OIT Annual Report 2023-2024

★ Virtual First Stop for Students

Multiple discovery efforts over the last few years have consistently revealed that students experience significant challenges when trying to navigate processes at PSU and struggle to figure out where to start when they need support. In 2023, the PSU Student Wayfinding Taskforce set out to understand the “why” behind the barriers students were experiencing. The Taskforce concluded that support staff need better tools to facilitate collaboration across units and students need a single, digital location to access when they need help. Through collaborative storytelling, the project team established requirements and assessed the feasibility of using a set of Atlassian tools, already in use by OIT, for all Front Line Student Services.

To prepare the Atlassian suite of tools (specifically, Jira and Confluence) for use by non-IT units, fundamental architectural shifts were needed. In 2024 OIT began the process of restructuring the PSU Help Center, expanding back-end routing functionality, establishing service level agreements, developing scalable training, and implementing PSU Single Sign On (SSO). At the start of Fall ‘24, the Jira ticketing system was ready for use by Front Line Student Services teams (and others).

Broadway Computer Lab Revitalization

The previously underutilized Broadway Computer Lab has been reformed into a modern, student-focused space. The space now features new furniture, upgraded equipment, and an improved modular layout to enhance the overall student experience. Since its reopening in April 2024, it has become a well-utilized resource on campus. These renovations have not only improved functionality and comfort for students but have also contributed to long-term cost savings. Additionally, during the Millar Library closure, the Broadway Lab was repurposed to house The Learning Center’s student tutors and one staff member, providing a vital space for student tutoring in Spring 2024

★ Inclusive Access Classrooms Deployed

Learning technology expectations and needs from both faculty and students significantly evolved as a result from the pandemic. In response, OIT developed a new, Zoom based classroom technology standard: Inclusive Access Classrooms (IACs). With 11 of these new classrooms distributed between the Broadway Building and the Vernier Science Center, IACs are now available for anyone to request - with priority given to courses with Disability Resource Center accommodations. This next evolution of classrooms is designed to empower faculty and students to create a truly inclusive learning experience by making it possible for anyone to digitally engage with educational content however they need to from their own devices, regardless of whether they are participating in-person, remote, or asynchronously. Features such as the Zoom Whiteboard and wireless screen sharing allow faculty to untether themselves from the classroom podium, while wide angle cameras and microphones ensure that every aspect of the classroom is captured. Over the next few years, OIT will be working closely with our partners in Academic Affairs to better understand the pedagogical practices that these classrooms could facilitate as we plan out the next iteration of IACs. 

★ Culture & Belonging Assessment Deployed

A culture and belonging assessment and framework were established to collect input from OIT staff on how they feel about OIT culture and their sense of belonging in it. Assessment findings are being used to: 

• Identify gaps related to OIT culture and sense of belonging.
• Develop programs and resources to better improve culture and belonging for OIT staff. 
• Understand current and ongoing strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities.
• Compare trends over-time to gain a better understanding of staff needs and align priorities with them.

The assessment was deployed in March 2024, and staff responded to a mix of open text and likert scale questions on the following topics: work culture, management, support and professional development, inclusive culture, and safe working environment. 47 questions were likert scale, and of these 86% of staff selected strongly/somewhat agree, reflecting a positive review of OIT culture. Internal support and programming for this next academic year will be informed by the feedback gathered in the assessment.  

★ Modern Call Center and Phone Services

OIT is replacing PSU’s legacy Avaya call center service with Amazon Connect, a modern cloud hosted call center platform. Amazon Connect offers more reliable service, improved reporting tools, requires less support, and enables opportunities for productivity improvements. Implementation began with a pilot for the OIT Help Desk in 2023. In 2024, OIT deployed new call centers for campus partners including Admissions, Student Health & Counseling, Registrar’s Office, Student Financial Services, and Financial Aid.

Concurrently, PSU has continued to transform its telephony systems to provide a more modern feature set, save money, and simplify service offerings. This transformation included retiring our legacy voicemail system and fixed-cost long distance facilities, while migrating over 1,200 customers to Google Voice.

★ I: Drive to Cloud Storage Migration Planning

Due to budget constraints, modernization goals, and support needs, OIT began the planning to move I: Drive departmental content to a cloud storage solution. OIT has examined the University’s storage needs, associated costs, and started gathering requirements for the actual migration.

Microsoft Office Licensing Changes for Personal Devices

Due to changes in Microsoft’s software licensing, OIT modified how licenses are assigned for work-related use of Microsoft Office on personal machines. These changes have allowed PSU to avoid significant cost increases for Microsoft Office software licensing.

Kuali Build Banner Integration with Research and Graduate Studies (RGS)

To simplify the maintenance of complex routing structures and provide flexibility to address special needs for certain units, OIT integrated the Kuali program with Banner for RGS. When fully implemented by RGS, it will simplify not only the routing structures but also ensure the data is easier to access and use for auditing and reporting purposes.

★ Next-Generation High-Performance Computing (HPC)

To ensure systems remain secure and optimally functional, OIT must update the operating system and high-performance computing (HPC) platform when the existing clusters reach end of life. During an update this year, OIT made a significant change in adopting a flexible and portable open-source HPC platform called Warewulf. This new platform has a long, successful history and a robust, collaborative, worldwide community of developers and users. Warewulf vastly simplifies cluster administration and will help OIT provide responsive and high quality service to HPC customers, and also reduce downtime during routine maintenance activities.

★ Initiation of Attendance Technical Implementation

In order to meet the Department of Education’s compliance obligations for disbursement of Title IV funds, PSU must track and document that students initiate attendance (i.e. participate in academically related activity) for each credit-bearing class in which they are registered. OIT collaborated with the Registrar's Office and Financial Aid to develop a process for tracking and monitoring compliance with this requirement. OIT added functionality to the Banner Class List that allows faculty to record students' initiation of attendance, along with a status message in myPSU to alert students of the possible impact on their financial aid based on failure to initiate attendance. OIT developed reports for Financial Aid and academic departments to monitor the process. Additionally, OIT worked with the Registrar's Office and Office of Academic Affairs to communicate with faculty and students about the initiation of attendance requirements and new process. 

Course Registration Hub Accessibility Audit

In response to a course registration hub compliance complaint, OIT and the Office of Global Diversity and Inclusion partnered to conduct an audit to fully understand the scope and impact of existing barriers. A vendor was hired to perform an accessibility audit of the PSU digital registration tool, and 128 accessibility issues were identified as presenting significant barriers for students to register for classes. OIT remediated those that are in-house and reported the remaining issues to the vendor to be addressed in future version releases. 

Staff Cybersecurity Training Rollout

OIT developed an annual cybersecurity training for staff to increase security awareness, providing risk reduction for PSU. The training also enhances the efficiency of support provided to researchers with projects covered by data use agreements and data security plans, where cybersecurity training is a requirement. This will also advance the maturity of the PSU information security program in the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Cybersecurity Framework “awareness and training” domain.

★ Respond to Emerging Compliance Requirements

In response to new security and privacy regulatory compliance requirements, OIT conducted external compliance and risk assessments as well as external application security testing. This will help mitigate cyber risk, enhance safeguards protecting the university's data, and ensure we meet new requirements.