FAST FIVE for the week of December 16, 2012

A day in the life of a wireless network: Thompson Rivers University created an infographic of their wireless network. This snapshot of one day's usage gives a quick highlight of the importance of wireless to the campus. TRU wireless

Real-time collaboration: The University of Fredericton now offers real-time collaboration using the Cisco WebEx product. As part of its executive MBA program, the University implemented this collaboration suite to give students the ability to record lectures, hold online meetings, and share their desktops with one another. Online MBA 

New CEO: Compute Canada has hired its first Chief Executive Officer from Australia. Bill Appelbe, an international leader in advanced computing for research and development will start on January 7, 2013. Compute Canada CEO

Dal saves trees!: As part of the institution's sustainability program, Dalhousie University is phasing out the use of telephone books. Removing yellow and white page directory printing will lower costs and reduce carbon footprint at the university. Dalhousie is encouraging use of online resources to replace the printed material. Eliminating phone books

Gaming in residence: Acadia University now supports gaming devices such as Xbox and PS3 consoles on the residence wireless service. Service desk staff will help students configure their devices to access the wireless service. Residence wireless change

FAST FIVE for the week of December 9, 2012

Professor's favourite apps: Since so many students now enter the classroom with a tablet or a smartphone, professors are discovering ways to integrate these tools into their teaching and research. At the University of Ottawa, the Teaching and Learning Support Service’s Centre for e-Learning recently hosted its first ever show-and-tell session, where professors from a variety of faculties presented their favourite teaching and research apps and software. uOttawa show-and-tell apps session

Network renewal: The University of Calgary is planning a complete campus network core upgrade to improve reliability, adopt an improved security model, and enable large increases in network bandwidth. Targeted upgrades to local building networks will enable individual campus users to take advantage of the improved core network. The first outage needed to implement the changes will occur over the holiday break with a follow-up outage next year. uCalgary network upgrade

Mobile phone live hockey: Ryerson University students can now watch their hockey team's games live in a mobile phone format.  For their fourth-year practicum project, a team of students created a mobile-optimized website at ryersonhockeymobile.com featuring stats and info for the Ryerson Rams hockey team, and live broadcasts of three full games that people can watch on their phones. Ryerson mobile phone hockey

Call for proposals: The CANHEIT 2013 organizing committee has issued its call for proposals for this year's conference. The theme of the conference is “Exceptional ideas for a changing world.” Proposals must be submitted by January 31, 2013 and they will be selected through crowdvoting and an evaluation committee process. CANHEIT 2013 proposals

Compliments U: Queens University has setup an unusual FaceBook page: Queens U Compliments. The page allows anyone to post a compliment for a Queen's student and have it published anonymously. If you have something nice to say about someone and maybe don't feel comfortable saying it to them in person, you can post it here. Being nice @ Queen's

FAST FIVE for the week of December 2, 2012

EDUROAM hits one million: EDUROAM, the trusted access management environment for Canadian research and higher education communities, has reached the milestone of one million accesses per month. The system originally pioneered at Simon Fraser University & BCNET and now administered by CANARIE, is used by faculty, staff, researchers, and students from across Canada. EDUROAM milestone

Entrepreneurial engineering students: McMaster University engineering students have created a system called Groupnotes that is an online collaboration tool enabling users to leave messages on the web pages they visit, and lets colleagues view those messages in real-time. Faculty members from McMaster and other Canadian universities have already purchased subscriptions to the software. Student collaboration software
 
Building a better student services building: The University of Waterloo is building a pedestrian traffic map using a Smartphone app that is available for students on their iPhones and Android devices (no RIM Blackberry support). The purpose of the pedestrian traffic map is to help the Student Services Building committee understand how students use campus. Once a student runs the app on their smartphone, they just walk around campus as normal and their participation helps create a map of the pedestrian traffic on campus.  Student success office app

Co-op administration systems: In other news from the University of Waterloo, they are replacing their co-op administration systems. As part of the selection process they are inviting stakeholders from across campus to attend the vendor demonstrations. uWaterloo coop vendors

The Next Generation upgrade: The University of Toronto Next Generation Student Information System (NGSIS) project has begun to roll out service improvements based on access to real-time data from the Student Information System. The first service improvement to be released includes two tools: “Textbook Search Engine” and “Varsity Blues Registration System.” NGSIS update

FAST FIVE for the week of November 25, 2012

Award for Gmail migration: Ryerson University's Email and Collaborative Tools team received their University's inaugural President’s Blue & Gold Award of Excellence for their achievements in implementing the new Google Apps for Education system. The email accounts of 23,000 students, faculty and staff were migrated to Gmail. Students and faculty who chose to opt-in were transferred to Gmail from Rmail, while staff was automatically migrated from GroupWise. Ryerson Gmail award

