Vision for Academic Information Technology at CU-Denver

Prepared by The Academic Information Technology Committee:

I. INTRODUCTION

Demand for access to information technology by student and faculty is expected to increase very rapidly in the near future. Planning and implementation of information technology is a competitive necessity for higher education in general and for CU-Denver in particular. To remain competitive CU-Denver must make the necessary investments in IT and ensure effective management and delivery of IT services and resources.

The Academic Information Technology (IT) Vision Document is a campus-wide effort to develop a vision and set of objectives for academic information technology at CU-Denver for the next three to five years. The Vision is intended to align CU-Denver services and support with the Campus instruction, research and public service mission, the New Urban University Initiative, and the Total Learning Environment goals and objectives. The Vision will set the direction for the campus and for Computing Information and Networking Services (CINS).

The Vision Document addresses the areas of instructional computing, research and creative activities computing, library, video, multimedia, voice telecommunication and networking. The Vision encompasses equipment and infrastructure, technical support and financial resources and implementation.

The 1993 Academic Strategic Plan for Information Technology - In February 1993, The Steering Committee for Academic Computing and Information Technology wrote the Academic Strategic Plan for Information Technology including a set of Guiding Principles and goals for equipment which are reflected in the present document.

The 1997 Information Technology Initiative - In the Spring of 1997, the CU-Denver Campus received substantial State funding for its Information Technology Initiative: Creating Access and Quality of Instructional Delivery Through Technology. Implementation of the Initiative, currently under way, addresses many of the goals of the 1993 Academic Strategic Plan for Information Technology including the enhancement of the campus network, off-campus connections, general purpose computer labs, and general classrooms and the development of smart classrooms, computer classrooms, special multimedia labs, and a production lab.

The 1997 Implementation of the Proposal for Planning for Constant Change - In the Spring of 1997, the Administrative Computing Management Committee after reviewing IT activities on campus, recommended that a campus-wide IT plan and the committee support structure needed to implement it and insure its success be put in place. The new committee structure includes the Information Technology Council which coordinates the activities of the Academic Information Technology Committee, and Administrative Information Technology Committee and oversees the IT strategic planning process.

The Academic IT Committee refers policy matters and recommendations to the IT Policy Council. The IT Policy Council will present the IT Vision to the Campus Faculty, Budget Priorities Council (BPC), Deans, and other administrators during the annual budget cycle.

ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS

Campus Mission

By the Colorado Revised statute: 23-10-101 (b), "The Denver Campus of the University of Colorado shall be a comprehensive baccalaureate liberal arts and sciences institution with selective admission standards. The Denver campus shall provide selected professional programs and such graduate programs at the masters and doctoral level as will serve the needs of the Denver metropolitan area, emphasizing those professional programs not offered by other institutions of higher education."

The New Urban University (NUU)

As a New Urban University, CU-Denver sees its boundaries as flexible and permeable, with knowledge flowing to and from the institution and the community. Its view is global rather than parochial as it seeks to link teaching, research, and service to urban issues and needs of the state, the nation, and the world. (University of Colorado at Denver Catalog: 1996-97).

The Total Learning Environment (TLE) Initiative

The TLE’s focus is to provide a more enriching and relevant learning experience for students. One of the four themes of TLE is directly related to Academic Information Technology: "Using technology to improve teaching, learning, research and management." (President John C. Buechner: A Total Learning environment, 1997).

Competition

While Information Technology facilitates the delivery of education for CU-Denver, it also enables more competition from other institutions, both in- and out-of state, public and private. The development of the Internet and generally available connectivity greatly reduces the constraints of time and place and will increasingly make geographic distinctions irrelevant. CU-Denver must develop and use information technology to compete successfully in this new environment. This will be a continuous requirement for the foreseeable future. Moreover, it is imperative that CU-Denver commits early on to maintaining high standards of excellence in all its activities, including and especially those enabled by information technology.

Funding

Of all the challenges presented by the advent of Information Technology at CU-Denver, adequate funding may well be the most daunting. While the Colorado Legislature recognizes the need for information technology at CU-Denver and has funded the acquisition of infrastructure and equipment (e.g.: the Information Technology Initiative of 1997), the equally important need for financing the continuous maintenance, update, expansion and training activities without which the best equipment is so much deadweight is the institution’s responsibility. Accordingly, CU-Denver must immediately take steps to forecast and integrate the on-going cost of information technology into its budgets and financial planning for the next 3 to 5years, and on a continuous basis thereafter.

