NORTHERN VIRGINIA COMMUNITY COLLEGE Technology Plan 2007-2008
The mission and guiding principles of the college are listed below.
Provide a clear statement of what the colleges does.
The mission of Northern Virginia Community College is to respond to the educational needs of its dynamic and diverse constituencies through an array of comprehensive programs and services that facilitate learning and workforce development in an environment of open access and lifetime educational opportunities.   Our Vision: To be a learning-centered organization that promotes student success.   Our Commitment:    We at Northern Virginia Community College are committed to our students, to our community, and to each other. We are committed to excellence in education and take pride in our educational mission as a significant extension of the democratic tradition, and we remain true to the ideals and principles of that cherished tradition. The foundation of our institution is the unique diversity of educational experiences we provide for the community, shaped by our dedication to teaching and learning and to the values that we share:  opportunity with excellence, responsiveness, comprehensive educational programs, caring environment, public trust and responsibility.
The college vision for the future is described below.
Provide a a vivid picture of where the college leadership sees the college going in the near future..Provide a a vivid picture of where the college leadership sees the college going in the near future.  Strategic Vision:  By 2015, Northern Virginia Community College will be regarded as one of the top five institutions of higher education in Virginia, known for its excellence in teaching and dedication to higher education access and economic opportunity for the residents of Northern Virgina.  It will have a reputation as one of the nation's top three community colleges, with leading programs in the arts and sciences, nursing and allied health professions, and distance learning.  NOVA will be seen as the region's premier gateway for helping all residents, including New Americans, achieve the American Dream and as the region's most strategic asset in developing Norhtern Virignia's frontline high-skill workforce.  Between 2004-2015, Northern Virginia Community College will extend higher education and training opportunities to more than 500,000 residents, double the college-going rate of historically under-represented populations, place more than 25,000 persons into new high-wage employemnt, and help double the annual earnings for 5,000 low-income families.  Because of the quality of its teaching and instructional programs it will be regarded as a "preferred provider" of college transfer students by Virginia's and the National Capital region's most selective universities.  Becuase of the reputation its technical and workforce programs in responding to businesses' needs and in meeting industdry standards, NOVA wil be the region's leading provider of highly-skill frontline-workers.
An “executive progress report” (progress overview of projects and initiaitives from the previous year's Tech Plan) is describe below.
Provide an overview of the achievements of the college technology service area for the previous reporting period including unmet expecations from last year's technology plan, current challenges being faced, and the direction for the future.  The Technology Plan for 2006-07 was successfully implemented.  We were able to make significant progress at upgrading and consolidating servers, upgrading computers to eliminate all older computers (beyond those covered by the 4-year refresh cycle), and upgrading switches.  We were also able to start implementation of E-911 at the Annandale Campus and Cisco's Intelligent Call Center Software for the Call Center, Help Desk and Financial Aid.  Both these projects were delayed by contract problems but should be completed by the end of Summer 2007.  We were able to expand our implementation of highway alert radios on all six campuses and implement an emergency text messaging system that allows us to join the network in all our surrounding jurisdictions.  We also saw a more than 100% increase in requests for instructional software by faculty which we were able to accomodate with other funding.  Distance learning grew by 12% and is now the size of the Manassas Campus.  We have had trouble filling the security engineer position that became vacant during the year.  The biggest challenges for the coming year center on three areas:  staffing to complete projects on time while maintaining current systems, accomodating the cost of hardware and license maintenance within the existing budget while leaving enough funds for growth and innovation, and accomodating new security and other standards.  All of these will create significant stress during the year.  Our direction for the future centers on three key components:  improving our technology planning and coordination to allow better control of resources and accomodate changes in useage patterns across the college, support for distance learning, and supporting remote access and telecommuting.
Key college goals and associated technology projects are listed below.
Provide a list of key goals for the college and the associated projects to achieve these goals.  These goals should be listed at the end of the Technology Plan with the assocated operational requirement, project name, action, and expected costs.
1.    Create an environment for world-class teaching and learning:  Maintain, update, and operate the College technology infrastructure so that the environment will support world-class teaching and learning.
Provide adequate technical staffing for campus and central IT functions
Support VCCS centrally licensed software
Perform annual lifecycle replacement of switches and UPS equipment
Maintain reserve for 4th year PC repair and infrastructure upgrades
Provide technical training for campus and central IT staff
Operate central servers (including email, web, network, etc.).
Provide additional server engineer (for a total of 2)
Provide additional Network engineer (for a total of 2)
Maintain network equipment and software licenses
Operate College Television Center and cable-tv headend
Text Message System Annual Maintenance
Replace edge devices
Upgrade to Exchange 2007
Replace Campus Master UPS
E-911 Upgrade
Call Manager Upgrade
Voice Mail Upgrade
Conduct research and development on new products and services
Conduct pilot projects using new technology
2.  Increase the number and diversity of students being served to mirror the population growth of the region:  Expand e-learning opportunities from 12,200 students in 2005-06 to 12,700 students for a target of 2,466 annualized FTES.
Support Virtual Web Classroom
Support the Extended Learning Institute
3.  Develop focal points of excellence in NOVA's educational programs and services and build the college's overall reputation for quality:
(a) Support the expansion and contribute to the Center for Excellence in Teaching that will assist faculty and staff to improve the quality of teaching and learning and contribute to NOVA being among the top community colleges in the use of instructional technology in the classroom.
Continue Support for the Technology Applications Center
(b)  Assist each campus in developing at least one focal point of excellence that will contribe to the collge's reputation for quality and help define campus distinctiveness.
Develop and fund individual campus technology plans.
4.  Restructure a number of administrative and support functions to increase organizational capacity, efficiency and effectiveness:
(a)  Initiate campus planning for the new SIS/AIS systems implementations.
Provide additional training for SIS and AIS implementations.
(b)  Begin developoment of a College-wide management information system.
Work with the VCCS and Campuses to develop better management data tools.
Suplemental MIS software to supplement VCCS SAS
( c)  Support new online management systems
Maintain imaging software and hardware.
Maintain interim online HR system.
Expand digital imaging to other offices
Archive Paper Records
Expand Intelligent Call Center Software