Mobile registration access: Undergraduate students at Concordia can now use their handheld devices (smartphones and tablets) to register for classes, add or drop courses, and view class schedules and grades. Plans are also underway to reach graduate students. Concordia mobile registration

Improving wireless coverage: University of Toronto Mississauga is working to improve its wireless coverage by asking its students to let them know where problems are located. Their Twitter account recently posed this question to their students "Found a dead spot in our wifi network? We want to know!" Student input to wireless coverage

New CIO position: Camosun College in Victoria is looking for a new CIO for its two campuses and 20,000 students. The department has a budget of $6 million and 50 full time staff. Camosun Chief Information Officer

New IT web service centre: The University of Winnipeg has launched its new Technology Solutions Centre website. This revitalized web site makes it easier to stay up to date on information technology and networking matters at the University. UW Technology Solution Centre

FAST FIVE for the week of November 18, 2012

Canadian high performance computing: The Southern Ontario Smart Computing Innovation Consortium (University of Toronto) is the highest ranked Canadian entry in the Top 500 list of super computing sites in the world. With 32,768 cores and a theoretical peak performance of 419.4 tera flops per second, this site is 68th on the list.  HPC Top 500

180,629: With Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) making the news recently, it is interesting to see the data behind the scenes. At the University of Toronto there were 180,629 MOOC enrolments as of mid-November. The University signed it's deal with Coursera in mid-July of this year. Please see page 9 of this link for more information: MOOCs at UofT

New email system at Queen's: Students at Queen's University will receive a new email and calendaring system in early 2013. After carefully reviewing privacy compliance, Queen's has announced a deal with Microsoft providing students with Office 365. The externally hosted system is compatible with the faculty and staff email and calendaring system. Office 365 @ Queen's

IT by the numbers: Carleton University has published a lively info-graphic on their performance for the month of October. The info-graphic publishes key metrics in a useful and informative format reflecting detailed data collection processes. Computing and Communications Services in October 

IT wins a health award: Information Technology Services at Dalhousie University won the Healthy Workplace Award this year. The prize recognizes departments, units, or areas that demonstrate a commitment to the health and wellness of their employees. Healthy IT

FAST FIVE for the week of November 11, 2012

Course evaluations go online: Dalhousie University course evaluations will now be completed online for most courses. A secure website will accessible on November 19 for students to submit their evaluations. The new system is intended to improve administration of their universal course evaluation system. The new system replaces approximately 60,000 pieces of paper. It will reduce errors, increase system quality, and reduce processing time. Dal Course Evaluation System

Online stationary system: Western University introduced a new online stationary ordering system. Now faculties and departments can order paper directly online from Western's stationary supplier. Access to the system is enabled directly with Western user credentials. Paperless starts with less paper

iPad training: Carleton University is offering an iPad training course for beginning users. The course covers basics such as managing passwords, setting up email and calendars, and establishing connectivity to wireless services. Carleton iPad training

Technology week: The University of Saskatchewan held its 8th annual technology week.This year's event included a keynote speech from Michael Geist (holder of the Canada Research Chair in Internet and E-Commerce Law), a talk from Rick Bunt (the University's CIO), and several other technology sessions held throughout the week. Tech week at uSask

New face on Twitter: Camosun College now has a Twitter account. If you are interesting in following Camosun, the link is here: Tweeting from Camosun

FAST FIVE for the week of November 4, 2012

Crowd-sourcing ideas for the next CANHEIT conference: This year CANHEIT organizers are asking the community to contribute to the conference content by submitting your ideas and suggestions. The conference will take place June 9-12, 2013 and the deadline for participating in the crowd-sourcing event is November 16, 2012. For more information check this link: Crowd-sourcing CANHEIT

Student innovation drives UTSC mobile app: What2Eat@UTSC is the inaugural winner of the University of Toronto Scarborough College's AppStar competition. The competition awards cash prizes for the best student mobile app software development. There were 13 finalists in the competition, and the list of useful apps reflects the imagination and creativity of the students. More information about the competition is here: Appstar competition and the list of finalist apps is here: Appstar finalists
   
UOIT delivers a mobile service: The University of Ontario Institute of Technology has released a new mobile app for iPhones and Android devices. The app provides campus news, events, course information, and location data. BlackBerry access is not yet implemented. UOIT mobility

The space race is on: University of Waterloo students are leading all other Canadian schools in a competition by Dropbox to earn free storage space for their school: Dropbox Canada Leaderboard

StFX's partnership with Apple: St. Francis Xavier is collaborating with Apple Computer to deploy Apple computers in faculty offices, classrooms, and student labs. Users are offered the choice of running Mac or Windows operating systems on the computers. Teaching and learning projects have benefited from the partnership and support costs are minimized because critical repair requests are below 4% on a five year life cycle. Apples at StFX

Bonus fun news: University of Toronto Mississauga had some special help this Halloween. Building blocks to a better help desk

