office of the vice president for - it@iu · 2019-12-17 · including microsoft office, were...
TRANSCRIPT
Preface
Introduction
I. Solid Foundation of IT Infrastructure & Sound Fiscal Planning
II. Access to Network Resources
III. Institutional Commitment: Faculty & Staff Engagement
IV. Teaching & Learning: Content, Access, Distributed Education
V. Research: Computation, Communications, Collaboration
VI. Information Systems: Managing IU’s Information Assets
VII. Telecommunications: Applications, Infrastructure, Convergence
VIII. Support for Student Computing
IX. Digital Libraries & the Scholarly Record
X. Security, Privacy, Intellectual Property
Appendix A. Contact Information
Appendix B. Credits
Office of the Vice President forInformation Technology and CIO
University Information Technology Services
For more information, please contact the UITSCommunications and Planning [email protected]
For up-to-date information technology news at IU, see http://it.iu.edu/
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The Indiana University Information Technology Strategic Plan was approved by President Myles Brand and the Trustees in December 1998, and the Office of the Vice President for Information Technology and CIO (OVPIT) was given responsibility for its implementation. Thus, 2002 was the fourth full calendar year, and FY 2002-2003 the fourth full financial year of the implementation of the Plan.
This document is a summary for this period principally of University Information Technology Services (UITS) accomplishments, but also of those of other parts of the University, in implementing the Plan and activities
related to it. Though this document is, strictlyspeaking, prepared for FY 2002-2003 as part of the University’s annual budgetary process, realistically it reports accomplishments mainly for the calendar year 2002, given that it is prepared in early 2003. The plan is a five-year plan and will guide IU’s activities and initiatives in IT until the end of FY 2003-2004 and beyond. Hence, OVPIT will produce a document similar to this on an annual basis for the life of the Plan.
The Plan consists of 10 major Recommendations and68 Actions. The accomplishments for 2002 are described under these.
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Introduction
educational pricing on Dell’s full catalog of computers, printers, and handheld devices. This agreement is the latest success realized by University Information Technology Services (UITS) and IU Purchasing to leverage the purchasing power of the University and achieve the lowest workstation prices to help meet lifecycle funding objectives. Similar negotiations have resulted in the purchase of more than 23,500 machines by IU Schools and departments, saving $11M above standard educational pricing, and helping IU realize its goal of refreshing all University workstations everythree years.
IU’s lifecycle funding initiative enhances the opportunity for faculty, students, and staff to make full instructional, administrative, and research use of information technology. The success of this initiative attracted national attention to IU, which is the largest institution of its size to have achieved such an accomplishment.
Enterprise systems. In 1998 the architects of the University’s IT Strategic Plan recognized the importance of IT in the efficient management of Indiana University’s information systems that underpin administrative and business affairs in support of teaching, learning, research, and service. The ad hoc creation of multiple, separate applications taxed the University’s ability to develop new systems and efficiently use institutional information. Thus, the Plan called for a complete reengineering of IU’s information systems, a portfolio of both academic and administrative applications, with the goal of enabling them to work seamlessly together via a common interface, and based on new IT architecture.
This reengineering project, which represents the largest software development project in the University’s history, has led to the deployment of many successful new systems. A new Student Information System (SIS) and a new Human Resource Management System (HRMS), critical to thousands of departmental staff and faculty and tens of thousands of students, were identified as top priorities of this Plan. The OneStart Web-based application portal offers a common front door to online services at Indiana University campuses. New systems also include Oncourse, an IU-developed online course management application; the Electronic Research Administration (ERA), providing IU researchers with an electronic system for developing and submitting research proposals; the IU Information Environment (IUIE), a Web-based, enterprise-wide reporting environment; the enhancement to the Financial Information System (FIS), an enterprise-wide computing application for managing the majority of IU’s finances; a new, Web-based Purchasing/Accounts Payable system that interfaces with the FIS and other
Four years ago, Indiana University developed an Information Technology Strategic Plan to guide the building of excellence in IT services and infrastructure for the University
and leadership in IT in the State and nationally. This goal has been largely accomplished and a foundation of outstanding services and support for IT across the University has been established. The achievements of the fourth year of the Plan build on this foundation in significant ways. They also herald the University’s continued growth as a national and international leader in IT, through its contributions to global research and to the visible national arenas where IT policy and standards are shaped.
The FoundationIT tools. On the IU campuses, the IT foundation is comprehensively in place. Lifecycle-funded hardware, software, and network connectivity are provided to the whole University community. Teaching and learning centers support faculty instruction; a world-class research infrastructure supports inquiry and discovery. Access to secure wireless connectivity, now an IU standard, is growing on the core campuses. University wide, 68% of faculty use Oncourse (with a high of 86% at IUPUI), and roughly 95% of students own their own computers, which bears evidence to the degree to which IT is an undisputed component of teaching and learning across the disciplines, on all campuses.
The successful implementation of lifecycle funding in August 2000 was the result of cooperation among University administrators, faculty, and staff, and of many successful partnerships with commercial vendors, including Microsoft, Macromedia, Symantec, SPSS, Corel, Oracle, Dell, and others. In the five years of the pioneering $7.5M Microsoft Enterprise Licensing Agreement, 489,429 copies of Microsoft operating systems and personal productivity suites, including Microsoft Office, were distributed to the eight-campus IU community, with an educational value of $80,263,562. In April 2003, IU and Microsoft entered into a new agreement that extends Microsoft availability for an additional three years, at no increase in cost to the University. The new agreement means IU faculty, staff, and students can continue to download at no cost the latest operating systems, databases, Web development tools, and productivity software, for campus and home use.
In May IU entered a first Preferred Partnership with Dell Marketing, that offers students, faculty, and staff specially configured workstations, laptops, and multimedia machines at more than $500 below standard educational pricing, and discounts of up to 13% off
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Physical facilities. On the core campuses, highly visible centers of access to IT resources are being created. The prominence and central location of these centers emphasize and underscore the central role IT holds in the University.
At IUB, UITS and the Libraries have embarked on a major project to transform 27,000 square feet of the ground floor of the Main Library into an Information Commons, a state-of-the-art center for technology and information. Its collaboration areas, videoconference-equipped classrooms, more than 250 workstations for group and individual work, comfortable study areas, library reference services, IT consulting, and multimedia production lab, provide a modern, state-of-the-art environment for study and research. Open 24 hours, every day, the Commons will be IUB’s Grand Central Station of IT information, resources, and opportunities to learn.
Construction on an even larger scale in Indianapolis will concentrate in one location many of the major IT organizations on the IUPUI campus. The Informatics and Communications Technology Complex (ICTC), on the corner of Michigan and West Streets, when completed in 2004, will house UITS staff based at IUPUI, the UITS machine room, and the Support Center. It will be the hub for the I-Light optical fiber network, and the site of the Pervasive Technology Labs based at IUPUI, as well as the School of Informatics, including its New Media program at IUPUI, and the School of Journalism. This relocation and consolidation of IT resources at a high-profile crossroads of campus and community will make IT resources more visible and accessible for the University community, and for partnerships of benefit to local economic development.
Support. With information technology integral to most aspects of University life and work, unconstrained and efficient support for using IT has never been more critical. Accordingly, in 2002 UITS began the design of a new Online Support Environment that will provide a modern, intuitive means of accessing help and information, empowering users to make the best use of IU’s IT environment. Through a single Web-based interface, users will have easy and efficient access to the services of the entire UITS organization. Tools that reside on user desktops will automate routine problem solving and diagnosis, providing quick solutions to many common problems. Important IT-related news, including machine downtimes, upgrades, and security alerts will arrive on the desktop, making it easier for the IU community to stay informed. Building on the best of IU’s current support structure, including the Knowledge Base and strong human help presence, this
applications; the e-commerce initiative, facilitating transactions for goods and services online; the Maintenance Management System application, tracking much of the University’s maintenance functions; and the Library Information System, providing access to a wide array of online resources.
December 2002 heralded a major landmark with the completion of the HRMS. The system converts to electronic form many processes long based on paper, streamlining their passage through review and approval. It provides easier access to data and information, key in the daily operation of the University. It provides University staff with more efficient business processes in such areas as payroll, personnel records, and benefits. Not only a reengineering success, HRMS is also an impressive example of collaboration by University staff from human resources, academic affairs, and the payroll offices on IU’s campuses, and technical staff from UITS.
What remains to be completed are the final modules of the SIS, the largest, most complex, and most difficult of all the systems. SIS will allow IU’s more than 100,000 students to progress easily through the financial aid process, update personal information, and request transcripts, all in a Web-based environment. Staff in the Undergraduate, Graduate, and International Admissions Offices can now use the SIS to process and evaluate applications for admission, and true Web-based registration through the SIS is scheduled for rollout in 2003-2004. In the meantime, students have been able to register on the Web since March 2001.
As the framers of the IT Strategic Plan envisioned, these systems work seamlessly together. As new systems are implemented, associated data become part of the integrated data available for reporting from the IUIE. All systems will be integrated within IU’s OneStart Portal. These systems enable IU departments to transform their organizations and business processes to provide better services in a more productive way. The implementation of the SIS by the end of 2004 will mark the completion of the full set of reengineered information systems envisioned in the IT Strategic Plan.
AccessWith most of the fundamental elements of the University’s IT foundation in place, IU in 2002 focused on expanding access to that foundation. Initiatives included building new facilities, redesigning and augmenting the IT support services to put better help within easy reach of wider audiences, and improving IU’s course management systems to widen access to learning opportunities and position the system itself for future development.
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• I-Light also supports voice, e-mail, and video-conferencing between the campuses and is the primary artery for communications between IUB, IUPUI, and Purdue University West Lafayette. I-Light presents countless possibilities for collaborative research on the campuses, and positions IU and Purdue faculty to compete more vigorously for federal research grants.
• In June, IU and Purdue University linked their IBM SP supercomputers over I-Light to form a 1.5-Teraflops computing resource for addressing complex problems in science and medicine, enabling researchers at both universities to solve problems larger than their individual resources could accommodate.
• An important part of providing robust and reliable network service is protecting the network from interruptions of data traffic. Redundant network paths can help provide that assurance. In Fall 2002, IU acquired through Smithville Telephone an additional fiber path between Bloomington and Indianapolis, providing the University an alternative in the event of damage to I-Light.
• The State of Indiana is moving to expand and distribute the networking functionality and research-enabling connectivity of I-Light, through the approval of a $10M appropriation by the Legislature to fund I-Light2. I-Light2 includes funding for expanding I-Light to link up with the developing national cyberinfrastructure, and for beginning the development of an extensive distribution of fiber connectivity to key communities and higher education institutions (and K-12) throughout the State.
• As other areas of the nation follow Indiana’s lead in developing regional fiber networks, Indiana, through I-Light, will be poised to expand its connectivity beyond the State to similar networks in Ohio, Michigan, and Illinois. A growing optical fiber network will connect distant communities of researchers in the exchange of data, in research collaborations, and in sharing specialized computing resources. In the first half of 2003, IU became involved in the development of one such network – the National Lambda Rail (NLR) initiative. IU, through its membership in the Committee on Institutional Cooperation (CIC) and its leadership in that organization, may be able to play a founding role as NLR moves toward reality in 2003-04.
• The joint IU-Purdue I-Light Applications Workshop in Indianapolis marked the first anniversary of the activation of I-Light. At the December
new environment will offer the help and information, 24 hours a day, year-round, that will enable the IU community to make the best use of IU’s robust array of IT services and resources.
Teaching and learning systems. Oncourse, IU’s online teaching and learning environment, grew in 2002 to be one of the University’s most widely used information systems, with some 3,000 faculty users, and student usage growing by more than 8,000 each semester. Among its 83,000 users, those on the core campuses report satisfaction rates of 94.7%. The capabilities of Oncourse continue to expand as a task force from the IU Libraries works with UITS Oncourse staff to link Oncourse to library resources, especially full-text articles and electronic reserves.
In 2002 Indiana University joined the Open Knowledge Initiative (OKI), a collaboration among multiple universities to build open-source standardized modules for course management systems and other systems for higher education. One of IU’s first contributions to OKI will be to reengineer Oncourse to make it OKI-compatible. IU is recognized, through its development of Oncourse, as a leader in developing course management systems, and will take part in developing standards for such systems that over time will promise economic advantages, and ensure the IU community access to the best in course management systems.
ResearchMany of the University’s major achievements in IT in 2002 were focused on developing infrastructure and new initiatives as part of IU’s fundamental research mission.
Networks. In 2001, the impact of the new I-Light optical fiber infrastructure began to be substantially felt in many areas of the University’s research, teaching, and business.
• I-Light increases the University’s networking capacity by many orders of magnitude through its multiple strands of optical fiber, providing more than enough capacity to meet demand over the next 10 to 20 years. In August 2001, IU expanded the size of its connection to the commercial Internet usingI-Light, achieving a near four-fold increase in capacity at no increase in cost. This increased capacity greatly improved speed of access to the World Wide Web and other Internet-based services. It serves the IUB campus, and the IUPUI campus and its connections to the six regional campuses, as well as Purdue University and the Indiana Higher Education Telecommunication System (IHETS).
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2002 workshop, more than 100 researchers and technologists from IUB, IUPUI, and Purdue showcased uses of the network for applications in advanced computing, visualization, and remote collaboration. Participants demonstrated advances in science and IT technology the network already makes possible, and looked ahead to future possibilities for collaboration, research, and scholarship over I-Light.
• IU Network Engineering Staff provided leadership for a major upgrade to the Internet2 Abilene network, upgrading Abilene coast-to-coast backbone connectivity to OC-192, or 10M bits per second, a four-fold increase in the previous capacity. IU’s Engineers were solely responsible for the April 2003 logistical and technical implementation of this major enhancement, delivered on schedule and on budget. The remainder of the backbone — the Southern route — will be completed by July 2003.
IU continues to support the various application and middleware initiatives of Internet2, leading and participating in efforts related to video services, Voice-over-IP services, and IPv6 — the forthcoming standard in Internet communication protocol. In IPv6, Indiana serves as the host for address-serving activities for the entire Abilene network and associated Internet2 community.
Developments in international networking included an important increase in the capacity of the TransPAC network, which is managed by IU, and which connects some of the principal research and education networks in the US with those in the Asia-Pacific. This increase makes a vital contribution to expanding international collaborations between researchers in the US and the Asia-Pacific, especially in digitally enabled science, or e-science, in such areas as astronomy, molecular biology, high-energy physics, medicine, meteorology, and computational science. This link to Asia becomes increasingly important given the presence in the region of some unique scientific facilities such as Japan’s Earth Simulator, currently the most powerful supercomputer in the world.
Research computing. Activities in high performance computing in 2002 expanded IU’s already extensive research facilities and created new opportunities for research, collaboration, and discovery.
• The innovative Analysis and Visualization of Instrument Driven Data (AVIDD) facility is a two-Teraflops, Linux cluster-based supercomputer specially designed to process enormous amounts of data. AVIDD will provide IU scientists and their collaborators worldwide with the means
of managing and analyzing the unprecedented amounts of data that today’s scientific instruments generate. The AVIDD installations at IUPUI and IUB were activated in January 2003 and were supported with a $1.8M grant from the National Science Foundation’s Major Research Instrumentation Program. The AVIDD installation at Gary, supported by an IBM Shared University Research grant, was activated in October 2002.
• For the third consecutive year, Indiana University, Purdue University, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, and the University of Notre Dame teamed to showcase IT developments in the State of Indiana. Indiana’s presence at the annual Supercomputing2002 conference, titled “Research in Indiana,” focused on advances in high performance computing systems and applications, nanotechnology, massive data storage systems, high performance telecommunications, advanced visualization, and e-commerce, all potential contributors to growing Indiana’s information technology economy. Indiana is the only state to have exhibited at the premiere, international, high performance computing conference the combined achievements of the principal research and teaching universities in a single state.
• Automatic mirroring of data between IUB and IUPUI on the massive data storage infrastructure using I-Light is now in place. This means that irreplaceable data is now protected against loss in the event of a disaster in one of the University’s two machine rooms. The IU massive storage system may also be the first such system anywhere to be fault tolerant. During the year, the amount of data IU had under storage grew to be the largest of any university in the country, exceeding that held by Caltech.
• In 2002 Purdue and IU conducted research over I-Light to simulate the reaction of thousands of people to a disaster on the order of a terrorist attack. The I-Light network, which connected the large-memory nodes of the IBM research SP at IU with Purdue’s IBM SP, made it possible for this simulation to assume heightened levels of realism.
• The Indiana Genomics Initiative (INGEN), funded by IU’s largest-ever grant of $105M from the Lilly Endowment, seeks to build upon IU’s research capabilities to establish a major, national center in the life sciences. The Information Technology Core of INGEN, operated by UITS, developed several new software applications in 2002, including software to study fetal alcohol syndrome, analyze genetic diseases in human family trees, and target cancer treatment with IU’s Gamma Knife.
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• IU’s work on the Russian Periodical Index, supported by a US State Department of Education Title VI Technology Program grant, is almost complete. The Index will provide digital access via some three million citations to 20 years of journals, series, and publications from universities and research institutes in humanities, natural sciences, and the social sciences, along with popular periodical literature.
• The NSF-supported ReciprocalNet was publicly released in conjunction with the launch of the NSF’s National Science Digital Library in December. The IU Molecular Structure Center leads this inter-institutional collaboration to create a national digital library of molecular structure data, with software for visualizing data and for building lessons based on the data.
• In December 2002 IU made available the complete Wright American Fiction collection, a cooperative project among nine CIC libraries, with access to some 3,000 works from the late nineteenth century. The Institute for Museum and Library Services (IMLS) has extended for a third year its grant to IU for digitizing and publishing on the Web the 15,000 slides in the Cushman Collection in the University Archives.
Security. In the face of heightened concern about computer security, especially in the aftermath of 11 September 2001, IU has adopted a two-part strategy to address cybersecurity: locally — at Indiana University — and nationally in the higher education community.
Initiatives aimed at improving the security within the IU community in 2002 included a three-year contract with Symantec providing the IU community with Norton AntiVirus and Ghost, important tools in maintaining security at the desktop. To maintain the security of departmental systems, the Information Technology Security Office (ITSO) increased the capacity of its service for assessing external vulnerabilities in 2002, conducting 45,000 scans of some 6,300 computers in 183 departments.
An aggressive communications campaign built awareness of secure IT practices and behavior across the campuses. ITSO developed courses in security for departmental and campus technicians, and the annual Statewide Conference for IT staff focused on the theme of cybersecurity. A culture of secure computing practices at the local level helps protect the IU community in the face of external threats.
Pervasive Technology Labs. The Pervasive Technology Laboratories established at IUB continued to make excellent progress in 2002. The Advanced Network Management Lab (ANML) developed a method for transferring files at very high speeds. The new technology, called Tsunami, outperforms existing file transfer technology, and was used to inaugurate the Global Terabit Research Network, a trillion-bit-per-second international research network, whose formation IU led. A new secure, Web-based file transfer system known as Slashtmp provides secure file transfer service for files that may be too large or too sensitive to send via e-mail. ANML also developed tools to detect and protect against security attacks, including a tool that detects distributed denial of services (DDoS) attacks, a particularly challenging type of attack.
The first of the Indianapolis-based Labs — the Visualization and Interactive Spaces Lab, under the direction of Distinguished Scientist Polly Baker — opened in Spring 2002 near the IUPUI campus.
The first externally funded lab affiliated with the Pervasive Technology Labs opened in 2002 under the direction of Dr. Donald F. (Rick) McMullen. With support from the Crane Naval Surface Warfare Center and the NSF, the Knowledge Acquisition and Projection Laboratory (KAPL) will draw closely on the networking advances developed in the ANML.
Digital Libraries. Advances in the University’s digital libraries initiatives extend access to unique and rare collections in a range of areas, and provide platforms for research on the design, development, and use of electronic research resources.
IU continues to take a leadership role in encouraging research and collaboration in applying IT to the study of music. Variations2, under development at IU, is a digital library framework for use in music research and instruction. Its searchable digital databases of sound, images, and historical materials promise students, instructors, and researchers new ways to analyze material and conduct research. Variations2 is being tested and evaluated by users at IU Bloomington and in the US, and also in the UK and Japan. It also offers a platform for research in human-computer interaction, networking, and intellectual property. With NSF support, IU co-sponsored the 3rd Annual International Conference on Music Information Retrieval (ISMIR2002) in Paris. ISMIR is the world’s only conference in music information retrieval that studies systems for indexing, searching, and recalling musical data in research and education.
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IU also made important contributions to national security by contributing to the improvement of cybersecurity in the national higher education arena. IU’s Chief IT Security and Policy Officer is a member of the EDUCAUSE/Internet2 Computer and Network Security Task Force that coordinated higher education’s contribution to the National Strategy to Secure Cyberspace, and built a framework for improving security in higher education. Agreements were signed establishing a Research and Education Networks Information Sharing and Analysis Center (REN-ISAC) at Indiana University that will facilitate the exchange of timely information about cyber threats between REN-ISAC members and the National Cyber Security Division (NCSD) (formerly the National Infrastructure Protection Center), whose activities in cybersecurity are part of the Department of Homeland Security. IU has also formed a University-wide Center for Applied Cybersecurity Policy and Research (CACR) that will provide a forum where individuals and groups who are working on cybersecurity issues can focus their efforts.
The remarkable achievements of the past year bear testament not only to the work of UITS staff, but also to the dedication of the many units and departments across the University that have also worked to build the IT services and infrastructure that are pervading and transforming the work of the entire University.
Achievements in telecommunications connect the University and the State at light speeds to sister
institutions and promise economies for the State. Managing the operations of Internet2, the world’s fastest research network, and pushing ever outward the reach of international research networks, IU daily plays a major role in connecting scholar to scholar and researcher to researcher.
Indiana University is founded on a long tradition of excellence. Because IU’s IT services and infrastructure were built in the same tradition of excellence, they go beyond simply meeting the goals of their architects. The benefits to the State of IU’s major initiative in genomics, INGEN, and the Pervasive Technology Labs go beyond inquiry and discovery. They are helping to create in central Indiana a high-tech corridor linking Bloomington to Indianapolis and West Lafayette that will attract additional expertise and opportunity. With their investment in these initiatives, the University and its partners are helping to secure the economic future of the State, and positioning its citizens to fully participate in the emerging information economy.
Michael A. McRobbieVice President for Information Technology andChief Information Officer
July 2003
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Recommendation 1: The University should build a solid foundation of IT infrastructure that will help and enable IU to achieve a position of leadership, and to assure that sound fiscal planning permits the maintenance of this infrastructure at state-of-the-art levels.
I. Solid Foundation of IT Infrastructure &Sound Fiscal Planning
In August 2000, after little more than two years of progress on these Actions, IU completed the implementation of lifecycle funding for desktop computers, operating systems, and common applications for all the campuses of the University and for all 110 IU schools and service units. During the initial phase of this project, more than 10,000 obsolete computers in 110 schools and service units were replaced at a cost of $11M. The replacement value of the inventory was calculated at $20M.
