Annual
Report 2001 (Provost report)
A Technology Leader
As a world leader in creating, integrating, transferring
and applying knowledge, the University of Wisconsin-Madison needs
access to reliable and secure information technology. Students,
faculty and staff require information technology for effective teaching
and research, and administrators need it to manage and operate the
University effectively and efficiently.
The Division of Information Technology (DoIT) strives to be a leader
at the state, national, and international levels in developing and
delivering the information technology services that the campus needs.
DoIT also provides some services to the 26-campus University of
Wisconsin System and other State agencies.
Our vision and organization
It is our vision to be …
As of October 2001, DoIT employed 470 permanent, 68 limited-term,
six project assistant and 178 student staff in 10 departments. The
annual budget is approximately $65 million. About 75 percent of
DoIT revenue comes from direct charges to customers.
The
Campus Computing Culture
A variety of local and national events helped shape the computing
climate on campus this past year. Requests for DoIT to facilitate
videoconferencing jumped after September 11. National security concerns
led to greater campus network security and improved password protection.
More students, faculty and staff used the Web to shop and make
school-related purchases. This led to more departments’ seeking
help to build their own e-commerce sites. Several campus sites —
including Admissions, Athletics and the DoIT Tech Store — noticed
a surge in online transactions in 2001.
Portability and convenience remained twin themes of the student
culture. A jump in cell phone and laptop ownership raised expectations
for faster access to data and a faster network to make it possible.
Students’ thirst for music put a strain on the campus network
— particularly in UW Housing — and prompted a cap on bandwidth
for file-sharing programs such as Napster, KaZaA and Gnutella.
Students welcomed the rollout of the My UW-Madison Web portal.
And it fueled expectations for new features and new audiences who
want to use it in coming months.
DoIT was glad to play a part in meeting campus technology needs.
This report outlines several of the Division’s major accomplishments
in 2001.
Our
Accomplishments
Transforming Teaching Through Technology (T4)
T4 is a program coordinated by DoIT to provide an infrastructure
that enables the University to use technology wisely to transform
teaching and learning. Specific projects now underway include redesign
of the Biology 151/152 introductory course series for majors, creation
of an online certificate program in Geographic Information Systems,
and development of advanced listening comprehension tools for language
study.
DoIT administered approximately $1 million in grants for three
T4 projects, $150,000 for five Teaching and Learning
with Technology Grants and $75,000 for multiple WebGrant projects.
| ‘My UW-Madison’ Web portal honored
SAN FRANCISCO – The “My UW-Madison” campus
Web portal has been honored with the 2001 Digital Government
Award for higher education by Accenture and the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology.
The My UW-Madison portal was recognized because it combines
the resources of several hundred Web sites into a single,
personalized portal that enables students, faculty and staff
to do everything from accessing course materials and class
schedules to checking financial aid to scheduling deadlines
and campus events through an interactive calendar.
My UW-Madison was launched June 18. To see a preview,
go to my.wisc.edu and under
Guest Accounts click on Annie Student. The Capital Times 7/19/01 |
My UW-Madison Web Portal
DoIT has partnered with many campus entities to develop My
UW-Madison, an award-winning portal that provides an individualized
view of campus information in a friendly, secure, Web-based format.
My UW-Madison was pilot tested with Biology and Engineering
students in 2000-01 and offered to new UW students at SOAR. It was
rolled out for all students to use in the fall of 2001; a faculty
and staff version will be made available during 2002.
My UW-Madison integrates many online tools and services
to present information that a student is authorized to see, on a
customizable Web page. It includes Web-based email, academic information,
a campus-wide calendar and scheduling system, access to the online
library catalog, financial information, student records including
grades and information on fines and holds, and other resources.
Instructional Technology Services@Wisconsin (ITS@Wisconsin)
ITS@Wisconsin is a resource that enables Wisconsin educators to
effectively use Webbased learning systems to enhance education.
ITS@Wisconsin provides technology, training, support and instructional
design services. DoIT supplies complete services for WebCT to 11
UW institutions and 650 courses.
University Directory Service:
LDAP and Registry
DoIT has worked with campus departments to develop a general-purpose
directory service and a shared authentication service. This University
Directory Service (UDS) contains:
• A registry that creates a single view of a person and the
person’s roles in the University community. Users’ access
to data is based upon their role with the University. For example,
a student who is also an employee would have access to personal
employment information as well as to student information.
