Dear Faculty,

With the Fall 2007 semester underway the following projects were completed before the start of the semester.

--We will be adding a total of 11 new high technology classrooms/labs throughout campus. These rooms will utilize new ceiling mounted LCD projectors and a connection plate where faculty can connect a laptop or other types of peripheral devices (DVD, document camera, audio device).
The updated rooms are: ENB119, ENB125, ENB303, END266, DA211, JE227, JE335, ENB208, ENB307, END125, JE306. We currently have high technology equipment in 75 out of the total 95 general purpose classrooms.

--With the support of our President and the SGA, we will be opening a student tutorial center for technology assistance. Students will be able to receive one-on-one support for their technology questions and 45-50 minute workshops on various topics. This tutorial center should open during the Fall 2007 semester; we will send an announcement with more information as it becomes available.

--The Earl Music room EA118 will have an upgrade of new technology equipment that includes a new audio system and flat monitor TV for instructional purposes.

--All High Technology Classrooms had a preventive maintenance routine performed by our HT Classroom vendor during the summer months.

--Microsoft Office 2007 was installed in all of the student computer lab rooms. The older 2003 version remains available for students

--eLearning VISTA:
* For the Spring 2008 semester, eLearning VISTA will be upgraded to version 4.2 and all VISTA 3 course content will be migrated prior to the start of the semester.
* In preparation for the live release, a system-wide, non-teaching pilot of VISTA 4.2 will be conducted during the Fall '07 semester and a teaching pilot will be conducted during the following Winter Session.
* VISTA 4.2 includes many helpful enhancements and several new and useful tools, while also providing faculty with greater control over their course content.
* Training for VISTA 4.2 will begin in September and designer access to course shells will become available in October.

--Microsoft VISTA is in its testing phase for production rollout with our next faculty upgrades in Summer 2008.

--We have updated approximately 200 computers throughout the student campus labs with hardware replacement and all computers have had various software upgrades.

--Finally, OIT will be extending support hours to AV/TV services and High Tech Classrooms to include Saturdays from 8AM -12PM. We recognize that these are vital components to many classrooms across campus and we hope that these additional hours will help with any questions and concerns during weekend courses.

We hope these OIT projects along with more to come help you in your educational mission. Please contact us with any questions and comments.

Welcome back!

Dr. Al Chai, CIO

Joseph M. Brignola, Director, Academic Computing
Questions: email: BrignolaJ1@SouthernCT.edu