2019-2020 Annual Report
Letter from Chief Information Officer, Jane Livingston
ITS, FSU and the world look very different than they did a year ago. A global pandemic, social upheaval, economic crisis and the rapid transformation to remote work, teaching and learning across the community—these make for unsettling and uncommon times indeed.
Despite the uncertainty and transformation, I am proud that one thing has remained constant: The commitment of everyone in Information Technology Services (ITS) to consistently provide the FSU community with rock solid services with determination and passion.
In a sense, nothing has changed but the opportunities. This extended annual report covers 18 months of accomplishments, eighteen months of reasons I’m immensely proud of our team, and eighteen months of reasons I’m honored to be part of the FSU family.
I cannot list all our accomplishments here—that’s what the rest of the report is for—but to give a taste: We remade our organization with strategic hires and organizational realignments that aligned us with best practices and helped unleash ITS’ collective potential; we undertook a university-wide listening campaign to better understand the diverse technology wants and needs across the FSU community; we selected Salesforce to modernize university engagement; we partnered with units across the university to build strategies and solutions for the future. And when the pandemic hit, ITS pivoted and helped the whole university seamlessly transition to remote operations—we packed three years of transformation into just three weeks.
Yes, the last several months have brought many challenges and changes to our operations, but we have supported the transformation both within ITS and for all our FSU family. With each new challenge, ITS staff surpassed expectations. Our services are more crucial to university operations than ever before. And, what’s more, our clients are expressing their admiration and satisfaction with our services more than ever before.
Although this is the ITS annual report, each and every story here is truly a story of partnerships, collaborations and engagements woven together by our new values and operating model.
Our work serves the broader FSU mission to instill the strength, skill and character essential for lifelong learning for the whole community.
Jane Livingston
Associate Vice President and CIO
Information Technology Services
ITS Priorities
Be a strategic partner to FSU
Advance FSU strategic initiatives
Improve ITS service delivery
Enhance ITS team capabilities
Develop a model for continuous improvement
Establish and adopt a sustainable financial model
Student Success
Pop-up booths offer tech help to new students
In Fall 2019, FSU welcomed 6,680 new students to campus residence halls. ITS manned two pop-up booths during FSU Move-In days to assist new students with all things tech. Outfitted in “Talk Nerdy to Me” t-shirts, ITS staff fielded questions, guided lost students and hydrated exhausted parents with free water. The booths, which were stationed in high-traffic areas outside residence halls and parking garages, gave ITS a way to be a part of the action and help troubleshoot common questions, such as how to set up smart devices or connect to Wi-Fi. ITS also handed out copies of our New Nole TechList, which provided a quick and easy list of everything students needed to know tech-wise to get connected at FSU. By utilizing in person pop-up booths and offering face-to-face tech help and support, ITS created a point of connection and lasting impression on incoming students.
Residence halls get Wi-Fi upgrades
As their home away from home while at FSU, students in residence halls rely on the university network for streaming, gaming, surfing, homework and more. To support the vast demand on Wi-Fi, ITS worked with University Housing to make significant upgrades to residence hall connectivity over the past two years. In summer 2019, 358 new wireless access points were installed in every other room in Cawthon, Landis and Gilchrist Halls, and every apartment in Rogers Hall—an 89% increase in access points! By moving the access points into the rooms, students get a better Wi-Fi connection as well as more reliable and faster internet. Combine this with upgrades to the hardware that runs all the access points, and students are guaranteed a just-like-home wireless experience with minimal downtime.
FSU Card Swipe App assesses engagement patterns across campus
In a typical year, campus is a busy place, buzzing with activity and events and excitement. To better track this nonstop activity, ITS worked with the Division of Student Affairs in 2019 and early 2020 to upgrade the FSU Card Swipe Application. The app tracks student, faculty and staff attendance and participation in events, programs and services around campus—from International Coffee Hour and movies at the Student Life Cinema to fraternity and sorority training events and visits to the Food for Thought Pantry. Using the app, individuals simply swipe their FSU Card, and university departments can use the data gathered to assess patterns of engagement across campus or follow up with participants after an event. The latest app upgrade delivered a new look and allowed departments to track guests and anonymous attendees, import participant lists, create private events, see participation data in real time and have row-level data security.