THE VISION FOR ACADEMIC INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

As Colorado moves toward the year 2,000, it becomes increasingly apparent that traditional educational processes must change to meet the challenges presented by a global marketplace and rapid technological advances. Information Technology is one of the enabling tools that can be instrumental in helping the university fulfill its mission by serving its multiple constituents in the most efficient and effective manner in this changing environment. Two principles will drive the use of technology at CU-Denver. First, information technology will only be used to the extent that it serves the needs of the university community and its mission. Second, efforts to expand information technology at CU-Denver will maintain, and build on existing IT resources to the maximum extent possible. Adoption of technologies will lead to program changes, evaluation and renewal while fostering systemic and continuous improvement, better student learning and more efficient delivery of programs.

While the mission of CU-Denver is primarily urban, it is no longer restricted to that of a limited geographical area such as Denver or even the Greater Denver area. By reducing the need to be physically on campus for every activity, information technology opens a new world of Total Learning Environment where learning can take place at any time from anywhere. In this new environment, the university may be better defined by the characteristics of its potential constituency, e.g., the larger group of students who exhibit the characteristics of urban students: older, mostly part-time, full-time employees, commuters, highly goal oriented, self-motivated and time and cost conscious, than by the location of their homes. For such students, availability, flexibility, and efficiency are paramount.

Information Technology at CU-Denver must be designed and implemented to provide the kind of easy and efficient twenty-four-hours-a-day connectivity that will open the University to all constituents regardless of their location or time constraint.

The next three to five years at CU-Denver will see a marked increase in the use of Information Technology at all levels of activities: teaching/learning, research, and service. Information technology will become ubiquitous, unobtrusive, and user friendly, much as the telephone is perceived today. Faculty and students will be trained and familiar in the use of the equipment they need. Since off-hours and weekends are prime time for part-time students who hold full-time jobs, Information Technology will enable them to access all information and data needed from stations on and off campus twenty-four hours a day and on weekends. Faculty will be able to communicate with students and students with faculty through connectivity and communication software. Programs and systems will enable virtual classrooms and electronic workshops. With the exception of a few high-technology classes distributed throughout the campus, the level of technology should be such that it can be widely available in all classrooms where it can benefit most students most of the time.

Classrooms and Laboratories: The purpose of information technology in the classroom is to allow faculty to improve their teaching by enabling the presentation of information in quantity, quality and form that would not be possible otherwise and that will enhance the outcome of the teaching/learning process in measurable ways.

All classrooms and laboratories will be equipped with audio/visual equipment and computer projection equipment that will enable access to the world wide web, file servers, news servers, and courseware.

Multimedia workstations will be provided as needed in selected locations.

The equipment will enable the presentation of recorded material as well as material available on the Internet.

Smart classrooms will enable the use of high tech instructional method such as simulation, visualization, and real-time access to world wide web material, digital libraries, and news.

Computer classrooms with up-to-date computing equipment and software will be available in sufficient number to insure that students who do not own their own computing equipment have consistent and reliable access to computing and communication resources.

Laboratories and smart classrooms staffed with consultants will be available for extended hours and on weekends.

UCD will have a comprehensive policy on public labs and department computers that recognizes that a diversity of hardware and software is necessary in a university environment.

The number of smart classrooms will be sufficient to insure that faculty who develop technology-enhanced courses can rely on their availability.

Instructors will be provided with portable computers equipped with CD-ROM and communication hardware and software. A gradual shift from desktop units to portable units that can serve both office and classroom purpose will be implemented for all instructors.

The needs of students with disabilities will be addressed in designing technology facilities. Every CU-Denver lab will have two adjustable computer stations with 19-inch monitors in order to serve students who use wheelchairs or need enlarged text. Students who would benefit from more sophisticated hardware and software adaptations, such as speech recognition software or screen readers, will have access to that technology in the computing center located on the first floor of the Auraria library. That center has revealed the numerous advantages to having a central facility to serve the technology needs of students with disabilities. Staff with specialized training in the hardware and software adaptations will be available to help students and to address hardware and software problems as they arise.

Funds will be allocated to study the effectiveness of, and continuously improve the use of technology in teaching.

Faculty:

CU-Denver shall develop incentives for faculty to enrich existing courses with technology enabled material and to develop new technology rich courses both for on-campus and distance education.

Training in the use of technology in the classroom will be made available to all faculty.

The University will create and maintain a Faculty Research/Development Center for course development.

All students will develop computer skills and related information acquisition skills. The campus, schools and colleges will communicate clearly and early-on the expectations that students must meet with respect to technology skills.

Students will have easy access to computational tools, information, and training in the use of technology.

