Linda Coburn and Tonisha Ford
The information technology department is embarking on the first stage of developing a strategic plan to address the issues that have long plagued the campus.
Up to now, “things have been done in an ad hoc fashion,” said Mark Henderson, manager, college information systems.
Mona Altounji, senior office assistant for Extended Opportunity Programs and Services (EOP&S), complained about Infotech’s response to problems, saying “They completely ignore your existence and there is no point of talking to anyone.”
EOP&S has an electronic system by which to register their appointments, and since their move from the bungalow offices to their new location in the Future Village, there has only been one computer available to them to make these appointments.
To change the ‘ad hoc’ way the Infotech department has operated, an outside contractor is being sought to do an assessment of the network. Selection of that contractor is in process.
Once the assessment is completed, a strategic plan will be developed to identify how to meet the future needs of the campus. Issues such as wireless internet access, infrastructure upgrades and the Web site will be addressed in the plan.
Henderson anticipates it will take 12 to 18 months to stabilize the system.
But that won’t happen without more staffing for the department.
“The department is understaffed and has been for a long time,” said Henderson.
The information technology department has four technicians responsible for approximately 600 computers.
Further complicating issues is the instability in the position of department head.
Henderson has been in the position for three months; his predecessor was there for four months and prior to that there was an individual who was considered “provisional.”
This lack of staff has created a backlog of service calls for the department.
“They keep coming to fix it. They agree that it’s a nuisance, but they haven’t fixed it yet,” said Altounji about her computer problems.
Neglect of the infrastructure (cabling, switching equipment, servers) is also a major issue.
Two servers and some other equipment damaged during a construction mishap during the winter session have not yet been replaced.
In addition to the hardware and staff problems, an upgrade of the staff e-mail system that is currently underway is also causing headaches for faculty and campus office managers.
Mary Ellison, ENCORE and OASIS coordinator, said that e-mails are still going to her previous Outlook account, despite the change.
“I use e-mails as a resource and they only go back five weeks now. We’ve lost two years of information.”
Additional reporting by Kristopher Prue-Cook