Rutgers University
Computing Services

Annual Report

1999 / 2000

 

 

     A. Staffing - Promotions, New Hires.

     B. Commitment to Excellence.

     C. Public Awareness and External Relations.

     A. University Directorates.

         1. Administrative Computing Services.

         2. University Computing Services.

         3. University Telecommunications.

     B. Computing Services.

         1. Camden Computing Services.

         2. New Brunswick Computing Services.

         3. Newark Computing Services.

     C. RUNet 2000.

     A. The Office of Information Technology Strategic Goals.

         1. Computing and Information Technology.

         2. Community Service and Support.

         3. Customer Service and Support.

         4. Connectivity.

         5. Communication.

     B. University Directorates.

         1. Administrative Computing Services.

         2. Telecommunications Division.

     C. Campus Computing Services.

         3. Camden Computing Services.

         4. New Brunswick Computing Services.

         5. Newark Computing Services.

     D. RUNet 2000.

Organizational Chart

 

 

 

Executive Summary

The 1999-2000 academic and fiscal year presented a full range of challenges, opportunities, and changes for employees throughout the Office of Information Technology (OIT). Challenges ranged from the Y2K transition and the implementation of web-based services to the architecture of a new and robust communications infrastructure and the smooth delivery of data, software, and academic computing systems to 60,000 customers -- every day. Opportunities included the production of operational efficiencies, enhanced services and facilities, expanded internal and external communications, and the development of new partnerships with government and corporate entities. Change and professional growth permeated the entire organization throughout the year, as OIT's Commitment to Excellence and expectations regarding performance standards continued to play a significant role in the culture of the organization. Further, comprehensive analyses of job descriptions, staffing patterns, and work requirements supported the need for a major internal reorganization, position adjustments, and a 10 percent increase in the number of full-time employees to accommodate the growing demand for services and the implementation of new initiatives. Major highlights of the past year's activities follow.

Year 2000

Rutgers Computing Services Divisions in Camden (CCS), Newark (NCS), and New Brunswick (NBCS), and the University Telecommunications Division (TD) provided critical testing, support, and safeguards for the Year 2000 project, and Administrative Computing Services (ACS) successfully converted the university's administrative applications. These efforts led to a smooth transition into the 21st century and to ACS' receipt of the President's Award for Excellence. This was the first time that an entire university division received this honor.

Administrative Computing Services (ACS)

ACS also developed and delivered a number of web-based initiatives to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of university processes and to empower faculty, staff and students, as well as prospective students, with the ability to manage an array of transactions online. Web-based services initiated in FY 2000 include the following:

• Student self-service registration was implemented university-wide for fall 2000 registration. At its peak in April, the web-based registration site was accessed more than 128,000 times.
• Rutgers Online Directory, implemented in August 1999, provides an up-to-date web-information display with search and maintenance features for students, faculty and staff. Average directory access is 120,000 times a month.
• ARTSYS, a web-based community college transfer course articulation program, empowers students with the information they need to plan for the easy transfer of community college courses to Rutgers.
• Online class rosters provide faculty with up-to-date access to the email addresses of students enrolled in particular courses. This facilitates faculty/student communication, improves student access to course materials, and provides electronic data for monitoring student progress.
• Web access to student financial information was implemented in fall 1999. This service enables students to view and manage their financial accounts -- tuition, fees, payments, financial aid awards, refunds, remission information -- through a secure web process, instead of going to a cashier's office or waiting for a periodic mailing.
• Home address updates may now be made online. Prior to this web-based option, students had to fill-out a paper form and take it to the Registrar to make address changes.
• Web-based Course Analysis System (CAS) provides academic departments and administrative and institutional research offices with accurate and timely data collection and validation processes. Prior to CAS implementation, such data collection and analysis required extensive data entry at the department level and in centralized data entry units, which frequently led to inaccuracies and wasted effort.

In addition, ACS supported the university's pay-for-performance program with a client-server-based application that facilitated departmental entries of bonus awards and base pay increases. The application also contained University Human Resources management components for analysis and reporting, and back-end processing was provided to enable electronic data feeds into the payroll system for base salary increases, bonus adjustments, and retroactive salary calculations. This new process eliminated the inefficient, manual data entries required in previous years.

As ACS organized resources to meet FY 2000 challenges, it became apparent that some restructuring was necessary. At mid-year, two associate directors were promoted to new director-level positions: (1) Director of Production Services and Technical Support and (2) Director of Application Development and Data Management.

Also during the 1999-2000 academic year, OIT led a significant up-front planning effort to replace the university's administrative systems. This work resulted in the Rutgers' Integrated Administrative System (IAS), a multi-year enterprise resource planning (ERP) project that will substitute the institution's core financial, human resource, purchasing, budgeting, and payroll systems with web-based applications. The following major strides were made this year to prepare the university for IAS implementation:

• In-depth investigations and site visits were conducted to study a variety of ERP implementations at other universities.
• Application user group conferences were attended to gather ERP information from other organizations.
• Bid responses for the ERP software and implementation consulting were analyzed and findings were presented to the university's senior administration and members of the Board of Governors.
• Numerous presentations occurred throughout the year to review proposed budgets, the ERP planning process, and final recommendations.
• Oracle Corp. was selected as the ERP vendor of choice, and a governance structure was created to include a senior steering committee, a project management committee, and a project director.
• The project team has started an intensive training program on the pertinent software modules, and arrangements have been made for Oracle consultants and an "owners representative" to be onsite during the implementation process.

Telecommunications Division (TD)

In preparation for the increased network responsibilities associated with the construction of a new communications backbone, the Telecommunications Division (TD) implemented an internal reorganization during FY 2000. The reorganization emphasizes functional area responsibilities and customer service, a closer relationship between plant design and plant installation, and a cohesive Network Operations Group that serves the university's three regional campuses.

TD's major accomplishments during 1999-2000 include the following:

• The legacy data network core and seven existing campus backbones were rebuilt. In the upgrade process, redundancy was added, hardware and software variety was decreased, and routing complexity was reduced. The net result is a legacy backbone that is simultaneously faster, simpler, and more robust.
• In collaboration with RUTCOR (Rutgers Center for Operations Research), TD participated as a mock client in a graduate course research project to develop a network traffic analysis tool. Such operations research is used widely by government and industry to solve problems involving complex design and to identify efficiencies.
• TD personnel played a major role in planning for a New Jersey Higher Education Network (NJHEN), evaluating bids from network vendors, and developing a master services agreement. They continue to provide Rutgers' representation on the NJHEN board.
• Working with Cisco Systems, a Tech Day event was organized and presented for Unit Computing Specialists and other interested members of the university community. The program focused on RUNet 2000 and the legacy network.
• As part of the university's outreach to the educational community, custom infrastructure was extended to the Leadership, Education and Partnership (LEAP) Academy, a K-8 charter school in Camden. This infrastructure provides a 100Mbit full-duplex connection to the Rutgers network. Construction of Rutgers network connections to selected educational facilities in Newark is nearing completion.

