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Effective IT Practices
Up to UHD IT Services
Following UH-Downtown’s tradition of excellence in student service, the Division of Information Technology collaborates with administrative and academic units to promote expanded access for students, faculty, and staff. Two outstanding examples of effective paractices in expanded access at UHD follow:
The cornerstone of providing quality technical service is developing a strong infrastructure to serve as a foundation. A number of ongoing and long-term projects are in place to develop and maintain quality technical standards at UHD. Two examples of UHD’s infrastructure development are as follows:
Uniform Desktop Systems and Software Library Project
Electronic Classrooms
Managing today’s complex technology environment in a progressive and growing education institution requires strategic leadership with a common sense approach. At UH-Downtown, a number of management best practices are implemented to promote high quality products in a resource challenged institution. One innovative example of this follows:
Many of UHD’s IT efforts are driven by its key objective to promote effective use of appropriate technology. To facilitate that process, a number of support service products and centers are in place to assist the university community with strategic use of technology. An example of excellence in support environments follows:
University of Houston - Downtown's student e-services
UHD student e-services
Personalized information on demand. That's the basis of a bold web-based initiative at UH-Downtown intended to expand the university's commitment to a student-friendly environment. Accessed through UHD's website, www.UHD.edu, student e-services gives students the ability to request and update information, obtain status reports, access online courses and support services, register and pay for classes, and take care of other business transactions with the university on a 24-hour, 365-day basis.
This environment of online support and access has been extremely well received by UHD's student population, with close to 100% of the students accessing it each semester for various university business transactions and service. It has also been featured as a showcase site for other institutions.
Information on demand
Today's college students have grown up with technology, and they expect to make practical use of it. UHD's student e-services meet that expectation head-on by providing portable information. Students have real-time access to their most vital UHD data from any internet-connected computer at any time.
A foundation of teamwork
Our student e-services exemplify UHD's innovative use of resources through collaboration. The staffing needed for the effort is the result of a jointly-sponsored budget initiative that sought to bolster the presence and increase the functionality of the university's website.
The creation of student e-services was folded into the overall renovation of the website, which included a radical overhaul of its structure and graphic look. The entire project was accomplished through a cross-departmental web team that incorporated participation from the institution.
Student e-services evolved as a natural extension of UHD's longstanding emphasis on high quality service and support for its students. Building on that service foundation and a robust technology infrastructure, the university has leveraged its resources to expand access and service.
Implementation Schedule
Phase I (October, 2000)
Catalog: UHD's current catalog of courses, programs, and requirements
Class Schedule: complete schedule of classes for recent and upcoming semesters; pulls data from student records system to provide real-time status on open and closed classes
My Schedule: a student's personal schedule information; requires login and pulls live data from student records system
My Payment Info: a student's personal financial record; requires login and pulls live data from student records system
My Grades: a student's personal grade record; viewable by individual semester or as a grade history; requires login and pulls live data from student records system
Phase II (February, 2001)
Core Curriculum & Course Transfer: searchable database of course transferability between UHD and other institutions; also provides UHD equivalencies for the Texas Common Core Curriculum
Advising & Admission Info: links to admission and advising information pertaining to admission requirements, application, catalog, class schedule, registration, distance learning, financial aid, orientation, transfer students, international students, veterans affairs, and advising support
Financial Aid & Scholarship Info: links to financial aid and support resources such as student loan information, scholarship lists, grants, workstudy employment, and relevant policies and procedures
My Admission and Enrollment Status: a student's personal admission and enrollment eligibility status; provides information from the student records system about the student's classification, holds status, and enrollment eligibility; offers information specific to the student on any actions that need to be taken by the student regarding his or her status; requires login and pulls live data from student records system
Online Courses: links to the university's online course page, where student can log in to their online courses or access support resources
My Personal Data: Displays the student's name, address, e-mail, and computer account information as recorded in the student records system; provides opportunity to change pin number or update address or e-mail information; requires login and pulls live data from student records system
My Financial Aid: provides personalized financial aid status information for a student, including the status of documentation, awards, and packaging (determination of aid eligibility); requires login and pulls live data from financial aid system
Library Database Access: provides faculty and students the ability to log in from off campus to the proprietary, subscription databases provided by the library.
Phase III (Fall 2001)
Online Payment: debuted August, 2001. Allows students to pay for tuition and fees by credit card over the web. Students may pay in full or by installments.
Online Registration: debuted in November, 2001 for Spring 2002 registration. It offers students who meet designated criteria to select and register for courses over the web.
Upcoming Releases
Phase IV:
Online Transcript Request: will be released at the end of the Spring 2002 semester. It will allow current and former students the opportunity to make an online request for a transcript. The request will be processed in the records office, and an official transcript will be mailed to the location requested by the student.
