Archive for 2018

ITS Department Tech-E Trophies Awarded

by Mike Long @ ITS in , , , , , , , , , ,


ITS Department Tech-E Trophies Awarded

Recognizing Excellence in Service and Profession since 2011

In 2011 the ITS department sought a means to recognize and celebrate the people who keep all the technological plates spinning at CI.  The men and women of ITS work hard on many fronts, making sure that all the programs, applications, devices and connections that the campus depends on to meet our common mission are working at all times.  The ITS Tech-E award (a take on a common term for tech people--“techie” and the E for excellence)  was born out of this desire to recognize their hard work.  A committee of ITS peers was selected who worked together to identify and describe the traits that mark an EXCELLENT worker and these traits are included on the semi-annual nomination forms to help people identify those ITS personnel who best exemplify those traits.  In recognition of the fact that many ITS personnel do not get much face time outside of the department, eventually two separate but similar awards were created.  The Tech-E for Excellence in Profession is voted on by the ITS group only and is presented to that person who voters felt most exemplifies the traits of a positive attitude, dependability, approach-ability, innovation, and unselfishness.  The Tech-E for Excellence in Service recognizes those same traits but is voted on by the entire campus community of Faculty and Staff.  

(Side note:  Nominations will be sought again in the middle of the Spring Semester; keep an eye out for that email and nominate the ITS individual who represents excellence in Service to you!)

At a departmental Lunch and Learn the week of December 10th, two new winners were identified and were recognized for their contributions.  This semester the ITS Tech-E award for Excellence in Profession was awarded to Pedro Rivas.  Pedro is a member of the ITS Infrastructure Group who is a System Admin and focuses largely on ID Management work and is an innovator in many other areas.  Pedro has the distinction of having worked at CI as a student assistant for the Infrastructure group and eventually graduated not only with a degree in Computer Science but also a full-time job with ITS!  The Tech-E award for Excellence in Service was presented to Anderson Hanchett.  Anderson has been working (and excelling!) as an Information Technology Consultant for the Solution Center for nearly 18 months.  In this role, he handles many issues for users with desktop computers, laptops, wireless, and printing issues and has clearly stood out as a great example of ITS Excellence.  The entire ITS department congratulates these two fantastic hard-working colleagues!


Pedro Rivas receiving the Fall 2018 Tech-E for Excellence in Profession from Interim AVP Peter Mosinskis   ---->






Anderson Hanchett being congratulated by Interim AVP Peter Mosinskis for winning this semester’s Tech-E for Excellence in Service

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Network and myCI outage resolved

by Anonymous in , ,

The network outage experienced by the campus this morning has been resolved as of 10:00 a.m., and access to myCI and email from the campus network has been restored. CENIC and Microsoft continue to investigate the root cause of the outage.

Thank you for your patience while this issue was resolved. If you experience any remaining issues accessing myCI or email, please restart your computer and try accessing these services again.

Please report any remaining issues to the IT Solution Center at (805) 437-8552 or by email at solutioncenter@csuci.edu



Microsoft Azure and Office 365 Outage - myCI and email affected

by Anonymous in , , , ,

Dear campus community:

The campus is experiencing a network outage on Microsoft Office 365 and Azure cloud services, which is affecting our campus' ability to login to myCI and send and receive email messages on campus. The problem was identified at approximately 8AM morning and has been reported to our internet service provider CENIC and to Microsoft, who have been continually working to diagnose and resolve the problem. The problem is statewide and is affecting multiple CSU campuses.

During the outage, you may not be able to login to myCI and access services available through myCI (including CI Learn, email and other myCI services) from the CI network. However, you may be successful in logging into myCI and sending and received email via cellular networks (AT&T, Verizon, etc.)

This outage is NOT affecting our ability to call phones off-campus; make 911 calls; make calls from cell phones; or make calls between on-campus extensions. 


Further updates on the status of this outage will be provided in 2 hours, or as they become available.

We apologize for the inconvenience and thank you for your patience until this issue is resolved. If you have any concerns please contact the IT Solution Center at (805) 437-8552.

Peter Mosinskis
Interim Assistant Vice President
Information Technology Services
CSU Channel Islands

CSUCI Deploys MATLAB and Simulink Anywhere Access for Students, Educators, and Researchers

by Anonymous in , , ,

New Total Academic Headcount (TAH) license underscores university’s commitment to bettering its learning environment 

California State University Channel Islands signed an agreement with MathWorks that provides all of our students, educators, and researchers campus-wide access to MATLAB, Simulink, and additional products. California State University Channel Islands joins more than 800 schools worldwide already using the MathWorks TAH campus-wide license.

CSUCI’s adoption of MATLAB and Simulink for technical computing and Model-Based Design further demonstrates the school’s commitment to continuously enhancing the learning environment for its students, educators, and researchers by providing anywhere access to cohesive industry-standard tools.

Our MATLAB and Simulink campus-wide TAH license includes analysis, design, modeling, simulation, code generation, and testing products for the engineering and science schools, plus computational finance for the business and economic schools. We are deploying these tools to students, educators, and researchers via a centralized license that increases the administrative efficiency of software management and distribution, and ensures that a common set of tools is readily available for all users.

Through the agreement between CSUCI and MathWorks, users will have access to software and associated documentation as well as immediate access to new releases. The TAH license permits the installation of MATLAB and Simulink on campus-managed and user-owned computers.

For instructions on downloading the software go to the California State University Channel Islands’s MATLAB Portal. Use your Dolphin User Name and Password to login and download the software.  You'll link your Dolphin User Name to your existing Mathworks account or if you don't already have one, you can create an account as part of the download process.

Access free, self-paced training to get started in less than 2 hours:  MATLAB Onramp.  You may also contact the IT Solution Center if you require further assistance with installation of MATLAB.

Monthly Bulletin - October 2018

by in ,

I'm pleased to share our monthly bulletin, which provides a summary of activities & accomplishments for the department of Information Technology Services.