In addition, TD is responsible for leading the RUNet 2000 construction project, which has made significant progress since the first Authorization to Proceed was signed in April 1999. During the first year of the project, wiring was completed in 12 academic buildings and 27 residence halls on the Busch, College Avenue, Douglass, Livingston, and Newark campuses. Conduit and manhole installation to house the fiber optic network backbone was completed on the Busch and Livingston campuses and was initiated on the Newark campus. Fiber installation began in June on the Busch and Livingston campuses. A process for transitioning academic and administrative buildings to the new network was developed by the RUNet 2000 Interdivisional Task Force and tested in two departments prior to a full scale rollout throughout the university. At the conclusion of the fiscal year, the project was on schedule and within budget. The success of the RUNet 2000 Project to date is due in large part to the cooperation and collaboration of all OIT's divisions and to the wholehearted acceptance and support of the entire university community.

Camden Computing Services (CCS)

Camden Computing Services (CCS) staff provided networking leadership for the RUNet 2000 implementation process on their campus, including significant planning and coordination efforts for outside plant construction for the Business & Science Building and Armitage Hall, and for related departmental moves on campus. CCS also contributed staff time and expertise to the K-12 outreach initiative associated with RUNet 2000, which included a high-speed network connection for the LEAP Academy. In addition, CCS special accomplishments in FY 2000 included the following activities:

• A presentation on "Facilitating Netscape Use in a Public PC Lab" delivered at the Association for Computing Machinery's Special Interest Group on University and College Computing Services conference, and follow-up articles in university publications, provided valuable shared experiences with colleagues.
• Fine tuning of instructional support efforts continued with the implementation of a plan for a three-year life cycle of public lab systems in Camden's computer labs.
• The Rutgers-Camden Sociology faculty collaborated with the Teaching Excellence Center in a streaming video project for classroom presentation enhancements.
• Communications with the campus increased through Gleaner articles, email reports to administrators, meetings with departmental representatives, and classroom presentations in the School of Business.

New Brunswick Computing Services (NBCS)

New Brunswick Computing Services (NBCS) placed a special emphasis on enhanced services for departments during the 1999-2000 academic year. Through this ongoing, multi-year project, NBCS will develop strategies and services to help reduce the amount of staff time that departments need for routine tasks. Further, NBCS provided new services in the following critical areas:

• Mechanisms now exist to create official mailing lists based on a variety of criteria. A full set of university-wide email lists were developed this year for use by colleges, departments and administrative offices to send special announcements, weekly bulletins, or official notices that may have previously been distributed through campus mail or the student newspaper.
• A process for departments to use while transitioning to the new network created through the RUNet 2000 construction process was planned and developed.
• Unix support services for departments, including the creation of a support group and online resources for departmental Unix staff, were initiated.
• A more consistent and proactive approach to security was initiated, including the creation of a security and abuse-handling group and an Interdivisional Computer Incident Response Team.
• OIT's responsibilities associated with the PC Purchase Advantage program, including vendor negotiations, ordering and deliveries, were coordinated with other offices to achieve the goals of the program: acquiring standardized, high-quality hardware and software at significantly reduced prices.

NBCS also participated in the significant reorganization of OIT:

• The Computer Store and Computer Repair were moved into NBCS. This move brought together all of the resources needed to support PCs.
• NBCS was divided into two areas, each of which has a new Director. The areas are (1) User and departmental support and PC technology and (2) Central services and Unix technology.

These changes were intended to allow the new directors to focus on small enough areas to make significant progress, and to plan initiatives that address key priorities. The previously existing Director was named University Director and is responsible for providing overall leadership for campus computing, including technical planning and development.

Newark Computing Services (NCS)

FY 2000 activities for Newark Computing Services (NCS) include the following highlights:

• The Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) was implemented to assist with the relocation of offices and classrooms into the new Center for Law and Justice (CLJ) building, and for the initial phases of transition from the legacy network to RUNet 2000.
• The Engelhard Computing Labs were renovated and opened, providing 46 state-of-the-art student workstations with workspace for notes, references, and books. Each workstation has access to all of the standard student applications on the Novell servers and the Unix Pegasus server. In addition, the help desk area was renovated to provide a location for operation of the help desk with telephone, email, and walk-in technical support.
• A training program for lab consultants was developed. It includes an orientation to interviewing, hiring, and training; workshops on policies, procedures, and troubleshooting techniques; and Career Services assistance that enables students to post their resumes on-line and search for positions in the Career Services Database on the Internet.
• NCS web pages were redesigned to provide easier access to more complete information. Updates will continue as a regular activity.
• A routine for new students to create their computer accounts when they are on campus for orientation and advising was coordinated with Student Affairs. This provides time for staff members to guide new students through the process and resolve problems that occur immediately.
• A collaborative software application was installed as a pilot in two instructional labs. This application enhances the teaching environment by allowing instructors to remotely control student workstations, project images to any one or to all workstations simultaneously, and help maintain the focus of all students on the same subject. This successful pilot will lead to the installation of the application in most other teaching labs on the Newark Campus.

By any measure this has been a productive year for the Office of Information Technology. The accomplishments during FY 1999-2000 can be attributed to the collaborative work of talented and dedicated staff members in each unit of the organization, the establishment and communication of clear goals and objectives, a commitment to excellence and service, and the wholehearted support of the University's leadership.

The Office of Information Technology

I. Personnel, Administration
and Communication

A. Staffing - Promotions, New Hires

At the conclusion of Fiscal Year 99/00, OIT employed 238 full-time state lines1, 64 auxiliary lines, 133 type 4 employees2, and 527 type 5 employees2. Staff members worked in the following job families:

• Applications Development/Maintenance
• Network Engineers
• Operations/Production
• Systems
• User Services & Support
• Network Technicians
• Management
• Administration & Clerical

Reclassifications were granted for 12 employees, recognizing their increasing capabilities to serve the organization.

64 individuals were hired into the following job families during the fiscal year: 

Number	Area
5	Administration & Clerical
5	Applications Development
5	Management
10	Network Engineers
6	Network Technician
8	Operations/Production
21	Systems
4	User Services & Support

New hires made within Divisions were as follows:

Number	Area
17	ACS
1	Administration
2	Camden
4	Newark
22	NBCS
18	TD

27 positions were unfilled at the conclusion of Fiscal Year 1999/2000. Active recruitment occurred during the fiscal year through:

• RU APS Postings via mail and web site
• National and local newspaper advertising
• Advertisement in computer and management publications
• Posting on technical organization listserves
• Search firms
• Job fairs
• Student training/mentoring
• Referrals
• Postings on the OIT/HR and other organizational web sites

B. Commitment to Excellence

The organization's "Commitment to Excellence" Quality and Communication Improvement initiative resulted in the establishment of six committees, which were charged with gathering and analyzing data, providing recommendations and a course of action based on recommendations and ideas to affect organizational change in a positive way.

Organizational focus for the fiscal year 2000 was on leadership, management and communication improvement. Leadership, management and communication objectives were included in performance standards. Issues were formalized into leadership responsibilities and shared through every level of the organization from directors to front-line staff.

The Commitment to Excellence initiative was a response to the stated needs of employees at all levels within the organization. Following is a summary of the recommendations of each team report and the current status of those recommendations:

Team: Customer Identification and Needs Team

Through focus groups and surveys, learned more about what the University community required of OIT. Provided recommendations for regular contact with constituent groups to maintain a high level of communication and feedback about organizational activities and directions in order to improve services.