FAST FIVE for the week of October 28, 2012

New Wireless at Kwantlen: A new wireless network will be installed at Kwantlen University this month. With 2.5 times more access points the new system will provide broader coverage, faster speeds, and more concurrent users. The system will deliver encrypted services and they will also be implementing EDUROAM. Kwantlen Wireless

Globe and Mail IT Student Survey: Congratulations to IT staff at McGill University and Queen's University for getting an A grade for student satisfaction with information technology. The latest annual Globe and Mail survey gave these two institutions the top grade. For further information on all the rankings, check this link: Globe and Mail Report Card

App Open Mic: The University of Toronto is sponsoring an application open mic event for their mobile device community. Attendees are encouraged to demonstrate their favourite mobile applications and workflows on a big screen in the Robarts Library. App Open Mic

Dalhousie Alert Test: Dalhousie University ran a test of its emergency notification system on Thursday. The system is designed to communicate emergency messages via a variety of channels including email, web, and text messaging. Dal Alert

One Million Downloads: McMaster University has hit the milestone of one million full text downloads from its digital commons service. This service currently stores 16,000 records of completed scholarly work, work-in-progress, and University created material and searchable and accessible worldwide. McMaster Milestone

FAST FIVE for the week of October 21, 2012

Security incident and event management: Thompson Rivers University is implementing a Security Incident and Event Management system. This new system will automate reviews of system log files and help the IT department proactively identify potential systems issues. More details are available on page four of the attached link. (You may also want to note on page three how TRU IT has improved its grades in several of the Globe and Mail technology rankings in the past year.) TRU IT Report

Qualitrics survey software at UNBSJ: The University of New Brunswick at Saint John has purchased a site license for Qualtrics Survey Software. The new tool will be used to create and conduct online surveys. It is available to all faculty, staff, and students. UNBSJ survey software

Carleton becomes a showcase: The new Carleton University online newsroom implementation is being promoted as a showcase site by WordPress. The site was recognized as a showcase because of its navigation, design, and content sharing capabilities. Carleton's Newsroom

U of T acquires new lecture capture and webcasting tools: The University of Toronto acquired Echo360 software as its new lecture capture and live webcasting technology. The software is installed at teaching stations and is also available in a personal capture version to enable staff to produce videos at the office, at home, or in meetings. Higher quality recording and live webcasting and facilities are also available. The University has implemented a variety of distribution channels for these videos. Echo 360 @ UofT

Student course evaluations go online: Also at the University of Toronto, student course evaluations are now online. The new system is being promoted by this entertaining video: Course evaluations go online

Job Posting: OCAD University is looking for a Manager, Functional Implementation (ERP). 

FAST FIVE for the week of October 14, 2012

Google Apps @ UOIT: The University of Ontario institute of Technology has partnered with Google to provide the Google Apps for Education suite of tools to undergrad and graduate students. The system went live on October 9 and includes Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Docs, and other tools. Googling @ UOIT

Algonquin's Connections: Algonquin College has a created an info-graphic summarizing key areas of growth in information technology at the college. With simple and clear graphics the message is clear - user demand is way up. User demand at Algonquin

Also from Ottawa: Carleton University has created a video for changing passwords on their portal. The short video is effective and has an interesting reminder to turn off all wireless connections before changing the password. Portal Password Video

Western's OWL: Western University has implemented Sakai as its new learning management system. The system known as OWL went live in September. OWL replaces WebCT, which will be discontinued on campus in January. Flight of the OWL

Increasing Security @ UVic: The University of Victoria is increasing mandatory security on mobile devices. Mobile devices connecting to Microsoft Exchange will enable four additional security settings on devices that support them. Mobile UVic Security

FAST FIVE for the week of October 7, 2012

SFU Paints a New Canvas: Simon Fraser University announced it will replace WebCT with the Canvas Learning Management System for course delivery and management. Canvas is a newly developed open source system designed to meet standard LMS requirements as well as integrate with new and emerging technologies. The system was chosen through a broad consultative process and the transition from WebCT is expected to be completed in 2014. SFU's new LMS

A Winning Email System: Student are praising the new University of Windsor email service called UWinGmail. The migration to Google Gmail has proven popular with students because of the improved user experience, greater accessibility, and increased storage capacity. The student migration process to the new email system was implemented using a simple three step process. Migration started in July and is expected to complete in October.   Gmail at UWindsor

Concordia is going mobile: Undergrads student at Concordia University can now perform all their key registration activities through mobile devices. Adding, dropping, and changing courses, as well as viewing their timetable and accessing their grades can be done from their new mobile web site, m.myconcordia.ca  Concordia mobile registration system

Systems Event Information: Detailed system status information is available for staff, faculty, and students from Athabasca University at their Systems Status web site. Information about key systems is current and is useful for the many distance learners at the University. The site provides information about all events affecting service and reports on current status. Athabasca's Status