User Services

  • Expanding Digital Signage installation to include some areas for Student Affairs.  Procurement and installation workflows are being developed and will be tested by this group with the intent to provide a workable “opt-in” model for the rest of the campus.
  • Reviewing Dropbox training and support practices and materials for improvement.  As use of this campus resource grows, additional in-person and on-line resources will be developed.
  • Considering possible support needs for Extended University winter intersession and preparing mitigation strategies.

Application Services

  • Testing continues for the Grey Heller ERP Firewall project.  This project overlaps with Information Security.
  • Work Order Analysis for Application Services 
    • Completed the following number of work orders:
      • 49 for Academic Affairs 
      • 44 for Business and Financial Affairs
      • 01 for Information Technology Services
      • 01 for Student Affairs
    • New work orders opened this period:
      • 41 for Academic Affairs
      • 33 for Business and Financial Services
      • 01 for Student Affairs
      • 01 by a student
  • Angela Stockmon completed 10 sets of database clones to support Application Services ongoing projects and operations.
  • Maintenance packs MP 4.06, 5.00, 5.01 and 5.02 were migrated to our production CI Records and CI Personnel instances this month.
  • Application Services resolved 97 work order in October (as of this update).

Infrastructure

  • Increased Active Directory security with software fixes
  • Dropbox Teams pilot project began to rollout to targeted users/groups
  • Completed migration of SQL server databases from older Berm/Dune servers
  • 4 Infrastructure team members attended 3 days of NTA/CAST (system wide network and systems alliance) meetings in San Diego
  • 2 Infrastructure team members (system admins) completed a week of VMWare 6.7 training
  • 1 Infrastructure team member attended a week of SQL Server training
  • Oversaw semi-annual Data Center UPS maintenance by vendor
  • Developed scope and requested quotes for camera additions for Auxiliary Services cash counting operations
  • Forward progress of data cabling installations for 23 Student Housing additions
  • Assisted with interviews for new student workers for Solution Center
  • Met with consultants assessing ITS needs toward CIO search
  • 2 team members attended 1 hour Fall Protection/Arial Work Platforms training

Information Security    

  • Information Security addressed three significant security incidents requiring SIRF reports.
  • Information Security submitted four news articles to the CI News Center for National Cyber-security Awareness Month.
  • Information Security conducted six Business Email Compromise awareness training sessions to the following groups this month: Human Resources, Office of the President, CI Police Department and the Project PROMESAS staff.
  • Carlos Miranda continues to address campus reported phishing email attempts.
  • Continued configuration and testing of Spirion, which will be replacing our current Identity Finder product.
  • Neal Fisch completed the following regular audits:
    • Monthly - Segregation of Duties in PeopleSoft
    • Monthly - System Access vs. Terminated EE’s
    • Quarterly Data Center and Oracle Account Audit
  • The second pilot group for DUO 2-Step (multi-factor) authentication has performed well with no reported issues or questions from the pilot group.
  • Work continued on CI’s annual Security and Data Risk Assessment (confidential data) to be turned in to the CO in December.  Surveys were sent to designated CI administrators to complete before 11/29/2018.
  • Information Security resolved 124 work order in October (as of this update).
  • Completed 3 Information Security Vendor Risk Assessments tied to IT Procurements.
  • Carlos Miranda was asked to present at the 2018 Submerge User Conference and Phishing Defense Summit.
  • Carlos Miranda completed a CISSP course offered by UCSD
  • Carlos Miranda attended a Cloud Security Summit hosted by Palo Alto Networks in Irvine.

Project Management

  • CI Fileflow document management: XML to TS130 process development in support of intelligent capture of transcripts continues. 
  • Scheduling IRPE migration from TrackIT to TeamDynamix
  • Completed first draft of major IT project review, for presentation to IT Policy & Planning Committee
  • Leading additional training sessions to support TeamDynamix administrator development
  • Kicking off procurement of Via Watermark assessment system for School of Education

Web Services

  • CI Fileflow document management: XML to TS130 process development in support of intelligent capture of transcripts continues. 
  • ​Delivered updates to GPA calculator administrative console for Academic Advising
  • Delivered GRE test sessions registration system for Extended University
  • Developing campus calendar demonstration for Enrollment Management to migrate the campus calendar to more flexible Trumba campus calendar format
  • Working on updates for New Student Orientation web site, VPBFA web site, Extended University and School of Business
  • Working on myCI 3.2 updates to develop new minimal and compressed views of user interface

Administration (AVP’s office)

  • Congratulations to Tara Hughes on her transition to Human Resources as Interim Manager of Administrative Services. Tara Hughes serves as the Interim Manager for an expanded Solution Center. In her new role, Tara will lead a team in building and managing the expansion of the Solution Center to include Human Resources’ first point of contact.
  • Congratulations and farewell to Nasser Mansour, Enterprise Services Engineer, who accepted a new position outside of CSUCI.    
  • Led October IT Policy & Planning Committee to review draft list of major IT projects
  • In partnership with Teaching & Learning Innovations, procured Badgr Pro software to facilitate expansion of digital badging and microcredentialing programs
  • Evaluating customer relationship management (CRM) system needs of Extended University and Enrollment Management
  • Peter attended Ventura County Regional Broadband Summit in Camarillo
  • Peter attended the Educause National Conference in Denver, CO

Monthly Bulletin - September 2018

by Anonymous in ,

I'm pleased to share our monthly bulletin, which provides a summary of activities & accomplishments for the department of Information Technology Services.

