Revised April 2005
Target dates (calendar years) and responsible Information Technology (IT) units are noted for each initiative. Budget and staffing requirements are noted if not covered by current funding. These initiatives drive role statements and corresponding performance expectations of staff members throughout the IT organization.
Abbreviations for IT units:
Unit managers will develop detailed implementation plans and timelines for initiatives assigned to their respective units. Performance of individual staff members throughout the organization will be measured against progress made toward reaching or exceeding the initiatives.
Our number one priority is to provide outstanding service. IT and Library staff possess a wide variety of skills and expertise to assist the campus community to utilize current and future technologies. Our challenge is to ensure that faculty, staff and students understand the full range of services offered and how to gain access to those services. Customer service is not a strategy; it is a way of doing business.
- Improve communication with faculty, staff and students about IT and Library services.
- Migrate all content from several unit IT Web sites to a redesigned IT site before fall 2005. [2005; CIS, CC, TLT, Telcomm]
- Develop a mechanism to evaluate the effectiveness of the redesigned IT Web site. [2005; CC, WEB]
- Promote information resources that are available through the University Libraries. Develop and implement a dynamic and carefully paced marketing plan, focused on increasing faculty and student understanding of current services and highlighting expectations as the Knowledge Center becomes a reality. [2005; LIB]
- Promulgate an annual report of library statistics and summary of accomplishments to highlight the scope of library services and resources. [2005; LIB]
- Consolidate the primary points of contact for accessing IT services. Users should not be required to understand the IT organization in order to gain access to services. At present, users must choose one of seven service points: the Computing Help Desk, the Support Center, the main service desk in Teaching & Learning Technologies, the Library Reference Desk, Web Services, the Campus Information Systems department, or Telcomm Services. Examine the feasibility of further consolidation of user support functions. [2004-2007; CC, TLT, Telcom, LIB]
- Improve incident response tracking and evaluation.
- Evaluate the incident tracking systems that are currently in place. Determine system requirements and select a single system to unify tracking for IT service requests and work orders. [2005-2007; CC, TEL, TLT, CIS] ii)
- Develop a system for users to place service requests via a secure Web form. Integrate service requests into the call tracking/work order system. [2005-2007; CIS, CC]
- Improve support for college and departmental computing.
- As University departments adopt the Supported Desktop Platform for desktop computing, less Systems Administrator staff time is needed to maintain the desktop computing environment. Systems Administrators will take a more proactive and strategic role in computing within the departments they support. Colleges and departments are seeking to develop a wide variety of computer systems and applications. In an unsupported environment these locally developed applications can present an unacceptable network security risk. There is also concern that database applications may contain personal student data and other sensitive information that are not properly secured. Systems Administrators will provide direction on solutions for departmental needs, working with programmer analysts in Campus Information Systems to develop custom solutions, as needed. [2004-2006; CC, CIS]
- Develop a master Service Level Agreement on which to base Service Level Agreements with individual colleges and organizational units. Put Service Level Agreements in place with all University units. [2005-2006; CC]
- Evaluate and enhance support for an expanding campus.
- Develop strategies to provide improved technology support for special segments of the University, including the University of Nevada School of Medicine (UNSOM) (north and south), Cooperative Extension (statewide), and Extended Studies. The Medical School’s human IT infrastructure is woefully understaffed. This historical inadequacy grows more treacherous each year as the scope of the Medical School continues to increase. The Medical School requires numerous additional IT support positions just to reach a point where it can maintain the status quo. As additional staff are put in place, the Medical School should hire a senior position to serve as a coordinator of Medical School IT. As a separately funded entity in the state budget, the Medical School is responsible for providing the positions, but will come from IT. It should be noted that until this human resource shortfall is addressed, the Medical School places an additional and disproportionate IT support burden on the rest of the campus. [2004-2005; VPIT, CC, TLT]
- Develop a support plan for the Redfield campus. The first Redfield building is scheduled to open in fall 2005. While IT has not been requested specifically to provide for support of operations at Redfield, IT anticipates that such a request is likely to be forthcoming. At least one position, initially, will be required to support this campus. This support will be required for support of the network, telephones, desktop computers, classroom equipment, and computer labs. Determine a strategy for providing information and technology assistance to students at the Redfield campus. [2005; CC, CIS, TLT, LIB; requires additional funding and positions]
- Participate in implementation of a campus one-card system.
- Campus Information Systems will be an integral part of the implementation team for the one-card system. Responsibilities will include creating a private network space, hosting the database/application servers, and working with the one-card office to ensure a successful and secure implementation. [2005-2006; CIS, ongoing funding for ½ position secured; funding from One Card Project, Provost’s Office]
- Replace the current ITC printing software with the UniPrint network-based printing service. [2005-2006; LIB, CC]
It is imperative that Information Technology develop and enforce a broad spectrum of security measures to protect data integrity and proprietary resources and to prevent abuse of University computing resources.
