| Theme
2: Becoming a Safe, Supportive and Welcoming Campus Community
and Physical Environment
Reflective Essay on Theme II, Issue No. 4: Availability
of Technology to Assist Students and Operations
The Technology Strategic Planning Committee (TSPC) was established
in Fall 2000 to advise the President on strategic directions
for technology in support of the University's mission. As
a result of the committee's recommendation, the Technology
Advisory Council (TAC) was formed a year later that would
continue the work of the TSPC by recommending technology directions
and policies for CSUSB and serving as a conduit for keeping
the campus current on information technology issues. The TAC
worked diligently during AY 2001/02 to develop a comprehensive
technology strategic plan that would address the technology
needs of students, faculty, staff, and administrators. Campus
senior management approved the plan during Summer 2002. The
full plan is available on the CSUSB TAC Web-Site at: http://irt.csusb.edu/tac.
The vision established by the TAC is that CSUSB will become
known as a regional comprehensive university with highly effective,
state-of-the-art technologies to facilitate the University's
vision for achieving and sustaining academic leadership and
excellence in teaching, learning, and scholarship; to empower
people of the region by facilitating the understanding and
effective use of technology through partnerships and other
community support activities. The CSUSB mission for technology
is to provide a robust, secure, and reliable application
of technology in support of the educational (institutional)
goals and objectives of the University by offering a flexible
learning environment through efficient, effective, and timely
access to information and services.
The TAC established a number of General Recommendations (to
be carried out over a period of two to three years) and Immediate
Action Steps (to be carried out in AY 2002/03) by the campus
community in support of the technology vision and mission
of the campus. Briefly summarized, the campus will continue
to develop digital information and replace paper distribution.
The campus will continue to maximize the benefits of collaborative
decision-making and student services that technology makes
possible. Faculty, staff, and students shall have equal opportunities
to access and use technologies. CSUSB has a diverse student
population with varying needs. Each technology decision needs
to address these issues of diversity. This may range from
adaptive technologies to time and geographical restrictions,
to socio-economic and cultural contexts. The campus technology
infrastructure shall maintain parity with like institutions.
CSUSB shall monitor like institutions and maintain parity
in IT equipment and personnel. All university information
systems shall be integrated and maintained with reasonable
system security, redundancy, and disaster recovery measures.
All university information systems should recognize individual
privacy rights. Students, faculty, and staff will be provided
with opportunities to develop technology competency and information
literacy skills. Technology has become a part of every aspect
of the university's mission. Every member of the university
community must meet standards of locating, evaluating, organizing,
and communicating information for problem solving. This requires
that policy-makers, administrators and staff be technologically
literate and support exemplary adoption of academic technologies;
that all faculty are able to use appropriate educational technology;
and that students and faculty learn to become critical users
of information technology. As the major provider of the region's
teachers, CSUSB must commit itself to preparing teachers to
use technology for effective teaching and learning. Programs
such as the "Preparing Tomorrow's Teachers to Use Technology"
are an important first step. The University will strive to
distinguish itself in its monitoring and evaluation of the
effectiveness of technology in teaching and learning in all
colleges on campus. Information technology has blurred the
distinction between classroom-based education and distance
education. On-site campus learners and remote learners should
be insured of equal quality of instruction, although the array
of teaching and learning technologies may vary.
While the first draft of the Technology Strategic Plan was
written in Spring 2002, the campus has made much progress
in meeting the teaching and learning needs of faculty and
students. A large number of accomplishments are available
on the IRT Division web site, http://irt.csusb.edu/,
and highlights are outlined as follows:
- The campus currently has 121 Smart Classrooms, with another
10 planned for availability Fall 2003.
- CSUSB is leading the CSU in the development and implementation
of the Telecommunications Infrastructure Initiative (TII).
This project will provide 100mb connection, and enable the
campus to move to voice, data, and video over a single line
(VoIP).
- Wireless technology is now available in Student Housing
Residence Halls, the Student Union Events Center, and throughout
several academic departments.
- The campus operating system was upgraded in December 2001
to improve the speed, performance, and reliability of the
campus network.
- The campus hired an Information Security Officer in July
2000, and through US Department of Education Title V funds,
the campus infrastructure and information is being secured
and staff members are being trained in information and network
security.
- Remote Learning Centers (RLC) are being established at
several community colleges in remote places throughout San
Bernardino County through a US Department of Education Title
V grant. This grant allows CSUSB students to take part in
classes via distributed learning from remote sites, saving
them time and gasoline.
- The Office of Distributed Learning (ODL) is committed
to the development of programs leading to degrees or certificates
and delivered through distributed learning avenues.
- CSUSB was the first of 11 CSU campuses to go live with
a Common Management System (CMS) that provides more effective
human resources information management and financial records.
The student records project is on hold; however, an interim
solution is being implemented which will expand the capabilities
of the current SIS+ system.
- The Assistive Computing Resources Center was established
(2001) to meet the needs of students, faculty, and staff
with disabilities and make recommendations for assistive
technology solutions to their needs.
- The Teaching Resource Center, University Librarians, and
faculty are working collaboratively to develop information
literacy among faculty and students.
- More than 250 courses are now available on-line through
Blackboard and Web CT; over 100 faculty were engaged in
pedagogical review of course material and worked with administrative
staff to design and prepare course materials.
- The Pfau Library has made a number of enhancements that
provide additional benefit to the campus community. Students
and faculty may reserve materials electronically, remotely;
students may renew materials online; and access to 2,417
on-line databases offer 16,000 full text periodicals. PHAROS,
part of the Unified Information Access System of the CSU
Libraries, will expand access to all CSU resources, and
is expected to be implemented Fall 2003.
- A feasibility study is being conducted for renovation
of original Pfau Library building and addition of a second
wing.
- Students may access their class confirmations, grades,
and PAWS reports electronically via a secured server.
A number of key issues continue to be addressed by the campus.
These are summed up nicely by the BATS Committee in their
report to the TAC:
"First, the campus climate for change involves
not only providing access to equipment, but also educating
faculty, staff, students. Second, a perennial campus problem
is inadequate technical support for technology (too few
staff and/or too little staff training) in many areas. Third,
students use campus computer labs primarily for convenience
while on campus, followed by access to specialty software/hardware,
and about half of them would bring or buy laptops, if campus
resources/wireless networking were readily available. Fourth,
the majority of students want campus technology dollars
to go to supporting student labs, not to assist them in
purchasing their own computers. Fifth, smart classrooms
are widely popular with faculty and with students, and most
students believe they learn more with the assistance of
a 'smart' facility. Sixth, successful technology initiatives
include a well-designed and evaluated 'pilot' phase."
The new Technology Strategic Plan attempts to provide solutions
to address these and other key issues related to technology
on the CSUSB campus.
A Full Report on Technology Issues with links to data and
other reports may be found at: (http://thewasc.csusb.edu/edueffrev/thm2/thm2iss4fr.htm )
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