User Services

  • Offered an open meeting for campus members to learn about the wepa print kiosk station being tested.  An accessibility review is underway.
  • Preparing purchases of classroom computers from the AY 17/18 MSFT fund to be deployed early next year
  • Working with Teaching and Learning Innovations team on developing online technical training modules
  • Worked with the library to update and improve messaging to students on appropriate computer use
  • Installed new computers for users on the Santa Rosa Island research facility
  • Worked with infrastructure and security teams to implement new hard drive encryption practices 

Application Services

  • Testing continues for the Grey Heller ERP Firewall project.  This project overlaps with Information Security.
  • Lacey Lovejoy significantly assisted Student Business Services with resolving their payments issue that occurred between 9/19 and 9/21.
  • Lacey Lovejoy completed 14 requests for BFA related to various Student Finance issues and inquiries from SBS staff.
  • Shawn Bochat completed corrections to the Academic Planning Report (APR).
  • Shawn Bochat provided updated data information for the Med Proctor system in Enrollment Management.
  • Angela Stockmon completed 6 sets of database clones to support Application Services ongoing projects and operations.
  • Maintenance pack testing for MP 4.06 and 5.00 continue with move to production, tentatively scheduled for Monday night 10/8.
  • Lacey Lovejoy and Wayne Goodwin attended Integration Tools I training from 9/10 – 9/13.
  • Application Services resolved 77 work order in September (as of this update). 

Infrastructure

  • Ongoing migration of SQL databases.  Recently migrated RIMS, Mainsaver, Prolog, and Traka.
  • Ongoing SSO (single sign on) implementation with Blackboard E-Accounts
  • Replaced battery backup devices (UPS’s) in all 12 telecom rooms in Broome Library (refreshed due to age)
  • Troubleshot and repaired (with Cisco TAC assistance) major problem with Cisco access control system
  • Preplanning for wireless infrastructure for new Commencement location
  • Assisted Computer Science department to train students to do data cabling and termination
  • Ongoing consulting on campus EcoVox energy management system project
  • Created a group policy that changes the logon screen on the library lab machines to a more informative picture with logon instructions and how to get help from the solution center
  • Created an Office 365 Suite Application deployment in SCCM for future updates of Office products on campus
  • Enabled the writing of Bitlocker encryption keys to active directory on all Active directory staff/faculty machines for the campus’ future computer encryption compliances
  • Aided in the installation and configuration of Spirion software for Information Security that is replacing Identity Finder for DLP on workstations
  • Worked with Communications and Marketing on an organized list of email addresses of users who have access to send campus global emails as well as student campus global emails
  • Worked on and came up with a potential solution for shared and delegate calendar issues that included duplicate, missing and incorrect shared calendar items
  • Ongoing internal cleanup of campus firewall rules and server connections
  • Completed migration of all SQL DB’s from older equipment on Berm/Dune to newer SQL servers on ebb/flow
  • Upgraded Commvault version 10 to version 11 on a VM with Windows Server 2016. Still need to configure it to support our new VMWare vSAN.
  • Began discussions to migrate groupshares to Dropbox. Still under review whether this is a good solution or not.

Information Security

  • Carlos Miranda and Neal Fisch hosted Business Email compromise training for Human Resources
  • Carlos Miranda submitted one article to the CI News Center for this month.
  • Neal Fisch rolled out the second pilot group for DUO 2-Step (multi-factor) authentication and held an enrollment and training session on 9/25.  Participants in this group are from HR, Payroll, SBS, Enrollment Management, Financial Aid, Admissions, Finance and Procurement.  This phase is scheduled to last 2 weeks.
  • Workstation Encryption Project:  As of early September, any new non-lab/non-instructor Windows machine, as well as any Windows machine requiring a re-image will be encrypted before it is delivered by User Services.
  • Beginning CI’s annual Security and Data Risk Assessment (confidential data) to be turned in to the CO in December.
  • Information Security resolved 74 work order in September (as of this update).
  • Completed 5 Information Security Vendor Risk Assessments tied to IT Procurements which included Follett, Watermark, and Blackboard eAccounts.

Project Management

  • Melissa Bergem led system administrator training workshops for the TeamDynamix ticketing system for ITS and Division of Business & Financial Affairs team members.
  • Significant progress has been made on the integration solution to enable Intelligent Capture of Transcripts (ICT) using CI Fileflow, powered by Perceptive Content. Design document was approved and, to accommodate Enrollment Management’s (EM) needs, training for EM has been moved to the week of January 14, 2019, go-live date has been moved to February 25, 2019. Cross-training for ITS team members in Perceptive iScript programming language is in progress.
  • First planning meetings for Dropbox Phase 2 implementation (migration of department shares) were completed.
  • Completed implementation of Risk Safety Solutions Hazard Assessment Tool and Inspect Application ahead of Oct 1 deadline mandated by Chancellor’s Office.   
  • Tracking procurement completion of Ecovox Energy Management System and ESM Campus Marketplace to begin project kickoffs.

Web Services

  • ​Completed migration of campus web site search from SearchBlox to Google Custom site search for improved searchability and results.
  • Added 8 additional services to myCI: Academic Calendar, Events Calendar, Campus Directory, Schedule of Classes, University Catalog, Academic Advising, Follett EDiscover, and Qualtrics.
  • Web Services developers have been cross-training in iScript programming language in support of CI Fileflow service support.
  • Completed upgrade of IT Procurement Impact Assessment (ITPIA) form system to streamline the ITPIA notification experience and leverage the TeamDynamix API to read and write data into TeamDynamix, and automate email notification.  
  • Completed timeslot automation enhancement for Housing & Residential Education information system (StarRez)
  • Delivered, deployed and completed Fall Student Research Showcase registration system https://ciapps.csuci.edu/conferences/fallstudentresearch2018/Submission

Additional services added to myCI

by Anonymous in , ,

I'm pleased to announce that we've added some popular services to myCI that may already be familiar to you:

  1. Academic Calendar (for important academic dates & deadlines)
  2. Events Calendar (for campus events) 
  3. Campus Directory (find student, faculty & staff contact information)
  4. Schedule of Classes 
  5. University Catalog
  6. Academic Advising
Not all of these familiar services require authentication through myCI, but as they are some of the most frequently visited and used, we wanted to make it easier for current students and employees to locate these services (and save them in their Pinned Services, if desired). 

