Reed College
Reed College

Information Technology

Strategic Goals 2020-24

Update Enterprise Platforms

1. Evaluate, select, and implement new enterprise system(s) as needed.

Accomplishments
  • 2020 - Implemented numerous information systems to support Reed’s COVID-19 response, including the Daily Health Check, testing, contact tracing, public COVID-19 Dashboard, and vaccination tracking.
  • 2020 - Collaborated with Human Resources to create online Personnel Action forms & workflow for new hires and job changes, using new Etrieve Forms platform.
  • 2020 - Supported College Relations in the selection of Affinaquest advancement system.
  • 2021 - Collaborated with the Business Office to create digital disbursement forms and workflow process.
  • 2021 - Supported College Relations in implementing Affinaquest advancement system and planning integrations between Affinaquest and other campus systems.
  • 2022 - Collaborated with leaders across the administration and with Tambellini consulting to evaluate and adjust our plans for an overall enterprise systems upgrade.
  • 2021 - Collaborated with the Business Office to convert TMS to Flywire for student billing.
  • 2021-22 - In collaboration with Community Safety, Facilities Services, & Bon Appetit, modernized Transact "onecard" and food services system: updated software and hardware across campus to provide safe access to food, keep systems up-to-date, and increase security.
  • 2022 - Helped Mail Services implement a new cloud system as well as developed an in-house mail recipient management system.
  • 2022 - Upgraded the Employee module of Banner Self-Service to version 9.
  • 2022 - Major upgrade of the Events Management System.
  • 2023 - Worked with Financial Aid and the Business Office to implement Banner Student Self-Service 9 and Banner Applicant Self-Service 9.
  • 2023-24 - Worked with the administrative offices that use Banner and with Ellucian so that Ellucian could create a Strategic Alignment Plan that indicated their recommendations for the college making the most of their products.
  • 2023-24 - Worked with the administrative offices that use Banner to evaluate Workday as a possible replacement for Banner.
  • 2023-24 - Worked with the administrative offices that use Banner to evaluate moving to Ellucian's SaaS version of Banner.
  • 2023-24 - Affinaquest to Banner integration for gift data created and implemented.
  • 2023-24 - Created API-based integration between Bank of America and Etrieve document management system, to meet auditing requirements.
  • 2024 - Upgraded MAPS (Argos, Intellecheck, FormFusion) system to new 64-bit server and brought it up to the latest version.
  • 2024 - Demographic integrations between Banner, Affinaquest, and ReedCo created and implemented.
  • 2024 - IRIS applications updated to work with Affinaquest data as needed.
  • 2024 - Affinaquest implementation completed to replace advancement module of Banner.

2. Investigate, select, and implement an enterprise integration layer tool.

Accomplishments
  • 2020 - Selected SnapLogic, cloud-based integration platform.
  • 2021 - Completed initial SnapLogic implementation and created first production integration for tracking sexual harassment training.
  • 2022 - Added integrations for new systems, moved older integrations to this central platform, decommissioned older technologies/solutions.
  • 2022 - Moved Slate-to-Banner integrations to this central, modern system.
  • 2023-24 - Created a central library of SnapLogic functions that can be and are shared across integrations.
  • 2024 - Set up new file server and new network infrastructure for security and efficiency in relation to the SnapLogic integrations.

3. Expand and improve enterprise data reporting, visualization, and analysis capabilities.

Accomplishments
  • 2024 - Created Looker Studio filterable data tables connected to Google Analytics to facilitate web traffic analysis for public affairs.

4. Minimize technical debt so that we are not running out-of-date, vulnerable, non-compliant software.

Accomplishments
  • 2022 - Maintained technical currency across all Banner modules and components, including security patches, server updates, etc.
  • 2023 - Converted Banner Admin Page authentication to Shibboleth integration; decommissioned Ellucian Integration Services server and system.
  • 2023-24 - Maintained technical currency of Shibboleth IDP and its Duo integration.
  • 2024 - Upgraded ARMS system to latest version, including adding the web application and upgrading the Windows OS & infrastructure to support the client machines.
  • 2023-24 - Implemented ISO codes in Transact, revamping the integrations between Transact and other systems on campus and revamping ID card generation.
  • 2024 - Decommissioned Banner Self-Service 8 after the Affinaquest implementation replaced that functionality.

