| Nancy Horton | Chair, Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice |
| Kay Billingsley | Editor, Publications Manager, College of Criminal Justice |
| Kip Wile | Assistant Professor of Music |
INTRODUCTION
FINDINGS OF THE INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY RESOURCES AND SYSTEMS COMMITTEE
5.3 INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY RESOURCES AND SYSTEMS
RECOMMENDATIONS AND SUGGESTIONS: SECTION 5.3
COMPLIANCE TABLE: SECTION 5.3
SUMMARY OF RECOMMENDATIONS AND SUGGESTIONS: SECTION 5.3
At the time of his investiture in 1996, the President of the University challenged the academic community to "become a leader in the application of technology to the delivery of [its] instructional programs." In so doing, he reiterated a commitment to using information technology resources and systems which the institution had long pursued. Sam Houston State University had already undertaken a number of initiatives to use information technology, having been the first higher educational institution in the state of Texas to use on-line registration and among the first in the nation to exploit on-line communications and systems management.
The University’s Information Resources Strategic Plan (IRSP) for the years 1997-2001 outlines a number of initiatives for incorporating more technology into University operations and educational pursuits. Many of these, like the acquisition of numerous computer workstations for both students and faculty, have already been accomplished. As such initiatives suggest, Sam Houston State University is clearly committed to using information technology resources and systems to fulfill its stated mission.
The following sections report the Information Technology Resources and Systems Committee’s findings in Section 5.3 of the SACS Criteria for Accreditation. These findings are based upon documentation and interviews conducted with various University personnel, including the Director of Computer Services, the Chairs of the Department of Computing Science and Department of Art, and key personnel in the Department of Music and the Department of Consumer Services, Fashion, and Design.
In this chapter, the Committee addresses "must" statements from the section and, in the order in which the statements appear in the Criteria, reports on the University’s compliance or noncompliance with these imperatives. Following the "must" statements and findings, the Committee makes recommendations and/or offers suggestions, according to the University’s compliance status.
1. An institution must provide evidence that it is incorporating technological advances into its operations (Criteria 60).The Information Technology Resources and Systems Committee determined that the University complies with this imperative.Sam Houston State University has maintained a leadership role in the incorporation of technological advances into its operations. SHSU students, faculty, and staff enjoy ready access to an impressive variety of technological benefits.
The University’s Unix node UNX1 (a dual processor Pentium 133MHZ, employing UnixWare 2.1.2, System V, Release 4.2, with 256 MB of main memory) is available campus-wide, through dial-in and from a remote node through Telnet. The current operating system was installed in 1986, but has been continually upgraded since that time. Currently, the University employs a 2100 Alpha hardware system and open VMS software. The system includes a file management system, campus-wide printing, File Transfer Protocol, e-mail via Telnet, access to other systems via Gopher, text interface to the World Wide Web via Lynx, direct conversations via Talk, Usenet news, listings of other users via Who, and programming for creating home pages on the World Wide Web.
Three menus, tailored to general areas of the University population, provide the Sam Houston State University community access to a host of resources and services: (1) the SAMINFO menu, (2) the faculty access menu, and (3) the administrative access menu.
(1) The SAMINFO menu—available to all students, faculty, and staff—offers on-campus, dial-in, and Telnet access to the following variety of resources:
on-line library catalogue on-line registration (SHSU was the first higher educational institution in the state to implement this feature) information on Excel/Transition seminars financial aid information transcripts and degree plans campus directories and calendars on-line grade retrieval letters to the campus newspaper TENET connection the student government grievance filing system computer accounts and personal information student government surveys the counseling center help screen automated punching in and out from campus jobs registration, field experience reports, student teacher assignments, and student teaching applications from the Education Department Students are also provided on-line access to University housing and food service. All systems are available through campus-wide ETHERNET. (The three remaining buildings wired on earlier systems are scheduled for re-wiring during the summer of 1998.)
