California State University, Dominguez Hills

Campus Technology Plan, December 1998 [draft]

Contents

1. Introduction

Technology is having a profound effect on all aspects of our lives, not only on those areas that one might logically relate to teaching and learning. It is changing the way we work, the means with which we communicate and find information, and the organizational structures within the confines of which we conduct our daily activities.

Computing and telecommunications units have traditionally provided the information technology infrastructure, consisting of computers and networks, which enable electronic access to colleagues, students, library information resources, research data, and administrative databases on campus and around the world. The computing and networking environment has changed radically during the past five years and, in fact, Cal State Dominguez Hills clearly is in the transition of creating and upgrading a technology infrastructure that will allow all members of the academic community to increase their use of information resources and technology. This will be carried out in a fashion that will continue to bring additional enhancements and productivity to teaching, learning, research, and administrative operations of the University.

New technologies enable teaching and learning to take place in innovative ways and formats, both on and off campus. Instruction taking place at Dominguez Hills can be routinely delivered to remote sites, regardless of geographical location. Through television broadcasting and other electronic media such as the Internet, the virtual classroom experience can be brought to students' homes, workplaces, and other settings.

Cal State Dominguez Hills realizes that the convergence of telecommunications, computing and quality educational course content is happening even faster and with far more impact than anyone had anticipated. Thus, the rapid and extensive advancements in technology are having a significant effect on education at all levels, and the University must be adequately prepared and willing to infuse these changes into our curricula and business processes.

We have an obligation to introduce students to new technologies and to promote computer literacy as an integral component of their educational experience at Dominguez Hills. Upon entering the world outside of university, our students will be required to demonstrate technological competencies not only to compete for jobs, but also to continue their intellectual and personal growth and development.

In order for students to develop information literacy and technology skills, they must first be given the opportunities to use these new technologies throughout the curriculum. For this to happen, faculty must have access to the best technology and incorporate it into their classes. Faculty members require access to technology, along with dedicated institutional support for their own development. Students also require easy access to technology, as well as clearly identified support organizations to assist them in utilizing campus technology facilities, from both on-campus and remote locations.

Classrooms should be equipped with appropriate electronic presentation, communication, and retrieval equipment so that faculty may demonstrate new technologies in the class setting. Introducing students to electronic multi-media will assist them to acquire requisite information and computer literacy skills and the integration of these new technologies into the curriculum and classroom will further enhance the educational delivery systems at Dominguez Hills.

These are the basic principles underlying the creation of this planning document. However, we would be remiss in our function if we did not stress the fact that significant human and financial resources are required to apply these principles by providing students, faculty, staff, labs, and classrooms with the electronic resources they require. In addition to hardware and software, adequate resources must be available to facilitate the appropriate training and support on an on-going basis. It is hoped that this initial vision and plan will not only validate that premise, but will also sustain our efforts to harness information technology in order to expand our boundaries and maximize our effectiveness and efficiency.

Strategic planning is a process that seeks to clarify what an organization is, what it wants to be and what steps it must take to progress from what it is to what it aspires to be. A strategic plan provides directions and overall management guidelines or suggestions within the context of continually changing internal and external environments. Thus, the resulting plan must be flexible and allow for rapid change - two elements that demand a high priority of attention and consideration within technology planning.

Part of our mandate as a University is to continually test our relevance to the communities that we seek to serve. Proceeding in parallel with this educational assessment process must also be an exercise that provides a frank evaluation of the University's progress and internal capacity in key areas of information technology. We are charting our future directions and planning with this thought in mind.

2. Vision for Technology

Information technology is a powerful tool to be used in serving our objectives of teaching, learning, research, and service. The creation or improvement of technical facilities must take place in accordance with identified user needs and with active and comprehensive user involvement. Dominguez Hills will also nurture and recognize individual creativity. Significant progress can only be made by providing the University community with proper training, adequate facilities, and identified support, and then by rewarding success.

