New Ways of Working

Last year, Information Technology announced it would work to transform how it delivers services and utilize different approaches to meet our campus's growing demands. Here is an update on the division's progress:

• In the last nine months, IT and its partners have rolled out four cloud-based applications: a Judicial Advocate system, Student Orientation system, Natural Science and Engineering Advising systems. Cloud-based applications reduce the need to host applications and allow the department to be more agile in how services are provided. Several more are in the works, including email and calendar.

• IT signed an agreement with Ellucian, the Student Information System (SIS) vendor, for operational administrative services that include system, database and application administration, along with update/patching for the SIS. Utilization of such services by experts significantly increases IT's ability to deliver new versions, in turn new functionalities and reduce operational and staffing risks to the campus.

• IT has continued to consolidate physical servers into virtual servers, reducing the overall cost of replacing hardware. This reduces the campus's carbon footprint and also alleviates some demand needed for the power and cooling of the campus's telecommunications facility.

• IT is working with other UC campuses to introduce UC source applications. The first set of applications — At Your Service Online, Express and Connexxus — are already integrated in the portal. A second wave is coming with Academic Personnel leading the charge.

For more IT news and updates, visit their news page and website.