The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and NC State University will save money and improve efficiency by partnering on the human resources and finance components of their enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems.

Both campuses use Oracle’s PeopleSoft software for their ERP systems – major administrative systems for student services, human resources, payroll and financial. The partnership will focus on the human resources and financial systems. NC State has used PeopleSoft for these functions for a decade and is upgrading to the latest version. UNC-Chapel Hill plans to use those PeopleSoft components.

That timing means information technology offices on both campuses can learn from each other while avoiding duplicating efforts or investments while enhancing services for faculty and staff. The partnership aims to tap the most effective and efficient mix of sharing hardware, software, resources, business operations and vendor contracts to improve effectiveness and reduce costs for both universities. Both campuses are investing equal resources – equipment and staffing. 2013 is the target date for both campuses to be up and running with the new systems.

Communication Technologies, a division of ITS, has recently identified resources to start a Teaching and Research Wireless Activation Project (TAR-WAP). Under this project, ITS will solicit proposals from UNC-Chapel Hill faculty requesting the installation of Wi-Fi wireless access points in designated rooms on campus. The wireless access points will augment teaching and research activities. 

“ITS has seen a rapid explosion of mobility in all aspects of IT life, both on and off the campus. Even though up until now the adoption by researchers and teaching faculty has been spotty, this mobility trend is clear,” said Jim Gogan, director of Networking Systems. “We see now as a good time for Communication Technologies to invest in selected areas to continue the build out of UNC’s Wi-Fi network.”

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.)

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.

On Friday, Oct. 23, ITS staff members joined IT professionals from across the UNC-Chapel Hill campus for the 2009 Carolina Technology Consultants (CTC) Retreat at the Frank Porter Graham Student Union. The retreat offered participants the opportunity to share expertise and information on the constantly changing world of IT and its impact on Carolina.

He was fortunate to have been home that bright sunny Tuesday.  Otherwise, he would have been in the city.  He walked through the World Trade Center every morning on his way to work on Broad Street.  But September 11, 2001 changed everything for Jonathan Pletzke.