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ABOUT DoIT
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Annual
Report 2002 (Provost report)
The
Campus Computing Culture
Our
Accomplishments| ‘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.
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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. |
ITA
Class of 2005 gets in touch with technologyUniversity 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 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.
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. |
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.” 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.
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