Online Admission I: scheduled for release during the summer of 2002 for Fall 2002 admission. It will offer students who have previously attended UHD to go through the readmission process online.
Phase V:
Faculty Grade Recording: scheduled for development during the summer of 2002. It will allow faculty to submit their grade reports online.
Faculty Evaluations Online: development is underway. It is scheduled for release during either the Fall 2002 or Spring 2003 semester. It will enable students to complete their faculty evaluations online. Although the submissions will be anonymous, restrictions will be incorporated that limit a student's access and number of submissions.
Online Registration II: development is underway. It will include enhancements to the existing online registration system, such as integration with the online schedule.
Online Admission II: development is scheduled to begin during the Fall 2002 semester. This phase of Online Admission will allow for all students to go through the admission process online.
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UHDonline
UHD has implemented UHDonline as a gateway for access and support of its online course offerings. Delivery and facilitation of a distance education curriculum is tantamount to the continued success of many urban universities. The increasingly mobile and flexible work environments present challenges for both students and educational institutions. In the mid 1990s, the University of Houston Downtown recognized the need to reach beyond the physical facility and offer students and faculty the opportunity to join together in the expanding online communities that enhance learning and communication in a large urban area.
As with many other universities, UHD has encountered several challenges while implementing the new processes for distance education. Some of the important challenges include:
Student
· Effective communication with distance learners
· Development of new methods of interaction
· New instructional design systems
· Assisting prospective online students with self evaluation
· Expanding student populations
· Diverse student backgrounds
Faculty
· Paradigm shifts for online pedagogy
· Effective training
· Good course management practices
· Online support systems
The UHDonline site was created to help meet the challenges of providing high quality education in an asynchronous and distance learning environment. A key goal of the site is to effectively provide a quality-learning environment for those students who cannot attend traditional courses at the University. However, the site also supports courses that utilize online components as enhancements to traditional face-to-face or instructional television courses. The Technology and Teaching Learning Center - Instructional Technology staff continually develops and improves the UHDonline site to address the aforementioned challenges.
Feedback from online students and faculty indicate that the full-featured Student Online Orientation is an extremely effective tool for helping prospective and existing online students with their online educational needs. In fact, the orientation component of the site has received a great deal of external attention, and is used by several other institutions in support of their online environments.
Additionally, the faculty resources area of UHDonline provides faculty with processes and assistance for effective course management, as well as links to additional help from the staff. The staff is currently preparing new training material for online faculty, as well as a full-featured Orientation directed specifically at faculty needs in the online environment. For additional information see the following link: UHDonline
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Uniform Desktop Systems and Software Library Project
UH-Downtown initiated a formal Desktop Computing Project Initiative in 1996 to offer standard PCs and productivity software in faculty and staff offices. Prior to that there had been many different computer platforms and configurations used by faculty and staff, resulting in significant barriers to communication, sharing of documents, application development, technical support, maintenance and training. There were also a number of concerns within the user community about needing better standardization in hardware and software at the desktop. Furthermore, various faculty were expressing frustration about receiving differential treatment with regard to technology empowerment due to the fact that separate budget and decision processes were driving departmental upgrade schedules.
With this project, the university began treating desktop computing more like a utility, providing it as a given infrastructure component in faculty and staff offices. The program was designed to address the total cost of ownership, not just the physical hardware and software components. As part of this project, the university started providing every full-time faculty and staff member with an up-to-date PC on a rotation schedule of approximately once every three years. Networked departmental laser printers were also included.
The added convenience and productivity improvements that resulted from this initiative led the university to consider using the same concept with departmental labs for students. The university's Academic Computing Lab had been on a similar replacement rotation since 1988, but other department-specific lab environments were not covered in a consistent manner until 2001, when the university formally included them in the project. The replacement cycle for these labs was set at a three year timeframe as well.
This project is funded annually as a budget set-aside and has served as an example for a variety of other institutions. Through this initiative, faculty, staff, and students have been able to communicate better and use the latest in technology to meet individual needs more effectively. The support and acquisition processes have also been improved and simplified tremendously.
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State-of-the-Art Classrooms at the University of Houston-Downtown
Andy Van Buskirk sits in a classroom located in Sugar Land, a fast-growing community on the outskirts of Houston, ready for class. Twenty miles away, his professor begins his lecture. Dr. Ralph Kauffman, assistant professor in the University of Houston-Downtown's College of Business, is using one of UHD's state-of-the-art classrooms designed to increase educational access for the university's diverse and growing student population.
