
Northern
Virginia Community College
College
Technology
Plan
2004
- 2005
As approved by the NVCC Administrative Council on 8/31/04
For review by VCCS Staff
Introduction
Over the past seven years, Northern Virginia Community College has successfully implemented each of its annual Technology Plans. There are now modern computers on every faculty and staff desk, and there are hundreds of computers for students. Modern office software and access to the Internet is on every computer. All faculty, staff and students have email accounts. There are over 200 distance education courses, many on the Web, and the Web is a significant component in hundreds of sections. Every computer is connected to the College-wide network, and all classrooms are also connected to the network. The College has an extensive presence on the Web, making it a critical communication link with students and the community at large. The College has also implemented a comprehensive support and governance structure including desktop technical support, and a College-wide help desk.
The following Technology Plan list expectations (goals and objectives) set by the VCCS and the College's own goals and objectives for technology. It also establishes broad strategies and budgets for accomplishing those objectives. Each campus and major unit will develop more specific goals, objectives and strategies for meeting its component of this plan.
Funding for the budgets included in
this plan come from several sources.
First, there is technology funding provided by the VCCS that comes from
M&O funds and student technology fees.
Second, there is an Equipment Trust Fund allocation. The third source of funds is provided by the
College's M&O budget in the form of central infrastructure support
funds. The allocation of funds from
each of these sources is provided in the plan.
All PCs have been and will continue to be connected to the campus
network.
The College uses general office software, including email, to conduct business. All PCs will be equipped with the current college versions of software. All faculty and staff will have email accounts.
The College continually upgrades labs and faculty teaching general office software to current versions of Microsoft Office. All College PCs will also continue to be upgraded to the latest version of MS Office throughout the biennium.
The College will keep its current virus protection current and will continue to send out regular reminders to all faculty and staff to upgrade their virus protection definitions. The College will participate in the System-wide licensing of virus protection software.
The College will participate with the VCCS on
installation of patch management software and the implementation of best
practices to safeguard college assets.
The College will also implement a change management and version control
strategies using features in its current Help Desk software.
The College will participate with the VCCS on
software license management.
The College will maintain at least one Commonwealth
Classroom on each campus.
The College already has H.323 conference capability on each campus and will upgrade to room-size units on all campuses once a VCCS standard has been established.
The College maintains numerous fully equipped electronic classrooms on each campus. Several campuses have already equipped all classrooms and several others have nearly equipped all classrooms. Classroom of the Future Funds will be allocated to each campus and ELI proportionally to their enrollments and additional funds will be dedicated to increasing the number of electronic classrooms with the goal of having all classrooms equipped with at least projectors and appropriate cabling.
All classroom and lab
microcomputers are connected or have the capability of being connected to the
campus network. Each college shall
document exceptions for bonafide instructional purposes, such as microcomputer
repair programs.
The College will survey instructional software used
in the labs on the campuses and at ELI, to insure that it is no more than 18
months behind the current version.
Funds will be dedicated to upgrading or adding to instructional
software. Bonafide instructional
exceptions will be documented in writing and maintained centrally on the
campus.
The College will keep its current virus protection current and will
continue to send out regular reminders to upgrade their virus protection
definitions. The College will attempt
to implement new push technology to automate upgrades to virus definitions. The College will participate in the
System-wide licensing of virus protection software.
The College will participate with the VCCS on installation of patch management software and the implementation of best practices to safeguard college assets. The College will also implement a change management and version control strategies using features in its current Help Desk software.
All
servers will be maintained centrally on the campuses or at the College computer
center under the direct control of IT staff.
The college will operate in compliance with the security guidelines
recommended by the Technology Council and approved by the Advisory Council of
Presidents. Periodic security audits will be performed.
The College ITSS will verify annually that the campus networks meet the established guidelines and service levels. Network service levels as defined by SLAs will be measured and reported.
All campus locations will have access to the campus network without having to swap connections with other locations.
The College will follow established guidelines for
connection to Net.Work.Virginia. Next Generation, and will insure that all
campus networks are connected.
The College has implemented VoIP college-wide and will continue to maintain the network so it is consistent with the VCCS standards for the system-wide voice over IP network.