Promote Student Access and Success

1. Provide better data resources for student success analytics.

Accomplishments
  • 2022 - Collaborated with Student Life and Institutional Research to complete Student Data Inventory project and create resources for community members who use this data about our student data.
  • 2024 - Collaborate with registrar and student life to overhaul the 4-week comment system.

2. Expand student access to technology resources.

Accomplishments
  • 2020 - Transformed the Lottery Mac program to the Student Technology Equipment Program (STEP) making computers and other technology resources available to more students in need.
  • 2020 - Implemented Virtual Computer Labs, making specialized software accessible to students anytime and anywhere.
  • 2020 - Overhauled our campus wireless networks in dorm locations to provide more access to on campus student population.
  • 2022 - Increased short-term student laptop loaner pool provided by the IMC in the Library.
  • 2023 - Increased student access to iPads, specialized equipment for electronic music, and other performing arts technology resources in the Performing Arts Resource Center
  • 2023-24 - Worked with Admission, the Registrar's Office, and Special Programs to provide appropriate access to campus resources for course auditors, streamlining the processes and capturing better data for analysis and planning.

3. Improve ADA accessibility of IT systems and resources.

Accomplishments
  • 2020 - Established Digital Accessibility Collaborative with IT, Disability & Accessibility Resources, and the Library to facilitate cross-department collaboration.
  • 2020 - Implemented SensusAccess for self-service document conversion and accessibility remediation.
  • 2020 - Developed captioning workflows to improve efficiency and speed of delivering a substantially increased volume of captioned audio and video material for courses.
  • 2022 - Further streamlined captioning workflows for lecture capture to take advantage of Panopto’s automated integration with third-party captioning services.
  • 2022 - Improved accessibility of MALS and Young Scholars online applications.
  • 2022 - Collaborated with Library and Disability & Accessibility Resources to add accessibility tracking features to the E-reserves system to streamline providing accessible versions of print course materials to students.
  • 2022 - Modernized assisted listening systems in auditoriums and performance spaces.
  • 2024 - Completed accessibility audit and remediation of campus directories.
  • 2024 - Began collaboration with DAR, ITS, CUS, and CS department on ways to provide loaner laptops for exam accommodations.
  • 2024 - Expanded Digital Accessibility Collaborative to include the Center for Teaching and Learning and the Title IX/Section 504 office, with a renewed focus on ensuring digital accessibility of course materials.

4. Evaluate and equitably distribute costs for printing and other course resources.

Accomplishments
  • 2021 - Reviewed departmental printing practices for student workers to reduce excess printing.
  • 2021 - Began collaboration with the Office of Financial Aid to distribute additional printing funds to students in need.
  • 2022 - Reduced printing costs from $.35 to $.30 for color and $.08 to $.05 for monochrome.

5. Improve student access to information about the curriculum.

Accomplishments
  • 2020 - Worked with the Dean of the Faculty to create consistent “learning outcomes” web pages for all majors.
  • 2022 - Worked with the registrar’s office and Student Life to create consistent, transparent practices for administering placement exams and providing results to students.
  • 2023 - Worked with the registrar’s office to implement new catalog and curriculum management systems: Modern Campus Acalog and Curriculog.
  • 2023-24 - Worked with the registrar's office and Strata Information Group to upgrade DegreeWorks, create better documentation, and provide more support for the updated applications and related reporting.
  • 2024 - As part of the college web redesign, implemented new “Program Finder” web pages to present clear and consistent information about each of our academic programs.

Expand and Improve Support for Instruction, Research, and Scholarship

1. Expand infrastructure and resources to support cloud-based technology, including computation, storage, bandwidth, and collaboration tools.

