SAIT Annual
Report 2009
January
2010
Continuing Effort to Standardize Business Processes
• Defined Mission Statements
SAIT defined mission statements to guide our work and help us maintain focus on the needs of the Division and those
we support.
Contents:
• Improved Internal Documentation
Solutions for a tight budget P.1
SAIT has moved away from the Microsoft Sharepoint documentation solution and moved to a simpler, industry standard
wiki system for internal documentation.
Professional
Development
• Providing Transparency
current web projects on our website, holding regular monthly meetings with departmental personnel, compiling
obtained his Montana state
procedural documents, and creating an annual report.
• Standardizing procedures
Driver’s License.
SAIT has developed more standardized procedures that will provide consistency for our clients. Examples include the
Dan Bowling was elected the
Chair of the UM Web
Committee and also obtained
SAIT Hours P.3
SA Web P.4
SAIT continues to make efforts to become more transparent to our client base. Examples include listing the number of
Antony Jo became a Citrix
Certified Administrator and
Projects, Services P.2
Student Affairs
Information
Technology
Manager of SAIT
SAIT has been working to establish Service Level Agreements on bigger projects to clarify expectations of everyone
License.
involved.
Standardization P.8
Affairs since 1999. Current
position since 2006.
Antony Jo
his Montana state Driver’s
RTAs, Student Services P.7
Employed within Student
new CMS account request and Active Directory account modification requests.
• Service Level Agreements (SLA)
SA Files P.6
Jesse Neidigh
Solutions for a tight budget
Senior System Administrator
Employed within Student
Affairs since 2003. Current
position since 2008.
Virtual Servers
SAIT has implemented many virtual servers, several of
which are in production. SAIT’s intranet and the
Minimizing Printing
In the month of November 2009, The Division of
Student Affairs printed 68,047 pages from networked
printers. This number does not include the personal
Dan Bowling
SAIT Mission Statements
SAIT Mission
Web/Database Administrator
University Center’s EMS server are examples of
production virtual servers. The annual costs of these
Employed within Student
Affairs since 2006. Current
page, 68,047 pages equates to $6,124.23 in printing
position since 2008.
(physical) servers, especially after factoring in the high
alone. Minimizing the amount people print can save
reliability that is intrinsic to virtualization.
the environment and reduce costs.
efficient use of technology as a cornerstone of organizational success by providing effective business solutions in terms
RTA Coordinators
of high quality, well-managed technology services and effective user education. Student Affairs IT will do so by
Luke Smith and Chase Maier
Thin Clients
integrating best practices and maintaining transparency through collaboration with departmental staff.
and staff of the division of Student Affairs. It is to work towards enhancing the utilization of technology by students and
staff as well as to encourage and enable student learning by educating in addition to providing IT support.
After a thorough evaluation process, SAIT has decided
Mary Callahan-Baumstark,
to go with iGel thin clients. At $300 per unit, the thin
there is a reason why CRT monitors are becoming
Kaufman, Crystal Hinderliter,
James Davenport, David
Schaad, Adam Ormesher and
clients provide an affordable and longer lasting
alternative to a full-fledged desktop. In addition to the
Our mission is to support the Division of Student Affairs and The University of Montana by improving the communication
and business processes of SA department by developing, deploying, managing and maintaining the effective use of webbased software.
harder to find in stores. Not only do flat panel monitors
have a nicer look, they take up less desk space, use
less power and emit less heat.
upfront cost savings, thin clients also save operational
Aaron Snyder
cost by using less power.
SAIT Web Mission
Flat Panel Monitors
Flat panel monitors might sound expensive at first, but
RTAs
Nick Corn, Caitlin Sager, Amy
The mission of the DirectConnect Office is to provide technical education and support to University of Montana students
approximating the cost of printing to be 9 cents per
virtual servers are substantially less than traditional
Our mission is to support the Division of Student Affairs and therefore The University of Montana through promoting
DirectConnect Office Mission
printers that are hooked up to a single workstation. By
Flat panel monitors also have a lower operational cost,
because they have a lower power consumption rate
Student Web Programmer
David O’Hagan
Web Instead of Paper
As we progress through the digital age, our office
strongly encourages the use of e-mails to replace
handwritten memos and to reduce the amount of
printed e-mails. Not only will it reduce operational cost,
this practice will also be better for the environment.
