(draft of 5/4/00)
Introduction: Prior accomplishments
In response to the 1994
Information Resources Task Force reports, the College has built a solid
infrastructure to support the appropriate use of technology at the College. This includes
|
Networking |
The campus is 100%
networked, including all residence halls. |
|
Desktop computing |
All full time faculty
and all appropriate staff have recent desktop computers. |
|
Online references |
The Library has acquired
a diverse collection of online reference materials to support all
disciplines. |
|
Classrooms and public
facilities |
The College has created
a healthy range of multimedia classrooms, computer-intensive classrooms,
public facilities, and departmental laboratories. |
|
Central resources |
The central servers,
telephone switch, and library catalog have all been modernized. The administrative offices are currently
converting to new Oracle-based software. |
More importantly, the
College recognizes that the above infrastructure improvements represent long
term commitments that must be continually upgraded and modernized in order to
remain competitive in today's world of rapid technological evolution.
In the coming years, the
College needs to continue support of the information infrastructure while
strengthening its ability to leverage the new technologies into strengthened
teaching and learning opportunities and more efficient administrative
operations. This shifts attention from
collecting resources to personnel development, training, and the exploration of
new workflow opportunities that result from the new information
environments.
Specific Goals
Goals:
1. Foster a learning environment that prepares
students for careers in the 21st century.
Action steps:
· Promote information literacy for all students.
· Provide a diverse collection of information resources to serve all curricular and co-curricular interests.
· Prepare students for lifelong learning with frequent utilization of technology-enhanced information resources.
· Continue a student environment that supports all aspects of the residential College experience, including the formal curriculum, informal learning experiences, and co-curricular life.
2.
Establish an effective
professional development program for all members of the campus community.
Action steps:
· Establish a support model that balances central resources and local technology experts.
· Establish a culture of shared-leadership among CITS, the Library, and users throughout the College community.
· Create a practical mechanism to support the on-going professional development of all technology support personnel.
· Create a practical mechanism to recognize the local support efforts of employees in various offices and departments.
3.
Provide comprehensive
support for the appropriate integration of technology into faculty teaching
and scholarship.
Action steps:
· Develop multimedia curriculum resources
· Implement web-based templates for basic course support
· Establish discipline-oriented support and training resources.
· Continue to expand the information resources, including both print and electronic formats.
4.
Convert all College
information resources to interfaces based on the world wide web, including
HTML, XML, and Java resources.
Action steps:
· Establish an institution-wide leadership for web planning and implementation.
· Adopt web interface for all administrative operations.
· Foster web proficiency among all offices and departments
· Establish an intuitive web structure that facilitates access to information and reflects Skidmore's leadership in information resources.
· Create a suite of services to help faculty and staff integrate the web into all aspects of College life.
5.
Complete the transition
from AIMS to Oracle-based applications for all of the College's core administrative
services.
Action steps:
· Install OSS (formerly "SIS") and Development modules
· Install additional components as appropriate
· Implement an effective integration between Oracle and the other administrative applications.
· Establish an effective infrastructure for ongoing support of administrative services.
6. Provide all members of the Skidmore
Community with a secure information environment.
Action steps:
· Implement effective digital privacy protection consistent with current law and academic traditions.
· Educate all community members of the rights and responsibilities of citizenship in the world of on-line information.
7.
Assure on-going
network infrastructure for high quality communications both on-campus and
to the internet.
Action steps:
· Upgrade Internet connection to match growing demands
· Monitor Internet 2 and implement when appropriate
· Expand campus network as needed.
8.
Assure sufficient
personnel resources to support the use of modern information resources throughout
campus.
Action steps:
· Increase the staffing within the principal information resource centers (CITS and Library)
· Foster the increased decentralization of support through greater use of local experts and support personnel assigned to specific offices and groups.
· Increase training resources and opportunities to empower users throughout the College.