• An LDAP Directory makes a subset of person information available
to client applications for identification, authentication and authorization
purposes. The initial version of these services was delivered for
use with the My UW-Madison Web portal.
Student
Administration Systems
Students piloted online (Web) enrollment in the fall of 2001. Students
are also able to explore course requirements for other majors and
receive grade reports through My UW-Madison. The first components
of a new University Housing Assignment Billing System have gone
into production to replace the existing mainframe system. New ISIS
(Integrated Student Information System) reports and queries were
developed to meet campus information needs.
Shared Financial System
The Shared Financial System (SFS) is an integrated set of financial
tools created for the UW System. Based on PeopleSoft’s Financial
modules, SFS provides financial data for general ledger, accounts
payable, purchasing, and asset management. This year, DoIT worked
on implementation of SFS for three additional campuses. Eleven campuses
now use SFS directly. In addition, four UW-System campuses, including
Madison, interface data from their existing systems to SFS. DoIT
developed WISDM, a Web-based financial query and reporting application
that provides all campuses with easy access to data.
Appointment, Payroll, and Benefits System (APBS)
In May, the University of Wisconsin System contracted with Lawson
Software to install and implement a major new Appointment, Payroll,
and Benefits System (APBs) for the University. The new APBs will
support human resources systems for University employees, streamline
processing tasks, and improve data accuracy and reporting. DoIT
installed the product and will be heavily involved in the pilot
phase of the project. This pilot will demonstrate Lawson’s
ability to meet the University’s needs and leads to formal
acceptance of Lawson as the software provider for this project.
DoIT has participated in fit-gap analysis, interoperability proof-of-concept
(with PeopleSoft Financials and Student Administration), data mapping
and conversion, report analysis, and compatibility with the University’s
Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) direction. Staff have
received extensive training on the Lawson software and its related
tools and technologies.
Access to the Web
DoIT is helping departments and individuals to meet Web accessibility
guidelines, which were revised in November 2001. An extensive series
of workshops was presented in the spring and fall of 2001 to promote
accessibility in the design of Web pages. We are increasing the
coordination of Web
accessibility services in support of the University’s
updated policy.
Network
Growth
DoIT responded in several ways to unprecedented demand for network
resources in 2000-01:
- In summer 2001, DoIT and WiscNet upgraded the WiscNet state-wide
backbone and access to the Internet, Internet2 and peering. The
WiscNet backbone now exits to the Internet from Eau Claire, Milwaukee
and Chicago. The data lines from Madison to Milwaukee and Chicago
have been upgraded from OC-3 to OC-12. We have also obtained OC-12
capability from Milwaukee to Internet2, via Qwest.
- Student use of Napster for sharing files severely taxed network
capacity during the 2000-01 school year. To address the problem,
DoIT developed an innovative network-monitoring tool that tracks
the effects of applications, including Napster, on network capacity.
This tool, called FlowScan, is being used by a number of institutions
throughout the country.
- Five additional wireless networking sites were launched across
the UW-Madison campus. “Wireless WiscWorld” enables
network access in open, common areas that are no farther than
a five-minute walk from anywhere on campus. Eighteen new “communications
kiosks” were placed at Memorial Union, Union South, the Red
Gym and other locations. These kiosks are providing convenient
access to the Web for the campus community and visitors.
Security
The first UW-Madison computer security seminar was held in May,
attracting more than 100 attendees from campus and UW System schools.
Demand increased for security consulting for new system development,
for handling reports of inappropriate use of UW-Madison computing
resources, and for the distribution of security tools, security
documentation, and vulnerability scanning.
Progress
in Meeting Diversity Goals
DoIT’s efforts to increase the diversity of its own staff and
to promote diversity University-wide were marked by significant
progress:
- The representation of people of color on DoIT’s staff
compares favorably to regional availability. As of November 2001,
5.7 percent of DoIT’s permanent staff and 16.7 percent of
our student staff were people of color.
- DoIT participates in statewide committees including the Wisconsin
Recruitment Advisory Board (WRAP) and Information Technology Advisory
Board (ITAB). These committees deal with recruitment issues and
look for ways to improve recruitment and retention of staff.