RCC student research project explores financial markets
Imagine conducting ground-breaking research and getting your results published in a national journal … all while an undergraduate student. The FSU Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program (UROP) gives high-achieving students a chance to explore new interests by getting involved in cutting-edge research early in their education. In 2019, computer science student Benji Charles participated with Dr. Prasad Maddumage and Dr. Paul van der Mark of the Research Computing Center (RCC) in a project called "Using Machine Learning for Predicting Financial Markets." In the study, they attempted to predict stock market changes using news headlines with unsupervised machine learning. They obtained seven years of news headlines and daily stock market values to find daily price fluctuations. Then, different machine learning models were used to find the best prediction mechanism. The accuracy of initial results ranged from 5% to 90%, and the team is now improving the models to make the predictions more consistent.
"With the addition of Degree Map, FSU students and their advisors will be able to easily access all of the information they need to stay on track to complete their degree, graduate and successfully start their chosen career."
Degree Progress tool simplifies degree planning
In 2019, FSU skyrocketed eight spots to become No. 18 among national public universities in U.S. News and World Report. One metric that contributes to this ranking is graduation and retention rates. Degree planning is a practice that contributes to that metric. Working with the Division of Undergraduate Studies, ITS implemented Civitas Degree Map to help students easily track progress toward their degree. The tool, called Degree Progress at FSU, makes it easy for undergraduate students to plan courses for future terms and import their selected courses directly into Schedule Assistant, the university’s recommended class scheduling tool. Students can also use Degree Progress to explore alternate majors and understand the impact of different degree and career path decisions, keeping them on track to graduate. Since the start of the Fall 2019 semester, students have logged in to Degree Progress 69,041 times.
$1,193
IT spending per student
52,494
courses planned in Degree Progress tool
2,603,236
course registrations processed by Student Central system
12
student interns hired through InternFSU program
2,051
hours of support provided via Student Computing Support
Research
Researchers use virtual machine to develop environmental and political GIS
You won’t find this on Google Maps … A research project spearheaded by Dr. Christopher Reenock from the FSU Department of Economics and Dr. David Konisky from Indiana University looks to develop a new web geographic information system (GIS) application that presents environmental and political data. Working with the Research Computing Center (RCC), Reenock and Konisky are creating a central hub where people can look at visual representations of data to help them become informed about the relationship between their local environment, their region’s political geographic landscape and their government’s policy decisions. This project, titled “Politics of Policy Geography,” leverages the power of modern, open source web mapping technologies and the RCC’s robust virtual machine infrastructure to develop a powerful web application. RCC staff are providing the technical expertise and computational skills needed to develop the app. It is because of collaborations like these, in which specialists in their field are able to work with technical experts, that innovative projects are able to reach new heights.
Research Computing Center connects to 100Gbps research network
High speeds, big data and new discoveries … that’s life on the NoleNet Express Lane. In 2019, ITS completed a multi-year project to upgrade the university’s research network. The latest phase connected the ITS Research Computing Center (RCC) to the 100 gigabits per second (Gbps) network, bypassing the regular campus network and connecting scientific instruments from researchers across campus directly with the storage systems hosted by the RCC. The dedicated research pipeline allows for low latency and high bandwidth network connections to RCC resources, campus units and compute and storage resources throughout Florida. This latest upgrade marks the completion of the research network upgrade funded by a Campus Cyberinfrastructure National Science Foundation grant.
ITS joins FSU Health Data Task Force
The digitization of healthcare information has led to massive quantities of data too vast and complex to be understood by traditional data processing. In response, FSU created the Health Data Task Force, a multidisciplinary, multi-college team to explore big data strategies in biological, social and health sciences. This research is an essential part of FSU research and education and will help FSU attract top faculty and students and compete for major funding, contracts and awards. ITS has taken an active role in the Health Data Task Force, with members of our research computing, shared infrastructure and security and privacy teams serving on the technology and compliance subgroups. Here, ITS staff members are contributing their expertise to pilot projects focusing on data privacy and storage.
Data integrations streamline research portal
Sometimes research proposals can seem more complex than the research. In 2019 and 2020, ITS worked with the Office of Research to support the launch of four new software modules in the Research Administration Management Portal (RAMP). To start, ITS generated a nightly data feed to RAMP to provide single sign-on access for active faculty, staff and students, then programmed data fields to deliver enhanced software automation and auto-populate forms. In 2020, integration between RAMP and myFSU Financials provided further automation to the award setup process and migrated 1,201 active awards to RAMP. The integrations provide helpful timesavers to researchers, and to date, 2,839 submissions have been entered via RAMP. Using the portal and new functionality, researchers and administrators can obtain contract and grant proposal and award information—all within one system.