We've also added 2 new services to myCI which do require credentials to access: 
  1. Follett Discover: enables students to purchase & read textbooks and course materials, and faculty to select course materials
  2. Qualtrics: enables students, faculty and staff to create and share web-based surveys and forms
Have another idea for a useful service to include in myCI? Please submit your suggestion through the IT Solution Center self-service portal. 

Subscribe to receive ITS News updates via email

by Anonymous

As a reminder, you can subscribe to receive daily ITS news updates by email here. Once subscribed, you will received a daily digest of new posts made to the CSUCI Information Technology Services (ITS) News blog.

It's the easiest way to have the latest information about news, updates and changes to ITS delivered right to your email inbox...and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Subscribe now

Monthly Bulletin - August 2018

by Anonymous in , , ,

I'm pleased to share our monthly bulletin, which provides a summary of activities & accomplishments for the department of Information Technology Services.

Highlights:

  • Completed move from Solano Hall to Lindero 2nd floor & Trinity Halls
  • Launched myCI v3.1 on 8/3, which includes the ability to pin favorite services and search for services. Learn more about myCI 3.1 
  • Installation & configuration of digital signage system for Student Union is in progress.

User Services

  • Coordinated the installation of a new digital signage system (Carousel) in the student union building.  The installation is a pilot for the rest of the campus. 
  • Completed the deployment of 37 new computers to faculty and/or staff as part of the summer refresh effort
  • Upgraded several Mac labs and instructional spaces with new machines or updated software
  • Upgraded 29 Instructor workstations, as well as audio-visual (AV) equipment in Malibu 120, Smith Decision Center 1908, and Napa 1123
  • Installed 4 Promethean Smart Displays for the School of Education
  • Working with campus architects and facilities to define and plan for technician workspace in Trinity Hall.  The plan calls for a space that will greatly facilitate all work performed by the ITCs in their efforts to support the computer lifecycle for all CI user-facing IT equipment.  The space will also serve as a secure area for equipment to be stored, and as is mandated by audit findings.  Deprovisioned hard drives in particular, will be kept secure until they are destroyed.

Application Services

  • Successfully completed installation of Grey Heller ERP Firewall into our test CI Records instance.  Creation and execution of the test plan is scheduled through September as well as documentation and move to production planning. This project overlaps with Information Security.
  • Application Services resolved 62 work order in August (as of this update).

Infrastructure

  • Oversaw ongoing repair work on Data Center uninterrupted power supply (UPS2)
  • Moved entire office from Solano Hall to Trinity Hall
  • Assisted with networking setup throughout ITS moves from Solano Hall to Trinity Hall
  • Created scope documents for quote solicitation for moves in Lindero Hall and for Modoc Hall new building
  • Added campus Wi-Fi capabilities to the Follett Bookstore at the Town Center and assisted with completion of Follett Bookstore connection to campus Blackboard server for student purchasing
  • Worked with the Follett bookstore to add point-of-sale (POS) access to CSUCI Blackboard Transact application allowing transactions using DolphinCash tender
  • Updated licenses on license server for multiple campus software
  • Fully cutover our email away from IronPort spam protection and onto Exchange online protection with Office 365
  • Ran through an Active Directory Security assessment and begun work on strengthening security on our Active Directory servers
  • Met with Microsoft on upgrading our Windows Server 2008 servers to a supported Operating system. End-of-life is coming up for 70-80 of our servers in the next year.
  • Configured server portion of the new Carousel digital signage software that will be used on campus
  • Completed SQL database upgrade and migration of two instances
  • Completed single sign-on (SSO) for Follett
  • Continued with migration of databases from beach\it_apps to a newer server
  • Worked with Josh Magana to add an AT3000 device for Meal Donation program at Islands Café

Information Security

  • CI hosted Palo Alto Networks to review current firewall and security tool configuration, as well as ways to boost usage and utilization
  • Carlos Miranda continues to address campus reported phishing email attempts
  • Carlos Miranda completed installation and setup of Spirion, the leading provider of enterprise data management software to help businesses reduce their sensitive data footprint and proactively minimize the risks, costs and reputational damage of successful cyberattacks, which will be replacing our current Identity Finder product.
  • Neal Fisch completed the following regular audits:
    • Monthly - Segregation of Duties in PeopleSoft
    • Monthly - System Access vs. Terminated EE’s
  • Preparing to increase pilot group for DUO 2-Step (multi-factor) authentication and roll in participants from Finance.
  • Met with SADA Systems and Infrastructure Technology team supporting CI’s new Exchange Online environment to discuss fine tuning of delivered security functionality
  • Continued work with User Services on encryption project and scheduling for rollout
  • Beginning CI’s annual Security and Data Risk Assessment (confidential data) to be turned in to the CO in December
  • Information Security resolved 79 work orders in August (as of this update).

Project Management

  • Closed the fall 2018 major project review submission period. Submitted project requests are currently under review by ITS. Learn more about the project review process.
  • Closed projects for ID Card Printer upgrade, Orgsync migration, and Migration of Microsoft Exchange to Azure/Office365 
  • Kicked off ESM Campus Marketplace project and Ecovox Energy Management System projects

Web Services

  • Launched myCI v3.1 on 8/3, which includes the ability to pin favorite services and search for services. Learn more about myCI 3.1 
  • Deployed new social media campaign on 8/22 for goCI mobile application for fall 2018, in collaboration with Communication & Marketing
  • Launched redesigned Center for Multicultural Engagement web site
  • Due to ongoing search quality issues with Chancellor's Office sponsored SearchBlox search appliance, Web Services began development of an alternative search system using Google Custom search. 

Welcome to Fall 2018! Summary of summer 2018 changes

by Anonymous in , ,

Thank you & welcome to the fall 2018 semester! I'm pleased to share a quick recap of important changes that occurred to CSUCI's technology organization, location, systems and services over summer 2018:


…T&I is now ITS! The Division of Technology & Innovation is now the department of Information Technology Services (ITS), reporting to the Vice President for Business & Financial Affairs Ysabel Trinidad. The Teaching & Learning Innovations team, under the leadership of Associate Vice Provost for Innovation and Faculty Development Jill Leafstedt, now reports to Provost Geoff Chase. 