- Hiring practices continue to reflect the organization’s
commitment to gender equity. The number of females in DoIT’s
senior management group has increased from three in 1995 to six
in 2001. After a nationwide search, DoIT also recently hired a
female to serve as its new Associate CIO.
- The Information Technology Academy (ITA) program grew substantially
this year. The ITA is a four-year pre-college technology access
and training program for talented students of color and economically
disadvantaged students attending Madison Public Schools. The first
group of 17 students attended a DoIT training camp in July 2000.
The second class was recruited, and new students started in the
summer of 2001. Last year, students received new computers donated
by Hewlett Packard and software obtained by DoIT. A tutoring program
helps ITA students meet and maintain high academic standards;
and a mentoring program pairs ITA students with DoIT staff and
other campus staff who provide support, encouragement, and technical
guidance over the four years students are a part of ITA.
- DoIT staff was instrumental in planning and participating in
a middle school after-school program, Lilith, which encourages
an interest in technology among girls.
|  ITA
Class of 2005 gets in touch with technology
Another group of ninth graders is climbing the learning curve
of technology. Fourteen incoming high school freshmen have
formed the Class of 2005 at UW-Madison’s Information
Technology Academy (ITA), a four-year pre-college program
of technical, academic and personal preparation for students
attending Madison Public Schools. The new class joins seventeen
other students already in their second year at ITA.
ITA focuses its efforts on providing technology access
and training for talented students of color, economically
disadvantaged students, or both. The program hopes to retain
the current students through their high school years and add
approximately fifteen new students in each year, for a continuing
class of 60 students. While in high school, ITA students receive
more advanced training and leadership development, and will
participate in internships, community service and other activities.
The program is evolving based on ITA’s first year.
“We are trying to enhance our executive committee with
people who can help us find the resources to grow the program,”
Calvin Williams, former ITA co-director says. “We’re
looking at broadening our mentoring program to include, perhaps,
undergrad and graduate students and people in the community.”
Williams adds that ITA is seeking paid internship opportunities
for its students. “We would help the students prepare
for their internships,” Williams says. “They could
help community programs by providing technical support, Web
page design and other services.” For details see the
ITA website. |
University Relations Activities: Supporting Research and
the Wisconsin Idea
Identification, Authentication, Authorization (IAA) project
for UW System
DoIT is providing technology support for a System-wide directory
service. This enables the campuses to provide real-time updates
and access to a database of students, faculty, staff and others
who are considered part of the University community. A System-wide
White Pages directory is the first online application that will
draw on the project’s work.
Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) research grant from Internet2
PKI is a system for verifying and authenticating the validity of
those involved in an Internet transaction. It will play a critical
role, for example, in making electronic commerce widely useful and
trusted. DoIT is involved with two PKI projects:
- A PKI Lab was established at UW-Madison with the help of a
competitive award from AT&T and Internet2. Faculty and staff
from the Computer Science Department and staff from DoIT are part
of the laboratory, which addresses short- and medium-term research
issues on PKI and related security technologies. The PKI Lab will
serve as a test bed for PKI-enabling applications in higher education
with critical security needs that have yet to be met. Recently
PKI Lab staff were awarded additional funding from the Mellon
Foundation through a proposal initiated by the sister PKI Lab
at Dartmouth University. UW staff will be working on trusted third-party
approaches to “hardening” security of S/MIME encrypted
email.
- A study has been launched on usability factors affecting the
adoption and use of PKI-based S/MIME secure email. The study is
a cooperative project with participation from DoIT, the UW-Madison
PKI Lab, the Department of Industrial Engineering and the Department
of Family Medicine. The results of the study are to be published
in an academic journal and presented at meetings of the American
Medical Informatics Association and other venues.
National Electronic Disease Surveillance System (NEDSS)
The goal of NEDSS is to enhance public health surveillance by creating
national standards for electronic exchange of information and by
facilitating appropriate data exchange among local, state and federal
health entities including research, hospital and laboratory operations.
In essence, it will provide a “weather channel” of real-time
disease information for managing our nation’s health and for
combating bio-terrorism.
In the spirit of the Wisconsin Idea, DoIT has teamed with the Wisconsin
Department of Health and Family Services, the State Lab of Hygiene,
and WiscNet, under a grant from the Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention, to play a major role in implementing NEDSS in Wisconsin.
Our activities include integrating the management and implementation
of NEDSS with Wisconsin’s ongoing Health Alert Network (HAN)
program, for which DoIT and WiscNet also provide major support.