A $6M annual lifecycle fund has been established to keep more than 15,000 faculty and administrative desktop computers up to date. The impact of systematic renewal of desktop computers throughout the University goes far beyond personal productivity and satisfaction. A population of computers with common powers and constrained variation makes the IT environment throughout Indiana University easier to support.
Agreements with major software vendors, including Microsoft, Macromedia, Symantec, Oracle, Corel, SPSS, and others, mean that all IU computer users have access to the most recent releases of popular desktop software. The most extensive of these agreements, the Microsoft Enterprise License Agreement, distributed in its first five years 489,429 copies of the Microsoft operating systems and personal productivity suites such as Microsoft Office. These agreements have resulted in savings for faculty, staff, and especially students of more than $80M thus far. In addition, a more easily supported common base of software and a common hardware platform allow for improved service to users. In April 2003, IU and Microsoft signed a new agreement that provides Microsoft software to IU faculty, staff, and students for an additional three years, for use on campus and at home.
University Information Technology Services (UITS) and IU Purchasing have negotiated to leverage the mass purchase power of the University to realize the lowest workstation and notebook prices in meeting lifecycle funding objectives. Similar negotiations have resulted in the purchase of more than 23,500 machines by IU Schools and departments, realizing savings of morethan $11M.
In May, IU entered a Preferred Partnership with Dell Marketing — IU’s first such agreement — that offers students, faculty, and staff the opportunity to purchase specially configured workstations, laptops, and multimedia machines at more than $500 below standard educational pricing, and discounts of up to 13% below educational rates on the full catalog of Dell computers, printers, and handheld devices.
The successful implementation of lifecycle funding and basic equipment modernization is an impressive achievement in a short time, and has brought IU national attention. (The Chronicle of Higher Education, October 4, 2002, featured a story including IU’s workstation bid process and software contract in an article on lifecycle funding.) This accomplishment should greatly enhance faculty members’ and students’ opportunities to make full instructional, administrative, and research use of IT. The success of this implementation is illustrated by the fact that access to basic hardware, software, and networks is taken for granted by students and faculty, and generally high levels of satisfaction are reflected in the UITS annual User Survey.
UITS has been recognized for many years as a leader in the effective management of the cost and quality of its services. UITS was one of the first university IT organizations in the nation to develop a comprehensive
Action 1. The University should build lifecycle replacement funding into its planning at every level of investment in information technology (including personal, departmental, and central systems, and network hardware and software); and UITS should develop a lifecycle replacement model to use where needed in conjunction with its investments in information technology. Implementation should begin immediately, with full funding of lifecycle replacement phased in over a fixed number of years.
Action 2. The University should budget a standard amount per year, per FTE to support lifecycle replacement of faculty and staff desktop computers, and to cover the cost of providing local support to that desktop.
Action 3. The University’s stock of computers should be systematically modernized so that they are all capable of supporting current releases of widely used software, Web access and other basic tasks of computation and communication.
Lifecycle Funding, Modernization, and Local Support
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services list, define all of the processes that comprise those services, and implement Activity Based Costing (ABC). As a result of the ABC effort, UITS is able to identify the total cost, utilization levels, and per-unit cost of everything it produces. Use of ABC metrics is a key tool in analyzing and modifying expenditures that ensure that budget monies are used most effectively. UITS is also a national leader in assessing customer-based satisfaction.
For more than a decade UITS has contracted with an independent survey organization to administer a survey of its customers (users within the University community) to assess satisfaction with UITS services; many service changes have been implemented in recent years as a result of the UITS User Survey. Since 1999
the survey results indicate that more than 95% of the University community is at least satisfied with the quality of services provided by UITS. The 2002 survey results indicate that more than 95% of the University community use UITS services, and of these people, 98% are satisfied (or better) with the quality of UITS services. During the past year UITS has been experimenting with other quality methodologies, including the balanced scorecard (which measures innovation and staff satisfaction as well as cost and quality) and six sigma (a total quality management methodology designed to essentially eradicate errors from processes). UITS leadership in the management of cost and quality is indicated by the fact that for the last three years in arow representatives of UITS have spoken on this topicat national conferences.
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Recommendation 2: The University should provide students, faculty and staff with reliable access to computing and network services, on the campuses and off. (In the language of today’s technology, “No busy signals!”)
II. Access to Network Resources
Action 5. The University should provide students, faculty and staff with reliable access to computing, data storage, information and network services, on the campuses and off.
Off-Campus AccessWith the long-standing problem of inadequate capacity on the two core campuses solved in 1999, modem service was monitored for quality and usage during 2002. Modem access remains, as a normal operating condition, rapid and straightforward.
With the increased availability of local, high-speed, off-campus Internet Service Providers, use of the IUB modem pool dropped in 2002 as members of the IU community increasingly made use of these service providers. While elimination of the service is not likely, the move to high-speed providers by the user community could yield significant cost savings as UITS downsizes the modem pool into line with lower demand.
These high-speed connections to IU resources from vendor-provided services have been secured by Virtual Private Network (VPN) services. VPN provides a solid and secure link from these service providers, requiring authentication with an IU Network ID before use of the IU network is enabled. This VPN infrastructure also serves to secure the wireless network services being implemented on the campuses, and thus has provided a well-leveraged technology solution for security.
In June 2001, UITS retired the 856-5212 terminal-only modem pool. In the previous two years, use of that modem pool, which provided text-only connections to the Shakespeare systems and Steel, had diminished significantly. Before the Web and the now-preferred Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP) connection method, this type of terminal access was the only way to connect to IU’s central systems.
On-Campus AccessDuring the past year, I-Light made possible greater independence in telecommunications through decreased dependence on telecommunication providers. With multiple strands of optical fiber, I-Light increased networking capacity by many orders of magnitude. In August 2002, IU achieved a near four-fold increase in capacity for normal Internet traffic — at no increase in cost — by leveraging I-Light and its connectivity and co-location with the national Internet infrastructure in Indianapolis. This increased capacity, which is in addition to existing Internet2 connectivity, is allocated between the Halls of Residence at IUB,
the IUB campus, and the IUPUI campus and its connections to the six regional campuses.
In early 2001, a new architecture was developed and implemented for the IUB campus that featured a separate commodity Internet connection for the campus and one for the Halls of Residence. UITS continues its successful partnership with Residence Halls government in helping to determine proper policy and practice for the residential commodity Internet connection. Filters of certain types of data traffic have been successful in managing the bandwidth in the residence halls.
During 2002, some 3,476 data jacks were installed or upgraded in locations across the IU Bloomington campus, bringing the total number of active Ethernet jacks to 32,688. Of these, 12,017 are capable of supporting up to 100Mbps. Through the gigabit distribution project, two additional buildings — Informatics and the new Auxiliary Library Facility (ALF) on Range Road — are now connected to the backbone, bringing the total to 11 buildings connected to the backbone, at 1Gbps, with capacity available and plans for adding more buildings in 2003.
Efforts continued in 2002 to replace aging Ethernet equipment with 10/100Mbps-capable switches. Due to remodeling and construction in two additional Residential Programs and Services (RPS) complexes (Harper and Eigenmann) upgrades were completed. Fifty-nine campus buildings were upgraded in 2002 as part of an equipment replacement program, and upgrades are proceeding until all buildings on the Bloomington campus are finished.
In 2002, six additional Greek houses were added to the IU Network via GreekNet. A partnership between Ameritech, IU, and the Greek Houses, GreekNet facilitates access to the IU network from Greek housing.
In 2002, IU took major strides toward a goal of complete wireless access in a VPN-secured environment. A full-time Project Analyst was hired in July to oversee the wireless initiatives for IU, beginning with assessing the needs at IUB and IUPUI and further providing stable, robust, and secure wireless access to students, faculty, and staff.
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Under the Wireless project, well over 60 new rooms and locations on the Bloomington campus now have VPN-secured Wireless Access Points, bringing the total to more than 120 rooms or locations in more
than 30 buildings, including near-total coverage in such key locations as the Ashton/Scott Halls of Residence, the Indiana Memorial Union, the Kelley School of Business, and the Main Library.
Wireless Ethernet access also continues to grow at IUPUI. The VPN-secured wireless network added University Library, University College, the Medical Research Library, and Cavanaugh Hall.
To more prominently identify wireless access points at IUB and IUPUI, UITS designed a wireless icon to be affixed to signage throughout the campuses. This will allow students, faculty, and staff to easily identify wireless-accessible classrooms, common areas, auditoriums, and meeting rooms. The primary future goal is to provide seamless wireless access across IUB and IUPUI.
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Recommendation 3: Appropriate incentives and support should be established so that faculty and staff are encouraged in the creative use and application of information technology for teaching, research,and service.
The Actions associated with this Recommendation cover a broad and diverse range of issues: fellowships and development grants for faculty (Action 7), IT support for faculty and staff (Actions 8, 10), space for IT staff to be accessible to users (Action 9), and issues involving promotion and tenure (Action 6).
III. Institutional Commitment: Faculty & Staff Engagement
Action 4. The University should review the market compensation levels for qualified IT professionals at each campus and in their surrounding communities, and seek to make compensation competitive with employment alternatives, within the context of overall University salary goals.
The Office of the Vice President for Information Technology and CIO continues to partner with campus human resources on the Mercer IT Salary Survey. Participation in the CIC IT salary survey is expected to yield valuable information about compensation practices at sister institutions of higher education. These efforts will provide relevant compensation comparisons.
The IT Broadbanding Pilot is undergoing further study. Implementation of broadbanding, a recommendation of the Andersen review as a means by which the University might achieve greater cost efficiency and future cost avoidance in non-academic areas, is being evaluated in the context of current University salary administration policy.
Action 6. The Deans in each School should ask their faculty policy committees to review tenure and promotion guidelines to see whether they discourage creative activity involving the application of information technology, and refine these guidelines as necessary in a manner consistent with the mission and standards of excellence of the School.
When developing the IT Strategic Plan, the University Information Technology Council (UITC) recognized that there could be various incentives for faculty involvement in the use of technology for teaching and learning. Some, like promotion and tenure, are outside the scope of UITS or any IT organization, and should properly be addressed by faculty policy committees in each School. Ongoing dialogue on the
issues of faculty rewards and incentives, related to the use of IT in teaching and learning, is needed among academic affairs offices, faculty leaders, and leaders in information technology. An Associate Dean for Teaching and Learning Information Technologies was appointed in 2002 to lead UITS initiatives and services related to faculty engagement.
Action 7. The University should review its current systems of faculty fellowships and staff development grants, with the aim of expanding these to offer financial support for the design, development, or innovative application of information technology to teaching, research, and service, including the use of information technology in creative activity and the design of instructional materials to advance learning.
Throughout the year efforts continued to support faculty in their use of IT in teaching, research, and service through the provision of grants and fellowships offered in specific areas.
Ameritech Fellows Program In its fourth year, the Ameritech Fellows Program funds faculty applications of information technology to teaching and learning. The fourth round of awards, announced in October 2002, awarded 17 IU faculty from across the State a total of $235,637. Projects included a template for online flash cards, an analysis of the effectiveness of using virtual reality to test surgeons, digitizing the Ars Femina Library of music by women
composers, teaching color online, Web-based tools for studying the Andromeda galaxy, a virtual optometry clinic, a Web- and telephone-based Spanish course for health care workers, a wireless teaching and learning environment, and a realistic virtual field trip. The Ameritech Fellows Summer Forum, held in June on the IUB campus, provided an opportunity for Fellows from the third round of awards to present their projects and discuss lessons learned during project development and implementation. The name of the Ameritech Fellows Program was recently changed to the SBC Fellows Program. This change will be reflected in all future activities and materials related to the program. (See http://sbcfellows.iu.edu/eventsForum2002.html)
Compensation for IT Professionals
Promotion and Tenure
Fellowships and Development Grants
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fee services are available to departments that require personalized, on-site server assistance. The department works closely with LSPs and other UITS service providers to ensure the successful implementation of new services, such as the migration from Exchange 5.5 to Exchange 2000, reviewing departmental technology, creating and maintaining KB documents, and playing a major leadership role in mobility computing.
Over the past year, LSP Services expanded the number of technical education classes and the certification
Action 8. Schools across the University should be encouraged to provide more resources for maintenance and trainingfor department and School computing environments. They should work creatively and in collaboration with UITS totrain, retain, and distribute knowledgeable individuals to maintain distributed server and desktop systems (UNIX, NT,MacOS, etc.).
Action 10. The University should continue to support the efforts to educate and certify IT professionals in needed functional areas of the profession. These programs should be expanded to reach a wider University audience, especiallyon the IUPUI and regional campuses.
Action 16. To support existing and emerging faculty initiatives in basic skills education, the University should explorethe use of IT to aid in the teaching of these basic skills.
Action 23. UITS should work with Human Resources and other IU departments to explore ways of using teaching and learning technologies for the training and development needs of IU staff and faculty. Also, Human Resources should develop actions, in cooperation with UITS and other units, to improve staff access to (and use of) technology training.
Local Support Provider (LSP) ServicesLSP Services, with staff at IUB and IUPUI, provides technical support and consulting services to more than 500 technical staff (LSPs) in academic and other departments at IUB, IUPUI, and regional campuses. These services give LSPs access to Windows server and workstation consulting and troubleshooting, LSP Lab resources, technical training, IT certification opportunities, online technical tools and resources, and reserved software. Additionally, LSP Services provides third-tier e-mail support for LSPs and the more than 26,000 Exchange/Outlook users on all campuses. For-
Technology Assessment Grant Program In 2001 OVPIT partnered with the Office of Distributed Education to offer a small grant program to support faculty projects that focused on the use of instructional technology in teaching and learning. The Technology Assessment Grant Program (TAG) provided funding to faculty studying the impact of educational technology on their practices and on student, course, or program outcomes.
The TAG program awarded more than $68,000 to 14 successful applicants from IU core and regional campuses. They submitted midterm reports in December 2002; final project reports are expected in June 2003. They will also join Ameritech Fellows (now SBC Fellows) in presenting poster sessions at a Summer Leadership Forum in June 2003. The University is currently exploring new strategies to support assessment, specifically through the E-Portfolio capabilities of Oncourse under the leadership of Associate Dean Bradley Wheeler.
TLTL Grants-in-Aid and Media Assistants This program, funded by the Dean of Faculties Office, provides Media Assistants and/or Grants-in-Aid for projects that need discipline-specific specialized knowledge or talents, or concentrated or intensive efforts. It also provides for materials and training, or other expenses that support project development.
The Teaching & Learning Technologies Lab announced 12 recipients of the 2002 Grants-In-Aid and Media Assistant awards. The multimedia projects funded by these grants and developed in collaboration with TLTL staff, range across disciplines and vary in complexity from simple annotated slideshows to interactive CD-ROMs. Projects are designed to meet a range of instructional goals including critical thinking, analysis, and research skills; multimedia presentation inside and outside class; simulation; practice; illustration of complex ideas; student feedback; and student projects published on the Web.
Faculty and Staff Support
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testing services offered to University IT professionals as identified in the IT Strategic Plan. Fifteen Outlook troubleshooting classes for support staff and LSPs were offered with a total of 200 participants and LSPs also assisted other UITS units in hosting more than 48 classes in the EdCert facility.
In addition, UITS and University Human Resource Services teamed to present a series of non-technical, professional development courses designed specifically for LSPs. The Local Support Provider Professional Development Series offered specialized training in these areas in 2002: The Local Support Provider: Role and Resources; Building Partnerships for Improved Service; Handling Multiple Priorities; The People Side of Change; and Creating Self Reliant Users.
Microsoft Windows EdCertOn the LSP Services staff at IUB and IUPUI are Microsoft Certified Professional staff who teach Microsoft Official Curriculum to LSPs and technical support staff from IUB, IUPUI, and the regional campuses. In 2002, LSP Services taught 17 Education Certification Program (EdCert) classes to an audience of 199 LSPs and technical staff. Microsoft Certification continues to be available to members of the LSP community. LSP Services provides MS test Vouchers for those who pass the appropriate Transcender pre-certification tests, also made available through LSP Services. LSP Services continues to pursue its goal of becoming a Microsoft Certification Test Site in 2003, which will reduce the cost and time away from work for LSPs and is expected to increase the number of MS Certifications at each campus. Other educational initiatives hosted by LSP Services in 2002 included 48 information sharing sessions at IUB and IUPUI presented to 1,520 participants. (See http://www.indiana.edu/~edcert and https://lspservices.iupui.edu/edcert.asp)
UNIX EdCertsThe Unix Systems Support Group (USSG), formerly the Unix Workstation Support Group (UWSG), continues to refine and expand its EdCert program in Unix system administration. Since the inception of IU’s IT Strategic Plan, 99 students have passed the certification test; 22 passed in 2002. Participants in the program have come from IUB, IUPUI, and several regional campuses. The EdCert program is being redesigned to keep up with the fast pace at which Unix standards are evolving. The changes will also simplify future updates and maintenance. In addition to EdCert, USSG still offers online education through its Unix Systems Administration Independent Learning
program (http://www.uwsg.indiana.edu/usail/). This facility is well known and used within the IU and the Unix communities, and along with other Unix resources, generates an average of 200,000 hits a day. Unix users and administrators are also kept current through monthly Unix Users Group meetings. These offer opportunities to learn about new trends and programs and to share experience. The USSG also offers personalized Unix support by telephone, e-mail, andwalk-in visits.
Self-paced LearningTo address the needs of IT support for faculty and training of IT support staff, UITS negotiated a four-year, University-wide licensing agreement in 1999 with National Education Training Group, Inc. (NETg), now Thompson, for access to course titles that include basic IT skills for beginners, advanced training and specialized courses for IT staff, and Microsoft certification training for local support providers. All members of the IU community can use these classes in self-study mode, and IU faculty can incorporate selected courses into their curricula. More than 600 self-paced courses are available, either on the Web or on CD. More than 13,000 students, faculty and staff have taken courses online, and more than 52,000 courseware CDs havebeen distributed.
UITS IT Training & EducationUITS IT Training & Education (formerly the UITS Education Program) offers instructor-led computing workshops and provides self-study training resources to the Indiana University community and beyond. It delivers training to more than 30,000 participants each year across all campuses through more than 1,000 instructor-led and self-study workshops.
UITS IT Training & Education partners with many departments and individual faculty and staff members across all IU campuses to provide broad support for the technology education needs of the University community.
Software SupportUITS continues to leverage the buying power of the University to forge major software licensing agreements with leading software vendors for the desktop productivity tools and infrastructure server and messaging products that are fundamental in IU’s teaching, learning, research, and administrative activities. Most recently, UITS negotiated a contract with Macromedia to offer its Web development software at a substantial discount to students, faculty, and staff.
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Action 9. Specific action should be taken to locate improved workspaces for UITS staff at IUPUI, and to bring UITS staff at IUB onto campus, thus making them more accessible.
Construction of new IT buildings in central locations on the core campuses will leverage even more effectively the University’s IT resources
and investments while providing better and more accessible IT services to the entire IU community. As such, these buildings will provide a very real symbol of IU’s commitment to building the information economy in Indiana.
IUPUIOn October 16, 2001, ground was broken for the new Informatics and Communications Technology Complex (ICTC) on the southwest corner of Michigan and West Streets on the IUPUI campus.
The 111,073 square-foot ICTC at IUPUI will serve many functions. It will be the new home for University Information Technology Services at IUPUI, housing UITS staff, the machine room, a 24-hour Student Technology Center, a Support Center, and training facilities. It will also be the center of telecommunications for IU; an anchor of the Indianapolis-Bloomington technology corridor; and a hub of I-Light, the Indiana optical fiber infrastructure linking IUB, IUPUI, and Purdue University. IU’s statewide data, voice, and video networks will converge and be managed from this location, and IU’s network will connect to global and national networks. The ICTC will also be the home of the Pervasive Technology Labs that are based at IUPUI and funded through a major grant from the Lilly Endowment. Additionally, the ICTC
will house the Schools of Informatics and its New Media Program, Journalism, and Music. This facility will create in Indiana one of the most advanced sites for pioneering work in a broad range of information technology fields, while enabling students to learn about the latest theoretical developments. In all, the consolidation and relocation of IUPUI’s considerable IT resources at a high-profile crossroads of campus and community will make these resources much more visible and readily accessible for partnerships that can benefit local economic development.
Construction of the ICTC is expected to be complete in Spring 2004. UITS and academic units will move in upon completion and state-of-the-art classrooms will be in use by August 2004. Additional ICTC information along with a live Webcam of the site are available on the Web at http://www.iupui.edu/~uits/CTC_IC/.
IUBAt IU Bloomington, plans have been drawn up for a new Computation and Information Building (CIB) that will consolidate IT expertise and resources in a central campus location, enhancing faculty, staff, and student access to heavily used IT resources. The CIB will provide badly needed security and structural protection for the University’s expanding volume of costly and mission-critical IT equipment: IU’s main computational and storage resources that support research, including IU’s teraflop supercomputer and massive data storage system, as well as IU’s enterprise information systems. The facility will also house the Pervasive Technology Labs based at IU Bloomington.
Ameritech Fellows Summer ForumIU’s second annual Ameritech Fellows Summer Forum took place on June 24 in the Solarium of the Indiana Memorial Union, IU Bloomington. The forum presented an opportunity for Ameritech Fellows to showcase their work and discuss their progress with one another, forwarding the program goal of building and sustaining a community of faculty innovators across the University (see Action 7 for a description of the Ameritech Fellows Program). Projects represented were diverse — interacting with distant library patrons through a Virtual Reference Desk, teaching surgical nursing online, delivering online training to manufacturing companies, inviting discovery-based learning with
geometry software, using Web-based resources to bridge the gap between the history classroom and scholarly research, and teaching children how plants grow through interactive science museum activities.
Teaching & Learning Center ExpansionsA newly-constructed Teaching & Learning Technologies Center (TLTC) will work in close coordination with the TLTC in Ballantine Hall 307 (formerly the Teaching & Learning Technologies Lab, or TLTL). See Action 11 for a discussion.
Space for UITS Staff
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Recommendation 4: Indiana University should assume a position of worldwide leadership in the use of information technology to facilitate and enhance teaching and learning.
The Actions associated with this Recommendation cover a number of interrelated issues, among them: digital media and Web development (Actions 12, 13, 14), Web-based course services and infrastructure (Actions 18, 19), classroom technology (Actions 21, 22), and assessment (Action 25). Progress toward other goals outlined in this Recommendation (e.g.: faculty support and development services, Action 11), will also help address issues of faculty engagement detailed above, in the discussion of Recommendation 3.
IV. Teaching & Learning: Content, Access, Distributed Education
Action 11. The Teaching & Learning Technologies Lab and the Center for Teaching & Learning should be expanded, and new services developed where needed, to offer a standard level of teaching support services for all faculty at IUB, IUPUI, and the regional campuses.
