JESS and MILDRED FISHER COLLEGE OF SCIENCE AND MATHEMATICS
TOWSON UNIVERSITY
(adopted on Nov. 3, 2006)
INTRODUCTION
The Information Technology Plan for the Fisher College of Science and Mathematics (FCSM) has been developed by the FCSM Information Technology Committee (ITC), part of whose purpose is to:
Develop and recommend a College wide technology plan.
Develop technology priorities and objectives for the College.
Advise the College on the operation of computer labs, classrooms, and technology centers.
Interface with the University ITC and the Office of Technology Services (OTS) concerning college-wide issues and priorities.
Input to the plan was sought by the FCSM ITC through direct meetings with individual department faculty and through faculty review of draft versions of the stated goals and strategies.
This plan complements and is consistent in form with the FCSM Strategic Plan. An overall set of technology goals are given with a list of the strategies for meeting each goal. The appendix includes a description of the current computing facilities for each department within the College and the services provided centrally by OTS.
The FCSM Strategic Plan states the goal, paraphrased here, for IT infrastructure and facilities in support of the teaching, research, and service missions of the College:
"In order to sustain a high quality learning and scholarly environment, it is essential to have in place a quality collegiate infrastructure that is maintained and upgraded on a continuing basis. Sufficient "smart" classrooms, computer labs, modern laboratory instrumentation, secure facilities and network access, and an adequate technical support staff and budget are all critical to providing that infrastructure for a college of science and mathematics."
Currently within FCSM, the Mathematics department has completed its move to 7800 York Road, joining the Computer and Information Sciences department in this new building. A new School of Technology is to be added in FCSM to meet the growing workforce needs within the region.
FCSM has improved facilities for students and faculty with the development of new research computer labs in:
The College has also increased the number of "smart" classrooms with an instructor station, computer, digital document camera, ceiling mounted projector, DVD player, integrated audio and connectivity hardware for laptops. OTS has upgraded the systems and network infrastructure to provide for campus-wide wireless connectivity, fast ethernet to the desktop and remote VPN network access.
The new developments in facilities enable the College to present, deliver, and collaborate on curricula outside the traditional classroom as part of Towson’s 2010 initiatives. The new applications of technology include the development, use and support of online courses, multi-media course content, project collaboration, networked scientific instrumentation, and wireless systems and devices.
Continue to upgrade lab hardware to provide reliable systems that can support current software, storage media and peripheral technologies, lab configurations, and network connectivity.
Increase use and support of scientific instrumentation networked to provide access for software control and analysis of generated data.
Provide departmental IT staff greater access for software distribution.
Improve methods for distribution of security patches and communication of critical updates.
Provide students and faculty improved levels of access to computer and network project configurations through improved manageability of lab network infrastructure. Provide for network segmentation and access control, performance measurement and monitoring, and security monitoring.
GOAL 2. Extend the availability and standards of "smart" classroom and computer lab technology.
Strategies:
Extend the percentage of classrooms in the College with smart classroom technology.
Provide priority support for smart classroom technology to minimize the impact of downtime.
Coordinate with the University IT Committee and OTS to establish standards and options for smart classrooms.
Provide physical security for classroom facilities and individual pieces of equipment such as desktop computers, laptop computers, peripheral devices, LCD projectors, document cameras, etc.
Provide classroom accessibility through classroom design and availability of special software applications and audio hardware.
GOAL 3. Increase IT support staff levels and coordination of technology support.
Strategies:
Increase local IT support staffing levels by adding a technology specialist position that would provide support for maintenance and upgrade of computer software applications and hardware in the College's instructional and research programs. The position would report to the College and be centered in Smith Hall. Planning and coordination functions would continue to be developed by the FCSM ITC and faculty and staff within individual departments.
Develop a consistent interface with OTS for coordination of technology initiatives and project planning for LAN/Desktop, Unix and Network technologies.
Continue to improve communication of operational issues between faculty, departmental academic IT staff and OTS TU Labs, Operations Center and Core Technology groups.
Increase the role of student assistants in technology support positions.
Increase support for specific technologies such as MAC systems and applications.
GOAL 4. Improve technology resources available to Faculty
Strategies:
Enhance faculty computing environment with instructional support software or required hardware resources additional to standard machine configurations.
Provide faculty with additional machine resources for scientific computing and research.
Provide faculty local software resources for scientific applications, project collaboration and development and publication of multi-media and online course content.
Provide course management technology that takes into account faculty investment and that supports feature sets comparable to the current Blackboard System.
GOAL 5. Provide support for academic applications and platforms
Strategies:
Continue to develop computing environments and procedures for scientific instruction and research that support:
Implementing new technology and instructional environments
Using alternative operating systems, either directly or via emulation
Running network services and instrumentation
Using specialized network configurations
Requirements for increased levels of access for faculty or students
Using a dedicated machine or network for:
experimental computing activity
rapidly changing requirements
unique system configurations
unique and sometimes multiple software versions
heavy usage patterns and processing schedules
variations in security and access models
GOAL 6. Provide print services in departmental labs.
Strategies:
Provide a print services management system that integrates quotas with campus directory services and minimizes downtime for maintenance.
Provide a print management system that allows for local administrative control necessary to modify quotas and printing types as required for specific labs.
Provide alternative print services for specific research, project and faculty needs.
GOAL 7. Provide effective funding for IT resources and infrastructure
Strategies:
Establish a plan and policy for the upgrading of computer hardware, software, and networking. Upgrades should address specific department needs and take warrantee costs into consideration.
Individual departments are advised to set short and long term technology requirements and priorities, and provide estimated technology budgets.
Provide an implementation schedule for campus-wide PC deployments as soon as it becomes available to allow departments to coordinate local purchasing.
Continue to review establishment of software volume and site-wide licenses and to disseminate information for existing programs.
APPENDIX
The following spreadsheet describes the current FCSM teaching and research labs and smart classroom facilities by department, location, function/application and platform.
The FCSM IT Strategic Plan has been developed as part of the overall strategic planning effort for the College described in the following working draft.
The Office of Technology Services provides instructional technology services and critical field and infrastructure support and engineering. The following references provide an overview of some of their current technology support services and initiatives. The TechTalk issue includes an article describing the use of BlackBoard, the current system for web-enhanced and online course instruction supported by CIAT.
The Jess and Mildred Fisher
College of Science and Mathematics
Smith Hall, Room 312 (campus map)
Phone: 410-704-2121
Fax: 410-704-2604
E-mail: fcsm@towson.edu
8000 York Road | Towson, MD 21252 | 410-704-2000