Sacramento City College
Information
Technology Plan
3/5/02
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DRAFT
3/5/02
SACRAMENTO CITY COLLEGE
TECHNOLOGY PLAN
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Sacramento City College has developed a technology planning process to support
achieving college goals. The planning process has two components: strategic and
tactical. This document represents the strategic plan. It focuses on critical areas in
which technology will impact college goals and operations, defines systems that fall
within each critical area, outlines the values that will underlie decisionmaking in these
areas, provides a status report, and outlines those goals and next steps to allow the college
to move forward. The plan was developed through a shared governance process
involving the Information Technology committee and college constituency groups. The
plan is integrated to other college planning processes including the educational master
plan, facilities plan, college strategic plan, and resource allocation plan.
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Table of Contents
I. INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................... 1
II. DEVELOPMENT PROCESS ........................................................................................ 3
III. STRATEGIC PLAN FORMAT ................................................................................... 4
IV. INSTITUTIONAL SUPPORT SYSTEMS .................................................................. 5
A. DEFINITION ............................................................................................................. 5
B. VALUES .................................................................................................................... 5
C. STATUS ..................................................................................................................... 5
D. GOALS ...................................................................................................................... 6
E. NEXT STEPS ............................................................................................................. 7
V. TECHNOLOGY BASED STUDENT SERVICES ....................................................... 9
A. DEFINITION ............................................................................................................. 9
B. VALUES .................................................................................................................... 9
C. STATUS ................................................................................................................... 10
D. GOALS .................................................................................................................... 10
E. NEXT STEPS ........................................................................................................... 10
VI. INSTRUCTIONAL TECHNOLOGY: FACULTY REQUIREMENTS ................... 11
A. DEFINITION ........................................................................................................... 11
B. VALUES .................................................................................................................. 11
C. STATUS ................................................................................................................... 12
D. GOALS .................................................................................................................... 13
E. NEXT STEPS ........................................................................................................... 13
VII. INSTRUCTIONAL TECHNOLOGY: CLASSROOM AND STUDENT
RESOURCES ................................................................................................................... 14
A. DEFINITION ........................................................................................................... 14
B. VALUES .................................................................................................................. 14
C. STATUS ................................................................................................................... 15
D. GOALS .................................................................................................................... 16
E. NEXT STEPS ........................................................................................................... 17
VIII. INFRASTRUCTURE .............................................................................................. 18
A. DEFINITION ........................................................................................................... 18
B. VALUES .................................................................................................................. 18
C. STATUS ................................................................................................................... 19
D. GOALS .................................................................................................................... 20
E. NEXT STEPS ........................................................................................................... 20
IX. ACHIEVING COLLEGE TECHNOLOGY GOALS ................................................ 21
A. PROCESS ................................................................................................................ 21
B. ROLES ..................................................................................................................... 23
C. MAINTAINING THE TECHNOLOGY PLAN ...................................................... 23
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SACRAMENTO CITY COLLEGE
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY PLAN
I. INTRODUCTION
The information technology plan for Sacramento City College is designed to support the
college in fulfilling its mission and achieving its strategic goals. It goes without saying
that technology is integral to operations in a college environment. The role of the
information technology plan is to determine and prioritize areas in the college that would
benefit from technology support, establish core values that can help the college
community in deciding how to deploy technology, provide continuity in the planning
process from prior efforts, set achievable goals, and define the next steps in how
technology decisions should be made.
The technology planning process will be achieved in two stages. The first stage will
focus on defining those strategic issues that are broad based and transcend immediate
concerns, but can be used as the foundation for decisionmaking. The document
developed from defining these issues will serve as the strategic information technology
plan. The second stage will apply these strategic considerations to tactical choices that
are made on a yearly basis with respect to resource allocation, facilities planning, and
instruction.
The success of the strategic technology planning process is tied to broader planning
processes being conducted at the college, district, and state levels. Sacramento City
College is in the process of integrating a number of planning initiatives focusing on
strategic college goals, facilities plans, and educational plans. The impact of broad
based processes on technology planning is evident in several areas that have been
identified as Sacramento City College’s 2001-2002 strategic goals relating to:
1. Access and Growth:
 Developing best practices for use of assistive and adaptive technologies for students with
disabilities
 Developing an instructional plan for distance education
2. Teaching and Learning Effectiveness:
 Identify the support that faculty need to include instructional technology in their courses
 Provide upgrades to instructional laboratories needed for appropriate job training
 Improve productivity through enhancement of networking capabilities
3. Organizational Effectiveness
 Develop college information technology plan with identified and sustainable funding sources
The technology planning process also integrates with the college educational and
facilities planning processes. The educational plan defines areas for program growth and
development, as well as identifies teaching modalities that ensure instruction is relevant
to the student and to the community. These instructional priorities strongly influence the
prioritization process in technology planning. Success in the technology planning
process ensures the existence and reliability of the technology infrastructure and support
systems needed for effective instruction.
