Information technology, Georgia. University System of Georgia. Board of Regents. Office of Information and Instructional Technology

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April - May 1996: Volume 7, Number 5
Contents
z From the Vice Chancellor z The Dial-ins Are Coming z BANNER Status z Connecting Students and Services Status z EPD Audit Summary z Instructional Technology Update z ACIT Meeting z Publishing Information
From the Vice Chancellor
***The business systems selection committee has been working with a consulting firm on final revisions to the RFP (Request for Proposals) which is expected to be released to State Procurement soon.
***The 1996 OIIT goals and objectives have been placed on the web.
***The OIIT has published an updated version of the Microcomputer Technical Standards and Recommendations on the web.
***It is anticipated that Department of Technical and Adult Education sites will begin accessing the GALILEO UMI databases: seventeen sites will begin access in July and sixteen in November.
*** The Woodruff Foundation has provided a grant of $1.7 million to the University Center in Georgia which will allow members of the center (private academic colleges and universities) to access selected GALILEO databases. Private academic institutions not affiliated with the University Center in Georgia are forming a consortium in order to participate in GALILEO.
*** Technology Support Services has hired John-David Rusk as a Systems Integration Specialist. Glenn Fernandez has joined Academic Administration Systems as an Information Analyst I. The Department of Telecommunications and Networking bids farewell to Diana Fletcher and welcomes Marty Litchfield as a Network Systems Analyst.
J.B. Mathews, Vice Chancellor
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The Dial-ins Are Coming

By Jerry W. Segers, OIIT
The OIIT, in cooperation with DOAS Telecommunications and with considerable help from State Purchasing, has recently finalized an agreement with MCI to offer governmental and educational dial-in service to PeachNet and GONet customers in a unique statewide system. Prices have been finalized; details on MCI pricing are available at http://www.peachnet.edu/oiit/pn/dial/.
By August 2, 1996, local dial-in numbers in forty-four locations will provide local call access to almost 90% of the state's population, with 1-800 service available to locations not covered by the initial local call areas. Modems will operate at speeds of up to 28.8 Kbps. Three separate services known as Application One, Application Two, and Application Three make up the system.
To implement this system, MCI will deliver ordering instructions to each ACIT (Administrative Committee on Information Technology) representative and will contact certain representatives to discuss equipment installation. Additional announcements will be sent to ACIT representatives, and further details will be posted on the web at http://www.peachnet.edu/oiit/pn/dial/.
Application One (App One) is an async-only service that will replace the recently patched async system traditionally offered as the PeachNet public dial-in service by the University System. All 112 PeachNet async demonstration lines will be replaced by App One, and, unfortunately, customers will see another change in access methods. The system will have new telephone lines and telephone numbers and will connect the caller directly to a Gopher client. The overlap of service between the new and old system will allow time for customers to adjust to the new service. In addition to the replacement of the PeachNet service, provisions in the contract will accommodate any institution desiring to outsource existing local dial-in services. Installation schedules and operational guidelines are being developed.
Application Two is a telephone-line based password protected PPP dial-in system that includes pre-packaged customer software. The software will be delivered to each campus at no cost if the software is electronically ordered in bundles of twenty-five or more. Lines for this service may be purchased and used by authorized University System institutions, regional public libraries, and other educational entities in order to offer special access services to local constituents consistent with the MCI contract (see http://www.peachnet.edu/oiit/pn/dial/). Individual institutions will provide the technical support for and manage the accounts on this service.
The initial order includes a total of 404 lines to replace the existing limited PeachNet Leaf service while extending the dial service to the remaining institutions. The 404 lines will replace the public library pilot dial-in system and implement the new regional library dial-in service as required under contract with Public Library Services. Separate provisions in the contract allow institutions to purchase additional App Two lines to supplement the initial 404 lines or to add lines at new locations as required. Installation details, management training, and promotion materials are under development.