399.02
teraflops of peak performance
37,761,035
CPU hours delivered by Research Computing Center
19,684,490
jobs run since 2008
Infrastructure
ITS networks new EOAS building
Bringing a six-story campus building online is no small feat. Throughout 2019, ITS worked closely with architects and engineers to design wireless access and data and telephony network systems in the a new Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Science (EOAS) building, which was finished in late November. ITS installed 1,900 cable drops and fed the building with two 10-gigabit fiber circuits—far surpassing the standard 1-gigabit circuits used in most campus buildings—to future-proof for growing data demands. The 130,500-square-foot structure is the tallest building on campus and brings together geology, oceanography, meteorology and environmental science under one high-tech roof.
ITS moves to new Technology Services Building
28 months, 3 buildings and 100s of boxes later … ITS completed the renovation of the Technology Services Building (TSB) and brought together 250 ITS employees under one roof. But employees weren’t the only moving pieces: 125,000 feet of Cat6 cable were installed, 452 ports were activated, and 480 computers and phones were transitioned. The 76,500-square foot building, located in Innovation Park, is the hub of campus IT activity. The new space and open design—complete with an interactive whiteboard and café-style brainstorming booths—encourages collaboration and teamwork and is flexible enough to accommodate future organizational growth.
Fiber optics bring faster internet to FSU
Thanks to ITS, students can play Quidditch and stream Harry Potter at the same time. Recent upgrades to the main campus fiber network continue to improve internet connections in all corners of campus, including the Intramural Fields. By upgrading more buildings on the campus network to single-mode fiber optic cables, ITS is increasing the bandwidth of the overall network, which means FSU can transmit more data over longer distances in a fraction of the time. In 2019, ITS brought high-speed network to the Intramural Fields and new FSU PrimaryHealth clinic and upgraded the backbone fiber in eight more campus buildings: the Biomedical Research Facility, Longmire, Diffenbaugh, Dittmer, Jennie Murphree Hall, Bryan Hall and the Kuersteiner and Housewright Music Buildings. All total, approximately 25,875 feet—that’s nearly five miles!—of cable was installed to upgrade these facilities.
VoIP improves campus phone service
The finish line is in sight for a multi-year project to convert all campus phones to an internet protocol-based service, also known as VoIP. ITS moved an additional 871 phones to VoIP in 2019 and the first half of 2020, bringing the 9-year total to 7,056. Only 675 Centrex lines are left to be converted to VoIP university wide. Internet protocol phone service offers a number of benefits, including cost savings, greater scalability, clearer voice quality and more flexibility supporting the increasing trend of remote work. Moving university phones to VoIP will advance all departments to a university standard and provide an up-to-date and adaptable information infrastructure for FSU.
40,676
peak number of unique wireless users in one day
356
virtual machines utilized by campus departments
22,589
wired network ports managed on FSU main campus
466
university applications using CAS single sign-on authentication
FSUSecure Unique Devices and Unique Users Per Day
Security
Cybersecurity campaign encourages FSU to ‘Join the Cause’
ITS wants YOU! In the university’s sixth annual National Cybersecurity Awareness Month campaign, ITS called on Uncle Sam, Rosie the Riveter and other iconic American figures to encourage FSU students, faculty and staff to be responsible cybercitizens. The throwback campaign promoted cybersecurity basic training, including using strong passwords and thinking before clicking links in emails, and encouraged individuals to sign the FSU Cyber Pledge. During the two-week campaign, more than 3,300 people signed the Cyber Pledge and vowed to take personal responsibility for following good cybersecurity practices.
Risk management assessments protect university data
In the world of cybersecurity, risk aversion is always a good thing. That is why ITS leads an annual cyber-risk assessment with each university unit. The assessment is a 20-question survey that covers the top 20 security and privacy best practices identified by the Center for Internet Security. Two hundred and one risk assessments were completed in 2019 and the first half of 2020. By taking the pulse of the university’s security controls, ITS helps ensure FSU is taking the appropriate measures to protect everything from personal and financial information to research data and intellectual property. If any security measures are not being met, ITS consults with the unit to assist in developing a risk mitigation plan and correct identified gaps.
Gap analyses test HIPAA and GDPR compliance
In 2019, ITS conducted two major gap analyses to compare current university operations with required performance. The first assessed university Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) compliance, making sure university departments such as Health Services or campus researchers receiving data from HIPAA-regulated entities are properly handling protected health information. The second gap analysis revolved around the General Data Protection Regulation, better known as GDPR, which protects the personal information of individuals in the European Union. For this, ITS conducted a study to determine the university’s compliance footprint for GDPR beyond obvious units, such as International Programs. Both studies resulted in actionable roadmaps and workplans to assist university units dealing with these data classifications.