...The ITS leadership team has changed. Peter Mosinskis is the interim AVP for Information Technology Services. Peter remains responsible for the Project Management and Web Services teams. Peter’s leadership team includes Herb Aquino, Director of Technology Infrastructure (Herb manages networking, wireless, servers, telecommunication, email, & the Solution Center); Dawn Canfield, Manager of User Services (Dawn manages desktop technical support, lab and classroom audio/visual support); and Neal Fisch, Director of Enterprise Services & Security (Neal manages Peoplesoft development and operations, and information security programs).

...ITS moved from Solano (and other areas) to Lindero Hall 2nd floor and Trinity Halls. About 30 IT staff members have moved from Solano Hall, or Del Norte, or the Bell Tower to new spaces in Lindero and Trinity Hall. If you look for someone in their old office and don’t find them, don’t worry, they’re still here! Please check the campus directory for their new location.

...ITS has a new self-service help portal. The IT Solution Center portal can be accessed through myCI (or by visiting http://go.csuci.edu/solutioncenter/)

...myCI now has the ability to add favorites and search for services. Learn more about myCI v3.1

...ITS is piloting new kind of self-service printing system called Wepa. A Wepa printer is on loan from Wepa for the Fall semester and anyone may test it. It is currently located in Broome Library 1350 and configured to use single sign on. It can also integrate with some of our other CI cloud services like CI Docs (Google Docs) and Dropbox@CI. You can learn more about testing the print station from one of the friendly technicians in the library’s Solution Center Service Desk area, or visit the Wepa web site to learn more.

...ITS has performed many upgrades in our computer labs and classrooms. Most computers in our PC classrooms and labs are now running Windows 10 and Office 2016. Many rooms have new computers, too. Notably, the instructor stations in the Del Norte classrooms are small form factor computers that are mounted behind the computer monitor. These computers do not have CD/DVD drives installed. If you anticipate needing to use an optical drive for CDs or DVDs you may contact the Solution Center to borrow an external drive.

...ITS has implemented a new spam filtering system (Microsoft Exchange Online Protection) to further protect our campus email systems from malicious email. Click here to request help with spam filtering

...you can now subscribe to receive ITS news updates by email here, or read news updates and subscribe on the ITS News blog

Need Help?
Visit the IT Solution Center portal (accessible through myCI), or call 805-437-8552.

Monthly Bulletin - July 2018

by Anonymous in , , , ,

Our monthly bulletin provides a summary of activities & accomplishments for the department of Information Technology Services.

Highlights:

  • Transition of our organization's name to Information Technology Services (ITS), new leadership team and organization structure. Read more at: http://citechnologynews.blogspot.com/2018/07/transition-to-information-technology.html
  • Initiated move of 31 ITS employees from Solano Hall and several remote campus locations to shared spaces in Lindero 2nd floor and Trinity Halls
  • Five ITS employees led five presentation and panel sessions at the 2018 Cal State Tech conference in Sacramento CA
  • Launch of TeamDynamix self-service web portal and ticket management system to replace TrackIT

User Services

  • Installed Wepa print kiosk station in Broome Library Help Desk area as part of self-service printing pilot project.  We have configured, and are testing single-sign on capabilities and general performance.  Any university member may test the Wepa station.  Start by logging in and uploading a file.  No need to create an account; select “Channel Islands” as your school and use your CI credentials.
  • User Services technicians transitioned to the new ticketing system and are managing work in the IT Solution Center.
  • Requests for software in the computer labs were due July 16.  Labs and classrooms have been reconfigured for Windows 10 with a few exceptions, which will be addressed throughout the fall semester.
  • Supported special technology needs for several summer conference groups as requested.

Application Services

  • Officially closed the CI Records Upgrade and Split Project with closure meeting.
  • Held kickoff meeting for Grey Heller ERP Firewall for PeopleSoft.  The ERP Firewall will help CI to better track and log activities within CI Records, and CI Personnel to better address auditing and security issues.  This project overlaps with Information Security.
  • Team attended TeamDynamix training and are actively utilizing the new features for issue logging and tracking.

Infrastructure

  • Upgraded software on Clearpass server
  • Added data cables to Lindero 2nd floor to facilitate office moves 
  • Assisted with the network and analog phone service provisioning for office moves of ITS and others.
  • Oversaw addition of emergency alert buttons in CAPS suite
  • Started the migration of SQL cluster berm/dune to new VM environment to remove from older cx3-40 storage and older servers. Will need to finalize and test this and next month.
  • Assisted with the final cutover to TeamDynamix from Track-It!
  • Pedro Rivas and Juan Rios assisted Kevin Craig with myCI cutover
  • Decommissioned IronPort spam quarantine and fully cut over to exchange online for mail

Information Security

  • Officially closed the CI Records Upgrade and Split Project with closure meeting
  • Held kickoff meeting for Grey Heller ERP Firewall for PeopleSoft.  The ERP Firewall will help CI to better track and log activities within CI Records and CI Personnel to better address auditing and security issues.  This project overlaps with Information Security.
  • Team attended TeamDynamix training and are actively utilizing the new features for issue logging and tracking.

Project Management

  • Launched TeamDynamix self-service web portal for IT and service request/incident reporting system to replace TrackIT on 7/26/2018. Over the course of the fall 2018 term, IT will migrate any remaining campus organizations using TrackIT to TeamDynamix.
  • Opened the fall 2018 major project review cycle, for projects scheduled to begin (or continue) in spring 2019. More information at https://www.csuci.edu/its/projects/
  • Completed project closures for ID Card printer project, PeopleSoft HCM/CS Split, Mariposa IPV web site and Kuder Journey projects.