Recommendations:

• OIT will volunteer to participate in biennial University-wide survey conducted by OIR
• Schedule focus group meetings to gauge:

Customer concerns

• Faculty, staff, and departments for exchange of issues (annually)
• Partner with campus groups to extend the reach of OIT into the University Community
• Continue existing regular meetings of customer groups for service areas
• Conduct one-on-one meetings with customers

Activities Implemented:

• The New Brunswick Advisory Committee has prepared a draft survey to be reviewed by Computing Services Directors for implementation in September
• OIT personnel actively participated in Campus Open House programs
• Vendor conferences (Cisco, etc.) were coordinated
• Specific group meetings (PC LAN, Linux, etc.) are regularly scheduled
• Modems were added and modem policy is being reviewed
• OIT Services brochure was updated and distributed
• Customer focus group meetings were planned and conducted
• Student satisfaction surveys were taken
• Correspondence and visits to departments and student organizations were initiated to discuss services

Team: Support Strategy Team

Documented the process of user support within OIT. Identified a set of issues with current processes, producing a set of recommendations.

Recommendations:

• Collect systematic data to develop estimates and address problem
• Establish single Help Desk support
• Develop standards for user support

Activities Implemented:

• In the near future NBCS will begin monitoring staff responses to users and reviewing quality of responses regularly
• Divisional collaboration was implemented for the Help Desk
• Lab consultants were trained
• Interdivisional collaboration was emphasized and made a performance evaluation criteria for directors
• PC Purchase Program was planned and implemented
• Help Desk processes were reviewed and modified

Team: Human Resources Team

Focused on the recruiting and retention of qualified individuals into the OIT community. Additionally, worked to ensure Computing Services is well represented in the University-wide orientation for new faculty and staff.

Recommendations:

General

• Contract Mercer Associates to determine level of OIT IT salaries to market
• Increase IT compensation to compare with corporate market in the northeast region of the United States
• Determine whether skill and performance or contribution based compensation should be used
• Improve HR staffing to modify long hours and overlapping responsibilities
• Develop a professional development program
• Define career paths to enable staff to move ahead
• Improve management training to provide good administration
• Streamline recruitment procedures to have vacant positions filled as soon as possible

Recruitment:

• Allow for central funding and appropriate guidelines for recruitment of IT staff
• Prepare training programs for interviewing and search committee practices
• Create procedures and guidelines for on the spot job offers
• Provide for immediate vacation allowance for new hires
• Create a benefits menu to tailor individual benefits
• Offer referral bonuses to staff when an acquaintance is hired on a recommendation from a current staff member
• Take a proactive approach to marketing Rutgers University and OIT as an employer

Retention:

• Provide for IT compensation equity across divisions
• Campaign to foster a sense of community
• Develop an orientation program for new staff
• Develop and implement a formal exit interview process to provide feedback on retention factors

Activities Implemented:

• Mercer Associates were contracted to provide a market compensation analysis
• An IT compensation proposal was submitted to the University administration
• Additional HR staff position was advertised
• A Professional Development budget was implemented
• Staff development has been included as a responsibility within some divisions
• A New Staff Orientation meeting was implemented to familiarize new employees with the organization
• A New Staff website will be implemented shortly
• A OIT HR Website was implemented

Team: Process Inventory Team

Identified high-level processes and the divisions responsible for supporting them, and recommended process improvement priorities.

Recommendations:

• Communication should include

  OIT web pages

  Directory of OIT contacts

  Inter-divisional coordination

• A Help Desk to incorporate computing and telecommunications
• Incorporate a problem tracking system
• Provide effective account administration

Activities Implemented:

• Increased efforts have provided better communication within divisions
• Web page improvements have been made
• Interdivisional team meetings are regularly scheduled
• Help Desk collaboration between divisions is taking place
• Account administration has improved
• Alumni account extensions have been fully implemented to improve service

Team: Communication

Used input from its online and in-person focus groups to provide recommendations for improving communication within the organization.

Recommendations:

Interpersonal:

• The following training has been suggested for staff members:

  Customer service

  Effective meetings

  Managing conflicts

  Quality telephone service

  Effective communication

  Technology selection

  Business and technical writing

• Employ a communication coach to guide the organization in the area of communication
• Provide professional communication conflict resolution/mediation

Divisional:

• Create divisional communication plans
• Provide new service updates
• Encourage staff to attend technical/travel seminars
• Establish `Breakfast/lunch with the divisional director' as a communication channel and to enhance morale
• Provide for the implementation of the organizational mission, vision, and values

Organizational:

• Create an internal `yellow pages' for specific skills/knowledge contacts within OIT
• Establish publications and telephone answering guidelines
• Provide new service updates
• Create an online discussion forum
• Establish `Breakfast/lunch with the executive director' as a communication channel

Community building:

• Plan an organization-wide December holiday party and summer picnic
• Encourage informal organizational get togethers
• Publish a newsy newsletter
• Maintain OIT bulletin boards with organization information and classified ads
• Purchase golf shirts with a OIT logo

Activities Implemented:

• Suggestion Box/Good Idea Awards and `Breakfast w/Exec & Divisional Directors' have been implemented
• Area Updates are circulated to all staff members
• OIT-All meetings are held twice annually
• Informal get-togethers are hosted in New Brunswick by NBCS and TD
• Organizational bulletin boards are being implemented in each building accommodating OIT personnel
• Divisional communication plans have been implemented
• OIT staff website contains the following organizational documents: Accountability reports, the minutes of Directors' & other divisional meetings, Directors' retreat notes, Active CPR qualified list
• New Staff Orientation meetings have been scheduled quarterly and are open to all staff as an informational tool
• Mini development courses have been added to OIT-all meetings which are planned for twice yearly
• Referral lists have been provided on the OIT staff website
• Some campus newsletters now contain OIT information
• The organization is planning to participate in meetings using voice and video conferencing
• The organizational mission, vision and values have been incorporated in performance appraisals and job evaluations
• Meeting minutes are posted to the OIT staff website
• Campus and organization wide activities have been implemented

Team: Performance Indicators

Investigated OIT's existing performance measurements for system performance and service delivery, then identified those that would be used routinely in characterizing system performance. Developed a web-based interface for posting the indicators and a process for collecting the information.

Recommendations:

• Develop web-based indicators of performance measurements categorized at a very high level
• The web environment should focus on the functions of our organization rather than the divisions.
• Performance measurements should summarize at the University level, then be available at the campus level.
• Indicators or measurements displayed should be consistent with previous requests for information from the administration and provide data about resources available in the labs, systems, and the networks of the University.
• Trending information should be provided where appropriate and show a change in services or resources provided over a period of time. This could also be used as an aid in making management decisions.
• Status indicators should be available as an informational aid to users about the resources of the labs, systems and networks and to technicians about the status of the labs, systems and networks.
• The performance indicators should be reached from a clearly described link on the OIT main web page.
• The indicators should be kept current through automated routines or mechanisms to avoid displaying out of date information.