In this case, Andy and his classmates can participate in Dr. Kauffman's session in a classroom equipped with video monitors and microphones that allow for two-way communication. Says Andy, "UHD professors reach out to you and encourage you to interact" - a skill acquired through special training sessions for faculty in the use of the high tech facilities.
The University of Houston-Downtown's Technology Teaching and Learning Center (TTLC) and the Academic Computing Lab (ACL) make teaching and learning opportunities more robust and available to students, faculty and staff. These multi-purpose rooms were designed to facilitate technology-enhanced classroom instructional delivery; satellite downlinks and uplinks of educational programs; electronic classroom presentations with a full range of multimedia capabilities for face-to-face and distance learning instructional delivery; video conferencing for point-to-point and multipoint instructional television classes; and a host of other services available through the university's data and video network. In these high-tech classroom environments, faculty incorporate online services to enhance in-room teaching, often managing classes at two to three different sites at once. Course management tools, such as WebCT, are leveraged to organize data, communication, and testing via the web for many of the courses taught in these facilities.
The University of Houston-Downtown is using technology to enhance the students' overall learning experience. A deliberate decision was made during the initial planning and design process to de-emphasize the technology itself in order to focus on how it can enhance the teaching and learning process. The university continues to make a significant investment in designing and building environments to accommodate new methods of instructional delivery, as well as finding ways to use non-intrusive technology to enhance the traditional mode of face-to-face instructional delivery. The university has also implemented a student e-services portal (www.uhd.edu/eservices) to promote student access and support beyond the classroom walls. These services, which range from access to online courses and course supplements to entry into online proprietary library databases, to online registration and payment, are used by the majority of the university's student population, and are frequently utilized within the high-tech classroom environments.
The TTLC and ACL classroom and training facilities are dynamic in nature, as enthusiastic IT staff members refine the technology in response to the university's overall educational needs. Presently, the classroom and training facilities are equipped with:
TTLC and ACL Electronic Classroom and Training Equipment
· AMX and Netlinx in room control system panels (for instructor control of all technology within the classrooms and connecting beyond the classrooms)
· Dell Multi-media enabled workstations, with LCD flat screens (They fold down for a less obstructed view between student and instructor.)
· Sony preview monitors (for view of students at remote sites and for review of outbound broadcast)
· Sharp classroom projectors (ceiling-mounted or rear screen projection)
· Miranda and Extron switchers/routers
· Cisco multilayered switches
· Polycom CODECs (to transmit video and computer images to remote sites)
· Radvision/Accord for gateway services (tanslates H320 to H323 and vice versa)
· Kramer PIP (Picture-in-Picture)
· Lectrosonic mixers
· Crown audio amplifiers
· Shure audio microphones
· Panasonic and Sony VCRs
· World Vision electronic document readers
· IBID electronic whiteboards (to transfer hand written data for electronic display and storage, and to transmit it to remote sites)
· Imperata workstaton management systems (offering the instructor control of the student PCs)
· Laser Printers
· Wireless Access Points (for wireless network connectivity)
In the coming year, the University of Houston Downtown's faculty and students will have access to classroom and training facilities that will be upgraded in a number of ways. Web-enabled controls will allow remote management of the facilities. Classroom cameras will be IP based for remote viewing purposes. The university will also offer H323 multipoint videoconferencing to all remote teaching sites and corporate partners, utilizing Polycom Accord equipment. As a result of these enhancements, faculty and students will continue to benefit from emerging technologies to overcome barriers (e.g. time, location, learning, physical) and engage in rich teaching and learning experiences.
UH-Downtown is a public four-year undergraduate university, just beginning expansion into graduate programs. It offers excellent degrees in three academic colleges: Business, Humanities & Social Sciences and Sciences & Technology. UHD is nationally recognized for its student diversity, outstanding academic opportunities and productive community partnerships. At UHD, the emphasis is on excellence in teaching and student success.
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Managing Projects Through Progress Management
UH-Downtown implemented a formal Information Technology Project Office in 1996 with the following goals:
Formalize project management practices, including resource allocation, budget review, project oversight, risk management, reporting and quality assurance;
Tie IT projects more closely to university planning activities and structures;
Closely integrate IT project management and IT budget;
Formalize priority setting processes with clear accountability
Better integrate project priorities with university goals and users' needs
Manage UHDs IT planning within the context of state requirements, strategies and goals, and centralize IT planning and reporting;
Implement project processes and tools that encourage a partnership between IT Management and Project Leaders. The project management culture must facilitate project progress and communication and promote project success and accountability.
Define (Complete Project Requirements Worksheet -- set baseline.)
Approve and Prioritize (Review for placement of project to approved project list; set budget, priority, resources and timetable.)