SAIT Annual Report January 2010
than the traditional CRT monitors. Considering a 17
inch monitor, LCDs consume approximately 35 Watts
compared to CRTs of the same size that consume
approximately 90 Watts.
Services Provided
by SAIT to Staff
Web
SAIT provides managed web
Completed Projects
• Student Affairs data center constructed in Curry Health Center
Services Provided
by SAIT to Students
RTAs – What they are and what they do
RTA Stands for Resident Technology Assistant.
Each dorm and the Lewis and Clark Village apartment complex has an
Construction was completed in Curry Health Center room 072 for the new data center. The new data center is
RTA who lives in the building and is available four nights per week to help residents with technical issues such as
hosting, design/development,
a consolidated location for the various servers that are owned by the Division of Student Affairs. The new data
support and training to Student
center has the capacity to house five racks of equipment and is equipped with redundant power and dedicated
connecting to the internet and troubleshooting cable hook-ups, phones, and general computer issues.
Affairs departments and their
data lines to the campus network core.
completed 246 scheduled appointments with residents in the last year and countless unscheduled assists.
The RTAs
staff. More details for these
services are outlined in the Web
section of this report.
technological services such as
providing published desktops
• EMS Upgraded and moved to a virtual server
Affairs. They provide phone support and on-site tech support for Student Affairs staff and students. RTAs typically make
203 for checked-in machines
weekly or bi-weekly personal visits to each department to ensure that there are no outstanding IT issues.
Of the check-ins:
the deployment of a new web-based Virtual EMS module that will reduce per-user license costs.
There were 59 Data backups
performed/
RTA Hours in each dorm
• Wireless implemented at University Villages
The Sisson apartment complex at the University Villages Family housing was equipped with wireless access
Office Suite and other commonly
points to provide wireless internet service to the residents.
Banner and UMDW.
- 104 were for cable sales
custom components. SAIT worked with the vendor to provide a relatively seamless upgrade process, including
that allow users to run the basic
used applications such as
indemnity agreements for
transactions in the DCO.
RTAs also each work an average of 18 hours a week in the DirectConnect Office and for the departments of Student
EMS—a mission-critical desktop and server application—required a major upgrade this year that broke many
Systems
SAIT provides enterprise level
DirectConnect Office
During fall of 2009 we logged 307
70 machine reformat and
Aber Hall
157
166.25
Support Tickets Addressed
171.5
173
reinstalls were done.
57 of the machines checked in
Craig Hall
were non-residents (living outside
Elrod/Duniway Hall
of dorms/LCV).
7 virus/spyware clean-ups were
From Dec 2008 to Dec 2009, SAIT addressed 599 support tickets.
SAIT also manages specific
application servers such as
Event Management System,
Food Service Suite, and Shiprite.
User Support
SAIT staff provides departmental
AISS
5
DSS
46
RLO
51
ASUM
17
ES
43
UC
55
CREC
14
FSSS
11
UDS
116
CS
25
GRAD
7
VPSA
28
CHC
132
GCC
49
145.25
143.75
137.5
187.25
Jesse Hall
performed.
Knowles Hall
85 of the checked in machines
Lewis and Clark
174.25
Pantzer Hall
Turner Hall
• Blackboard Transaction Server Replacement
of students we help for whom we
fill out indemnity agreements. This
SAIT is working in cooperation with the Griz Card Center, University Dining Services and the Residence Life Office to
software, as well as an immense amount of planning and organization are required for implementaion. The new system
visits from RTA’s provide staff
members with the resources to
DCO—i.e. students without
paperwork –is double the number
number does not include phone
implement a new system for managing the campus one-card solution: Griz Card. New server hardware and updated
In addition, weekly personal
We estimate that the number of
student walk-ins we help in the
Upcoming Projects
maintenance to comprehensive
desktop support.
free with no charge to the student.
Miller Hall
personnel with services ranging
from hardware and software
were troubleshot or diagnosed for
support, which is provided Monday
Restructure of Student Compensation
through Friday from 8am - 5pm.