Activities:

A limited number of specific performance indicators have been defined. Organizational web-based vehicle to view new performance indicators is being discussed. A variety of indicators is available on divisional web pages.

C. Public Awareness and External Relations

Computing Services staff and student employees participated in the New Brunswick, Camden and Newark Campus Open House activities this spring. Information about services was disseminated through brochures and conversations with prospective students and their families. Campus computing facilities tours were provided on some campuses.

The Computing Services brochures were revised and distributed to students, faculty, and staff on all campuses. A new growth area brochure, "Connectivity@Rutgers: The Power of Computing," was created and distributed to faculty, staff, and prospective donors. The brochure, with an introduction by President Lawrence, describes Rutgers undertakings to provide seamless integration of computing and connectivity.

Articles about Computing Services and the RUNet 2000 project appeared in the Bergen Record, CMPNet Newsletter, Rutgers Focus, Daily Targum, Star Ledger, Home News Tribune, Black Voice/Carta Latina, Rutgers Gleaner, Rutgers Connections, Courier News, Rutgers Magazine, Asbury Park Press, Tri-State Real Estate Journal, and the Trentonian. WNJN also broadcast news about RUNet 2000 activities. A special Rutgers Focus insert was prepared to inform faculty and staff about the implementation process and annual schedule.

Information about RUNet 2000 was disseminated through the project website and in presentations made by the project director and senior university officers. A communication package including a videotape, door tags, FAQ, and other documents was prepared and distributed to residence life personnel for use in introducing the project to students in affected residence halls.

Both RUNet 2000 and the Rutgers' Integrated Administrative System project were discussed at the April Treasurer's lunch. Michael McKay, Executive Director for Computing and Information Technology, Bruce Fehn, University Controller, and Joseph Sanders, University Director for Telecommunications provided overviews of the projects, and updates of current status.

To better prepare the directors for addressing media questions, all were provided with several hours of media training by a Rutgers faculty consultant who specializes in the mass media.

Legislative staff members representing the offices of New Jersey's U.S. congressional delegation toured Rutgers' information technology (IT) research labs on February 25, 2000, and were briefed on the details of the university's K-12 instructional technology initiatives in Camden, Newark, and New Brunswick.

A second year of federal funding from the U.S. Department of Education for the extension of RUNet 2000 construction to K-12 facilities in Newark and New Brunswick was awarded to the university in May 2000.

Computing Services played an active role in university-wide IT development activities with both internal and external organizations. Staff members:

• Assisted other units of the university with external funding opportunities for information technology projects related to research and/or instruction.
• Teamed with other university offices to monitor and assess IT-related legislation.
• Worked to match university technology resources and faculty outreach efforts with K-12 needs and interests.
• Advanced the activities of the university-wide High-Speed Network Applications Committee.
• Participated in and helped to expand the university's relationships and joint activities with government organizations and industry partners.

II. Major Highlights and Accomplishments

A. University Directorates

1. Administrative Computing Services

FY 2000 Goals

Publicly Visible Goals

Build a web registration system that complements touch-tone registration and permits students to add/drop courses in real-time via the Internet.

Build a virtual "student data mall" on the web encapsulating all the types of information and services students need, in a single, easily navigable web site. Examples include on-line registration, schedule of classes, transcript requests, statements of accounts, address update, financial aid documents and grades; all in a single integrated site.

Re-engineer Whitepages on-line directory services and develop a process for managing Rutgers constituents and their various relationships to the University. The People Database is the underpinning structure for this project. The initial Release will integrate students, faculty, and staff into a new People database. It will also completely replace the current on-line directory and allow students to selectively suppress their own data on-line.

Deploy class rosters to faculty via the web. The web site that builds class rosters is complete. The remaining piece is to build in a security and distribution method to limit access to rosters on a need to know basis.

Complete the mandated changes in the Financial Aid Management system associated with the federal financial aid reauthorization that occurs every five years.

ARTSYS, phase 1 (course articulation) will be completed in fall 1999. ARTSYS, phase 2 (e-transcript) will be implemented in spring 2000.

Provide the necessary system modifications to support pay-for performance including an on-line web processing and interface with legacy payroll system.

Complete Y2k conversions, testing and infrastructure upgrades. Prepare action plan for contingency and "fallout" problems.

Provide support for Winter Term in the Student system. Initiate a formal planning process, work plan and cost assessment for the implementation.

If funding is forthcoming, initiate phase 1 of the GPED to provide a data repository of graduate program information with on-line web access.

Internal Infrastructure Goals

Develop an architectural road map for administrative systems addressing technology, data, process, applications and transitional issues.

IBM has enhanced the functionality of its mainframe operating system in v2.8 considerably. This upgrade will also keep ACS in line with current support levels, which is critical to the reliability of these systems to the University. Work is projected to begin on this upgrade in April 2000.

This upgrade is required to improve reliability and availability of the University's centrally supported administrative data warehouses and Web pages. It also allows us to stay current with Oracle's latest functionality and security. The upgrade is targeted for late spring 2000.

This is a potential alternative to client/server for administrative business application. This tool will permit us to leverage the knowledge base we already have in Oracle's suite of application development tools - Developer 2000 - to Internet enable existing systems such as HR Info, and to build new Internet enabled business applications.

This product offers us the ability to build Oracle based web sites more quickly and efficiently with a visual browser based tool. This tool could position ACS to offer web site hosting to departments looking to build web sites and add administrative data access to their web without having to maintain web servers and databases themselves.

Once ACS has completed Y2K testing for the Oracle Web Server applications, the new production Oracle Web Server running on Sun Solaris servers will be moved into production. This server will improve availability and reliability as we begin to add more critical University applications to this platform. The implementation of this new server is targeted for November 1999.

Upgrade subnets supporting ACS Production servers to 100Mb speed to enable our customers a greater degree of productivity and faster access. Target first half of FY 99/00.

Complete outstanding audit recommendations.

Continue the process of reducing centralized data entry through the implementation of electronic feeds and re-engineering on-line applications.

Organizational Goals

Implement a process for formal professional development planning for the ACS staff in concert with business needs.

Develop a process for surveying customer satisfaction.

Create a formal program or project management function that will facilitate overall project management. Implement structured methods and procedures for project management, release planning, business partnerships with clients and system development. This is a new role, which in part will be based on the availability of funding.

FY 2000 Accomplishments

Publicly Visible Goals

Student Web Registration

Goal: Build a web registration system that complements touch-tone registration and permits students to add/drop courses in real-time via the Internet.

Status: Web-based student self-service registration was implemented university wide for fall 2000 demand registration after a successful pilot for the Newark campus spring 2000 add/drop period. This application was meant to complement existing touchtone registration. Existing mainframe registration programs were leveraged through the use of mainframe web server technology. This implementation provides an alternative means for student registration, one that is more efficient and flexible than online touch-tone registration. Students are now able to add/drop multiple courses at once, link to the online schedule of classes during registration decisions and to receive real-time status on course/section availability via this link. This real time course availability status was made possible via a related project - implementation of BMC's ChangeDataMove product which allows for real time downloads of incremental Information Management System (IMS) transactions, and the formatting and loading of these transactions to Oracle. At its highest peak use, web registration was accessed over 128,000 times during April 2000.