Future Information technology initiatives at Dominguez Hills will consistently:

• Support planning at all levels that involves representation from the entire University community in technology decision-making
• Aggressively strive to provide sufficient support personnel commensurate with the increasing demand for and use of information technology
• Implement and support campus telecommunications systems that provide reliable service and a systemwide network that transparently ties them together
• Build or renovate facilities throughout the institution which support and encourage usage of technology, and reliably and efficiently house information technology resources
• Provide access to computer and information resources through modern networked computer labs for students, easy-to-use electronic directories and information services, and adequate institutional technical support
• Provide facilities and incentives to support the use of technology in extending and improving instructional delivery and effectiveness, and, where appropriate, without regard for distance or location
• Provide university researchers with access to appropriate technology tools as well as training and support in their use
• Provide faculty with the best available hardware, software, and technical assistance necessary to meet instructional objectives
• Develop and support University information systems that provide convenient and timely access to accurate information and streamlined administrative processing.

To realize and implement our vision will require focused technology action and due diligence towards those aspects that are mandatory for its success. In sequence of priority, these are:

1. Senior campus management must accept the overall concepts and objectives in the technology plan,
2. A strong consensus for the plan must be built throughout the University's varied constituencies, and, of paramount importance,
3. The campus must acquire and consolidate the financial and human resources necessary for the implementation and future support of the plan.

3. Organizational Issues

Currently, there is little coordination of campus technology acquisitions and initiatives, with the result that expenditures are sometimes excessive for the overall benefits that are derived. Lacking a global campus coordination mechanism, economies of scale are not adequately investigated and the tendency is to create disparate pockets of technology that are not fully integrated with the campus technology direction.

GOAL: Create an appropriate oversight body to ensure that all major technology expenditures on the Dominguez Hills campus are carried out in a manner that maximizes the benefits to students, faculty and staff.

The President should form an Information Technology Council to advise the executive director of IT on all matters pertaining to technology. This group would serve as the focal point for campus involvement in technology planning, implementation, and resource allocation.

The executive director should chair the council and recommendations would be made to the President for:

• Approval of all significant technology projects and budgets
• Prioritization of campus technology initiatives
• Approval of on-going updates to the campus technology plan

The council would provide advice and assistance to the executive director on planning and implementation of information technology services and support, as well as maintain a watching brief on emerging technologies. The council may also, at its discretion, establish and work with sub-committees focused on specific issues and specific technologies. This group would have budget jurisdiction only for those initiatives whose support is being provided from central technology funds, thus their approval process would not apply to faculty grants or other external funding sources.

The council would prepare regular reports for the President and the campus, containing an assessment and evaluation of progress made towards implementation of the directions outlined in the campus technology plan. It is essential to create this high-level, representative group of stakeholders who will guide future planning processes for IT and provide approval for major strategic changes in direction or the purchase or implementation of major new systems or services.

GOAL: Create a process so that all campus constituents have an opportunity to solicit funding for potential technology projects.

The Information Technology Council should actively solicit proposals from the campus to be supported by technology funds. This funding is normally distinct from the University general fund and it should be feasible to call for technology proposals at least twice during the academic year. The evaluation criteria for proposals would be that they are economically sound, are supported by the appropriate school, college, or division, are relevant to the campus technology plan, and generally enhance the technology environment on campus. Submissions would be encouraged from the college, schools, divisions, departments, or individuals in order to generate as wide a selection as possible.

The council will closely coordinate its deliberations and decisions with the work that is carried out by the Associated Students Incorporated in allocating their ASI student technology fees. The executive director will be a member of both groups and it is suggested that the President of ASI be appointed to the Technology Council. In this manner it should be an easy task to create and maintain the required open line of communication and dialogue between the groups.

GOAL: Ensure that adequate IT staffing and resources are available to support and maintain any technology initiatives on a continuous and on-going basis.

One of the most serious deficiencies that now exists on the campus is the lack of continuing support for projects that may have originally been created as a result of a research grant, or from one-time funding sources. A visible example of this shortcoming is the IT network services area which has no operational budget. Maintenance, support, and repair costs are constant and it is difficult to maintain a high percentage of facility availability without an identified budget line to provide needed and on-going support.