Action 11 calls for a standard level of baseline support for teaching and learning technology for all IU faculty, increasing the opportunities to explore new applications of information technology. The promotion or introduction of technology in courses and disciplines, previously without access to relevant applications or support, is also an important component of the IT Strategic Plan. The objective of supporting faculty in their use of technology is further enhanced by second-tier, professional course development services provided through Actions 7, 13, and 20.
Enhancement of the University’s teaching and learning centers continued during 2002-2003, with improvements to facilities and technology to providea higher level of support to faculty.
IUB – Teaching & Learning Technologies Center (TLTC)Sponsored by the Office of Academic Affairs and the Office of the Vice President for Information Technology & CIO, the TLTC at IUB (formerly the Teaching & Learning Technologies Lab [TLTL]) is a partnership between Instructional Support Services (ISS), University Information Technology Services (UITS) and the IUB Libraries. Together these agencies provide coordinated support for effective teaching and learning through the appropriate use of instructional technology.
The TLTC provides consulting and development for integrating technologies into University teaching and learning. It serves as a working environment and a contact area for faculty, instructors, and campus instructional technology providers in the design, development, implementation and assessment of teaching and learning materials for classroom and distributed education. The TLTC sponsors workshops and presentations and one-on-one consulting, and supplies practical experience applying teaching and learning technologies.
The TLTC team comprises instructional and technical support staff, consultants, designers, and developers, trained in such areas as instructional development, interface design, multimedia and Web authoring, class conferencing, and course management systems. The TLTC currently has two facilities on the Bloomington campus.
Main Library 305, West (Undergraduate) Tower.This newly constructed facility, in the Undergraduate Tower of IU’s Main Library, includes a presentation room for up to 40 people with installed technology, a conference room with video conferencing capability, eight client workstations for multimedia and Web consultation and development, and work areas for seven staff and the director. The new location provides convenient access to many departments and Schools on the north side of the IUB campus. The facility’s group spaces equip the TLTC to host workshops, presentations, and meetings year-round in support of teaching and learning. This facility will work in close coordination with the TLTC in Ballantine 307 (formerly the Teaching & Learning Technologies Lab, or TLTL).
Ballantine Hall 307. The Ballantine facility will maintain all current services, providing consulting and development to faculty and instructors. Convenient for clients on the south side of the IUB campus, the facility provides four client workstations for multimedia and Web consultation and development, as well as work areas for five staff.
Strategic directions for 2003-2005 will focus on increasing opportunities for consultation and training through the new TLTC, and through outreach sessions and workshops. The Centers will work to increase student engagement, providing students and teachers with more opportunities for feedback, by building learning communities, and offering services to Associate Instructors.
IU Southeast – Institute for Learning and Teaching ExcellenceEntering its sixth year of operation, the Institute for Learning and Teaching Excellence (ILTE) has maintained growth in staff and services, while addressing the campus teaching and learning needs. ILTE programs and services have increased in quantity and quality over the period and are more closely aligned with University and campus directives.
IU Kokomo – Center forTeaching ExcellenceKokomo’s Center for Teaching Excellence (CTE) consists of a half-time director, two instructional technologists, and two part-time student consultants.
Faculty Support for Teaching & Learning with Technology
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CTE staff teach faculty to use instructional software, including FrontPage, PowerPoint, Oncourse, and Adobe, in groups and individually. Special efforts were made to reach new full-time and adjunct faculty before the start of classes to enable them to quickly use Oncourse. Staff upgraded two computers in the faculty computer lab, installed a Cintique drawing board, and purchased a digital camera faculty may borrow. CTE trainers now have access to a mobile cart for use in the CTE computer lab or elsewhere on campus. A sound room was added to the computer lab for recording material for streaming audio. CTE staff also worked with Kokomo’s Information Technology staff to expedite new students’ obtaining ADS passwords before the first day of class. The instructional technologists received continuing education online (Macromedia Flash, Authorware, etc.) and at professional conferences. The CTE director received an Ameritech (now SBC) Fellows grant to develop Macromedia Flash modules to which faculty, with minimal training, can add content for use in their courses. This initiative is part of CTE’s activities in
support of IU Kokomo’s development of an Accelerated Evening College, in which returning adult students complete 50% of their coursework online rather thanin class.
IU South Bend – University Centerfor Excellence in TeachingThe University Center for Excellence in Teaching (UCET) at South Bend has continued to provide instructional design consulting to faculty, emphasizing the use of technology in the curriculum as well as course management. The use of Oncourse by faculty and students continues to grow, and UCET has co-sponsored workshops for beginning and advanced users throughout the year. Workshops were also offered on using digital video and photography to enhance teaching. The UCET Grants Committee worked successfully with faculty in the Department of Foreign Languages to secure an Ameritech (now SBC) Fellows Grant for development of a Web- and telephone-based course in Spanish for health-care providers.
Action 12. To support course tools development and initiatives in distributed education, UITS (through its Advanced Information Technology Laboratory) should evaluate Web-based and other network-based learning environments and offer faculty a comprehensive set of options to easily create, edit, revise and maintain online course material.
Action 18. UITS should ensure an available and reliable infrastructure of networks, servers, storage, and applications for the support of online courses and other new learning experiences.
Action 19. UITS should initiate changes to University information systems that improve the quality of instruction, service to students, or manageability of the distributed education program itself.
Actions 12, 18, and 19 focus primarily on the Oncourse production environment and associated support services. As IU’s online teaching and learning environment, Oncourse has grown to become one of the University’s most-used information systems. Launched in 1999 at the core campuses, Oncourse has seen a dramatic increase in users each semester. Student usage has grown by more than 8,000 each semester, from 723 in Spring 1999 to more than 77,000 in Fall 2002. Faculty use at 92 in Spring 1999 grew to some 4,000 in Fall 2002. The 2002 UITS User Satisfaction Survey logged a 94.7% satisfaction rate for Oncourse at IUPUI and IUB.
The Oncourse system was slated to be upgradedin Summer 2003, but given user demand, software was upgraded in November 2002.
Responsibility for Oncourse development and operation continues to be a joint effort of the TLIT and UIS Divisions of UITS. A position was created and filled for a
CMS Manager, and the internal structure of the Oncourse team was reorganized.
In 2002, a plan was developed to bring Oncourse to a new level. The next generation of Oncourse will build on in-house expertise and take advantage of new technologies and enterprise resources. As part of this new plan, Indiana University joined the Open Knowledge Initiative (OKI), a collaborative effort involving multiple universities to build open source, standardized modules for course management systems, rather than buying proprietary vendor modules.
Web-based Course Services & Infrastructure
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The OKI initiative will develop long-term standards that will provide economic advantages and grant access to applications that are the best of their kind. The current Oncourse system will gradually move to the OKI environment and new modules will be added as they are developed. Initially, all changes will be made behind the scenes and in tandem with the current production application. In the future, a
modular, customizable learning environment will be available. OKI will speed development and help with the unbundling of services and the integration of chat, mail, forums, and calendaring through OneStart. These OKI-based changes will be made between now and 2004, with minimal visible changes in the application and without disruption for users.
Action 17. UITS, with the new Associate Vice President for Distributed Education, should help coordinate initiatives in distributed education, by helping departments and schools implement new programs, without duplicating existing services. UITS should continue to assist programs of distributed education, helping to identify supported and supportable technologies that can satisfy the complex requirements of those programs.
In keeping with nation-wide trends, the decision was made in 2002 to take a more decentralized approach to distributed education efforts at Indiana University. As a result, the Office of Distributed Education (ODE) was closed on June 30, 2002.
A new Distributed Education Coordinating Council assumed responsibility for collecting and maintaining
data on DE courses and programs, as well as for processing other issues including intellectual property, national guidelines, and minimum standards. The Council will also handle IT Strategic Plan Actions related to faculty, including promotion and tenure, commercialization of faculty products, fellowships and grants, development of instructional materials, and coordination of distance education activities.
Action 7. The University should review its current systems of faculty fellowships and staff development grants, with the aim of expanding these to offer financial support for the design, development, or innovative application of information technology to teaching, research and service, including the use of information technology in creative activity and the design of instructional materials to advance learning.
Action 13. The University should offer, on a selective basis, intensive help in developing instructional material for delivery to IU students, for eventual offering as a marketable IU product, or both.
Action 20. UITS and other units, including classroom and technology support providers, should develop plans to adapt the Leveraged Support Model to the support of instructional technology, student technology, and Web development in general.
Actions 7, 13, and 20 focus on expanding support for the design, development, and management of interactive Web-based and digital multimedia in teaching and learning. These initiatives are blended to encourage faculty innovation, provide intensive professional support in developing instructional materials (Actions 7 and 13), and develop the Leveraged Support Model for instructional technology (Action 20). UITS is launching the first phase of the Digital Media Services (DMS) plan, approved in Fall 2001, which focuses on meeting the instructional needs of the entire statewide network of Indiana University
campuses, Schools, and departments. This initiative is expected to have a major impact on the University’s ability to develop multimedia and Web content in support of teaching and learning, and distributed education goals. DMS creates a single interface to the University’s most highly skilled practitioners in instructional design, multimedia, and digital development, and will provide a Web hosting resource for academic applications.
Project support includes services in design, media creation and programming, software evaluation and testing, distribution and access, project management,
Digital Media Services
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and Web hosting and technical services. Projects underway include a number of technology-enhanced “gateway” courses identified as having substantial impact on undergraduates as well as technical assistance and production services for SBC Fellows grant recipients. This unit will draw upon the services and expertise of other UITS units and areas of the University, particularly in the delivery of distributed support for multimedia developers in departments and
Schools. DMS will work closely with Local Support Provider (LSP) programs to define and offer services that better enable LSPs to assist faculty and staff in performing their own digital media work and Web development. These developmental Web hosting services complement the front-line services offered by UITS staff in the campus centers for teaching and learning such as instructional design and assessment advice.
Action 15. UITS should evaluate the opportunities to partner with faculty in the sciences to experiment with simulation-based laboratory courses, and should be alert to other possible partnerships for the enhancement of instruction through simulation and visualization.
UITS initiatives under this Action include the provision of statistical software for use as a laboratory tool in instructional settings. By enabling students to watch simulations of random distributions, this software greatly facilitates understanding of probability and statistics.
In the area of bioinformatics, the computer — with access to the appropriate biomedical data — has become the laboratory. UITS provides access to bioinformatics software and several databases, which combine to create an excellent “virtual laboratory bench” for bioinformatics education.
simulation software for display in digital dome planetariums (with leadership from researchers in Computer Science at IUB and Astronomy at the University of Chicago);
ongoing development of a VR and desktop environment for studying minimal surface structures (with faculty in the Department of Mathematics at IUB); testing and application of new VR software, 3D scanning hardware, and haptic rendering methods for recording and experiencing cultural heritage sites and artifacts (with faculty and students in New Media, Informatics, and Computer Science at IUPUI); exploration of new commodity-based hardware and software tools for student development and deployment of interactive art pieces (with faculty in the School of Fine Arts at IUB); use of high-resolution displays, cluster computing, and passive stereo displays for the exploration and analysis of complex finite element and CAD models (with faculty and students in the School of Engineering and the Technical Graphics Program at IUPUI); and formal presentations and in-depth demonstrations of the potential applications of VR technologies for continuing medical education and certification (with faculty in the IU School of Nursing).
In addition, the AVL continues to support a number of educational uses of visualization and simulation systems for such audiences as interior design students studying architectural spaces; education and psychology students studying brain anatomy; telecommunications students studying collaboration methods and game design; fine arts students developing and interacting with 3D art pieces; and computer science students building and viewing 3D models and simulations.
Advanced Visualization LaboratoryUITS isworking with
IU researchers and faculty to support simulation-based laboratory courses and enhance teaching and learning through simulation and visualization. Several examples follow.
The UITS Advanced Visualization Lab (AVL) collaborates with a variety of educators across the University to apply visual simulation and visualization technologies to a broad range of subjects and teaching scenarios.
Notable new accomplishments in 2002 include: completion of a client/server-based dental imaging simulation system (with faculty in the School of Dentistry); continued planning and development of astronomy
Simulation-based Lab Instruction
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Ameritech Fellows Program The Ameritech Fellows Program (recently renamed the SBC Fellows Program) again in 2002 supported innovation in the application of information technology to instruction with a Faculty Forum and the fourth round of awards. Among the 17 new IU faculty Fellows were several whose proposals involved the use of simulation and visualization technologies.
A project in the Department of Astronomy titled “Discovery in the Classroom - New Stars in Galaxy Andromeda” will use technology to incorporate the experiences of research and discovery into the curriculum of a large introductory astronomy course for non-majors. Students will obtain images of the Andromeda Galaxy using the WIYN 0.9-m telescopein Arizona.
In the IUB School of Optometry a project titled “Development and Assessment of Web-Based Optometry Patient Clinical Simulations” will enhance optometric clinical education by developing interactive patient simulation modules into a virtual clinic using Web-based technologies.
A project in the School of Library and Information Science will design an information visualization learning module set for teaching skills related to information visualization, including data mining, information retrieval, network analysis, user interface design, and data management in such areas as information science, computer science, informatics, telecommunications, and business. (See http://sbcfellows.iu.edu/abstract4.html)
Action 21. Beginning immediately, all planning and renovation of classrooms and other teaching spaces should evaluate and incorporate information technology needs. The costs of information technology identified in prior planning efforts as well as future efforts, should be fully base funded to provide for acquiring and installing equipment, as well as for maintenance, repair, lifecycle replacement, and support.
Action 22. UITS, in partnership with the appropriate campus offices and committees, should continue to provide leadership in campus planning for classroom technology, leadership in classroom technology design, and coordination of classroom technology use.
Actions 21 and 22 represent IU’s first comprehensive, multi-classroom technology plan for general-purpose classrooms. This five-year plan, finalized in May 2000, calls for installation and support of technology in classrooms, and coordination of the design and renovation of classrooms to enable the use of that technology. The plan calls for more installed technology and less reliance on mobile equipment. Implementation is coordinated among UITS, IUB Instructional Support Services, the University Architect’s Office, and campus physical plant offices. Individual campus plans are reviewed and updated annually.
Survey responses suggest that faculty who use the Advanced Technology Classrooms are satisfied with the facilities and services those classrooms offer, although
demand has often outpaced availability, indicating that faculty are eager to leverage new technology in their teaching.
IUPUIFour original Type III/IV Classrooms at IUPUI were updated with lifecycle equipment in August 2002. Eleven new Type III/IV Classrooms were created during the same period. Custom code developed in 2001 to provide security for projectors was expanded to all Type III/IV classrooms. The model for supporting instructional technology at IUPUI is under review. The goal is to reduce costs related to providing mobile technology support in classrooms. A plan will be developed in phases beginning FY 2003-04 with the objective of maintaining the highest levels of service.
I-Light Communicating and demonstrating uses of simulation and visualization technologies were demonstrations and presentations by researchers and infor-mation technologists from IUB, IUPUI, and Purdue
University at the I-Light Applications Workshop at IUPUI in December 2002. Advances in IT and science enabled by I-Light were discussed, including applications in advanced computing, visualization, and collaboration.
Classroom Technology
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This process includes input from The Office of the Registrar, Campus Facility Services, and the IUPUI Learning Environments Committee.
IUPUI has continued to engage the support and input of schools, faculty, and the campus Learning Environments Committee in planning and installing instructional technology upgrades in classrooms. Project planning is coordinated with the Office of the Registrar and Campus Facility Services.
IUBIUB now has 85 Type III/IV classrooms, including four auditoriums with videoconferencing equipment and four with video cameras, enabling students in speech classes to videotape their work for later analysis. In 2002, six new Type IV classrooms were installed and the technology in 12 Type IV classrooms was completely upgraded. By the end of FY 2002-03, all technology classrooms will have Crestron touch screen controls. Smaller classrooms include a ceiling-mounted LCD projector and a computer with laptop interface, VCR, DVD, and touch screen controls in a small, movable lectern.
Collaborations are underway with SPEA, HPER, and Psychology to install technology in more classrooms in their buildings. In partnership with the Library, a swing classroom space was created in the Library with the goal of facilitating renovation and installation of technology in small classrooms. This provides temporary classroom space for classes moved while technology is installed in their rooms.
Seven classrooms and one computer classroom were designed for a new lecture hall building. Several design teams were created, including one for pre-design and one for technology design and faculty provided input. The classroom and building concepts are supported by the University Architect and the Chancellor’s Office. An architectural firm has been retained and design and development will begin shortly.
IU KokomoAt IUK, Windows XP and Office XP were installed in all classrooms in Fall 2002. Work was completed upgrading four classrooms to Type IV. Two classrooms share a Nomad presentation station. In Spring 2002 three new Type IV classrooms were finished, for a total of 22 classrooms with installed technology. A new computer lab was opened in Fall 2002.
IU South BendInstructional Media Services (IMS) at IUSB has worked with faculty and a vendor to develop a prototype
technology desk that is installed in the classroom, yet is movable to allow instructors to position it for individual convenience. The setup includes a PC, VCR/DVD, document camera, MediaLink control system, and ceiling-mounted projector. Two such classrooms have been completed, and nine more will be installed in Spring 2003. IMS staff met with faculty and University architects to design classrooms and computer labs for a major building renovation.
IU Southeast In 2002 IU Southeast’s Media Services department created three new Type IV classrooms for an off-campus Graduate Center, and two new Type IV rooms on campus, one of which has Polycom conference equipment. Eleven old LCD projectors were replaced in fixed and mobile installations, making projection quality consistent across classrooms. Three Type IV classrooms were updated with new AMX control programming and new projectors. A one-time, $25,000 contribution from Academic Affairs provided 11 new projectors for the mobile fleet. Work is underway with Computer Services and the Classroom Committee to install a computer and instructor station desk in every classroom. Finally, IUS helped start a Media Center Directors group that meets via Polycom on the second Friday of every month. This allows campuses to compare notes on problems, solutions, and equipment. An in-person meeting and vendor fair are anticipated for 2003-04.
IU East IU East has established six Type IV classrooms with PCs, DVDs, ceiling-mounted projectors, VCRs, and Extron units that allow users to move among PC, laptop, VCR, and document camera. Hayes and Whitewater Halls both have two, and Springwood and Middlefork Halls have one each. All have been well received by faculty. The 2001-02 Technology Committee provided valuable input in determining classroom technology features. Plans call for adding two or three such classrooms per year for the next few years.
Additional technology carts with PCs, DVDs, sound systems, and projectors were purchased. Several are located on the main campus, and others at the New Castle and Connersville locations, where space is leased.
IU NorthwestAt IU Northwest, in Summer 2002, 20 new Type IV classrooms were equipped with an instructor’s console consisting of a networked computer (Mac or PC), video copy stand (Elmo), and VCR. This console was connected to an LCD data/video projector and stereo speakers. Each classroom is secured with a keypadentry locking system.
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Action 24. The core campuses should collaborate to create an interdepartmental advisory group that will provide advice and guidance on assessment and planning for assessment.
Action 25. Faculty who participate in university-funded programs that support innovative applications of technology in teaching and learning should have access to the expertise and support resources needed to carry out an assessment oftheir project.
Action 26. A program of applied research in teaching and learning with technology should be considered as a means of identifying faculty and student needs and identifying opportunities for improving teaching and learning.
In 2001 the Office of Distributed Education, with the support of OVPIT, launched a small grant program to support projects that focused on the use of instructional technology in teaching and learning. The Technology Assessment Grant Program (TAG) provided funding to faculty studying the impact of educational technology on their practices and on student, course, or program outcomes. The TAG program awarded more than $68,000 to 14 winners from IU core and regional
campuses, who turned in midterm reports in December 2002. In June 2003, they will submit final project reports and present a poster session along with the SBC Fellows at a Summer Leadership Forum.
In 2002, the University focus shifted to looking for new strategies to support assessment through exploring the E-Portfolio capabilities of Oncourse.
Evaluation & Assessment
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Recommendation 5: In support of research, UITS should provide broad support for basic collaboration technologies and begin implementing more advanced technologies. UITS should provide advanced data storage and management services to researchers. The University should continue its commitment to high performance computing and computation, so as to contribute to and benefit from initiatives to develop a national computational grid.
The Actions associated with this Recommendation address several services and initiatives for IT support of research, including high performance computing and grid computing (Actions 29, 31); computation- and information-intensive applications (Actions 30, 33); massive data storage (Action 32, also Action 43 under Recommendation 6); and collaboration and communications (Actions 27, 28).
V. Research: Computation, Communication, Collaboration
Action 27. UITS should launch an aggressive program to systematically evaluate and deploy across the University state-of-the-art tools and infrastructure that can support collaboration within the University, nationally and globally.
Action 28. UITS should explore and deploy advanced and experimental collaborative technologies within the University’s production information technology environment, first as prototypes and then if successful, more broadly.
Videoconferencing ServicesVideoconferencing systems can be categorized into two models: group systems, comprising classroom and conference room systems; and desktop systems. The models have certain similarities, but have differing features of scale, complexity, capabilities, and support. Common to all is the H.323 videoconferencing standard. H.323 is a collection of complex protocols, with the important specification that H.323 systems utilize standard Internet data networking for communications.
During 2002 substantial growth continued in the deployment and use of videoconferencing. In December 1999, at the beginning of changing the IU videoconferencing infrastructure from one based on dedicated circuits to the new Internet-based technology, IU had 23 group systems. At the end of December 2001, the number rose to 120. In December 2002, the number of group systems stands at 163. In addition, approximately 180 desktop systems have been deployed, bringing the total number of systems to approximately 343. Additional details regarding accomplishments in the videoconference service area can be found in Action 52.
Streaming Media. A media streaming service is provided that supports streaming of Real, QuickTime, and Windows Media, and downloading of MP3s. Information provider access to the service is supported through user accounts on the institutional Web server systems, Veritas and Champion. During 2002, information provider accounts grew from 59 to 106, and the amount of content grew from 180 gigabytes to 465 GB. Two special-purpose servers support content for the IUPUI School of Medicine and the IUPUI School of Business. Additional details regarding streaming services can be found in Action 53.
Web Collaboration. During 2001, various Web collaboration technologies (co-browsing, application sharing) were tested and Polycom WebOffice was chosen for its ability to integrate with the IU videoconferencing environment. A pilot implementation was undertaken in January 2002. Results of the pilot were disappointing in terms of the stability of the product and in delivery of anticipated usability enhancements.
During 2002, additional research was undertaken toward selecting an institutional Web conferencing and collaboration tool. In the interim, various academic and administrative collaboration requirements have been supported using NetMeeting, Groove, and locally developed chat tools.
Visual CollaborationThe UITS Advanced Visualization Lab (AVL) continues to investigate technologies that support visual collaboration between IU faculty and staff and their colleagues at remote locations.