Disaster recovery test prepares FSU for a rainy day
A capable disaster recovery solution enables the university to restore enterprise systems, recover necessary data and resume normal business as quickly and effectively as possible in the event of a natural or manmade disaster, such as a hurricane or cyberattack. To help make sure FSU is prepared to respond, ITS completed a formal disaster recovery test in spring 2019 and tabletop exercise in October of the same year. The October exercise invited ITS directors and managers to participate in a disaster recovery fire drill, of sorts. During the exercise, ITS simulated a major cybersecurity incident and worked through the disaster recovery response process, from detection to communications. The exercise helped ITS identify challenges and develop recommendations for refining and improving our disaster recovery response for future events.
“Ensuring the security of FSU data falls not only on the shoulders of ITS, but the FSU community as well.”
Basic cybersecurity training teaches safe computing
When a recent audit identified a deficiency in cybersecurity awareness among FSU employees, ITS doubled down on efforts to ensure all employees complete basic cybersecurity training. ITS worked with President Thrasher to convey the importance of cybersecurity training to employees. A targeted campaign urged employees to complete the streamlined training course, and an app was developed for supervisors to track training completion within their department. In three months, an additional 25% of the FSU workforce completed the training. To date, 93% of university employees have completed the training. These efforts equip individuals with the tools and skills necessary to take personal responsibility for maintaining a safe cyberenvironment at FSU.
3.6
petabytes of data protected by ITS enterprise storage
2,436,386
attacks blocked by web application firewall
653,826,986
threats blocked by email filtering
2,746
access-controlled doors maintained by ITS
Services
Salesforce helps change culture of Greek Life at FSU
In 2017, the death of a fraternity pledge led FSU President Thrasher to call for a “new normal” to be created on campus. FSU needed a system that would provide more oversight of Fraternity and Sorority Life and connect students with the support they need when they need it. Last year, ITS worked with early adopters in the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life (OFSL) to begin applying Salesforce to OFSL operations. Using the new customer relationship management tool, OFSL is able to track involvement in fraternity and sorority events, making sure students complete orientation, attend chapter support meetings, receive risk management education and fulfill other OFSL requirements. This 360-view of fraternity and sorority students enables OFSL administrators to connect with individual students to set them on the road to success.
Self-service portal simplifies account management
Gone are the days of jumping through hoops to update your FSU password. In early 2020, ITS rolled out a new self-service platform that makes it easier than ever for individuals to manage their FSU account and make updates as needed. Using the myFSU Identity Management dropdown menu in myFSU Portal, individuals can quickly change their password, update security questions, manage two-factor authentication devices and more. In addition to placing various account management tasks and security controls in one easy-to-access location, the step-by-step process for password resets and account activations underwent an overhaul. The new, intuitive screens guide individuals through the task, one screen at a time. No jumping required.
ITS service status page reports service incidents
It’s website official. ITS launched a new way to report the status of ITS services. The ITS Service Status page, which went live over summer 2019, provides a quick view of popular services and their current status as well as detailed service disruption and upcoming maintenance notices. Visitors to the page can see at a glance which services are online, experiencing a problem or scheduled for maintenance. In addition to checking for current service incidents, people can browse a short list of service history or follow the on-page instructions to report a problem if a particular incident isn’t yet known. The page has proven to be a valuable resource, generating an average of 1,562 views each month.
LinkedIn Learning delivers personalized online learning
So long, Lynda. In summer 2019, ITS upgraded the university’s online learning service to LinkedIn Learning, a powerhouse of 15,000+ on-demand videos and courses. The upgrade transitioned 20,031 university accounts to the new platform. LinkedIn Learning provides the same great content as Lynda.com—covering everything from Excel tips and Python coding to photography hacks and guitar solos—and links with LinkedIn professional profiles to provide a personalized online learning experience. After the upgrade, LinkedIn Learning saw a 21% increase in users over Lynda.com, with learners watching an average of 1,761 hours of video per month.
NWRDC becomes Florida’s cloud broker
The Northwest Regional Data Center (NWRDC) solidified its standing as Florida’s cloud broker by becoming the first certified governmental partner in the Microsoft Cloud Solution Provider program last March. The Azure suite of services joins Amazon Web Services, CenturyLink and NWRDC’s own community cloud on the list of cloud hosting offerings available through the center. As cloud broker, NWRDC manages the usage, performance and delivery of cloud services to several state of Florida agencies. This new designation allows NWRDC to easily assist customers using Azure and provide 24/7/365 technical support for Microsoft Cloud products and services.
