexing network linking Madison (and soon Milwaukee) to Chicago, where education and research networks converge. WiscWaves enables us to deploy resources to meet the specific needs of UW-Madison researchers, in part, because the network will be under local control. The network is capable of transporting UW researcher, faculty, staff and student data at 10-gigabit-per-second speeds to destinations in the U.S. or across the globe to facilities in places such as Switzerland, Japan and Russia. The 320-gigabit-capable system now gives us direct, high-speed access to Internet2 and positions us to take advantage of the National Lambda Rail, a fiber-optic infrastructure that will soon link the national research community.
Regional Collaboration -- Link to the CIC Chicago Loop
Chicago is a central networking hub for higher-education research in the United States. UW-Madison has increased its research networking flexibility through a 12-university consortium (CIC) purchase of two fiber-optic rings in downtown Chicago. The new Chicago Fiber Ring will redundantly connect all participating schools to Internet2, the National Lambda Rail and other education, research networks, and peering points. Collaboration on other networking cyber-infrastructure in the Chicago area continues.
National -- Northern Tier Network Consortium (NTNC)
UW-Madison is a leader in the Northern Tier Network Consortium (NTNC), a regional network alliance of education and government institutions that are building a national backbone route across the northern U.S. border west of Lake Michigan. The consortium started designing an approximately 2100-mile dense wave division-multiplexing network in three sections: Northern Tier Western Shore, Northern Tier Central and the Northern Tier Eastern Shore (also known as BOREAS-Net). In the end, it is hoped these network segments will provide seamless end-to-end network capability.
Instructional Technology
Learn@UW
This UW-Madison course management system utility is now the sole provider of centralized eLearning services for the entire UW System. In addition to hosting Learn@UW courses for the entire system, DoIT delivered over 1,100 timetable courses in Learn@UW for the UW-Madison campus during last year.
Croquet
The National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NiCT) of Japan is set to renew a contract with UW-Madison, providing an additional $200,000 for development of new educational uses for Croquet, an innovative open-source operating system that UW-Madison and the University of Minnesota made available to developers in October 2004. Croquet is designed to support synchronous peer-to-peer communication and collaboration among large numbers of users within 3-D simulation-based learning environments.
E-Grading
Electronic grade submission became a reality this year through a successful collaboration between DoIT and the UW-Madison Office of the Registrar. DoIT deployed and supported a pilot service for exporting grades from Learn@UW directly into the Student Information System. The participating campuses, UW-Madison and UW-Green Bay, reported that the pilot was a success, and the service will be expanded to include other campuses in the coming year.New Learning Tools
DoIT worked with UW-Madison faculty and instructional staff to produce three new tools and one custom application:
- QuizImage - easy-to-use software that allows instructors to build a rich learning experience by creating interactive maps, graphs, art works, and other visual representations, along with embedded questions and feedback, to help students test their understanding.
- ConceptTutor - easy-to-use desktop application that allows instructors to annotate existing Web pages with multimedia content so that students can learn concepts at the time they need them and within the proper context.
- Dynalesson (the latest incarnation of Multimedia LessonBuilder) and Groupwork - a custom-designed “Virtual Dig” simulation that enables students to form teams and collaborate as they develop strategies and analyze data based on pre-determined conditions.
Campus Administrative Systems
These systems include human resources (APBS), library, student information, financial, and grants administration.
Integrated Student Information System (ISIS)
Based on the PeopleSoft Student Administration System, ISIS provides administrators with access to information for admissions, enrollment, fees, financial aid, and curriculum, while giving students and alumni access to their records as well. This past year, ISIS was enhanced and preparations were made for the upcoming upgrade of the system to PeopleSoft 8.9. A new service that enables faculty to submit grades electronically was added. Another, called the Degree Audit Reporting System (DARS) Web for Advisors, enabled advisors to find the information they need while consulting with their student advisees.
Shared Financial System (SFS)
Currently, UW System Administration and 11 UW System campuses are working together to implement a Shared Financial System consisting of PeopleSoft Financial modules for general ledger, accounts payable, purchasing, and asset management. An additional four campuses also submit data into this shared system. Last year, DoIT personnel, in conjunction with UW System administrators, introduced an integrated set of five applications that assist with accounting for payroll transactions.
Appointment, Payroll and Benefits System (APBS)
This year DoIT staff designed and developed several UW-Madison specific interfaces to the shared APBS, but development of those systems was stopped when the UW System APBS project was paused. DoIT staff continued to support the current integrated applications and shared budget system for all campuses in the UW System, as well as the UW-Madison-specific recruitment applications.
Closing in on Seamless “Single Sign-On”
DoIT brought the University much closer to the goal of convenient “single sign-on” to such popular services as email, calendaring, and the My UW-Madison Web portal. The Identification, Authentication, and Authorization (IAA) system went into production this year, enabling seamless identity management and supporting secure implementation of common UW System applications such as the integrated Appointment, Payroll and Benefits System and Learn@UW (Desire2Learn). Also this year, DoIT launched the new Web Initial Sign-On (WebISO) system, allowing users to access multiple Web-based services through a centralized authentication service. Over 50 applications on campus are currently using WebISO.