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At this current juncture, technology is highly dependent on physical infrastructure in
order to be available and reliable. The facilities planning process defines the college’s
priorities for renovating and constructing facilities, for ensuring that networks are
installed, and for ensuring that the power and space requirements needed for equipment
are met. In turn, technological innovations in delivery systems influence the facilities
planning processes by changing the requirements for equipment installation, operations,
and maintenance.
In addition to college based planning processes, the development of a technology plan for
Sacramento City College must take account of initiatives developed at the district level –
both in terms of setting broad strategic directions in which technology plays a part and in
defining a district technology plan which outlines capabilities that will be addressed at
the district level. The district initiatives relevant to the technology planning process for
Sacramento City College include commitments to:
1. Access and Growth:
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Providing IT resources to support growth of educational delivery sites.
Improving registration and enrollment processes through the use of technology.
Using technology to improve student access to education.
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2. Student Services
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Teaching and Learning
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Providing appropriate information technologies to support student learning and
competitiveness in the labor market.
Incorporating educational technologies into the learning process as appropriate.
Creating a strategic approach to online learning.
Organizational Effectiveness
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Using technology to improve organizational effectiveness.
Statewide initiatives also have a significant impact on the technology planning process at
the college level. The Chancellor’s office has been a major source of funding and
planning initiatives focusing on technology. TTIP and Tech2 initiatives have been a
major source of funding for the expansion of technology. Conversely, the slow growth of
these funding sources has become a negative force in the continued development of
technology capabilities. The Chancellor’s office emphasis on the Total Cost of
Ownership model, which calculates the full cost of technology to include hardware,
software, staff support, training, and maintenance as critical components, has defined the
“bar” that community colleges must meet in implementing technology as a long term
reliable resource.
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II. DEVELOPMENT PROCESS
The Sacramento City College Information Technology Strategic Plan is a product of the
combined efforts of faculty, staff, and administrators representing a broad spectrum of the
campus community. The outline for the plan was initiated by the Dean of Information
Technology and shared with both the college’s Management Council and the Information
Technology Committee, which is a shared governance body with 30 members
representing a cross section of divisions and departments. A subcommittee of the IT
Committee determined the process for developing the plan, obtaining feedback, and
making revisions. The most important decision made by the subcommittee was to
develop the plan in two stages – strategic and tactical. This document represents the
strategic plan. It focuses on achieving a common understanding of information
technology, defining core values to be used in making IT recommendations, recounting
current status, setting goals, and formulating the next steps that are needed to make the
plan a reality. The strategic plan is intended to serve as a framework that is relevant to
the issues and decisions that need to be addressed over the next three years.
In the second phase, tactical plans will be developed. The tactical plans are intended to
respond to current issues, enable resources to be allocated, and new systems and
approaches implemented based on the core values set out in the strategic plan. It is
intended that the tactical plans will be updated yearly and serve as a resource to the
college budget and planning committees.
The process for developing the strategic plan for information technology involves the
following steps, constituencies, and timeframes:
 IT subcommittee develops initial draft and order of presentation: Fall, 2001
 Full IT committee reviews drafts: January-February, 2002
 IT committee members present drafts to campus constituencies for review and
comment: March, 2002
 IT Subcommittee makes final revisions: April, 2002
 Final plan presented: May, 2002
 Plan used to guide implementation of technology funded projects: Academic year
2002-2003
 Review against tactical planning process: Academic year 2002-2003
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III. STRATEGIC PLAN FORMAT
The format for the strategic information technology plan addresses five major areas:
 Institutional support systems (including those supporting student services)
 Technology Based Student Services
 Instructional Technology – instructor requirements
 Instructional Technology – classroom requirements
 Infrastructure
In each case, the systems that fall within each category will be defined to ensure that
there is clarity in the discussion. The discussion will proceed to defining the values that
underlie how technology decisions should be made in each area and the ultimate
outcomes that are desirable. With this foundation, a status report will be provided as a
baseline against which to measure future projects. Goals will be set in each area within
the framework of the next three years. Next steps will define some of the immediate
issues that should be addressed as the tactical planning process begins.
There may be some question of why the discussion of infrastructure needs takes place
last. In many ways, infrastructure defines what can be accomplished with technology.
However, in this strategic plan, we determined that the values and decisions made with
respect to infrastructure needed to take place within the framework of the operational
goals that the college community has set for institutional support and instructional
technology.
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IV. INSTITUTIONAL SUPPORT SYSTEMS
A. DEFINITION
The concept of “institutional support systems” encompasses a range of applications
including:
 Financial and Business systems
 Student services systems
 Database and MIS applications
 Productivity systems
The common core among these systems is that they focus on enhancing staff productivity
in service delivery and job performance.
B. VALUES
The common denominator in institutional support systems is that they are central to the
operations and decisionmaking capabilities of departments, divisions, and the college.