Accomplishments
  • 2020 - Collaborated with faculty and student researchers to evaluate and benchmark cloud platforms for research computing, including Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud, IBEST, and XSEDE.
  • 2020 - Adopted cloud-based collaboration tools for social annotation (Hypothesis) and LaTeX editing (Overleaf).
  • 2021 - Collaborated with faculty to develop a successful grant proposal for a new lightsheet microscope system, which will integrate on-campus infrastructure with cloud services for large-scale storage and analysis.
  • 2021 - Collaborated with the Library to transition to a Zotero site license and cloud storage for bibliography and citation management.
  • 2021 - Worked with departmental associates to improve functionality of the Data Collector application for collecting biology lab data and explore expansion to other areas of the curriculum.
  • 2022 - Replaced our previous on-premises media server, Ensemble, with a new cloud-based media streaming platform, Panopto, with improved recording, playback, and analytics functionality, to support increased use of recorded lectures and other video-based course materials in the curriculum. Migrated content, updated Moodle integration, and provided Panopto documentation and training to faculty, students, and staff.
  • 2022 - Adopted Gradescope and its integration with Moodle to enable faculty to provide consistent, equitable, timely feedback to students on handwritten work and coding assignments.
  • 2022 - Added permanent hybrid classroom camera and microphone system to ETC 2nd floor classrooms.
  • 2024 - Introduced a new, more mobile-friendly layout for Moodle and overhauled documentation to allow faculty and students to use Moodle more effectively.

2. Collaborate with faculty and the library to develop strategies for introducing students to new curricular technologies and resources in sustainable and scalable ways.

Accomplishments
  • 2020 - Worked with faculty and the Center for Teaching and Learning to develop and document strategies for remote and hybrid teaching and learning across the curriculum.
  • 2022 - Working with departmental associates to redesign introductory biology labs to use R/RStudio for statistical analysis, improving alignment with statistical analysis in other areas of the curriculum and reducing the number of statistical packages that students are required to learn.
  • 2023-24 - Worked with Art, Anthropology, English, and Chemistry faculty to provide access to virtual and augmented reality apps and hardware that allow students to experience artworks, texts, performances, artifacts, and molecules in novel ways.
  • 2024 - Developed and taught electronic music composition labs, in collaboration with Music faculty, to support students in using a shared toolset and workflows for composition
  • 2024 - Worked with Anthropology faculty to develop a set of filmmaking workshops that can be adapted for other film and media studies courses.

3. Expand support for student research.

Accomplishments
  • 2021 - Developing data equity resources to augment the Data@Reed website, with assistance from Social Justice Research and Education Fund Intern.
  • 2021 - Expanded and updated online resources to support students’ data analysis using R and RStudio on the Data@Reed website.
  • 2022 - Added field to HireEm program to track student workers who are doing research.
  • 2022 - Worked with Biology faculty and staff to install new Light Sheet Microscope computer systems and prepare network options for wider community access and data warehousing when the need arises.
  • 2024 - Worked with Chemistry faculty and staff to install a new NMR machine and make sample data available to academic networks.

4. Support implementation of an institutional repository for collecting and preserving scholarly work of students and faculty.

Accomplishments
  • 2023 - Implemented a new online thesis submission tool for seniors, in collaboration with the Library, Registrar, and Print Services.

5. Implement "eduroam roaming wireless" network for shared wireless access at participating colleges and other institutions worldwide.

This project was superseded by the network replacement project.

Improve Campus Communication Systems

1. Enhance the user experience on reed.edu by improving website design, content, and navigation.

Accomplishments
  • 2021 - Developed new tools for advanced content creation and layout selection in Cascade CMS website editing system.
  • 2021 - Developed new tools for advanced content creation and layout selection in Cascade CMS website editing system.
  • 2022 - Created a streamlined Cascade CMS training website to educate content creators on best practices and new features.
  • 2024 - In coordination with public affairs and a third-party designer, implemented a full redesign of the Reed website.