CU-Denver will prepare for an environment where students have personal computers capable of receiving and submitting assignments remotely.

Students will be able to access courseware at any time from locations both proximate and remote.

All students will be assigned a computer account available during their entire tenure at CU-Denver and will receive training in computer and information literacy.

The University will develop processes, including leasing, loans and other mechanisms, to facilitate the acquisition of computers by students.

The university will implement programs to provide affordable Internet Service for students either internally or through agreements with outside providers.

 

E-mail and the Internet will enable electronic syllabi, electronic submission of homework, on-line answer sets, on-line chat rooms and virtual office hours that will speed up communication and the transfer of information between faculty and students.

Alternative delivery equipment such as satellites, videos, cable, and the Internet will allow for the distance delivery of course content to non-traditional students and high school students seeking college credits.

The virtual classroom and distance education technology will enhance study skills, promote interdisciplinary courses, contribute to inter-university collaboration and advance the integration of multimedia resources into learning and teaching systems.

 

Information availability:

Faculty and students will have access to digital libraries, data bases and the world wide web from home or campus. Information availability together with effective communication will enable students to accomplish self-studies and student-centered learning.

Student Services

As alternative educational delivery methods emerge, access to student services will be available through technological means, including services such as: academic and financial aid advising, peer advocacy and tutoring, faculty mentoring, study skills resources (time management and learning styles), academic assessment, writing center and career planning.

RESEARCH AND CREATIVE ACTIVITIES

UCD depends on research and creative activities for assistance in supporting programs, for the creation of important linkages within the Colorado community, and to inform, revise, and update teaching. Along with the benefits of research and creative activities come pressures to increase productivity and to justify the value of the university's mission. Technology facilitates research and creative activities. University faculties use a variety of technologies to increase productivity and efficiency in research and creative activities. Faculty use and needs fall into the areas of technology infrastructure and access, digital production facilities, information gathering, data analysis, productivity packages, and related hardware and software.

Technology Infrastructure and Access:

Faculty consistently cite the ability to communicate with colleagues worldwide and to send data from Colorado to other places in the U.S. and world as one of the most important uses of technology. To maintain this capacity to communicate globally the university will maintain and continuously improve high speed, broad bandwidth networks that can support transmission of video, audio and large digital files.

Along with on-line infrastructure, the university will maintain and continuously improve the teleconferencing capabilities available on campus from conference calling by speaker phones to television studios such as already existing in the Auraria Media Center.

Digital Production Facilities::

Faculty cite a need for basic video and audio recording facilities to collect and represent data, and facilities to convert analog video and audio signals to digital signals for network transmission. Closely related to audio and video needs are basic digital photography and image scanning capabilities. The University will develop and maintain an up-to-date faculty development center to offer training in the use of digital technologies.

Information Gathering:

Faculty use the World Wide Web on a daily basis to search for resources. The Auraria Library and thousands of libraries around the world are available on the World Wide Web. The University will maintain and continuously improve the campus infrastructure and technologies to enable faculty to access information worldwide, download articles and data and video and store the information on electronic reserve media.

All faculty will have access to e-mail, the Internet, and the new upcoming Internet 2.

Faculty will have access to specialized data bases as required for conducting research either through the Auraria Library or campus licensing.

Access to electronic journals and multimedia resources will be provided through connectivity both at home and at the office.

 

Faculty often mention that although they have a computer in their office they cannot afford software or the updates necessary to run normal productivity software, let alone powerful statistical and qualitative software packages for analyzing data. The University will develop processes, including financial planning, to insure that existing productivity hardware and software is maintained and continuously updated to reflect state-of-the-art technology.

Hardware and Software:

Every faculty will be provided with a basic PC, or laptop and basic productivity software such as word processing, spreadsheet and presentation software. The equipment will be updated regularly.

High performance equipment such as mainframes, high-end workstations and data base servers will be available in specialized facilities on campus.

Specialized equipment such as portable video recording equipment, digital photography equipment and image scanning equipment will be available at the Auraria Media Center or for check-outs.

There will be adequate space for computers, laboratories and other research equipment and the equipment will be maintained and updated regularly.

Researchers will have access to specialized and discipline-specific software such as statistical packages, data base management software and math-algebra software through purchase or licensing.