(2) The faculty access menu, available to faculty, provides access to a number of more specialized resources:
on-line grade entry (exclusive on-line grade entry began with the 1997-98 academic year) degree plans FirstSearch Electronic Resources Faculty Evaluation Report Forms Mailing Label processors class rosters grade file worksheets ASCII files e-mail lists from class rosters student room assignments major and minor rosters and Honors rosters student rankings grade analysis reports faculty surveys special departmental reports academic advisement information and implementation TASP results (3) The administrative access menu, available to administration and staff, includes access to the following resources:
grade and admissions maintenance the financial information menu (including financial aid and departmental budget information) registration information (class rosters, faculty and classroom loads) the student information menu (schedules, addresses, transcripts, and degree plans) the Payroll/Human Resources Department menus (personnel listings, comprehensive pay plans, selected vacation/sick balances, on-line job listings, projected salary vs. budget summaries, time sheet deadlines) the purchasing information menu the property information menu (inventories) the system utilities menu (computer information) the faculty access menu (see above) the receipt system menu the lists and labels menu the Computer Services work order menu 2. Information technology resources must support the planning function and the educational program component of the institution at appropriate levels (Criteria 60).SHSU is currently in the process of converting several of the above-named systems to the World Wide Web. (Certain services, such as the on-line campus directory, have already been converted.) Moreover, funding for technology resources is ever increasing at SHSU. This year will see a threefold increase in HEAF funding for technology resources.
Similarly, funding for the Newton Gresham Library’s Multimedia Center will increase from an additional $100,000 during the 1997-98 academic year to an additional $200,000 in 1998-99. The library’s Multimedia Center provides an outstanding resource for general computing (including the features described above) as well as CD-ROM applications solicited from all SHSU departments and further advanced multimedia applications.
Additional information on information technology at SHSU is summarized in the Information Resources Strategic Plan (IRSP), compiled by the Advisory Committee for Information Resources; this document is included in the addenda to the self-study report.
The Committee determined that the University complies with this "must" statement.3. Although the diversity of educational programs and goals will be a major determining factor in the selection of information technology resources by an institution, there must be a reasonable infusion of information technology into the curricula so that students exit with the fundamental knowledge and basic ability to use these resources in everyday life and in future occupations (Criteria 60).The information technology summarized in the first section of this report provides substantial support to the University’s planning function and educational program component. The features listed facilitate highly efficient documentation, communication, and implementation of the administrative and educational development of the University. This technology is readily available to SHSU students, faculty, and staff. In accordance with IRSP Action Item 19, computer workstations are being provided to virtually all faculty and staff. Current standards are set at 3GB storage memory/32MB RAM for Macs and PCs. All workstations support multimedia. (SHSU is currently in the upgrade stage, with upgrades set at a period of no fewer than three years per workstation.)
Until recently, students had access to over three hundred on-campus computer workstations; however, with the recently completed renovation of the Academic Building 1 computer lab, which provides twenty-four hour access to an additional one hundred computers (see IRSP, Action Items 1 and 2), students now have access to a total of four hundred computer workstations. The results of SHSU’s recent student survey reveal that 52% of the students polled either agree or strongly agree that the campus computer facilities "adequately meet my needs." In addition, 59% of the students polled indicated that the computer facilities available at the Gresham Library (that is, on-line access and the library’s Multimedia Center) "adequately meet my needs."
The Graphics Design Program in the Department of Art has twenty-three computers in an Ethernetted lab networked with two scanners, two laser printers, and three dye-sublimation color printers. Software includes Adobe Photoshop, Quark Express, Adobe Illustrator, and Aldus Freehand. Some versions of these programs are older ones, but the department is moving toward funding to upgrade all software to current versions. Eight of the computers in the lab are Mac IISIs, which are no longer supported by the University; the department has requested HEAF money to be spent on upgrading these eight units to the new I-Macs or equivalents. This semester the faculty is looking into the possibility of putting an advisory board together for the program in Advertising/Graphics Design in order to get hardware and solve software conflicts while expanding available lab hours to students.