Want to hear more about NWRDC accomplishments? View the 2018-2019 NWRDC Annual Report.
2,677,000
unique visitors to myFSU Portal
14,495
myFSU Mobile app downloads
278.25
terabytes of files stored on FSU OneDrive
20,042
hours of online training streamed from LinkedIn Learning
Efficiencies
Operational assessment guides IT strategy
In an effort to continuously improve technology services at FSU, ITS engaged in a major research initiative and hired Huron Consulting Group to perform a comprehensive operational assessment of ITS and our engagement with the FSU community. Surveys and interviews with campus stakeholders and IT professionals took place during summer 2019. Data was analyzed, numbers were crunched and results identified five areas of focus for ITS: organize for effectiveness, enhance service delivery, establish strategic alignment, secure FSU and simplify our financial management and funding model. These recommendations, which are continuing to guide the ITS strategic direction, resulted in several organizational realignments, process changes and the creation of task-specific workgroups.
BI Analytics team wins DSA award
Three cheers for data analytics! The ITS BI Analytics team wooed their customers (again) and received a Partners with a Purpose award from the Division of Student Affairs (DSA). Though their work is largely behind the scenes, the BI Analytics team performs an essential role in making sure departments such as DSA can easily access and analyze data about university programs and services. In 2019, they worked with DSA to develop dashboards, fix broken reports and provide training to enable DSA to gain meaningful insights about student learning and engagement. BI Analytics team members attended the DSA awards ceremony in May 2019 to accept their award.
ITS employees complete ITIL training
While FSU students were cramming for finals, ITS employees were knee deep in their own exam week. Eighty ITS employees completed ITIL 4 Foundation training in 2019 and 2020. The training, which is an industry best practice framework for IT service management, was conducted in an effort to enhance the delivery of ITS services to the FSU community. The training introduced several key concepts and guiding principles that influence the delivery of IT services and took a deep dive into 15 key ITIL practices. Two and a half days of intense training and one tricky exam later, ITS staffers were ready to standardize service delivery and maximize process efficiencies.
“The Bi Analytics Team is an essential partner for the DSA. This team of great listeners and innovative problem solvers want to streamline manual processes and find creative solutions. They are truly unsung heroes of the data infrastructure that powers our programs and services.”
OCM team helps prepare university for IT changes
In the world of technology, change can mean the systems, apps, interfaces or processes we use are suddenly different. And these changes can be tough. That is why ITS introduced a new organizational change management (OCM) team in early 2020. The OCM team brings an emphasis to the “people side of change” and makes sure end users are aware of and prepared for upcoming technology changes at FSU. The ITS OCM framework follows the industry standard Prosci model built on a five-stage approach to change: awareness, desire, knowledge, ability and reinforcement. Since ITS launched OCM in January 2020, five major projects have flowed through the process, including the FSU Service Center modernization and Marketing Cloud. The increased planning, training and communications delivered by OCM are preparing the FSU community for technology changes and setting up projects for success before they even start.
ITS undergoes major organizational realignment
Over the past year, ITS has undergone several organizational realignments and shifted teams and individuals to create a more aligned and effective organization. A new Change Leadership and Planning team was created to bridge ITS and the FSU community by focusing on user engagement and communications. Community Technology Services was renamed and reorganized to include ITS teams responsible for customer-focused services. Enterprise Application Services was formed when two former ITS units merged into one team, aligning the student, finance and HR enterprise resource planning teams with the development teams. ITS also hired a Chief Technology Officer to lead the newly formed Shared Infrastructure Organization, responsible for developing the technical strategy for university infrastructure and networks. Change is the only constant in technology; and ITS will continue to grow and change to support the needs of the campus community and stay aligned with industry best practices.
ITS Org Chart
Low-Cost/No-Cost Software Acquired by FSU Students, Faculty & Staff FY2019
$120,040
in student savings from discounted computing support
$61,000
saved by transitioning myFSU Portal to new platform
37
ITS completed projects focusing on administrative process efficiencies
Collaborations
VOC campaign gathers feedback from FSU community
We are listening. That is the message ITS sent when we embarked on a university-wide Voice of the Community campaign in summer 2019. The goal of the campaign was to appreciate the current climate towards ITS, articulate expectations of technology used throughout FSU and communicate to the university community that we care about their perceptions of our organization. Through conversations with 125 faculty, staff and students, four major themes took shape: collaboration, communication, contact and process confusion and continuous support. In short, the university needs more from ITS. More collaboration. More communication. More connections. More support. Since the research wrapped up, ITS has been using the feedback to improve processes, implement new offerings and instill change across the organization. Notable updates include launching the Technology Architecture Committee, starting to redesign the ITS service catalog and creating a “fast pass” option for IT professionals who need technical support.