High Performance Computing: Compute Canada has announced its 2013 resource allocation Call for Proposals. Researchers from across Canada are asked to submit their requests for high performance computing resources for the next calendar year. Compute Canada Proposal Call

FAST FIVE for the week of September 30, 2012

Anti-Phishing Campaign: In time for Security Awareness month, the University of Guelph recently launched its Anti-Phishing Campaign: They're Smart, You're Smarter. The campaign aims to increase the campus community's awareness about keeping their online accounts safe from phishing attempts, by encouraging U of G users to be smarter in responding to suspicious-looking emails. Learn more about anti-phishing in this article: Protect yourself from online criminals

New CUCCIO Website: The Canadian University Council of CIO's has launched their new website. The project was initiated by Lori MacMullen, the Executive Director of CUCCIO, and developed by staff from the University of Saskatchewan. The new site provides information on the organization, features comments from key leaders, and provides information about key CUCCIO initiatives. CUCCIO gets a makeover

Improving Customer Service: The IT support at the University of Calgary has extended support hours to improve service to its clients. The hours have been extended for the first three weeks of the fall and winter terms: Longer service hours

New HR System: Memorial University will be replacing its 20 year old mainframe human resources system with the Banner Human Resources module. This new system will enable finance, student, and HR systems to share the same database of information. The University expects to reap process improvements and enable the HR department to become more service oriented. Banner HR at MUN

More Banner News: The Canadian Banner User Conference commences this week in Calgary. The conference is being hosted by the several Banner higher education institutions from Alberta and this year's theme is collaboration. CBUC 2012

FAST FIVE for the week of September 23, 2012

iLearn with an iPad: Nipissing University's first year business students each received a free iPad as part of the school's iLearn initiative. iLearn is intended to integrate new technology into the classroom with electronic textbooks, note taking, and online tests. The University will develop apps for the new platform designed to provide measurable benefits for faculty and staff. Nipissing iLearn

Removing Technology for Better Service: The University of Windsor has removed its automated phone tree in the registrar's office to improve service. Because of uWindsor's portal, web site, and mobile app, students have online access to all the information they need. The only reason they call the registrar's office is to talk to a real person, so the menu tree has become redundant. uWindsor gets personal  

Responding to the False Positive: Sophos Anti-Virus released an update last week that generated a false positive for Windows users. Many colleges and universities across Canada issued quick responses, such as the attached notice from Concordia: Sophos oops

Emergency Notification: With large numbers of students returning to campus, schools are issuing reminders to returning students to update their contact information for campus alert systems. SFU has a provides a clear explanation of the need: SFU Alerts 

Student Coaching: Algonquin College is providing coaching assistance to students in the use of teaching and learning technologies such as Blackboard and other college computer resources. The resources are provided in person and through virtual applications. Algonquin assistance technologists

Bonus Weird News: The Google Trike was spotted on campus at Acadia University on September 14. Here's the picture of a Google technician riding the somewhat unusual vehicle: Google goes green

FAST FIVE for the week of September 16, 2012

Full Google Apps Suite: Ryerson University announced it will adopt Google Apps for Education. The complete Google apps platform will be used, including Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Talk, Google Drive, and other tools. The decision was made after a year-long consultation process and the conversion will occur over the Thanksgiving weekend. Ryerson and Google

New AVP IT at Trent: Trent University has hired Tariq Al-idrissi as its new Associate Vice President of Information Technology. Tariq was previously the Director, Technology & Information Management Support ay Northern Ontario School of Medicine. Trent CIO

Getting Healthy in Athabasca: A new Wellness at Work app has been released by Athabasca University. The application delivers programmable reminders of when to move away from your computer and exercise. The application includes videos demonstrating stretching and breathing exercises. Athabasca Wellness

Network upgrades at Brock: As part of a series of continuous infrastructure improvements at Brock University, major firewall upgrades have been announced. The changes enhance network reliability, security, and performance. Brock's Defense 

Digital Channel Governance: The University of British Columbia has created a Digital Channels Governance Committee to provide stewardship for  UBC's digital presence on the web, development of mobile applications, use of social media, digital signage, and related digital communication channels. UBC Digital Governance

FAST FIVE for the week of September 9, 2012

New budgeting system: The University of Toronto is implementing the Cognos TM1 to improve its budgeting and planning processes. The new system will enable multi-dimensional modelling, data warehousing, and enhanced performance reporting capabilities. The system will be implemented in time for the 2013-14 budgeting cycle. Data Store and Budget Platform

Parking at Dal: Dalhousie University implemented an online parking payment system this year, greeting returning faculty with an improved business process that eliminated an annual, storied long line-up for parking passes. The new system was developed in partnership with Heartland, the provider of Dalhousie’s OneCard System.

