Watch this page for information on IT projects and general operations of interest to University constituents. In the future you will be able to submit questions and suggestions.
View the IT Center Factoids handout for a snapshot of information about the IT Center and check out our Make IT Happen kudos page for IT jobs well done!
Project Updates
Major projects of interest are updated in an informal "blog" style in the sections below. These are not official announcements to campus! Official announcements are made when milestones of stability are reached; until then, projects and their blog updates should be read as a work-in-progress.
Campus Phone Book
April 06, 2011The University Council endorsed the recommendations of the directory task force.
- ITC will develop a more robust online directory providing the same information as the current paper directory, based on Banner data for easier data management in the long run and better leveraging of existing resources.
- ITC will reprint the paper directory at their cost until the online directory provides equivalent information.
- The paper directory will be printed by University Printing and distributed through Copy Cats, where users will be able to order and pick up paper directories. Copy Cats will handle distribution to remote locations and sales to non-university entities.
- The format will be:
- 5 ½ x 8 ½ 3-hole drilled for lay-flat binding.
- Users can independently purchase 3-ring binders or loose rings as desired, available through Copy Cats and/or the MSU Bookstore.
- No colored ink or paper or special features such as bleed tabs or foldouts will be included.
- The paper version will include directory listings and limited ancillary information, such as fax numbers.
- The paper book will be published annually, depending on continued demand.
December 1, 2010CIO Jim Rimpau presented to the University Council the issue of whether to print a paper phone book for campus or not, given the costs and poor recyclability of the spiral-bound books. President Cruzado appointed a task force to investigate the issues and report back to the Council with recommendations. The task force included Jim Rimpau, Larry Baker, William VanHorn, Nancy Filbin, and Brian Rossman.
June 29, 2010We are in the process of finding solutions to the online directory problems we anticipated with the new telephone database selected by the state. Some development work needs to be done to connect the output from the database to the online update routine. We do not yet have a target date to complete this work but we are hopeful that we will have a workable solution for online directory updates sometime in the next few months.
For the printed directory, when we announced a new printing we received an unusually high volume of directory listing corrections. The old state database is shutting down as of June 30 and we do not have time to enter all the corrections before the shut-down. We will enter the corrections into the new database and pull the data for the printed phone book from there. Pulling the data for the printed directory will be dependent on the same development work required for the online directory. The printed directory may thus be delayed from mid-summer to end of summer, or into the fall to incorporate the Fall semester influx of faculty directory changes.
June 11, 2010The campus phone book will be printed again this summer as we continue to search for cost-saving alternatives. The telephone office is working with telephone coordinators throughout campus to update departmental listings. Cost-control measures still under evaluation are on-demand printing, charging departments for printed books, and online-only directories.
This year we will take a zero-based approach to departmental listings, including only those that are requested. This is intended to clean up archane listings that are so old no departments are responsible for them and they continue to linger in the directory. Little-used sections of the phone book will be removed entirely. Individual name listings are auto-generated from the database as always. To reduce time delays, corrections to individual name listings should be made through the normal update procedure.
March 15, 2010 Due to cost constraints, we are assessing options for saving the cost of printing the campus phone book. Options include providing better access to information online, offering a self-print downloadable format, and charging departments for phone books. The issue is complicated by conversion to a new database at the state IT department that has some limitations in the handling of directory listings. 
Course Evaluation Software Upgrade
June 11, 2010 Class Climate server and scanstations have been installed in Bozeman. Bozeman, Great Falls, and Havre survey administrators will be attending two-day training in Bozeman June 22nd-23rd. Bozeman expects to run second summer session in Class Climate in preparation for full production mode in Fall semester.
April 26, 2010 The Class Climate upgrade project is on track.
April 22, 2010The Havre and Great Falls campuses are opting to collaborate with the Bozeman campus in the implementation of Class Climate. The Bozeman campus will host the server and provide course data extracts each semester. Through the web interface each campus will be responsible for their own scanning and processing of evaluations.