The Vice-Presidents and Deans should be strongly encouraged to present any grant or one-time proposals to the IT Council, so that they may comment upon the provision of support services during the creation period, as well as after the grant time frame has expired. If the technology installation is going to remain in place on campus, then it is mandatory that proper consideration be given as to how the future operation of the initiative will be sustained and remain useful to the University. This requirement of presentation is being recommended in the spirit of campus cooperation and communication and does not imply any mandatory approval by the IT Council.

GOAL: Initiate the process of establishing a financial baseline for Information Technology expenditures

Financial data should be collected from accounting records, academic units, Associated Students Incorporated, and administrative departments on campus. Knowing where institutional funds are being spent and for what purpose (hardware, software, training, support, etc.) is a first step and should help guide future resource allocations according to the second phase implementation report of the technology plan. Dominguez Hills cannot manage its IT resources without an understanding of where and how current resources are being used.

Once the baseline data are gathered, the institution should measure the benefits of various IT options against its costs. Comparing costs and benefits will allow the University to leverage its investments to gain the most benefit. These benefits should be measured in terms of the technology plan and overall institutional goals and priorities.

Financial planning must include total life cycle costs of technology. The campus has made sizeable investments in the purchase of technology, many times without providing or considering funding for maintenance, training, and replacement. Having faculty members, secretaries, administrators, and other non-technical personnel performing routine technology maintenance is very costly and inefficient, but occurs far too often.

The campus should also review where all current IT personnel resources are located. Activities that are common across departmental boundaries are strong candidates for central support and financing. The institution should consider its services in the context of local versus campus benefits and the associated costs of providing these services.

4. Support

The top priority for new funding, as assessed by the technology task force group, must be personnel. To continue in the current mode of acquiring additional hardware and software installations across the campus, without regard for the mandatory support elements associated with technology, would only serve to further highlight the service shortfall that now exists. The provision of adequate support services must be an integral component of any and all campus technology initiatives, if they are to be a success.

Experience at the majority of CSU institutions has shown that information technology user satisfaction is highly correlated with staff support. There may be several alternatives by which Dominguez Hills can meet its personnel needs and these options should be explored and analyzed as soon as possible. In addition, Chancellor's Office system-wide projects could have a bearing upon the manner in which the staffing shortage is approached.

The support aspect of an information technology organization is frequently the service that generates the most confusion and subsequent dissatisfaction throughout the campus community. The Dominguez Hills current technology environment is provided on somewhat incompatible platforms and systems and is supported by separate organizations or individuals, sometimes exhibiting unclear or conflicting missions, and little communications with other campus service providers.

Much has been written about the difficulties encountered in supporting the diverse type of computing environment that one finds on the typical university campus. Decentralization of computing and technology increases the number of individuals who are empowered to make choices in technology purchases and moves the choice of equipment and software tools from the central organization to the departments. This in itself is not a necessarily erroneous situation. However, this approach leaves the institution with a wide variety of hardware and software to support and invariably the original purchaser has given little or no consideration to this support component of technology. In many cases, no resources have been identified to provide on-going support or maintenance past the original warranty and installation of the equipment.

GOAL: Define and clarify support levels

IT staff, in close consultation with the user community, should immediately begin to develop and publish a service level agreement that clearly identifies what the campus can expect from the IT division. It should specify the services and commitment of the IT division, as well as the expectations and obligations of the campus community. In this manner, a clear benchmark will be established by which the performance of the IT division may be evaluated. Without this yardstick, there is no realistic methodology by which the users of these services can measure results.

This agreement should reference the complete spectrum of support services that are to be provided and should include IT functions/tasks such as:

Help desk	Lab assistants
Telephone services	Policies and procedures
Computer labs	Electronic classrooms
Media equipment	Network operations
Software	Hardware
Handouts	Training
Consulting	Server administration
WWW administration	Administrative support
E-mail services

GOAL: Create equity and fairness in technology support services personnel within the schools, divisions, and college across the campus.

Currently, the ratio of available technical support staff (outside the central IT division) to the clientele which they are expected to serve, displays significant disparities from normal and accepted industry standards.