More new from Halifax: Dalhousie University and the Nova Scotia Agricultural College are now merged. In a short 3 month period, all employees were cutover to Dalhousie systems, while the student conversion will continue over the next several months. Dal's agricultural campus

Trent upgrades LMS: Trent University is migrating from WebCT to Blackboard Learn 9 for course content delivery and management. Course content was migrated over the summer in preparation for this fall's classes. The old system will be decommissioned in October. New LMS @ Trent 

Algonquin mobility: Algonquin College has implemented the Blackboard Mobile Learn application for iOS, Android, Blackberry, and Palm devices. Training sessions and demonstrations will be provided to help the community use the new application. Blackboard Mobile Learn

FAST FIVE for the week of September 2, 2012

New project management process: Wilfred Laurier University has implemented a request mechanism for projects and services through its new customer service portal. This new centralized project intake process will improve resource management, customer service, and process transparency. Laurier customer service

CEO search: Compute Canada has launched a formal search for a Chief Executive Officer. The newly incorporated high performance computing organization is looking for a CEO to build the organization and hire chief technology, financial, and scientific officers. Compute Canada CEO

Guelph adds redundancy: The University of Guelph has added a second ISP (Internet Service Provider) to increase bandwidth and improve reliability through greater redundancy. The upgrade comes just in time for the new school term and is expected to support the rapid growth in wireless demand across campus. uGuelph adds another ISP

Manitoba migrates: The University of Manitoba is migrating its learning management system from Angel to Desire 2 Learn. The University is implementing the change to improve student learning experiences and to provide a more flexible teaching tool for faculty. Angel to D2L in Manitoba

Major IT restructuring: The University of Saskatchewan has announced a significant organization change designed to improve service to their clients. The new organization includes six new reporting units within the ICT portfolio and is also designed to work collaboratively with other units on campus.  uSaskatchewan reorganization

FAST FIVE for week of August 26, 2012

Wireless upgrades: York University is upgrading its wireless service in preparation for the fall semester. The service is named AirYorkPlus and the project will implement new wifi equipment on a large scale across campus. The upgrades are intended to improve convenience of access by eliminating web-based login, and to improve performance of the network by increasing support of high-density areas on campus. Flying the friendly skies of AirYork

New classroom technology: The University of Calgary has implemented new classroom technology in 60 of its classrooms across campus. The new rooms have podiums with built-in control panels, document cameras, SMART podium monitors, and DVD players. the University is also offering in-person training to assist faculty with the new technology. New classroom technology model

Student safety: Queen's University has implemented a safety app for students. The SeQure system accesses safety information from a variety of information resources including University emergency data and the Kingston Police. A personal safety toolkit includes features such as a phone flashlight, alarm, and map of emergency locations on campus. Currently available on iTunes and Google Play, it will also be available for Blackberries in the near future. Queen's safety app

Library system upgrade: The University of Guelph is upgrading its Primo library system to version 4. The new release will add several features to the system including multiple facets selection, personalized ranking, and a "Like" feature. Primo library upgrade

UofT Tri-Campus Wireless: As part of long term improvements to campus wireless services, the University of Toronto has streamlined wifi authentication at all three of its campuses. Users will simply authenticate once and their device will automatically access wireless anywhere at the University. This upgrade enables roaming between buildings and among campuses. Tri-Campus wireless

FAST FIVE for week of August 19, 2012

Annual IT Planning: As the annual budget and planning cycle begins for many universities, many IT groups start writing their annual plan. York University's IT department has published an excellent example of a detailed annual IT plan: Computing Plan 2012-2013

Enterprise Architecture: The overarching principles and purpose of an enterprise architecture have been succinctly defined at the University of British Columbia's IT web site: UBC's IT Architecture

Convergence at Carleton: After successfully completing a campus wide IP network upgrade, Carleton University leveraged the new technology to deliver integrated security cameras, vending machine access, door access, and building automation into a converged infrastructure. Building Automation System

Firewall Upgrade: Brock University is upgrading its network firewall. The University's ITS group will be performing the upgrade to improve availability, reliability, and performance of their technology infrastructure. Brock Firewall

ERP Progress: McMaster University's ERP project has selected PeopleSoft as the product vendor and they are now at the stage of selecting a systems implementation vendor. McMaster's Implementation

FAST FIVE for week of August 12, 2012

Customer portal at Laurier: Wilfred Laurier University is launching a new customer portal for new work orders. Trouble tickets, service requests, and progress updates will all be available on this new service. Laurier Portal

Concordia Microsoft move: Concordia University has moved mailboxes to Office 365. Students at Concordia were moved from Live@edu accounts to the Microsoft Office 365 platform last week. Office 365 migration

New CIO: The new CIO at the University of Alberta is Duane Szafron. Duane is a professor from the University's department of Computer Science. His official title is Vice-provost and Associate Vice-President (Information Technology). uAlberta CIO

Laptop safety: Carleton University has created a new laptop registration program to help reduce thefts on campus. The new program provides a number of features intended to prevent theft and aid in the recovery of stolen laptops. Carleton Laptop Registration