Web Services

  • Completed mandatory migration to SearchBlox for web search (Chancellor’s Office decommissioned Google Search Appliance due to end-of-life)
  • Completed web site name changes from Division of Technology & Innovation to Information Technology Services, and replacement of Help Desk text and contact information with Solution Center for TeamDynamix launch. 
  • Launched Library site update to integrate with existing University digital brand and responsive, mobile-friendly template: https://library.csuci.edu/
  • Added subscription capabilities to ITS News blog and Web Services blog.

Pardon our dust...we're moving!

by Anonymous in , , , ,

In case you haven't heard, in preparation for the fall term, Information Technology Services (ITS) is moving from Solano Hall 2nd floor to Lindero Hall and Trinity Hall. 


In collaboration with colleagues in Facilities Services, as of 5PM today we've completed approximately 50% of our move. Most of our furniture has been moved, and about 1/2 of our equipment has been moved and is ready to be set up again. 

The majority of ITS teams, including Application Services, Information Security, Project Management, most of User Services and Web Services, as well as the entire IT leadership team, are moving into the 2nd floor of Lindero Hall. We expect the move to be completed in the next few days. Our Infrastructure team has moved into an adjacent shared workspace in Trinity Hall. 

The Solution Center call center will remain in Solano Hall 2nd floor until a suitable workspace is prepared on the first floor of Lindero Hall this fall. Please be aware that students, faculty and staff seeking in-person assistance with campus technology issues should visit Solution Center support desk at Broome Library 1350 during regular Library hours. 

Our close partners in technology Teaching & Learning Innovations (T&LI) remain in Solano Hall.  The Faculty Innovations in Teaching (FIT) Studio and Teaching & Learning Innovations staff offices are located in Solano Hall on first and second floors respectively; please contact Jill Leafstedt (jill.leafstedt@csuci.edu) with any questions. 

Thank you for your support and patience as we complete this move to make room for additional faculty- and student-centered workspaces in Solano Hall, Del Norte Hall and the Bell Tower. ITS expects to resume full operating capacity later this week once the remainder of the move is completed. 

As always, you may call the IT Solution Center at 805-437-8552 to request technology support or to report problems, or visit the IT Solution Center self-service portal for 24-7 assistance. 




myCI 3.1 launches this evening

by Anonymous in , ,

We're pleased to announce that we will be launching a new minor update to myCI (MyCI 3.1) this evening (Friday, August 3, 2018).

Since the release of myCI 3.0 this spring, the Web Services team has continued to develop enhancements to improve ease-of-use and personalization of the myCI experience for students, faculty and staff. Highlights of myCI v3.1 include:

  • Ability to add favorites services to your “Pinned Services” section and change their order
  • Search for myCI services by name or description
  • Move of “My Apps” functions to the Account menu

To access a preview of the upcoming release, visit: http://go.csuci.edu/myci-beta/ and login using your Dolphin Name & Password.

Once you’re logged in, please use the “Leave Feedback” button to share your impressions or to let us know about any bugs that you find. We’re always looking for ideas for how to make myCI better than ever, so please let us know what we can do to improve your experience using myCI.

You can also view the myCI 3.1 release notes for the latest updates.

Please contact the ITS Solution Center at 805-437-8552 or email solutioncenter@csuci.edu with any questions about these forthcoming changes.

IT Solution Center self-service portal is now live!

by Anonymous in , , , , , , , ,

I'm so pleased to share that as of 5:00PM today we have launched the new IT Solution Center self-service technology support portal, powered by TeamDynamix.

The new IT Solution Center portal enables students, faculty, staff to:

  • Find answers to common technology questions
  • Submit requests for IT support
  • Browse the list of available technology services
  • View and update your open IT service requests and help tickets
A link to the IT Solution Center was added in our myCI, and we've provided links throughout the Information Technology Services (ITS) web site to the new Solution Center portal. All new tickets submitted via the support portal have been verified to be properly routing to our technical support teams.

Special thanks to Melissa Bergem and the ITS planning and implementation teams for their dedication to making this launch a success. Thanks to their dedication, we are able to launch our portal with over 70 new services, and a knowledgebase with over 40 articles.

TrackIT will continue to serve as an ITS legacy ticketing system for the time being as ITS technicians update and close any open tickets created on or before today’s 5:00 PM launch time. 

Over the course of the summer and fall, we will work with the few campus organizations (including Institutional Research and Financial Services) to migrate their ticketing process to the IT Solution Center; in the meanwhile these organizations will temporarily continue using TrackIT to manage support and ticket requests.

Please call the Solution Center at 805-437-8552 with any questions or issues about the new support portal, and thanks in advance for your patience and cooperation as we work through any remaining go-live glitches.

New IT Solution Center self-service portal is coming on July 26

by Anonymous in , , , , ,

We're pleased to announce the forthcoming launch of a new self-service portal for IT support, powered by TeamDynamix, on Thursday, July 26, 2018. This service replaces our legacy TrackIT ticketing system and provides greater transparency and flexibility for our user community and IT support teams.

The new Solution Center portal enables students, faculty, staff to:

  • Find answers to common technology questions
  • Submit requests for IT support
  • Browse the list of available technology services
  • View and update your open IT service requests and help tickets
On July 26, a new link in myCI will be available in myCI to provide easy access to the portal. You can get a sneak peek to the IT Solution Center here.

Please contact Melissa Bergem, IT Project Coordinator, at melissa.bergem@csuci.edu with any questions you may have about the new portal. 


Monthly Bulletin - June 2018

by Anonymous in ,

Our monthly bulletin provides a summary of activities & accomplishments for the department of Information Technology Services.