Notable new technologies trialed and adopted in 2002 include the Access Grid standard for multi-point teleconferencing, TightVNC for application sharing and visual serving, and
OpenDX and Web-based protocols for distributed and collaborative visualization.
Noteworthy uses of collaborative technologies by AVL-affiliated researchers and educators include: remote instrument access and monitoring using teleconferencing and application-sharing tools (IU Molecular Structure Center, Indiana Center for Biomedical Imaging); shared virtual art pieces with multiple participants from around the globe (Fine Arts, IUB); regular regional, national, and international use of teleconferencing tools for teaching and research purposes (Computer Science, Fine Arts); and online classes, study groups, and informational sites hosted through IU’s 3D, Web-based, collaborative worlds server (School of Library and Information Science, Telecommunications).
Collaborative Technologies
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Action 29. In order to maintain its position of leadership in the constantly changing field of high performance computing the University should plan to continuously upgrade and replace its high performance computing facilities to keep them ata level that satisfies the increasing demand for computational power.
Action 31. The University should plan to evolve its high performance computing and communications infrastructure so it has the features to be compatible with and can participate in the emerging national grid.
Sun Microsystems E10000IU’s Sun E10000 supercomputer is now the smallest of IU’s supercomputers, given upgrades to IU’s IBM SP and the acquisition of the AVIDD facility. The E10000 is now targeted to applications involving
very large databases, for which its large complement of RAM and 1TB of disk space make it ideal. The E10000 is used by some of IU’s leading database researchers and is home to some commercially developed genomic databases that are available only for Sun’s variant of Unix (Solaris).
IBM SPThe 632-processorIBM SP, one of the most powerful university-owned computers in the US, provides an extremely robust distributed computing environment, supporting a broad range of applications. It
features 452 gigabytes of distributed memory and a high-speed switch to facilitate communications between nodes; total theoretical peak processing speed is over a
Indiana University’s high performance computing and communication environment enables researchers across a wide range of academic fields to explore new paradigms in science, the arts, and education. Computing resources are available to the IU community without charge in the form of hardware, software, networks, and support. IU’s high performance computer systems are at the leading edge in terms of providing raw processing power, but the programming required to harness this power is specialized and demanding. UITS provides a range of consulting and support services in using these tools and in the parallel programming that is a critical part of high performance computing. The intellectual impact of IU’s high performance computing environment is broad and far reaching, as indicated in the extensive list of publications, presentations, and artistic works that relied on UITS high performance computing systems, massive data storage facilities, and advanced visualization environments. (See http://www.indiana.edu/~rac/hpc/papers.html)
IU continues its strategy of providing high performance computing systems that are the best in class of the three types of system architectures commonly used in the US:
• Distributed shared memory (the IBM SP)
• Shared memory (the SUN E10000) • Linux clusters (part of the AVIDD facility)
Details on these systems follow.
Teraflop. The IBM SP was ranked 112 on the November 2002 Top500 list (http://www.top500.org/).
A portion of an IBM Shared University Research grant awarded in 2002 was used to add two terabytes of disk storage space to the IBM SP, bringing the disk storage space to a total of 3TB. The added disk space supports scientific databases, particularly genomic and proteomic databases used by INGEN-affiliated researchers.
AVIDD In October2002 IU received an NSF Major Research
Instrumentation (MRI) grant to fund the AVIDD (Analysis and Visualization of Instrument-Driven Data) facility. AVIDD is an innovative facility for processing and analyzing data generated by large scientific instruments and is a major new tool for research and teaching at IU. It consists of computational, data storage, and data visualization components as follows:
Computational component. The computational component of AVIDD consists of an integrated quartetof Linux clusters, tied together as a single computational resource, as follows:
High Performance Computing & the National Grid
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• Distributed visualization environments. Placing immersive 3D visualization environments in research labs as part of the AVIDD facility will enable scientists to analyze and interact with their data in new and valuable ways. AVL software engineering efforts include studying methods for clustering commodity computers to visualize larger amounts of data with very high visual resolution and fidelity, and exploring new visualization, simulation, and development software tools to promote broader use and adoption of visualization and virtual reality techniques.
The AVIDD facility is opening new doors for research at IU because of its novel design, addressing the full lifecycle of data analysis including intake, storage, analysis, and visualization. Few, if any, similar efforts exist. The implementation of AVIDD is aimed at a great diversity of sciences, including the life sciences, geophysics, atmospheric sciences, physics, and chemistry. Particularly interesting projects are underway in the areas of geophysics (seismic data will be used for imaging the earth’s mantle); radiation oncology (customization of the Penelope radiation transport code will permit better targeting of radiation therapy using the Gamma Knife); and physics (including HALL-D). UITS work with IU researchers has already discovered data sets that are eight years old and have never been analyzed for want of appropriate computing facilities; AVIDD meets this need.
There is an important educational component to AVIDD. A new class, called Scientific Informatics,is scheduled for Fall 2003-2004. This class will use the AVIDD facilities as a primary computing resource and will cover parallel computing, massive data storage, management of scientific databases, and visualization. The class will be taught simultaneously on IU’s Bloomington, Indianapolis, and Northwest campuses through use of collaborative technology. This class is especially important as part of IU’s efforts to enhance diversity in the advanced IT field; the IU Northwest campus in Gary serves a higher percentage of students from traditionally underrepresented groups than any other college or university campus in Indiana. (Seehttp://www.indiana.edu/~rats/research/avidd/avidd.shtml.)
International Virtual Data Grid Laboratory (iVDGL)Indiana University was among the consortium of 15 universities that received National Science Foundation funds in 2001 to build the International Virtual Data Grid Laboratory, or iVDGL. The iVDGL will consist of
• Two identical IA32-based clusters, one located at IUB and one at IUPUI. Each includes 208 2.4 GHz Prestonia processors.
• One IA64-based cluster, containing 36 1.0 GHz McKinley processors
• One smaller, IA32-based cluster located at IU Northwest in Gary, containing 18 1.3 GHz PIII processors.
The system will have an aggregate capacity of 1.1 Teraflops, 0.5 TB RAM, and 10 TB disk space.
Massive Data Storage. The massive data storage equipment for AVIDD is being incorporated into IU’s existing HPSS installation. Added equipment includes new servers, tape drives, and 1.7 TB of disk storage. It will be possible to move 1 TB of data from disk cache into the Linux clusters in 2.5 hours.
Visualization. IU has developed and tested three
separate types of display systems to be deployed as part of the AVIDD visualization component: small, portable systems with 3’ x 4’ passive stereo displays; wall displays, very similar in technology to the portable displays, but with ceiling-mounted projectors; and larger, tiled display walls, providing visualization environments with more than 20 square feet of 3D images.
Much of the software engineering required that provides the unique capabilities of this system is being done at IU. Three aspects of the AVIDD facility are particularly forward-looking in meeting the coming needs of IU researchers:
• Managing very large data sets. With a total of 10 TB of spinning disk, and close integration with IU’s massive data storage system, scientists will be able to easily manage and analyze multi-TB data sets using the AVIDD facility.
• Analyzing nonscheduled, real-time data streams while maintaining high overall usage levels of the computational systems. AVIDD will be able to preempt analysis tasks that are not time-sensitive in order to respond to requests for analysis of incoming data streams in real time. This unique feature will provide new capabilities for IU researchers and ensure the system is used to capacity.
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a seamless network of thousands of computers at 40 locations in the US, Europe, and Asia. Together, these computers will work as a powerful grid capable of handling petabytes of data.
IU’s contributions to the iVDGL include a prototype Tier-2 Data Center and the International Grid Operations Center, or iGOC, co-located with IU’s Global Network Operations Center (NOC) on the IUPUI campus. The Tier-2 Data Center, comprising 17 Linux machines, supports data analysis activities for the ATLAS high-energy physics experiment and grid toolkit development, as well as testing for GriPhyN computer scientists and iVDGL researchers. (See http://tier2.iu.edu/)
The project builds on IU’s investments in several key areas of information technology, including advanced networking (Internet2 Abilene, TransPAC, and Global Network Operations Center), high performance computing, and massive data storage. The prototype Tier-2 Center will be a data analysis facility for physicists who use the ATLAS detector at the CERN Large Hadron Collider, located near Geneva, Switzerland, to search for new forms of matter. The operation of this globally distributed grid laboratory requires coordinated support services and management, which will be provided through iGOC.
Indiana Virtual Machine RoomIn June 2002, IU and Purdue University succeeded in linking their supercomputers to form the Indiana Virtual Machine Room. The computers were linked over I-Light, the high performance, optical fiber network that allows the computers to perform over a trillion operations per second. Combined, IU’s Teraflop supercomputer and Purdue’s IBM supercomputer contain more than 900 processors, for a combined peak theoretical capacity of more than 1.5 Teraflops. The terascale capability will enable such complex simulations as those that model the behavior of materials at the atomic level or the effects of an earthquake in a metropolitan area. Capacity at this scale will also make possible the analysis of genomic data to help identify new treatments for human disease.
Research in Indiana at SC2002The annual Supercomputing conference sponsored by the IEEE and ACM is
the premier international, annual conference related to high performance computing. For the third consecutive year, Indiana University, Purdue University, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, and the University of Notre Dame teamed to demonstrate
the growing array of new, advanced information technology applications at the Supercomputing2002 conference. The “Research in Indiana” consortium showcased developments within the State in several areas of advanced information technology, including high performance computing systems and applications, nanotechnology, massive data storage systems, high performance telecommunications, advanced visualization, and e-commerce. More than 5,000 conference attendees viewed some 30 advanced computer applications demonstrated by representatives from the four institutions in a single exhibit showcasing the resources of the State. The technologies featured in “Research in Indiana” have applications in science, engineering, medicine, the arts, and informatics, and carry the potential to continue the growth in Indiana’s information technology economy. See also Action 34. (See http://www.research-indiana.org/)
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Action 30. The University needs to provide facilities and support for computationally and data-intensive research for non-traditional areas such as the arts and humanities, as well as for the more traditional areas of scientific computation.
Action 33. The University through UITS should provide support for a wider range of research software including database systems, text-based and text-markup tools, scientific text processing systems, and software for statistical analysis. UITS should investigate the possibilities for enterprise-wide agreements for software acquisitions similar to the Microsoft Enterprise License Agreement.
Advanced Visualization and Virtual RealityThe UITS Advanced Visualization Lab(AVL) continuesto partner with University researchers to investigate, develop, and apply data-intensive
visualization tools, methods, and systems.
New consultations and applications in 2002 include: development of a large, sparse matrix visualization package (with researchers in Computer Science at IUB); applications of high-resolution and 3D display technologies for use with a variety of 2D and 3D GIS data (with researchers in Geology at IUB and IUPUI, as well as with UITS/GIS support staff); and the utilization of high-resolution, clustering, and haptics technologies for the study and analysis of CAD and finite element models (with faculty and students in Mechanical Engineering, Computer Science, and Technical Graphics at IUPUI).
In conjunction with researchers affiliated with the Indiana Genomics Initiative (INGEN), accomplishments include: development of software to visualize large databases representing family trees for the study of inherited diseases (with staff from the IU School of Medicine’s Hereditary Diseases and Family Studies Division); acquisition of hardware and development of software tools and protocols for capturing surface scans of subjects’ heads for studying fetal alcohol syndrome with researchers in the IU School of Medicine (Division of Endocrinology and Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology and Department of Anthropology); development of software to visualize molecular simulations with several hundred thousand atoms (with researchers in the Department of Chemistry, IUB); and new hardware and software technologies and extended consultations to help visualize volume data from medical scanners and microscopes (with researchers and staff from the Department of Nephrology, the Indiana Center for Biomedical Microscopy, and the Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology).
Site Licensing. Site licensing of research software continues to be a great success. The Enterprise License Agreement for the statistical software package SPSS, negotiated by the Center for Statistical and Mathematical Computing
(Stat/Math Center), remains very popular. Some 10,545 copies of SPSS for Windows and 535 copies of SPSS for Macintosh have been distributed to students, faculty, and staff on all IU campuses since the inception of
the program in January 2000. Site licenses save the University well in excess of $100,000 annually and make the best research software widely available for use by IU students, staff, and researchers. As important as this software is the consulting, education, and online information that enable researchers to use the software effectively.
In Spring 2001, a similar University-wide license was negotiated with ISI for the programs ProCite, ReferenceManager, and EndNote. By December 2002, UITS had distributed 6,656 licenses for EndNote; 920
Computation & Information-intensive Applications
Research Software Support
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licenses for ProCite; 631 licenses for ReferenceManager; 1,107 licenses for EndNote for Macintosh;and 300 licenses for ProCite for Macintosh.
Bioinformatics Support. Bioinformatics and computational biology are emerging as important new disciplines, and support by UITS is helping IU carve out a leadership position in these areas. Two full-time consultants (one funded by INGEN) support bioinformatics and bioinformatics databases. As a result, researchers at IU have access to various innovative software applications that enable searching for genes in more than a dozen different genomic databases, analyzing evolutionary trees, and searching for potential new drug compounds. As part of IU’s life sciences research relationship with IBM, Inc., IU researchers, UITS experts, and IBM are collaborating to create a system for managing and searching information on related groups of proteins that will be key in using information on the genetics of animals to understand the human genome. UITS leadership in bioinformatics is indicated nationally by the role UITS staff have taken in presenting workshops and papers at national conferences, and in leading the authorship of important position papers on the use of high performance computing and bioinformatics in biomedical research.
UITS supports researchers who are expert in this area, while also enabling well-established researchers to take advantage of the new possibilities created by the sequencing of the human genome. The UITS booklet “INGEN’s Advanced Information Technology facilities: the least you need to know” aids the established researcher in learning more about high performance computing, data storage and analysis, and visualization. This booklet proved so popular that it was followed by a version aimed at IU researchers generally. Hundreds of copies have been distributed, enabling IU researchers with considerable expertise in the lab or clinic to also take advantage of the newest computing technology.
Unix Support. Many IU researchers whose investigations require the fastest and most robust computing environments use Unix as an operating system. Supporting them is the Unix Systems Support Group (USSG), formerly known as the Unix Workstation Support Group. USSG negotiates site licenses for commercial Unix software, providing the University with access to such software for $1M per year below
the academic list price. USSG also supports the use of Linux, an open-source version of Unix that is popular among researchers and students.
The use of Unix is promoted in a variety of ways. Linux was implemented in a Student Technology Center used by IU’s Department of Theatre and Drama, an implementation so successful that it was the topic of a presentation by USSG staff at Linux World Expo. The annual LinuxFest features talks, displays, and demonstrations about Linux.
To meet the changing needs of IU’s researchers, USSG changed its name and services. The group’s new name is indicative of its new services in support of Beowulf Clusters (groups of PCs linked together to solve problems larger than a single microcomputer can tackle), grid software tools, and portals to research computing facilities.
While many students use Linux on their personal workstations, many others depend upon UITS to provide a Unix environment for their educational activities. A group of computers collectively referred to as the Steel cluster provides an interactive Unix environment for nearly 30,000 students. Steel users are able to use the system to learn skills ranging from programming and scripting to Web publishing.
IU has set a goal of enabling IU researchers to perform massive new analyses and simulations at the same time as, or before, their peers at other leading research institutions. Helping IU researchers attack the newest and most important problems in science often requires the creation of new software. The High Performance Computing Support Team, INGEN Information Technology Core, Advanced Visualization Laboratory, and Unix Systems Support Group have all participated in such efforts, including the following:
• Evolutionary relationship analysis. The HPCST developed and distributed the parallel version of fastDNAml, a computer package for the analysis of evolutionary relationships based on DNA sequences.
• Radiation transport. The HPCST modified an existing radiation transport application for use with new therapies being developed with IU’s Gamma Knife, a tool for precisely delivering radiation therapy to inoperable cancer tumors. Lance
Creation of New Software
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Armstrong is among those treated successfully at IU using the Gamma Knife. The new code will enable more precise targeting of radiation treatment, improving the treatment’s effectiveness.
• Systems biology. The use of genomic information to understand the function of entire cells or organisms is one of the newest and potentially most important areas of genomic science. HPCST staff have written critical pieces of software to model cell functioning, including that in the parasite behind African Sleeping Sickness.
• Visualizing databases. In conjunction with researchers affiliated with the Indiana Genomics Initiative (INGEN), the Advanced Visualization Lab (AVL) developed software to visualize large databases representing family trees for the study of inherited diseases (with staff from the IU School of Medicine’s Hereditary Diseases and Family Studies Division).
• Visualizing molecular simulations. The AVL developed software to visualize molecular simulations with several hundred thousandatoms (with researchers in the Chemistry Department, IUB).
• Grid computing. Grid computing is one of the efforts underway to use otherwise idle PCs to perform massive calculations. Such systems are experimental and limited in their applicability. The HPCST and USSG partnered to create a system called LOMP (Lightweight Open Message Passing) that helps make it possible to use idle PCs in the Student Technology Centers to perform very large calculations. UITS is working with IU graduate students to turn this facility into a computational resource of real value to IU’s research initiatives while providing additional computing facilities for graduate students.
Action 32. The University should evaluate and acquire high-capacity storage systems, capable of managing very large data volumes from research instruments, remote sensors, and other data gathering facilities.
Action 43. UITS should implement massive storage technology for storage of the University’s institutional data, migrate tapes over time to the new environment, and integrate this technology with database management systems to support image, sound, and video data types.
HPSSIU’s Massive Data Storage System (MDSS) (based on the High Performance Storage System software) fosters greater collaboration between researchers, faculty and students at the Bloomington and Indianapolis campuses with instant access up to the 500-terabyte capacity. Total number of users nears 1,000. Of these 779 are at IUB, 118 are at IUPUI, and 16 are on the regional campuses. Data stored in HPSS is currently 50.79TB; 39.7TB are at IUB, 11TB are at IUPUI, and 90GB are at the regional campuses. During 2002, the MDSS was expanded at the IUPUI campus to a total capacity of nearly 500 terabytes with funding from INGEN, the Indiana Genomics Initiative. During the year the amount of data IU had under storage grew to be the largest of any university in the country, exceeding that held by Caltech.
Cross-campus data mirroring was implemented over the high performance I-Light network (connecting IUB and
IUPUI). This may make IU’s MDSS the first disaster-tolerant mass store system anywhere. The implementation of automatic duplication of data between Indianapolis and Bloomington is a fundamental advancement in IU’s massive data storage infrastructure. In particular, this assures that biomedical data, often irreplaceable, will not be lost were a disaster to strike one of the University’s two machine rooms.
A number of workshops and papers were presented during the year to help raise awareness among IU researchers, and more broadly, of the availability and accessibility of IU’s high performance computing and storage resources. A workshop on the mass store system, held in February and again in October 2002, was designed for current and prospective faculty, staff, and graduate student users of the MDSS and Common File System (CFS) service.
Massive Data Storage
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In May, the DSSG manager presented an audio interview, “Managing Massive Data Storage: What Are the Ways?” as part of the CREN Tech Talk series. (See http://www.cren.net/know/techtalk/events/sans.html.) In June IU hosted the HPSS User Forum at the University Place Conference Center and Hotel at IUPUI, attracting HPSS users from all over the world. (See http://storage.iu.edu/hpss/forum2002/) DSSG staff also presented papers on IU’s massive data storage infrastructure at national conferences, including the IEEE Mass Store conference in College Park (April), the Supercomputing2002 conference in Baltimore, and the ACM SIGUCCS conference in Providence (both in November).
Action 34. UITS should participate with faculty on major research initiatives involving information technology, where it is appropriate and of institutional advantage. Further, UITS should provide proactive encouragement and supportive services that create opportunities where faculty from diverse disciplines might come together on collaborative projects involving information technology.
Research in Indiana at SC2002University Information Technology Services and the Pervasive
Technology Labs collaborated to present Indiana University’s portion of the “Research in Indiana” display. Researchers from all five existing labs presented new technologies and were on hand to answer questions from attendees. (See Actions 29 and 31, and http://newsinfo.iu.edu/news/page/normal/665.html)
AVIDDThe AVIDD facility, discussed in the narrative on
Actions 29 and 31, is the result of a grant awarded to IU from the National Science Foundation. This grant included representatives of OVPIT, UITS, and faculty from several schools and both of IU’s main campuses. UITS staff are working with the faculty participating in the AVIDD grant to create new advances in computer science and in sciences that depend upon advanced information technology.
The Indiana Genomics Initiative (INGEN) Information Technology CoreThe advanced information technology facilities for the Indiana Genomics Initiative comprise five components: supercomputing, massive data storage, advanced visualization, high-speed networking, and staff support. In each area, IU’s facilities,
resources, and expertise have repeatedly gained national and international recognition. The Indiana Genomics Initiative is building upon this infrastructure and history of excellence to create facilities that are unique in university-affiliated genomics research institutes.
IU’s IBM RS/6000 SP supercomputer (the Research SP) provides facilities for the Indiana Genomics Initiative. The Research SP is one of the largest university-owned supercomputers in the country. Large sets of genetic data and ever-growing stores of human patient data are integral to the research. IU’s high performance storage system supports such data-intensive computing in medicine, biology, chemistry and a variety of other academic disciplines. Researchers and scientists need access to 3D visualizations in order to understand and interpret research results. IU’s experience with
CFSDuring Fall 2002, the Common File System (CFS), a storage service designed for general use, replaced the Novell-based Bookbag file service at IUPUI. With a total capacity of about 1.33TB, CFS provides on the IUB and IUPUI campuses an easy-to-use, Web-based file storage service that is accessible from anywhere in the world. CFS and MDSS services were publicized and made available to researchers on IU’s regional campuses as well. The number of CFS users currently stands at 28,482. Of those 26,988 are at IUB; 1,342 are at IUPUI; and 152 are at the regional campuses. About 732.5GB of data are stored on CFS.
Research Initiatives in Information Technology
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visualization supplies needed expertise with images of single molecules to scans of entire human bodies. Genomics research relies on access to databases and specialized resources worldwide. IU’s leadership in high performance networking, particularly in the Internet2 Abilene network, helps facilitate the connections that link the US with resources and encourages collaborations with experts in Asia, Europe, Russia, Latin America and worldwide.
Five full-time staff members are dedicated to the Indiana Genomics Initiative. Two support supercomputing applications, one supports large-scale databases, one supports advanced visualization, and one supports massive data storage.
Collaborations of INGEN-affiliated researchers and AVL staff have led to the acquisition of hardware and development of software tools and protocols for capturing surface scans of subjects’ heads for studying fetal alcohol syndrome with researchers in the IU School of Medicine (Division of Endocrinology and Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology) and Department of Anthropology. INGEN has also consulted with the AVL on new hardware and software technologies to help visualize volume data from medical scanners and microscopes (with researchers and staff from the Department of Nephrology, the Indiana Center for Biomedical Microscopy, and the Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology).
Pervasive TechnologyLabsIndiana University has continued good progress in the start-up and
operation of the Pervasive Technology Labs initiative, funded by the Lilly Endowment in September 1999. The first three labs — the Advanced Network Management Lab, the Open Systems Lab and the Community Grid Lab — have been well established on the Bloomington campus; all three are moving forward in accomplishing their individual and joint agendas.