Because institutional support systems support line functions, planning for institutional
support systems should be integrated into the college planning process. During the
planning process, the full cost of implementing and maintaining systems should be
assessed and allocated. The needs of different units within the college to share data
should be part of the planning process so that decisions are both information based and
draw from common sources. Additionally, since Sacramento City College is a part of the
Los Rios Community College district, planning for institutional support systems will be
influenced by whether a common set of needs among the colleges suggests a common
technology solution. Core values to employ in conducting technology planning for
institutional support systems include the ability of:
 Proposed institutional support systems to enable the college to achieve its
operational and strategic goals in the institutional support, educational, and
student services arenas.
 The organization to operate within the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) model
to ensure that the human, technical, and operating costs of the system are
accounted for during the processes of the acquiring, implementing, and operating
systems.
 Departments and divisions to access common data sources to meet both
operational and decision making needs.
 Proposed solutions to scale to the complexity of identified operational needs so
that the option of district or college based solutions IS analyzed.
C. STATUS
In evaluating the status of institutional support systems and systems planning since the
1996 Technology Plan was developed, a number of things have been accomplished.
There has been tremendous activity in the arena of institutional support systems. Systems
have been acquired or developed in the areas of:
 Finance – including payroll, budgeting, accounts payable, general ledger,
fixed assets, purchasing, cashiering
 Business – including bookstore operations, personnel
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Student services – including admissions, registration, academic history,
transcripts, financial aid, assessment, matriculation, scholarships, advising,
counseling, document access
Database and Management Information – including tracking service delivery,
reporting systems, decision support systems
Productivity – including email, Internet access, word processing, database
access, spreadsheets, presentation software
The 1996 plan identified improved access to equipment and data as critical, including:
 Equipping support centers with technology appropriate to automating work
 Providing students with access to college services and educational records
 Providing access to documents
 Providing access to current applications software
 Providing access to applications training
In reviewing the 1996 plan 5 years later, there are elements of success in that area.
Desktop resources are available to staff. Productivity software is broadly accessible to
staff. The SCC web site has provided some online access to college services and
documents.
The District has made a significant commitment to Peoplesoft as the primary system for
institutional support and student services processing. This decision lays the foundation
for decisions on other systems that will access Peoplesoft generated data or implement
functions that are closely related to those addressed in the Peoplesoft package. It ensures
that there will be a districtwide approach to a broad spectrum of institutional support
systems.
D. GOALS
The goals for institutional systems are built on the foundation that has been achieved,
including providing staff access to hardware and networking and the commitments that
have been made at the district level to Peoplesoft. The next phase in institutional
computing involves setting goals to ensure that:
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Staff is trained and supported in the implementation of Peoplesoft,
including providing the necessary hardware and infrastructure base.
That resources be available – at either the district or college level – to
ensure that other institutional needs are met even as the Peoplesoft
implementation continues to unfold.
If systems are to be acquired and implemented that enable the college to achieve its basic
operational and strategic goals, a process must be designed that evaluates technology
options against critical success factors:
 Availability of systems in the market that meet college operational and strategic
goals.
 Hardware compatibility – whether systems be accessed and operated with
existing hardware or are upgrades needed and how widespread is the requirement.
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Such considerations need to be addressed at the server, desktop, and network
levels.
Access – defining who needs access to the system and the data that is generated.
Is student access available to the degree needed? Do part time as well as full time
staff have access to job related functions and resources. Access issues may be
defined by physical access (i.e., network) or by the opportunity to utilize system
functions and data.
Security – if the goal of systems implementation is to expand access to data and
online operations, is there sufficient security to ensure data integrity as well as
protect the privacy of those whose data is accessed.
Support – is internal staff available to maintain the system and operate it to
achieve its full potential at the applications, database, and systems/network
levels?
Cost – have cost factors considered the initial cost of acquisition, costs associated
with modifications and implementation, as well as downstream costs associated
with integration to other systems and upgrades?
Training – is training available both on initial installation and subsequent
upgrades for both original and newly hired staff? Does training address the job
responsibilities and needs of staff assigned to work with the applications?
Compatibility of systems with Peoplesoft and other existing applications to
ensure that data can be shared as appropriate.
Data integrity– is efficient processing made possible by using common data
definitions and creating common data bases for use by multiple applications and
departments? Does data support external reporting as well as internal processing
requirements?
Systems integration – is the potential for system functions to be integrated across
programs considered at the acquisition and implementation stages?
Maintaining version control – whether changes are required by the vendor, are
influenced by outside mandates (i.e., federal government requirements for
upgrades), or are at the discretion of the college.
Maintenance contracts – are vendors stable and able to provide ongoing
support?
Reliability – does the system provide consistent results and is it available to
support college needs?
Back up plan – is a backup plan available that would enable the college to
continue to meet operational needs.
E. NEXT STEPS
Concrete steps that can be taken in support of institutional computing include:
 Assessing the inventory of desktop and server resources available to support
faculty and staff involved with institutional systems
 Evaluating the gaps in systems that diminish productivity and prohibit service to
students and colleagues.
 Identify the level of funds needed to support current and upcoming technology
needs
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Identify funding sources that can be applied to meet these needs.
Determine whether institutional systems can or should be developed and
supported at the college or the district level.