User Services

  • Supported the June 16 T&I “Staff Appreciation Day” and facilitated the Tech-E Award process
  • Worked with cloud printing vendor WEPA who has agreed to provide us with a FREE demo unit for 3 months
  • Piloting a new, “small form factor” instructor PC in some classrooms which could make future upgrade and replacement less expensive 
  • Encouraged IT Staff to participate in the most recent Six Sigma “Green Belt” training.  To date, eight IT staff members have completed the training
  • Deployment of new computers as part of the Summer Refresh Effort is well underway
  • 25% of active PCs on campus are now running Windows 10
  • Closed Ticket Analysis for the Spring 2018 semester: 4676 TOTAL
    • Academic Technology Services: 126
    • ASG: 569
    • AV/Classrooms: 294
    • Desktop: 1429
    • Financial Services: 16
    • HelpDesk: 550
    • InfoSec: 220
    • Infrastructure: 857
    • Institutional Effectiveness: 31
    • Labs: 103
    • myCI: 140
    • Other: 8
    • Web: 333

Application Services

  • Application Services project team attended a pre-kickoff meeting for Grey Heller ERP Firewall implementation project (also part of Information Security)
  • Team met to review handling of Integration Broker recurring error cleanup
  • Team continues to address ongoing requests from Enrollment Management, Financial Aid, and IRPE.
  • Neal Fisch attended the CSU Technical User Group in-person meeting on 6/7
  • Shawn Bochat addressed an ongoing issue with Dolphin CareerLink
  • Shawn Bochat continued assisting with CI’s Smart Planner post implementation

Infrastructure

  • Assisting PD and Parking Services with re-wiring of Police Department EOC trailer
  • Specified and installed new UPS (battery backup) at Broome Chiller plant
  • Configured and provided network resources as well as provided oversight of access control projects at University Hall President’s suite, Yuba Hall and Bell Tower East CAPS suite
  • One of the uninterrupted power supplies (UPS2) for the Data Center suffered failure after planned power outage; working with contractor on repairs
  • Participated in Law Enforcement Torch Run for Special Olympics
  • Provided consultation services to Police Department for new body cameras in interview room camera systems 
  • Upgraded firmware on network core switches
  • Preparation work for pilot program of WEPA printing solution
  • Final preparation, test/evaluation and migration from Cisco Ironport to Microsoft Exchange Online Protection for campus email spam protection
  • Ongoing effort to upgrade campus servers to latest applicable operating system.
  • Fileshare migration preparation
  • Worked with vendor to upgrade Blackboard Transact (software database)
  • Enabled single sign-on for a variety of new services for campus
  • Ongoing testing of Duo Multifactor Authentication service on VPN and single sign-on

Information Security

  • Team continues to address security requests/incidents related to email phishing and other end user actions
  • Duo Multi-Factor Authentication project: added additional members from T&I and DBFA to DUO Multi-Factor Authentication Proof Of Concept pilot group; work continues on final DUO end-user documentation
  • Began proof of concept for Palo Alto Networks Aperture cloud access service broker tool to replace CI’s current service from Cloudlock
  • Assisted User Services with the following security related items:
    • WEPA printing station proof of concept
    • Security hard drive disposal solution – setup contract revision with current vendor Shred-It for drive shredding
  • Met with User Services to discuss Windows 10 standard configuration rollout
  • Met with User Services to discuss encryption of computers
  • Reviewed current status of CI’s use of WhiteHat Security services for scanning CI’s main websites with Web Services
  • Met with Financial Systems staff to re-start Blackboard eAccounts project and procurement
  • Met with Phil Hampton to discuss data security requirements/implications for CalPass Grant
  • Met with Araceli Espinoza-Wade from Project PROMESAS to review data security requirements to support their research grant
  • Attended the monthly CSU Information Security Advisory Committee (ISAC) Monthly call
  • Attended two CSU ISAC Policy and Standards review meetings this month
  • Continued project rollout planning for PhishMe phishing awareness service.
  • Began T&I Business Practice annual assessments
  • Addressed regular monthly audits

Project Management

  • TrackIT migration: team has been completing service catalog buildout and quality assurance testing in preparation for July 26-27 cutover of Help Desk ticketing from TrackIT to TeamDynamix, and launch of the updated TeamDynamix service catalog. Training for ITS staff is scheduled in the coming weeks, and further communication to the campus is forthcoming. 
  • In conjunction with User Services team, ID Card Printer Hardware and Software upgrade project (Multicard/Rockwest/Badgepass) was completed and is ready for closure. 2 new card printers were added, doubling the existing ID card printing capabilities.
  • In conjunction with the infrastructure team, deployed new Microsoft spam filtering. Most web applications have been updated to use the new Microsoft mail exchange (MX) records to ensure continuous mail delivery; existing Ironpoint MX records will continue to function until remaining applications are migrated.
  • In conjunction with Infrastructure team, Blackboard Transact upgrade was completed successfully on 6/1. This upgrade enables support for 2 campus card projects: Online ID Photo Submission & migration from JSA to Blackboard Accounts for Dolphin OneCard self-service.
  • In cooperation with the Division of Business & Financial Affairs, launched a new Card Services service management and incident reporting process in TeamDynamix on 6/4. See: https://ci.teamdynamix.com/TDClient/Requests/ServiceCatalog?CategoryID=8267
  • RSS Risk Safety Solutions: implementation is progressing. Single sign on has been enabled. 1st training scheduled for end of July with Peer Gerber’s team. Coordinating with Peer and Nancy Gill to develop a communication plan for faculty, lab technicians, and facilities personnel.
  • Working with Information Security on PhishMe communication and rollout plan.
  • CI Fileflow (Perceptive Content) implementation: Infrastructure & Web Services team members were able to configure single sign on using myCI; however, due to a bug in Perceptive web client, it cannot be enabled until the bug is repaired. Currently negotiating change requests with vendor and team related to color scanning; data encryption; and file format export process for Phase 2 (intelligent capture of transcripts). Two brief outages of the system happened over the last month; investigation so far has been inconclusive, and we are monitoring and researching the issue with our implementation partner Shamrock Solutions. Working with vendor to complete design document and finalize dates for Phase 2 (go-live still expected at end of September).
  • Med+Proctor PeopleSoft integration project has been put on hold, due to changes in Student Affairs Wellness program leadership.
  • Salesforce integration project was cancelled by Extended University.  
  • Fall 2018 major IT project review cycle (for projects set to start or continue between 1/1 and 6/1/2019) is now open for new submissions; more information is available here: https://www.csuci.edu/its/projects/2018fall.htm