Focusing on Standardization and Cost
Previously, students were contracted for a
During the past year, the compensation plan
number of hours per semester and worked
In Dorm Support
- In dorm lab and internet kiosks
chose a new system. SAIT worked with various Student Affairs departments and Human Resources to bring up the new
for RTAs, RTA Coordinators, and Student
them off at a varying rate week by week. Now
software, called Empower.
Programmers was revised to focus on
we have a set minimum weekly hour
standardization. The weekly hour
expectation. Additionally, we have changed
Soon there will be an upgrade to the Food Management System used by University Dining Services. SAIT is working with
expectation for the student employees of
the payscale progression for student
UDS and vendors to test the upgrade and its implications on SAIT managed virtual servers without impact on the
SAIT was made more rigid, allowing
employees who previously had been awarded
improved scheduling and project planning
a raise based on longevity, regardless of
opportunities as well as simplifed annual
performance. Now, raises will be based on
budgeting.
performance as evaluated in student
will be brought online in May of 2010.
• Empower TimeClock System Implementation
solve technology related
Blackboard has not supported the time clock system we’ve been using for a number of years. Additionally, when we move
problems.
to the new Transaction server we will no longer be running the old unsupported software. A committee was formed that
• CBORD upgrade
production servers.
• Rebuilding Outdated Web Applications
Old ColdFusion based applications will continue to be converted to adhere to our newly established PHP coding
standards. All web-payment systems will be converted to use Montana Interactive's web payment gateway.
employees’ bi-semesterly reviews as well as
longevity.
- 4 nights per week on-call support
- Scheduled appts with residents
For more info, visit
umt.edu/dco
Duplicate Files
Student Affairs Data Storage
Student Affairs IT Staff Hours
Division of Student Affairs had
more than 95,000 duplicate
files in the SAN. The amount of
space that can be saved by
eliminating these duplicate files
The Storage Area Network (SAN) is
a centerpiece of the IT infrastructure
of the Division of Student Affairs. It
is over 18 Gigabytes (GB),
which is 60% of the allotted
space for a single deparment.
handles the bulk of data storage for
the entire division. Each of the
departments supported by Student
Dangers
Not only do duplicate files take
up space on the file servers,
Affairs IT has a quota of 30 GB of
shared file space and for most
departments; individual users can
they also pose other hazards
to the Division of Student
have up 50 MB of space where they
Affairs. A major concern of
can store personal files. The SAN
having duplicate files is data
also houses the sizable media files
consistency; multiple copies of
and marketing materials
a document if managed
incorrectly could lead to people
using the incorrect version of a
Not only does the SAN provide a
document or spreadsheet.
consolidated
location
where
departmental users can collaborate
Copyright
Violations
provides
reliability
SAN are written to a Redundant
Array of Independent Disks (RAID)
that
will
allow
the
system
to
In order to protect UM and
reconstruct the data in the case of
residents from litigation, SAIT
hardware failures.
Student
Affairs
IT
utilizes the services of Central IT’s
resident.
tape
to remove any software
collected from the 1st of December, 2008 to the 1st of December, 2009.
OCS
74
CHC
137.5
2009 we began implementing
DSS
138.5
iGel thin clients. Below are some
ES
60.75
comparisons of these thin clients
FSSS
14.25
GRAD
12.25
within the Division as well as supporting students as defined on page 2.
Student Affairs is off the chart because the vast majority of the hours
documented by SAIT full time staff is spent working towards or managing
solutions that benefit the entire division. Residence Life is off the chart because
about one half of the manager of SAIT’s hours are clocked to that department
as supervision and management of the Residence Life RTA program.
GCC
357.75
RLO
1285
UC
200.75
UDS
365.75
VPSA
30.75
SA
3487
6229.75
THIN CLIENTS
To reduce maintenance costs
and greatly reduce the costs of
routinely replacing PCs, we have
been promoting thin clients. In
with a standard Dell desktop PC.
iGel
PC
Cost:
$300
$500-600
Power:
13-22W
55-180W
Lifespan: 4-5yr
18-24mnth
DIGITAL SIGNAGE
An additional cost savings
strategy SAIT has been working
on with various SA departments
is using digital signage rather
than paper flyers and mailings.
