Tech Times
Winter 2012
Welcome
Happy holiday season from IS&T!
This issue of Tech Times features updates on a number of key projects, including wireless deployment, WordPress functionality enhancements, the Blackboard Learn upgrade, and the migration of faculty and staff to Exchange. The Timely Tips, Educational Technology, and Security Awareness sections are also included to provide helpful information for students, faculty and staff.
In this issue you will meet the architects who support the IS&T Enterprise Architecture discipline. They are a talented, creative team who will be designing and improving key systems and processes in alignment with the strategies outlined within IS&T’s Strategic Planning initiative. Our strategic planning process will develop goals and guiding principles for the next five years, in close alignment with the BU Strategic Plan, Choosing to be Great. If you’d like to get involved, please join the discussion by commenting on our blog in your area of interest.
In addition, if there’s something you would like to see us cover in a future issue, send a message to ithelp@bu.edu and let us know.
Sincerely,
Larry Wright
Enterprise Architect
News
Academic & Administrative Wireless Deployment Status Update
In 2010, IS&T began a major upgrade and expansion project on the Charles River Campus (CRC) that extended high-speed wireless services to all Registrar classrooms, dining facilities, and undergraduate residences. With the completion of those buildings, efforts have turned to Charles River academic and administrative facilities, with completion projected for summer 2014. Read more…
Custom CSS Comes to BU WordPress
A new plugin adds the ability for individual website editors to maintain a collection of their own custom style rules directly within WordPress. The styles will apply sitewide as a supplement to the theme’s stylesheet, and will provide you with a centrally-managed option for custom CSS, complete with revision history and rollbacks (just like WordPress pages). Learn more about this and other upcoming WordPress features…
Blackboard Learn Upgrade…and Copy or Request your Site Now!
Spring 2013 marks the campus-wide launch of Blackboard Learn, the latest version of Blackboard’s learning management system. The set of pilot courses are nearing completion, and we are very excited about this transition to one of the most popular learning management systems. Read more…
Faculty/Staff Email Project Status
IS&T’s Desktop Services team has been hard at work migrating faculty and staff email accounts from ACS to Microsoft Exchange. They have dedicated an increasing amount of time and resources to the migrations, allowing IS&T to accelerate the pace to an average of 948 migrated accounts per month.
Massachusetts Green High Performance Computing Center Officially Opened
On Friday, November 16, 2012, the Massachusetts Green High Performance Computing Center (MGHPCC) officially opened for business. Governor Deval Patrick led the celebration, joined by researchers, educators, and industry officials from throughout the region. Read more…
IS&T Staffer Wins Regional Award Recognizing Outstanding Support
Phil Berenz, Customer Support Specialist at the IT Help Center, has been given the HDI New England Analyst of the Year award, which recognizes outstanding support from first tier technical support analysts. Read more…
You Are Welcome to Attend a Presentation by Advanced Micro Devices (AMD)
Join the GPU@BU community and Silicon Mechanics, Inc. on December 13 at a talk and discussion led by members of the Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) technical team. AMD is a leading semiconductor design company that manufactures computer processors, accelerators, and graphics technologies which are used in everything from game consoles to supercomputers. Read more…
Staff Spotlight – Enterprise Architecture
Enterprise Architecture (EA) is defined by Gartner as, “the process of translating business vision and strategy into effective enterprise change by creating, communicating and improving the key principles and models that describe the enterprise’s future state and enable its evolution.” At Boston University, the IS&T EA team provides guidance to technology projects, supporting the reliability, interoperability and sustainability of the technology, information, and business processes that are in use by the community.
IS&T Architecture Review Board
The Architecture Review Board (ARB) is a cross-functional committee, chaired by the Enterprise Architect. The ARB has representatives from the various IS&T areas who provide guidance on application solutions, information, technology and security architectures leveraged to deliver projects. Business Analysts and Project Managers from the IS&T Project Management Office work with representatives from schools, colleges and administrative units to provide requirements and process knowledge to the ARB. The ARB provides guidance based on a number of factors but, most importantly, works to align proposed solutions with the University’s Strategic Plan and related technology service strategies.