April 7, 2010After extensive committee review and input from the academic community, the Provost’s office has approved the migration of our course evaluation process to a new software platform called Class Climate. Class Climate will automate the processing of both paper and online course evaluations saving over $50,000 and countless hours in labor costs. The content of the Knapp form will not change; however, we will be able to create custom evaluations for departments more easily and at lower cost.
Installation and training to IT Center staff is slated for end of Spring semester. We expect to pilot the new software sometime during the summer and be in full production by Fall semester.
Disaster Recovery
June 11, 2010The Disaster Recovery project has been broken into phases. The first phase includes work that can be done independent of a selected failover site. Work on this phase is proceeding. Subsequent phases are postponed pending a decision on the failover site.
April 26, 2010A Disaster Recovery project was initiated in 2009 to provide a platform by which MSU can continue to operate should a disaster strike the IT data center housing central computing operations. Flooding is the most likely possible disaster; explosions and earthquakes are not beyond possibility.
Disaster recovery [recovering systems immediately after a disaster, typically by failing over to a planned and prepared remote site] and business continuity [continuing business operations following a disaster with anticipated reduced staff and compromised workplaces] are large-scale efforts that include everything from network switches that route email, to central systems that process payments, to the documentation of technical and business procedures and the training of staff.
The current Disaster Recovery (DR) project addresses only the mission-critical services of the Enterprise Information System (EIS), such as the ability to continue processing payments, maintaining transcripts, and registering students. The DR project will fan out across IT and functional systems from there, reaching throughout the university to address all administrative business processes and the continuity of teaching and research.
New Web Development Server Rollout
July 22, 2011The IT Center will be moving the web development environment currently located on the gemini server cluster to a new web development server called webdev (webdev.msu.montana.edu) on August 18, 2011.
The new server will allow for seamless development, testing, and production in a single user account and will also move us off the current operating system (Tru64) and hardware that Hewlett Packard has discontinued. Webdev will run on a Linux operating system and was chosen for the great track record we have had using it to run many of our core services such as web, DNS, DHCP, LDAP, mail, and others for years.
On August 18, 2011 all web development accounts on gemini will be moved to the new server webdev.msu.montana.edu. This move will require that web account owners or managers make some one-time changes to their account and site connection settings.
More information and instructions on making the required changes will be posted at http://www.montana.edu/itcenter/computing/webdev/.
Security Awareness Campaign
April 22, 2010The IT Enterprise Security Group is planning an expansion of security training offerings to be launched sometime in the next fiscal year, in response to anticipated expansion of demand across campus. Suggestions are being solicited from constituents for best ways to educate staff and faculty on their accountability for information security. Many understand that it is a vague threat, but do not realize that their individual actions at their keyboard can quickly create an opening for a security breach.
Strategic Planning
June 11, 2010The drafted plan has been distributed to IT Center staff for input. Directors are holding small-group meetings to discuss the plan, answer questions, and gather input.
April 26, 2010The strategic planning team has completed an initial draft of the IT Center strategic plan that is in a cycle of internal discussion prior to being
pushed forward for more widespread review. The strategic planning team initiated the planning process in 2009 and has continued to work on it as time allows. The primary goal is to align IT
Center plans with the campus IT Strategic Plan, identifying goals that can be met and prioritizing services effectively within the given resource constraints. An expected outcome of the planning
process is to be able to focus IT staff on commonly understood priorities of first and foremost maintaining base services and addressing campus priorities with available remaining resources.
Web Development Project
June 11, 2010The new web site is nearing the go-live point. The new pages will replace existing pages with comparable content. Old pages will remain live until they are gradually updated with fresh content, and converted to the new format and orientation. Redirects are being put in place to maintain the linkages from old pages to new.
April 26, 2010The Web Development project to overhaul the IT Center’s website into a user-oriented organization continues to progress albeit slowly. The home page has been reorganized and published with a new service-oriented structure, highlighting quick access to the most sought after information. Many new features have been added, including newsfeed-enabled blog boxes for quick project and news updates, standard status and alert boxes, and a sporty new design!
Hundreds of pages remain to be updated and converted to a user-oriented structure. Old-style pages will remain in operation and be pulled down only as their content is updated and
posted in the new style.
