Students and instructors signing in to ICON (Iowa Courses Online) for the first time this semester have already noticed the cleaner, more accessible design. Don’t think the changes are only skin deep, though; new features include shared spaces for group work and a completely rewritten gradebook. Check out the full list of improvements on the ICON support site.

The start of the new academic year has arrived, and with it comes the probability that people in various departments on campus will be traveling on University-related business (e.g., to conferences, workshops, sporting events, etc.).

As you’re probably well aware, one of the biggest risks when traveling is the loss or theft of mobile devices … even more so if the device contains University-owned data. What would you do if you lost your mobile device en route to a conference? In a bid to assist University travelers, the IT Security Office has put together a list of suggested security checks you should consider before you leave on your trip.

Please visit http://cio.uiowa.edu/ITSecurity/bestprac/travelchkls.shtml for details.

If you need any assistance or have questions or concerns, please contact the IT Security Office at 335-6332, or via e-mail at security@uiowa.edu.

The IT Security Office has just released the latest version of the Uiowa System Registry (USR) web-based application, making it easier for users to add and maintain information about their systems.

The IT Security Office uses the information in USR for contact purposes, and also to provide scan services. All database, web, e-mail and file servers that contain sensitive data are to be registered in USR, as well as any others that are assigned a static IP address.

Please take a few minutes to review and refresh your information, and consider filling out a quick customer survey: https://survey.uiowa.edu/wsb.dll/534/usr.htm

For more information, please visit http://cio.uiowa.edu/itsecurity/usr

The NExTT workshops are coming up on August 18-21.

NExTT stands for “New Experiences with Teaching Technology.” This week-long series of workshops is held in January and July/August for instructors and instructional support staff. Participants can choose to register for only those sessions they wish to attend. Sessions are created and presented with the philosophy that you will get more out of them if you have more hands-on time to work. We create documentation that leads you through many common tasks and exercises. If you get stuck, one of the coaches can assist. For more information and registration, click here.

The 2008 edition of the ITS Technology Survival Guide is now available!

The Technology Survival Guide provides information about IT services for students, faculty, and staff at The University of Iowa. Topics include the availability of computers and software on campus (including discounts for purchases), how to get connected to the Internet, setting up and accessing your e-mail, online academic and employment resources, and more.

The Survival Guide can be found online at http://helpdesk.its.uiowa.edu/survival/. Print copies are distributed at new-student and new-faculty/staff orientation sessions, and a copy is placed in each dorm room prior to move-in. Additional copies are available at the ITS Help Desk locations in the University Capitol Centre and the Main Library ITC.

Results of the 2008 UI computer bid were announced a few weeks ago. However, HP pricing was not available until now.

Purchases of HP tablets and laptops can be made via the HP link on the ITS Help Desk site: http://helpdesk.its.uiowa.edu/demo/. Click on the HP logo near the bottom of the page. The prices are excellent – and slightly lower than the original bid.

Tablet PC

• HP 2710p ($1,253 with DVD drive, $1,054 w/o)

Laptops

• HP 2510p ($992)
• HP 6510b ($762)

The Telecommunication & Network Services (TNS) department is preparing to retire the WEP security protocol on the UI’s campus wireless network on June 30. UI-Wireless-WEP is being retired for security reasons and will be replaced by the more secure and standards-based WPA2 security protocol. The UI Wireless network is currently accessible using WPA2 (UI-Wireless-WPA2), which is supported by most modern wireless devices.

Users of the Wired Equivalent Privacy, or WEP, protocol have been notified via e-mail of the impending shutdown.

A special section on the ITS Help Desk website contains more information about the WEP retirement, including UI Wireless configuration instructions using the UI-Wireless-WPA2 network.

The UI-Wireless-WEP network uses the Wired Equivalent Privacy standard to secure data as it travels through the air between the client and the access point. Several flaws have been discovered in the WEP standard that make it easy to decipher the encryption key and intercept data. To provide additional security, the encryption keys used by UI-Wireless-WEP are rotated every five minutes. Unfortunately, faster computers and new attack methods have made it possible to decipher the encryption keys faster than they can be changed.