The Beto Criminal Justice Center has a computer lab on the University network equipped with fourteen Pentiums (133 MHz), six Pentiums (100 MHz), and an HP LaserJet 4 printer. The lab is located in A-104 and is available Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. for students. In addition, a computer lab available for Criminal Justice graduate students only is equipped with five PC computers and two LaserJet Hewlett Packard 11P printers. Graduate students are provided twenty-four-hour access to the lab seven days a week. Computers in this lab are not on the University network.
The computer lab in the Department of Family and Consumer Sciences was established for tutorial applications to the program areas of Fashion Merchandising, Food Science and Nutrition, Food Service Management, Home Economic Education/Teacher Certification, and Interior Design. It consists of sixteen PCs (including various 286s, 386s, and 486s) and five dot-matrix printers. Software on these computers includes NutriPro on approximately eight units, QuattroPro on approximately three units, and a geographic/economic program on approximately five units. The lab is wired for Internet and University system connections. The purchase and maintenance of the computers and software in the lab has been made available through departmental funds.
There are three computer labs in the Teacher Education Center. The PhD (ASC) program has a computer lab in which there are twelve Macintosh computers and six PC computers. This lab will have available multimedia software for a doctoral-level course in multimedia authoring. All computers in this lab are on the University network. The undergraduate program on both the secondary and elementary level has a multimedia lab with twenty-five Macintosh computers and one PC computer. This multimedia lab is available for teaching to faculty in the three divisions of the Department of Education: Curriculum and Instruction; Educational Leadership and Counseling; and Language, Literacy and Special Populations. It is available to students from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday. All computers in this lab are on the University network. A third lab on the second floor operated by Computer Services provides ten PC computers with presentation and word-processing software. This lab is available to students and faculty from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, and can be used for classes by appointment. All computers in this lab are on the University network. Two classrooms on the second floor which have eight Macintoshes and eight PCs, respectively, are used as in-class minilabs. These computers are generally available only during class time.
4. Institutions must provide the means by which students may acquire basic competencies in the use of computers and related information technology resources (Criteria 60-61).The Committee found that the University complies with this imperative. IRSP Objective 1 proposes to "[i]ntegrate ‘Information Age’ techniques into classroom teaching, research and administrative functions" (IRSP 9). This proposal has been accomplished with particular success in several areas—including Library Science, Education, Mathematics, and Public Communication—through the acquisition and incorporation of state-of-the-art computer applications into standardized curricula.
The Department of Music, which incorporates technological advances into its courses, serves as an excellent example of a program which is exploiting technology to enhance its curricula. The department utilizes the following applications:
(1) FINALE: A music notation program which enables students to notate, play back, and print scores of any type. The application is used in the following areas:
(a) Composition (to produce and play back scores of original compositions);
(b) Music Theory (to produce and play back scores of compositions, musical exercises, and musical examples for analysis papers);
(c) Music Education (as preparation for primary and secondary school teaching);
(d) Music Therapy (to notate, play back, and print examples of melodies for field work); and
(e) Music 468: Music Technology (which offers general instruction in FINALE and other music programming).(2) Practica Musica: A music theory and aural skills program which permits unlimited drill in written music theory skills (scales, intervals, chords, and rhythms) and aural skills (pitch matching, interval ear training, scale ear training, chord ear training, chord progression ear training, melodic dictation, rhythmic dictation, and combined melodic and rhythmic dictation). All students currently taking music theory or musicianship must use this program.
(3) MacGamut: An aural skills program which permits unlimited drill in interval ear training, scale ear training, chord ear training, chord progression ear training, chord progression ear training, and combined melodic and rhythmic dictation. All students currently taking music theory or musicianship must use this program.
(4) MIDI: A program for interface between computer and electronic piano, it permits note entry and playback via piano (or other synthesized sound) in FINALE; it permits piano realization (rather than computer sound card) and piano response (rather than mouse) during aural skills exercises in Practica Musica and MacGamut.
(5) Advantage: A marching band instructional program which enables student to create, animate, and print designs of marching band patterns. The program is currently used for SED 464: Methods of Teaching in Secondary Schools.
