The new Blackboard environment will
allow the university to deliver targeted content and
services to individuals based on their role at the university.
It will also expand the university's ability to communicate
through the use of surveys, discussion forums, announcements,
etc. and to offer more services from a single location.
Miami
Joins Ohio's Third Frontier Network, Doubling Internet
Bandwidth
Early Sunday morning 2/6/05, Miami "turned
on" a fiber-optic connection to the State of
Ohio Third Frontier Network - the most advanced
state-wide computer network in the nation.
Residence
Hall Network Access Management Services (NAMS)
Two new Network Protection Services
are scheduled to roll-out to the residence halls
beginning in mid-February and continuing through
mid-April. The addition of these services is the
next step in combating the problems created by viruses,
spyware, and the negative impact of infected computers
on Miami’s network.
E-Mail
Message Filtering Available on myMiami
An e-mail filtering feature has
been added to the myMiami e-mail application. This
filtering feature enables users to better organize
their e-mail by automatically moving messages meeting
specified criteria into designated folders. These
filters can be configured to scan all messages or
only unread messages based on the To, From, and
Subject lines as well as the mail header and other
content in the message.
Oxford
Area Wireless Evaluation Planned for Spring
IT Services will be conducting a
pilot project during spring semester to evaluate
the ability to cost-effectively provide high speed
network access to off-campus users using a 802.20
wireless solution. 802.20 is an emerging wireless
standard designed to provide users with wireless
service without having direct line-of-sight to the
wireless antenna. Most other standards require direct
line-of-sight to the antenna sending and receiving
the signal. The equipment being evaluated is from
Navini Networks and will be supported by NEC.
MU
Wireless Update
IT Services is now into the second
half of the MU Wireless implementation. A few enhancements
have been made to the existing service in the residence
halls and the planning for the state-building (academic
and professional buildings) installation is well
underway.
Banner
System Planning
With the successful upgrade of
Banner to version 6 in October, 2004, IT Services
has begun to take on many new, exciting projects
to bring more functionality to Miami's Banner users.
Employee
Services Online
Last December,
IT Services finished work associated with the release
of a new BannerWeb module, Employee Services Online.
This new addition to Miami's Banner environment
allows all employees to access their personal information,
such as pay stubs (retroactive to 1999, when the
Banner system was implemented), W2 information,
employee benefit information, and tax withholding
status, at their convenience via the web.
IT
Services Upgrading DNS and DHCP Services
To ensure continuity of network
service, IT Services is in the process of implementing
a new, significantly more robust, multi-server DNS
and DHCP solution from Infoblox. The new servers
will be housed in multiple buildings. With the new
solution, network operations will be able to continue
without interruption in the event of the failure
of equipment in one of the buildings.
Integrating
Technology into Teaching - Faculty Spotlight
Dr. Jim Aimers is a visiting Assistant
Professor in the Anthropology department. He uses
a combination of multimedia-enriched PowerPoint
and collaboratively developed web sites to bring
deeper meaning to his anthropology lecture courses.
Why
No Firewall?
Several years ago, when the cost
of a firewall ran to thousands of dollars, there
might have been an excuse not to apply this protection
between your home computer and the Internet, but
today it is inexcusable. At this present time there
exist armies of compromised computers, waiting to
be directed against web sites and Internet infrastructure.
All because they were left unprotected and easy
picking for enterprising hackers. Could your computer
be one of these?
Spring
Technology Training Opportunities
- Web-based Training Open Sessions Continue
IT Services is continuing to offer open
sessions for the entire University community on
our web-based training tools.
- Spring Banner Navigation Training Sessions
Announced
There will be two Banner 6.x Navigation
Training classes presented in the next few months.
IT
Strategic Plan Web Site - FY05 Mid-Year Update Added
A new document has been added to the IT Strategic
Plan web site titled "FY05
Renewal of IT Strategic Plan: Mid-Year Review".