Space for the Labs was identified in Indianapolis near the IUPUI campus in the SerVaas Complex on Waterway Boulevard, and the first of the IUPUI-based Labs — the Visualization and Interactive Spaces Lab under the direction of Distinguished Scientist M. Pauline (Polly) Baker — was opened in Spring 2002. Professor Baker joined the faculty at IU from her previous appointment at University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. A formal launch for the IUPUI Labs will take place once the final
two Labs have been established, later in 2003. (The IUPUI Labs will be moved to the ICTC when it is completed in early 2004.)
The recruiting firm of Baker-Parker, Inc. was hired in May 2002 to expand efforts to recruit Distinguished Scientists to lead the final two labs, one of which is expected to focus on cybersecurity.
The Community Grids Lab (CGL), under the direction of Dr. Geoffrey Fox, continues to research approaches to large-scale messaging using a network of brokers that support general transport, routing, and filtering. A prototype messaging system it developed, called NaradaBrokering, demonstrates the concept of a peer-to-peer grid.
Research is ongoing into grid computational environments with proxy-based portals using portlet interfaces and applications deployed as Web services. Research into collaborative environments to support distance education and research co-laboratories continues. The CGL has developed an operational framework, known as Garnet, and is currently focusing on packaging the needed collaborative components as Web services. The CGL’s PDA group is researching the integration of hand-held devices into peer-to-peer grids and collaborative environments. This uses the NaradaBrokering framework referenced above to filter messages and support client profiles — work that is complementary with national activities on universal access. A framework known as HPJava supports innovative parallel computing programming models.
The CGL enhanced the research visibility of Pervasive Technology Labs during 2002, with more than 20 papers accepted by journals and conferences. CGL researchers developed and taught a course to Informatics undergraduate and graduate students in Spring 2002, covering the use of XML in information systems. Dr. Fox co-edited a major book on Grid Technology published by Wiley Publishing in December 2002. (For a list of CGL publications and presentations, see http://grids.ucs.indiana.edu/ptliupages/publications/)
The Advanced Network Management Lab (ANML), under the direction of Steven Wallace, has made progress in a number of communication management issues, particularly related to protocol development and network security. The ANML developed the high-speed file transfer protocol Tsunami, which outperforms standard file transfer protocols. It was used to inaugurate the Global Terabit Research Network, whose formation IU led (see also Action 46). The ANML also developed an enhanced version of the Address Resolution Protocol
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(ARP) known as superARP, which enables a wireless laptop client to function correctly in a remote location, even when incorrectly configured with a static IP address. A new secure, Web-based file transfer system known as Slashtmp provides secure file transfer service for files that may be too large or too sensitive to sendvia e-mail.
The ANML developed a Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) detection tool known as Spoofwatch. It was prototyped as a standalone tool and has been further developed into a SNORT plug in (see http://www.snort.org/). Development continues on the ANML’s Multi-Layer Trace Protocol Agent.
ANML staff completed the first phase of a virtual host management system used to automate the configuration of virtual “honeypots” used in the Lab’s intruder observatory.
The Open Systems Lab (OSL), under associate director Dr. Andrew Lumsdaine, added a number of research associates to its staff in 2002. The Lab published a number of important software elements, notably:
• Matrix Template Library 2.1.2-20 and 2.1.2.21
• Iterative Template Library, major release 4.0.0 • GMP (Generic Message Passing Framework)
• The Boost Tuple Library (http://www.boost.org) • The Boost Lambda Library (http://www.boost.org) • OSCAR 1.2, 1.2.1, 1.3
• LAM/MPI 6.5.1 - 6.5.6
• Bitset Library (http://www.boost.org)
The OSL hosted two design meetings for the OSCAR project and is collaborating with Lawrence Berkeley National Lab on checkpoint and restart of MPI parallel jobs. Staff also wrote and delivered papers and presentations for numerous publishers and organizations. (For a list, see http://www.osl.iu.edu/oslpubs.html)
The Visualization and Interactive Spaces Lab (VISL), founded in Spring 2002, with the appointment of Polly Baker, has hired three full-time technical staff. The VISL is studying the use of high-end graphics and innovative user interaction techniques for learning about information-intensive applications. In 2002 researchers experimented with display and interaction techniques for geographic information, including “magic lens” capability. This allows higher-resolution or
alternate information to be embedded and dynamically updated in a geographic view.
Top-down projection was explored as a means of displaying geographic information. A ceiling-mounted LCD projector focuses down on a custom-built table (PercepTable) and users interact with the graphics on the table with game control devices or by moving small objects marked with retro-reflective tape. Image-processing algorithms decode the orientation of the symbols and update the graphics to match the user’s actions.
Knowledge Acquisition and Projection Laboratory (KAPL). In 2002 the first externally funded PTL-affiliated laboratory, known as the Knowledge Acquisition and Projection Laboratory (KAPL), was established under the direction of Dr. Donald F. (Rick) McMullen with initial funding as part of a sub-contract from the Naval Surface Warfare Center (Crane Division) and from the NSF-funded End-to-End Application Performance Measurement project. KAPL work will draw closely on the networking advances developed in the ANML. This is the first major expansion of the Pervasive Technology Labs fully funded with external funds that builds on existing Lab accomplishments.
The Labs Education Program. The Labs contributes to developing an Informatics curriculum and support structure for its delivery. The School of Informatics is working to recruit Hoosier students and to develop interactive relationships with industry.
Research, Innovation, Technology Transfer, and Economic DevelopmentIndiana University and UITS are committed to playing a vital role in the economic development of the State of Indiana. This is done directly through participation in activities that stimulate economic growth and develop partnerships with the private sector, and indirectly through creating a culture and community of expertise in advanced IT in Indiana that will attract advanced industry to the State.
The Office of the Vice President for Information Technology, UITS, and the Pervasive Technology Laboratories have attracted millions of dollars of funding to IU – much of it brought into the State of Indiana from contracts with or grants from the federal government. The Pervasive Technology Laboratories have attracted more than $4.5M in out-of-state funding to Indiana. The Office of the Vice President for Information Technology, the Pervasive Technology Laboratories, UITS, and other IT-related activities have brought $35M in out-of-state money into Indiana since
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1998. The Indiana-based Lilly Endowment, Inc. has invested $37M directly into information technology at IU through its support of the Pervasive Technology Labs and the IT component of the Indiana Genomics Initiative.
Technology transferred into the private sector is another critical component of IU’s role in economic development. The Pervasive Technology Labs and Indiana Genomics Initiative are among the leading examples of research initiatives that produce transferable technology, encourage innovation, and infuse this innovation into Indiana’s private sector. Both initiatives have resulted in the creation and distribution of open source software – some of which could facilitate the operations of research and development industries in Indiana, or be commercialized by industries within the State. UITS has also contributed directly to the technology transfer efforts of the Advanced Technology Research Institute (ARTI) – IU’s technology transfer and licensing unit. Two of the software technologies now available for licensing from IU via ARTI were contributed directly by UITS staff, and UITS and ARTI are discussing the possible commercialization of other new technologies.
IU is directly involved in private/public partnerships via the Central Indiana Life Sciences Partnership and the Indiana Proteomics Consortium. These innovative programs promise to create economic growth in Indiana as a result of IU’s collaboration with private industry.
IU is also involved in creating a high-tech community in central Indiana – thus contributing to a pool of expertise that will attract industries to the State. TechPoint is an organization dedicated to promoting Indiana’s high-tech economy, and formed through the merger of the Indiana Information Technology Association and the Indiana Technology Partnership. IU is a member of TechPoint and a strong partner with TechPoint in organizing statewide educational forums on technology in Indiana. AVP Brian Voss was the featured speaker at a TechPoint presentation for the Midwest Economic Development conference and IU was a strong presence at the recent Iconomy conference organized by TechPoint. IU, UITS, and INGEN have also played prominent roles in partnering with the Indiana Health Industries Forum.
IU’s leadership in events such as the “Research in Indiana” display at the annual Supercomputing conference and the prominent UITS role in presenting papers at many national and international conferences carry the message of IU’s leadership in enhancing the Indiana economy to a national and international audience.
As the State of Indiana faces difficult times, infor-mation technology at IU is creating the innovation and attracting the funding that will help revitalize the economy and lead Indiana to a position of economic leadership based in advanced technology.
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Recommendation 6: University-wide prioritization, coordination, oversight and planning are required in the implementation and development of institutional information systems. In order for these systems to work together in a seamless manner and accommodate an ever-increasing number of users, UIS should implement common interfaces and a common information delivery environment that facilitate their integrated use. A new Student Information System should be a top University priority.
Actions associated with this Recommendation focus on the implementation of major, University-wide enterprise information systems including a new Student Information System (SIS), Human Resources Management System (HRMS), and Library Automation System (Action 36). Other actions focus on IT architectures and infrastructure for these new information systems (Actions 38, 43, 44, 45); development of a common user interface and improved access to information (Actions 37, 39); data administration (Action 40); and disaster recovery (Action 42).
VI. Information Systems: Managing IU’sInformation Assets
Action 35. The Office of the Vice President for Information Technology should establish an effective mechanism for overall prioritization, coordination and oversight of planning for the development and life-cycle replacement of University information systems.
The University Information Systems (UIS) Implementation Plan continued to guide the prioritization, coordination, and planning for new University-wide information systems over the past year.
Advisory CommitteesAdvisory committees remained active during 2002. The Student Information System Steering Committee and the Human Resource Management System Steering Committee met regularly to review progress in their respective areas. The OneStart Steering Committee advised on the design and implementation of the new portal for students, faculty, and staff. The E-Commerce Steering Committee also advised on the progress ofe-business and e-commerce at IU.
Completed InformationManagement SystemsSince the inception of the IT Strategic Plan, the following information systems have been completedand put into production:
• Financial Information Systems (FIS), an enterprise-wide computing application designed to manage the majority of IU’s finances, comprises the central functions of transaction processing and decision support.
• The Electronic Research Administration system provides IU researchers with an electronic system for developing and submitting research proposals.
• The OneStart Web-based application portal offers a common front door to online services at Indiana University campuses.
• Oncourse, an IU-developed online course management application, allows faculty and students to create, integrate, use, and maintain Web-based teaching and learning resources.
• The Electronic Research Administration system provides IU researchers with an electronic system for developing and submitting research proposals.
• IUIE, the Indiana University Information Environment, provides a Web-based, enterprise-wide reporting environment.
• A new, Web-based Purchasing/Accounts Payable system interfaces with the FIS and other applications.
HRMSIndiana University’s Human Resource Management System (HRMS)
was implemented in December 2002. The new system provides the University community with improved services for most aspects of human resource information including personnel records, benefits, and payroll for all of IU’s 35,000 plus employees, student workers, and retirees.
The landmark HRMS implementation is part of Indiana University’s complete re-engineering of its enterprise-wide information systems. It is one of the largest software development projects among these systems and a key accomplishment for the University. A reengineering success, HRMS is also a striking example of collaboration by University staff from human resources, academic affairs, and the payroll offices on IU’s campuses, and technical staff from UITS.
The new system comprises the PeopleSoft Client, Electronic Documents (E-Docs), and the Information Environment (IUIE) (see Action 39). HRMS provides users with more functionality and easier access to data and information to perform their respective roles. Employee data share a common database with student data to minimize redundancies for those with dual roles, such as a staff employee who also is also a student.E-Docs, a custom software application developed by IU that electronically implements IU’s business rules and procedures in a simple Web format, are delivered
• IU’s e-commerce initiative facilitates transactions for goods and services online. IU Press and the IU Bookstore are among the merchants using its B2C (Business to Consumer) project. Planned for the near future are e-commerce student services including online tuition payment, and a B2B (Business to Business) system for online purchasing.
• The comprehensive Maintenance Management System application tracks much of the University’s maintenance functions, supporting the University’s physical plant operations.
• The Library Information System provides access to a wide array of online resources.
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through the OneStart portal and are among the first of the enterprise-wide applications that will be configured for portal delivery. The first change most employees noticed was in January 2003 when all payroll and pay advices were processed using HRMS for the first time.
Student Enrollment ServicesIndiana University is embarked upon two major initiatives to improve the service quality and cost efficiencies of student information systems. The first, initiated in 1998, includes the development and implementation of the new Student Information System (SIS), aimed at enhancing student services through the use of current technologies and the Web environment. The second effort was launched in 2001 with President Myles Brand’s appointment of the Task Force to Review Non-Academic Administrative Services, charged with the goal of reducing administrative costs in order to reallocate funds for academic priorities. Their initial report, released in Spring 2001, recommended a new consolidated Student Enrollment Services (SES) in order to maximize student services available in the new SIS.
As part of these efforts, Sharon Brehm, IU Vice President for Academic Affairs and IUB Chancellor, appointed Vice Chancellor of IUB Enrollment Services Don Hossler
Action 36. IU should implement as soon as possible a new Student Information System in a way that integrates identified best practices in providing services to students and is adaptable to future changes.
Action 36 is subdivided in the UIS Implementation Plan as follows:
36a. Student Information System 36b. Human Resources Management System36c. Library Information Systems36d. Fiscal and Procurement Systems36e. Departmental Information Systems
36a. Student Information System The new Student Information System (SIS) now under development
will, when complete, enable IU’s 100,000 students to move easily through the admissions, enrollment, financial aid, and student financials processes — all in a Web-based environment. The SIS enables IU to streamline operations and reengineer processes to take advantage of best practices. It provides an information environment (the IUIE) for academic and administrative decision making with consistent, integrated data, along with tools for analysis, reporting, and extraction.
Admissions. The first module of the SIS, implemented in September 2000, included prospect management, recruiting, communications, and event management for prospective students. The project team configured such data structures as campuses, schools, degrees, majors, minors, and grading schemes and also converted prospective student data from departmental shadow systems on all IU campuses into PeopleSoft. The second phase of Admissions functionality was implemented in October 2001. Core functionality for processing and evaluating applications for admission for undergraduate, international, graduate, and professional schools is now available to staff in the Undergraduate, Graduate, and International Admission Offices. The system includes an
to the position of AVP for Academic Affairs. Hossler will coordinate the University-wide implementation of the new Student Information System and manage the transition into the new information environment, working closely with the Interim Associate Vice Chancellor for Enrollment Services at IUPUI, and representatives of the other IU campuses. He will also work closely with the Task Force reviewing administrative services in the implementation of the Student Enrollment Services Center recommendations.
School of MedicineIn October 2002, the IU School of Medicine appointed former UIS Director Vince Sheehan CIO and Associate Dean of Information Technologies, overseeing all aspects of the school’s IT environment. Sheehan has been assisting the School with development of its strategic plan for technology and serving as interim director for the Office of Technology since 2001.
The IU School of Medicine Strategic Plan, introduced in October 2002, supports the critical missions of the School and presents a vision of making the School a leader in the management of information technologyto support teaching, research, and service.
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automated process that can be used by IU staff to make admit and denial admission decisions en masse. Much more data and functionality are now available to the campus Admissions offices.
Web Registration. As a temporary measure until true Web registration is in place in the new SIS, scheduled for 2003-2004, the ability to register on the Web was made available to all students in March 2001.
IUIE. Content was developed for the IU Information Environment to support operational reporting and data extraction for this phase of the new SIS. Admissions staff will continue to work with new and legacy systems until the remaining modules are implemented in the PeopleSoft SIS environment.
Prototyping. The SIS project is proceeding with the configuration, design, development, and testing for the remaining module implementations. Specific functionality from each module targeting will be phased in to support the business cycles for awarding financial aid, registering students, assessing fees, advising students, etc, beginning in June 2003, and targeted for completion in December 2004. Student Records, including applications that support the Schedule of Classes, Registration, Transcript processing, Final Grade processing, and Degree Processing, is among those to be prototyped. Feedback was solicited from campus representatives, including scheduling officers, recorders, and deans, to help review and evaluate key functionality decisions. Other feedback groups are in place for Academic Advising, Financial Aid, and Student Financials. Prototyping activities for all SIS modules are continuing through early 2003.
Customizations. Some customizations to the software will be necessary if they relate to academic policy or required functionality. The SIS Executive Committee is working closely with faculty and administrative groups to prioritize these.
8.0 Upgrade. Before the implementation of HRMS, SIS Project and Admissions users migrated to a new version of PeopleSoft, version 8.0. This release introduced a Web-based interface along with enhanced features of the software. The May 2002 upgrade paved the way for the successful December 2002 implementation of the HRMS. The student and employee data now reside in a shared database.
36b. HRMSThe Human Resource Management System (HRMS), implemented in
December 2002, provides improved services for most aspects of human resource information including personnel records, benefits, and payroll for all of IU’s more than 35,000 faculty, staff, student workers, and retirees. See the detailed discussion under Action 35. (See also http://www.indiana.edu/~hrsis)
36c. Library Information SystemsUpgrades to the SIRSI Unicorn software (to which the IU Libraries migrated in 2000) are made regularly, and the latest version of the software was installed January 2003. The system now has the capability to send via e-mail a number of notices traditionally sent on paper. Patron self-service items have been implemented, enabling library patrons to check what they currently have and renew items; the ability to place holds on materials will be added in the second quarter of the fiscal year. The database continues to grow, keeping pace with acquisitions of the IU Libraries statewide. Also added to the catalog are resources that are available only electronically.
36d. Fiscal & Procurement Systems E-commerce. Indiana University continued developing e-commerce solutions in 2002 that facilitate online transactions for goods and services.
Indiana University provides three options for conducting business-to-consumer e-commerce on the Web. The business-to-consumer (B2C) project consists of three Web-based applications that can work together, or stand alone:
• E-Store. E-Store is essentially a catalog and shopping cart for B2C retailing associated with the University. Merchants can download this software and use it to build their Web storefronts. Customers can view items in the store, add items to their shopping carts, and view an itemized total of their purchases, including adjustments for quantity, special discounts, and more.
• IPAS (Internet Payment Authentication System). IPAS is a method of securely processing credit card transactions over the Web. Through a partnership with CyberCash cash register service and the IU Treasury department, University merchants can accept payment online.
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• TransformEP. This is a form-processing tool that enables retailers to send customer forms by e-mail, or add form data to a log file. It also interfaces with CyberCash for payment processing. Using TransformEP, merchants can track all transactions that go through their site, and send e-mail confirmations for orders received.
TOPS. Design and development continued in 2002 on a new Web-based version of TOPS (The Online Purchasing System) that will replace the existing mainframe system. The new system will be Unix-based, and written in Java, with the data stored in Oracle. It will be accessible through OneStart and will interface with the FIS and other applications. Completion is projected for late 2003.
TIME. The Time Information Management Environment (TIME) is an enterprise-wide computing application available through OneStart that tracks the hours worked by hourly employees. Employees use TIME to electronically clock in and clock out. Supervisors use the same system to approve those hours. TIME is now tightly integrated with the new HRMS system. When staff are hired via HRMS, they are immediately available to the TIME system and report their time electronically.
ERA. The Electronic Research Administration (ERA) system provides an electronic means for developing and submitting research proposals. ERA was the first in-house, Web-based system running under the Universal Request Broker Architecture on the Enterprise Unix Environment with Oracle as the database engine. Version 2.0 of the application, with new budget components and reporting tools, was made available in August 2002. In December 2002, ERA joined a national consortium involving several major universities to develop a common platform for submission and management of protocols. Other enhancements in 2002-2003 include a new routing form; NIH/NSF agency automated submissions; OneStart integration; and development of new system components including event management, faculty profiles, and underwrite requests. The ERA pre-award system is integrated with IU’s post-award process, facilitating communication and access to data.
MMS. The Maintenance Management System (MMS) is an enterprise-wide application that tracks many of the University’s maintenance functions, including maintenance requests, current project costs, new building plans and additions, inventory, timekeeping for departmental billing, financial data for maintenance, and project management. For accounting purposes, MMS has a linked interface with the FIS, and with the FMS application ID Bills. To more effectively manage inventory and its cost, the system also interfaces with TOPS.
36e. Departmental Information SystemsVarious departmental applications were developed in 2002 and others were enhanced.
• OneCard. Work began on converting the IUPUI Campus Card system (OneCard) to a new software package. This will require the implementation of new software and conversion of old data.
• Speakers Services. An application was created in Microsoft Access that tracks guest speakers and presentation dates for the Global Speakers Services.
• IUPUI Student Elections. An IUPUI Student Elections voting application was implemented, allowing student elections to proceed on schedule.
• Financial Aid. Additions and changes were made to the Web-based forms and tables used by the Financial Aid Department at IUPUI, allowing student financial data and applications to be submitted and stored online.
• Biology. The fundraising database of the IUB Department of Biology was migrated from Visual FoxPro to Microsoft Access. The project involved data cleanup, conversion of forms and reports, and enhancements to recording and reporting.
• Kinesiology. Under development for the IUB Department of Kinesiology is a system that will store course enrollment data and analyze report credit-hour productivity by program, course, and faculty. It will also track Department programs, curriculum, and faculty. A course schedule tracking system is also slated for development.
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Action 37. UITS, working with the users of IU’s administrative systems, should develop a common interface environment that will support the efficient and effective accomplishment of the day-to-day administrative tasks of the University.
Action 44. UITS should incorporate user-centered design techniques and Usability Lab testing into all major systems development projects.
Action 45. The UIS Division and the Advanced Information Technology Laboratory should continue evaluation and experimentation that will keep IU on the leading edge of new information systems technologies to be employed in the University’s business systems.
OneStart isthe University’s Web-based application
portal designed to provide IU faculty, staff, and students with streamlined and integrated access to online services at Indiana University.
OneStart provides a common front door to online services at IU campuses, including checking e-mail, registering for classes, performing financial transactions, hiring faculty or staff, looking up grades, paying tuition bills, purchasing event tickets, and checking benefits information. OneStart is customizable and flexible, offering easier and more direct access to online services.
Many improvements were made to the OneStart portal in 2002. OneStart was converted to an open standards, J2EE-based application. This change improved response times and opened the door to opportunities for collaboration with various open-source consortiums among higher education institutions nationwide.
The Central Authentication Service (CAS) was introduced in 2002. CAS provides a single authentication
mechanism for Web-based applications. As more and more applications convert their authentication to CAS, the OneStart portal will be able to serve as the single login to increasing numbers of online services.
Publishing capability was also added to OneStart. Using these specialized publishing features, designated content managers and service providers can publish and manage their own services and pages and also manage who has rights to view and use their services and pages. This allows service providers to reach their intended consumers more directly. It also provides OneStart users with a more organized and useful Web environment. Other enhancements in 2002 include improved usability and navigation features as well as more service-oriented content.
Features to be added in 2003 include an integrated calendar that will allow merging class schedules, personal appointments, and University events all in one place. Virtual community services such as threaded messaging, chat, polls, and classified ads will also be added. In the future, mobile access to specific OneStart services via cell phones and PDAs will also be explored.