In 2006, internal auditors recommended that the University phase out the use of WEP in order to comply with state and federal privacy regulations.

The UI-Wireless-WPA2 network uses the WPA2 (Wi-Fi Protected Access) standard. WPA2 is an IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) standard developed to address the many problems with WEP. Improvements include more secure methods to generate and distribute encryption keys, an improved encryption algorithm, and better detection of attempts to tamper with data as it is transmitted. Almost all wireless devices built in the last two to three years include support for WPA2.

The 2008 University of Iowa computer bid is complete, and the review committee has chosen the winning vendors. Dell won all categories except tablet PC, which was taken by HP.

• Desktop (small form factor) – Dell Optiplex 755 ($765)
• Desktop (mini-tower) – Dell Optiplex 755 ($765)
• Laptop (standard) – Dell Latitude D630 ($925)
• Laptop (light) – Dell Latitude D430 ($1,198)
• Tablet PC – HP 2710p ($1,331)
• Standalone Monitors – Dell
  • 17” ($195)
  • 19” ($215)
  • 20” ($365)
  • 20” wide ($215/$250)
  • 22” wide ($250)
  • 24” wide ($350)
  • 30” wide ($1,700)

The Dell prices listed above are available via the standard ITS Help Desk link (http://helpdesk.its.uiowa.edu/demo/). The HP tablet PC is not currently available at the discounted price. We are working with HP to get this updated and have been told it will be ready soon. If you find discrepancies on the purchase sites or have questions, please contact Ryan Lenger.

Thanks to Jim Chaffee, Jayne Keiser, Les Neu, and Jenifer Steil who took time out of their busy schedules to help determine the best configurations for campus.

Addendum: HP tablet, laptop pricing now available.

The Wiki Service has been moved out of pilot phase and is added to the list of ITS services. Wikis can be used for things such as instruction, research or just general collaboration. Access rights can be set to allow any allowed user, including users outside of campus, to edit pages through a web browser. For more information on the Wiki service, go to http://wiki.uiowa.edu/.

Nominations are now being accepted for the President’s Instructional Technology Innovation Award. This award recognizes creative uses of technology in teaching at the University of Iowa. The award is presented at a ceremony in the fall semester and includes a $5,000 cash prize.

Nominees for this award may be any University of Iowa faculty or staff member who has used technology in innovative ways to prepare or present materials in an instructional setting. Teams may also be nominated (students may be part of teams led by faculty or staff). The technology should be “in place and operational” and have been used in a University instructional setting. Nominations may be made by any University of Iowa faculty member, staff member, or student, and self-nominations are encouraged.

Nominations are due Friday, May 2, 2008, at 5 p.m.

More information about the President’s Instructional Technology Innovation Award and the nomination process – including an online submission form – is available at http://at.its.uiowa.edu/atac/awards2/.

Planning continues for the new campus data center, which is expected to open on the UI’s Oakdale campus sometime in 2011. Currently, ITS manages primary and secondary data centers on the main campus.

Data centers are complex facilities, and whether new or old, they require periodic down times so that maintenance and upgrades can be performed. This work – which can take the form of electrical, mechanical, network, or firewall infrastructure maintenance – can require extended outages. (The most visible example of this type of maintenance was the electrical work that took place at the primary data center in June 2007, which required that we shut down the entire facility for several hours.)

Scheduling infrastructure work requires considerable coordination, and it’s important that it occur when it is least intrusive for the entire user community. It’s also important that we have key staff and vendors on-site … and all this coordination can takes weeks – or even months – of advanced planning.

To that end, the Systems & Platforms department in ITS has reserved the following dates in 2008 for data center infrastructure work that may require extended outages:

Saturday, June 14 & Saturday, October 11

The dates were chosen to coincide with periods of low IT activity at the UI. And while the dates may or may not be used for maintenance, it’s important that they’re reserved well in advance, just in case. A list of dates for 2009 will be developed later this year. Generally, SPA staff will reserve three dates each year, in January, June and October.

