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Candace Fleming Reports on Summer Accomplishments25 Sep 06
During the summer CUIT completed many new initiatives in support of our
goal to improve the services we provide to faculty, students, and staff.
Here are some highlights that are now in place.CUIT public computing facilities. Improvements include three new electronic classrooms in 503, 516, and 517 Hamilton and upgrades to 6 more classrooms. Fifty ColumbiaNet stations were upgraded to new Dell computers with 17" LCD Displays and the latest Firefox web browser and plug-ins. We have installed new and updated software for Windows and Macintosh systems, including Google Earth, iLife (iTunes, iPhoto, iMovie and iDVD), and the XCode development environment, on our public computing facilities across campus. EDS lab. Working with the Libraries, CUIT upgraded the Electronic Data Services lab in SIA with high-end workstations, featuring 30" LCD displays, dual processors, and gigabit networking for support of Google Earth Pro and other GIS and statistical applications (see http://www.columbia.edu/cuit/newsletter/general/eds-082506.html). Printing. CUIT has installed six new high-speed printers in heavily used locations throughout campus and, in response to requests from student councils, we have added a 100-page reserve to the regular 100-page quota per semester for undergraduates. Client support. We permanently expanded the Client Support Center Help Desk hours by establishing weekend support and lengthening weekday hours to 11 p.m., Mon to Thurs (see http://www.columbia.edu/acis/support/ for details). Also, in August we installed a new call-processing system that routes calls more quickly, incorporates real-time call logs into our quality-assurance practices, and improves our system status recordings. Networking improvements. CUIT installed fiber optic cable to bring Ethernet service to University Apartment Housing buildings on Riverside Drive, Tiemann Place, and Claremont Avenue, as well as to the Manhattan School of Music and International House. On campus the Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation, and the Department of Astrophysics networks were upgraded, and CUIT also provided networking support to dozens of summer Facilities construction projects. Uptown, at the request of the Athletics Department, CUIT just completed connecting the Wien Stadium Press Box to the campus Ethernet network which will enable Athletics to stream live video of the home football games to their website gocolumbialions.com. New Security Policy for Treos and Blackberrys. At the recommendation of CUIT, the University instituted a new security policy this summer requiring all smartphone users who access University data to create passwords and timeouts after 20 minutes of inactivity. We have created instructions for setting up the passwords and timeouts, which are the keys to protect both your information and any University data that could be accessed on your smartphone if it is lost or stolen. See http://www.columbia.edu/acis/faq/cellular/pwd-pda.html. Email spam filters. To address the spam problem, we have strengthened our ability to filter out unwanted email coming into the University mail servers. We continued throughout the summer to upgrade the software that searches for spam, SpamAssassin, which has rejected over a million spam emails on peak days. New web site and logo. Our former administrative and academic sites are now consolidated in the first phase of our CUIT web site redesign. New features include an A to Z list of services and an "Ask CUIT" feature, which allows for many different ways to find what you are looking for, such as search the FAQ archive, browse through support topics or email your question. We recently added a "Learn about CUIT" feature that provides a personalized checklist for you to get started in using our services. Also, if you check out the top of this page, you will see CUIT's new official logo, created by Publications to provide unified and cohesive designs for the University's schools and departments. We look forward to a productive semester and we will keep you informed of new services and initiatives via this newsletter. As always, we welcome your partnership and feedback. Candace Fleming Vice President, Columbia University Information Technology |
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