Consortium of Liberal Arts College
Summary of Reed College Technology
Initiatives
2002 - 2003
Martin Ringle
Chief Technology Officer
Educational Technology Center
In August 2002 Computing & Information
Services moved into a newly-constructed Educational Technology Center.
The 30,000 sq. ft. building houses a help Desk, computer store, computer
repair shop, two study lounges, a Writing and Quantitative Skills Center,
a Faculty Multimedia Lab, 3 general purpose computing labs, 3 multimedia
classrooms, a video-editing lab, 25 CIS staff offices, 4 machine rooms,
11 faculty offices, a faculty and a staff lounge, 6 storage rooms (!),
and a multi-purpose training/meeting room. The facility includes upwards
of 200 computers and is saturated with wireless (as well as high-speed
wired) networking.
The new building has enabled us to realize
a number of long-awaited goals. For example, we have sufficient auxiliary
power and HVAC to maintain critical network operations through prolonged
outages. Small touches such as a fireplace in the main student lounge,
tile flooring, and extensive use of maple woodwork for doors, trim,
and wainscoting, promote a warm and welcoming atmosphere for students,
faculty, and staff.
Major Projects Completed
Despite the amount of time and energy
it took to move all operations into the new ETC building, CIS also
managed to work on a variety of strategic projects during the past
year:
* implementation of authentication in
public access computing labs
* deployment of wireless access in all
academic & administrative buildings
* campus-wide roll-out of Mac OSX, Norton
Anti-Virus, and other utilities
* re-write of print accounting software
with $20 per student waiver
* implementation of a new ADP Human
Resources system
* major upgrades of Banner and Oracle
* launch of a datamart and web interface
project for alumni/development
* deployment of new telephone switch
and telecommunications infrastructure
* server, network, and software, support
for installation of a One-Card system
Projects Underway
Some projects initiated during the past
year that are currently in progress:
* development of an LDAP directory for
Unix services
* evaluation of document imaging products
for campus-wide use
* evaluation of clients for new campus-wide
email standard
* implementation of a comprehensive
anti-spam strategy
* overhaul of user services procedures & documentation
New Projects
New projects that have been started
within the past few months:
* deployment of a campus emergency phone
system
* preparation for increased network
security via a virtual private network (VPN)
* development of standardized course
web page profiles for academic departments
* deployment of laptop carts for classroom
usage
* examination of digital asset management
strategies
* re-calculation of equipment replacement
budget and plan
Collaboration
Reed continues to benefit from its "WISP" collaboration
with Occidental, Swarthmore, and Vassar in many ways, for example the
joint evaluation of PHP web development software and inter-college
discussions of specifications for datamart development strategies.
We are now looking ahead to the prospect of other collaborative efforts
in 2003, 2004, and beyond.
