Archive for September 2019

Up to $250,000 in Amazon Web Services credits available - deadline 10/4

by Anonymous in , , , ,

This message is sent on behalf of Jim August, Associate Vice President for Information Technology Services and Chief Information Officer:

Dear colleagues,

The CSU Innovate program through the Chancellor's Office is pleased to offer another round of Amazon Web Services (AWS) credits to faculty, staff and campus organizations in support of technology pilot projects. (If you're unfamiliar with AWS, it's a powerful cloud-based platform for research computing. You can learn more about CSUCI's Amazon Web Services offering here)

AWS Project proposals may request up to $50,000 in credits for a single allocation to a single campus, and projects serving multiple campuses or the entire system may request up to $250,000.

To apply:

  1. Carefully review the AWS Credits Governance document in PDF format 
  2. Fill out the application here to submit your ideas for consideration. You will need a description (no more than 250 word per field) of the project, high-level project plan, assessment plan, sustainability plan, and dissemination plan.
All proposals must be submitted at http://go.csuci.edu/awscredits by 5:00PM on Friday, October 4, 2019.

Please share this opportunity with your colleagues, and feel free to contact me at jim.august@csuci.edu with any questions. I look forward to reviewing your proposals!

Computer refresh at CSUCI

by Anonymous in , , , , ,

Two questions that Information Technology Services (ITS) frequently receives are:

  1. how often are campus computers refreshed, and
  2. how is computer refresh funded?
We're pleased to share some answers to these questions.


Personal Faculty & Staff Computer Refresh
Since 2013, refresh of faculty and staff personal desktop and laptop computers has been funded from the general campus budget as described in the ITS Business Practice for Hardware End-of-Life and "Red Tagging" (BP.03.012):

“Each division receives funding from the University budget to support regular, timely refresh of computer equipment, and each division is expected to prioritize and manage the regular refresh of out-of-warranty and red-tagged computers using those funds at their discretion.”

Lab & Classroom Computer Refresh
Computers in labs and classrooms (including instructor workstations) are primarily funded from two sources. The primary source of funding is the Materials, Science, Facilities & Technology (MSFT) student fee. Computer lab and classroom equipment that is not funded through the MSFT may receive secondary funding for refresh using general funds at the discretion of the sponsoring department/division, strategic initiative or other special one-time funding sources.

Funding Challenges and Strategies for Refresh
Unfortunately, current funding levels limit the University's ability to keep all computers up-to-date. ITS can help divisions and departments to identify and prioritize computers for refresh. Keeping all University computers current is important for security and compatibility. University organizations should target to refresh their computers on a regular, rolling cycle that corresponds to computer end-of-life (see below). To facilitate this process, ITS maintains a database of personal, lab and classroom computers as described in the ITS Business Practice for Personal Computer Inventory (BP.03.009).

Computer End-of-Life
To keep CSUCI's computing environment up-to-date, the ITS Business Practice for Hardware End-of-Life and "Red Tagging" (BP.03.012) identifies a 5-year lifecycle for desktop, laptop and tablet computers for personal, lab and classroom use. In addition, all new computers purchased should have a 4-year extended warranty.

How to Purchase New Computers
Standard desktop and laptop computers can be purchased through the standard IT procurement process. These computers have been selected to serve a majority of campus needs and to facilitate support. Non-standard (or custom) computers can be purchased through the custom IT procurement process.


Thanks for your support in keeping CSUCI's computing environment secure and up-to-date. Please contact Chief Information Officer Jim August at jim.august@csuci.edu with any additional questions about CSUCI's computer lifecycle and replacement process.

Monthly Bulletin - August 2019

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 over the previous month, and what's coming this month.

Coming in September

  • Migration of CSUCI web site onto new Microsoft Azure infrastructure.

User Services

  • Adobe Creative Cloud 2019 is now widely available! Students should have easy access to the products by logging in with their CSUCI credentials. Learn more
  • Windows 10 upgrade progress: More than 77% of our Windows computers are now on Windows 10. The communication plan to upgrade has included several “opt in” messages to local support coordinators and faculty, general announcements on our news site, and 1-1 outreach from the User Services technicians. Targeted upgrades will be scheduled in the coming months to keep the project on schedule for completion by the end of the calendar year.
  • Classroom preparations are complete. Computers have been configured and software has been installed according to instructors needs.
  • We received notification of the 2019-2020 MSFT allocations for technology and are preparing purchases for installation over the Winter break.
  • Participated in the “IT Procurement Process” Kaizen led by Division of Business & Financial Affairs

Infrastructure

  • Setup (and tore down) temporary WiFi for Housing Check-In and Bridge Advising events.
  • Met with Facilities Services and Conference and Events to discuss infrastructure adjustments to be done for Central Mall upgrades in preparation for Commencement 2020.
  • Worked with engineers from Spectrum Business to onboard new circuit for 911 call mapping.
  • Worked with Facilities Services and ITS audio/visual support personnel to get Del Norte 1500 Presentation Room ready for new semester.
  • Refurbished telecom room data jumpers and switch stack for improved traceability, efficiency, and appearance. (BT1562)
  • Met with Police Dept. and Radio vendor to map out upgrade of Police radio system for officers and dispatch.
  • Architected a phone route plan for handling start of term rush for Student Business Services.
  • Worked with InfoSec team to mitigate phishing threats.
  • Worked with InfoSec and server team to strategize security measures for Science Labs.
  • Collaborated with Chancellor’s Office on wireless access point estimates for upcoming distribution.
  • Assisted in phishing attack incident response and assisted with password reset.
  • Enrolled 80 additional users in Duo Two-Factor Authentication.

Information Security

  • Carlos Miranda worked with University Police on a phishing attempt targeting financial aid disbursement
  • Information Security held Business Email Compromise awareness training for new employees in Procurement and Utility Support on 8/26
  • Information Security held Business Email Compromise awareness training for 84 HRE new student assistants on 8/20
  • Information Security in collaboration with Technology Infrastructure continued on the roll out of Duo 2-Factor Authentication to 84 employees with L1 data access in CI Financials.  These rollouts will continue until all employees are on 2-Factor Authentication.

Project Management

  • Led kickoff of a multicampus business process automation project to develop proof-of-concepts to reduce paper and improve process efficiency. Participants include the Chancellor’s Office and 5 CSU campuses including Stanislaus, East Bay, San Luis Obispo, Maritime Academy, and Channel Islands.
  • Completed procurement of TeamDynamix consulting and kicked off project for service management optimization consulting. Over the course of the fall term, the IT project management team will be working with a TeamDynamix consultant to assess our ticketing categorization and workflow processes.
  • Working with Infrastructure & MVS faculty on deployment of Microsoft Azure resources for MIS 310 sections, as part of Chancellor’s Office and Microsoft Azure grant.
  • Peter Mosinskis led an introduction to Information Technology Services for new tenure-track faculty on 8/21
  • Participated in the “IT Procurement Process” Kaizen led by the Division of Business & Financial Affairs
  • Assisted in phishing attack incident response

Web Services