Student Data Mall

Goal: Build a virtual "student data mall" on the web encapsulating all the types of information and services students need, in a single, easily navigable web site. Examples include on-line registration, schedule of classes, transcript requests, statements of accounts, address update, financial aid documents and grades; all in a single integrated site.

Status: No significant progress has been made on this initiative. Java in Administrative systems Special Interest Group (ja-sig) is jointly developing a university portal framework in java. Progress on this project will be closely watched as the University of British Columbia goes live with the portal in September for 30,000 students.

Rutgers Online Directory/People Database

Goal: Re-engineer Whitepages on-line directory services and develop a process for managing Rutgers constituents and their various relationships to the University.

Status: The Rutgers Online Directory and People Database was implemented in August to provide web-enabled information display and maintenance functionality for students, faculty and staff. The People Database provides an integrated Oracle repository of all Rutgers constituents including students, faculty, staff and guests. The new online directory replaces the white-pages directory. In addition to the look-up features provided by the directory, other features include "privilege view" for account management and security administration, personal information disclosure management for students, and guest processing for departments. The student disclosure management function, required as a result of a student senate resolution, provides the student with the ability to control disclosure of their personal information. This disclosure management functionality supports the Federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and empowers the student to selectively choose personal information for disclosure or non-disclosure. The Privilege View was developed to support the network services management function, which allows OIT/NBCS to assist in problems related to student account creation. A key feature of the People database architecture is the Rutgers Community Participant Identifier (RCP-ID) which was established to provide a unique identifier for all students, faculty and staff. The People database online directory is accessed on average 120,000 times per month.

Class Rosters

Goal: Deploy class rosters to faculty via the web.

Status: Online Web based class rosters were implemented in January as a pilot for faculty in Newark and the New Brunswick Math department. Approximately 500 users were involved in the pilot. Functionality includes roster development and administration for security, distribution and reporting. The application allows hierarchical management and administration from University Registrar through Deans, Department Heads and faculty. University wide roll-out is scheduled for fall 2000.

Financial Aid Reauthorization

Goal: Complete the mandated changes in the Financial Aid Management system associated with the federal financial aid reauthorization that occurs every five years.

Status: Enhancements to the Financial Aid Management suite of systems were implemented for compliance with ongoing federal regulations. Significant enhancements have been made to Direct Loan, the Recipient Financial Management System (RFMS) and the Outside Application Resource (OAR) Cycle to include, among other things, a secondary confirmation process. Additional enhancements were made to PARS in order to package new merit scholarship awards.

ARTSYS (Transfer course articulation system)

Goal: ARTSYS Phase One (course articulation) will be completed in fall 1999. ARTSYS Phase Two (e-transcript) will be implemented in spring 2000.

Status: ARTSYS Phase One (web based community college transfer course articulation) was officially rolled out in April to New Jersey Community Colleges and their students over the World Wide Web. ARTSYS provides students with a user-friendly tool to aid them in precisely planning their Community College course curriculum for easy transfer to Rutgers. The goal is to enable students to seamlessly transfer the maximum amount of course work toward a Rutgers degree program. The establishment of these course equivalencies also enabled Rutgers Colleges to standardize course articulation results with each Community College. Prior to ARTSYS Phase One, Community College students often planned their courses with incomplete or inaccurate information. This often resulted in students taking Community College classes whose credit would not transfer to Rutgers. From the Rutgers perspective, colleges no longer need to assess the transferability of every individual student transcripts since the process has been fully automated.

This initiative involved installation, testing and tuning of the ARTSYS software, custom software development, coordination of the creation and processing of course files from all nineteen New Jersey community colleges, and course equivalency files from 60 Rutgers academic departments. The overall effort called for the evaluation of more than 15,000 community college courses, the establishment of over 150,000 course equivalencies and the establishment of approximately 400 recommended transfer programs. Appropriate links have been put in place to allow prospective students to access ARTSYS via the web.

Pay-For-Performance (P4P)

Goal: Provide the necessary system modifications to support pay-for performance including an on-line web processing and interface with legacy payroll system.

Status: The P4P application was developed and successfully deployed during April/May 2000 to more than sixty end-user desktops in Human Resources and the various departments. The application was successfully used to administer the Pay for Performance process for both current and previous fiscal years. The application provided role-based security that was administered by Human Resources (HR) and AS Data Base Administrators (DBAs). Functionality was driven by a rules-based algorithm that validated minimum and maximum dollars allowed, based on HR rules for increments and bonuses. Functionality included a refresh capability for employee status change. Reports included eligibility listings, awards made and dollars spent among other reports. This new process supports both central University HR efforts in managing and rolling out P4P and departments in administering and distributing performance dollars. This implementation eliminated the inefficient manual processes and massive amount of data entry performed in previous years.

Year 2000 (Y2K) Compliance

Goal: Complete Y2K conversions, testing and infrastructure upgrades. Prepare action plan for contingency and "fallout" problems.

Status: All administrative applications were successfully converted for Y2K compliance. This initiative involved detailed analysis, system enhancements to batch and online processes across multiple processing platforms and databases and exhaustive testing. Regarding the latter, in addition to traditional testing, forward-date testing in which 21st century date simulation was executed. This test was designed with a rolling system date in order to simulate key university business cycles in the 21st century and to simulate university business events in proper sequence of operation.

The Y2K initiative called for extensive infrastructure support. Changes and testing for the Y2K infrastructure for our Unix/Oracle, NT, and Novell Netware Servers along with all ACS desktops were completed in December 1999. Forty-two commercial software applications were changed or replaced and tested during the fall 1999 time frame. Additionally, twelve servers (Unix and NT) were changed or replaced and then tested during this time frame. The production Novell Server infrastructure was completely replaced and moved over to the production NT infrastructure. Staff worked through the holiday week break to prepare the systems for shutdown and then to bring them back up and test them out on January 1st.

In order to manage the risk associated with the Y2K initiative, contingency planning was undertaken both within ACS and with our clients. As the New Year approached users expressed concerns and made requests for special runs during the holiday break. Additional staff employees were scheduled to work over the holidays in order to handle the workload. The Application Development and ACTS groups collaborated in the development and management of an integrated project plan. Additionally, weekly meetings were held prior to and after the new millennium in order to ensure total success.

Winter Term

Goal: Provide support for Winter Term in the student system. Initiate a formal planning process, work plan and cost assessment for the implementation.

Status: Enhancements to the Student Information Management Systems (SIMS) were completed to accurately incorporate Winter Session as a separate term on student transcripts and to integrate these courses into the GPA calculation that is displayed on each transcript. This request has been outstanding for the last five years and the increasing enrollment in Winter Session programs, across campuses, has required the need to address this area this year. In May 2000 approximately 175,000 grades were processed and approximately 46,000 transcripts were generated. In order to clean-up the database, the students enrolled in the Winter Sessions for 1999 and 2000 had their courses moved to an appropriate area on the database, entered on their transcripts and their GPA recalculated to include these courses. The online transcripts & grades web application is also being enhanced to support this new feature. Additional enhancements to other batch and online SIMS processes are planned which will allow access to and maintenance of winter term information.