The full VOC report can be found on the ITS website—along with a video, infographic and executive summary at its.fsu.edu/voc
ITS newsletter shares tech news with FSU
Extra! Extra! Read all about IT! ITS started publishing a monthly IT newsletter to share the latest project updates, partnerships and advancements in technology across FSU. The newsletter—PursuITS—includes general news, technical updates, university partnerships, tech tips, job postings and more. Another feature debuted in the newsletter is the We Are IT column, which spotlights a different ITS employee every month and highlights the incredible people that support technology at FSU. Since it launched in July 2019, PursuITS has been sent monthly to almost 1,000 technology professionals and other subscribers across FSU and has an open rate of 34%. Sign up for the ITS newsletter and get the latest news and techy musings delivered to your inbox every month.
Open house welcomes campus to TSB
Our house is officially warmed. ITS welcomed more than 70 guests to the renovated Technology Services Building (TSB) in Innovation Park during our open house event on October 30. The open house was a way for campus to explore the new space and meet some new faces. Guests from Finance and Administration, Admissions, Facilities, the College of Education and countless other university colleges and departments filled the building. As part of the event, 39 ITS units participated in a poster session to highlight the many ways ITS supports technology across the university. It was a great afternoon to showcase ITS work and socialize with campus partners.
"We had a really great turn out [at the Open House], and I heard nothing but excellent feedback. I am so proud of how the event turned out."
RCC open house highlights supercomputing at FSU
Numerical weather forecasting, protein folding experiments, classical music algorithms … The Research Computing Center (RCC) powers some amazing research at FSU. In fact, the RCC supports a significant amount of research grants each year. To highlight some of this amazing work, the RCC hosted an open house in March 2019. The event welcomed nearly 60 researchers and campus partners to stop by and learn more about research and supercomputing at FSU. Guests were able to attend presentations and browse posters to explore recent research supported by the RCC as well as take a virtual tour of the RCC data center. ITS staff were on hand to discuss research needs and introduce computing, data storage and consulting services available through the RCC. As a result, the RCC acquired several new customers after the open house event.
ITS raises over $4,000 for Big Bend Homeless Coalition
Every holiday season, ITS has a tradition of giving to a local charity. In 2019, we teamed together to support the Big Bend Homeless Coalition, an organization that provides emergency shelters and permanent housing options to local veterans, people with disabilities and families with small children. Our goal was to raise $2,500. Thanks to the generosity of our team members, we not only exceeded our goal, but completely blew it out of the water—raising $4,356. ITS presented the donation to Sylvia Smith, executive director of the Big Bend Homeless Coalition, at our holiday party on December 17.
Technology Architecture Committee enables collaboration
ITS is building connections … and not the fiber optic type. In response to feedback received during the ITS Voice of the Community campaign, ITS launched a new committee in late 2019 called the Technology Architecture Committee (TAC). The group is comprised of 23 IT leaders from across the university and includes representatives from colleges, administrative departments and ITS who often have divergent technology needs and requirements. Through this committee, FSU is able to more effectively and holistically address university technology needs by establishing technology architecture standards, recommending IT service adjustments, promoting rich user experience and accessibility practices and optimizing IT investments university-wide. The group has drafted IT architectural principles to use as a basis for future IT decisions and designs. The TAC is already performing technology assessments and plans on reviewing IT projects and procurement workflows to ensure they align with the principles.
71,189
Service Desk support requests
1,505
members of FSU community surveyed by ITS in FY2020
173
live websites on central WCMS
FSU ITS Social Media Followers
COVID-19
ITS plays pivotal role in university COVID-19 response
When COVID-19 cases became more local in March 2020, FSU had to pivot operations to a completely online environment in mere weeks. The university community banded together to respond to the rapidly changing situation, and the sudden shift to virtual operations thrust ITS into the limelight. ITS had a voice in numerous university workgroups created in response to COVID-19. From hosting Zoom training sessions to serving on the Business Continuity, Academic Operations, Fine and Performing Arts, and Labs and Research workgroups, ITS worked with university leadership to solve problems creatively with technology. Cross-team collaboration with departments such as the Office of Digital Learning and Academic Technologies and the Division of Student Affairs led to breakthroughs in online learning and the creation of a daily email digest of university COVID-19 announcements. ITS also established a Technology Operations Response Team with representation from across campus and coordinated regular video conferences to provide updates and proactively address concerns. In the last three months, many ITS services saw higher usage than ever before, and ITS experienced higher customer satisfaction and appreciation than ever before. FSU could not have made the shift to virtual operations without ITS at the helm, and university leadership and partners shared their appreciation in an ITS thank you video.
