Campus Technology Services is excited to announce completion of the first phase of our wireless expansion project to provide campus wide Wi-Fi connectivity. The first phase of the project concentrated on extending our inside building coverage and providing a single login system to everyone across campus. At this time you can walk with your laptop or mobile Wi-Fi device and have seamless connectivity along the main level 1 concourse from the Communication Arts building all the way to the bridge connecting to the Parkside Student Center. In the near future a link will be provided with the most up to date floor maps of the campus that show where you can expect to get coverage.

The functionality for the future phases is currently in the planning stage and listed below are some of the additions that are under consideration:
-Increased bandwidth
-A limited access guest network
-A limited access unsecured network (like what is currently in place)
-WPA2 enterprise encrypted network that enables complete campus network access including network shares (H drive, J drive, Classes shares, etc)
-Outdoor coverage to parking lots and walking paths as well as the baseball diamond and the soccer field

Campus Technology Services is working to provide the campus with wireless connectivity for the latest mobile devices on the market. Our new wireless network has been designed around the 802.11n standard and most new devices come equipped with wireless N cards. These cards can provide up to 144Mbit/s throughput versus the older G (802.11g) technology which was limited to 22Mbit/s throughput. The faster speeds allow for quicker data transfer to campus resources as well as provide room for better support for streaming video and audio.

Submitted by Pat Eaton

UW-Parkside

UW-Parkside is joining several UW System schools in launching the Qualtrics Survey System. We’ve conducted training sessions this summer for both Brand Administrators as well as user training with a pilot group of faculty and staff. Our next steps include internal marketing—letting our users know about this great new tool, and setting up an ongoing training schedule for new users to get acclimated with Qualtrics.

Also, UW-Parkside is in the final stages of launching Extensis Portfolio to manage university photos, images, logos and other graphics and design projects. Previously, if a user wants to gather university images for use in printed or web materials, he or she might need to visit several offices and look through many, many binders of images and proof sheets. Extensis moves that entire process online, letting users explore and download approved images right from their desktops or web browsers, and allowing University Relations to easily change and update the images allowed for public use. The first online catalogs will be launched in the early fall semester with more to follow.

Finally, we are in the very first stages of organizing our new Learning Technologies Group. Under the leadership of our new CIO, Jose Noriega, this group is being formed to support learning technology initiatives, and to centralize technical support for our students, staff and faculty.

Submitted by Pat Eaton
UW Parkside