Technology@Wooster

On February 19, Vassar College president Catharine Bond Hill delivered a lecture at the College of Wooster entitled “Democracy and Access to Higher Education.”  This lecture was part of the College’s Great Decisions series.  An audio file of the lecture is now available at http://podcast.blogs.wooster.edu. The podcast of this event can also be downloaded from iTunes.

The Media Services and Instructional Technology groups within the Office of Information Technology collaborate to create and distribute podcasts of special events that take place on campus. Check Speakers@Wooster and iTunes for the latest productions. Questions should be directed to Jon Breitenbucher.

Members of the User Services staff will be on campus Saturday, March 22nd, and Sunday, March 23rd, between noon and 7 p.m. to provide technology support for students, faculty and staff involved in IS preparation. Staff members will perform hourly printer checks, cover help desk phones and be available for students in need of last minute technology support.

The student help desk in Andrews Library will be open Saturday, March 22nd between noon and 8p.m. and Sunday, March 23rd between noon and 1 a.m. for phone and walk-in support. The help desk can be reached by calling 330-287-3000 extension 4357 from off campus, or extension 4357 from on campus.

The Datatel Users Group conference (DUG) is an annual event that brings together Datatel corporate employees with representatives of the more than 700 colleges and universities that utilitze Datatel’s software products. The conference offers hundreds of sessions devoted to a wide range of topics related to Colleague software modules and associated tools. Most of these sessions are conducted by employees of Datatel clients. DUG is also an excellent opportunity to hear Datatel officials discuss the future direction of the company and its products.

DUG 2008 took place between March 9th and 12th in Washington, DC. Despite the challenges posed by the snowstorm that struck Ohio in the days prior to the conference, folks from various offices at Wooster participated in the DUG conference. In addition to the Office of Information Technology, Human Resources, Development, Alumni Affairs, the Registrar’s Office and the Business Office were represented at DUG.

Given the resources and effort that has been and continues to be devoted to the OSCAR project, it is very important that the College fully leverage its investment in administrative software. DUG participation is intended to enable IT and other campus offices to utilize our new ERP system as fully as possible. Our implementation has been aggressive in terms of its compressed timeline, but the implementation has also been aggressive in terms of its scope and the determination to maximize the utilization of the sofware system’s features.

Wooster is among the very first institutions to implement Datatel’s new product to support development operations, Colleague Advancement. Wooster is also among the very first to implement Datatel’s new reporting strategy. This strategy entails the use of data warehouse-style tools for data retrieval and organization, and a complex suite of reporting tools. Chief Information Technology Officer David Waldron, OSCAR Project Manager Monica Crawford and Director of Applications Development Tabby Conwell met at DUG with Datatel Vice President Liz Murphy to discuss our early adoption of these systems, the progress of their implementations and ways to strengthen our collaboration in these arenas. The Wooster group had subsequent conversations with Datatel product managers and developers, and made a number of suggestions for product enhancements. Also at DUG, Tabby Conwell became the newest member of the Reporting Client Advisory Team. This group is charged with identifying and prioritizing reporting-related issues, and with working with the DUG Board Client Advocacy Council to bring these matters to Datatel’s attention.

OSCAR Project Manager Monica Crawford and Director of Development Support Services Pam Stanley participated in a well-attended panel discussion entitled “Implementing Advancement—The Before and After.” As Wooster is among the earliest adopters of Colleague Advancement, the pair were well-positioned to share valuable insights into issues related to implementation. At the conference Pam became a member of the Colleague Advancement Client Advisory Team.

Director of Applications Development Tabby Conwell (left), Datatel Vice President Liz Murphy (center), and OSCAR Project Manager Monica Crawford(right) discuss the progress of Wooster’s OSCAR project.

OSCAR Project Manager Monica Crawford and Director of Development Support Services Pam Stanley serve on a panel discussing issues associated with the implementation of Colleague Advancement.

The College of Wooster invites applications for the position of Programmer/Analyst. The position announcement follows.