Application Three is an account-based PPP dial-in service available to authorized faculty, staff, students, and governmental employees and limited to governmental and educational activities in the state. Individual purchase of these accounts will be controlled under the delegated authority of either the OIIT or the DOAS Telecommunications division, as appropriate. The service will operate with the same client software and procedures as App Two, but will use separate local telephone numbers and will be configured and priced differently. This system will be known as the PeachNet Dial-in System and will have enough telephone lines to guarantee that no more than five calls out of one-hundred (at peak hours) will receive a busy signal. Accounts on this service will be established and managed by MCI under three billing plans.
The plan for individual purchase is as follows:
z one time account activation-$10.00 (includes software for Macintosh or Windows) z monthly charge-$12.00 per month (includes sixty hours prime time) z off prime time access-free (prime time is from 7:00 AM until midnight seven days per week) z extra hours-$0.95 per hour (applies after sixty hours each month) z 1-800 service-$0.10 per minute (for use from locations where there is no local service, including out of
state)
Because the PeachNet dial-in system is part of the general PeachNet and campusMCI offering, other benefits include access to the PeachNet Dial-in Service at any installed location in the state; access to the campusMCI service (see http://www.campus.mci.net) in many cities across the nation; access to a 1-800 number for installation help and problem resolution; and a special "Summer Surfing" billing plan during June, July, and August when the monthly charge will be waived and a $0.01 per minute charge instituted, with the billing capped at $12.00 per month.

Two bulk purchase options will be available for the PeachNet Dial-in System. Option one allows for bulk purchase of fifty or more accounts on any one purchase order. The minimum bulk purchase provides for fifty or more accounts as requested, with all monthly charges capped at $12.00 per month. When the sixty hours are used up, the customer is prevented from using the service until the start of the next month or until the customer calls the 1-800 support number and supplies a credit card to pay the excess charges; 1-800 access is similarly limited. All account activation fees are waived, and all software packages will be mailed to a single address for local distribution. Prime time usage charges are capped for June, July, and August at $12.00 per month.
Option two offers additional savings if the bulk purchase of fifty or more accounts on a single order includes an annual pre-payment for the service. This plan provides the fifty or more accounts as does the first bulk purchase plan. Account activation fees are waived, and the price drops to $10.00 per month. The three summer months are provided free. Service caps and software mailings are the same as the option one purchase plan.
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BANNER Status
by Debbie Exum, OIIT
Armstrong State College and Brunswick College have been registering students with BANNER for a year. By the end of May, they will be joined by nine other System institutions in their first production registrations using BANNER. Most of the nine institutions have already moved into production with BANNER Financial Aid.
Although several institutions have postponed production registrations, they have moved forward with other modules. In addition to Armstrong and Brunswick, institutions with some BANNER production modules include DeKalb College, Georgia Institute of Technology, Clayton State College, Fort Valley State College, Georgia Southern University, Valdosta State University, West Georgia College, Bainbridge College, Dalton College, Darton College, Floyd College, and Macon College.
Group three institutions are attending training sessions around the state. Approximately a third of the training for both student information and financial aid has been completed. Group four training began in May.
BANNER institutions met April 18 in Macon to form the Georgia BANNER Users Group (GBUG). The meeting, chaired by Ms. Lisa Baldwin of Valdosta State, focused on establishing more institutional interaction with BANNER implementation.
The SIS committee continues to meet monthly to address issues common to all institutions. Details of the contents of each enhancement release will be posted to the GABEST-L listserv. Other software releases will be made available as baseline software upgrades are shipped from SCT. The enhancement release schedule is as follows:
z April 1996-special HOPE enhancement release z May 3, 1996-general enhancements and defect corrections z June 7, 1996-general enhancements and defect corrections z July 1996-general enhancements and defect corrections. (This will be the final release for BANNER 2.0.x.) z December 1996-first release of enhancements for BANNER 2.1.10
Migration Schedule for 2.1.10
With the discontinuation of Forms 3.0 support from Oracle and the aggressive implementation schedule for the System BANNER project, the following migration path was approved by the SIS Committee at its April 1996 meeting for the upgrade to BANNER from version 2.0.X to 2.1.10.