ARB current membership: Back row: David Boloz (BUworks), Vlad Grinman (Solutions Architecture), Sudhir Maharaj (Solutions Architecture), Charles Ball (Systems Architecture), David King (Systems Architecture), Weylin Piegorsch (Network Engineering), Quinn Shamblin (Information Security), Eric Jacobsen (Information Security), Mike Dugan (Scientific Computing & Visualization) Front row: Alan Bernier (Solutions Architecture), Alex Proxument (Reporting), Larry Wright (Solutions Architecture, ARB Chair), Mike Tedescucci (Systems Architecture) Not pictured: Josie Debaere (Systems Engineering), Gerard Shockley (Systems Administration)
IS&T Service Metrics
IS&T compiles metrics for our areas of service in order to analyze trends and help assess our overall performance. The chart below shows the total number of Incidents submitted to IS&T, with the gold and green lines indicating the average and median number of business days that were taken to resolve them. More metrics are always available at www-staging.bu.edu/tech/service/metrics.
IS&T Incidents (Excluding Priority 1)
Timely Tips
Follow IS&T news as it happens!
IT Help Center: @buithelp and www.facebook.com/buithelp
Information Security: @buinfosec
Educational Technology: @edtechbu and blogs.bu.edu/edtech/
BUMC IT: @bumcit
Register for upcoming tutorials
Faculty and staff are encouraged to register for training on a variety of topics including BUworks, Outlook, Blackboard, and WordPress. View the schedule and register!
Automated email lists are available to faculty
You don’t need to maintain a separate mailing list of your students. Faculty and authorized staff can send messages to the students in their classes using Blackboard or The Link. The Link also provides faculty with an easy way to send email to advisees.
You can update your cell phone number for BU Alerts
Faculty and staff can change the cell phone number that receives BU Alert messages. Go to Employee Self Service in BUworks, click on Personal Information and BU Alert Information. Then edit your phone number as needed. Be sure to click Edit/Create and Save to save any changes made to your personal information. Students can change their contact information in the Personal tab of the Student Link and will also be prompted to update it each semester.
Online Microsoft training is available for faculty and staff
Free online training in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and more is available for faculty and staff through BU’s Microsoft Enterprise Agreement. Set up your access and get started!
iOS users should get BU Mobile
The University’s calendar, maps, directory, bus schedule and more are available through BU Mobile.
Information on using your Exchange calendar is available on TechWeb
There are now more than 12,000 faculty and staff with Exchange accounts! Exchange calendaring is a great way to organize your time and efficiently schedule meetings with colleagues across campus. Learn more about Exchange calendars.
Educational Technology
The Educational Technology team works with faculty and academic staff to enhance use of technology in teaching. For more information, please visit our consulting page, follow us on Twitter @edtechbu, or check out the Ed Tech Blog.
e-Portfolios
Digication e-Portfolio is now available across campus, and is already used in a variety of programs and schools from International Health to the CAS Writing Program. e-Portfolios make student learning visible online, demonstrating student learning to potential employers and graduate schools. Students can also view their coursework in a way that allows them to observe their own learning, and their work becomes easily available for systematic assessment. Faculty use e-Portfolios for their own professional development as well, giving a more thorough picture of their professional and scholarly activity than a CV provides. e-Portfolios at BU are a joint effort between IS&T and CEIT (the Center for Excellence & Innovation in Teaching). You can try e-Portfolios out for yourself at bu.digication.com, view featured portfolios, and take a look at a guide to using them.
Tell us about your use of technology in teaching!
Faculty from both the Charles River and Medical campuses are encouraged to contribute to the Educational Technology Blog available at blogs.bu.edu/edtech/. Used for sharing experiences with other members of the community, the blog describes the technology available at BU and shares useful lessons from faculty using that technology successfully.
Read the blog and tell us about your innovations.Security Awareness
The BU Information Security team oversees the prevention and detection of unauthorized use of Boston University computers and information systems. For more information, please visit us at www.bu.edu/infosec and on Twitter @BUInfoSec.
Never respond to phishing attempts!
Please remember that you should never follow links offered to you in unsolicited mail or provide passwords or any personal or financial information via email, just as you wouldn’t when you receive an unsolicited phone call. This should be your guideline no matter how tempting, frightening, or persuasive the email message seems and even if the message claims to be coming from BU or another source that is familiar to you. Boston University will never ask for your password via email. Learn more about Spoofed Messages & Phishing.