The college will operate in compliance with the security guidelines recommended by the Technology Council and approved by the Advisory Council of Presidents. Periodic security audits will be performed.
The
College has already installed wireless access to at least three locations on
each campus (Provost’s Conference Room, Student Lounge/Cafeteria, and LRC) and
will expand to additional locations to meet student and staff needs.
The
College will implement VCCS network security guidelines and best practices as
they are developed.
The College will use the recently approved Instructional Support Services – Best Practices checklist to benchmark the current level of technology-use in these support areas. This will provide a means for developing specific plans to increase the services available to students and measure progress from year to year. The attached copy of the checklist provides additional detail on the methods currently in use to deliver the following services.
Each
campus will conduct workshops/meetings during the Fall and Spring with the goal
of increasing faculty and staff awareness of the current College state of the
art in each of the areas listed above.
The goal will be to reach at least 80% of all faculty and staff with
these sessions. Each campus
technology plan will include specific plans for achieving and measuring this
objective.
STD
100 will be offered through distance learning by ELI and some campuses. The College will make available an
orientation CD. An orientation to the
College video will be produced and shown on the College cable-tv channels and
copies will be made available on the campuses.
An orientation to the Blackboard software will be produced and shown on
the College cable-tv channels and will be made available on the campuses—a CD
version will be produced and distributed if possible. Extensive FAQs for students are maintained on the College web site. A faculty orientation video/CD will be
produced. The number of
showings/deliveries will be maintained.
Currently,
these services are provided as needed to those not on campus through phone and
email. Each campus technology plan will
include specific details on how they will provide these services to students by
phone and email. The details will
include how students will access these services, response time, specific
services available, the hours they are available, who will respond to the
student and who will provide the services, how students will be notified that
the services are available, and any cost involved.
On-line
resources through VIVA are provided to off-campus faculty, staff and students
through a link on the College web site. The College. The College provides access on-line access to reference services
from its web site, and will work with students by phone and email. The College
participates in LRC Live giving students assistance through live on-line chat
with a librarian. Currently,
most of these services are provided as needed to those not on campus through
phone and email. Each campus technology
plan will include specific details on how they will provide these services to
students by phone and email. The
details will include how students will access these services, response time,
specific services available, the hours they are available, who will respond to
the student and who will provide the services, how students will be notified
that the services are available, and any cost involved.
The
new PS SIS was implemented during Fall 2003 and provides web and IVR access to
these services. Currently, all necessary forms are on the College web site,
and these services are provided as needed to those not on campus through phone
and email. Each campus technology plan
will include specific details on how they will provide these services to
students by phone and email. The
details will include how students will access these services, response time,
specific services available, the hours they are available, who will respond to
the student and who will provide the services, how students will be notified
that the services are available, and any cost involved.
The
new PS SIS was implemented during Fall 2003 and provides web and IVR access to
these services. Currently, all necessary forms are on the College web site,
and these services are provided as needed to those not on campus through phone and
email. Each campus technology plan will
include specific details on how they will provide these services to students by
phone and email. The details will
include how students will access these services, response time, specific
services available, the hours they are available, who will respond to the
student and who will provide the services, how students will be notified that
the services are available, and any cost involved.
The
new PS SIS was implemented during Fall 2003 and provides web access to
increased advising information for students.
Currently, these services are
provided as needed to those not on campus through phone and email. Each campus technology plan will include
specific details on how they will provide these services to students by phone
and email. The details will include how
students will access these services, response time, specific services
available, the hours they are available, who will respond to the student and who
will provide the services, how students will be notified that the services are
available, and any cost involved.
The
College Technology Help Desk provides support for students on general
technology issues. Students are
encouraged to make primary initial contact with the Help Desk by email, with
follow-up by calls from the Help Desk staff to the students. Students who cannot email the Help Desk can
make contact by phone. The Help Desk operates Monday – Friday 8:00 a.m. to 9
p.m. and Saturdays 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
A special Distance Learning Hotline is maintained by the Extended
Learning Institute. Staff are available
at this number to assist distance learning students Monday – Thursday 8:30 a.m
– 8:30 p.m, Fridays 8:30 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. and Saturdays 9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. Extensive FAQs are also maintained on the
College web site.
Currently,
bookstore services are available to students by phone (including an toll-free
number), email, and on the web.
