Laurier Joins EDUROAM: Eduroam's newest member is Wilfred Laurier University. This secure wireless access service enables Laurier staff and faculty to obtain internet connectivity at any Eduroam campus around the world using their Laurier authentication credentials. The service is enabled at all three of Laurier's campuses. Eduroam @ Laurier
BCNET and High Performance Computing Conference: This year's BCNET conference for higher education IT and networking was merged with the High Performance Computing Conference. Video recordings for the conference sessions are available at BCNET HPCS 2012
UofT Takes Cap Off: The University of Toronto has removed the usage cap for its wireless networks. The change is a result of a significant wireless infrastructure modernization project across campus. UofT Wireless Cap Removed
Campus Technology Day 2012: The University of Windsor is holding its 6th annual Campus Technology Day on May 17. The day is dedicated to sharing and celebrating technology impacts on teaching, learning, and research across campus. University of Windsor Campus Technology Day
Student Computing Website: The Student Computing Website at the University of Victoria has been updated to provide students with live computer availability in labs across campus. Facility locations, hours, and computer types are published using the LabStats product. UVic Computer Availability
McGill Moves to Desire2Learn: McGill University has migrated from Blackboard's WebCT Vista to Desire2Learn for their institutional learning management system. The system is called myCourses and went live on March 19 with an extensive range of training and support to manage the transition process. myCourses @ McGill
Access @ York: York University has implemented a new single sign-on facility called PASSPORT YORK to simplify access for students, faculty, and staff to their online resources. With a single username and password users will be able to gain access to a growing number of services. PASSPORT YORK
Ryerson Goes Google: Ryerson University is planning to make Google Apps for Education available to all faculty, staff, and students. The transition to Google is tentatively scheduled for the fall. Ryerson is using a third party integrator, SADA Systems, to help with the implementation. Ryerson Google
TRU Active Directory Transition: Thompson Rivers University is migrating from Novell to Microsoft for their directory services. They are expecting the project will provide their users with more flexible and expandable storage, and improved integration with Microsoft and 3rd party products. TRU Directory
CIO Search: Douglas College in Vancouver is looking for a transformational CIO. The newly created role is strategic to the future of of the College. Douglas CIO
Queen's Moves to Microsoft: Queen's University is migrating staff, faculty, and grad students to Microsoft Exchange for email, calendaring, and task management. The transition will simplify mobile users' access to email, increase storage space, and will replace Oracle Calendar for scheduling. Queen's Outlook
Scheduling Software: Several schools are seeing the benefits of implementing classroom scheduling and timetabling software. Tools such as Infosilem are helping to optimize campus space at Carleton University. University of Saskatchewan and other schools are reaping the benefits via similar tools. Maximizing Space
Lenovo's Gift: Lenovo has donated $500,000 to the University of Ontario Institute of Technology (UOIT) in recognition of their long-standing relationship. This capital gift was recognized by naming a lecture theatre after the company. Lenovo @ UOIT
Simon Fraser's Field Day: Simon Fraser University hosted a Technology Field Day in campus on April 11. The day's theme was Presence at a Distance and showcased emerging trends in synchronous virtual technology and their application in teaching and learning. SFU Presence
BCIT Customer Service: BCIT has embarked on a service improvement process with a guiding principles workshop. Attached is a interesting graphic from the session.BCIT Service
Université de Saint-Boniface: The ERP implementation project, also know as Project A+, at the Université de Saint-Boniface was nominated as one of 6 projects of the year for 2012 by the Manitoba Project Management Institute. The nomination is significant recognition for a job well by the project team over the past few years. The project video can be viewed at Project A+
York Joins CASRAI: York University has joined CASRAI (Consortia for Advancing Standards in Research Administration Information). CASRAI is a not-for-profit organization that develops standards and data models for research data. York hopes the relationship with CASRAI will help improve research efficiency in the funding application process. York and CASRAI
Campus Technology Day: The University of Windsor is planning a Campus Technology Day on May 17. The day includes interactive sessions and poster presentations and will feature a keynote speech by John MacDonald from Google. The conference's theme is "Opening Doors with Technology" and includes discussions on the impact of technology on teaching, learning, and research. Campus Technology Day
Moodle Upgrade: Queens University plans to upgrade Moodle in May. New infrastructure will mean faster and easier access to the system for students and faculty. Queens also plans to add smartphone mobile features for beta testing in the summer. Moodle @ Queens
Technology Roadmap: The University of Alberta has published its Information Technology Roadmap. This document identifies how technology will be used in new and efficient ways and will "empower the University community through information technology excellence." uAlberta IT Roadmap