350
Marketing & Media Files
by Department AISS (1.4 GB)
backup
system
to
provide
another layer of redundancy for its
data storage solution. In most cases,
Central IT will be able to recover
used in connection with the
deleted or corrupted data for up to a
infringement and to educate
three-month period.
300
ASUM (0 GB)
250
CHC (22.32 GB)
CREC (24.3 GB)
Furthermore,
room internet access for that
- Requiring RTA assistance
or on projects for each department SAIT supports. The data represented was
18.75
There are multiple monitors
400
DSS (1.3 GB)
takes action when notified of
hearing with Residence Life.
39
CREC
The data stored in the
violation notices.
- Holding a disciplinary
ASUM
and
2009 SAIT working with RLO
- Temporarily disabling in-
Student Affairs Information Technology Employee clocked as having worked in
In addition, the RTAs clocked 11,179 hours of work for the various departments
7.75
throughout the division using
also
availability.
an official complaint by:
AISS (2.3 GB)
ASUM (4.2 GB)
CHC (36.3 GB)
CREC (8.4 GB)
DSS (7.8 GB)
ES (30 GB)
FSSS (3.3 GB)
GCC (7.9 GB)
GRAD (10.6 GB)
OCS (27.7 GB)
RLO (6.3 GB)
SAIT (4.2 GB)
UC (27.3 GB)
UDS (15.9 GB)
VPSA (7.1 GB)
AISS
on projects and documents, the SAN
From Dec 01, 2008 to Dec 01,
handled 96 DMCA and RIAA
Personal and Shared Files
by Department
Dept Name Hours
Below is a graph of the data from the table at the right, laying out the time each
ES (17.08 GB)
HOURS
As of December 30th, the
Green
computing
opportunities
Web/Db
Mgr
Snr Sys Adm
Curry Health Center waiting area
and in the Griz Card Center.
200
Staff Turnover
Student Affairs IT has had a fair
150
amount of turn-over in the last
year. With the loss of our long-
100
employed Senior System
Administrator early in the year,
we worked to certify remaining
50
staff and hire another System
Administrator. Unfortunately, the
RLO (9.4 GB)
SAIT (5.5 GB)
implementations is the DEN,
Mgr of SAIT
GRAD (0.008 GB)
OCS (0.007 GB)
of the most viewed
which is viewable in the dorms,
Sys Adm
FSSS (0.44 GB)
GCC (0.02 GB)
various delivery methods. One
0
hire we made in March, did not
last through probation.
the resident on Copyright
UC (112.2 GB)
An arduous search promises to
Law and how to prevent
UDS (84.5 GB)
wrap up near the end of the year.
future infringements.
VPSA (0.82 GB)
NOTE: Student Affairs is a category we use for work affecting the entire division. Examples would be:
Data backup
- Virus/Spyware protection management
Server management
- IT Project Management
Representation on campus committees.
Additionally, SAIT FTEs clocked 47 hours on campus IT search committees and projects.
Additionally, we lost a veteran
student web designer during the
summer as well as multiple
RTAs. We have yet to fill the
student programmer postion.
V
Web Services
DirectConnect
SA Web Programmers provide
WEB
Student Affairs
the following services to all SA
departments:
MANAGED WEB HOSTING
SAIT manages web hosting for
all SA units (including CMS
SA Programmers spent much
of the last year rewriting the
custom applications that
manage and provide the
DirectConnect Internet Service
to students in residence halls,
hosting), performing the
in addition to keeping track of
Software, Standards &
Custom Programming
installation and maintanance of
custom applications. We also
provide backup and disaster
our internal inventory, support
tickets, time clocking, and other
aspects of our business
recovery options.
process.
DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT
Website Rewrite
We are available to improve
your business processes
through the building of
customized, database-driven
web applications. We can also
create custom designs for
websites, marketing emails,
and in many cases third party
web applications.
SUPPORT
SAIT provides direct support to
SA users through workshops
2009 Was a Year of Big Changes...
The Web is an ever changing
medium—one that our students
expect us to keep current with.
2009 was a year when SAIT
worked
on
building
the
groundwork to make the leap into
a more modern web presence.
and phone/email support. We
We also began re-buiding several
pre-existing applications, such as:
mission, as well as provide a framework to keep the
user
experience
consistent
with
other
UM
websites, and throughout Student Affairs.
