Information Technology Services at UNC-Chapel Hill

An initiative that will determine how Triangle area universities access, manage and share ever-growing stores of digital data launched this fall with funding from the Triangle Universities Center for Advanced Studies, Inc. (TUCASI.)

The two-year TUCASI data-Infrastructure Project (TIP) is a next-generation data project involving Duke University, North Carolina State University and UNC-Chapel Hill’s Renaissance Computing Institute (RENCI), Data Intensive Cyber Environments (DICE) Center, Libraries and Information Technology Services (ITS.)

An editorial in today’s Daily Tar Heel commends the steps the University and ITS have taken to update the campus’s technological infrastructure, make student registration easier and improve the student Webmail experience. To read the full article click here.

What does the future hold for Enterprise Applications (EA) and ConnectCarolina when ConnectCarolina moves from project mode to production operations?

According to Deputy CIO Robyn East and ConnectCarolina Project Director Jerri Bland, EA team members who support the Finance and Human Resources applications today are anticipated to be active participants in the ConnectCarolina implementation of these functions over the next couple of years. Project tasks will be coordinated with production support responsibilities to encourage this participation.

Functional and/or technical PeopleSoft training in early 2010 will be provided for all staff on the impacted production support teams.

This fall has been a busy one for ITS Teaching and Learning Interactive (TLI).

TLI recently completed work on four multimedia modules for the UNC Institute on Aging. The Institute is based at UNC-Chapel Hill but is a state-wide organization. Faculty members who served as content experts for the modules hailed from numerous universities across the 17-campus system. The modules, each of which is approximately 20 minutes in length, provide continuing education and professional development on the following topics: dementia, successful aging, financial resources in retirement and evidenced-based program development.  Participants can print a completion certificate for their records after finishing a module and passing a quiz.
 

Implementing ConnectCarolina presents unique challenges. A huge, multi-faceted endeavor that will fundamentally transform the University’s administrative systems, ConnectCarolina requires a professional and disciplined approach to planning, organizing and managing resources. Project management is being utilized to help the ConnectCarolina team successfully complete specific project goals and objectives.
 

Several ITS employees will present at the 2009 Carolina Technology Consultants (CTC) Retreat, which will be held at the Frank Porter Graham Student Union on Friday, Oct. 23 from 8:45 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. The annual CTC Retreat brings together campus IT employees for a day of learning and professional networking. Registration for the event is now open at the CTC Web site.

This year’s theme is "Lean and Green."   The CTC Retreat will feature presentations on important areas of campus IT, instructional technologies, emerging issues and discussions about initiatives and opportunities for IT in the new green economy.

Dr. Michael Barker, chief technology officer and assistant vice chancellor for infrastructure and operations will give the keynote address at 11 a.m. Other ITS presentations and staff participants include:

The judge, jury, witnesses and lawyers were all in the courtroom on Sept. 25 for a mock trial conducted by University of North Carolina School of Law students and faculty. But for the first time, attendance in the courtroom didn’t require being in the same physical location.

Believed to be the first mock trial in the virtual world of Second Life, the project was developed collaboratively by law students, ITS Teaching and Learning, the Renaissance Computing Institute (RENCI) and the UNC School of Law technology office.

Every year ITS Software Acquisition adds new software to its list, offering faculty, staff and students at UNC-Chapel Hill the most up-to-date software at a reduced price or at no cost at all. This year ITS Software Acquisition will offer new operating systems for Mac and PCs, Microsoft "Work at Home" products at a reduced price and access to Microsoft E-learning, a great way to enhance computer skills.

Who’s the fastest texter at Carolina?  Want a preview of how to use ConnectCarolina to register next spring for Fall 2010?  Who’s the DaVinci of CD art? Where can you find a student IT job?

Get answers to these questions and more at the second annual Tar Heel Tech Fair on Tuesday, Sept. 29 in the Pit from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
 

The ConnectCarolina Student Records team is working toward go-live dates beginning this month of major conversions that are required prior to the build of the schedule of classes for Fall 2010. This is a major step toward student registration for Fall 2010 that will take place in ConnectCarolina in spring 2010.