Cloud Adoption at UofT: Bob Cook, CIO at the University of Toronto, describes the implementation of Microsoft's Live@edu and Office 365 cloud solution at his university. Bob explains the process of consultation, planning, and implementation of this strategic cloud offering. He also discuss their experiences and learning outcomes from the process. UofT Cloud
UBC Goes Keyless: UBC is implementing chip-embedded cards for building access through the university. They plan to move to 100% keyless entry for all buildings, including the Okanagan campus, with the first 20 building going keyless this spring. In a university where there are 154,000 keys in circulation, the cost of replacing missing keys (over 10,000) helps to justify the cost of the new system. Keyless in BC
Carleton investigates a CV database: Carleton University is launching a project to investigate implementing a CV database. A committee has been formed with the mandate to complete a review of the needs of faculty, librarians, and graduate students for such a tool. Carleton CV Project
New Blue Genes: IBM, in conjunction with the Federal government and the Ontario provincial government, has contributed two Blue Gene/Q supercomputers for research and development. The new IBM Canada Research and Development Centre is a $210 million investment and includes UofT, Western, McMaster, Queen's, UOIT, uOttawa, and Waterloo. Blue Gene
CANHEIT is Coming: Registration is now open for this year's CANHEIT conference. The theme for CANHEIT this year is "Building the Digital University." It will be held at the University of Saskatchewan from June 10 to 13. CANHEIT 2012
uOttawa Migrates to New Data Centre: The University of Ottawa's Computing and Communications Services group has moved to a brand new state-of-the-art data centre. Transition of servers and other infrastructure occurred over several weekends in February and March with the official opening happening on April 4. uOttawa Data Centre
uPEI's New ERP Project: In September of last year, the University of Prince Edward Island embarked on an ERP implementation project. The proposed system will include applications for student administration, financial services, human resources systems and other related business process and information requirements. They have just completed vendor evaluations of Jenzabar and DataTel SGHE (now known as "Ellucian"). uPEI ERP
Brock's Tech Showcase: The largest free educational technology event in Ontario was held at Brock University. The fourth annual Brock Tech Showcase recently took place with over 400 educators in attendance. The showcase included such topics as the gamification of learning, iPads in the classroom, and enhancing visual thinking and data literacy. Brock Showcase
uSaskatchewan Password Resets: Information Technology Services at the University of Saskatchewan has enhanced its automated password reset service. The new facility enables faculty, students and staff to reset their password using a text message. Password Reset
UofT Uses TechQual: Information + Technology Services at the University of Toronto is conducting its annual TechQual survey to analyse and report on the effectiveness of their IT services. This survey is based on the LibQual survey used to assess libraries that was initiated by Pepperdine University to assess higher education IT departments. For more details see: UofT TechQual Survey
Saint Mary's Sustainability Dashboard: Saint Mary's University (SMU) launched a new sustainability dashboard. This new website enables users to view power, heat, and water consumption in real time. The dashboard shows consumption rates from 13 locations across campus. The dashboard is part of SMU's ongoing commitment to sustainability and is based on a campus map that shows current rates at the click of a mouse. SMU Dashboard
OCAD Paints a CANVAS: OCAD is migrating from its internally developed learning management system to the open source Canvas CV system. The needs for OCAD are particularly unique and the assessment process included a thorough analysis of appropriate LMS choices for the institution. Further details on the process and the decision rationale are available at: OCAD's CANVAS
Compute Canada Announces Interim Executive Director: Compute Canada announced that Jill Kowalchuk has been appointed Interim Executive Director of the national high-performance computing (HPC) organization. Jill will succeed Susan Baldwin, who served as the Executive Director of Compute Canada for more than three years. New Compute Canada Interim Executive Director
UVic Enhances Disk Encryption: In response to a recent data breach at the university, as well a growing number of security and privacy threats, the university is enhancing its security services. Whole disk encryption has become part of the basic offering for all new standard computers and free anti-virus software is now available for UVic computers and one home computer. Enhanced Security & Privacy
Getting connectEd at UNB: The University of New Brunswick is launching connectEd, a family of products and services providing email, calendaring, file storage, messaging, and collaboration. For faculty and staff the suite of integrated Microsoft products will be hosted by IT on campus. Students and alumni services will be delivered through Microsoft's Live@edu cloud service. Connecting with connectEd
MunMail Exceeds 3,800: The new Memorial University email system for students now exceeds 3,800 users. MUNmail, as it is called, was set up as an alternative to the existing student Webmail. The service goes beyond email and includes GMail, Google Calendar, and Google Docs. Existing email addressed are maintained, as are existing email messages. The interface uses the Memorial brand and there are no advertisements. Check it out on FaceBook at: MUNmail