OIIT will load the 2.1.10 BANNER software (Forms version 4.5) as soon as it is received from SCT (not later than June 30, 1996) and will make it available to any institution wanting to get a head start. The software should be available to institutions by July 15, 1996. OIIT support will be limited on this version during the testing period between July 1 and December 31, 1996.
A test site will be selected to install and test BANNER 2.1.10. Ideally, the test site should be a group three or four institution so that the pressure of a production system will not weigh heavily on the upgrade process. The test site

will perform the upgrade in late November 1996.
Group three and four institutions will upgrade their systems in December 1996 and January 1997 to further verify the success of the upgrade before requiring institutions that are in total production to perform the upgrade.
Group one and two institutions will upgrade their systems by April 30, 1997, thus allowing these institutions to get spring quarter underway before applying the upgrade. These institutions cannot apply any operating system (OS) or Oracle upgrades to their system between January 1, 1997 and the time that they upgrade to BANNER 2.1.10. SCT will support only the 2.0.X system with Oracle version 7.1.6 and the following OS versions: AIX version 3.2.5 or 4.1.X and HP-UX version 9.0.4 or 10.X. If bug fixes are required for either Oracle or the OS, institutions should proceed with their BANNER upgrade in order to maintain ongoing Forms support from SCT.
The Georgia enhancements will be converted from Forms 3.0 to Forms 4.5 between July 1, 1996 and January 1, 1997. An early June workshop is planned to review the design and to accept suggestions for improvements before development begins.
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Connecting Students and Services Status
by Dan Shealy, OIIT
All eight components of Connecting Students and Services are in the process of implementation. Several institutions are in the process of implementing the EPOS Voice Registration System. Other institutions can order at the appropriate time in their BANNER implementation schedule.
The EDI Smart implementation committee has made its recommendations, which are under review by the SIS Committee. DeKalb College and Georgia State University are already transferring transcripts. BANNERQuest software is now ready for distribution to institutions. Training will begin as soon as the Georgia enhancements have been related to BANNERQuest. Both FOCUS and FOCUS Express are being distributed to institutions. Training classes have taken place for group one and will continue for the other groups. Several institutions, as well as OIIT, are using both products. Funds for disk drives have been given to each institution.
Funds have been distributed to institutions for entering their degree audit tables at the appropriate stage in their BANNER implementation and for supporting electronic mail. Some institutions have chosen to augment their existing e-mail system while others have chosen to purchase servers with funds received. Implementation is proceeding at each school according to individual schedules.
Extending PeachNet to link with public libraries and high school guidance counselors, part of the dial-in project, will be implemented. Most counselors will be able to dial-in, with provision made for those that remain. A plan has been submitted to Dr. Barry A. Fullerton, Vice Chancellor for Student Services, to link minority students with mentors. Upon approval, implementation should begin before the end of the fiscal year.
Georgia State will deliver the GCIS system over PeachNet. Funds have been transferred, development has begun, and all System institutions have been contacted by GCIS. Those not already on the PC version have been offered the software as an interim step until the PeachNet version has been developed. (The PeachNet version will always have access to up-to-date data, whereas the PC version has only annual updates.)
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EPD Audit Summary
by Fred B. Cooper, OIIT
Over the past two fiscal years, EDP Audits have been conducted at the Georgia Institute of Technology, Georgia State University, Medical College of Georgia, University of Georgia, and OIIT/Georgia Southern University/Fort Valley State College-a joint audit. The State Department of Audits hired Arthur Anderson and Company, a consulting firm, to prepare the audits.