As an initial action, all individuals who are presently providing any form of technology support on campus should be identified, along with the primary user base that receives the majority of their attention. The types of support provided must also be indicated.

This information can then be used to develop a support matrix, whereby personnel are assigned responsibility for campus areas and locations, based upon the numbers of potential users of the service. This identification exercise can be carried out by IT staff, with the assistance and cooperation of the schools, divisions, and college. The results of this analysis may then be presented to the President's cabinet for discussion and resolution.

GOAL: Move towards a more standardized software environment.

The CSU system as a whole, under the initiatives contained in the recently published "Integrated Technology Strategy" outline, has chosen to progress in the direction of a standard suite of supported software that will be common to all campuses. It is unrealistic to expect every IT staff member to be fluent in every package, therefore, in some instances, special software programs that fall outside of the more widely used packages may not be supported to the same extent as others. It is also very clearly recognized that different areas on the individual campuses may have some discipline-specific software requirements, and this type of activity should be encouraged and supported as much as possible.

IT staff, in close consultation with the user community, should institute some boundaries on the number of software packages and platforms that are eligible for full support. Work should begin to develop and publish a supported software list. This suite will continue to evolve, as it will be under constant evaluation, with the objective of increasing organizational effectiveness and efficiencies.

5. Teaching and Learning

Support for teaching and learning is an integral part of the university's mission of "preparing students of diverse ages, cultural backgrounds, and interests for lives of accomplishment in a world of unprecedented challenge and change". Providing a technological environment that enhances all aspects of this experience at Dominguez Hills is imperative if we are to remain competitive in attracting new students and faculty. In order to encourage the integration of technology in the classroom, faculty need guaranteed access to applications and services, from both on campus in offices and classrooms and off campus. They also need a variety of support services, from training to one-on-one desktop support, to on-site maintenance for hardware and software.

A campus initiative to improve access for faculty over the past few years has resulted in the installation of computer workstations in all faculty offices. At a minimum, all full-time faculty are now able to do the following from their offices:

• Type papers, memos, course syllabi, exams, etc. (word processing)
• Accessing student records (Banner)
• Find information on the Internet (using a web browser)
• Communicating electronically (email)

As the definition of baseline access and support advances, faculty must be equipped with the necessary hardware and software upgrades to reflect those changes.

On going efforts of the Teaching and Learning, Technology Roundtable (TLTR) have resulted in an increased awareness of the potential for using technology in the classroom and an increased demand to provide and support that use. The following goals build on that momentum and seek to carry us past the current baseline to a higher level of use, support and access. In all instances, staffing is critical to provide adequate support.

GOAL: Provide guaranteed support and access to baseline services for faculty.

All faculty should be guaranteed a workstation with access to word processing, Banner, email, and the Internet in their office. Adequate maintenance and support must be available to ensure that the workstation is repaired in a timely manner and is updated on a regular schedule of 2-3 years to avoid obsolescence. Workstations should be configured so as to simplify operation by users to the greatest extent possible and staff support must be available to assist when needed. A possible model for school/college desktop support involves the use of the centralized helpdesk management system - a technician's primary assignment would be to a particular school, but the technician would serve as part of the central pool of support personnel when there are no outstanding job requests for that school. Further discussions should evaluate current services and recommend changes to enhance support for the specialized needs of faculty. Easy to use, reliable off-campus connectivity must be provided.

GOAL: Provide comprehensive technology training for faculty on request.

IT staff, in consultation with faculty, should assess training needs and develop an implementation plan to address issues of immediate concern. Some training models to consider include:

• One-on-one consulting - provide release time to faculty in different disciplines to provide consulting.
• Provide funding to send faculty to professional training for specialized software. The attendee will then serve as a consultant/resource to other faculty upon completion of the training.
• TLTR technology sessions
• Campus instructional computing workshops and computer-based training (CBT) for the basics, such as word processing, email, and Internet use for research.
• Encourage faculty to audit classes (such as intro CIS class)
• Provide faculty with guidance and support in the ways in which information technology can be used in their teaching and research.