2. Cloud source or upgrade the campus telephone system (VoIP).

Accomplishments
  • 2020 - Upgraded the campus telephone system to Zoom Phone cloud-based system.
  • 2023 - Migrated elevator and emergency analog phones to Zoom Phone managed analog gateways.
  • 2023 - Upgraded eFax service to cloud-hosted, secure portal and decommissioned the local fax server; retired all other fax numbers.
  • 2023 - Decommissioned and removed old Cisco phone system from Doyle.

3. Support selection and implementation of software and protocols to improve campus communications.

Accomplishments
  • 2020 - Developed a system for the Dean of the Faculty to collect and analyze learning outcomes and course information sheets for assessment and accreditation.
  • 2022 - Created a student form in IRIS to collect information about move-in dates and times, allowing residence Life to create a smoother move-in experience for all.
  • 2023 - Collaborated with Human Resources, Business Office, and Dean of the Faculty to create Etrieve forms, workflow, and document management for faculty new hires, job changes, and separations.
  • 2023 - Worked with International Programs and the Registrar's Office to create an Off Campus Course Approval form and workflow in Etrieve.
  • 2023 - Worked with Registrar's Office to generate and load unofficial transcripts into Etrieve document management system and make them available to students via the IRIS Student Info application.
  • 2024 - Created Fellowship form for Faculty Administrative Coordinators to submit requests to the Business Office for Fellowship payments.
  • 2024 - Developed a more reliable and secure replacement for Namecoach, a name pronunciation recording utility, for integration into IRIS applications like the campus directory and class lists.
  • 2024 - Worked with Institutional Research and the Dean of the Faculty’s office to develop a tool that allows students to complete surveys, including course evaluations, within Moodle.
  • 2024 - Worked with Human Resources and the Office of Risk Management to create an Independent Contractor Etrieve form and workflow.
  • 2024 - Worked with Human Resources to create an Etrieve form and workflow for the new Workplace Flexibility program.

Document and Implement IT Business Continuity and Response (BC&R) Plan

1. Host (or mirror) enterprise data in the cloud.

Accomplishments
  • 2023 - Migrated databases that support web applications on the Reed website.

2. Substantially increase Internet bandwidth.

Accomplishments
  • 2020 - Expanded internet bandwidth to 5GB total with two independent providers.
  • 2022 - Biology rewiring project: replaced all hardware in the Biology network closet with new, racked equipment and added or moved wireless access points for optimal coverage in response to wireless signal survey data.
  • 2022 - Replaced network hardware and added fiber to facilitate 1GB to 10GB capabilities: language houses, Farm House, Garden House, Birchwood Apartments, Anna Mann.
  • 2023 - Surveyed and deployed wireless hardware to the Health and Counseling Center, language houses, Canyon House, Farm House, Garden House.
  • 2023 - Commons rewiring project: replaced all hardware in the Commons network closet, moved it to new racks.
  • 2023 - Added new wired and wireless network equipment and a new network closet to the Library during the Computer Science remodeling work.
  • 2024 - Ran new fiber to Medical Offices building for network connectivity and installed new wired and wireless network equipment.
  • 2024 - Performed wireless surveys, modeled optimizations for performance and coverage, and generated cost estimates to expand service inside and outside of Eliot, Commons/Grey Campus Center, to be upgraded if/when budgets allow.

3. Cloud source or upgrade the Reed web site and content management system infrastructure.

Accomplishments
  • 2024 - Migrated Reed’s web content management system, Cascade, to a cloud-hosted version of the product.