(6) History of Music CD-ROMs (various sources): Offer interactive study in such areas as classical music history, American folk music, the history of jazz, manuscript and archival research, and ethnomusicology.
5. There must be provisions for ongoing training of faculty and staff members so that they may make skillful use of appropriate application software. These requirements apply to all programs wherever located or delivered (Criteria 61).The Information Technology Resources and Systems Committee determined that the University complies partially with this imperative. To correct the instance of partial compliance, the Committee makes a recommendation in the recommendations and suggestions at the end of this section.
The infusion of information technology into the curriculum is summarized in the preceding section; in addition to using technological advances which have been incorporated into the curricula, students are encouraged to develop computing skills in several ways: (1) Computing Science courses may currently be substituted for one of the Mathematics requirements in Criterion II of the University’s General Education Requirements for the Baccalaureate Core; (2) Computing Science courses are required of all Education and Business majors; and (3) a new interdisciplinary course, MTH 164.02/CS 133.01, offers students the opportunity to integrate computer training with MTH 164.
The Committee found that the University complies with this criterion.The Sam Houston State University Computer Services Department, made up of a sizable, highly qualified, and competitively salaried staff, sponsors an ongoing computer training program for faculty and staff. The program, which has enjoyed much recent growth, currently offers a wide selection of courses in information technology. Over 290 sessions were offered during the 1997-98 academic year (expanded from a mere twenty-four the previous year). Moreover, the current academic year saw the establishment of the Center for Innovative Learning, which will administer technology training for faculty and staff. The program is currently updated on a monthly basis; the schedule for February 1998, for example, includes the following courses:
"Creating and Using Forms to Control the Input of Your Tables" (2 sections) "Creating and Using Queries to Sort and Manipulate Your Data" (2 sections) "Creating and Using Reports to Display Your Data" (2 sections) "Entering and Editing Data into Your Database" (2 sections) "E-mail—Your Inbox, Mail Folders, Sending, Reading, Replying and Forwarding Messages" (3 sections) "A Fast-Paced Session Demonstrating all the Major Tools Available with Microsoft Excel" (2 sections) "Introduction to the Web Browser Internet Explorer: Basic Internet Searches, SHSU Web Pages, and the Toolbar" "Introduction to the Web Browser Netscape: Basic Internet Searches, SHSU Web Pages, and the Toolbar" (2 sections) "Creating Web Pages" (5 sections) "General Description of Computer Resources for New Users" 6. Policies for allocation and use of information technology resources must be clearly stated and consistent with an institution’s purpose and goals (Criteria 61).7. These policies must be evaluated regularly to ensure that academic and administrative needs are adequately addressed (Criteria 61).
8. Appropriate security measures must be installed and monitored to protect the confidentiality and integrity of academic systems, administrative systems, and institutional networks (Criteria 61).The Information Technology Resources and Systems Committee determined that the University complies with this imperative.
University policies for allocation of information technology resources are provided in the IRSP under the headings "Executive Summary," "Introduction," "Planning Factors and Assumptions," and "Goals, Objectives, Strategies and Action Items" (IRSP 3-10). Policies for use of information technology at SHSU are stated in the IRSP under the headings "Policies and Practices: Computer Use Policy" and "Use of Computing Resources" (IRSP 18-20).
Policies for acquisition of technology are evaluated by the Information Technology Resource Council (recently formed through a merger of the Technology Implementation Committee and the Advisory Committee for Information Resources). This committee issues regular reports to the University at large.
Eighty-five percent of students recently polled indicated that they are familiar with the University’s policies regarding the use of computers.
The Committee determined that the University complies with this "must" statement.