GOAL: Create an information technology service center to serve faculty and staff.

Faculty and staff have varying needs for support. For some, the ideal situation is a state-of-the-art workstation with the latest software and the training/knowledge to solve all of their own technology needs. Others prefer to let someone else do the work, rather than spending the time learning to do complicated technical projects themselves.

To provide improved service for this group, the information technology division should immediately define the scope and mission of a technology service center and develop an implementation plan to establish such an operation. The center would use both professional full-time staff and students (paid, interns, class projects) to provide one-on-one technical assistance and programming support. Potential services include:

• Creation of PowerPoint slide presentations.
• Setup/run data analysis for research projects.
• A color printing service and overhead slide creation facilities.
• Web page design and creation for classes.
• Setup of laptop demo units on demand.

GOAL: Facilitate the sharing and dissemination of information to faculty.

The sharing and communication of ideas and technical information is crucial to support technology use and to further the efforts to disperse its use throughout the curriculum. Current collaborative efforts of information technology and faculty development should continue with emphasis on the use of formal mechanisms for sharing ideas, such as User groups, the TLTR Forum, and the TLTR monthly meetings.

In addition, both groups should investigate other methods for sharing ideas, such as bringing in speakers on using technology in the classroom and for research; setting up a library of technology related books/manuals, videotapes and CBT; putting information on the campus web site; and using list servers, discussion lists, video conferencing, and email.

GOAL: Provide easily accessible and easy to use technology in classrooms and teaching labs.

As instructional methods change, more and more faculty are dependent on electronic means for delivering subject matter and course information. The increased use of computer and projection equipment in the classroom has dictated the need to provide Internet connectivity in all classrooms and laboratories. At a minimum, all classrooms should have live jacks and adequate lighting arrangements, with access to portable computers or laptops with projectors available on demand. A solution for a limited number of classrooms in each building may be a ceiling-mount projector with necessary wiring and remote control capability, plus the necessary electronic media and workstations.

The campus should investigate the possibility of setting up an "executive classroom" in the new Info-Tech building with projection capabilities, wall mounted flat screen, jacks at each seat location for connecting laptop to network and other features to be determined by faculty.

GOAL: Recognize and support, where possible, discipline specific applications that are not provided through baseline access.

While there is a definite need to develop campus standards for baseline access, they must leave room for deviation where necessary to support the educational mission. A mechanism needs to be developed that allows for augmented workstations and software for specialized/advanced applications, as well as training and support, if needed (professional training classes, hardware maintenance contracts, subscriptions for software consulting services).

6. Mediated Instruction/Distance Learning

The unfolding of distance education initiatives at Dominguez Hills has inadvertently created a contrast of circumstances. In one instance, dedicated faculty and staff have managed to propel the institution into a nationally recognized position with respect to the successes achieved through this medium of instruction. However, the success of the past will ultimately prove to be short-lived and fleeting if action is not taken to correct the informal and ad hoc support structure that now exists with respect to this activity on the Dominguez campus.

Many faculty members feel that any major commitment to distance education should not come at the expense of supporting some of the University's more pressing needs, such as classroom facilities and faculty workstations. There is also a very real concern, based upon visible past history, that the required investment in technology will not be accompanied by an equal investment in the staff that is required to assist in the development of a quality curriculum and support and maintain the technology. Any experiment in utilizing alternate modes of presentation of course materials that purports to deliver instruction without providing the necessary support staff for creating and delivering the courseware, is quite likely doomed to failure.

Certain areas of Dominguez Hills have instructional facilities that are state-of-the-art examples of distance education. These delivery systems have installed equipment that demands high levels of technical capabilities to both teach with and also to support. Faculty can create instruction that incorporates activities that allow students to use the Internet or other types of software, such as video conferencing. However, these activities cannot easily occur if professors are not aware of how to use the equipment effectively, the equipment or software malfunctions, or the teaching areas themselves have been poorly configured.

Faculty and University management needs to be acutely aware that a firm commitment to using technology to deliver instruction to students at a place or time different from that of the instructor is more than simply a change in a delivery system. It is a change in the philosophy of how an institution conducts its business. Technology may not be completely infused into the curriculum until time and rewards for using it are provided as a component of workload discussions and promotion and tenure policies.

