ITS News

ITS on the move!

bmillbank — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 12:50:31 +0000

ITS is growing – and on the move! Due to the temporary demand for additional space resulting from the ERP student system implementation, several location changes are underway.

Moves that will alleviate the current shortfall are as follows:

On July 25, Desktop Infrastructure, Infrastructure Management and Enterprise Storage Management will move from ITS Manning to ITS Franklin.
Also on July 25, the Carolina Computing Initiative (CCI) staff currently at ITS Franklin will join their colleagues already at ITS Manning.
The Learning Space Design group has relocated from ITS Manning to the Porthole building.
The Identity Management group has moved from ITS Franklin to ITS Manning. (more…)

2008 UNC CAUSE call for proposals

bmillbank — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 12:12:38 +0000

Proposals for presentations at the 2008 UNC CAUSE conference are now being accepted through Aug. 15. The 2008 UNC CAUSE conference will be held at the Greensboro Marriot Downtown from Nov. 17-19. The theme of the conference is “The University of North Carolina Tomorrow: Striving for Excellence through Technology and Collaboration.”

The program committee is inviting proposals for presentations, discussions, and Birds of a Feather groups. Proposals should be submitted through the 2008 UNC CAUSE Web site by Aug. 15. Notification of successful presenters will be made by the end of August. (more…)

Customer service first priority for ITS

bmillbank — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 12:27:00 +0000

Recently, a message encouraging flexible work arrangements was sent from Brenda Malone, associate vice chancellor for Human Resources, to the University community in acknowledgment of the unprecedented increase in the price of gasoline and the burden it places on UNC-Chapel Hill employees. The University encouraged individual units to perform their own assessments and determine the best approach for their staff.

In an effort to consider all viable options for ITS, Vice Chancellor and CIO Larry Conrad and ITS senior management focused on the issue of flexible work arrangements and reviewed various options – including flexible work hours, 4-day work weeks and telework.

The conclusion was that ITS is limited to offering staff the option of flexible work hours. (more…)

Upgrade to affect Oracle calendar services availability

bmillbank — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 12:21:36 +0000

Access to UNC’s Oracle calendar will be unavailable this coming weekend beginning today, Friday, July 18 at 11 p.m. until Sunday, July 20 at noon. During this time all access to the calendar server via Oracle desktop client, Microsoft Outlook connector, Web interface, smartphones and PDA’s via SyncML or desktop conduit will be unavailable.

The UNC campus calendar server (also known as schedule.unc.edu, webcal.unc.edu, calendar.unc.edu, and syncml.unc.edu) will be upgraded during this period to maintain support from the vendor, Oracle. (more…)

ITS success at CTOPS takes collaboration, planning

jmweinbe — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 12:30:15 +0000

Following a brief mid-summer break, the Carolina Training and Orientation Program Sessions (CTOPS) are back in full swing. Throughout the summer, the University will host close to 4,000 first-year and transfer students at the two-day sessions, offering students a solid foundation on which to build their life at Carolina.

ITS’ contribution to CTOPS requires collaboration and a huge commitment of staff from all of the major ITS divisions. Each group works with other teams from across campus to prepare facilities, software, hardware, processes and applications to ensure a smooth introduction to technology for new students. (more…)

ITS LearnIT workshops to teach Blackboard, Sakai, Remedy and more

bmillbank — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 12:59:32 +0000

There are still spaces available in the following LearnIT workshops. To read a workshop description or register for any of these workshops, visit http://learnit.unc.edu/workshops. For links to other campus training opportunities, please visit the LearnIT Web site.

If multiple dates are listed, the workshop is offered on each date. (more…)

Discussion explores game-based learning

bmillbank — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 12:12:13 +0000

ITS Teaching and Learning’s Games4Learning initiative will host a discussion on “Does Game-Based Learning Work? Results from Three Recent Studies” on Wednesday July 16 at 12 p.m. in room 222, Murphy Hall. Laura Christopherson, a doctoral student in the School of Information and Library Sciences, will lead the discussion. (more…)

The Road to ITS: Diane Strong

bmillbank — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 13:57:26 +0000

She was a Staff Sergeant in the Air Force Reserves and the crew chief of a cargo and air refueler KC-10 aircraft. She helped ensure that F-16s got to their destination - a 15 hour non-stop flight to Saudi Arabia - for their Gulf War mission. She watched from just 15 feet away as the F-16s were refueled mid-air every 20 minutes while traveling 500 mph. She’s traveled to Saudi Arabia, Italy, Spain, Hawaii, England, Japan and Wake Island.

She has also served at Carolina for 28 years. She is Diane Strong. (more…)

Smart Zones, teleconference meeting spaces improved

bmillbank — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 13:30:57 +0000

Several Smart Zones in the Carolina Union are undergoing a transition this summer. Smart Zones, introduced in 2007 at the request of the Student Technology Advisory Board, are informal meeting spaces which allow students a place to interact and perform group work.

Three existing Smart Zones will be relocated from large spaces to more intimate work spaces; they will be equipped with a wall-mounted plasma screen for which students can use either their own laptop or an in-house PC. Four existing (and larger) Smart Zone spaces will see new projectors to offer users a larger projection image space. All Zones are outfitted with comfortable seating areas and work tables. (more…)

IAIG discusses public domain videos

bmillbank — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 13:21:04 +0000

The July Instructional Applications Interest Group (IAIG) will discuss the Prelinger Collection on Thursday, July 10 at 11:30 a.m. in room 329 of the Health Sciences Library. The Prelinger Collection is an archive of advertising, educational, industrial, and amateur films produced between the 1920s and the late 1980s. Over 2000 such films are included in this public domain video collection.

The meeting will explore how the collection’s materials could be used for teaching and learning and include incorporating public domain videos into a VoiceThread. (more…)