Prioritize among institutional computing needs.
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V. TECHNOLOGY BASED STUDENT SERVICES
A. DEFINITION
With the advent of the web, the Internet has become a viable mechanism for delivering
student services – both to distance learning students, whose primary method of
communicating with the campus is via technology, and on campus students, who are
trying to achieve greater efficiency and ease of use in accessing student services.
Technology based student services also include “older” technology, such as telephone
registration. Specific student services that are technology based can include:
 Admissions and registration
 Access to catalog and graduation requirements
 On line scholarship and financial aid
 Transfer information
 Calendaring information
 Academic requirements
 Advising and counseling
 Payment options
 Bookstore services
 Health services
 Tutoring
 Career Planning
 Support groups
 Communications
 Program requirements
B. VALUES
Recognizing that technology is now an integral part of how services are delivered to
students, the primary values that define how we develop and support technology based
student services involve:
 Access
 Efficiency
 Quality
 Comprehensiveness
 Reliability
 Support
Once students come to believe that technology based services are available, it is not
possible to “pull back” and reduce service levels. Students come to expect services to be
available around the clock – figuratively, if not literally, 24X7. Personal access to
computers should not be considered a barrier to using online services. If students (or
prospective students) do not have access to a computer at home, access should be
provided on campus. Student services should be accessible to disabled students. Services
should be easy to use and provide the same results as if the student had utilized on
campus resources. Services should be viewed as a “package deal” – if technology
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becomes the basis for how a student accesses the college, then all services should be
available on line, not just a few services. If there is a question of how to access or use
services, support should be available.
C. STATUS
The imminent implementation of the Peoplesoft student system is going to completely
change how student services are delivered at Sacramento City College. In addition to
maintaining the older technologies associated with telephone registration, Peoplesoft will
enable students to obtain information and complete a number of transactions including
applying on line, filling out supplemental applications, registering, and requesting
transcripts. In addition to the functionalities associated with Peoplesoft, the institutional
web pages provide critical catalog requirements, information on student services and
clubs, and calendars. On line scholarship information is available. Financial aid
applications are available on line.
D. GOALS
As these new resources become available to students, critical goals must be set with
respect to training and support. Students must be aware of these services and be able to
take advantage of them. A second major set of goals will be to integrate these different
services so that students only have to enter data once and it will “populate” relevant
applications, link these administrative services with instructional resources, and provide
required security. The development of a “portal” that will provide a single point of
access and validation for students who are using electronic resources to either reach
student services or instructional resources will promote the continued integration of
services to students.
E. NEXT STEPS
A number of initiatives are currently in the works that will facilitate student use of on line
student services:
 Discussions have begun with the district and other colleges about making email
available on a universal basis to students.
 The Peoplesoft implementation is including training sessions for students on how
to utilize the new resources.
 Lab resources are being identified that will enable students to access Peoplesoft
online and lab staff is being trained on those applications.
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VI. INSTRUCTIONAL TECHNOLOGY: FACULTY REQUIREMENTS
A. DEFINITION
Within the college instructional community, faculty technology resources encompasses:
 Technology available at equipment located in the instructor’s office
 Technology available at equipment located in the instructor’s home
 Availability of technology for both full time and part time instructors
 Availability of resources to enable faculty to identify and test new instructional
technologies
 Availability of resources to enable faculty to learn how to incorporate technology
into instruction, classroom management, and curriculum management.
B. VALUES
Instructional leadership is at the core of the faculty member’s job in the college
community. Faculty are responsible for determining what to teach and how to teach
within the framework posed by curriculum and program guidelines and industry
standards. As technology emerges as a primary instructional resource –enabling students
to succeed in both their academic and career endeavors – what values are associated with
faculty computing resources? In particular, as a continuum of technology based
curriculum is defined, ranging from web or technology enhanced instruction to hybrid
classes and on to fully on line courses, what resources are needed to ensure that faculty
members can focus on appropriate instructional technology instead of available
technology.
Access has been a keyword repeated throughout this document. Faculty must have
access to the same technology that is employed in the classroom. On a practical level,
standards must be set for what technology should be available to support instruction and
faculty should have access on the desktop to those resources that will allow them to
define, develop, and deliver curriculum. Issues of access extend to providing comparable
resources regardless of where the faculty member works. A separate access issue
involves ensuring that part time faculty members are able to take advantage of
technology resources available in the classroom and are able to address classroom
management and communications issues using technology resources.
Faculty should have the option of identifying and incorporating technology resources that
are instructionally relevant and then have access to those resources in order to incorporate
them into instruction.
In addition to the availability of resources, faculty members need to be ensured that
training is available on a number of levels, including:
 Training on specific software packages that are integral to course content – such
as new versions of Microsoft Office, graphics software, or networking software.
 Training on programs that are germane to course development, delivery, and
management regardless of subject matter – whether it be presentation software
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(i.e., Powerpoint and other multimedia) or course management software (i.e.,
Blackboard).
Training on techniques and resources that address the needs of disabled students.