- Ensure that critical operating system and application updates are regularly installed on all desktop computers.
- The Supported Desktop Platform enables campus-wide management of the desktop, including remote updates for virus software, operating systems, and standard desktop applications. Deploy the Supported Desktop Platform on all appropriate desktops in both administrative and academic units. [2004-2007; CC; $200,000-$300,000 in additional funding from 2005, depending on degree of campus adoption]
- Under the Microsoft Campus Agreement, upgrade all PCs to Windows 2000 or Windows XP Professional. Supporting only two major variants of the Windows Operating System will simplify management and improve security. [2005-2006; CC]
- Complete purchase of a campus licensing agreement for Apple OS X. This will ensure that users stay current with the two major desktop computing operating systems—Windows and Mac OS X. [2005; CC]
- Establish secure authentication for all services on the campus network using the NetID. The foundation of basic security is a fully functioning authentication system. A goal is to eliminate the need for a user to remember multiple logins and passwords.
- Deploy the NetID for secure authentication for all networked services, including network access, file services, electronic data services, Web services, and e-mail. Specific goals for 2005 are NetID authentication for Equinox e-mail users and for remote users of Library electronic resources. [2003-2007; CC, CIS, LIB]
- Coordinate with departmental computer lab managers to adopt best practices for secure server and workstation management. Encourage departments to use the NetID to control access to lab computers. [2004-2006; CC]
- Implement password “self help” so that faculty, staff, and students can be provided with prompts for forgotten passwords. [2005; CC]
- Replace insecure protocols with more secure alternatives. Currently many passwords are sent over the network as clear text and can be intercepted. Replace applications that use clear text passwords with applications that utilize more secure authentication mechanisms. Some applications targeted for replacement are insecure versions of FTP, Telnet, IMAP, and POP. [2005-2006; CC, CIS]
- Establish policies and guidelines for secure authentication of all devices attached to the campus network. [2005-2006; CIS, CC; requires portion of additional position].
- Provide network and services access to University guest users. Establish a ‘Guest’ Domain to allow temporary managed access to campus network resources including the Internet and other services on the network that require authentication. At present, the ability to grant such access is limited. This project serves the needs of departments and individuals hosting workshops on campus, visiting lecturers, and vendors who require network access while on campus. [2005; CC]
- Register all network-based services. All network-based services will be registered. Web servers and e-mail servers have been registered; the registration of FTP services is underway. The goal is to register all services by the end of 2005. [2005; CC]
- Adopt and support effective practices for secure server management. Adopt industry-accepted guidelines for server management. Publicize and encourage employment of best practices. Once security policies and practices are well publicized, begin auditing all resources for compliance, offering assistance to sites that do not conform to the policies. [2004-2007; CC, CIS; requires portion of additional position]
- Offer a training/certification program to ensure a minimal level of competence for all server administrators.
- The Microsoft training path is being extended to a second round of systems administrators and other IT professionals. This training covers the Windows XP and Server 2003 coursework as approved by Microsoft. It includes eight courses to be delivered on-campus by a certified Microsoft Training Professional. [2004-2005; CC, CIS]
- Explore strategies for offering Microsoft training to systems administrators in other divisions. [2005-2006; CC]
- Develop additional strategies for virus threat management.
- Explore the possibility of restricting access to the network for computers that are not running current versions of the campus-provided anti-virus software. [2005; CC, CIS]
- Support secure network transactions. IT has deployed a PKI infrastructure to support encrypted e-mail, SSL certificates, smart-card authentication, and encrypted file systems. Encourage systems administrators to use the PKI infrastructure to support secure network transactions. Kerberos is the primary cross-platform authentication method and templates are available for Solaris, Linux, and Mac OSX. Begin to investigate Kerberos relationships to non-IT supported systems such as those in the Department of Computer Science. [2004-2006; CC]
- Require encrypted Oracle connections. All users connecting to the Oracle data warehouse will use an encrypted Oracle client to ensure all sensitive data is secure. [2005; CIS]
- Continue deployment of internal firewalls. Provide protected zones within the University network that can be used to secure desktops and other resources from both external and internal threats. [2004-2007; CC, CIS]
- Create a backup plan for all core servers. Use networked storage for backup. However, the amount of data to be backed up may mean that backups will need to be stored daily on hard disks to meet time and network bandwidth restrictions – storage purchases will need to be sufficient to accommodate this need. Devise a method for storing archived backups off-site – either in other buildings on campus or, preferably, off-campus. [2004-2005; CC, CIS, LIB]
- Develop a written network and computing security plan. [2005; CC, VPIT]
- Develop a written disaster recovery plan. [2005-2006; all IT directors]
The concept of a “Knowledge Center” will continue to evolve during the construction of the new facility. New services will be introduced in Getchell Library, and the revised Knowledge Center Web site will be in place before the new building is occupied. The Knowledge Center will allow enhanced integration of information technologies, learning technologies, and content in a variety of formats to enrich the student experience and faculty productivity.