Some members of the faculty have become frustrated and discouraged because the barriers are so high and the rewards so few for taking the time and trouble to employ new methods of teaching and learning that make full use of technology. A closely coordinated effort is needed to change the situation and we require not only the equipment but also the technical knowledge to use it.

Faculty must be aware of how to conceptualize, develop, and implement educational strategies that take advantage of the technology. Staff such as technicians and instructional designers must be engaged to help support the technology and especially the course development process. Administrative staff such as advisors, admissions officers and librarians must learn to support students in a distributed learning environment. Most importantly, students must believe that they can derive value from distance education that will compensate for the disadvantages that are inherent in a delivery system that separates the learner from the instructor and support systems of the institution.

GOAL: Mediated Instruction / Distance Learning initiatives should be consolidated and operated under the auspices of a central campus department that is designated and accepted as the oversight vehicle for all University activities of this nature.

Currently, the distance learner has no knowledge as to whether or not the Dominguez Hills material presented to the outside world via distance learning is officially sanctioned and approved by the University. Neither is he or she aware that the course being presented at a distance has or has not undergone any form of academic review as to quality or content. It is critical for the future reputation of the University that academic oversight mechanisms are in place to ensure continuing success and growth in this area.

The IT division should not be considered as the oversight department for MIDL activities on campus, and it is not inferred that IT would play any role at all in the curriculum review process. That task is best left to academic faculty members that are qualified to do so. The intent of creating an oversight group is to be able to focus the IT support activities through a single area, as opposed to attempting to provide support services across all departments where this type of activity might take place.

GOAL: Ensure that all MIDL course proposals will be evaluated and confirmed as academically and economically sound.

Again, the IT division is not being advocated as an appropriate vehicle to act as a MIDL oversight group on campus. The IT function will be merely to comment upon the costing estimates for MIDL initiatives, and not to participate in evaluating the academic soundness of any proposed course offering.

Each course that is being considered for delivery via any distance learning vehicle must be accompanied by a business plan that is complete and clearly states the cost of the instructional process. The plan should indicate the cost of developing the instruction, producing the instruction, and all administrative costs involved in the initiative. The cost analysis should indicate not only the cost for the initial purchase of the technology equipment if required, but also any expenditures necessary for supporting and maintaining the equipment on an on-going basis.

A marketing plan should also be developed that confirms there is an incentive to add electronic outreach to the already high cost of preparing and delivering the instruction. Of particular concern, and a prime reason for requiring one coordinated campus center for distance learning, is the problem of providing sufficient support for the development and assessment of quality instructional materials. However, there are a number of issues related to the support of students in this such as advising and financial assistance that need to be addressed by the institution before it offers a large number of distance education courses. Distance learners should be provided with support services that are equal in all aspects to those that are available to on-campus students.

While the position could be argued that the strong recommendation to consolidate all distance learning activities within the jurisdiction of a single campus department may be somewhat outside the purview of this group, there are compelling reasons why this was done. Rather than attempting to support numerous disparate campus groups, each creating their own specific courses and utilizing their own design criteria, the information technology division could better concentrate their resources towards a single entity with improved service for all as a result. Doing so would free up time for those faculty members who now voluntarily employ their expertise in providing technical support for their colleagues.

Another benefit to accrue from this consolidation would be that proven course management technologies and techniques for course material presentation would be readily available from this cadre of campus faculty and staff who are experienced in this area. In addition, by working and coordinating through a single course development group, there would be a consistency of design and quality contained in the electronic course material presented to the world under the Dominguez Hills educational banner.

7. Campus Infrastructure

Although the campus inter-building and intra-building infrastructures have grown significantly during recent years, Dominguez Hills recognizes that additional development is necessary to meet emerging and future requirements. Expanding multimedia requirements for classrooms, laboratories, faculty offices, and the library are placing increasing demands for more telecommunications infrastructure with broader bandwidth. Mediated instruction and distance learning programs further adds to this challenge. The need to remotely deliver education programs in a productive and unrestricted teaching-learning environment is highly contingent upon the facilitating and supported network infrastructure. Consequently, much is needed to bring the campus up to the minimum baseline and support levels needed for academic and administrative computing requirements.