Faculty should have the support needed to move a course or program of instruction
through the stages of web enhancement to online instruction based on instruction
relevance and programmatic need.
The Total Cost of Ownership is a relevant value in terms of ensuring that resources are
available to acquire and replace technology resources based on instructional need for both
hardware and software, that support services are available to ensure that technology is
available as needed, and that training is available.
Resource management becomes a relevant value as the options available in technology
grow at a rate that outpaces the financial and human resources needed to support
technology in instruction. Issues of standardization on hardware and software speak to
this value as does the development of strategies for determining which resources will be
available on faculty desktops for curriculum development and which will be accessible
through institutional labs. This value also has relevance in determining the extent to
which the institution is responsible for providing resources to instructors working at
home and to part time instructors.
C. STATUS
Sacramento City College has made a commitment to ensuring that each full time faculty
member has a computer and a network connection from his/her campus office. Each
faculty member’s machine comes equipped with the Microsoft Office suite, email access,
and an Internet connection. Licensing arrangements allow for the Microsoft Office suite
of software to be loaded on home computers.
Access to packages that are utilized in the classroom is determined at the division level
and is paid for by division budgets.
There are instructional computing support facilities available in the Learning Resources
Center for both full and part time faculty including the “Wizard’s Room” where
instructors can have access to, and receive training and support on tools that most
commonly are used in distance learning formats but which can have broader instructional
relevance – such as Photoshop or Dreamweaver.
The campus does not have access to its own web server for course development and
delivery. Instructors have “space” defined on the district’s web server and Blackboard
server. This constrains some of the resources available to faculty members for
instructional design, development, and delivery such as incorporation of “streaming
video” techniques into instruction.
A replacement cycle for faculty machines has not been defined. The college is at the
beginning stages of mapping needed resources to equipment on the instructor’s desktop.
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This information may be used as a basis for determining the upgrade schedules for
individual faculty members.
Training programs are being developed to introduce non program specific technology
resources to the campus. Topics to be introduced include use of multimedia resources,
Microsoft Office suite, Blackboard, and on line instruction. Training will be geared to
the interest and level of experience of the instructor.
Curriculum management systems are being considered to facilitate the efficient operation
of the process of evaluating and approving curriculum.
D. GOALS
Goals that need to be established for faculty technology resources over the next three
years are to:
 Establish a faculty computing replacement cycle that considers first functionality
and then the age of the computer.
 Develop a commitment to supporting campus based instructional computing that
includes web development with servers, software, support positions, and facilities.
 Deliver training designed to ensure that faculty achieve and maintain technology
competency in the classroom.
 Develop mechanisms to ensure that a “diffusion of technology innovation” occurs
in the classroom so that best practices can be defined and disseminated.
 Develop a curriculum based software review and adoption process.
 Develop a process for assessing the readiness of courses for delivery in distance
learning formats and create delivery mechanisms for those courses.
 Enable faculty to utilize technology resources to manage both classroom activity
and curriculum.
E. NEXT STEPS
A number of steps are being taken to enable goals for faculty technology to be achieved:
 Smart classrooms have been defined and are implemented in each division that
are the first step in allowing for the diffusion of technology innovation. These
classrooms will have comparable capabilities to facilitate faculty learning and use.
The availability of these classrooms will provide “laboratories” to enable faculty
to try out on line delivery formats in the classroom in preparation for more stand
alone coursework.
 Positions are being defined that are responsible for digital media and adaptive
technology functions within the college. These positions will both relieve faculty
who have been providing web design services at the department and division level
and provide training and assistance to faculty who are utiltizing digital media
resources in the classroom. These positions will also have to have access to the
technical resources needed to be successful – including servers.
 A replacement cycle for faculty computers has been proposed as part of the
budget process.
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VII. INSTRUCTIONAL TECHNOLOGY: CLASSROOM AND STUDENT
RESOURCES
A. DEFINITION
Classroom based technology planning focuses on the systems and resources that are
needed to support student educational outcomes, including:
 Classroom based technology such as multimedia or “smart” classrooms
 Deployment of full classroom labs to support instruction
 Availability of remote technology resources that can be used to provide student
instruction, including course management systems, web based systems, ITV,
telecourses, or hybrid courses.
 Access to out of class technology resources to both deliver and support instruction
that incorporates technology
 Access to technology that supports students with disabilities
 Access to technology that mirrors the learning or work environment that students
are likely to encounter upon program or course completion.
 Access to software that prepares students for the learning or work environment
that students are likely to encounter upon program or course completion.
 Preparation to become computer “literate” in those technologies that support
instruction regardless of course content, such as word processing, electronic
messaging, Internet use, or library resources.
 Access to information technologies that enable the student to customize his/her
approach to information technology and data acquisition, such as “portals”.
 Access to assistance for both software and hardware issues to support direct
instruction as well as computer literacy.