Web Services

  • ​ myCI 3.1: go-live date has been scheduled for 8/3. Changes include new ability to pin favorite services; new search for services; and visual design changes (including retirement of the legacy “old layout”). Detailed release notes can be found at https://www.csuci.edu/its/myci/myci31-release-notes-2018.htm
  • Working with Infrastructure & Information Security to resolve security issues discovered by regular automated security scanning; many were resolved by the move to Microsoft Azure infrastructure.
  • Migration to new web site search engine Searchblox (replacing Google Search Appliance for web site search on www.csuci.edu and related sites) is underway. Migration deadline was extended from 7/1 to 7/25 by the Chancellor’s Office. Team has completed initial Searchblox training is working on configuring search widget.
  • Development of new Nursing Program check-in/check-out functionality to help ensure HIPAA compliance is 75% complete. 
  • Launched updated version of CI Social Stream, which fixed some functionality which was broken due to Facebook API changes.
  • Completed web site renaming from Division of Technology & Innovation to ITS

Administration (AVP’s office)

  • Announced new organizational structure for information technology, reporting to the Division of Business & Financial Affairs. The Division of Technology & Innovation has been renamed to Information Technology Services (ITS). Jill Leafstedt and the Teaching & Learning Innovations team will now report to Provost Geoff Chase but will remain co-located in Solano Hall and continue to closely collaborate with ITS. Peter Mosinskis has been appointed as the Interim Assistant Vice President for Information Technology Services (AVP for ITS). Herb Aquino is returning to his previous position as Director of Technology Infrastructure. Herb will continue to lead both the infrastructure team as well as the Solution Center. Tara Hughes and Anderson Hanchett will continue to report to Herb. Dawn Canfield will report to AVP for ITS and will continue to lead User Services team as the Manager of User Services.
  • Held open office hours for ITS staff on 6/29 to discuss transition and answer questions
  • Updated organization chart and published new reporting structure to ITS web site. 
  • Brendan Aldrich, Chief Data Officer for the California State University system, will be visiting CSUCI on 7/12 to meet with selected academic and administrative stakeholders to discuss data and the power of creating a “data democracy” for the CSU
  • Participated in the Council on Library & Information Resources (CLIR) Leading Change Institute from June 3-8 in Washington DC
  • Accepted to present at the 2018 Educause national conference on the topic of “Launching a Project Management Office: Lessons from the Front Lines”.
  • Scheduled to lead a breakout session in July at the 2018 CSU Technology Conference in Sacramento on Enterprise Service Management.  

Transition to Information Technology Services

by Anonymous in

Dear colleagues,


As you may have heard, the Division of Technology & Innovation has now joined the Division of Business & Financial Affairs (DBFA) as the department of Information Technology Services (ITS). 

I am deeply grateful to work with such a talented and dedicated group of technology professionals, and I'm honored to serve as the Interim Assistant Vice President for ITS during this transition period. 

There have been some questions about how our department's organizational structure is changing, so I'll take this opportunity to clarify. 

First, as Vice President Ysabel Trinidad mentioned in her email to ITS employees last week, Herb Aquino is returning to his previous position as Director of Technology Infrastructure. Herb will continue to lead both the infrastructure team as well as the Solution Center, and Tara Hughes and Anderson Hanchett will continue to report to Herb. Please join me in thanking Herb for his ongoing service and commitment to the success of IT and CSUCI.

In keeping with our structure prior to Herb's interim appointment, Dawn Canfield will report to me and will continue to lead User Services team as the Manager of User Services. I'm very pleased to welcome Dawn as a member of our department's leadership team, and am grateful to be able to share in her experience, wisdom and perspective. 

I'm grateful for the ongoing support, collaboration and collegiality of the Teaching & Learning Innovation (T&LI) team. While Executive Director of T&LI Jill Leafstedt and her team will now report to Provost Geoff Chase, the Faculty Innovations in Teaching (FIT) Studio, FIT Lounge and T&LI offices will remain co-located with ITS in Solano Hall. We remain committed to strengthening our partnership and communication to further the digital transformation of the University experience. 

The mission of ITS remains the same: to provide and support technology and innovative solutions that enhance the educational experience and University operations. We continue to work towards our vision of a technology environment that provides reliable, seamless and secure access to University services anytime and anywhere, while providing an exceptionally positive experience for every member of our community.

Right now the ITS team is focused on completing summer projects in preparation for the upcoming fall 2018 term and building partnerships with our new colleagues in DBFA. To facilitate communication about our work both within and outside of our department, we will be publishing a Monthly Bulletin here on the ITS News blog. The Monthly Bulletin will help share our accomplishments, and provide information about upcoming changes to our technology environment.

Please contact me if you have any questions about the transition or any of our active or planned projects. 

Welcome to Information Technology Services, and thank you for your continued support. 


Peter Mosinskis
Interim Assistant Vice President
Information Technology Services
peter.mosinskis@csuci.edu 

Desktop computers without DVD players are here

by Anonymous in ,

With the rise in popularity of smaller computing devices manufacturers are building computers that are lighter and less expensive.  One tradeoff with this trend is the elimination of CD/DVD drives.  If you use a computer that does not have a built-in DVD drive but you need one, please contact Dawn Canfield who can arrange a loaner DVD drive for you.


We are currently running a pilot of DVD-less computers in the Del Norte classrooms.  The new instructor machines in this building are small form factor computers mounted directly behind the monitors and they do not have DVD drives.   We’d very much like instructor feedback on these machines to help us plan for the future.  Please send your comments (and/or requests for external DVD players if necessary) to Dawn Canfield.