4. Deploy environmental monitoring and controls in campus machine rooms.

Accomplishments
  • 2021 - Deployed environmental monitoring sensors to campus machine rooms.
  • 2021 - Set up real time and historical graphing of HVAC trends for campus machine rooms and provided access to this information to our facilities department.
  • 2021 - Set up text based alerts for high/low temperature conditions for campus machine rooms and expanded notifications to include Facilities and Campus Safety with improved planning for after hours response to emergency conditions.
  • 2021 - Set up real time and historical graphing for utility, UPS, and generator power for multiple locations on campus including campus machine rooms and provided access to this information to Facilities.
  • 2022-23 - Deployed NetBox, a data center inventory management system, and conducted a physical inventory of network equipment locations, their access controls, and environmental concerns.
  • 2023-24 - Consolidated offline network equipment inventory sources into NetBox and began using it to make dynamic inventory data available to network automation tools.

5. Upgrade and expand information security measures.

Accomplishments
  • 2020 - Expanded VPN for secure access to information systems for remote work, including for student workers needing to work remotely for the first time.
  • 2021 - Implemented Oracle wallets to improve the efficiency and security of access to critical systems for Community Safety staff.
  • 2021 - Established more secure student access to Student Health Portal with single sign-on and two-factor authentication.
  • 2021 - Launched KnowBe4 security training for all employees.
  • 2021 - Updated processes for onboarding & offboarding affiliates to the college in order to have more consistent, clean information and access to campus spaces, systems, etc.
  • 2022 - Deployed Netdisco, a monitoring and polling tool that gathers information about devices plugged into Reed’s network equipment, to record port histories in a database, allowing us to report on used and unused ports and declutter network closets.
  • 2022 - Responded quickly to emerging security threats such as log4j, Grails vulnerability, WSO2 vulnerability, etc.
  • 2022 - Developed a policy and process for disabling underutilized Cascade CMS user accounts.
  • 2022 - Replaced Malwarebytes with Crowdstrike EDR.
  • 2022 - Deployed Tenable Nessus, a network and systems vulnerability scanner
  • 2022-23 - Replaced Bookstore POS systems, Reactor PC, and Community Safety PCs with policy-hardened, new machines with up-to-date operating systems.
  • 2023 - Consolidated and deleted over hundreds of firewall policies in preparation for replacement – over a 66% reduction in total policies.
  • 2023 - Completed North Parking Lot Gate network hardware installation, facilitating Community Safety parking management.
  • 2023 - Replaced FortiGate firewall appliances with next-gen Palo Alto firewalls, migrating previous policies and beginning the process of converting them to application-based policies.
  • 2023 - Replaced Cisco AnyConnect VPN with Palo Alto GlobalProtect VPN and consolidated disparate VPNs into one.
  • 2023 - Expanded Tenable Nessus capabilities by automating agent installation for all Windows Servers in the Admin and Academic domains.
  • 2023-24 - Deployed two new Windows Update servers to enforce update delivery and compliance for Windows servers and workstations using secure, industry best practices.
  • 2023-24 - Collaborated with other departments such as HR, EHS, and Student Life to move their required training for employees to KnowBe4.
  • 2024 - Expanded Windows domain auditing policies.
  • 2024 - Globally disabled print spoolers by default on Windows Servers to mitigate PrintNightmare vulnerability. This was previously only present on select systems.
  • 2024 - Rolled out opt-in phishing campaign for cybersecurity awareness month.

6. Increase sustainability and security of our systems and data infrastructure.

Accomplishments
  • 2022 - Moved source code for ReedCo identity management system to Git; creating documentation and cross-training.
  • 2022 - Updated account-tools.reed.edu to improve security and the user experience by synchronizing logins and passwords across our traditionally divided academic and administrative systems.

7. Provide continuous access to critical campus systems by transitioning more systems to the Cloud and focusing on Cloud-based solutions as new needs are identified.

Accomplishments
  • 2022 - Worked with Residence Life to move StarRez housing system to the Cloud, improving documentation, training, and integrations in the process.
  • 2022 - Moved Moodle from physical servers on campus to cloud hosting through Amazon Web Services, improving resilience, file storage capacity, and responsiveness during times of heavy usage by students and faculty.
  • 2024 - Moved one of two public DNS zones to Amazon’s Route 53.