At the end of the Spring 2016 semester, we administered an Information Technology Services Survey. The survey was created to offer the College community an opportunity to provide feedback on the technology services offered to the College. View a report on the survey results.

ClearPass Access Management System allows for faculty and staff to simultaneously log into multiple devices and stay connected with for 7 days without having to authenticate. Wireless coverage has been expanded with an additional 50 Access Points (AP’s). We will continue to deploy AP’s based on the IT survey and work to provide coverage for outdoor spaces. We have also increased security with encryption to continue to provide a safe wireless environment.

Campus phone system modernizations continue. CSI’s voicemail system was replaced with Microsoft Unified Messaging, which is now integrated with Outlook email. The campus community can access their voice mail through their email as well as communicate using Instant Messaging (IM) on campus. In addition, Telecom continues to work with departments in order to provide greater efficiencies using call center options now available through the new phone system.

Online Dash Board: Provides files and reports with student information such as GPA, EQA credits and contact information based upon various selection parameters. There are several new additions, reports that analyze data based on degree level/depts./academic plans and demographics, Gauge reports that track the progress of enrollment & projection numbers, and emergency student location reports.

The VDI pilot successfully continued throughout the Spring semester, allowing five classes to virtually access specific software from off-campus, regardless of device or Operating System. VDI was also expanded to support Universal Design allowing individuals with accessibility needs to attain needed software from any computer lab as well as off campus.

A 3D-Printing pilot was conducted in the Spring semester, with the collaboration between the Office of Information Technology Services and the Engineering Department. A 3D printer and 3D digital scanner were piloted in select Engineering courses, allowing students’ CAD design projects to go from images on the computer screen, to printed three-dimensional objects.

Video streaming, storage, and access continues to be a success. NJVID is currently being used by faculty and students as part of classroom instruction, as well as others for archival and research purposes. NJVID is also integrated within Blackboard supporting automatic video uploads. OTS, in conjunction with the Education Department and Media Services, presented on CSI’s video repository experiences at the NJEdge Faculty Showcase, Northeast Connect, and the CUNY IT Conference as well as provided an interactive workshop for CSI faculty and staff.

The Office of Information Technology Services in collaboration with the Office of the Provost/Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs has formed a CSI Information Technology Advisory Council (ITAC). ITAC makes recommendations to Cabinet on non-operational policies (i.e. requests beyond everyday support related issues), procedures, and resources necessary to establish and maintain effective educational and administrative technology services which serve the needs of academic researchers, classroom and/or online instructors, academic support staff, and students.

In order for the HPC to continue to deliver high performance computing power, several systems were upgraded and installed. These systems will support terabytes of distributed memory as well as improved processing speed. In addition, the HPC supported faculty research across CUNY campuses with the greatest usage from CCNY and CSI. Training and workshops were also provided to faculty in support of their research.

The IT Disaster Recovery manual underwent significant revision and expansion, with special focus on communication in case of disaster. Future plans include working with Administrative Offices to develop Business Continuity plans for a wide range of scenarios.

The multiyear phone system upgrade project continues to progress. The main PBX and the voice messaging systems have been replaced. IT will begin to replace outdated desktop phones with new VOIP phones in selected academic buildings this year.

The redesign of the CSI website has begun! A web steering committee was formed with participants representing all the constituent groups at the College. After interviewing several design firms, the College hired Inflexion as the vendor. After numerous meetings with focus groups representing students and all divisions within the College, the vendor working closely with the Office of Information Technology Services has begun the process of redesigning the site. The new environment will be using Drupal, a content management system allowing faculty and staff to maintain much of their own content.

Enhancements to the infrastructure will continue as fiber replacement, terminations and switch upgrades are completed throughout the campus. Additional software configurations will allow multiple devices to access the network and provide guest access as well. With the expansion of the CUNY Ring to the CSI network, reliability is enhanced.