Multidivisional and Office of the CIO
Improved registration for undergraduate students
An overhaul of ConnectCarolina marks the first major redesign of undergraduate registration since ConnectCarolina went live a decade ago. Collaborating with campus stakeholders, ITS groups Enterprise Applications, Database Administration, PeopleSoft Administration and Change Management increased student enrollment capacity and leveled the playing field so students can have better access to the courses they need to graduate.
Created data governance framework
Building on the Data Governance Structure that was revised in January 2021, the improved data governance framework established a new process for handling requests related to University data, created a data governance website, developed a new enterprise data governance request form within the ITS help ticketing system of ServiceNow and formed a new triage and solutions group, called the Data Governance Oversight Group (DGOG).
Assisted Carolina Together program
ITS groups and individuals stepped in to collaborate with the Carolina Together program to enhance the backend process and technology to better serve and support the campus community. Collaborators implemented a catalog item within ServiceNow to send incidents to the Business Systems Help Desk for assistance with the testing program, submitting vaccine attestations and other needs. As an additional enhancement to the backend of the Carolina Together program, the collaborators also in September launched two Virtual Agent conversations within the live chat feature on the help portal. The Virtual Agent can assist with questions about Carolina Together and provide information about vaccine requirements.
Participated in UNC CAUSE
The annual UNC CAUSE conference brought together IT professionals from UNC System institutions. For 2021, ITS was one of the sponsor institutions for the virtual conference and ITS staff served on the planning committee and wrapped up a five-year-term on the UNC CAUSE Advisory Board. Several ITS staff presented on various topics.
Recognized 20 years of CCI laptops
Since UNC-Chapel Hill instituted that requirement in 2000, ITS’ Carolina Computing Initiative (CCI) has been helping students access laptops that meet University standards. Since CCI began, more than 60,000 Carolina students have acquired the CCI laptop packages. ITS Communications marked the anniversary with a story, interviewing ITS staff who were students when the requirement was implemented
Customer Experience & Engagement
Gained recognition from Siteimprove
In September, Siteimprove, a Danish company that provides digital marketing optimization technology, published a customer case study about how the Digital Accessibility Office (DAO) is helping the campus community improve access to digital content. The DAO has been using the Siteimprove scanning tool for a year and a half. The tool helps content editors and developers prioritize and apply the guidelines that improve accessibility. Since using SiteImprove, the web accessibility team has increased its monitoring from 125 to 206 sites and increase UNC-Chapel Hill’s accessibility score from 82.8 to 84.3.
Collaborated on Cheers to Peers web page
For Employee Appreciation Day on October 22, ITS Digital Services collaborated with the Office of Human Resources to build a web page for University employees to share kudos for fellow staffers. The project, Cheers to Peers, was an enormous success. Nearly 1,100 employees submitted messages of thanks to their peers and more than 1,858 users visited the Cheers to Peers page on Employee Appreciation Day on October 22. Within ITS alone, more than 20 employees from across the department received recognition on the Cheers to Peers page.
Information Security & Identity Management
Promoted cybersecurity awareness
On October 1, ITS kicked off Cybersecurity Awareness Month with a Q&A explaining how firewalls protect the University. Throughout October, members of the Information Security Office shared stories and helpful tips to help the campus stay cyber safe.
Infrastructure & Operations
Decommissioned Remedy RF1
On December 1, the ITS Service Management Platform Team decommissioned the Remedy RF1 application, a decade-old application used by nearly everyone within ITS. While Enterprise Applications rolled out RASR (Rapid Admin Service Request) to replace RF1 in August, the ITS Service Management Platform Team fully closed out the RF1 application effective December 1. The team put RF1 historical transactions into read-only mode for reference. RF1 was one of the last few applications to be retired in Remedy. The functions of those applications moved over to ServiceNow in conjunction with other tools.
Educational Technologies
Implemented requirement for Zoom updates
Educational Technologies implemented a new requirement for Zoom software updates on November 1. Campus Zoom customers are now required to update their Zoom software to ensure it is no more than nine months behind the current version at any given time. This change is in line with industry practices and designed to help ensure Zoom users receive the latest Zoom features, as well as any privacy and security enhancements.
Enterprise Applications
Launched Full Position Management
Enterprise Applications and Change Management helped the Office of Human Resources and Finance and Operations to implement the milestone Full Position Management project over the weekend of October 8-10. For the first time since ConnectCarolina HR/Payroll went live seven years ago, all employees are in positions. This enables more efficient support of HR/Payroll and helps the University meet information requests from external areas such as the Board of Trustees and System Office.
Switched background check vendor
In December, Enterprise Applications and the Office of Human Resources’ Employment and Staffing group switched all integrations for University background checks to a new vendor, Infomart. About 200 campus users have access to submit background check requests with important candidate data. The form is reviewed by the background check central unit and assigned a path to allow the candidate to log in to ConnectCarolina.