The
Dean of Instructional and Information Technology will coordinate with the
appropriate College Working Groups and the campuses to insure these services
are provided to students electronically and that appropriate reviews and future
plans are developed. Members of his
staff are currently on all the appropriate Working Groups.
Instructional Development support for distance learning will be provided by Instructional Technologists at the Extended Learning Institute. The Associate Vice President for Instructional Technology will coordinate instructional development support for other users. Workshops will be provided at all the campuses focusing on instructional development issues in addition to technology-related training currently provided by the Technical Applications Center and campus staff.
The Associate Vice President for Instructional Technology will monitor compliance with distance learning and instructional technology policies and report to the College Academic Deans Council and to the College Distance Learning Committee annually. The Associate Vice President will make sure that all Division Deans and faculty are made aware of the applicable policies at the beginning of the academic year and make sure the policies are readily available on the College Web site.
The College will develop and implement a training plan to reach 100% of all faculty and staff as part of its implementation of the new SIS, AIS and MIS systems. The Vice President for Instructional and Information Technology will be responsible for coordinating this training as part of the implementation plan.
The College will implement the new VCCS system-wide library support. The College has already upgraded LRS staff computers and monitors to meet the increased requirements of the new system.
All units which report to a member of the
Administrative Council will maintain a current web home page. These pages will be reviewed and updated as
necessary at least every 6 months.
Campus/Unit Technology Plans will identify the Webmaster, person responsible
or procedures that will be used to maintain these web sites. The College will develop and maintain set of
web page standards for best practices and access issues. Access to online
registration and related services is provided from the College home page.
The
College Technology Help Desk provides support for students on general
technology issues. The Help Desk
operates Monday – Friday 8:00 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Saturdays 8:00 a.m. – 5:00
p.m. A special Distance Learning
Hotline is maintained by the Extended Learning Institute. Staff are available at this number to assist
distance learning students Monday – Thursday 8:30 a.m – 8:30 p.m, Fridays 8:30
a.m. – 5:00 p.m. and Saturdays 9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. Extensive FAQs are also maintained on the College web site.
The College will review its services
annually to insure adequate service levels are maintained. In addition, Service Level Agreements (SLAs)
have been developed and posted for all college-wide and campus IT services. The SLAs will be reviewed annually.
ITSS will insure that all network file and print
services are in compliance with the guidelines. Compliance will be reviewed annually.
ITSS operate a POP3 compliant e-mail service, including directory services for all faculty and staff. The College participates in the VCCS student e-mail system. The College will continue to provide web space for students.
ITSS has completed and will maintain the necessary documentation to meet this standard, and will comply with all relevant VCCS security recommendations. The plans will be reviewed annually, and recovery processes also will be tested annually.
Academic and Student Services will monitor compliance by reporting on the number of students enrolled in the courses identified as meeting student computer competency requirements, the number taking the Skill-Check waiver exam, and the number (if any) of graduates receiving exceptions to this policy. Demonstration of computer competency is now a requirement for all degrees.
The College has appointed committees and developed
a preliminary plan based on the current VCCS schedule and plan to implement the
latest version of the latest version of the SIS.
The College will participate fully in the planning and implementation of the new AIS.
The College will fully implement Resource25.
The College Distance Learning Committee will develop a distance learning plan for the College that addresses identified needs. ELI will track enrollments, number of filled (closed) sections, total offerings and student evaluations consistent with the plan.
The Associate Vice President for Instructional Technology will draft a plan for review by the LRS Working Group, Distance Learning Committee, College TLTR, and Information Technology Committee that addresses these issues. For traditional classes, the plan will specifically identify strategies for increasing communication with students, providing students with access to information, effective use of VIVA and other on-line learning resources, providing student support to students not on campus, and effective use of open learning labs to support traditional instruction, effective use of smart classrooms by faculty and students, use of Blackboard in traditional classes, and effective use of e-mail. Among the goals for traditional classes will be web pages for all faculty with at least current contact information and current copies of syllabi, and increases in:
·
use of student
e-mail to contact faculty in non-distance learning courses
·
number of hits
on student support and VIVA web sites
·
number of
students using on-line reference services
·
number of new
faculty making use of open computer labs
·
number of
faculty using smart classrooms
·
new classes
using Blackboard
In addition, the goals for distance learning classes will include increases in completion rates for courses that add technology, increased use of on-line testing, and increased student use of on-line student services information.