“I want to thank all of you for the work that you do every day to keep this university running smoothly, but especially for the untold hours and incredible effort you put forth as we converted to a campus environment where everyone is learning and working remotely. A lot of the work you do is unseen, but I want you to know it does not go unnoticed. Thank you for keeping FSU online and connected.”
Zoom and the move to remote learning
In October of 2019, ITS rolled out a campus license for a new web communication platform, Zoom, giving all FSU students, faculty and staff access to free Zoom Pro accounts. In late 2019, ITS worked with the Office of Digital Learning and Academic Technologies to integrate Zoom with the Canvas Learning Management System to ensure students and faculty would be able to leverage the tool for courses as well as ad hoc meetings. And the timing couldn’t have been more fortuitous. When FSU closed campus in March 2020 due to COVID-19, the move to remote learning and operations was as smooth as can be expected. FSU, like other institutions, did experience some security incidents involving Zoom in late spring, but ITS was able to respond quickly by increasing security and education for instructors and participants to minimize the impact. ITS went remote in mid-March, and in four short months saw the FSU community schedule 163,286 meetings for a total of 72,401,334 minutes and 1,436,581 participants.
Student Technology Fee supports online engagement
Each year, the Student Technology Fee funds millions of dollars of instructional technology at Florida State University. In 2020, when the Student Technology Fee Advisory Committee met to approve the slate of projects submitted for funding, the committee decided to take a pause and reissue the call for proposals to ensure the 1.4 million dollars in funding would support the most needed causes across campus in light of the pandemic crisis. ITS, working with the Office of Digital Learning and Academic Technologies, Office of the Provost and Division of Student Affairs, redesigned the process for submission, assembled a new group of faculty and student reviewers and relaunched the call for proposals–focusing this time on improving online engagement and student experience. A record number of proposals were submitted, and the committee awarded 72 stipends for redesigning courses for online delivery and approved funding for 57 instructional technology projects.
Guidelines establish safe in-person IT support
Some IT issues, such as troubleshooting device hardware repair or laying fiber cables, can’t be completed remotely. For these cases, ITS developed guidelines for in-person IT support at FSU to encourage social distancing between employees and IT professionals. The guidelines detailed equipment and work area sanitization recommendations for IT professionals and spelled out precautions for employees to follow when requiring hands-on IT support, such as dropping off and picking up equipment from designated locations on campus. ITS also deployed a remote desktop support tool to IT professionals in academic and business units across campus. The tool enabled students, faculty and staff to share their computer screen with an IT professional to troubleshoot and resolve computer problems, regardless of where they were in the world. These guidelines and tools helped ensure healthy interactions while providing vital technology support during critical times.
Laptops and webcams collected for Noles in need
In search of laptops and webcams. When the world went remote in February and March, some students and employees didn’t have access to the technologies they needed to continue their education and work online. While ITS was able to purchase limited supplies of webcams and laptops, we were also able to count on the College of Medicine and other units to donate computers for Noles in need. The combined efforts of ITS, the Division of Student Affairs, University Libraries and the Office of the Provost resulted in the acquisition and distribution of more than 500 computers, webcams, document cameras and other tech resources for students, faculty and staff.
ITS essential workers power university remote operations
While the rest of us were working from the comfort of our homes, 121 ITS essential workers were heading into the office every day since the university went remote. These employees were the people maintaining the network, making sure faculty had the technology they needed to teach online, receiving ITS shipments and providing hands-on tech support to customers across campus. For this group of dedicated employees, workdays continued as usual. In addition to providing vital support to campus technology, ITS essential workers took advantage of the empty campus to accelerate updates to the university network and classroom technology. So to everyone who left their dogs and cats at home, strapped on their masks and continued to head in to work every day … Thank you! FSU could not have done it without you.
74,028,105
Zoom meeting minutes
58,249
application launches in myFSUVLab virtual computer lab
920
Microsoft Teams created
573
devices connected to eduroam wireless network
While our main campus is in Tallahassee, Florida, FSU students and staff span the globe from Alaska to New Zealand. These images show where the FSU community is signing in to FSU services.
World Map of FSU Logins
US Map of FSU Logins
Financials
ITS manages an annual budget of more than $49 million to provide critical technology support to Florida State University. As technology needs become more indispensable and diverse every year, ITS continuously seeks out more cost-effective ways to deliver expanded and enhanced services to the university community.