GOAL: Facilitate high-speed multimedia access on and off campus

The Campus Telecommunications Infrastructure Master Plan should be implemented. This plan, previously prepared, will upgrade and expand the campus inter-building and intra-building cable infrastructure and supporting terminal equipment. The resulting product will facilitate the following:

• Multimedia connectivity to all classrooms, student labs, and designated offices.
• Higher speed data communications to meet expanding bandwidth requirements.
• Centralized video distribution to classrooms, laboratories and other designated areas.
• Higher speed access to off campus networks, e.g. the Internet.
• Increased telephone capacity.

Preliminary drawings related to this plan were prepared with funding supplied by the CSU Chancellor's Office and a capital outlay of 9.1 million dollars has been officially allocated to Dominguez Hills to complete the working drawings and begin the upgrades. Construction and equipment installation will be carried out during 1999-2000 and a team composed of consultants, Chancellor's Office staff, and Dominguez Hills personnel will coordinate the work.

GOAL: Ensure that the campus backbone is a ubiquitous and reliable network

The campus infrastructure and network should continue to be administered centrally to ensure that operating standards are maintained and permit campus wide compatibility. An annual network budget must be allocated to secure appropriate provisioning and maintenance to minimize service interruptions. For the most part, maintenance of the network electronics will continue to be outsourced. This will minimize staff training, stocking of spare parts, and service level issues. End user support will continue to be provided on site to permit a more rapid response to critical user problems.

GOAL: Maintain consistent LAN administration and support

Administration of departmental LANs will continue to be the prerogative of the appropriate management individual. If the local network is to operate smoothly and trouble-free, a qualified administrator must be designated for each LAN. Centralized LAN administration can be provided for departments upon the mutual agreement of the executive director, information technology and the appropriate Vice President. It is expected that centralized administration can provide more consistent distribution of services and support to the end users. If or when department LANs migrate to central support, the appropriate staff and budget resources must accompany them to continue to provide an acceptable level of service.

8. Access and Facilities

Access to university servers and network devices from remote locations is currently not adequate for those students, faculty, and staff who do not reside within the boundaries of the local campus telephone area code. There are sixty-four incoming data lines, but connection with those lines outside of the 310 area code requires either a toll charge or a contract with an internet service provider who will supply toll free access upon payment of a monthly service charge. In addition, the modem pool is comprised of older units, having been installed in stages over time, and the bandwidth that can be supported is only one half of that which is available via other, more modern devices.

GOAL: Create equity of remote access for all constituents

There is no readily apparent method of completely achieving this particular objective, without incurring substantial cost to do so. However, a group should be formed to carry out a detailed investigation to determine if it would be feasible to remove as many as possible of the existing barriers to remote connection.

GOAL: Provide easily accessible on-campus connections for laptop computers

Presently, the campus does not provide on-line connections for users who wish to utilize laptop computers while on campus. There are no data ports in the labs for these devices, nor are there other designated areas on campus (such as in the library) where a laptop user may connect to the campus backbone network.

The IT division should consult with the campus community and create a minimal initial number of data ports in appropriate areas for connecting portable laptop computers.

GOAL: Create campus facilities that are adequate to accommodate on-line access for students

The IT division, in consultation with campus constituents, should investigate and determine the optimum number of computer labs to be created and maintained, so as to provide computer access for students. Presently there are seven computer labs that are centrally operated and maintained by the IT division, with an additional eleven scheduled to be included in the new Info-Tech building.

The current CSU standard benchmark ratio of general access computers to students is twenty students to each available computer. Dominguez Hills falls short of attaining this level of availability, as we are almost three times the baseline ratio.

A group should be formed to perform a detailed needs analysis survey that would evaluate the University's requirements for new public computer facilities over the next two year period or until the Info Tech building comes on-line. This exercise should also include an assessment of the need to upgrade existing facilities during this interim period.