Model and Develop (Further develop Project Requirements Worksheet. Define detailed requirements, assess environment, define tasks, set detailed schedule, assign/manage resources and budget, prepare/review reports, conduct risk assessment using Project Requirements Worksheet, document, test and evaluate. Formalize roll-out plan, and maintenance and operation plan)
Manage Progress and Implement (Roll-out, train, adapt processes, integrate, QA)
The hallmarks of this project stage are the activities associated with task, schedule, resource and budget oversight, as well as communication and progress management with integrated risk assessment.
Review and Signoff (Conduct QA review, final user acceptance, and project signoff by sponsors and leadership.)
Follow-up (post implementation assessment; future development planning, where applicable)
It is important to note that effective project development and implementation require more than a set of processes and tools. It is also critical to develop a culture that empowers and rewards project leaders and IT management and holds them accountable for appropriate progress.
One of the most valuable and unique aspects of the UHD Progress Management model is that it incorporates an integrated risk assessment process to continuously evaluate viability and progress within the context of the projects' goals and baseline objectives. IT and project leadership communicate about the progress and relative risk of a project within the context of the full range of IT projects, allowing for a more holistic approach to project responsibility.
Projects in this model are also clearly designated according to their need for IT leadership oversight based on their criticality, risk status, and interaction with other key projects. This approach, which is essentially formula driven, focuses more and higher level attention to appropriate projects.
Despite this model's clear focus on utilizing structured systems and processes to facilitate effective project practices and generate progress, simplicity and practicality are also key components. The model incorporates a tracking system as well as regular, consistent reports which address typical project metrics. However, the processes and requirements are kept lean and uncomplicated. More complex and detailed documentation is incorporated only when a project moves into a risk state. This allows the approach to be manageable and effective for project and IT leadership, and results in a set of processes that work.
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University of Houston Downtown
Technology Teaching and Learning Center
In an effort to meet the challenges presented by introducing new and innovative technologies into the university's curricula, the Technology Teaching and Learning Center - TTLC was created in the mid 1990's. The TTLC supports the faculty in their efforts to successfully use and understand the many technology tools and strategies at their command. A deliberate decision was made during the initial planning and design process for this environment to de-emphasize the technology itself and put the focus on enhancing the teaching and learning processes. The TTLC staff assists faculty in their use of interactive technologies in order to develop and implement effective pedagogy and enhance the academic experiences of UHD's diverse student population. The TTLC provides the following technology support services:
Instructional Technology Services provide instructional technology support services for faculty, students and administrators. The prime responsibilities of this operating unit within the TTLC include: developing and delivering technology training courses for faculty; developing, delivering and maintaining web-based courses; training faculty in the use of course authoring and development tools (i.e. WebCT); developing and delivering Web Gator training - the student web training; researching new and innovative technologies; facilitating instructional technology services focus groups meetings among faculty and support staff; conducting annual TTLC showcase events; and participating in UH system-wide instructional design collaborative efforts.
TTLC Facility includes: faculty resource area; electronic classrooms; instructional television studio; Media 100 video editing suite; multimedia services office; training and conference room; and support staff offices. The electronic classrooms and training room are multi-purpose rooms. These multi-purpose rooms were designed to facilitate technology-enhanced classroom instructional delivery; satellite downlinks and uplinks of educational programs; electronic classroom presentations with a full range of multimedia capabilities for face-to-face and distance learning instructional delivery; video conferencing for point-to-point and multipoint instructional television classes; and a host of other services available through the university's data and video network. In these high-tech classroom environments, faculty incorporate online services to enhance in-room teaching, often managing classes at two to three different sites at once. Course management tools, such as WebCT, are leveraged to organize data, communication, and testing via the web for many of the courses taught in these facilities.
Multimedia/ITV Services provide instructional support services for the faculty, students and administrators. The prime responsibilities of this operating unit within the TTLC include: delivering instructional television courses; developing instructional content using multimedia elements such as animation, audio, graphics, and video; scheduling videoconferencing and satellite downlinks; scheduling, distribution, and maintenance of audio visual equipment; providing photographic services; training faculty on the operation of the hi-tech presentation classrooms and conference rooms within the university; and supporting the university's marketing, recruitment and community outreach activities.
The university continues to make a significant investment in designing and building environments (physical and virtual) to accommodate new methods of instructional delivery, as well as finding ways to use non-intrusive technology to enhance the traditional mode of face-to-face instructional delivery.
For more detail see the following links:
· TTLC Website
· TTLC Support Staff
· TTLC Showcase Event
· TTLC News
· Multimedia Services
· Instructional Television
· ITS - Instructional Technology Services Focus Group Meetings and Agendas
· Distance Learning Student ITV Orientation
· Faculty and Staff Training Classes
· Web Gator Training
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