Around Campus
On Friday, April 24 approximately 90 University Systems staff participated in the testing of dense wireless in one of our lecture halls. Our testing has helped to inform the PC0486-Lecture Hall Wireless Project, which aims to improve bandwidth for students and instructors who need to interact with online learning technologies and videos simultaneously in the classroom. This was a great team building event!
We operated the videoconferencing and webcasting for grad student Mike Irvine’s underwater thesis defense on Monday, April 20. Mike presented his thesis while scuba diving in the Salish Sea, sending live video and two-way audio to a BlueJeans video conference call with his academic panel. The video conference was also streamed live to YouTube. Mike’s research is on science and education, through his live diving webcasts, to build ocean awareness. More information about this unique event can be found on The Ring website.
The ConnectU conference is scheduled for May 14/15 and the planning process has been well underway during the month of April. We have been working through the challenges of coordinating such a large event and have met repeatedly to modify the various audio visual equipment rental orders to ensure that presentations proceed as smoothly as possible.
We webcast and recorded Physics and Astronomy April 27th Alan Astbury Public Lecture with Dr. Rolf Heuer Director General of CERN presentation. We attended to the preparations including the overflow room, staffing and AV Rentals equipment as well as created DVDs and a web format file of the event.
Projects and Accomplishments
The annual IT General Controls audit was completed by the Office of the Auditor General. The objectives of this audit are to ensure the proper development and implementation of applications, as well as the integrity of programs, data, and computer operations. The Office of the Auditor General was particularly impressed with the University Systems Project Management and Change Management methodologies.
We completed fiscal year end recovery on IT Governance projects and worked with project managers to ensure final budget stages were successfully completed on projects currently being closed. All appropriate recoveries and charge backs were applied for fiscal year end!
The Emergency Notification System was updated in preparation for emergency preparedness week which runs from May 3-8, during which a test message will be sent to ensure the system is functioning as expected.
The UVic website search function was updated to take advantage of the latest Google search offerings, and to ensure the search function reliably returns relevant results for years to come.
The Computer Help Desk staff attended Level 1 and 2 Connect training sessions hosted by Client Technologies in April. The Computer Help Desk SharePoint site migration will begin in May.
The PC0452-Campus Network (LAN) Equipment Refresh Project is replacing approximately 160 obsolete network access layer devices around campus, which are 8 -10 years old. Improvements will include Power over Ethernet (POE) and extended VLAN support.
CARSA Opening
We video recorded the CARSA Opening Ceremony Live Feed Event at McKinnon Gym on April 24. The edited video will be shown at the CARSA opening ceremonies. We will be shooting and producing a short 2-minute video for the CARSA opening event. We are making a video from McKinnon to close the old gym and bring the athletes over to the new building too!
The Blackboard Transact Door Access system is now fully operational in the new CARSA building. This new door access system enables faculty, staff and students to use their ONECards to open enabled doors in the CARSA building based on criteria established by Athletics and Recreation. This system will also be deployed in the Continuing Studies building as part of the current renovation project.
DSS staff have been very busy assisting ATRS with their move into their building CARSA. DSS provided assistance with the move of all IT related equipment from both the Ian Stewart Complex and the McKinnon complex, deployed a number of new computers and digital signage players and assisted ATRS in connecting new fitness weight equipment to the network to allow for streaming media on the new fitness equipment!
Standard Build Image and Technology Solutions Centre (TSC) Updates
We have transitioned to new models for all laptops and added the Microsoft Surface to systems available through Microserve and our Technology Solutions Centre.
We have updated the Windows 8 standard TSC image and distributed it to the TSC Image maintainers in Academic and Administrative Services.
The standard build image for Mac OS X 10.10 has also been updated. This image includes the important Mac OS 10.10.3 update, which patches a critical security exploit. These images are used to quickly setup or rebuild client computers, and provide a consistent set of applications and configurations for the end user.