The Distance Learning Committee in conjunction with the Office of Institutional Research will design a research study to examine the relationship of technology use and the use of smart classrooms to retention and grade distribution.
ELI will continue to list all distance learning courses available and appropriate to students outside Northern Virginia with the VCCS Online course directory, and will make sure the VCCS Online course directory is prominently listed on the College web site.
Each division will attempt to meet this standard.
The College will insure that all part-time staff that require a PC will have access to one that meet the useful life definition.
The College currently provides computers for student use in excess of 12% of FTES.
Special Technology-Related Initiatives Supported by Regular College Funds:
Distance Education: The College provides an extensive array of
distance learning courses that are funded from the regular College budget. In additional to more than 200 different
asynchronous courses available through a variety of formats, the College offers
a limited number of synchronous courses through the VCCS compressed video
network. The College will also offer
synchronous courses through a virtual web classroom beginning in 2003-2004.
Students can also earn several complete degrees through asynchronous
courses. Support for distance
education comes from the Extended Learning Institute, College Television Center,
the Campus LRCs and the Campus Testing Centers. There are more than 15,000 enrollments in distance education
courses annually. Development of new
courses and new services for distant learners is an on-going process.
Support for Academic Technology Use: Both Technology Plan funds and regular College funds are used to support academic technology use in distance and campus-based learning for academic and student support programs.
For faculty and staff support, faculty and staff receive
technology applications training through the Technical Applications Center
(TAC), Extended Learning Institute, Human Resources, campus TLTR initiatives,
and one-on-one mentoring from colleagues (e.g. Dogwood project). Some of the campuses have built mentoring
into their campus technology plans and use campus technology funds to support
these activities.
Internet/web use has become a job expectation for faculty and staff as
well as maintenance of a Web presence.
The College’s M&O funds, along with Technology Plan funds, provide
the services of the Technical Application Center and the Extended Learning
Institute to train and support faculty and staff in web development. Annandale and Loudoun campuses also have
dedicated staff to assist faculty with web use and web site development.
Many distance learning courses at NVCC and many traditional courses use the Blackboard course management system to deliver distance learning. The College uses the Blackboard support provided by the VCC Technical Utility to host its courses.
A large proportion of campus classrooms are now equipped with a computer and a projector for instructional use as the result of Technology Plan funds. Classroom of the Future Funds will be used to increase the number of equipped classrooms on where all rooms have not yet been equipped.
For student support programs, the new SIS system provides students online access to their grades, unofficial transcripts, and course registration. The necessary technical infrastructure has been installed.
The College publishes a Student Technology Guide written to help students to learn how to use the technology resources available to them at NVCC.
Technology Plan funds support P-14 positions at the IT Helpdesk used by faculty, staff, administrators, and students at NVCC.
College funds are used to offer students online library support -- campus as well as distance learning students can email the reference librarian with questions. Students may also receive help through on-line chat with a librarian through the LRC Live program.
Some of the campuses use campus funds to offer online Writing Centers -- students (including Distance Learning students) can submit writing assignments via email and receive a written email consultation.
Electronic resources (e.g. VIVA) are incorporated into teaching and learning activities of distance and campus based students through a grant where librarians at NVCC work with instructors in a variety of disciplines to develop "library assignments" that make use of VIVA, thereby effecting an "information literacy across the curriculum" project.
Access to
Microsoft software for IST classes is provided through membership in the MS
Developers Network.
2004-2005
College Technology Plan and Budget
The strategies and
related budgets that follow have been established to achieve the VCCS and NVCC
goals and objectives. To identify
appropriate strategies, the campuses reviewed the results of their prior year
technology plans and established priorities through the College Information
Technology Committee. Campus responses
to the annual VCCS Technology Survey were also used to identify the appropriate
strategies to include in this plan.
Individual campuses and units will establish specific objectives and
plans for their role in implementing each of these strategies. Campus, ELI and College Staff TLTRs will
also be expected to play a role in developing campus plans.