B. VALUES
As technology emerges as a major instructional resource and delivery mechanism for the
community college student, the values that underlie technology planning should
emphasize different elements of student success as well as be integrated into the college’s
strategic educational and facilities plans. The goals set forth in the college’s educational
plan will serve as a blueprint for charting growth and instructional approaches. The
facilities plan provides context to how technology can be implemented within the
constraints and opportunities provide by the college’s physical plant. The technology
plan should also both recognize and be supportive of, the college’s broader goals in
enrollment management and marketing.
A keyword in defining the values to be used in instructional technology planning is
access. Access can be applied across a number of areas, including:
 Technologies that promote student instructional and career goals
 Technologies that promote computer literacy in an era in which technology
infuses methods of interaction and communications as well as direct instruction
 Technologies that enable students with disabilities to utilize technology
 Instructional resources that enable learning to become independent of time and
place
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Support resources that enable students to successfully pursue educational goals
using technology
Data storage so that students can develop and manipulate data appropriate to their
course success.
Students need to have the opportunity to experience technology across a range of
curriculum and different instructional venues. Technology is relevant to instruction in
courses that can be web enhanced, hybrid, or fully online. Students should have the
opportunity – and supporting facilities should be made available – to ensure that
technology can be incorporated as appropriate into instruction – instead of being facilities
constrained or available only if the student chooses to take an online course. Technology
is relevant to instruction across the curriculum and is not confined to technical
curriculum.
The impact of technology on the quality of instructional design and delivery is critical.
While technology can be employed to expand access to instruction, assurance must be
forthcoming that technology infused curriculum adhere to the same high pedagogical
standards that support learning in the traditional classroom.
“Technology for
technology’s sake” is not the approach to be employed in transforming instruction using
new tools and resources.
Students must be trained and supported in the use of technology to ensure that they
have access to technology resources and are able to develop the skills and ability needed
for success in their educational and professional goals.
Issues of privacy and security need to be evaluated so that students can manage and
maintain the data and information necessary to support their learning in a secure
environment.
The Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) model that ensures that technology is supported
both financially and with personnel resources to enable student educational goals to be
achieved reliably is key to providing access for students to technology resources. This
value can also be used to define replacement cycles for technology.
Priority setting is an important consideration in the SCC environment for a number of
reasons. Resources have to be allocated to meet multiple needs. Technology projects
will have to be implemented in stages. Because technology projects are often coupled
with facilities modifications, a method of determining project schedules has to be
devised. A method for setting priorities that is determined by the shared governance
process and is applied in a fair and consistent manner will assist in making these difficult
decisions.
C. STATUS
Sacramento City College currently has a number of programs which have integrated
technology into instruction including:
 Computer Information Systems
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
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

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Graphics Communications
Geographic Information Systems
Photography
Writing
ESL
MESA/Math
There are a number of programs that would like to utilize technology further in
instruction but have not been able to acquire the resources needed to consistently have
access to technology. These programs include:
 Chemistry
 EDT
 Electronics
There are network connections in the classrooms to enable Internet and network access.
Classes that promote computer literacy are available in the LRC and are becoming
integrated into core curriculum in such disciplines as Chemistry.
The definition of technology is being expanded to include computer based
instrumentation as well as traditional computers.
Plans are being made to implement “smart” classrooms in each division that would utilize
the network connections.
Open lab facilities are available in the Learning Resources Center and the Business
Building to enable students to have access to technology, including the Internet.
Division based labs are available for Graphics Communication, EDT, Science, Writing
and ESL, Computer Science and Business, Music, and Journalism. These labs also
permit Internet access.
Macintoshes are the computers of choice in specific programs including Photography,
Journalism, Graphics Communications, Theater Arts and Music.
There is no replacement schedule for classroom facilities, open labs, or division labs.
Lab technicians are available to support both open labs and division labs.
D. GOALS
 Plan classroom labs based on student instructional goals –facilities should enable
the student to achieve goals that are based on literacy, transfer, or career
advancement?
 Create delivery mechanisms appropriate to both curriculum and student life style
– expanding the options for online learning where both educationally sound and
technically feasible.
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
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Provide student support mechanisms, both classes and help desks, to ensure that
students are able to take advantage of educational resources that are delivered
through technology.
Develop replacement cycles that are responsive to instructional goals.
Develop funding sources that have linkages to the industries where students seek
employment.
E. NEXT STEPS
 Implement the approved plan for smart classrooms.
 Continue to incorporate online resources into the curriculum.
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VIII. INFRASTRUCTURE
A. DEFINITION
The literal backbone of the college institutional and instructional technology capabilities
is the network. Gone are the days when systems resided on an individual workstation.
The network enables shared access to data, peripherals, and programs. Video and audio
files are as common as data. The campus network increasingly supports functions that
are designed to enhance workplace productivity – fax on demand, document imaging and
retrieval, photocopying and reproduction, printing to remote locations, or voice over IP.
The wide area network connects the colleges and centers through the district office. Our
Internet provider is housed at the CSUS campus.
B. VALUES
The values associated with the network are:
 Access
 Reliability
 Speed
 Security
 Appropriate use
As the college struggles with issues of growth in both instruction and administrative
responsibilities, the need for access to network resources at the division, college, and
district levels increases. Communication is critical to growth and success and access to
network resources to critical to communication.