Outreach
Public Health Information Network (PHIN)
DoIT continues to play a key role in developing our state’s public health information infrastructure. We implemented three new Web-based systems enabling critical data to be shared among the Department of Transportation, Department of Health and Family Services, and the Department of Commerce. The systems are:
- A new module for SPHERE, a Web-based system for maternal and child health
- Electronic Lab Reporting for the Wisconsin State Lab of Hygiene;
- A pediatric cancer rapid reporting system pilot
- Casepoint, a Web-based Electronic Reporting System for medical examiners and coroners in Wisconsin to document and collect important information on recent deaths
ResearchChannel
The “UW-Madison Presents” series on the ResearchChannel now consists of eight programs, including several offerings added this year. Produced through a creative collaboration between the Provost’s Office and DoIT, Undergraduate Symposium 2004, is a documentary celebrating the annual UW-Madison showcase of student achievements in research, creative endeavor, and service learning. Healthy Grown Potatoes tells the story of how potato growers are reducing pesticide use and marketing under the “Healthy Grown” brand, and Stories from the Field: Fresh Market Fruit & Vegetables, Parts 1 and 2 explores the sustainable agriculture movement and judicious use of pesticides. These new programs join four that were produced in 2003. You can view them at www.researchchannel.org
MINDS@UW
In fall 2004, the Council of University of Wisconsin Libraries established a Repository Task Force, which developed a communications plan and organized presentations to stakeholders across the UW System campuses. Visits to UW institutions and presentations heightened the visibility of the project, resulting in a growing list of academic communities committed to depositing materials in Minds@UW. DoIT partners with the Library on this project and has overseen system development, implementation, access controls through authentication on the campus and system levels, and interface customization.
Diversity & Accessibility
The Information Technology Academy (ITA)
The ITA trains high school students from minority and economically disadvantaged groups in information technology skills and prepares them for competitive university admissions. Begun in 2000, the program has graduated 25 Madison-area students to date, 24 of who were admitted to regional colleges. Eight ITA graduates are currently enrolled at UW-Madison, and another four graduates of the Spring 2005 class will enter UW-Madison in the fall.
Badger Accessibility Services
This service helps students, faculty, and staff to locate and create accessible audio and text-based classroom materials. Developed n conjunction with the McBurney Disability Resource Center it is also offered to other universities, colleges, public school systems and municipalities within the United States, for a fee. In the first year of operation, DoIT has acquired 30 national accounts and garnered wide recognition for the program among the national accessibility community.
Accessibility and the Web Video
The National Association of College and University Business Officers recognized DoIT as a leader in Web accessibility policy development for its “Accessibility and the Web” series. The latest installment, “Listening to Learn: Digital Reading Solutions,” was showcased at the National Association of Higher Education and Disability Service Providers Annual Conference. The series is the result of a cross-campus partnership involving Badger Accessibility Services, McBurney Disability Resource Center, Trace Research Center and the School of Education Instructional Media Development Center.
Technology Goals and Initiatives For 2005-06
In June 2005, DoIT senior staff met in a full-day planning session to identify the information technology goals for the academic year 2005-2006. Another meeting took place in June among the Madison Technical Advisory Group, or M-TAG, IT leaders from schools, colleges and campus divisions who met to identify key strategic IT goals for the coming year. There was a great deal of coherence between the goals identified by each group. Here are the goals, with key initiatives underlined.
Ongoing Top Priorities
- Campus Network: robust campus IT network, both wired and wireless
- Security: campus IT infrastructure that balances access with security and is based on inter- and intra-institutional collaboration
- Technology-Enhanced Instruction: innovative academic technology applications and instructional support
- Customer Service and Support
- Enterprise Systems: world-class support for mission-critical academic and administrative applications (Course Management, Payroll and Benefits, Student Information, Grants Administration, Financials, Library, etc.)
- Web Portal / Integrated Systems: consolidated services and integrated workflow
- Business Continuity: reliable disaster recovery for enterprise data
Planned Upgrades/Expansions of Existing Services
- Campus Network: continued implementation of 21st Century Network, including wireless capability
- Security: expansion of integrated role-based identification management and security policy development and implementation across the campus
- Technology-Enhanced Instruction: expansion of new Learn@UW electronic grade submission and electronic transcript services; enhanced customized service to meet needs of faculty members and instructors
- Customer Service and Support: expanded WiscMail and WiscMail Plus services
- Enterprise Systems: major upgrades to the Integrated Student Information System (ISIS) and the Shared Financial System (SFS)
- Web Portal / Integrated Systems: major upgrade of the My UW-Madison (MUM) Web Portal framework
New Initiatives
- Campus Network: strategic planning for future support of Internet telephony, handheld devices, simulation-based learning applications, etc.
- Security: deployment of Campus-wide Firewall Service
- Enterprise Systems: implementation of a Grants Administration System for the Graduate School
- Web Portal / Integrated Systems: switch to uPortal; add new features.
- Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA): methodology for improved integration of major application systems and services
- Work-flow Integration: selection and implementation of a workflow system
Internal Objectives
To achieve these goals next year, DoIT will commit itself as an organization to the following internal objectives:
- Increase consistency in project management processes across the division
- Reallocate resources to achieve operational excellence
- Promote standardized project management tools and processes division-wide
- Increase divisional awareness of the University culture
- Enhance professional growth and development opportunities for DoIT employees