Funding for the budgets below comes from several sources: VCCS Technology Funds allocated to the College to support its Technology Plan, Equipment Trust Fund allocations for technology, and additional Infrastructure Support Funds designated by the College from its M&O budget to operate the college-wide technical infrastructure and application support. For 2004-05 only there are significant carryover funds from Student Technology Fees collected in prior years and held as a reserve that can be used for one-time only purchases and must be expended during the current fiscal year. Funding for 2004-2005 is shown below:
$ 2,814,979 Technology Funds from Student Tech. Fee, plus state and college Tech. General Funds
$ 1,041,717 Equipment Trust Fund allocation for technology
$ 3,856,796
$ 1,504,354 One-time Technology Funds from unspent Tech. Fees carried over from the 2003-2004 Technology Plan
Northern Virginia Community
College
2004-2005
College Technology Plan and Budget Narrative
This year’s plan will
include two kinds of funding: recurring
technology funds based on the student technology fee, Technology ETF funds, and
Technology M&O funds; plus a significant amount of one-time funds from the
college technology reserve that must be spent by the end of this fiscal
year. The one-time funds cannot be used
to fund any recurring activity that would continue into FY 2006.
CAMPUS and UNIT SUPPORT
|
|
Recurring Technology Funds
(including ETF) |
One-Time Funds |
|
Supplement for campus technology staff salaries Staff
to provide technical support at the campus and desktop level. (This has been part of the base VCCS
funding since the original plan and represents the VCCS funding of the basic campus IT staff positions.) |
500,000 |
|
|
Campus-based Technology Support Offices and Campuses must develop detailed plans for
allocation of these funds. (Funds in this category may be used for any
technology-related purpose provided
that strategies and appropriate funding to achieve at least the following
specific objectives are included in the campus plan.) Web
Page Maintenance for all units Each
College Staff and Campus office/unit will maintain an up-to-date web site. The
College Marketing and Public Affairs Office will also maintain a news and
events presence on the College web site and cable-tv network. Web pages will be reviewed and updated at
least every 6 months and will make significant progress toward being Section
508 compliant to meet federal technology accessibility standards. The campus
plan will identify the webmaster responsible for each site. Services referenced in Chancellors Objectives Access to Tutoring and Mentoring services from off
campus. Access to Enrollment &
Student Records services from off
campus Access to Financial Aid services from off campus Access to advising from off campus Keeping Instructional Software Current The campus plan will show funds allocated where
necessary to update academic software so that it is no more than one version
out of date. Distribution
of funds: Funds distributed by number
of Technology Plan computers and will not include MEC until 2005-06. |
263,750 |
|
|
Technical Applications Development Support. To increase
the quantity and quality of technology-based materials and solutions, TAC
will provide reassigned time for several faculty who will give application
support to faculty and staff, assist campus faculty to develop or use
technology in instruction, and work with TAC as a campus liaisons. (2 courses for 2 semesters each for six
people representing each campus including MEC.) |
48,000 |
|
|
Campus Lab Support To
insure support so campus computer labs are open Monday-Friday days and at
least Monday-Thursday evenings and on Saturday. Distribution of funds to be by campus FTE formula with a
minimum to each campus to insure 6th day and summer coverage. Specific hours being supported by these
funds will be shown in the Campus Technology Plan. Funds may only be used to
support computer labs. Distribution
will not include MEC until 2005-06. |
230,000 |
|
|
Campus/Unit Technology Manager Support Funds
for infrastructure support costs at campuses and units. Distribution of funds to 6 campuses &
college staff based on number of technology plan computers. |
35,000 |
|
|
College Staff IT Support Funds to support a P-14 ITS for College Staff since
only one IT position was allocated for College Staff when campus IT staffs
were increased. |
36,000 |
|
ACADEMIC SUPPORT
|
|
Recurring Technology Funds
(including ETF) |
One-Time Funds |
|
Instructional Software To
keep instructional software current and support additional use of modern
instructional software. Purchase of
instructional software with priority to be set by the College Academic Deans
Council. The Deans Council will make funding recommendations to the ITC. (This amount is actually an increase
in available funds over 2003-04 since most of the Adobe and Macromedia
licenses purchased with these funds in 03-04 were for two years.) |
75,000 |
|