UPbeat

News for and about University of Portland faculty and staff.

Information Services

New Content Management System to Replace Sherpa

University of Portland, upThe University’s officers have approved a  content management system (CMS) replacement project. The new CMS will replace Sherpa, which has powered up.edu for a decade.

Using comments and feedback gathered from many stakeholders at the University, the web team has identified two finalist candidates—OmniUpdate and Cascade Server by Hannon Hill—for the new CMS. Both are used by many colleges and universities nationwide.

Vendors from both companies will be coming to campus to present demo and information sessions about the benefits and features of each CMS.

Superusers and all interested parties are invited to attend the sessions.

  • OmniUpdate Demo: Monday, July 28, 2014, 2:45-4:15 p.m., BC 163
  • Cascade Server by Hannon Hill Demo: Tuesday, July 29, 2014, 2:45-4:15 p.m., BC 163

To assist in the selection of the new CMS, feedback will be gathered from attendees following the sessions. A complete project timeline will be available after the CMS is selected.

For more information, please contact Amy Shelly, marketing,  at shelly@up.edu or 8232.

Let’s Talk Tech

hInformation services has announced the launch of Tech Talk (http://wordpress.up.edu/techtalk), a monthly online news blog. Tech Talk features articles about new tools and technology, spotlights on existing IS programs and services, security tips, and important technology trends. Tech Talk is the place to learn about news and important information from IS. This month, learn about academic social networking with “Celly” and online training from Lynda.com. Find out about the causes of slow wifi on campus and the coming improvements. Feedback and suggestions are welcome. Please direct comments to kerr@up.edu.

Network Expansion to 1.5Gbps Complete

Tablet - Happy woman holding digital tablet dreamstime_m_27971475.jpgThe final stages of the campus network bandwidth expansion to 1.5Gbps were completed on Thursday, June 5, according to Michelle Sunderland, information services. Over the course of the past five months the IS infrastructure team has taken campus bandwidth from 320Mbps to 1.5Gbps, an increase by 4.6 times. The upgrade included transitioning service providers by bringing TW Telecom and Comcast to the campus. Having two carriers with unique routes to the UP campus provides redundant service in the case of a service outage.

We are excited about the resulting performance and reliability improvements this upgrade will bring to the campus network. This past year users experienced many challenges streaming video content and getting reliable and high speed results when using Google. The IS infrastructure team has completed the initial validation of the new network and reports that video streaming and performance issues have been addressed.

If users experience any issues with network performance they are encouraged to reach out to the help desk at 7000 or help@up.edu to report them.

Coming Soon: Information Services Virtual Service Center

data copyInformation services is proud to announce its new Virtual Service Center, designed to be a one stop IS support and service website for campus users. From this new web interface users will be able to submit IS service requests, search a robust knowledge base, and chat with help desk staff. In addition, users can report issues, view real time outage information, and receive timely IS communications regarding current projects and services.

The Virtual Service Center will be launched in late June. Both online and classroom based training will be available upon release. Additional training details will be provided in the near future.

The VSC will replace the current Zendesk ticketing system which will be retired later this summer. This new platform will provide the additional features of a full-service request catalog, a searchable knowledge base, a workflow engine, integrated asset and change management tools, and help desk chat. IS looks forward to better serving the campus community through the new Virtual Service Center.

For additional information please visit http://up.edu/IS.

Take A Bow, Sam Williams

samwilliams copySam Williams, director of academic services, will be recognized with the Madrina de Salud Award at the Familias Latino Health Equity Conference on June 13 at Portland State University’s Smith Ballroom. Familias gives the award to community members and organizations that exemplify exceptional commitment to Latino health equity. The award recognizes the work Williams has done in partnership with the University’s School of Nursing. He has logged many extra hours, fueled by his creative energy, to tell the story of Familias’ mission and bring more awareness via a number of video productions. For more information contact information services at 7000 or help@up.edu.

Free Anti-Theft Software

hThe information services office has purchased a campus-wide security software package that protects laptops and MacBooks from theft. Once downloaded, FrontDoor Security Software will protect devices for four years. University owned laptops are required to be protected, and employees may download the software on personal laptops as well. Installing the software is fast and easy. Simply click on https://pilots.up.edu/group/main/tools and install today. For assistance call 7000 or e-mail help@up.edu.

Time To Order Fall 2014 Software

Iman's handsnformation services will begin creating the computer classroom and lab software builds for the 2014 fall semester in April. A software build is applied to all computers in the requested location and contains a set of applications that the students require access to in order to complete their coursework. The computer classroom and lab software builds start from a blank slate, which means that any software that was available in the previous term will not be available for the following term unless it is specifically requested. Exceptions to this are software installed commonly everywhere, including Microsoft Office (Excel, Word, PowerPoint, etc.), Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, and Symantec anti-virus protection. For the Mac, Office, Safari, Firefox, and iLife are included by default.

To request software in a classroom or lab, please go to http://tinyurl.com/l5x5py3 and complete the web-based form. If you are interested in purchasing new software for your department to to http://tinyurl.com/mk9udn7 for instructions. If you are interested in requesting software for other locations that are not labs or classrooms, please contact the help desk at help@up.edu or call 7000.

Please note: Funding for new software is the responsibility of the requesting department.

The software build and deployment process is extremely labor intensive, and information services must receive software requests no later than Friday, April 4 to be included in the the computer classroom/lab software build for the Fall 2014 semester. For more information contact Sheila Smith, academic technology services, at 7658 or smithsv@up.edu.

Farewell Party For Brian Toole, March 27

toole copyInformation services will be saying farewell to Brian Toole on March 27, according to Lisel Stancil, web and enterprise services. Brian worked as a student employee in information services prior to joining the team as a full time employee in 2007 when he graduated from UP’s computer science program. Brian is leaving UP to join the UK-based company Virtual Trader, LLC in their Portland office. Brian’s institutional knowledge, programming skills, and passion for ultimate Frisbee will be missed.

There will be a farewell party for Brian in the Library Classroom on Thursday, March 27, beginning at 2:30 p.m. Please stop by to say farewell and wish Brian well on his next adventure. For more information contact Stancil at 7481 or stancil@up.edu.

Celly: UP Private Social Networking

cellyAll are welcome to stop by the Library Classroom on Wednesday, February 19, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., to learn more about Celly, the student-led network that is changing our campus, according to Ann Harris, information services. This is a great chance to visit with the Celly team and meet faculty, administrators, and students who are using Celly to facilitate their campus conversations. Snacks and pizza will be provided.

Celly allows groups to create private social networks or “cells” that members can join in seconds from any device. More versatile than e-mail and text, safer than Facebook or Twitter, an alternative to Clickers, Celly can organize your classrooms, clubs, and departments.

“Celly’s use on our campus really has no bounds!” says Quinten Chadwick, ASUP President. “From classroom communication, group projects, student clubs, or mass messages to the student body, Celly gives students the ability to easily communicate in all aspects of their academic life.”

Please visit wordpress.up.edu/celly for more information, or contact Harris at 8116 or harrisa@up.edu.

National Data Privacy Month: Do You Know Your Privacy IQ?

dataprivacyFebruary is National Data Privacy month. The information services office is committed to a safe and secure computing environment and encourages all UP computer users to do their part to keep private information secure. For some great tips on how to keep personal data safe please visit: http://tinyurl.com/kmp9m55. Want to know your Privacy IQ? Take a short quiz and check your score here: http://myprivacyiq.com/.