FY2019 Expenses
| Salaries & Benefits | $25,977,000 |
| Telecommunications & Network | $9,356,000 |
| Software Expendable & Maintenance | $5,208,000 |
| Hardware Maintenance & Supplies | $2,486,000 |
| Consulting & Professional Services | $1,971,000 |
| General Operating Expenses | $1,847,000* |
| Other Capital Outlay | $1,677,000 |
| Travel & Training | $526,000 |
| Facilities & Fleet Repairs/Maintenance | $211,000 |
| TOTAL | $49,259,000 |
*Includes one-time expenditure of $780,000 for TSB renovations that fell below the FSU capitalization threshold
Year Ahead
Be a strategic partner to FSU
In FY2021, ITS will pursue numerous strategic partnerships and focus on creating a culture of collaboration across the university community. Continued efforts with the Technology Architecture Committee (TAC) will strengthen ties with university colleges and departments as we perform technology assessments and architecture reviews as well as participate in IT service reviews and needs assessments. We will also look to build on the success of the Information Technology Administration Partnership Program (ITAPP) and bring additional partners on board. ITS is in a perfect position to be the conduit that brings together technology ideas and innovations from across the university, and in the year ahead, we plan to do just that.
Improve ITS service delivery
In the coming year, ITS will release several key service upgrades to respond to the needs of the FSU community. A new customer relationship management solution, Service Cloud, will launch in fall 2020, along with a new mass communication tool, Marketing Cloud. ITS will also complete the transition to a new, cloud-based disaster recovery solution as well as bring up a new document management tool. Each of these projects will provide an opportunity for ITS to mature our processes for service, program, project and change management. ITS will also undergo a major redesign of the ITS website and service catalog in FY2021 in an effort to improve overall service delivery and customer experience.
Expand research technology support
University researchers, who bring in more than $200 million annually to FSU, have an immense need for technology resources. In FY2021, ITS is participating in the multidisciplinary Health Data Task Force to kick off a major initiative that will explore big data strategies in biological, social and health sciences. We are also undertaking a concerted effort on improving software documentation on the Research Computing Center website in order to better support university researchers. Finally, ITS has plans to ramp up communication and outreach efforts to the research community, including partnering with the Office of Faculty Development and Advancement and Office of Research to include regular articles in targeted newsletters highlighting valuable faculty and researcher services from ITS.
Improve cybersecurity posture across university
Cybersecurity continues to remain at the forefront of ITS priorities, and FY2021 will see an increased focus on the concept that cybersecurity is everyone’s responsibility. In the coming year, FSU will see an expanded reach of two-factor authentication (2FA) across university systems and applications. This second layer of security will soon be required for accessing personal information at FSU, such as VPN and employee email. Also in FY2021, ITS will prepare a special cybersecurity campaign focusing on remote working and learning and how individuals can uphold strong cybersecurity practices wherever they are connecting, either on campus or virtually.
Enhance ITS team capabilities
FY2021 will be a year of strategic and professional growth for the ITS organization. Several more organizational realignments and IT leadership hires will maximize the strength of our team and better position ITS to achieve a greater impact with the university committee. The new organizational change management (OCM) process and support team will help manage the people side of change for ITS initiatives and ensure smoother service deliveries and greater cohesion for major ITS releases. ITS will also expand the newly launched professional development series and continue to host monthly Tech Talks and events for IT employees, focusing on everything from recruitment to training on new IT tools. This year, we are investing in growing and strengthening the talented individuals who make up the ITS team.
Support campus repopulation
While the impacts of COVID-19 remain ambiguous, one thing is certain—ITS will continue to be an essential partner in supporting the safe return of students and employees to campus. As fall classes follow a blended environment of in-person and virtual learning, ITS will continue to assess and deliver technologies and tools necessary for effective learning and operations. Close partnerships will be maintained with the Office of Digital Learning and Academic Technologies, Division of Student Affairs and other campus departments. ITS will also continue to play an instrumental role in the repopulation of campus, leading technology solutions for the FSU COVID-19 drive-through testing site and self-attestation. In addition, efforts are underway to develop analytics to support the FSU contact tracing initiative. From going remote to returning to campus, ITS is committed to the health and safety of the FSU community.
Credits
Writing
Megan Del Debbio | ITS
Design
Ruben Griffin | University Communications
Rodney Johnson | University Communications
Katie Grab | University Communications
Ashley Taylor | ITS
Photography
Sydney Royer | ITS
Katrina Lago | ITS
Freddy Juarez | Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life