Since the use of the college and district networks is now mission critical, reliability
assumes greater importance as a value. The goal of the college network is to achieve
reliability for all but 4 hours weekly throughout the year. The costs of network support
are predicated on the value of reliability.
As the expectation grows that electronic communication is conducted with the same
facility as face to face communication, speed is of the essence. A good part of the
acceptance of on line instruction is predicated on electronic communication that
approximates the classroom setting. Rapid email responses are expected. Internet
connections time out when speed is not available.
As more transactions are conducted over the network, security concerns become of
greater importance. Institutional computing involves transactions that are legally
protected. If unauthorized users gain access to data, students’ safety and educational
futures are jeopardized. If faculty is to gain confidence in on line learning as being
comparable to in class learning, there has to be an absolute sense of trust in the security
of information that is passed over the college network. If data is to be stored on servers
for access by faculty or students, there must be an absolute sense of trust that data, files,
presentations, and programs are secure and cannot be tampered with or deleted. Among
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the greatest challenges in implementing wireless networks is to ensure that security
concerns are addressed.
One of the “gray areas” of educational technology is the concept of appropriate use. As
network resources grow, so do the programs and technologies that can take advantage of
those resources. Some of those technologies are bandwidth intensive – streaming audio,
streaming video, and peer to peer networking utilize a high degree of bandwidth.
However, bandwidth is a shared commodity. How do we ensure that we can meet
instructional and institutional goals while productively sharing a limited resource. How
can we ensure that all users have the same principles and goals at heart – and that use of
network resources is for institutional or instructional purposes? With the costs associated
with providing, managing, and maintaining network resources increasing at an
exponential rate, can the college afford to have unlimited bandwidth available for both
institutional and personal use?
C. STATUS
The campus network consists of copper to the desktop and fiber between buildings. All
classes are equipped with at least one network drop although not all connections are
“live” at the router.
There are three networks in the college configuration. The administrative network carries
all traffic from administrative and staff workstations, as well as carries the programs and
data that support institutional computing. The instructional network carries instructional
traffic – including on line instruction. Most faculty workstations are connected to the
instructional network – although they are being migrated off onto the administrative
network as the need for data sharing and security grows. In addition, the instructional
network will carry the web based traffic involved in implementing Peoplesoft, enabling
students to apply and register on line. The resource network supports servers and
peripherals that are used by both the administrative and instructional networks.
The administrative and instructional networks each have a T1 line from the college to the
District office. The networks are Windows NT based, although there is a project to
implement Windows 2000 servers and Windows XP on the workstations. In addition,
there are a number of Macs on the instructional network to support the specific functions
associated with graphics communications, photography, and Journalism, among others.
A standalone network exists in the Business building that is used for CIS instruction in
which a certain amount of network instability is instructionally sound.
A fourth network will be implemented in Spring 2002 known as the public network. The
goal of the public network will be to enable people to bring their personal computing
resources to campus and access Internet resources. The public network will “join” the
college’s instructional T1 line in connecting to the Internet. Individuals on the public
network will not be able to utilize resources associated with the administrative, resource,
or instructional networks. The benefit of the public network is that the college will be
able to extend computing resources to on campus users without making the investment in
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hardware. Students will have the option of maintaining their work on their personal
machines rather than transferring data between school and personal equipment.
Further expansion of network resources is also expected through the implementation of
wireless networks. Wireless networks can be instituted for administrative, instructional,
and public uses. The role of wireless is to augment capabilities in areas in which
additional hardwired network capabilities are not practical, such as areas under
construction or when network capabilities are saturated.
It is also anticipated that network resources will increase at the district level. It is
anticipated that a D3 line will be installed at the district office to provide Internet access
to the colleges and centers.
D. GOALS
The goals of the college network are to:
 Provide adequate bandwidth to allow for the appropriate growth of instructional
and institutional traffic.
 Provide reliable access to network resources with a maintenance window that
does not impede instruction.
 Facilitate implementation of new network technologies, including wireless, to
allow for decisions about institutional or instructional computing to proceed
without reference to facilities based impediments.
 Allow faculty to experiment with new technologies that are appropriate to
meeting the educational mission without undue concern about capacity.
 Provide access to data and programs through servers that will enable faculty and
students to access data from a network based source in a secure manner.
 Continue to develop security measures that will enable students, faculty, and staff
to conduct business using network resources without fear of compromise.
E. NEXT STEPS
In the near time frame, there are a number of steps that can be taken toward the college’s
goals. An analysis of the college infrastructure should be undertaken to determine where
wireless provides options for connectivity that do not currently exist. The public network
that is planned for the LRC should be implemented to both provide a service to students
and to serve as a beta site for identifying the issues involved in providing such a service
on a broader basis, including support and the impact on the instructional T1 line. A
district wide dialogue should take place about the appropriate use of the network so that
all members of the college community have full knowledge of the impact of individual
actions on a collective resource.