Western University Picks Sakai: Western will be replacing WebCT with Sakai as its new learning management system. The first phase of the implementation started with a small pilot of 10-12 courses. The pilot is designed to allow instructors, students, and the support team to test the interface, tools, and functionality of the new system. The first phase of the pilot will be held over a four-month period running from January through April. A larger pilot will run through the spring and summer, with the goal of having all courses running on the new platform in September 2012. Training and migration support started in February. Further details can be found at: Sakai at Western
Queen's University IT Engages Students: A new Student Advisory Committee was established at Queen's to discuss Information Technology and Services. The students will set the agenda and discuss issues important to them with the Queens IT department. Students will also share where they want go in the future with IT at the university. Queen's Student Committee
Guelph Names New Chief Librarian and CIO: Rebecca Graham has been named the University of Guelph's new Chief Librarian and CIO. She starts her 5 year term at the end of May. Rebecca comes to Guelph from Harvard College Library. In her new role, she will be responsible for the overall strategy and policy administration of the University’s information technology, information services, and information resources. She will also oversee the administration of the library as chief librarian. Guelph CIO
Ryerson Introduces Blackboard Mobile Learn: Blackboard Mobile Learn has been introduced by Ryerson's Computing and Communications Services to provide mobile access to wireless-enabled Apple iOS devices (iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch). Access is currently limited to iOS devices and it is free to both Ryerson staff and its students. It can be used to access updates to course announcements, grades and course documents (depending on file format), as well as add discussion board posts, blogs, and journal entries. Ryerson Mobile Learn
Carleton Selects Moodle to Replace WebCT: Carleton has decided to replace WebCT with Moodle. Since WebCT is at the end of its life cycle and will no longer be updated Carleton decided to evaluate other learning management system options. According to their website "It was important that the system we selected be reliable, easy to use and meet our security standards. Detailed selection criteria was used to help guide the decision making process. After an extensive review and evaluation, Carleton has selected Moodle as the replacement for WebCT. After the trial of three popular systems, when surveyed, both the student and instructor data indicate that the Moodle participants were the most satisfied group with their new LMS by preferring Moodle over WebCT." Carleton Moodle
Shared Services in British Columbia: There is strong government shift towards emphasizing IT shared services in British Columbia and across Canada. From Oliver's blog, "In BC the recent budget showed an effective 2-3% reduction in government core funding, in addition to the disappearance of millions of dollars in capital renewal funding in prior years. In addition, government authorities are applying greater constraints on institutions about the way they are run, in return for funding. Research projects are directed increasingly explicitly toward resource sharing, especially in the high performance computing disciplines. And very specific questions are being asked about sharing of support services not only within institutions but between them: in BC as well as other provinces Ministries recently engaged their university representatives in explicit conversations about sharing of administration functions, in the same way that this topic has been pushed for several years already in the K-12 and healthcare sectors." Changing Times for Universities
Dalhousie Hosts Data Privacy Day: On January 25, 2012, Dalhousie University hosted its 5th annual Data Privacy Day. The day is intended to be a global initiative recognized around the world to raise awareness and promote privacy education. There were over 220 participants and the keynote speaker, Michael Power, a Toronto-based lawyer and consultant, addressed “eHealth & Privacy: Issues & Implications for Society.” Data Privacy Day
WiFi access to McGill network from MUHC: Linking university and hospital networks has always been a difficult issue for a number of reasons. According to the McGill website "One of the IT challenges over the past years has been providing access to McGill resources to students, faculty and staff working at the MUHC (McGill University Health Centre). The Ministry of Health regulations concerning the interconnection of networks are extremely restrictive and complex. Now, as of March 1, 2012, there is finally a viable solution. During the fall, MUHC worked closely with McGill’s Network and Communications Services (NCS) piloting a solution that uses both institutions' wireless networks. After the successful pilot, they are ready to deploy this solution." McGill Health Centre WiFi
UofA has Gone Google: The University of Alberta is the #1 customer for Google in Canada in terms of both the number of users and volume of data. At the end of 2011, 128,084 users on campus have gone Google. A total of 21 departments had migrated migrated to Google and several more are scheduled to move. Gone Google