Transition Progress
content creation work to
department staff.
New Management Software
SAIT worked closely with other campus entities to
implement University-wide solutions that meet
the needs of Student Affairs. Implementing a
TRAINING
University-wide solution helps keep maintenance
We provide training workshops
and training costs down, while giving students a
to SA staff for various web
more consistent experience.
Optimization, Web Writing, and
We were strong participants in the bid process for
Web Accessibility) throughout
the new campus CMS (Cascade Server), and
the year. We are also available
performed
to come to departments and
train staff on a requested topic
the
recommendation
initial
of
a
review
and
campus-wide
calendaring system (online now at events.umt.edu.)
on-demand.
New Standards
For more information on our
allowed SAIT to solicite feedback from
services, please consult our
representatives and recommend to the directors a
more detailed Service Level
new set of SA Web Standards. The new standards
Agreement (SLA) document
gave departments the flexibility to meet their
online at
life.umt.edu/sait/web/sla.php
SA
Easy to get web support.
to help improve the user
experience.
● The DSS e-Text database runs
●75% report that they are Very
mails with custom messages per
e-Text books through a workflow
Satisfied with web support.
e-mail.
and QA process as they are
●88% report that they are Satisfied
be delivered electronically.
or Very Satisfied with response
store that allows parents to pick,
Cascade Server CMS. By December 1st, SAIT
customize, and order gifts online
● The RLO Housing Application
created 30 sites in Cascade Server.
with a credit card.
allows
time.
students
apply
for
●88% report that they are Satisfied
(including
a
or Very Satisfied with the quality of
to
housing
online
Since Cascade Server lacks the calendaring
● The UC Gameroom Class
deposit)
and
options that the previous SA CMS had, the more
Attendance application lets the
applications into Banner after a
robust
Gameroom import Banner dumps
staff member approves them.
calandaring
software
now
hosted
on
events.umt.edu was implemented. 15 calendars
of students into classes, allowing
dumps
those
support.
documentation built around the
most commonly performed
tasks.
Additionally, our Service Level
Agreement (see Web Services
at left) as well as updated web
standards and best practices
are available online.
●88% report that they are Satisfied
or Very Satisfied with the quality of
work.
were created for SA departments.
SA Users can now go to the
website to find Cascade CMS
scanned from a physical book to
support and development time toward the new
University Web
Committee
SA Programmers worked on several database-
The Need to Rewrite Web Applications...
If you have any questions about
what services SA Programmers
driven custom web applications this year, including:
● A single sign-on component that can be
Q: Why all the recent rewrites of
support them.These
enable
provide
canrewrites
provide
to SAIT
your todepartment,
existing programs?
please
calltheDan
Bowling
at 243long-term support,
even after
original
developer
2008 or send him an email at
leaves. Another element that has brought about the
plugged into custom applications to authenticate
● The RLO Student Discipline Tracking system
New management software was installed which
website (http://life.umt.edu/web)
minutes of the class start time.
● The UDS Bear Hugs online
against the existing Active Directory
~
kiosk if they arrive within a few
announced for June 30th, 2010 in order to shift
final
web
SA Programmers rewrote their
● 87% report that it is Easy or Very
that allows us to send out mass e-
The Student Affairs CMS End of Life was
Custom Programming
topics (such as Search Engine
Satisfaction Survey
● The custom e-mail blast tool
build the "skeleton" of any new
CMS site, leaving only the
the students to sign into class via a
daniel.bowling@mso.umt.edu
A: SA Programmers standardized the
need to re-build existing applications is the
development language to PHP with the
movement towards PCI compliance when
CodeIgniter framework. This will allow
accepting credit card or e-check payments over
us to train our staff in a single way to
the web. SAIT has worked with departments to
develop software, and results in faster
help secure their online transactions, and in most
lets RAs enter discipline and incident reports, and
tracks those reports through their workflow process.
turnarounds. Most of the existing apps
cases, has tried to involve an outside 3rd party
were written in ColdFusion, however, and
payment provider to keep our customers private data
needed to be rewritten to guarantee our ability to
secure while removing the majority of liability.
Dan Bowling continued to serve
as the Student Affairs
representative on the University
Web Committee and was
elected Chair of the committee
for the 09-10 and 10-11 AY.