Open Letter to UF OIT Staff

Another two months has passed, and it is time for an update on IT activities. UF Exchange continues to make strong progress in the phase one process. By the time you read this, we will have moved over 2,000 mailboxes from federated Exchange into UF Exchange. Just over 4,700 total mailboxes will be moved as part of phase one. We plan to complete the phase one migration by April 30. Some of the important changes included in the new system are the managed folders for retained mail and the required use of a PIN for mobile devices. Please see the Web site for more information on the enhancements the system provides.

The approval system is going strong and growing. This is the workflow and tracking system that replaces paper forms and signatures. There are 217 graduate course and program requests currently in the system. The system is being extended to undergraduate course and curriculum requests of which a few have already been submitted. A Help Desk interface should be released within the next few weeks so they can help people in submitting and tracking requests. The role of the Help Desk interface is a read only interface into the application for support of processes and requests. Other features coming in this release include the option for users to select mail notification for updates to requests, and open text search on requests (excluding attached documents).

The next major extension for approval is the ability to secure viewing access of requests to only approved viewers. Currently, all requests are public so no security is required. We will also be looking into versioning requests that have a title or description change (like curriculum changes that have a final step of title assignment from Tallahassee).

Transcript charging started on February 25th. The university was the only institution in the state that previously did not charge for official transcripts. The new charge is intended to offset the costs incurred for maintaining, printing and delivering official transcripts. Transcript ordering is available through ISIS and the charge is payable by credit card. Students with a current GatorLink ID and password will be able to directly order and purchase an official transcript online. Former students who do not have a current GatorLink ID will be able to use instructions on ISIS to receive a current ID that allows them to order online. Students may use the computer lab in the Registrar's lobby for walk up requests. This generalized ordering system can be utilized in the future for any other ordered items that incur a charge. In the next phase, direct connection to FedEx software will allow automatic expedited shipping.

Major IT changes have occurred in freshman admissions. For the 2008 admissions cycle, the Office of Admissions instituted a single deadline for applications (November 1, 2007) and admissions decisions (February 15, 2008). The admissions staff reorganized their office to process almost 28,000 freshman applications in a much more compressed timeframe. This required a major project implementation by the Records IT group.

The goals included: Increase efficiencies, improve data quality, reduce redundant effort and dependence on paper, and enable admissions officers to have immediate access to accurate data throughout each stage of the decision process. Changes included improvements to the Web application and application summary, a new application status function for applicants to track their status and materials received/not received, more reliance on request/receipt of electronic transcripts, a new tracking system that matched the application to a transcript received at a different time, and a new Web-based interface that allowed admissions staff to view and update student data, assign and manage staff and tasks, and request additional information.

Three suites of decision management tools were created for admissions managers. A new decision page was developed for admissions officers who enter preliminary decisions. Standard and custom query options were created to allow comparisons and statistics by high school, GPA, essay score and numerous other factors. A second set of Web pages was developed for Admissions Committee review, recommendations and decisions. Finally, a Web page was constructed for admissions directors, who make final decisions and create complex queries and data comparisons.

Once the functional users got an idea of the streamlining and efficiencies they could achieve using the Web as their interface and the new pages, we saw improvements in processing throughput of almost 500%. An improvement in GPA calculation, which is now correct in 98% of the applications, improved staff efficiency by more than 300%. Analysis since February 15 indicates that the Office of Admissions completed three times the work in half the normal time and with fewer resources.

The wall plate project is making strong progress. Since July 1, 2007, CNS has converted 11 buildings to managed networking including two new buildings (Nano and Pugh Hall). 4,090 data ports have been added to the managed ports list. In addition, 946 new VoIP phones have been added to replace older phone systems. As of January 31, 2008, CNS is managing 16,090 data ports and 2,546 VoIP phones. These numbers are projected to be 20,800 data ports and 3,900 VoIP phones by the end of this fiscal year.

Student and administrative systems have collaborated to develop a new Student Finance system. The implementation of the PeopleSoft Student Financials module was chosen in order to improve the flexibility of calculating and billing students for their educational selections. The new system will allow UF to easily implement additional revenue enhancement projects and meet a complicated legislative student fee structure. A fully functioning PeopleSoft Student Financials system will allow for a holistic view of University tuition and fees. The module will also provide for a single set of common student fee business processes.

The system is a unique, innovative, and collaborative effort to meet University business needs. A dedicated group of CNS, Bridges, and CIO staff have developed a system where student registration transactions are passed real-time from the ISIS system to PeopleSoft. The team came together to implement a system using the latest in web services, messaging, and integration technologies. This is accomplished through an SOA interface using our BizTalk server. The system will go live in mid-march and be used for student financial activities starting summer of 2008.

The Provost has funded a next stage of the e-learning course development project which consists of the production of 20 high quality online courses to be deployed by January 2009. These courses are intended to address needs at UF related to: 1) general education requirements, 2) large enrollment, 3) unmet registration demands due to course caps, and 4) lost revenue due to transfers. The Office of Academic Technology and the Division of Continuing Education were charged with developing and implementing this proposal. Courses were ranked to identify those that will yield the highest benefit/cost.

To reduce the costs of production and time to deployment, three models were selected for course design. These are based on the level of student interaction with course resources, other students and the instructor. Final selection of the model will depend on faculty preferences and sustainability requirements for the course.

The course development process will follow best instructional design practice. Faculty will be required to attend a two day workshop to acquire successful design and development skills for online courses. Before deployment a second workshop will be provided addressing best delivery practices (pedagogy), particularly focusing on TAs. An RFP will be announced in the near future to request faculty and departments who teach the courses identified above to participate in the development.

Information Technology continues to collaborate and innovate in order to help the university improve its operations and activities.

Marc Hoit