Higher education IT blog: The CIO and Associate Vice-Principal at Queens, Bo Wandschneider, has started a blog about IT in higher education. Queens CIO

FAST FIVE for week of August 5, 2012

Innovation hub: The Ontario College of Art and Design has announced its Inclusive Design Institute. This institute focuses on innovative and applied research that addresses digital inclusion for human diversity. OCAD's central IT organization provides the network and data centre infrastructure for this project. Inclusive Design

House hunting for UVic students: Two UVic students have written the Victoria Rental Map app. The tool helps student find housing rentals based on bus routes, price, and size. The application combs through local Victoria rental service databases and maps those rentals onto a street map of Victoria.  UVic Housing

New CIO: The University of Ottawa has hired Danielle Levasseur as their new CIO. Prior to joining uOttawa, Danielle was a consultant and had been the interim CIO at McGill. uOttawa CIO

Effective Twittering: Many colleges and universities now incude Twitter feeds to send out notices about service interruptions. The notices coming from Simon Fraser University are particularly effective in communicating these issues. SFU Twitter

Courseware access: Memorial University is offering free courseware access through lynda.com. Faculty, students, staff, and retirees will have access to over 1400 courses. Memorial Courseware 

FAST FIVE for week of July 29, 2012

Virtual Guelph: The University of Guelph has virtualized 80% of its servers. They have standardized on VMware's vSphere version 5 for all of their virtual servers. Only 20% of Guelph's servers were virtualized two years, and the rapid growth of virtualization reflects movement from other departments and researchers across campus to this enterprise service.  Guelph in the Clouds

More Guelph news: A new voice-activated telephone directory has been implemented at the University of Guelph. The Speech Enabled Auto Attendant (SEAA) enables external callers to ask for faculty, staff, and departments by asking for them by first and last name. The caller simply dials "0" and he/she is prompted to speak the name. The system then routes the call to the appropriate person. Just Dial 0

MS/Office at Queen's: Queen's has implemented a campus-wide agreement with Microsoft for Office on the Mac and PC platforms. The agreement enables staff, faculty, and graduate students access to the MS/Office suite of products and is being distributed electronically through the Queen's portal. This project is linked to Queen's migration to Microsoft Exchange. Campus-wide Office

UBC implements VoIP: The University of British Columbia is currently deploying IP telephony in new and renovated building across campus. Using a secure and redundant network, UBC is ensuring quality of service standards are met. They are also providing emergency location information services. VoIP @ UBC

Former CIO blog: Jonathan Schaeffer, the former CIO at the University of Alberta has started an interesting new blog about academic life. Check it out at: Academic (a)Musings

FAST FIVE for week of July 22, 2012

SFU Student Applications: Simon Fraser University and BCcampus are working together to build a seamless, real-time student application system. The system will integrate the BCcampus provincial student application system (ApplyBC) with SFU's student system. BCcampus plans to implement the service to other institutions in BC over the next couple of years. SFU and BCcampus

CANHEIT 2012: Presentation content and photographs from the conference are now available on the conference web site. CANHEIT Content

Canadian Higgs-Boson Contributions: Computing resources and staff from several Canadian universities contributed to the recent discovery of the Higgs-Boson particle. Check out the article on Compute Canada's new website: Atlas Computing Resources

Carleton's Antivirus: Carleton University is rolling out Symantec as its new antivirus standard on campus. The new software will be installed on employee and lab computers. Home use for staff and faculty will be made available later in the summer. Symantec Rollout

TRU Quarterly: Thompson Rivers University's IT department publishes a quarterly update on their activities. In the latest issue they published 6 factors for measuring IT performance (page 2) and commit to reporting on these measures in subsequent newsletters. TRU ITS Quarterly

FAST FIVE for week of July 15, 2012

UNB Award: The University of New Brunswick has won a Best myCampus Award from CampusEAI. The award is based on leadership in Consortium initiatives, contribution to myCampus development, and achievements in portal usage. UNB myCampus

New ORION Web Presence: ORION, Ontario's advanced research and education network, has introduced a new website and blog. The new presence maintains all the services previously available and adds several new features. "New, but the same" 

Identity Management: Dalhousie University simplified its online presence and improved password security. The new system provides access to several Dalhousie IT services including the portal and Blackboard. Dal Online

IT Strategic Plan: McMaster University's strategic IT plan is not only comprehensive and well-written, but uniquely presented on-line: MacPlan

Douglas College announces new CIO: Ian MacLeod will be the new CIO of Douglas College starting in mid August. This newly created role is a first for the College as they begin a strategic transformation of IT. Ian was previously the director of IT at Camosun College and at BCIT.