9. Administrative Systems/Business Processes

The Information Technology division strives to support the administrative functions of the University by ensuring the availability of required data, using a reliable network of cost effective and integrated information systems.

GOAL: Continue to improve student access to records information

Touchtone: In the current configuration, students register almost exclusively via touchtone telephone. The only exceptions are those whose handicaps prohibit them from using the telephone and those who register after classes begin. Because of software limitations, the current registration process cannot accommodate non-matriculated and non-traditional students. In addition to registering, students may also use the telephone to hear their class lists, their grades, admissions status, financial aid status, and account balance.

Access to register by telephone should be expanded to include those who are registering for extended education courses. This will require major alteration of the current system as well as additional hardware and telephone lines. The capability for students to pay their fees over the telephone by credit card is another feature that should be added to the system.

Kiosks: The university currently has two touch-screen kiosks from which students can access and print an unofficial transcript, class lists, grades, admissions and financial aid status and account balance. There are no plans to make the kiosks interactive (use them to register or to pay), but there are plans to locate an additional unit in the library.

Web: Students will soon be able to access their records over the web as well as by telephone and kiosk. The web access will enable them to retrieve their class schedule, grades, financial aid status, account balance, and admission status. The technology also exists for registering and submitting an application through the web and should be implemented as soon as possible.

GOAL: Improve/enable faculty and advising access to student records

Faculty advisors currently have access to the Banner system to view a student's transcript and other information. With the implementation of web access, this capability will be significantly easier and more accessible.

Along with this, the issue of inputting grades has been a matter of discussion for some time. A process will be developed wherein faculty may enter grades over the web. Of course, security issues are always a prime consideration in any undertaking of this kind. Issues of faculty assigning the task to a secretary or other assistant need to be addressed.

Also of considerable value would be the implementation of on-line registration approvals, whereby the faculty member would be able to approve an add and/or override directly online instead of signing a card and forcing the student to stand in a line. Once again, security is of prime consideration here, trading the incidents of forged signatures for shared passwords.

GOAL: Provide simplified access to management information

The CSU has recently signed a contract with PeopleSoft with the intention of having all 23 campuses on the same application. Dominguez Hills needs to closely evaluate the cost and the feasibility of moving to the new system, while keeping in mind the extensive customization that has been done to the current Banner system to make it workable for our campus needs. We currently have an integrated system for Admissions and Records, Financial Aid, and Alumni/Development. We sorely need a system for Human Resources that will integrate with the state systems. The Business and Finance office is currently running FRS, a Chancellor's Office maintained system that runs independently of our student system and has many missing features. It is important that we move to a system that integrates well with our student system of choice and also satisfies all of the requirements of the Chancellor's Office and the State Controller's Office.

Whatever system is chosen, it should include a non-technical means of producing reports for upper level management. Such reports should be instantly accessible and provide up-to-the-minute information.

10. Summary

The preceding pages describe a series of ambitious, yet realistic recommendations that will allow Dominguez Hills to take a quantum leap towards a technology-rich future. The anticipated implementation of the concepts and directions contained in this plan will create an environment within which students, faculty, and staff can fully exploit information technology in support of teaching and learning activities. We believe that the services, systems and technology strategies outlined are important to the academic future of the University.

While there are numerous and significant challenges associated with realization of this vision, there is also significant support and growing impetus across the campus to proceed with all haste. The world of technology moves rapidly and major advances in products and features are continually brought to the marketplace with incredible speed. Following this trend, Dominguez Hills should position itself to maintain at least a reasonable momentum of technology improvement on campus and guard against inertia.

Clearly, this document is but the beginning of the Dominguez Hills technology renaissance. It is a required and important first step, in that it contains the blueprint for creating a framework and processes that will enable specific implementation tactics to be developed by future working groups. There is much work that remains to be done, and the University's success in furthering its academic aims through information technology will be determined to a large degree by the commitment and resolve to follow through with the majority of these recommendations.

Comments/questions? Marion Smith
CSU Dominguez Hills
Last update: 26 Jan 1999