Action 38. UITS should enhance its current information and IT architectures to include the use of “thin client” technologies, and employ multi-tiered architectures in future software development.
Action 38 is subdivided in the UIS Implementation Plan as follows:
38a. Thin Client38b. Enterprise Unix Environment38c. Strategic Database Management
38a. Thin ClientIn a thin client environment software is loaded onto servers rather than on several PCs. This environment allows for greater manageability and the more efficient delivery of support. At IU a thin-client environment
using Citrix Metaframe with Microsoft Windows Terminal Server was implemented to support the first phase of the SIS, delivered in 2000. Now, however, SIS uses the PeopleSoft client. Thin client is still being
OneStart
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used for the FIS and MMS applications, among others. As other applications become Web-enabled, Metaframe servers will no longer be needed.
38b. Enterprise Unix Environment The Database Administration (DBA) and Enterprise System Administration (ESA) groups provided several changes and upgrades to support the delivery of IU’s University Information System applications. The activities below provided needed resources for the PeopleSoft HRMS and new Payroll implementation in November and December 2002.
New test and production Web servers (IBM p630 servers) were deployed to provide the front-end Web support for PeopleSoft. Two new IBM p660 servers were obtained to be the production “Tuxedo” servers for PeopleSoft. A new production PeopleSoft database server, an IBM p670, was acquired and deployed, providing additional computing capacity and memory.
A Storage Area Network (SAN) was acquired to provide additional online disk storage to accommodate increased data storage needs for PeopleSoft. This IBM ESS (Enterprise Storage System) includes disk devices attached to the database servers over high-speed fiber connections.
Additional IBM 3590 tape drives were acquired and deployed within the IBM 3494 Magstar robotic cartridge system to provide additional resources for data backups and data restores.
To meet the growth needs of IU’s Decision Support — IUIE Environment, particularly for the implementation of the PeopleSoft HRMS application, the test Decision Support Environment was replaced with an IBM M80 server with more computer and memory capacity. A new IBM WinterHawk II 16-way SP high node serves as a new production Decision Support server, providing significant increase in computer and memory capacity.
A new feature called “Flash Copy” was tested and implemented within the Storage Area Network, particularly for PeopleSoft. This feature, supplemented with in-house-written intelligent scripts, very quickly copies data from the production PeopleSoft application into the Decision Support Environment. Oracle databases continue to provide data support for PeopleSoft. Additional new databases were created and maintained to support the increased data storage and processing requirements for the development, testing, and production of PeopleSoft. During the year these databases were upgraded to more current releases.
Several terabytes of data now support the PeopleSoft applications.
To support payroll processing and printing of payroll checks and remittance advices, as well as the transmission of bank transactions, a new Compaq Windows server was acquired and deployed. This server provides more hardware redundancy and more computer resources.
At the end of 2002, the ESA and DBA groups were supporting some 100 Web, application, and database servers, and more than 90 databases related to IU’s UIS applications.
38c. Strategic Database ManagementOracle is the primary DBMS technology that supports the data storage and delivery for the suite of UIS applications. At the end of 2002, DBA staff maintained approximately 90 separate Oracle databases or “instances.”
Production applications being supported by Oracle include:
• PeopleSoft HRMS (Human Resource Management System)
• PeopleSoft SIS (Student Information Systems)
• FIS (Financial Information System)
• ERA: Electronic Research Administration
• MMS: Maintenance Management System
• Timekeeping
• OneStart
• SIRSI Library Automation System
• TOPS Web Purchasing System
• The University Register
• Decision Support Environment
• IUIE: IU Information Environment
• Onbase imaging
• NETg training
• Modem Statistics
• Falcon Enterprise Help Desk system
Plans in 2003 include upgrading all Oracle databases to a newer 9.i version. More than 10 Terabytes of physical online disk storage are currently used to house and support these databases along with other file systems needed by the applications. Tivoli Storage Manager software is used to support the scheduled backup and offsite rotation of critical institutional data, and for recovery processing.
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Action 39. UITS should develop a consolidated information delivery environment, leveraging technologies already in use and expanding on these with newer tools. And UITS should complete implementation of an enterprise-wide data warehouse environment, currently in progress, to support university data access and information about this data. The participation of information users and all units affected is essential.
Decision Support Services (DSS) designs, develops, and supports a consolidated environment for storage and facilitated retrieval of institutional data. Users
and information systems developers work with DSS in the development and maintenance of two main service tools: the Data Warehouse and the IU Information Environment (the IUIE).
The Data Warehouse contains intelligent data collections modeled to support the reporting and analysis needs of DSS users. The Data Warehouse offers a central location where those who develop or maintain institutional data systems can make their data available to staff, faculty and students for their reporting needs.
The IU Information Environment is a comprehensive strategy for providing Web-based data reporting and analysis tools to facilitate access to and use of the University’s enterprise data stores. A one-stop shopping environment for reporting and analysis, the IUIE comprises two components: the software and the report objects. A personal reporting environment, the IUIE keeps users informed about the report objects that have been published across the University.
Approximately 1.25M active and inactive campus community records and 1.1M active and inactive admissions application records were converted from the legacy student system. Content was developed for the IUIE to support operational reporting and data extraction for this phase of the new Student Information System. Admissions staff will continue to work with new and legacy systems until the remaining modules are implemented in the PeopleSoft SIS environment.
Action 40. OVPIT should reconvene the Committee on Institutional Data and conduct regular meetings with the goal of defining data administration and access policies for institutional data.
During 2002, the Committee on Institutional Data (CID) met to review institutional progress on information access issues. The new IUIE and HRMS systems were designed to be implemented in two “styles” for University internal data – with and without
organizational hierarchies. The primary issue centered on whether the data access policy adopted in 1991 should be modified. No changes were made, and the Committee of Data Stewards reaffirmed their support of the policy.
Action 41. The UIS Division must continue the Year 2000 readiness initiative. This work must be completed according to a demanding timeline or the business systems of the University will fail.
No new problems related to Year 2000 emerged in 2002. All systems continue to function correctly.
The IU Information Environment (IUIE)
Committee on Institutional Data
Year 2000
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Action 42. UITS should complete a disaster recovery plan with increasing levels of recovery based on systems priorities.
Disaster Recovery (DR) planning for coordinating the recovery of computer systems and associated services, should the Wrubel Computing Center machine room be rendered unserviceable, proceeded in 2002. The Disaster Recovery command center site, located in IMU 086, has been readied as much as is possible in advance of a disaster, given the need to preserve the functioning of current occupants. Storage units have been installed here and in the recovery facility in HPER 154/155/161 and are being equipped with supplies. Physical security requirements have been developed for the recovery facilities. Procedures for the takeover of these two areas have been established, in coordination with the current occupants. Those procedures are being formally documented.
Initial data defining the University’s technology environment have been fed into specialized recovery planning software, and automatic updates to those data have been arranged. These data will be critical in managing a significant event that calls for invoking disaster recovery procedures. Time of Disaster (TOD) items, those actions in the plan that will be activated only when a disaster is called and disaster procedures are invoked (e.g., staff recall), have been identified. Formal procedures for initiating these actions arebeing developed.
Exercises designed to test various recovery scenarios, using the software and established procedures, will begin in the second quarter of 2003.
Disaster Recovery
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Recommendation 7: The University should accelerate planning for a converged telecommunications infrastructure. The University and campuses must ensure that there is appropriate funding for telecommunications services and infrastructure in the base. Specific attention must be given to improving the state of the inter-campus networks, planning for and deployment of adequate commodity Internet connectivity, a University-wide base level of campus telecommunications connectivity, advanced networking infrastructure and applications, wireless networks and support for multimedia and streaming media.
The Actions associated with this Recommendation address the development and implementation of an array of telecommunication services and initiatives, including network convergence (Action 46), intercampus networks and commodity Internet (Actions 48, 49), advanced applications and networking (Action 50), wireless (Action 51), and multimedia and streaming media (Actions 52, 53).
VII. Telecommunications: Applications,Infrastructure, Convergence
Action 46. UITS should accelerate planning for a converged telecommunications infrastructure that aims to maximize the benefits to IU of this emerging technology direction. It should be accompanied by an aggressive program of testing and trialing of new “converged” technologies.
Advanced Network Management Lab The Advanced Network Management Lab in the Pervasive Technology Labs, described in Action 34, is developing technology to help manage the convergence of data, video, and voice over the Internet. With an annual budget of $1M, the Lab is developing technologies in the form of hardware and software to manage advanced Internet services research and development that will be of interest to corporate partners.
The Internet2 Abilene Network Operations Center on the IUPUI campus is the perfect environment in which to test the Lab’s technologies. This could include software that can visualize the distribution of multi-cast content, which, like broadcast television, is an efficient way to send data or video to multiple recipients over the Internet. (See http://www.anml.iu.edu)
Action 47. The University as a whole and the campuses individually should establish base funding for the lifecycle replacement and ongoing development of telecommunications services and infrastructure.
IU’s two largest campuses, IUB and IUPUI, have established lifecycle funding for telecommunications infrastructure, which covers the wire and cable plants
and voice, video, and data switching and routing equipment. The smaller campuses have made major progress in implementing a similar program.
Action 48. A five-year plan for the University’s intercampus networks and commodity Internet connectivity should be immediately developed, funded and implemented.
During the past year, I-Light enabled greater independence in telecommunications through decreased dependence on telecommunication providers. With multiple strands of optical fiber, I-Light increased networking capacity by many orders of magnitude, providing more than enough capacity to meet demand over the next 10 to 20 years. This increased capacity, which is in addition to existing Internet2 connectivity, is allocated equally between the Halls of Residence at IUB, the IUB campus, and the IUPUI campus and its connections to the six regional campuses.
In early 2001, a new architecture was developed and implemented for the IUB campus that featured a separate commodity Internet connection for the campus and one for the Halls of Residence. UITS continues its successful partnership with Residence Halls government in helping to determine proper policy and practice for the residential commodity Internet connection. Filters of certain types of data traffic have been successful in managing the bandwidth in the residence halls.
Converged Technologies
Lifecycle Replacement
Intercampus & Internet Connectivity
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Action 49. A uniform base level of telecommunications connectivity and standards should be defined, communicated, and where necessary, implemented for all campuses.
I-LightI-Light, a fiber optic network connecting IUB, IUPUI, and Purdue University’s West Lafayette campus to each other, and to the national Internet2 infrastructure, launched in December 2001, made Indiana the
first state in the nation to have a fully operational network of this kind.
In 2000, I-Light enabled greater independence in telecommunications through decreased dependence on telecommunication providers. With multiple strands of
As the key infrastructure component in IU’s IT environment, the telecommunications standards that were defined and implemented across the institution in 2000 ensure interoperability and high-quality network services.
I-Light. Over the past year, the I-Light optical fiber infrastructure connecting IU and Purdue campuses at Bloomington, Indianapolis, and West Lafayette, and to the national Internet2 infrastructure, has made possible greater independence in telecommunications through decreased dependence on telecommunication providers. With multiple strands of optical fiber, I-Light increases telecommunications connectivity by many orders of
magnitude, providing more than enough capacity to meet demand over the next 10 to 20 years.
This increased capacity, which is in addition to existing Internet2 connectivity, serves the Halls of Residence at IUB, the IUB campus, and the IUPUI campus and its connections to the six regional campuses. In fall 2002, IU achieved redundancy for I-Light by striking an agreement with Smithville Telephone to share fiber optic connections in the event of fiber cuts to either system. As well, Purdue and the State of Indiana, via the Indiana Higher Education Telecommunication System, were able to obtain similar capacity improvements at no additional cost using I-Light. For a full discussion of I-Light see Action 50, below.
Action 50. The University should consider implementing a network architecture that separately supports production and advanced network applications.
IU has maintained its position as a leader in advanced networking through a variety of endeavors. These advanced networks effectively separate advanced research activities from those of the commodity production Internet, providing IU researchers with separate high-speed links to other researchers across the nation and around the world. Several separate endeavors are underway; progress is described below.
optical fiber, I-Light increased networking capacity by many orders of magnitude, providing more than enough capacity to meet demand over the next 10 to 20 years. In August 2002, IU achieved a near four-fold increase in capacity for normal Internet traffic — at no increase in cost — by leveraging I-Light and its connectivity and co-location with the national Internet infrastructure in Indianapolis. This increased capacity is in addition to existing Internet2 connectivity. Purdue and the State of Indiana, via the Indiana Higher Education Telecommunication System, also obtained similar capacity improvements at no additional cost using I-Light.
Along with supporting research applications,I-Light supports voice communications, e-mail, and videoconferencing between the campuses and is the primary artery for communications between IUB, IUPUI, and Purdue University West Lafayette. I-Light presents countless possibilities for collaborative research and an unparalleled platform for distance education.
I-Light has allowed IU and its partner universities to pool their high-end computational resources in initiatives such as the Indiana Virtual Machine Room,
Telecommunications Standards
Advanced Applications & Networking
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a collaboration that resulted in the first university supercomputing grid to surpass the teraflop level of computation. This supercomputing grid leverages Purdue’s large-memory configuration and IU’s raw computational power, combining them into one ofthe world’s most powerful systems.
The joint IU-Purdue I-Light Applications Workshop in Indianapolis marked the first anniversary of the activation of I-Light. At the December 2002 workshop, more than 100 researchers and technologists from IUB, IUPUI, and Purdue showcased uses of the network for applications in advanced computing, visualization, and remote collaboration. Participants demonstrated advances in science and IT technology the network already makes possible, and looked ahead to future possibilities for collaboration, research, and scholarship over I-Light.
In 2002 Purdue and IU conducted over I-Light simulations for Indiana’s Office of Homeland Security, studying the effect a deliberate release of a biological agent would have on the State’s population. In April, they simulated how such a scenario would affect 250,000 people. Additional plans were to expand simulations statewide by July and nationwide before year’s end.
In Fall 2002, IU achieved redundancy for I-Light by striking an agreement with Smithville Telephone to share fiber optic connections, should either systemever suffer cuts in fiber.
A potential second phase of expansion will seek to connect I-Light into the developing national high performance fiber optic network infrastructures. The result will be an optical fiber network fabric that will allow the institutions to engage in computing grids and share resources, and will further improve the position of IU and Purdue faculty in competing for federal research grants and other opportunities. IU and Purdue in June 2003 submitted a proposal — the Indiana/Purdue Grid (IP-grid) – to the National Science Foundation under the Extensible Terascale Facility initiative.
Other subsequent initiatives could further leverageI-Light “downstream” within the State, providing a means for improving connectivity within the higher education community, and offering some economic development impact within the telecommunications infrastructure of many State communities. Fundingfor this project – I-Light2 – was approved by the Indiana Legislature in May 2003. The appropriation for $10M and components has already been designated as a potential “matching contribution” for the IP-gridNSF proposal.
AbileneThe Abilene Network, with its Network Operations Center at IUPUI, achieved nationwide connectivity in February 1999. Abilene is a packet-over-SONET (POS) network, providing coast-to-coast IP transit (10,000 miles of fiber) for Internet2,
with connectors attaching to one of 28 regional network aggregation points, called Internet2 GigaPoPs, with either POS or IP-over-ATM access circuits.
Abilene continues to provide high performance network services to enable advanced applications such as high-definition television, tele-medicine, and remote access to scientific instruments. It also serves as a testbed for advanced network capabilities, such as Quality of Service standards, multicasting, and more. In August 2002, Internet2 announced that university membership in the advanced networking research and development consortium had reached a new milestone of 200 institutions, with Internet2 universities in every state, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.
Also in August, Abilene began providing native next-generation Internet Protocol (IPv6) service. IPv6 offers several improvements over IPv4, among them 128-bit long Internet addresses. This vastly increases the number of available addresses and along with other improvements, paves the way for a large range of new applications. This deployment makes high performance IPv6 service available to more than 200 Internet2 member institutions and thousands of other research and education institutions across the United States that have access to Abilene. The deployment of IPv6 in Abilene also marked the first large-scale US deployment of native IPv6 on Cisco System’s 12000 series routers.
As other areas of the nation follow Indiana’s lead in developing regional fiber networks, Indiana, through I-Light, will be poised to expand its connectivity beyond the State to similar networks in Ohio, Michigan, and Illinois. A growing optical fiber network will connect distant communities of researchers in the exchange of data, in research collaborations, and in sharing specialized computing resources. In the first half of 2003, IU became involved in the development of one such network – the National Lambda Rail (NLR) initiative. IU, through its membership in the Committee on Institutional Cooperation (CIC) and its leadership in that organization, may be able to play a founding role as NLR moves toward reality in 2003-04.
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TransPACTransPAC is a high performance network connecting scientists in the US with their counterparts in the
Asia-Pacific region. TransPAC provides fundamental network infrastructure to support e-science collaborations in a broad range of scientific disciplines including astronomy, molecular biology, high-energy physics, medicine, meteorology, visualization, and computational science. Major funding comes from the US National Science Foundation and the Japan Science and Technology Corporation. Operational support is provided in the US by the IU Global Research Network Operations Center (Global NOC) and in Japan by the KDDI APAN NOC. The TransPAC network is currently implemented as two OC-12 (622Mbps) circuits connecting Japan with the US: a “northern” circuit
to Seattle and a “southern” circuit to Chicago. This configuration provides complete physical redundancy; protection circuits are installed in the entire network path.
The February increase in TransPAC capacity makes a vital contribution to expanding international collaborations between researchers in the US and the Asia-Pacific, especially in digitally enabled science, or e-science, in such areas as astronomy, molecular biology, high-energy physics, medicine, meteorology, and computational science. This link to Asia becomes increasingly important given the presence in the region of some unique scientific facilities such as Japan’s Earth Simulator, currently the most powerful supercomputer in the world.
In March TransPAC partnered with the Pacific Rim Applications and Grid Middleware Assembly (PRAGMA), an international initiative to establish sustained collaborations and advance the use of the computational grid among a community of investigators at the leading Pacific Rim research institutions. PRAGMA’s inaugural workshop was held in March.
TransPAC has had notable success encouraging collaborations between groups in the US and the Asia-Pacific. By participating in and supporting the growth of new research communities such as PRAGMA and ApGrid, TransPAC leverages the infrastructure investments made in the network. The idea that science depends on global collaborations and that these collaborations depend on international reliable high-speed networking and advanced networking services is borne out in the formation of communities such as PRAGMA and ApGrid. (See http://www.transpac.org)
Global Research Network Operations Center
Scientific research is a collaborative activity that spans the globe. Interconnecting the research and education networks in the United States with those in the Asia- Pacific, Europe, and Latin America, gives scientists access to data, instruments, and expertise that would not otherwise be available. Growing out of its expertise in managing the Abilene and TransPAC networks, IU established the Global Research Network Operations Center (Global NOC) to manage these networks in an efficient and coordinated way. The Global NOC plays a key role in ensuring the reliable provision of the persistent advanced networking infrastructure that makes these international collaborations possible.
In September 2002 Abilene established a 10-gigabit-per-second (Gbps) optical connection to StarLight, a Chicago-based advanced optical infrastructure and proving ground for international network services. This link will enable institutions participating in Abilene to leverage high performance research and education networks around the world that also connect to StarLight.
Abilene’s native IPv6 service complements existing IPv6 deployment in other research and education networks around the world, such as ESnet in the United States, Renater in France, and SURFnet in the Netherlands. Deploying native IPv6 continues Abilene’s evolution as a leading-edge network environment that supports the development of new applications. IPv6 is the next version of the Internet protocol, updating the data packaging and routing standard. The current version is IPv4; IPv5 was experimental and was never widely deployed.
In December 2001, Qwest Communications International Inc. and Internet2 reached a new five-year agreement to quadruple the capacity of the Abilene Internet2 network. Qwest’s investment in the initiative is valued at $300M.
IU Network Engineering Staff provided leadership for a major upgrade to the Internet2 Abilene network, upgrading Abilene coast-to-coast backbone connectivity to OC-192, or a speed of 10M bits-per-second, a four-fold increase in the previous capacity. IU’s Engineers were solely responsible for the April 2003 logistical and technical implementation of this major enhancement, and delivered it on schedule and on budget. The remainder of the backbone — the southern route — will be completed by July 2003.
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Action 51. Implementation should begin for a University-wide wireless network, initially through a trialwith a School.
In 2002, IU took major strides toward a goal of complete wireless access in a VPN-secured environment. In June the Vice President for Information Technology directed UITS to provide the
University’s campuses with comprehensive wireless access within the next 15 months. As a first step, a full-time Project Analyst was hired in July to oversee the wireless initiatives for IU, beginning with assessing the needs at IUB and IUPUI and further providing stable, robust, and secure wireless access to students, faculty, and staff.
The VPN-secured wireless network has been in production since July 2001. This provides solid encryption for the wireless link and also requires authentication with an IU Network ID before use of the network is allowed. This infrastructure also secures remote access to IU network resources for users who are increasingly accessing these resources via high-speed vendor networks utilizing DSL and cable modem technology. The UITS VPN-secured wireless system as outlined in IT Policy 20 is currently viewed as the standard throughout IU. IU Kokomo recently installed a wireless system based on the policy and UITS personnel have consulted at IU Southeast, IU East, and IPFW on their respective VPN systems.
As a result of the VPIT’s directive and first steps to implement it, in 2002 more than 60 new rooms and locations at IUB were added to the list of locations with VPN-secured Wireless Access Points, bringing the total to more than 120 rooms or locations in more than 30 buildings. Sites at IUB include the UITS complex, the Main Library, the Kelley School of Business, the School of Public and Environmental Affairs, Jordan Hall, Woodburn Hall, Radio and TV, the Lilly Library, and the Law School. Near-total coverage is now supplied in such key locations as the Ashton/Scott Halls of Residence, the Indiana Memorial Union (with 24 locations), the Kelley School of Business, and the Main Library.
At IUPUI, the VPN-secured wireless network has been added to University Library, University College, the Medical Research Library, and Cavanaugh Hall. It is estimated that by the end of the first quarter of 2003, the Wireless initiative will have enabled well over 400 sites across the University — more than the number installed by most institutions who claim to be fully wireless-enabled. The overall project is well underway toward meeting the VPIT’s directive on time and on budget.
To prominently mark wireless access points at IUB and IUPUI, UITS designed a wireless icon to be affixed to signage throughout the campuses. This will allow students, faculty, and staff to identify wireless-accessible classrooms, common areas, auditoriums, and meeting rooms. The primary goal for the future is to provide seamless wireless access across IUB and IUPUI.