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IX. ACHIEVING COLLEGE TECHNOLOGY GOALS
A. PROCESS
In addition to the next steps identified in each aspect of the technology plan, a broader set
of processes needs to be developed to ensure that college technology goals are met. The
outline of these processes includes:
 Ongoing scans of the technology horizon to ensure that new resources and
techniques that would benefit the college are identified, evaluated, and
implemented as appropriate
 Ongoing education of administrators, faculty, and staff to trends in technology
and the impact of technology on the institutional and instructional mission of the
college. Participation in conferences that focus on the integration of technology
and identification of best practices in higher education are two strategies that
should be adopted by the SCC community.
 Integration with the educational master plan to ensure that technology represents a
viable strategy to enable administrators and faculty to achieve program
development, modernization, and expansion. Technology based options need to
be factored in to the college’s response to growth as well.
 Integration with the facilities plan to ensure that technology requirements are
specified as part of plans for modernization and college development.
 Identification and commitment of funding sources. A process needs to be
developed that identifies potential sources of funding to support technology and
then matches those sources to specific bases of technology expenditures. A clear
distinction should be made between one time only and ongoing funds. When
developing replacement cycles, sources of ongoing funds should be identified to
provide the continuity needed to support a permanent activity. Lab expansion
linked with program development could be tied to one time only funds.
Modernization and building funds could support major expansions of technology
facilities. Key to developing a “map” of funding sources to expenditure
categories is an identification of the number of systems to be replaced or the rate
of expansion of technology based programs.
 Integration with the college’s chosen strategic themes and planning cycle. In
order for technology planning to serve college goals, it should be integrated with
both the themes that demonstrate college areas of emphasis and the planning
process that defines division initiatives and resource requests. Once that
interdependence is defined, technology planning will obtain the focus that will
ensure its value to the college community. (See Attachment A)
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ATTACHMENT A
Overview of
SCC Planning Activities
District Strategic Plan
College Themes
Educational Master Plan
HR Plan
Unit Plans
IT Plan
Educ/Facilities Plan
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B. ROLES
Another set of considerations in operationalizing the technology plan is to identify key
actors whose participation, perspective, and expertise is critical to plan acceptance and
use. Major roles exist for the Information Technology Dean, Information Technology
staff, Information Technology committee, divisions, constituency groups, and the
Executive Office.
The IT dean can serve as a focal point for the discussion of how technology can help the
college to meet its goals as well as provide leadership to the steps needed to identify new
technology resources and obtain, fund, and implement technology. The IT dean can also
raise the need for resources and initiatives that are outside the scope of any one division
or department and would otherwise not be represented in the resource allocation and
college planning process.
The IT staff is in a unique position to both learn about emerging technology and provide
insights into how well infrastructure resources are supporting college technology goals.
The Information Technology committee is both the forum for raising issues about how
well technology is meeting college goals as well as a source of expertise that is available
to divisions and college decisionmakers as priorities are being set for expenditures and
initiatives that have a technology component.
Integration of technology planning with educational plans and yearly resource allocation
cycles will occur at the division level. Divisions develop the unit plans that are the basis
for the college planning and resource allocation cycle. Analysis of the technology
ramifications of division initiatives should occur in that forum.
The constituency groups provide a significant resource to the college in ensuring that
issues relating to faculty and staff training and innovation in the use of technology are
raised and addressed.
The college’s executive office, consisting of the President and Vice Presidents, has a
critical role in ensuring that the technology planning process supports college goals.
They also are instrumental to identifying broad funding sources and prioritizing facilities
projects, including construction and modernization initiatives. Their sensitivity and
commitment to the integration of technology into the college’s larger planning cycles is
critical to plan success and the implementation of technology as a primary resource for
both instruction and institutional efforts.
C. MAINTAINING THE TECHNOLOGY PLAN
In order for the strategic technology plan to remain relevant and become the basis for
tactical decisionmaking in the educational, facilities, and resource allocation arenas, a
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process must be instituted to maintain the plan itself. That process follows the traditional
model of:
 Plan
 Implement
 Review/Evaluate
 Revise
This planning cycle involves elements that focus on technology itself – including
developing and maintaining systems, making hardware and software choices, and
ensuring access through training and resource deployment. However the primary impact
of the plan will be in how it forms a reference point for other planning efforts (illustrated
in Attachment B). To the extent that the access called for in the plan guides decisions in
facilities renovations, enables instructional decisions to be made that take account of the
opportunities to meet growth demands through new technology based instructional
delivery systems, or helps the institution determine how to allocate scarce resources, then
its value as a technology plan will be demonstrated. The final evaluation of plan
effectiveness will depend on how it enables the institution as a whole to meet its goals.
Plan revisions will be based on changes to the college and community environment, in
addition to technology based developments that provide new options for the educational
arena.
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ATTACHMENT B
Resource
Allocation
Strategic
Technology
Plan
Facilities
Master Plan
Implementation
Review
Educational
Master Plan
Revise
College
Strategic Plan
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