The vision for technology at CU-Denver calls for employing information technology to create, access and deliver information. Implementing the vision will require significant investment in a number of areas related to networking, including:

the establishment of networks throughout the campus, including servers and local area networks, that will connect classrooms, laboratories and offices to each others and to the world at large with access to all faculty, staff and students.

the development of a high speed backbone and connections in the classroom to improve the existing Ethernet network.

the development of an updated fiber optic network connecting all the buildings on the Auraria campus with enough capacity for all three institutions and AHEC. The fiber optic network backbone will carry data at high speed and will support voice and video communication. The network will include the Auraria Library and the Auraria Media Center to provide on-line access to library materials and multimedia resources.

all existing building connections will be upgraded to allow high bandwith (above 25 Mbps) that will provide access to the campus from satellite locations and the Internet.

the existing CU-Denver modem pool, which only allows text-based access, will be upgraded to allow students, faculty and staff fully graphical worldwide access from campus and home.

a networked, high capacity disk storage system will be implemented to provide full-text, statistical information, and video for faculty, staff and students.

Video and Multimedia at CU-Denver will be developed to enhance teaching and learning. In particular:

Video will be acquired and deployed

to improve teaching effectiveness

to help teachers bring more information into the classroom in order to enhance student learning.

to bring techniques and laboratory experiments into the classroom that would otherwise be inaccessible.

to provide an alternative form of instructional delivery for students who cannot attend class in the regular format.

Multimedia will be used

to enable faculty to provide information to students who have varying learning styles.

to enable self-paced learning and to incorporate interactivity in the learning process.

In addition, CU-Denver will provide

discipline-specific as well as non-discipline specific multimedia workstations for students and faculty.

instructional facilities where students can be actively engaged in learning multimedia technology.

Telephones are ubiquitous, familiar and easy to take for granted, yet, because they are the first point of contact with the University's constituents they are a strategic necessity for the University. To improve and expend high quality, reliable, professionally managed and customer oriented telephone services, CU-Denver will:

develop an Auto Attendant system to provide registration, students services and events information to students 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

develop a telephone customer service center that is interactive with the CU-Denver Web page to allow students to go from the Web page to a human operator for additional information.

implement a Conferencing Bridge System that allows more than three simultaneous audio connections for distance video classrooms, committee meetings, search committees, research projects, etc..

install telephones with toll fraud and theft protection in all classrooms for assistance with technology equipment and participation from distance locations (e.g.: guest lecturers "attending" class via conference and a speakerphone).

implement a campus-wide disaster recovery system that lessens reliance on a vulnerable single site and provides distributed telephone network access. Such a system will ensure that service for critical functions will continue in the event of a local disaster.

expand voice mail services to the entire community, including part-time employees.

provide customer service training in the use of telephone services to all members of the University community.

In the rapidly developing world of the Internet and electronic information media, it is mandatory that CU-Denver develop a coherent presence on the world wide web. To achieve such a presence, CU-Denver will:

develop an overall strategy to ensure that all programs are presented on the web where they can be easily found. The strategy must be developed with maximum participation from the University community. The University’s website will provide CU-Denver with an electronic identity as well as a good marketing tool.

create an appropriate home for the web site within the CU-Denver organization with creative collaboration from experts drawn from throughout the university, including technical, design, and information specialists.

make the catalogue and other administrative documents including application, registration, financial aid, and payment procedures available on the web.

To reap the benefits of technology, CU-Denver must make a substantial long-term commitment of intellectual and financial resources to the goals articulated in this Vision Document. This commitment will provide a basic level of resources and services to all members of the university community. To implement, maintain and continuously improve technology , CU-Denver will:

establish mechanism for continuously acquiring and supporting technology.

establish mechanisms to continuously evaluate existing and planned technology in terms of their fit within CU-Denver needs.

include information technology as a permanent line item in the campus budget process.

establish an overall campus budget mechanism that ensures that all schools and colleges maintain minimum levels of information technology and addresses future needs.

develop continuous funding sources to support implementation and maintenance of the vision.

establish a set of standards for hardware and software that will be supported by the campus. The purpose of standards is not to restrict but to promote consistency and cost effectiveness. Other applications and configurations will be supported to the extent possible.

maintain support operations that will clearly publicize the services that the various organizations will and will not offer.

Most importantly, CU-Denver shall continuously monitor the use of technology to maximize its usefulness to the university community. Specifically, CU-Denver shall:

establish mechanisms to ensure that technology is used to the benefits of students and faculty in a way that serves the educational mission of the University.

allocate funds to study and monitor the effectiveness of technology in its various uses, and especially in teaching.

develop mechanisms, processes and services to help people adapt to changes.

develop policies regarding the use of technology, authorship, and intellectual property rights.

develop policies to reward faculty and staff members that recognize new demands on their time, new products (e.g.: development of on-line courses), and new activities (e.g.: creation and maintenance of on-line material such as syllabi).

develop widely available training material on how to use the technology.