Managing the data centers for the UI is a complex undertaking. SPA is implementing processes to ensure that our customers’ receive the very best possible service with the least amount of interruption.

For a list of frequently asked questions about data center maintenance, visit http://helpdesk.its.uiowa.edu/articles/datacenter.htm.

This year’s event is Thursday, April 17, in the Main Lounge at the Iowa Memorial Union. Registration is now closed.

IT Tech Forum 2008 offers you a professional development opportunity without leaving campus. This year’s program includes:

• Brian McDonald of MOR Associates delivering a keynote address on developing “leaderful” behavior in the IT field
• An update from the architects and engineers involved in designing the new campus data center
• CIO Steve Fleagle speaking on technology trends in the CIC
• A Gartner session on the ultra-timely topic of “green IT”
• Breakout sessions on the Google Book Search Project; storage at the UI; identity protection; IT issues from the customer’s perspective; and project management for IT professionals

Door-prize drawings will be held throughout the day, and lunch is included. More information can be found at http://cio.uiowa.edu/events/ITTechForum2008/.

IT Tech Forum 2008 is sponsored by the IT Professional Development Team, Campus IT Leaders, and the Chief Information Officer.

The Core IT Skills class will conduct its next week-long session May 19-23.

The class, which students can take for credit or as part of training for their new IT job, teaches core skills in the area of Information Technology. Students learn about IT topics such as computer troubleshooting, computer hardware, operating systems and networking. The class features lectures, group troubleshooting and hands-on labs.

Virginia Drake and Ben Arnold of the ITS Help Desk are the course instructors.

The class is coming off a very successful session that included more than 20 students and the placement of students in various tech support jobs throughout campus, including the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, the College of Pharmacy, Public Health and the ITS Help Desk.

If you will need student IT workers over the summer or for the start of the fall semester, or if you’ve just hired new student employees close to the start of the May session, contact Virginia or Ben to inquire about class seat availability or hiring graduates of the class.

For more information, e-mail either Virginia (virginia-drake@uiowa.edu) or Ben (benjamin-arnold@uiowa.edu), or visit the course’s website at http://helpdesk.its.uiowa.edu/training/.

Organizers of the first-ever 4CAST conference are labeling the event a huge success.

A joint effort by the Center for Teaching, University of Iowa Libraries, and ITS, the daylong conference on Jan. 17 was attended by 88 faculty and staff from all over campus.

The theme of this year’s conference was “Social Networking – Opportunities and Impact on Teaching and Learning.” Participants identified ways in which social networking tools are impacting teaching, ways in which instructors can leverage these emerging technologies to engage students in and out of the classroom, and areas that will require additional support at The University of Iowa as the use of these technologies increases.

Conference organizers plan to make 4CAST an annual event.

Please visit the following website for more information: http://at.its.uiowa.edu/4cast/

Campus Technology Services has activated a new print accounting system for the Instructional Technology Centers (ITCs) on campus. The new system, which is designed to better serve students, faculty, and staff, went into effect on Jan. 2.

Benefits of the new system include:

• Pay-after-you-print monthly billing. The ITC Printing service moved from a deposit-based model (pay-before-you-print) to a credit-based model (pay-after-you-print). This new solution allows users to print in the ITCs without first depositing money into the ITC Printing system. Printing charges are billed monthly to the user’s University Bill.
• Previewing the cost of a print before printing. This new feature prompts users to confirm the cost of a print job before printing.
• Print-release stations in select locations. ITC Support will be piloting print-release stations in select campus locations. Release stations will hold all jobs sent to a printer and will allow users to manually select only the jobs they wish to print, further reducing waste.
• Printing to ITC/library printers from personal computers (home/dorm computers, personal laptops) in select locations. This new solution allows printing to select ITC printers from personal laptops or home computers.

Money deposited into the old ITC Printing system via ISIS will automatically be refunded to a user’s U-Bill. As in past semesters, free print credit ($10 for fall/spring, $5 for summer session) will not be refunded.

For more information, check out the ITC Printing support website.