UW System Collaterals Project
DoIT has increased its participation in MILER, the System-wide initiative
to assist campuses with implementation of PeopleSoft’s Student
Administration System. DoIT staff have replaced third-party consultants.
They provide knowledge and expertise on the Student Administration
System, create and deliver reports, and support third-party products
such as the Address Verification software from First Logic.
Titan Arum Webcam
At the request of UW-Madison’s Botany Department, DoIT
quickly built a “flower cam” to enable the world to watch
the growth of the Amorphophallus titanum plant in May and June of
2001. The titan arum Webcam server received more than 30 million
hits (or file requests) on Friday, June 8, 2001, setting a record
for Web traffic at the University.
| Webcam of Flowering Rare Plant Attracts a Huge Audience
By FLORENCE OLSEN
A rare Indonesian “corpse flower” growing in a greenhouse
at the University of Wisconsin at Madison has attracted thousands
of viewers to the university’s Webcam site to watch the
flower bloom.
The exotic plant, a native of Sumatra’s equatorial
rain forest, ended its reproductive display on Monday. On
June 8, at the peak of the flower’s blooming, the server
hosting the live Webcam page received 30 million requests,
setting a record for Web traffic at the university, campus
officials say.
 The
botany department, sensing a newsmaking event, asked the central
information-technology organization to put a camera on the
flower as it bloomed, says Rich Larson, a technical consultant
in the university’s information-technology division.
I.T. personnel hung a digital video camera from a girder inside
the greenhouse, then had to “scramble” to keep up
with an almost instantaneous increase in Web traffic, he says.
“We ended up putting one of our large servers online
to serve up all of the demand.”
As the flowering reached its peak, campus-computing officials
minimized Internet traffic to the server by storing copies
of the sought-after Webcam page on a network device they arranged
to have installed in Chicago for that purpose. Chicago is
a main Internet connection point to the university network.
The flower Webcam will stay switched on at least through
the weekend. A tropical greenhouse “is really not the
best environment” in which to leave a digital camera,
says Rick Keir, a university technical consultant who coordinated
the Webcam effort. A Quicktime movie that shows the eight-foot-tall
flower opening its four-foot- wide “spathe” will
remain on the Web site indefinitely.
The popular Webcam page has links to information about
the corpse flower, which botanists describe as a frilly-edged
maroon trumpet that gives off a “malodorous stench”
— like that of rotting flesh sweetened with burnt sugar.
The flower, whose Latin name is Amorphophallus titanum, so
rarely produces a flower that university botanists say only
15 bloomings of cultivated plants have been recorded in the
United States in more than 60 years.
Mr. Larson thinks computing officials at Madison and other
institutions should be prepared for an increase in similar
requests for Web coverage of special campus events. It means
having “to ramp up, according to demand,” he says,
“then archiving the event” for people who might
want to learn about it afterward.
Copyright 2001, The Chronicle of Higher
Education. Reprinted with permission. This article may not
be posted, published, or distributed without permission from
The Chronicle. |
Coming Attractions for 2002
My UW-Madison portal expansion Plans call for development
of separate My UW-Madison portal views for advisors, faculty
and staff during 2002. DoIT will also integrate UW-Madison’s
new electronic mail system with the portal and with other mail clients
already in use by the UW community. Additional features may include
instant messaging and more advanced campus calendaring.
Online course enrollment Web enrollment was pilot tested
late in 2001. All students will have access to Web enrollment by
summer 2002. The new system will enable them to view current Timetable
courses while reviewing and registering for specific courses on
the Web. Web enrollment enables students to add or drop classes
from the comfort of their home, anytime during an enrollment period.
ISIS Upgrade The Integrated Student Information System (ISIS)
will be upgraded to PeopleSoft version 8.0 in 2002. Version 8 will
provide better integration and functionality for ISIS. Systems integrated
with ISIS will be modified as needed.
Appointment, Payroll and Benefits System (APBs) development
During fiscal year 2002, DoIT staff will continue their participation
in a pilot, due for completion in July 2002. After July, DoIT will
participate in efforts to build the system that is targeted to go
live in January 2004.
1210 West Dayton Street
Madison, WI 53706
For a glossy print edition of our 2001 Annual Report, send your
address to: information@doit.wisc.edu
