UTSA Office of Information Technology - News and Spotlights http://www.utsa.edu/oit/spotlight.cfm News and spotlights regarding the Office of Information Technology at the University of Texas at San Antonio en-us Copyright 2010 The Office of Information Technology - UTSA http://backend.userland.com/rss/ Mon, 06 Sep 2010 20:23:27 EST UTSA Office of Information Technology - News and Spotlights http://www.utsa.edu/oit/images/IT_Ident/Example_OIT.png http://www.utsa.edu/oit/spotlight.cfm spotlight OIT Making a Splash This Summer http://www.utsa.edu/oit/spotlight.cfm#summerSplash_08242010 263 Tue, 24 Aug 2010:

Welcome to the Summer Splash 2010 initiative: 11 projects that will change the face of technology at UTSA.

The UTSA Office of Information Technology chose these projects because they have the capability of positively impacting the faculty, staff and students of UTSA.

Most of these projects will be fully implemented in the Fall 2010 semester.

The 11 projects are:

  • Public Access for Instructional Data - Course evaluations, cost of attendance and more will be available online

  • Online Course Evaluations - students will move from paper-based evaluations to an online application

  • Student Preferred E-mail

  • E-mail Infrastructure Upgrade for Faculty and Staff - faculty and staff mailboxes will be increased from 500MB to 5GB

  • Configuration and Asset Management Infrastructure - computer xxx will have better tools to manage the computers on the UTSA network

  • University-Wide Student Printing - students will be able to print documents at Print Spot locations on campus

  • Wireless Network Provisioning - the AirRowdy wireless network has been improved

  • Standard Configurations for Desktop/Laptop/Lab Computers - faculty and staff members will be able to order work computers from a pre-defined list of equipment

  • Apple Computer Support - OIT will improve its support of Apple computers on campus

  • Application Delivery System for Access Anywhere - students will get free access to software on- and off-campus through myUTSA apps

  • Storage Solution for Students, Faculty/Staff - the UTSA community will have access to file storage on- and off-campus

Please visit OIT's Summer Splash Project Page for more information on how these and other OIT projects will impact the UTSA community.

]]> oit@utsa.edu (Alex Morones) Tue, 24 Aug 2010 09:59:49 EST spotlight New AirRowdy Wireless Networks Now Available http://www.utsa.edu/oit/spotlight.cfm#airRowdy_08232010 262 Mon, 23 Aug 2010:

AirRowdy, the UTSA wireless network has changed and is now even safer and easier to use. The Office of Information Technology has completed a project that has resulted in many improvements to how users access the wireless network.

The network (known as AirRowdy_N) was split into three new networks - one each for faculty/staff, students and UTSA visitors.

We strongly encourage each group to log in and use their appropriate network.

The biggest benefit for faculty and staff members is that their network is encrypted, which means that they will no longer need to use the Virtual Private Network (VPN) to securely connect to the UTSA computer network on campus.

Faculty and staff members will be required to set up their laptops before accessing the new AirRowdy network for the first time. Configuration instructions are available: http://www.utsa.edu/oit/network/AR_help.html.

Once the one-time setup process is complete, faculty and staff will not have to login each time they want to access AirRowdy.

Guests at UTSA also will benefit. They will fill out a short online form and then will be able to access AirRowdy by using the new AirRowdy_Guest network.

Students should use the new AirRowdy Student network. On their new network, students will continue to experience a fast and reliable connection.

'The current network (AirRowdy_N) will only be available through December 31, 2010, so we are urging all of our users to make the changeover now to the new networks,' said Dalin Bruns, project manager.

More information on AirRowdy is available at: http://www.utsa.edu/oit/projects/wirelessNetwork.html

The wireless network upgrade project is part of OIT Summer Splash initiative - 11 projects that will change the face of technology at UTSA. More information on Summer Splash is available at http://www.utsa.edu/oit/projects.

]]> oit@utsa.edu (Alex Morones) Mon, 23 Aug 2010 11:28:10 EST spotlight OIT Streamlining Computer Purchases http://www.utsa.edu/oit/spotlight.cfm#spotlight_StdCompModels 253 Wed, 21 Jul 2010: Buying a PC for the office can be a real challenge. There are so many things to consider - What kind of computer do you need? How do you know if you are getting a good deal? How long will you have to wait to get your PC set up?