Graduate & Professional Education (GPED) Reporting

Goal: If funding is forthcoming, initiate Phase One of the GPED to provide a data repository of graduate program information with on-line web access.

Status: With no funding approved for development of a Graduate/Professional Data Warehouse, a short term less costly project was undertaken for development of a reporting system for graduate and professional school reporting. A pilot project for the Graduate School - NB is currently in the user acceptance phase. Graduate experience profiles across multiple years includes: student enrollments, degrees awarded, Graduate Regency Exams (GRE) scores, TA/GA participation, course enrollments and attrition. The prototype reports will be presented to Standards and Priorities for Academic Development (CSPAD) in the near future. Discussions are underway with the Office of Institutional Research to address a broader roll-out of this reporting to additional schools and the implementation of a web interface to allow integration of centralized data and "local" department/school data. These schools previously did not have access to centralized data and were unable to respond to internal and external surveys and statistical queries in a timely fashion with accurate data.

Other Publicly Visible Accomplishments and
Value Added Activities

ACS has implemented a new First Year Sectioning system (formerly known as Freshman Sectioning). This effort entailed researching and evaluating vendor product offerings, installation, testing and tuning of the vendor product, and custom software development. By combining the Time Program Horaire (scheduling) (TPH) Sectioning product with the front end web process ACS developed, we now provide a state of the art solution for the First Year Sectioning process. This new application will lead to greater efficiencies and will save the Dean's offices hundreds of hours of manual reviews and modifications. In the past, the deans had to manually review 40-50% of the first year students programs. With the new system the rework of student programs has been reduced to less than 5%. The system allows the Scheduling office to maintain course offerings and the Dean's offices to input student course requests. The overall benefit to the university is a significantly more efficient and accurate First Year Sectioning process and movement towards state of the art technology and away from an antiquated (28 years old) system.

The new web-based Course Analysis System (CAS) has been rolled out to academic departments, the Office of Institutional Research and other University administrative offices. The enhanced system provides state of the art technology and enhanced data collection and data validation. Processes were put in place to verify collected data against official University HR data which has significantly decreased the need for error correction and data entry (ACS data entry staff now use MS Internet Explorer to input the documents). Additionally, the system will allow more timely data collection and for sole sourcing of faculty workload data for all courses. Prior to this implementation, it was necessary to perform extensive data entry at the department level and centralized data entry department level of all course and faculty information, which frequently led to inaccuracies and wasted effort.

Web Access to student financial information was implemented in fall 1999, thus empowering students to more readily manage their financial accounts. This new service satisfies an outstanding request made by students at various focus groups. Students have the ability to view a current snapshot of their financial statement of account including tuition, fees, payments, financial aid awards, refunds and remission information through a secure web process. Before this implementation, students could only get this information by standing on line at a cashier's office or waiting for a periodic mailing. Since implementation (November 1999), the Web Statement of Accounts has been accessed about 27,000 times (appx. 4,000 month).

To facilitate commencement and degree processing, enhancements to the registration systems were implemented that automate the populating of degree information in the Student Records Database. This has eliminated the need for manual posting of degree information thus saving hundreds of hours of clerical time in the Registrar's office as well as improving the accuracy of the data.

At the request of the SIFT Committee, Students who are currently de-registered for non-payment can now pay their bills at the cashiers office and have their courses reinstated at the same time. In the past, students would have to go to the cashiers' office to make their payments and then go to the Registrars office to have their courses re-registered. This is one example of the many ways ACS is working together with the functional areas to improve processes that have a direct impact on the quality of services provided to students.

To avoid a potential legal action, student systems (i.e. admissions, financial aid, registration, student data warehouse, people database) which rely on the social security number as the student id; were modified to allow a social security number to be carried in a separate field. Business logic in these systems was updated accordingly to read this new filed rather than the student ID. Of particular complexity was the financial aid system that requires a social security number for processing aid. These changes will be leveraged with students since the using of social security number as an identifier is no longer a requirement and this has been a growing concern with the student body.

Student Financial Hold processing was implemented in fall 1999. This new application allows the Student Financial Services Office and other student system offices to update (place and remove) financial holds online. The main benefit to this application, other than the ease of updating these holds, is to get the holds updated in a more timely manner (nightly) as compared the 3 to 5 days in the old application. This has improved student service and reduced the possibility of a student being de-registered for financial holds. Another benefit to this application is the elimination of centralized data entry for the clearing of financial holds.

Several initiatives were undertaken to improve financial aid processing and eliminate duplicate data entry. The IRS and tracking online screens were enhanced to allow data to be entered one time and automatically copied to multiple school records. Previously, the data had to be manually entered 3 to 4 times to update each school record. Bar codes were added to the award letters to allow scanning and eliminate the need to enter the social security number into the system, thus providing significant streamlining of the Imaging process. A new verification process was implemented that reduced the number of students selected for verification and simplified the process. The resource audit report was changed to a cumulative report rather than separate weekly reports that were difficult to manage. These initiatives have saved the financial aid staff many hours of data entry and streamlined several processes.

In addition to project based activities such as those mentioned, ACS has also delivered on many task requests including but not limited to report enhancements, process enhancements, and requests for information such as data queries and data file generation. ACS has also provided maintenance and enhancements to the "cyclical" application processes that support the ongoing day-to-day business of the University. Some of the cyclical activities supported by enhancements and/or maintenance in the past year include:

NJAS Annual Cycle Startup and Enhancements

Graduate Admissions cycle start-up

Student Registration & Grade Processing (i.e. 194,600 grades were process during the Fall Semester)

Course and Room Scheduling

First Year Sectioning

Financial Aid award packaging

Student Term Bill Processing

1098 Processing (Hope Tax and Life Time Learning Credit) (i.e. 69,000 1098 forms were generated sent to students and the IRS)

Accounting Processing (GL, Budget, AP)

Payroll Processing (paychecks, 1099s, 1042s, benefit statements)

W2 Processing (i.e. 28,764 W2's were produced in January)

University Services (SHOTS, CARS, CAS, SURE, Faculty Survey, Faculty Staff Directory, LDB, OIR reports)

On average ACS schedules over 400 mainframe batch jobs daily or roughly 20,400 jobs annually

1,800 requests for program documentation changes

1,560 revised programming jobs

74 new programming job requests

166 deleted jobs

Internal Infrastructure Goals Fiscal Year 99/00, Status Update

Upgrade Mainframe Operating System to OS/390 v2.8

Goal: Upgrade the IBM mainframe operating system to OS/390 v2.8.

Status: IBM has enhanced the functionality of its mainframe operating system in v2.8 considerably. This upgrade will enhance the capability of Web Server implementation on Rutadmin and open up data currently stored on Rutadmin. Additionally, this upgrade will also keep ACS in line with current support levels, which is critical to the reliability of these systems to the University. Planning for the upgrade is in process and the implementation target date has been moved out to November 2000 to provide the ACS staff appropriate time to upgrade the entire Oracle/Unix infrastructure currently in place.

Upgrade Oracle to version 8 I

Goal: This upgrade is required to improve reliability and availability of the University's centrally supported administrative data warehouses and Web pages. It also allows us to stay current with Oracle's latest functionality and security.

