The summer of 2008 has been a very busy time for the Information Technology department. We are excited about the number of projects underway that we hope to have completed by the time faculty and students return to campus in August for another school year.
We have expanded the wireless network coverage in Davis hall to extend beyond the Davis Café to the entire building; with coverage through all classrooms in the building. This is in direct response to a request from the faculty technology advisory committee.
Although not typically seen or heard from, antivirus software plays a critical role on campus in protecting the computing infrastructure that is now a pervasive entity throughout the campus. After having some issues with an undetected variant of a virus at the end of the Spring-2008 semester, the decision was made to go with a product that we feel is doing a better job of staying current with all of the new variations of viruses and malware that tend to pop up. Sophos is a company that is not well known to most consumers, since it markets strictly to businesses; but it has a strong and growing presence in industry, due to its reputation for strong proactive detection and protection from a variety of electronic assaults on personal computers and servers.
As is evident for anyone that has visited the campus recently, Nichols College will be bringing a new residence hall online for the fall. This residence hall has been designed with both current and future computing/networking requirements in mind. We are continuing with the "port per pillow" commitment for students. In addition, phone jacks in the suites are also being set up so they can be easily converted to additional data network connections, if the students prefer more network connections instead of a local phone connection. We have also worked with the Buildings and Grounds department to support their implementation of an environmental monitoring system that will allow them to see how the heating and air conditioning systems are working throughout the building, and check for any major temperature deviations in specific rooms. If that wasn't enough, this building will also have a state-of-the-art electronic ID card access system. This system will allow for the logging and monitoring of student access to the outside doors of the building.
Olsen Hall is also being refurbished, with new voice, data, and cable tv wiring and connections being implemented throughout; in addition to card access for the outside doors.
The classrooms haven't been forgotten as part of the summer projects. All podium computers have been replaced with brand new Lenovo M57 desktop PC's. These systems replace the old HP desktop PC's that had served us well over the past three to four years.
The sound system in Davis 205/207 has been upgraded to provide a better quality audio when playing videos or when guest speakers are using the microphones.
Additionally, six of the oldest classroom LCD projectors have been replaced new models.
We are happy to have Claudia Snell join us as our new Webmaster. This is the first time that we have had someone at the college dedicated to this task, and she has had a positive impact on the web site almost since her first day on campus.
As part of our effort to provide responsive service to all users on campus, we have implemented a new help desk system. This system will allow the Information Technology staff to more effectively managed the numerous calls for help that come to us on a daily basis and, hopefully, insure that we get back to you in a timely manner.