Student Technology Fee Plan FY 2016

FY 2016
By

Dr. Maurizio Trevisan, Provost
Mark Kam Acting CIO of Information Technology

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Background...................................................................................................................................... 2
Introduction..................................................................................................................................... 2
FY 2016 Proposed Activities and Corresponding Budgets.............................................................. 3
List of Accomplishments for FY 2015.............................................................................................. 4
Proposed Activities and Corresponding Budgets............................................................................ 7
CUNY University Technology Initiatives (CUNY-UTI) Projects................................................. 7
Library Services–Database & Digital Subscriptions................................................................. 8
Office of Information Technology (OIT) Maintenance Costs................................................. 11
Student Technology Internship Program (STIP).................................................................... 13
Student Technology Fee Advisory Committee Members..................................................... 18

Background

In the fall of 2001, CCNY established a Technology Task Force which included representatives from the administration, faculty, student body and technology support offices. The goal of the Technology Task Force is to formulate a set of recommendations to improve technology throughout the college. Their recommendations for educational applications of technology provide the basis for discussions between the members of the Technology Fee Committee – the group charged with responsibility for drafting the 2015-2016 plans for the investment of the Student Technology Fee. A copy of the 2015-2016 Technology Fee Plan can be viewed at http://www.ccny.cuny.edu/it/techfee.

Introduction

The Technology Fee Committee agreed on two planning principles:

• The funds should be invested in ways that directly and positively impact the experience of students at the college
• In the initial years, at least, the funds should be concentrated on a limited number of projects that are large enough to have significant visibility and effect.

With this agreement in place, the committee identified four goals:

Goal 1: Increase the number of students who are able to use new technology tools competently and creatively

Goal 2: Significantly expand faculty use of new technology tools within the College’s classrooms and curricula

Goal 3: Enhance student access to new technology tools

Goal 4: Extend the learning and research resources that the City College libraries make available electronically.

FY 2016 Proposed Activities and Corresponding Budgets

For the coming year, the Technology Fee Committee identified four activities to be implemented with a total cost of $2,574,531. The selection of this fiscal year’s technology projects are guided by funding initiatives which:

• Impact the broadest number of students across schools/divisions
• Advance e-learning and improve access to higher education
• Promote post-graduate readiness.

The projects are as follows:

List of Accomplishments for the end FY 2015

Since its founding in 2001, the City College Technology Fee Committee has been successful in continuing to systematically upgrade student computer labs, licenses, and wireless access points, as well as secure funding for electronic media resources and publications in libraries and Enterprise Technology Initiatives (ETI) while targeting specific new initiatives to meet student needs.
Enhancing the experience of our students and properly distributing the Technology Fee funds on campus are the committee’s priorities. Using last year’s Tech Fee funding, we were able to accomplish the following for FY 2015:

Office of Information Technology (OIT)

• • The OIT division was able to continue maintaining essential technology services for students
  • Ten new Epson scanners were added to the main campus library, Cohen Library located on the 2nd floor of the North Academic Center. In addition, two new HP Designjet T794 44 ePrinters (large format plotters) were installed in the main entrance of the Cohen Library for students use
  • The remaining eight aging printers in our main general student labs, Fishbowl and Tech Center were replaced with new printers. In addition, six laptops were replaced with the latest models
  • Several classrooms projectors located in Harris Hall and NAC were replaced with new ones
  • We expanded the printer availability in both the Student Accessibility Office (which are mainly available for students with disabilities) and the Music Library
  • All the general student labs license agreements, including wireless, print manager plus, LabStats, Matlab, WebCheckout, VDI, Identity Finder, Deep Freeze, Nemo-Q, SysAid, Dynasign-Digital Signage, were renewed
  • OIT now offers wireless printing capability in the Tech Center located in NAC 1/301. Students can print using their smartphone, laptops, tablet or iPad (with the WebAdvantage app).  This will significantly free up computers in the Tech Center.

Library Subscriptions

This gives the college libraries the ability to renew their digital subscriptions – such as Thomson Reuters Sci, SciFinder, Thieme Package, etc. (online databases) – to thousands of academic journals, patents, images, books and conference proceedings. With the renewals in place, students on campus can add to their academic papers and research, furthering the college’s mission to graduate informed citizens who can function in our global society.

Enterprise Technology Initiatives (UWI/ETI)

The Information Technology division successfully allocated at least 10 per cent of the Technology Fee revenue to CUNY-wide University Initiatives. This allocation of funds is mandated by CUNY policy and City College has complied with the request.

Student Technology Internship Program (STIP)

The Student Technology Internship Program is currently being implemented. This internship program placed 67 of our students in one of the following divisions of OIT:

• • Service Desk
  • OIT and Divisional Client Services Support
  • General OIT and divisional computer labs
  • Special Support Groups.

Throughout the program, students were successfully trained to address the daily technical needs of the students, faculty and staff on campus. Over the years, STIP has proved to be essential in helping the Information Technology division to deliver essential services to students, faculty and staff, both inside and outside the classroom setting.

Campus-wide Wireless Upgrade

OIT was able to address some of the Wi-Fi connectivity issues by adding 180 new APs. We now offer 370 access points throughout the campus. This includes the replacement of 126 outdated access points; focusing particularly on those near lecture-halls, classrooms, general student labs, lounges, the student cafeteria/café etc. These new APs and upgraded access points have improved access bandwidth from the current 54 to 154 Mbps, up to a maximum of 462 Mbps in high-density areas, with greater range and capacity. This has allowed for uninterrupted service as users move between locations.

Nemo-Q

OIT has recently installed and is currently testing Nemo-Q, a Virtual Queuing System to manage the traffic patterns in the Enrollment Management areas, especially in the Financial Aid and Registrar offices. One of the biggest complaints within the college is the amount of time students have to wait in line in these areas. This new system will significantly reduce their waiting time and improve customer service by allowing students to register their place in the queue and receive an advance alert via text or email (directing them to the appropriate window) when their turn has come.

SysAid

SysAid, a new campus-wide service desk software package, is now operational. In addition to migrating historical service tickets, types of service requests, workflows, and user information, we are currently engaged in rolling out new resources – including a comprehensive IT Service Catalog, Service Level Agreements, automated routing procedures, and a self-service portal for users to submit and track service incidents and requests. We are also working on deploying additional SysAid modules, including asset management, service analytics, remote software update management, mobile application support and IT project management.

Campus-Wide Student Information Displays (Dynasign - Digital Signage)

The installation of campus-wide digital displays is vital for effective communications to our students. These displays will broadcast pertinent information on campus events, upcoming deadlines, weather, CUNY alerts, class schedules, cancelations and more. OIT has received the displays, and partial cabling has been completed. The Office of Facilities needs to approve all the identified locations prior to installation. Training will be scheduled for contributors of content.

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