The OIIT/Georgia Southern/Fort Valley Audit Response has been delivered to the State Audit Department. The response outlines a plan of action to address the audit findings, which dealt with the areas of strategic planning, information security policy, information system security, disaster recovery, problem management, and application change
management.
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Instructional Technology Update
by Kris Biesinger, OIIT
Teachers and Technology
An objective of the Connecting Teachers and Technology initiative provides for the creation of approximately thirty exemplary credit courses that integrate instructional technologies into course design. The first round of submissions has ended, and of 124 proposals submitted from twenty-seven institutions, twenty-six were funded. Plans and dates have not yet been defined for this year's workshop due to scheduling difficulties resulting from the Olympics.
Subject areas represented by proposals included chemistry, math, health sciences, teacher education, international studies, geology, English, art, business, biology, statistics, and anthropology.
The next funding cycle is beginning with a submission deadline of May 29, 1996. Revised proposal guidelines are available via the University System WWW. All submissions must be accompanied by a cover sheet, which has been distributed to all chief academic officers and is also available via the web at the above URL.
Each campus will receive funds to cover the FY96 salary and a 6% raise for the instructional technology specialist position.
FY97 Initiative: Model Classroom
The original purpose of the model classroom initiative was to create "twenty-first century" classrooms; to promote instruction that uses the integrated media of text, graphics, audio, and motion to captivate and enlarge the desire for knowledge; to expand technological expertise in the growing number of fields of study where such expertise is expected in the work force; to create additional efficiencies in the instructional process; and to leverage statewide potential for economic growth.
The original funding amount has been reduced to $100,000 per classroom. Guidelines are being prepared, and more information will be provided to before July 1, 1996. To illustrate the application of funds, institutions have been asked to take before and after photographs.
General Information
The OIIT general training schedule is posted on the System WWW at http://www.usg.edu/oiit/ in "Training."
The DLIT (Distance Learning and Instructional Technology) committee met in mid-May to formulate a fiscal policy directive which will be given to the Chancellor in June. In addition, members are working on preparing a policy directive which will focus on the academic and administrative aspects of instructional technology and distance learning. The Phase I report and all of the individual subcommittee reports reside on the web, and comments to the committee can be sent from the web page.
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ACIT Meeting

The annual spring ACIT meeting was held at Jekyll Island in late April. A variety of issues was discussed, and a summary of several of the items follows.
Mr. Mike Hale, State Chief Information Officer, highlighted the Governor's Information Technology Planning Council (ITPC), which makes recommendations to the General Assembly.
EDP plans and reporting requirements were discussed. Because of the emphasis of the Board of Regents on strategic planning, the meeting was partially devoted to ways to integrate the EDP plans into regular campus planning. Mr. Hale recognized the differences in strategic planning between the University System and state agencies and encouraged the System to present options for alternative planning and reporting agreements. The incoming chair of ACIT, Gordon Wishon of the Georgia Institute of Technology, led the discussion of this issue and will continue to work with the ACIT.
ACIT members discussed the business systems procurement process, including the plan to develop an infrastructure assessment tool. This survey instrument will help gauge the installation base of technology currently on campuses and will indicate additional resources necessary to implement the new systems. The technology subcommittee of the business systems procurement committee will provide leadership for this effort.
At a joint RACL/ACIT session, plans were discussed to address GALILEO support, to develop assessment documentation, and to assess the status of the project.
Longstanding advisory committee members Dr. Alan Jones of Georgia College and Mr. Joe Doldan of West Georgia College are retiring. Their input will be missed.
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Publishing Information
Information Technology, The Office of Information and Instructional Technology (OIIT) News Bulletin, is published by the Board of Regents, Office of Information and Instructional Technology, 244 Washington St. SW, Atlanta, Georgia, 30334. Suggestions and contributions are solicited. Unless otherwise stated, permission to reprint articles in whole or in part is granted provided appropriate credit is given.
z Editor: Jayne Williams z Office: Georgia Southern University z E-mail: jayne_williams@oit.peachnet.edu
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