The principal international connections managed by the Global NOC are:
• TransPAC, two high performance network connections, totaling 1.244Gbps (gigabits per second), linking scientists in the United Stateswith their counterparts in the Asia-Pacific area(http://www.transpac.org/)
• Euro-Link, providing multiple high performance connections between The Netherlands, France, the Nordic countries, Israel and CERN, and the STAR TAP (http://www.euro-link.org)
• AMPATH, connecting to various emerging education and research networks in Latin America(http://www.ampath.fiu.edu)
• STAR TAP, the NSF-funded Science Technology and Research Transit Access Point (STAR TAP) in Chicago, providing infrastructure at which a number of international connections link to various higher education and research networks in the US (http://www.startap.net)
These operations are fully integrated within the existing 24/7 support model that the IU NOC provides for IUnet and Abilene. Designated NOC staff positions funded by these external networks comprise the primary support group for the various networks; additional support is available from all NOC staff, regardless of designation. Separate external identities, support mechanisms, and NOC Web pages are maintained for each network.
Wireless Networks
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IU videoconferencing systems can be categorized into two models: group systems, comprising classroom and conference room systems; and desktop systems. The models have certain similarities, but differ in features of scale, complexity, capabilities, and support. Common to all is the H.323 videoconferencing standard, a collection of complex protocols, with the important specification that H.323 systems utilize standard Internet data networking for communications.
During 2002 the deployment and use of videoconferencing grew substantially. In December 1999, when the IU videoconferencing infrastructure began to change from one based on dedicated circuits to the new Internet-based technology, IU had 23 group systems. By the end of December 2001, the number had risen to 120. In December 2002, the number of group systems stood at 163. In addition, approximately 180 desktop systems have been deployed, bringing the total number of systems to approximately 343.
To establish a videoconference call among three or more parties (a multipoint call), a specialized server called a bridge must be used. During 2002 the capacity of the bridge rose from 66 to 132 simultaneously connected endpoints. The equipment acquisition also provided hardware redundancy for the critical service. Along with the increased capacity, UITS installed ISDN PRI gateway to the bridge, permitting better interoperation of Internet-based and ISDN circuit-based video calls. The gateway also provides the capability to bridge in telephone voice calls to videoconferences.
To accommodate higher demand for support, the Virtual Indiana Classroom Help Desk was enhanced with additional tools, monitoring systems, and training.
To support and educate users and departmental support providers, a number of training sessions were held on the IUB and IUPUI campuses. In February 2002, Digital Media Network Services provided videoconferencing training sessions for Polycom videoconferencing users. In April, the group presented an IT Seminar, “Digital Media and Collaboration,” discussing group services,
including systems and support for videoconferencing, digital media streaming, and computer-based collaboration. The Help Desk office at IUB in Radio/TV 100 was remodeled to make space for a small conference room for training and technology demonstrations.
The brain of an H.323 videoconferencing network is referred to as the H.323 gatekeeper. The gatekeeper performs functions for name resolution (e.g. call endpoint named bl-wcc101a), admission control to the network, bandwidth management, PBX features, and statistics logging. In 2002 research and testing began on enhanced feature gatekeepers, specifically with the goal of supporting the deployment of ad hoc multipoint conferencing. Currently, use of the bridge for multipoint calls must be scheduled in advance by submitting a request to video operations staff. The goal is to provide the capability to place ad hoc multipoint calls, without requiring the services of scheduling staff. Equipment and services will be deployed in 2003.
Although the ability to place ad hoc calls is useful, certain types of calls, such as distance learning classes and recurring administrative meetings, need to be scheduled in advance. These events require guaranteed access to bridge resources, and cannot rely on contending for limited pool resources. The current scheduling system does not suffice for the large service being supported. In 2002 research began on scheduling and advanced monitoring systems; equipment, software, and services should be deployed in 2003.
In 2002 use of videoconferencing extended beyond distance learning and administrative uses to research areas as well. Polycom videoconference systems provide remote views into crystallography laboratory equipment in the Department of Chemistry, and connect students and researchers in the Department of Astronomy to peers conducting observations at distant observatories.
Among its peer institutions of higher education, Indiana is recognized as one of the leaders in the deployment, support, and operation of videoconferencing networks.
Action 52. The networking demands due to the increasing use of multimedia applications should be addressed as the University network continues to develop.
Multimedia & Streaming Media
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Action 53. The University should begin the production deployment of streaming media services such as videoconferencing and video and audio stores. It should ensure that support is provided for quality of service on the University networks to ensure that emerging instructional and research applications relying on interactive or streaming media (including digital libraries and distributed education) can have consistent and acceptable performance.
Streaming MediaA media streaming service is provided that supports streaming of Real, QuickTime and Windows Media, and downloading of MP3s. Information provider access to the service is supported through user accounts on the institutional Web server systems, Veritas and Champion. During 2002, information provider accounts grew from 59 to 106, and the amount of content grew from 180 gigabytes to 465 GB. Two special-purpose servers support content for the IUPUI School of Medicine and the IUPUI School of Business.
During 2002 a duplicate installation of the primary system server was established to provide fault tolerance and disaster recovery backup of content.
One system design goal calls for establishing a single-image storage system that can support connection from multiple servers for scaling, multiple content types, and information provider access. During 2002, considerable time was spent on analysis of storage server models such as SAN and NAS, and in evaluation of specific implementations. In the first quarter of 2003 a storage model for the streaming service will be selected and implemented.
In 2002, a videoconference-to-streaming gateway service was brought into production and established as the IStream service. IStream provides the ability to record a videoconference to Real Networks streaming media, for live and on-demand playback, or to record audio from a videoconference terminal to MP3 for on-demand playback. Any H.323 videoconferencing endpoint can serve as a source for IStream. In conjunction with the rollout of IStream, Polycom videoconference systems were installed in all auditoriums in the Lecture Hall building on the IUPUI campus. During Fall 2002, 35 semester-long classes were recorded to IStream, as well as numerous one-time academic, administrative, and conference events.
Also during 2002, research was completed regarding content acquisition systems — i.e., how to best provide a workflow system to digitize recorded audio and video, encode to archival and delivery formats, and post to a delivery server. System acquisitions will be made in the first quarter of 2003.
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Recommendation 8: IU must provide the information technology tools, infrastructure and support services so that students effectively engage in learning and research, appropriate to their various academic disciplines and areas of study. IT support for students should include technology support centers and a computing environment that is seamless across boundaries of campus, home, residence hall, and community.
The Actions associated with this Recommendation address IT support services for students, including Student Technology Center and Support Center services (Action 54), access in student residence halls (Actions 55, 56, 57), and student ownership of computers (Action 58).
VIII. Support for Student Computing
Action 54. UITS, with the departments, schools and campuses, should develop a model for student technology supportthat provides:
• A basic level of support and technology infrastructure to all students;
• Advanced support, typically for advanced degree students in graduate and professional programs, that is discipline-specific and may be integrated with the teaching or research activities of a school or department; and
• Advanced support to undergraduate students, as needed, especially for students in disciplines that do not provide such specialized support.
Support Center EnhancementsThe Support Center, with locations on the IUB and IUPUI campuses, enhanced services in 2002 to increase the availability of technology tools and services for the University community. Frontline
phone support was made available 24/7/365 on both campuses, with the same services slated to be offered soon to the regional campuses. Walk-in support hours have been extended on evenings and weekends, on the IUB campus with the new location in the Library, and on the IUPUI campus, for an increase of 2,496 hours. The increase in hours for phone-in support added an additional 3,498 hours.
In 2002, the Support Center fielded thousands of inquiries and help requests from the University community. Contacts logged per week for the Support Center averaged the following in 2002: 600 e-mail contacts; 1,250 walk-in contacts; and 2,450 phone contacts. The Knowledge Base averaged more than 125,000 hits per week, or 17,800 hits per day.
FalconThe Support Center continued development of Falcon, the enterprise, trouble-ticket system for IU that provides enterprise management for
all areas of technology support, including help desk inquiries, service requests, network management, change management, telecommunications services, account management, and requests for instructional
AdaptiveTechnologyCenterThe Adaptive Technology Center in 2002 became a premiere beta test site for Kurzweil Educational Systems. It is one of a handful of beta test sites for
the Kurzweil 3000 reading assistance software that provides support for individuals with dyslexia.
Continuing to raise awareness about the issues of disability and the benefits of adaptive technology, Center staff taught twelve academic course sessions as invited speakers for eight IUB classes.
At IU high-speed scanning for converting print to electronic text serves a diverse population of students, faculty, and staff who, through dyslexia, low vision, blindness, or impaired mobility, need quick and efficient access to print materials in alternate forms. The high speed-scanning process, developed in house at the Center, attracted significant attention. The Center manager was invited to present on the scanning process at a conference whose focus is best practices for postsecondary institutions and adaptive technology. It was also the subject of a featured article for EDUCAUSE Review magazine, and was described on the EDUCAUSE “Effective Practices and Solutions” Web page, where higher education institutions share technology-based approaches to challenges in higher education.
technology resources. Falcon went online in January 2002 for internal testing and was fully operational by July 2002.
Student Technology Support
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Action 55. UITS should work with the Halls of Residence and Residence Life, at IUB and IUPUI, to provide students with a seamlessly integrated computing environment, available on campus, in the residence halls, including academic support centers, or from remote locations.
In 2002 UITS continued work in the Residential Technology Centers(RTCs) replacing equipment and furniture, upgrading network bandwidth, improving consulting processes and practices, and applying technology center
expertise. During Summer 2002, five RTCs werere-designed and updated, and 80 workstations were replaced with new, faster machines.
An improved version of the IU-produced Netconfig CD auto-configures students’ machine settings for the IU Network, and records and reports machine configuration data. These data will be used to help improve service deployment. Data show that students are bringing newer machines with current operating systems and higher-than-expected CPU speeds and memory configurations.
Residential IT Support (RITS) worked closely with the IT Security Office to provide system data for security response of compromised systems, and to provide proactive software and information in the IT move-in packet. This partnership helps quickly identify machines or users that pose a security risk and assists with user education and tools for the prevention of attacks.
RITS also worked closely with the UITS Tele-communications Division to continue to monitor bandwidth and assuring academic applications get higher priority than recreational use. RITS staff established response thresholds and requirements with two UITS Telecom Division groups: the Network Operations Center team (NOC) to establish physical network connections, and the Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol team (DHCP) to establish network logical connections. This service agreement resulted in much improved response to any network issue and quickly communicated network events to the necessary groups.
Fall 2002 marked the most successful Residence Hall move-in week since UITS accepted responsibility for IT
in the Halls of Residence. Each student received an IT packet containing a bi-directional Ethernet cable and a UITS Netconfig CD; information on connecting to the IU network (utilizing the Netconfig CD), on
IT Training class schedules, and on IT security with coupon for a free IUware Security CD; a door hang-tag for technical help; and general information from University Division. Initiated in 2001, the hang tag continues to be a great success. Students needing help hang the tag on their room door handles and support assistants visit rooms with the displayed tags. The process eliminates the need to schedule support appointments through the Support Center Call Center, and eliminates missed appointments.
The primary factor causing students to need support during move-in was an outside Spyware program called CommonName, which prevented authentication to Oncourse, Insite, RegWeb, and Webmail. The program was quickly identified, consultants were informed and equipped with tools to negate the effects, and Knowledge Base articles were posted to inform and instruct users.
By the end of the five-day move-in period, more than 7,400 students had successfully connected to the IU network. In that time, the Support Center and IT Training and Education taught 18 orientation sessions, establishing IT accounts, teaching user rights and responsibilities, and providing an overview of UITS services. No complaints were issued about IT servicesto any OVPIT/UITS representative, in stark contrast tothree years ago when complaints reached the Office of the President.
Access in the Student Residence Halls
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Action 56. Housing on the IUPUI campus should be planned carefully with involvement of UITS and others to ensure that it is developed as a premier living and learning community, making effective use of technology for student learning.
IUPUI has one “traditional dormitory” co-ed facility (Ball Residence) which consists of 195 rooms. Residents can connect to the IU Network from their rooms if they have a personal computer with a network cable provided by campus housing and an Ethernet card. UITS provides information and recommendations for Ethernet cards in The Computer Guide distributed to new students before Orientation.
After careful consideration and an October 1999 report by the Anderson-Strickler consulting firm the campus
determined that construction of additional housing was financially feasible. The goal is to house no more than 10% of the IUPUI student population (or 1,880 full-time equivalents). The first phase of new housing development at IUPUI is expected to open in Fall 2003. However, this is not expected to approach 1,880 units.
UITS will continue to work with IUPUI residential planners to ensure that the new housing is developed as a premier living and learning community, demonstrating effective uses of technology.
Action 57. UITS, in partnership with the Halls of Residence and Residence Life, should develop a program to provide teaching and learning technology support services in one or more selected residence halls, as one part of an on-campus pilot in distributed learning.
Centralized Residence STCs. UITS has created a new technology center in former library space in Wright Quad. This technology center offers easier access and better UITS visibility than the previous Wright lab. Its high-traffic area also offers more students more access to technology. A new technology center was also created in the former Briscoe dining hall.
Additionally, the technology center in Evermann was relocated to a larger, newly-remodeled room. In Eigenmann UITS replaced carpet in the main floor lab and reorganized equipment for better traffic flow.
Workstations were replaced in 10 of the 25 residential STCs prior to the end of their lifecycle, bringing them up-to-date with the academic STCs. Express mail workstations across campus that were still under warranty were replaced to improve availability, performance, and repair time.
Information Commons. UITS and the IU Libraries are partnering to develop an
“Information Commons,” an environment that fosters individual and group study and delivers state-of-the-art information technology services and resources. The Information Commons will be located in the west tower of the IUB Main Library and will be open 24/7/362. The IUB Libraries and UITS will contribute expertise and responsibility toward the goal of offering high-quality, seamless information and technology services that are delivered dynamically to student users. Construction began January 6, 2003, and is scheduled to be completed July 15, 2003.
These processes and services resulted in a marked improvement in RTC satisfaction and average opinions. In 2002 RTCs increased user satisfaction overall from 85.0% in 2001 to 96.8% in 2002, showing an 11.8% increase, and a very high overall opinion rating at 4.08 on a 5-point scale.
More than 3,000 in-room support visits assisted students with technology in their rooms in 2002. Many other improvements, including improved training and tools for the Residential IT staff, better staff scheduling, improved utilities for Support Center and Residential IT staff, and radio communications have resulted in outstanding services.
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Action 58. IU should consider a program of incentives to increase student ownership of computers, including some combination of direct financial assistance, negotiation of institutional discounts for student purchases, on-campus sales and support, and encouragement from the highest levels of the University. IU should further evaluate programs that would require computer ownership for all students.
Although IU does not require students to own computers (because of the potential impact on students’ personal expenses),
computer ownership continues to rise on the core campuses. According the 2002 User Survey, 94.3% of students at IUB stated that they own or have access to a computer at home, as compared with 92.4% in 2001. At IUPUI, the 2002 User Survey shows 93.9% of respondents state they own a computer at home, as compared with 90.9% in 2001.
This increase in personal ownership is believed to reflect on the incentives in place that encourage ownership. Each year UITS provides extensive guidelines to all incoming students in the form of The Computer Guide, which contains current hardware and software recommendations, instructions for connecting to the IU network, and information on special offers on computers. Prospective students receive this guide before matriculating, enabling them to research purchase options before arriving on campus. During new student orientation sessions, UITS staff members advise students and their parents about IT resources. IU continues to leverage the buying power of the University by working with such vendors as Dell, Apple, HP, and Gateway to secure special pricing on high-quality computers and software, and by extending University pricing to students for their personal purchases.
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Recommendation 9: The University should build upon and expand its digital library program, and develop the digital library infrastructure needed to support research, teaching and learning.
The Actions associated with this Recommendation address the development and implementation of an array of digital library services and initiatives, including digital library infrastructure (Action 60), access to electronic resources and electronic reserves (Actions 61, 62), lifecycle funding for existing digital library services (Action 63), digital archives and electronic records (Actions 64, 65), and digital library research (Action 59).
The IU Digital Library Program (DLP) is a collaborative effort of the Indiana University Libraries, the OVPIT, and the University research faculty with leadership from the School of Library and Information Science and the School of Informatics.
IX. Digital Libraries & the Scholarly Record
Action 59. The University should develop a program of digital library research, and engage in national initiatives, to address the issues of user services, creation and management of digital collections, the federation of distributed digital libraries, and the design of digital library systems.
In April 2002 IU held the first University-wide Forum on Digital Libraries at the Indiana Memorial Union, a day-long event showcasing 15 leading-edge digital library research and development projects presented by IU faculty and staff. The goal of this event was to share information about digital library research throughout the University and foster the development of creative partnerships. (See http://www.dlib.indiana.edu/dlforum/)
Variations2 Digital Music Library. Work continues on the initiative to support research and education in the field of digital libraries for music. This initiative is funded in part by the National Science Foundation’s Digital Library Initiatives Phase 2 (DLI2) program. Building upon IU’s successful VARIATIONS digital library system, the project aims to establish a digital music library testbed system containing music in a variety of formats, and involves research and development in the areas of system architecture, metadata standards, component-based application architecture, usability, intellectual property rights, and network services. In 2002, development was completed on version 1.0 of the Variations2 software system, which provides access to sound recordings and musical score images for research and instruction, with support for interactive features such as user-maintained bookmark lists. This system is now being tested and evaluated by users at IU Bloomington and at a number of remote sites in the US, UK, and Japan. (See http://variations2.indiana.edu/)
prototype has undergone extensive usability testing. The full 20 years, including more than three million citations, should be publicly available in March 2003. (See http://algernon.dlib.indiana.edu:9090/letopis/index.jsp)
ReciprocalNet. The ReciprocalNet
Web site was publicly released in conjunction with the launch of the NSF’s National Science Digital Library in December 2002. This inter-institutional collaboration, led by the IU Molecular Structure Center, aims to create a national digital library of molecular structure data, software tools for visualizing molecules and interacting with these data, software components for constructing lessons based on the collection, and examples of such lessons. The current system includes structure data from IU, Princeton, the University of Cincinnati, and the University of Minnesota, along with educational materials describing common molecules and providing a tutorial on symmetry and point group concepts. ReciprocalNet is funded in part by an award from the NSF National Science Digital Library program. (See http://www.recipnet.indiana.edu/)
International Conference on Music Information Retrieval (ISMIR). In
October 2002 IU, with support from the National Science Foundation, co-sponsored the 3rd Annual International Conference on Music Information Retrieval (ISMIR2002) held at the Institut de Recherche et Coordination Acoustique/Musique (IRCAM) in Paris (http://ismir2002.ircam.fr/). ISMIR is the world’s only music information retrieval conference and concerns the study of systems for indexing, searching, and recalling musical data in education, academe, and entertainment. Investigators from IU’s Variations2 digital music library project presented research findings in the areas of metadata and music similarity. Proceedings of the 2nd Annual International Symposium on Music Information Retrieval (ISMIR2001), held on the Bloomington campus in October 2001, are now available online. (See http://ismir2001.indiana.edu/papers.html)
Russian Periodical Index Digital Project. A three-year, United States Department of Education Title VI Technology Program grant to the IU Digital Library Program provides for the digitizing and Web publication of a portion of the Letopis’ Zhurnal’nykh Statei, a serial publication that indexes Soviet periodicals from 1926 to the present. This resource will provide
access to the periodical literature for 1956-1975, a key time in modern Russian history. Work on this project is drawing to a close. The majority of the index has been digitized and encoded as XML; a prototype interface, providing access to more than a million of the three million total citations, has been developed; and this
Digital Library Research
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further development of CBML as an official standard. (See http://www.cbml.org/ and http://www.oasis-open.org/)
Text Encoding Initiative Consortium. Indiana University has joined the Text Encoding Initiative Consortium, becoming one of its Founding Members, with staff elected to the Advisory Council of the TEI Consortium for 2002-04. The Text Encoding Initiative (TEI) is an international and interdisciplinary standard for encoding electronic texts. It began as a research effort cooperatively organized by three scholarly societies (the Association for Computers and the Humanities, the Association for Computational Linguistics, and the Association for Literary and Linguistic Computing), and funded solely by substantial research grants from the US National Endowment for the Humanities, the European Union, the Canadian Social Science Research Council, the Mellon Foundation, and others. In December 2000, a new non-profit corporation called the TEI Consortium was set up to maintain and develop the TEI standard. The Consortium has executive offices in Bergen, Norway, and hosts at the University of Bergen, Brown University, Oxford University, and the University of Virginia. The Consortium is managed by a Board of Directors, and its technical work is overseen by an elected Council. (See http://www.tei-c.org)
Action 60. The University should develop a digital library infrastructure that will provide a common technical and organizational base for new and ongoing digital library programs.
records from the Frank M. Hohenberger Photograph and DeVincent Sheet Music Collections in the Lilly Library at IU Bloomington and the US Steel Photograph Collection in the Calumet Regional Archives at IU Northwest. In addition, the DLP worked with the Workshop in Political Theory and Policy Analysis at IU Bloomington to implement an OAI-PMH data provider for metadata records from the Digital Library of the Commons (see http://dlc.dlib.indiana.edu/). The DLP has also led a project along with UCLA and Johns Hopkins University to create a metadata harvester for sheet music collections using OAI-PMH (http://digidev.library.ucla.edu/oaisheetmusic/). The Mellon Foundation funded usability testing of the sheet music harvester and is considering a proposal to fund a major project to expand the scope and sophistication of the harvesting service.
The Digital Library Program (DLP) continues
its participation in the FEDORA open-source digital object repository software project led by Cornell University and the University of Virginia. The DLP began experimenting with a prerelease version of the software in 2002. (See http://www.fedora.info/)
The DLP is engaged in the development of services using the Open Archives Initiative Protocol for Metadata Harvesting (OAI-PMH) to make information about digital library collections more easily available. In 2002, the DLP set up an OAI-PMH data provider to allow other sites on the Internet to harvest metadata
Cultural Digital Library Indexing
Our Heritage (CLIOH). IU continues work on this project, supported in part by an award from the Institute for Museum and Library Services. CLIOH is a multi-disciplinary initiative to digitally preserve endangered archaeological sites, compiling vast amounts of data — from still photos to virtual-reality tours — that can be accessed through the Internet. (See http://www.cs.iupui.edu/~clioh)
CBML (Comic Book Markup Language).IU technical/research staff affiliated with UITS and the University Libraries lead the development of CBML, an XML vocabulary for encoding comic books and graphic novels. CBML will facilitate the preservation, study, and analysis of these cultural artifacts, which are becoming ever more frequent objects of study in a variety of disciplines, including history, and literary and cultural studies. CBML was unveiled for the public in December 2002 at the annual XML Conference and Exposition. As part of the CBML development effort, Indiana University became a member organization of OASIS, the Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards, an international, not-for-profit standards organization and potential venue for the
Digital Library Infrastructure
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Action 61. The University Libraries, with UITS, should provide students, faculty, and staff at all campuses with convenient and reliable access to a comprehensive and coordinated collection of electronic information resources, on the campuses and off.
Action 62. The University should develop within its digital library program an “electronic reserve” service so that faculty can assemble and make available content in all media and formats: text, image, audio, or video; published or unpublished; digitized representation or original digital artifact; etc.