Information security at SHSU is regularly reviewed by the state auditor. Information security measures at SHSU are summarized in the IRSP:
The "Computer Use Policy," which is e-mailed to each new account, gives notification to all users as to their responsibilities relating to the use of their computer account. Accounts are monitored periodically for unauthorized privileges. All accounts are password protected, with mandatory password change every ninety days for accounts on the VMS system. There are security alarms to detect VMS break-in on all systems. All login failures and all modifications to sensitive files are recorded. Only limited or controlled access is allowed and audit trails are kept on critical or sensitive files or programs. All modified files are backed up daily, with full system backups once a week. Weekly backups are kept for five-week periods, monthly backups are maintained for 105 days, and biannual backups are kept for two years. Backup files are stored in a secure room in a separate building. Faculty and staff computer accounts are disabled upon termination of employment and non-returning student accounts are removed at the beginning of each long semester.
The administrative menu system, as well as other networking privileges, are routinely reviewed and revised by key personnel in the Computer Services Department. New programs and/or revisions are reviewed for security sensitive content and actual need for requested information and/or privileges. The organizational structure of University personnel is one basis used in determining which positions require special trust or responsibilities in regard to the level of administrated access assigned to users. Each administrative menu is assigned a designated owner, normally the president, vice-president, department head, dean, or director. The menu owner must indicate approval on the computer account application or written request before a user is allowed administrative access.
Staff members are encouraged to attend training seminars and presentations and to take advantage of other educational opportunities to maintain a high level of support in all areas of the computing environment.
Every effort is made to comply with all published information resources standards relating to the security of information assets.
(20-21)
RECOMMENDATIONS AND SUGGESTIONS: SECTION 5.3
The Information Technology Resources and Systems Committee determined that the University complies fully with all of the imperatives in this section of the Criteria, with the exception of Criterion 4, with which the institution complies partially. To address the instance of partial compliance, the Committee makes the following recommendation:
At least one computer literacy class should be incorporated as a required course into the University’s General Education Requirements for the Baccalaureate Core. Of more long-range importance would be a comprehensive "information literacy" course that includes basic computer, e-mail, Internet, library, research, and related skills.In addition, the Committee offers the following suggestion:
Further access to the University’s computing benefits could be provided to students through additional data line outlets in dormitories and academic buildings.COMPLIANCE TABLE: SECTION 5.3
5.3: Information Technology Resources and Systems
Imperative Statement of Compliance Supporting Documentation 1. An institution must provide evidence that it is incorporating technological advances into its operations. Compliance Information Resources Strategic Plan (IRSP) 2. Information technology resources must support the planning function and the educational program component of the institution at appropriate levels. Compliance IRSP Action Items 1 and 2 3. Although the diversity of educational programs and goals will be a major determining factor in the selection of information technology resources by an institution, there must be a reasonable infusion of information technology into the curricula so that students exit with the fundamental knowledge and basic ability to use these resources in everyday life and in future occupations. Compliance IRSP Objective 1 4. Institutions must provide the means by which students may acquire basic competencies in the use of computers and related information technology resources. Partial Compliance University’s General Education Requirements for the Baccalaureate Core, Criterion II 5. There must be provisions for ongoing training of faculty and staff members so that they may make skillful use of appropriate application software. These requirements apply to all programs wherever located or delivered. Compliance SHSU Ongoing Training Program for Faculty and Staff 6. Policies for allocation and use of information technology resources must be clearly stated and consistent with an institution’s purpose and goals. Compliance Information Technology Resource Council 7. These policies must be evaluated regularly to ensure that academic and administrative needs are adequately addressed. Compliance Information Technology Resource Council 8. Appropriate security measures must be installed and monitored to protect the confidentiality and integrity of academic systems, administrative systems, and institutional networks. Compliance State Auditor review IRSP (20-21)
"Computer Use Policy"
Review and Revisions by Key Personnel in the Computer Services Department
SUMMARY OF RECOMMENDATIONS AND SUGGESTIONS: SECTION 5.3
RECOMMENDATION:At least one computer literacy class should be incorporated as a required course into the University’s General Education Requirements for the Baccalaureate Core. Of more long-range importance would be a comprehensive "information literacy" course that includes basic computer, e-mail, Internet, library, research, and related skills.SUGGESTION:Further access to the University’s computing benefits could be provided to students through additional data-line outlets in dormitories and academic buildings.