 |
|
8/30/02 Colorado College is perhaps best known for its small classes and intense, highly personal educational environment that is scheduled on the Block Plan. Complementing, supporting, and enhancing that environment is a large and robust information technology infrastructure. This page provides a quick overview of the major components of that infrastructure. During the past 20 years, CC has developed a very extensive local area network. Today, the campus has more than 5,000 data ports distributed throughout its academic buildings, residence halls, and other facilities. The backbone of the network operates at gigabit speeds and the major academic buildings all provide 100 MB bandwidth in every classroom. The College operates a fleet of more than 30 production servers. Nearly all run Windows 2000 Server as the primary operating system. These servers host all campus file and print services, they provide access to applications programs including our administrative software, our web presence, shared storage, and backup services. All of the servers utilize redundant hardware and software configurations, and are backed up on a daily basis. Our Academic Computing and User Services Department manages the operation of 13 public labs with more than 200 machines to ensure that all members of the CC community have access to computing resources. Both PC and Mac computing platforms are provided and about 20 percent of the machines are Macs. In all, the College has more than 1000 institutionally owned computers. While there is no mandatory requirement for personal computers at CC, in the '01-'02 academic year, more than 91 percent of the first-year students brought computers with them and nearly two-thirds of those machines were laptops. CC's Administrative Computing applications programs are largely custom software that have been developed in-house. The most notable exception is Datatel's Benefactor program that supports our Development Office. Our administrative systems are hosted on a Unix platform with a single, relational database (UniData). Web-enabled applications are in development and secure transaction capability was added to our system during the past year. Colorado College has a growing number of high-tech classrooms that provide faculty with a full range of educational technology options. The classrooms in all major academic buildings have high-speed Internet connections as well as either installed or portable data projection systems. Several meeting and event venues have these same capabilities, as well as high-quality installed sound and video systems. Using five satellite dishes, Audiovisual Services also provides satellite down-link service for live viewing or taping. Frequent users include the languages, athletics, and community non-profit organizations. Departments The Information Technology Services Division at Colorado College is organized into four groups. The roles and responsibilities of each group are briefly described in the following paragraphs. If, after reading these descriptions, it is still not clear to whom you should turn for help, call the Help Desk managed by Joseph Sharman (x-6449) or the ITS Director, Randy Stiles (x-6250). Academic Computing and User Services (ACUS) This is a new organization this year. It combines our Academic Technology Services team with both the Help Desk and our PC Setup and Repair functions. In the past, the boundaries between the roles and responsibilities of these various groups were often unclear. By merging the groups under a single supervisor, our goal is to provide a broad range of high-quality support for the entire CC community that is responsive to ever-changing demands. In addition to Help Desk and PC setup and repair services, ACUS provides support for CC's public labs and specialized educational technology support for the academic divisions through our three Academic Technology Specialists. The ACUS Director is Kris Jones (x-6251) Administrative Computing Services (ACS) ACS is responsible for providing data processing services in support of the College's corporate database and administrative computing systems. These services include software development, database administration, records management, security, and computer operations. The Director is Sue Huntington (x-6455) Audio Visual Services (AVS) AVS is responsible for assisting the campus community in presentation of aural, photographic, film, and video materials. This group supports classroom instruction, special events, and student and faculty projects. Services include delivery of equipment, scheduling of technical support, as well as media editing and training. The Director is Dave Armstrong (x-6870). Network/Systems Group (NSG) The Network/Systems group is responsible for the installation, operation, maintenance and security of CC's high-speed local area network, its connection to the Internet, and all related infrastructure including an extensive server fleet. The Director and Network Engineer is Alan Davis (x-6947). |