FAST FIVE for week of July 8, 2012

Campus Safety: OCAD University has conducted an enterprise pilot of the Guardly application that is designed to turn a smartphone into a personal safety alarm. When the application's panic button is pressed an emergency alert is sent to a list of contacts, which can include 911. The server component of the application gives security dispatchers access to situational information about incoming callers. Smartphone Alerts  OCAD Panic Button

iPad Kiosks at Brock: Brock University has implemented an iPad kiosk to help visitors navigate around their Hamilton campus. The system is linked to the room booking system, campus map, and campus directory. The ease of use of an iPad combined with live access to event, scheduling, and directory information make the system particularly useful to new or infrequent campus visitors. Brock Kiosks

Online parking payment: The University of Windsor implemented an online parking payment system to enable students to buy parking permits through the web. Parking tickets can be paid online and students can also appeal parking infractions online using the new system. uWindsor Parking System

UofT alumni email: The University of Toronto now has email accounts specifically designed for alumni. As new students graduate this year, their email accounts will be converted from @mail.utoronto.ca to @alum.utoronto.ca and their mail is automatically re-routed to the new account. UofT Alumni Email

Content management system upgrade: Carleton University is upgrading its WordPress content management system to the latest version. Many of the changes are based on community feedback and they are socializing the change through a special coffee break event. Carleton CMS Upgrade

FAST FIVE for week of July 2, 2012

Next generation SIS: The University of Toronto is moving its student information system closer to becoming a one stop service for all student registration and financial status information. Their new student web dashboard provides improved academic, administrative, and financial information for students. UofT's One Stop

Latest university to go Google: Mount Royal University is moving its students to Google Apps. Email, calendaring, and document management are all being provided in an ad-free environment. Faculty and staff will also be able to get Mount Royal Google Apps accounts, without email, to enable collaboration with students. Mount Royal Google

Twitter support for online registration: Several universities ran registration last week and used Twitter to help coach students through the process. Wilfred Laurier's LORIS system was one example: Laurier Registration Tips

UofC network upgrade: The University of Calgary is upgrading its campus network service. The project will include improvements in reliability, capacity, and security of the network core, as well as upgrading several building networks. Network Renewal 

Memorial upgrades its data centre: Memorial University has initiated a new project to replace its end of lease data centre equipment. Scope of the project includes servers, storage (SAN), and backup systems. Data Centre Sustainment

FAST FIVE for week of June 24, 2012

Preferred email addresses: St. Mary's University IT team won the Atlantic region CAUBO quality and productivity award for its preferred email project. The university was recognized for changing its systems to enable students to simply provide their preferred email address to the university for communication purposes instead of an email address provided by the University. The change was a success with students, faculty, and staff because it improved the speed of communications. See page 11 of the attached link: CAUBO Productivity Awards

Cloud printing: McGill University's IT team also won a CAUBO productivity award for its cloud printing solution called uPrint. This new system enables students and staff to issue print requests from anywhere (on and off campus). The jobs are queued in the cloud and are released by waving a McGill ID card near an RF reader on any networked campus printer. See page 7 of the attached link: CAUBO Productivity Awards

Faculty collective agreement system: Concordia was also a winner at this year's CAUBO awards with its Faculty Resource Information System. This system simplifies the meeting of collective agreement requirements, automates per-course hiring processes, reduces manual data entry, and reports on academic resource allocations. See page 10 of the attached link: CAUBO Productivity Awards

Ralph Michaelis leaves Carleton: Ralph Michaelis, the CIO at Carleton University for the past 10 years, has left to become CIO at Canadian Blood Services. Denis Levesque has been named the acting CIO at the university.

Vancouver Community College: Ben Guanzon has left Vancouver Community College and the college is now looking for new IT leader. The posting is available at: VCC Director of IT

FAST FIVE for week of June 17, 2012

Another successful CANHEIT: Over 360 Canadian higher education IT specialists attended this year's CANHEIT conference in Saskatoon. This conference was the 10th annual CANHEIT and next year's conference will jointly hosted by uOttawa and Carleton. CANHEIT 2012

Continuing with conference season: This year's IT4BC conference was also held last week. It took place in Vancouver and the FaceBook page for the conference is here: IT4BC 2012 Conference

A more secure uMontreal: The University of Montreal finalized its implementation of secure VPN. They have replace VPN-PPTP with VPN-SSL and the process was finalized at the end of May. Completed VPN

Chief Technology Officer opportunity: The University of Lethbridge is looking for a Chief Technology Officer. This individual will report to the CIO. Application must be completed by July 9. Lethbridge CTO

Virtualization at Guelph: The University of Guelph continues in its commitment to virtualization. With greater than 80% of their server infrastructure virtualized, they are currently implementing VMWare's vSphere 5 to maintain latest currency.  Virtual uGuelph

FAST FIVE for week of June 10, 2012

Getting "In the Loop" at UofT: The University of Toronto has launched it new Information and Technology Services newsletter. This monthly publication is designed to share information about information technology projects and initiatives being planned, developed, and delivered by the department. In the Loop

BCIT Gets Lean: The British Columbia Institute of Technology Information Technology Services group is implementing the Lean Six Sigma process improvement methodology to improve its incident management process as well as incorporating it into their IT Services portfolio. In conjunction with the introduction of Lean, they are implementing the Cherwell ITSM suite to support incident management, service requests, change control, and problem management.