The SIRSI Unicorn Library Management System was upgraded to the 2001 version and the My Account function was implemented. This grants Library patrons the ability to authenticate themselves, access the My Account function, review materials checked out, and renew them online. Also in place is the function that allows libraries to send via e-mail, instead of paper, such patron correspondences as overdue notices, recall notices, and courtesy notices. Further enhancements include the ability to place holds on materials.
The Docutek E-Res system is in production at five IU campuses: IUB, IUPUI, IU Southeast, IU East, and IU South Bend. Faculty and student responses have been extremely positive. Currently there are 148 courses online. Bloomington Libraries are also testing an additional feature of the E-Res system – a virtual reference librarian service. Early feedback on this feature is very positive.
The Libraries appointed a task force in Fall 2002 to work with UITS Oncourse staff to determine ways of linking directly to library resources through Oncourse, especially to full text articles and electronic reserves. Some preliminary successes have been noted in linking to articles in which the publisher provides a persistent URL. In Spring 2003 investigations will continue into better ways to provide access to full text, such as the use of the Open URL standard.
UITS and the University Libraries collaborated on a site license to offer students, faculty, and staff on all campuses the three premier bibliographic management software packages: EndNote, ProCite, and Reference Manager. Between the beginning of the program in July 2001 and December 2002 some 12,000 copies of bibliographic software products were distributed. Savings to the University and its students, faculty, and staff amounted to more than $1M, compared to the retail price of these software products.
Action 63. The University should establish sound funding for existing digital library initiatives (including VARIATIONS, LETRS, IMDS, others), and should provide support for other digital library projects of merit that are advanced in the years ahead.
VARIATIONS: School of Music digital audio library. VARIATIONS
continues to provide access to sound recordings and a small number of musical score images to School of Music students and faculty in support of instructional and research needs. VARIATIONS delivered 265,531 sound file accesses between January 1, 2002 and December 31, 2002. To date, Music Library staff have digitized approximately 8100 sound recordings and 220 scores. (See http://www.dlib.indiana.edu/variations/)
Digital Library ServicesLETRS: Electronic Text Resources for the Humanities. LETRS unveiled a redesigned Web site to improve information access and reflect its integration with the IU Digital Library Program. Online collections continue to expand, especially via ongoing in-house projects, such as the Victorian Women Writers Project, the Swinburne Project, and the Wright American Fiction Project. CD-ROM-based electronic text collections also continue to expand. Notable additions include the Bibliotheca Teubneriana Latina, Concordanza della Lirica Trobadorina, Piers Plowman Electronic Archive, and the Ricardo Sanchez Reader. During 2002, the LETRS server received over 3,500,000 hits. (See http://www.letrs.indiana.edu/)
Electronic Information Resources
Support for Digital Library Initiatives
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Digital Library Projects and CollectionsUS Steel Photograph Collection. The IU Digital Library Program received a grant from the Indiana State Library
through federal Library Services and Technology Act funding to digitize and offer on the Web the 2,200 photographs in the US Steel Photograph Collection in the Calumet Regional Archive at IU Northwest. Launched in February 2002, a Web site with photographs and accompanying
text materials and teacher guides is now available. (See http://www.dlib.indiana.edu/collections/steel/)
Digital Library of the Commons. The Digital Library of the Commons (DLC) is a gateway to the international literature on the commons. This site contains a Working Paper Archive of author-submitted papers, as well as full-text conference papers, dissertations, working papers and pre-prints, and reports. The DLC is a collaborative project of the Workshop in Political Theory and Policy Analysis and the Indiana University Digital Library Program. Support has also been provided by the International Association for the Study of Common Property (IASCP) and Indiana University Research and the University Graduate School (RUGS). (See http://dlc.dlib.indiana.edu/)
Wright American Fiction 1851-1875. This is a cooperative project among nine CIC libraries, providing access to a collection of almost 3,000 works of American
DIDO: Digital Images Delivered Online. The Digital Library Program supports a collection of low-resolution digital images selected from the 300,000-image IU Bloomington Fine Arts Slide Library, with access available to users at all IU campuses. Between January 1, 2002 and December 31, 2002, the Fine Arts Slide Library staff added nearly 9,000 images to DIDO, bringing the total to more than 30,000. Upgrades to scanning hardware, software, and procedures were implemented, and work is currently ongoing to redesign the search interface and to enable the support of additional image collections from other IU campuses and departments. A University-wide advisory group was created to aid in the planning for a new and and improved art image repository, tentatively called DIDO2. (See http://www.dlib.indiana.edu/collections/dido/)
fiction published between 1851- 1875. IU launched the first release of the online collection in January 2002, and as of December 2002 all of the works are now available. Work continues to make the collection completely edited and encoded. In Fall 2002, the collection received an average of 3,000 users per day. (See http://www.letrs.indiana.edu/web/w/wright2/)
Charles W. Cushman Collection. Originally funded by a two-year grant to IU from the Institute for Museum and Library Services (IMLS), the grant has been extended for a third year. The grant is to digitize and publish on the Web the 15,000 slides comprising the Cushman Collection in the University Archives in Bloomington. The work of the past year has focused upon adding subject headings to each image and developing the user interface. In addition, 250 slides that had experienced color degradation (red-shifting) were sent to a lab in Switzerland for experimental color correction. The results were outstanding and will be featured on the project Web site. The collection has become a testbed for developing a University-wide repository for photographs from departments and other organizational units, in addition to Digital Library Program projects. (See http://www.dlib.indiana.edu/collections/cushman/)
Film Literature Index. As of July 2002, a two-year grant from the United States National Endowment for the Humanities to the IU Digital Library Program provides for the conversion and Web publication of the Film Literature Index, published in print by the Film and Television Documentation Center at the State University of New York - Albany. Film Literature Index is a quarterly subject/author index that provides the most comprehensive survey available of the entire spectrum of current international periodical literature about film and television/video. It is currently available only in print form. This project will make past and future Film Literature Index issues available and searchable via the Web. (See http://www.dlib.indiana.edu/projects/fli/proposal.html)
Indiana Magazine of History Online Index. In Summer 2000, the Library Electronic Text Resource Service (LETRS) began working with the Indiana Magazine of History to make the magazine’s indexes searchable over the Web. The online index was launched to the public in November 2001 and covered the years 1980-2000. The online index now covers the years 1955-2001. Work continues on two additional 25-year indexes covering the years 1905-1954. (See http:// www.letrs.indiana.edu/inmh/)
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The Swinburne Project. Algernon Charles Swinburne is a major Victorian writer and cultural figure. The vast majority of his writings, however, are out of print. The Swinburne Project provides a searchable electronic edition of Swinburne’s works, encoded in XML using the Text Encoding Initiative (TEI) XML Document
Type Definition (DTD). The project was released to the public in 2002 and has since been regularly cited in online reference works and discussion groups devoted to Victorian studies. A number of important volumes are currently available and new titles continue to be added to the collection. (See http://www.letrs.indiana.edu/swinburne/)
Indianapolis ProjectsElectronic Atlas of Central Indiana. The Atlas is a Web-based repository of maps and GIS (Geographic Information Systems) data covering Central Indiana. This data includes census data provided by the US Census Bureau, as well as maps and datasets produced by other providers, including the US Geological Survey, the IUPUI Center for Earth and Environmental Science, NOAA, NASA, the United Way of Central Indiana, and the Natural Resource Conservation Service. The Atlas encompasses several digital library initiatives, including Geographic Information Systems development, the Historical Aerial Archive, the Indiana Geographic Information Catalog, Historical Maps, and atlases. The project is funded by grants from the Indianapolis Foundation. (See http://atlas.ulib.iupui.edu)
Several new projects are underway that are featured within the Atlas. Digitized historical aerial photographs of six of the nine counties of Central Indiana have been incorporated into the Atlas. An image server allows users to pan or zoom on the image. Future enhancements will include address-matching capabilities. (See http://atlas.ulib.iupui.edu/Aerials/home.html)
Central Indiana Tornado Statistics have been added. The IUPUI Digital Libraries Team used data compiled by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Tornado touchdowns and paths in Central Indiana from 1950 to 1995 have been plotted to create a county-by-county view of tornado activity in the region. (See http://atlas.ulib.iupui.edu/tornado/tornado.html)A set of Landsat VII satellite imagery was purchased
by University Library to serve as a dataset for educational purposes. Landsat VII is a US satellite used to acquire remotely sensed images of the earth’s land surface and surrounding costal regions. (See http://atlas.ulib.iupui.edu/satelliteimagery/homepage.html)
IUPUI Research Investment Fund Award. IUPUI University Library received an award from the IUPUI Research Investment Fund supporting the development of a technological infrastructure for the delivery of digital scholarly resources. University Library purchased hardware and software capable of powerful word and phrase searching, indexing of standardized data elements, and attributes and fast retrieval that may be used with any standard operating system. This included XPAT-DLXS software (University of Michigan’s Digital Library Extension Service’s comprehensive suite of digital resources delivery tools and powerful search engine). University Library has created online databases of text and image collections within its digital library collection, INDiamond (Digital Images And Manuscripts On Demand).
INDiamond Collections: Philanthropy Resources Online – PRO. University Library moved into a production environment in Fall 2002 as part of its development of a digital library infrastructure to support INDiamond. This provided the framework to create and deliver unique scholarly content with an emphasis on philanthropic studies. In January 2003 IUPUI University Library made available Philanthropy Resources Online—PRO, providing digital full-text access to significant but not widely available publications in philanthropic studies.
IUPUI University Photographs. This database is a collection of digital images representing the University’s beginnings, history, developments, events, schools, departments, buildings, and people, and currently contains more than 500 black/white and color images. It is updated daily. (See http://indiamond6.ulib.iupui.edu/IUPUIphotos/)
Herron Image Library. This collection contains images of art works used by Herron School of Art faculty as part of their research and teaching. Images purchased from Saskia will be added to this database in 2003. Access is restricted to the IUPUI/Herron campus. (See http://indiamond6.ulib.iupui.edu/HIL/)
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Action 64. UITS, in partnership with the University Archives, Internal Audit, the Committee of Data Stewards, and others should develop a program to assure preservation of electronic institutional records.
Action 65. UITS, in partnership with the University Libraries, University Archives, and others should evaluate technologies and propose methods and standards to protect digital materials against media deterioration and technological obsolescence.
UITS and the University Archives have an ongoing collaboration to develop methods, standards, and practices that will assure long-term access to and preservation of IU’s electronic records. The University Archivist has worked with the Information Technology Policy Office and Data Administration area on projects involving the management and preservation of electronic records, and Archives staff have worked with data managers and others to create business process models for the business areas of student admissions and academic advising.
UITS and the University Archives are working with the School of Library and Information Science and the
School of Informatics to develop courses and course modules for teaching undergraduates and graduate students about electronic records management. This curriculum development is activity supported in part by a grant from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC). A full-semester course on electronic records has been developed and taught as part of the SLIS graduate curriculum. Shorter course modules on electronic records have been developed and incorporated into core curriculum classes at the graduate level in SLIS and at the undergraduate level in Informatics. Work is now in progress to develop a Web-based version of the full-semester electronic records course.
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Recommendation 10: The University, with leadership from the OVPIT, must continue to develop policies and implement procedures that protect the security of IU’s information technology resources and institutional data, safeguard personal privacy, and respect intellectual property rights, while at the same time promoting two traditional university values associated with academic freedom: access to information and freedom of discourse.
The Actions associated with this Recommendation address issues of information technology policy and security, including the protection of information and security of IT resources (Action 66); authentication and access mechanisms (Action 67); and intellectual property (Action 68).
X. Security, Privacy, Intellectual Property
Action 66. The University should develop clear and forceful policies to address the management and protection of information and the security of IT resources.
The Information Technology Policy Office (ITPO) continues to develop and maintain policies regarding the appropriate use of information technology by members of the Indiana University community and to administer education programs about common technology and security issues and concerns. The Office coordinates investigations and responses to reports of abuse or inappropriate use of electronic information or information technology, interacting daily with, and on behalf of, students, faculty, and staff. The Office also works closely with University administration, judicial officers, counsel, and other IU agencies, as well as internal and external law enforcement and prosecutors. Computer accounts management for centralized systems, and the Global Directory Services project are coordinated by the ITPO as well.
New ServicesThe Global Directory Services team installed the University’s first formal Enterprise Directory Service (EDS) in November 2002. The EDS is based on technologies (LDAP, or Lightweight Directory Access Protocol) that are designed to better support technology services such as authentication and authorization, as well as online directories, and is populated with information about University faculty, staff, students, and affiliates.
The Global Directory Services team released the initial iteration of the Account Management Service (AMS) application in November 2002. AMS provides a single Web site where all associated with IU can manage their University accounts and passwords, combining and standardizing similar services from several other locations. The AMS provides a secure and user-friendly interface that uses the Enterprise Directory Service.
Indiana University’s new Central Authentication Service (CAS) was released in March 2002. This service is a component of the Global Directory Services suite, and is based (though highly modified to fit IU’s needs) on software developed by Yale University. The service provides a single authentication mechanism for participating institutional and departmental applications. The service is designed to standardize user
and application views of base authentication services, such as Kerberos, SafeWord token authentication, and Personal Identification Numbers.
Technology Policy ActivitySeveral technology policies were distributed for comment during FY 2002-03, including the Policy on Privacy of IT Resources (IT-07); the Policy on Security of IT Resources (IT-12); and the Indiana University Online Privacy Statement. The Policy on Extending the Network (IT-19) and the Policy on Wireless Networking (IT-20), both introduced for comment last year, are being revised based on the comments received. The Policy on Use of E-mail for Mass Communications (IT-22) has prompted extensive discussion within the Bloomington Faculty Council and with University Legal Counsel. It will take considerable effort to find a balance between free speech issues and the desire by many in the University community to limit the amount of e-mail received. (See http://www.itpo.iu.edu and http://www.itso.iu.edu)
Educational MaterialsThe IT Policy Office coordinated an effort during Summer and Fall 2002 to educate the University community about the problem of unsolicited e-mail, commonly known as spam. The Knowledge Base was updated with information on protecting e-mail addresses from spammers, and on reporting fraudulent e-mail activity to the proper authorities. A comprehensive article covering these points was published in two issues of the IU Home Pages newspaper, and numerous presentations were made to departments and committees, and through the UITS InfoShare program.
Incident Response CoordinatorIn August, the IT Policy Office hired a professional Incident Response Coordinator/Security Analyst. This new position coordinates the initial response to reports of abuse or misuse of Indiana University information or information technology resources. (Some 8,155 such incidents were recorded in 2002.) This position enhances UITS ability to respond quickly and appropriately to protect Indiana University IT resources.
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Action 67. UITS, with the Committee on Institutional Data and others in the University community, should develop security mechanisms that properly enact institutional policy. Implementation of these security mechanisms should include risk assessment, audit and controls, and education and awareness. UITS should focus special attention on providing reliable authentication and access management systems.
The primary role of the Information Technology Security Office (ITSO) is to provide proactive security analysis, development, education, and guidance related to Indiana University’s information assets and information technology environment. The overall objective is a safe and secure atmosphere for teaching and learning, research, service, and the conduct of University business. The Office works closely with the Information Technology Policy Office (ITPO) assisting in investigations and response to reports of abuse or inappropriate use of information technology. The Office also works closely with University administration, judicial officers, counsel, and other IU agencies, as well as internal and external law enforcement and prosecutors.
In an effort to increase the security of IU’s computer systems, various technical changes were made in Spring 2002, resulting in the replacement and retirement of several insecure services and protocols. The standard connection and file transfer services were replaced with secure equivalents on the general academic computing cluster (Steel) and on all research systems and insecure remote login services were removed. By the end of June 2002, inherently insecure e-mail protocols were removed in favor of a secure version of the IMAP e-mail protocol.
During Summer 2002, the behavior of the login process on the Shakespeare e-mail systems (Iago,Kate, Lear, and Ariel) was modified to limit use of those systems to their intended purpose of serving e-mail. UITS no longer allows access to most non-e-mail-related applications, some of which caused security and performance concerns, on these systems. Users on these systems are also now restricted to only those directories that serve their e-mail needs.
In August, IU signed a three-year contract extension with Symantec, taking advantage of excellent terms offered to members of the Committee on Institutional Cooperation (CIC). Symantec products such as Norton Anti-Virus and Ghost are key components in IU’s overall security strategy.
The number and variety of computer attacks against IU systems, originating from external networks, has escalated dramatically over the past few years. As part of the Spring 2002 IT Seminar Series, the UITS
Telecommunications Division gave a presentation on network security in general, and discussed security options for IU departments, including private IP addresses and router access control lists.
While the best defense is a well-administered computer system, layered defense is important. UITS and ITSO are examining formal methods of network-based security that would provide additional protections. A project has been funded to install formal firewall appliances at the perimeter of the UITS-managed data centers at IUB and IUPUI, and to evaluate the feasibility of installing these devices on the University’s connections to external networks.
Attacks against computers are always designed to find and exploit software vulnerabilities that have not been identified and repaired by the computer administrator. The ITSO increased the capacity of its external vulnerability assessment service in 2002, which allowed the completion of 45,000 scans, of approximately 6,300 computers, in 183 University departments. This scanning service is one of several provided by ITSO to assist departments in maintaining systems securely.
The ITSO developed a series of IT security courses for departmental and campus technicians. These courses were attended by some 350 technicians, and covered such topics as general IT security concepts, operating systems security, and vulnerability assessment tools.
In April, IU VP for IT Michael McRobbie presented a lecture at an IUB cybersecurity and networking colloquium. The lecture described the global advanced networking infrastructure, some of the unique issues concerning cybersecurity in higher education environments, and key cybersecurity issues concerning advanced networks based on the work of IU’s Global Network Operations Center.
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The Statewide IT Conference provided an excellent opportunity for the information
technologists in the IT organizations across IU and IT staff from academic and administrative departments to discuss key IT initiatives and learn of progress on implementing the IT Strategic Plan. Cybersecurity was the theme for the August 2002 conference, which featured keynote speaker Rear Admiral James Plehal, now Acting Director of the National Infrastructure Protection Center, who stressed the importance of public and private partnerships in improving cybersecurity. Other presentations at the conference by University staff covered topics such as security and privacy in higher education, technical security issues, and electronic data and the law.
In September, the National Strategy to Secure Cyberspace was released for comment. IU’s Chief IT Security and Policy Officer is a member of the EDUCAUSE/Internet2 Computer and Network Security Task Force that coordinated the development of the higher education contribution to the Strategy, as well as an associated framework for improving security in higher education. (See http:// www.securecyberspace.gov/)
As part of a draft of the Strategy, the Bush admin-istration recommends each college and university designate a CIO with well-defined enforcement powers. Indiana University, which has had an Officer in place for two years, was cited as a model of IT security in the September 2 issue of eWeek. (See http:// www.eweek.com/article2/0,3959,508676,00.asp)
Action 68. UITS should collaborate with the Copyright Management Center on developing policies and programs that advance the use of information technology and information resources, especially in areas of teaching and research, while limiting the University’s liability exposure regarding intellectual property rights.
In September 2002, the IT Policy Office, in collaboration with the Copyright Management Center (CMC), submitted a report to Vice President McRobbie entitled “Liability Exposure and Intellectual Property Rights: Action 68 of the Indiana University Information Technology Strategic Plan, 2001-2002.”
The report summarizes the activity to date, and proposes a set of activities for the future. Specifically, the report recommends:
• Creation of a council to coordinate University copyright information and services
• Public documentation that outlines which Offices at the University have responsibility for which copyright activities
• That the Copyright Management Center focus its efforts on information and education activities for the broader community, rather than focusing on the needs of individuals
• That the Copyright Management Center continue to work with appropriate officials to assist with the development of copyright policy at the University.
In Fall 2002 a redesigned Copyright Management Center Web site was launched at http://www.copyright.iupui.edu/ to better present and coordinate information and education for the IU community. Fully reorganized content has been updated to reflect developing needs at the University and accelerating changes in the law. For example, the “TEACH Act” signed into law on Nov 2, 2002, fully revises Section 110(2) of the US Copyright Act governing the lawful uses of existing copyrighted materials in distance education. Information on this new law and its impact on Indiana University was posted to the CMC Web site and disseminated to other IU Offices involved in copyright issues in order to initiate a coordinated response. Questions of ownership of rights of use of new materials created at the University have been of growing concern.
Several IUPUI campus units have pooled funds to support the creation of a Copyright Permissions Service. New materials to help the community with related needs are a major new section of the CMC Web site. Finally, existing educational materials about the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) were reviewed, and new materials were created to increase understanding of the copyright implications of downloading and sharing music recordings, movies, software, and games.
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Office of the Vice President for Information Technology and Chief Information Officer
Education/Socal Work 2129Indiana UniversityIndianapolis, IN 46202(317) 274-4507(317) 274-4513 (fax)
Franklin Hall 116Indiana UniversityBloomington, IN 47405(812) 855-5752(812) 855-3310 (fax)
Appendix A. Contact Information
Vice President for Information Technologyand Chief Information Officer
Michael A. [email protected]
Associate Vice Presidents
Garland C. [email protected]
Teaching and Learning Information Technologies and Dean
Norma B. [email protected]
University Information Systems
Christopher [email protected]
Research and Academic Computing and Dean
Brian D. Voss [email protected]
Telecommunications
Officers
Karen H. [email protected]
Chief of Staff and Communications Officer
Debby [email protected]
Human Resources Officer
Laurie [email protected]
Finance Officer
Mark [email protected] Policy Officer
Mike [email protected] Director
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For more information about Information Technology at Indiana University, please contact:
Communications and Planning OfficeUniversity Information Technology ServicesFranklin Hall 116, Indiana UniversityBloomington, IN 47405(812) 855-4717http://www.indiana.edu/~uits/[email protected]
Appendix B. Credits
Produced by the Office of the Vice President forInformation Technology and CIO, Indiana University
EditorJan R. Holloway
DesignerMaria K. Morris
PhotographyMike Boylesp. 30
Jagan Lakshmipathyp. 25
John McDermottpp. 13, 29, 32, 41, 50, 70
Tyagan Millerpp. 1, 16, 21, 31, 34, 58, 59
Maria K. Morrispp. 10, 33, 37, 63
Eric Wenertp. 25
IU Digital Library Collectionp. 67“Steelmaker-Steeltown: US Steel Photography Collection, 1906-1941.”Original photos courtesy of the Calumet Regional Archives.
p. 68The Swinburne ProjectThe Library Electronic Text Resource Service (LETRS)
University Architect’s Officep. 20 Architect: Robert A.M. Stern ArchitectsIU Project Architect: Jerry Stuff
Cover PhotographyMike Boyles, John McDermott, Tyagan Miller, and Maria Morris
PrinterMetropolitan Printing Service, Inc.Bloomington, IN
This information is available in alternative formats upon requestby contacting [email protected].
Copyright 2003, Trustees of Indiana University
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