Status: Upgrading Oracle to version 8I has been incorporated into the project plan for the Unix Server Upgrade that will be occurring in August.

New Production Oracle Web Server

Goal: Once ACS has completed Y2K testing for the Oracle Web Server applications, the new production Oracle Web Server running on Sun Solaris servers will be moved into production. This server will improve availability and reliability as we begin to add more critical University applications to this platform.

Status: Phased upgrade plans were prepared during the spring for the entire Unix Server architecture not just the web server. This is due to the overwhelming increase in demand and usage of the web based application and Oracle databases. The new servers have just arrived and implementation plans have been prepared to complete the upgrade in August.

ACS Network Enhancements

Goal: Upgrade subnets supporting ACS Production servers to 100Mb speed to enable our customers a greater degree of productivity and faster access. Target first half of FY 99/00.

Status: This project was scaled back due to a lack of resource. However, while the project did not progress as expected, we have successfully moved the mainframe, the production Oracle Unix database server and the production Oracle/Unix Web server from 10Mb to 100Mb. This will improve network speed to critical administrative production systems to enhance the service provided to ACS customers.

Internal Audit Recommendations

Goal: Complete outstanding audit recommendations.

Status: Over the past year ACS has worked closely with the Internal Audit Department to resolve 83 outstanding audit recommendations dating back to 1990. Although there were many audit recommendations resolved since 1990, because of organizational changes, staffing issues, and other priorities; little attention had been given to addressing these recommendations until this year. Over the past year policies and procedures were updated, written, and implemented to enable ACS to close 76 of the outstanding recommendations with the remaining issues currently being addressed and under negotiation.

Data Entry

Goal: Continue the process of reducing centralized data entry through the implementation of electronic feeds and re-engineering on-line applications.

Status: Strides continue to be made to reduce the amount of data entry occurring over the year. This year a significant reduction was seen in Address Director Record (ADR) processing. Since these forms are now available via the web for direct entry by staff, the data entry department experienced a 28% reduction in forms needing central keying.

Similar strides are being made in the CAS area where new web applications have been developed to eliminate unnecessary keying of data.

Progress continues to be made in the automating of Time Reporting Forms and their biweekly submission to Payroll. The Payroll department has agreed to pilot the program and strategy and together we are working with Ann Martin in New Brunswick as the test case. The TRF automatic feeds brings us another step closer to reducing user department dependencies on data entry.

Additional Internal Infrastructure Accomplishments

Over the past year ACS contracted to have an external intrusion detection analysis performed. After completion of the study, 2 Sun development servers were found to be vulnerable were rebuilt. Technical support staff also brought all operating systems up to the latest patch levels to improve reliability. Additionally, ACS technical support staff replaced the original version of Oracle's Web Server, which was no longer supported. The backup and restore capability for our Oracle/Unix infrastructure was also improved. To improve monitoring capabilities of the Oracle/Unix production Web applications, a process was developed for the operations staff to use for test each of the applications periodically during each shift. This has allowed us to proactively address problems before they are reported by our clients.

This project will enable University wide imaging services. Initial departments using or requesting use of this service are Undergraduate Admissions, Financial Aid, Student Financial Services, Graduate Admissions, Registration, Purchasing and Human Resources. A full analysis was performed and a report including recommendations prepared which will be reviewed and discussed with the Users. The current architecture is serviceable for department needs but does not appear scale to a University-wide shared repository of images and is instead is resulting in stovepipes of images for each department. To date this has not been seen as a problem but may be problematic in the future.

The continued demand on disk storage has forced a number of disk upgrades as more and more materials are imaged especially in Undergraduate Admissions. Future disk demands will have to be addressed by utilizing Magnetic Optical Disk. A magnetic optical disk jukebox would save additional expansion cost and provided archival of data. Projected costs are being reviewed and funding will be discussed with the primary clients.

In October 1999, the Oracle/Unix production database server and the production NT Web Server were successfully restored at the Sungard Disaster Recovery facilities in Philadelphia. Due to backup tape problems we were unable to restore the ACS Oracle/Unix production Web Server. Changes have been made to prevent this problem from occurring in the future.

The Shadow Web Server was fully implemented on the ACS mainframe computer (Rutadmin) in January 2000. This enabled the successful implementation of the new Web Registration system in January 2000. Students are now able to perform Add/Drop via the Web in addition to using Touch-Tone Telephone Registration.

After further analysis it was determined that the cost and support issue to roll out a University wide backup offering from ACS was cost prohibitive. A site visit took place at Princeton University to review their University wide backup service based on the same software. For a much smaller student, faculty and staff base than Rutgers University they required upward of 6 Tape Silos from Storage Technology. Additionally, significant mainframe upgrade and disk upgrades would be required. As a result ACS is currently testing an alternative backup and restore strategy to replace the current back-up system and provide this service for the current pilot departments in the Administrative Services Building along with ACS.

Ben email program on the administrative mainframe was at least 10 years old and was not Y2K compliant. Rather than replacing Ben with another email product, administrative mainframe email users were successfully transitioned to Research Computing Initiative (RCI) email accounts.

A temporary Oracle/Unix server was successfully installed and configured to support the initial project team training for Oracle Financials, HR, Budgeting, Purchasing, etc. Analysis and planning also took place to determine an appropriate server to support the RIAS project for the first eighteen months. A Sun E6500 Server with appropriate resource was ordered in May 2000 and is targeted for installation in July 2000.

A OIT cross-divisional team comprised of staff members of ACS, the Telecommunications Division and New Brunswick Computing Services worked together to insure the network (voice and data) and desktop infrastructure was setup in a very aggressive time frame in May 2000 for the IAS project team. These staff members were able to complete this work within the required time frame to enable the project team to move into their temporary location.

The administrative mainframe computer was upgraded in March from an IBM 9672-R41 to an IBM Multiprise 3000 Model H50 mainframe. This has provided sufficient capacity for handling peak on-line and peak production batch periods as well as the Web Registration peak in April 2000 and the anticipated peak in September 2000. The new mainframe arrived in early March and was tested and then moved into production as planned on Sunday, March 19, 2000. Since the install we have experienced noticeable improvements in response time and batch job turn around.

Our current UPS system is running at a 33% percent capacity with a life cycle of 1- hours. However, this was not the case earlier in the year. The life cycles of the batteries on the UPS system were expiring and system reliability was compromised because of it. In addition, the ASB building suffers from a history of power hits during inclement weather. To alleviate the exposure, new batteries were installed with a five-year warranty and scheduled preventive maintenance is now routinely performed twice a year on the Liebert UPS and Power Distribution Units.

Tape media has been drastically reduced to the point that one of the 3420 tape units will be taken off maintenance from IBM. This is an annual cost savings of about $3,000.00 dollars. Production Control has informed our users that support for the 3420 tape media will be discontinued and only 3490E tapes or transmissions through electronic submission will be supported. Users were very receptive and willing to comply with this change.

A new unit was purchased from Xerox last summer and was installed just in time for the July Year-End closing. The old Xerox 4135-tape unit had reached its life cycle and was no longer supported by Xerox, moreover it was creating considerable problems, requiring reprints of reports due to tape errors and failures. The new unit has improved reliability and eliminated previous operational problems.