OCAD Promotion: Alastair MacLeod has accepted the role of Chief Information Officer at OCAD University. Alastair has been the Director, Information Technology Services at OCAD since 1998 and has delivered several strategic initiatives in his time there. 

Innovation Award for uSask: Kevin Lowey from the University of Saskatchewan's Information and Communications Technology department is the Gold Winner for Innovative Development in the annual Blackboard Catalyst Awards. He developed a tool to enable instructors to build Blackboard student test accounts. These accounts allow instructors to see exactly what their students see. Gold Winner

Future Tense: The 2012 Atlantic University and College Technology Conference was hosted last week by St. Mary's University in Halifax. There was a wide range of relevant speakers and presentations. Further information is available from the website: Atlantic Technology Conference

FAST FIVE for week of June 3, 2012

Wireless in Winnipeg: The University of Winnipeg launched a new and improved wireless service on May 23. The new service has 8 times the capacity of the old system, broader coverage, and secure connectivity.  UW Wireless

More Wireless in Winnipeg: The University of Manitoba is also upgrading its wireless service through the Wireless "N" Project. This initiative started in February and will bring wireless services to several key building across campus. "N" Wireless

HR Goes Live: The HR PeopleSoft module went live at Queen's University last week. This milestone concluded the multi-year project and the University looks forward to reaping the benefits. It is the third module of an ERP project that saw Finance go live in December 2009 and Student in March 2011. Queen's HR

Instructing in the Digital Age: Trent University and Fleming College jointly hosted the "Instructing in the Digital Age: Teaching and Learning Symposium" last month. The conference showcased interactive pedagogies, new and interactive modes of delivery, and the use of digital technology in the classroom. Trent and Fleming

Wireless in ... Vancouver: Douglas College is also upgrading its wireless service. The College has signed a contract with Bell Canada to implement Aruba wireless technology at both of its campuses. The new service will quadruple the number of access points. Douglas Wireless 

FAST FIVE for week of May 27, 2012

On TRAQ at Queen's: Queens University is implementing a $3.5 million administration system to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the university's research community. The Tools for Research At Queen's (TRAQ) system will support the school's strategic and integrated planning and will provide financial reporting tools. Queen's TRAQ

Just Ask SFU: Simon Fraser IT have recently completed their ASKME internal speech directory. The new system is an automated directory assistance system that uses voice recognition software to transfer calls. Just ASKME

Managing Your IT Career at UBC: To support over 600 IT professionals on campus, UBC has implemented a career framework to help these folks. The framework is designed to help staff identify opportunities, assess goals, and develop career plans. UBC Career Framework

CANARIE Joins eduGAIN: The Canadian Access Federation (CAF), managed by CANARIE, announced it is joining the European eduGAIN federation. The new connection will allow Canadian CAF members access to services at all eduGAIN member institutions, and vice versa. CAF Connects to eduGAIN

New uAlberta CIO: Last week it was announced that Jonathan Schaeffer, the CIO at uAlberta, was becoming the new Dean of Science. His replacement as CIO is Duanne Szafron, effective July 1, 2012. uAlberta CIO

FAST FIVE for week of May 20, 2012

uWindsor Mobile Apps: The University of Windsor launched three new mobile apps at its Campus Technology Day last week. These new apps are designed to improve student service by enabling access to course, schedule, grade, and exam information. Users will also be able to update their university financial information, direct message course instructors, and even listen to the University's campus radio station. myUWindsor Apps

Seneca Mobile: Seneca College has launched its SenecaMobile application for the iPhone (Android and BlackBerry releases are also planned). This launch is the first Blackboard Mobile Central implementation in Canada and can be downloaded from iTunes. SenecaMobile

Carleton Student Email: Carleton University is moving student email to Microsoft's Live@edu cloud hosting service. The new service will provide students with 10 Gb of storage and will be available directly through the Carleton portal. Student Email @ Carleton

uAlberta CIO News: Jonathan Schaeffer, the Vice-Provost and Associate Vice-President of Information Technology at the University of Alberta, has been named the new Dean of Science at uAlberta. Jonathan Becomes Science Dean

uWaterloo CIO News: Alan George has retired as CIO of the University of Waterloo. Dave Wallace, the former City of Toronto CIO, is Alan's successor. New uWaterloo CIO

FAST FIVE for week of May 13, 2012

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

FAST FIVE for week of May 6, 2012

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

FAST FIVE for week of April 29, 2012

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

FAST FIVE for week of April 22, 2012

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