Programmer/Analyst is a full-time position reporting to the Director of Applications Development. The position supports key administrative information systems by maintaining and enhancing vendor-supplied software (currently Datatel Colleague).  Duties include, but are not limited to, configuring software, managing user access to data, reviewing and testing software updates, implementing new features, programming approved customizations, writing reports and interfaces, supporting client departments and software system users, developing procedures to solve complex problems and integrate software systems, troubleshooting functional problems, conducting training, writing procedure documentation, and adhering to technical and security standards.

Position Requirements

A bachelors degree in a field related to information technology and four years of programming/systems analysis experience (or equivalent) are required.   Experience with relational databases, desktop reporting tools and utility software are essential. Prior experience must also include maintaining application software, defining requirements by conferring with users, preparing specifications, writing program code, and testing.  Familiarity with web-based interfaces and extensive knowledge of database structures and concepts are required.  Experience with AIX (or other unix), Unidata and SQL databases, Crystal Reports, Business Objects, HTML, and JavaScript is preferred.  The successful candidate must be self-motivated, proactive, and possess solid team and interpersonal skills.  He or she must demonstrate strong written and oral communications skills for both technical and non-technical audiences.  He or she must be highly organized and possess excellent analytical skills to develop technical solutions to business problems.

About the College of Wooster

Founded in 1866, the College of Wooster is an independent residential liberal arts college offering a rigorous and comprehensive education to students with the capacity and motivation to become educated leaders in a complex society. Nationally recognized for its focus on independent learning, Wooster has for more than 50 years required every graduate to complete a two-semester capstone experience emphasizing undergraduate research and culminating in a Senior Independent Study thesis. Wooster values co-education, diversity in its many forms, a global perspective, and the heritage arising from its origin as a college founded by Presbyterians. The college is located in Wooster, Ohio.

Application Procedures

Application review begins immediately will continue until position is filled.  Send letter of application, current resume, and contact information for at least three business references to:

The Department Human Resources
The College of Wooster
536 E. Wayne Avenue
Wooster, OH 44691

or via email to humanresources@wooster.edu

The Office of Information Technology will be upgrading and performing maintenance on a variety of systems over spring break.  In some cases, this will result in brief service interruptions. These activities and their anticipated consequences are summarized below.

• Monday, March 10
  Between 6:00 a.m. and 8:00 a.m. firewall components will be upgraded. During this period, Colleague, ScotWeb and the FRx system will be inaccessible. The Pharos servers will also be inaccessible and Pharos printing services will not be available.
• Tuesday, March 11
  Between 4:00 a.m. and 8:00 a.m. internet router software will be upgraded. During this period, internet access will be unavailable.
  Between 5:30 p.m. and 10:00 p.m. various servers will be upgraded. Brief email service interruptions are possible. Email system performance may be slower than normal.
• Wednesday, March 12
  Between 5:30 p.m. and 10:00 p.m. various servers will be upgraded. Brief email service interruptions are possible. Email system performance may be slower than normal. Brief interruptions in the availability of Novell spaces are possible.
• Thursday, March 13
  Between 5:30 p.m. and 10:00 p.m. various servers will be upgraded. Brief email service interruptions are possible. Email system performance may be slower than normal.

IT will work very hard to minimize the impact of these necessary activities upon the availability of services.

The Office of Information Technology is pleased to offer an introductory Groupwise course. The course will meet between 1:00 and 4:00 p.m. on Thursday, March 13 in room 4 of the Gault Family Learning Center. This course will be especially valuable to new employees and to employees who have recently switched to Groupwise. The following topics will be covered:

• How to navigate the Groupwise environment
• Setting up the home view
• Sending and receiving mail
• Forwarding mail, forwarding mail as an attachment, replying to mail
• Attaching files
• Deleting and restoring messages
• Common Groupwise icons
• Retracting Groupwise messages
• Setting mail properties
• Creating groups in the address book
• Using the calendar
• Using the busy search feature to schedule appointments
• Using Phone messages, reminder notes and tasks
• Adding reoccurring appointments to the calendar

Enrollment is limited to 16. Those interested in attending should email Mary Schantz (mschantz@wooster.edu) by Wednesday, March 12.

IT expects to offer sessions covering more advanced Groupwise topics in April and May of this year.