The back entrance to the data center is the area where all the print forms are received by our staff. The previous wooden ramp had suffered wear and tear and was becoming more hazardous for employees and delivery staff. The ramp was completely dismantled by the Facilities department and a new cement ramp was constructed.

Organizational Goals

Professional Development

Goal: Implement a process for formal professional development planning for the ACS staff in concert with business needs.

Status: A core strategic goal for 199/2000 was to implement a more formal professional development program that blends the business needs of the division. ACS has made strong inroads in achieving this goal as formal development plans were developed by each area in ACS. These provided a roadmap that was used in concert with business planning throughout the year. In 1999/2000 ACS committed increased funding to support professional development and new opportunities for growth and learning were continually sought, encouraged, and created. Staff has participated in self-study initiatives, formal training, presentations, conferences and seminars. Brown bag lunch events and Friday breakfast meetings that highlight a particular application or technology are just a few of the ways development and cross learning is encouraged. Listed below are a sampling of the conferences, technical education and general professional development activities ACS staff attended during the year.

Conferences/Shows/Exposes

IMS Technical Conference

SHARE Conference

Data Warehouse World

Oracle Applications User Group

Business Rule Symposium

North Atlantic Higher Ed Oracle Users Group

Educause '99

College and University Machine Records Conference (CUMREC) (also known as the College and University Computing Conference)

Electronic Access Conference

Oracle Developer Seminar

Oracle Open World

Docutext Workshop

Print On Demand Expo

SAS User Group Meeting

Education, Technical

Data Modeling and Erwin Training

Oracle 7 Introduction

Oracle, Developing Web Based Application with PL-SQL

Oracle, Application Server Administration

Oracle, Introduction to Oracle for Experienced SQL Users

Oracle, Introduction to PL-SQL

Oracle, Developer 2000

Oracle, Deploying Web Based Applications

Oracle, Applications Server

Fundamentals of Solaris

IMS Installation & Maintenance

Ins & Outs of IMS Security

Visual Basic Fundamentals

Seagate Crystal Reports 7

Auditing Oracle Financials

Introduction to Computers

Computers Made Easy

Windows 95 Class

Windows NT

Excel 97

Outlook 97

Word 2000

A+ Microcomputer Certification

Education, General

Managing multiple Projects, Objectives, and Deadlines

Service Excellence Leadership

QCI Leadership Program

Management Skills

Team Building Workshop, QCI

Process Improvement Workshop, QCI

High Impact Communication Skills for Women

Challenge of Leadership Seminar

Conflict Management Seminar

Establishing Performance Priorities Seminar

Problem Solving & Decision Making Seminar

Motivation Leadership Seminar

Emphasis on development, education, and training will continue to be a core strategic goal for ACS. In the coming year, emphasis will also be placed on staff rotation and cross training thus building stronger competencies and flexibility in the organization which will allow ACS to more efficiently and effectively meet the evolving needs of the University.

Customer Satisfaction

Goal: Develop a process for surveying customer satisfaction.

Status: ACS managers and staff are increasingly reaching out to our customers and clients to provide feedback and assistance in advising on priorities as well as operational issues. In an effort to expand our customer outreach, presentations have been provided in Newark, Camden, and New Brunswick highlighting new web applications and soliciting feedback on enhancements and new functionality. ACS staff has also attended various committee meetings on the different campuses to both provide information and gather feedback. When rolling out new applications it has become standard operating practice to gather customer input. In a recent example, the pilot group of users testing the Class Roster application were electronically surveyed to gather their recommendations and general satisfaction using the new application. ACS will continue to look for opportunities to survey client satisfaction and gather feedback both from our traditional functional users and the public at large.

Project Management Function

Goal: Create a formal program or project management function that will facilitate overall project management. Implement structured methods and procedures for project management, release planning, business partnerships with clients and system development. This is a new role, which in part will be based on the availability of funding.

Status: As an initial step in moving toward a formal project management function, a Systems Development Process (SDP) was developed in March for the applications area. SDP provides a structured yet flexible methodology for preparing the major deliverables on a system development project. Staff has been trained in the methodology and are gradually using the SDP for all development initiatives.

Additional Organizational Accomplishments and Activities

As the organization evolved over the year, it became apparent that there some restructuring was necessary. Ed Cardona and Joe Percoco were promoted to director level positions recognizing their increased role in the Division. In this new capacity Ed Cardona assumed the role of Director of Production Services and Technical Support and Joe Percoco the Director or Application Development and Data Management.

ACS sponsored two facilitators Ed Cardona and Don Gordon to attend the University Human Resources (UHR) Pay for Performance (P4P) training seminars. Workshops were then conducted for all ACS managers, thus ensuring consistency and quality of the P4P program implementation in the division.

The Production Control area was completely renovated. The area received a well deserved face lift with new rugs; new room color, chairs, blinds, cabling, and furniture. In addition, new computers replaced older PC's, and voice mail was installed on all the telephones. Revamping the production control area, and improving the working conditions has improved morale and enhance service. Users can call and speak directly to their responsible parties or leave voice mails, as oppose to everyone sharing one telephone extension. Employees are happy in their new environment and feel appreciated.

Performance indicators were developed for the Production Services and Operations area. The indicators are monthly gauges for review by the managers and help demonstrate overall performance and pinpoint areas of improvement. Some of the indicators demonstrate mainframe system performance, scheduled and unscheduled downtime, web monitoring, production batch cycle problems, volume printing, maintenance, overtime, expenditures, employee performance, etc. The performance indicators are providing an instrumental source of information when reviewing overtime schedules, expenses, as well as other operational areas of improvement.

A concerted effort has gone into promoting the new services and web applications the division has developed. In addition to presents and web announcements, a number of articles have featured and or referenced some of the new ACS applications. Listed below is a summary of those that have occurred over the past year.

Date of Article	Media Source	Title of Article
24-Sep-99	The Daily Targum	New Web site allows information changes
21-Oct-99	The Daily Targum	On Line registration system contemplated
17-Nov-99	Rutgers Focus	New Web service enables Rutgers students to review accounts
3-Jan-00	The Daily Targum	Overload denies access to transcripts
21-Jan-00	Rutgers Focus	Foiling the virus
28-Jan-00	Rutgers Focus	Serving Students at www.rutgers.edu
28-Jan-00	Rutgers Focus	Smooth transition to the Year 2000
28-Jan-00	Rutgers Focus	Newark students try registering online
9-Feb-00	The Daily Targum	Computing services receives award for Y2K plans
18-Feb-00	Rutgers Focus	Excellent performance honored
19-Mar-00	Newark Star Ledger	Rutgers Database aimed at easing transfer angst
21-Mar-00	Rutgers Focus	Section assignments, a matter of course
21-Mar-00	Rutgers Focus	Rutgers Online Web services are making student life lots easier
21-Mar-00	The Daily Targum	Section assignments, a matter of course
4-Apr-00	The Daily Targum	U. introduces online registration
14-Apr-00	Rutgers Focus	Web publishing made easy
5-May-00	Rutgers