Worrying about ordering a new work computer will be a distant memory as we get closer to the implementation of the Standard Computer Configurations project.

'The aim of this project is to cut out most of the guesswork and legwork,' said Alex Ward, Senior Systems Analyst. 'We have negotiated pricing for a variety of personal computers, both Mac- and Windows-based, that will be suitable for the majority of UTSA faculty and staff members.'

In one of the first phases of the project, OIT staff members, Information Technology Associates and other interested parties offered suggestions for the types of computers that were needed across campus. The group discussed a variety of topics, including processors, operating systems, memory and storage options.

The suggestions were used to develop requirements documents. After careful review, vendors were selected and standard purchase order documents for each of the personal computers were created.

Ordering a new computer will be a simple process. Users will access an OIT Web page that will display the available options. Once the user selects a computer, they will print out the purchase order (PDF document) for their department's administrative assistant, who will order the computer. The orders will be transmitted to the vendor and the computer will be built.

The quotes will be reviewed on a quarterly basis to ensure that the pricing is competitive and to make changes to the requirements, if needed.

'Of course, we won't force anyone to buy computers through our website, but we believe that we will be offering great value for those interested in purchasing,' said Alex Ward.

Highlights of the Standard Computer Configurations project:
- Mac and Windows computers will be available
- There will be offerings for low-end, mid-range and high-end users
- Desktops, laptops, netbooks and thin clients (lab PCs) are included
- Windows PCs will arrive pre-loaded with the standard UTSA computer image
- Personal computers will be delivered with a UTSA inventory tag
- Faculty and staff members who require specialized computers will be provided with a link to the vendors' ordering website


The Standard Computer Configurations project is part of the OIT Summer Splash initiative - eleven projects that will change the face of information technology at UTSA. More information is available at http://www.utsa.edu/oit/projects.]]> alex.morones@utsa.edu (alex morones) Mon, 16 Aug 2010 10:09:52 EST spotlight Bluebook to Bring It All Together http://www.utsa.edu/oit/spotlight.cfm#spotlight_bluebook 258 Tue, 03 Aug 2010: The Office of Information Technology is introducing an exciting new way to learn more about UTSA.

Information like course descriptions, syllabuses, cost of attendance, faculty vitae and work-study opportunities will be made available to the general public via the UTSA 'Bluebook' website.

The website is UTSA's answer to Texas HB2504 - legislation that was passed to allow the general public to go to any Texas public university's website and easily retrieve information.

Among other uses, that information can be used to help potential students choose a college to attend.

For OIT, this project means that data must be mined from several applications, aggregated and formatted so that it can be easily displayed.

Some of the data, like course evaluation information, does not currently exist in electronic form. This necessitated that we initiate a related 'Online Course Evaluations' project.

Beginning with the Fall 2010 semester, course evaluations will no longer be done on paper - instead, they will now be done online. The data will be collected and fed into Bluebook when it is available.

'Bluebook is a high-visibility project for UTSA, and we are investing a great deal of time and resources,' said Cindy Espinoza, project manager. 'When complete, Bluebook will be a valuable source of information for the public.'

Bluebook is part of the Office of Information Technology Summer Splash initiative - 11 projects that will positively impact information technology at UTSA. More information is available at http://www.utsa.edu/oit/projects.]]> alex.morones@utsa.edu (alex morones) Tue, 03 Aug 2010 15:57:43 EST video Online Course Evaluations http://www.utsa.edu/oit/spotlight.cfm#onlineCourseEvals_vid 255 Thu, 22 Jul 2010: In response to the Texas House Bill 2504 requirement, students will be able to complete their course evaluations online. The results from the evaluation surveys will be publicly available.]]> oit@utsa.edu (Chris Chipps) Thu, 22 Jul 2010 11:05:40 EST video Application Delivery System for Access to Applications Anywhere http://www.utsa.edu/oit/spotlight.cfm#apps_from_anywhere_upt 250 Mon, 12 Jul 2010: Application Delivery System for Access to Applications Anywhere]]> oit@utsa.edu (c.gomez) Mon, 12 Jul 2010 15:48:44 EST