During the spring semester last year, various committees worked on a document outlining faculty expectations for technology delivery at GCC. The document was approved by the CTC in May, 1996; since that time, many changes have occurred to GCC's network intended to improve the reliability of technology services to students, increase the performance of hardware and software (both with respect to consistency and speed), and provide a cost-effective means of expanding access to technology in the High Tech Centers and across the campus through the use of switched Ethernet.

This document responds directly to the Network Expectations document point by point, describing the progress the GCIS group has made in addressing faculty expectations. 

1. Level of accessThe rewiring of the HTCs will support current levels of instruction more effectively, but it is also planned to accommodate greater use and a greater variety of uses connected with instruction. We have built an architecture for the future.




1. Global Access (college-wide)
1. At the heart of the new networking design are four academic servers (Gino, Gudrun, Gleb, and Gerd, replacing Buffy and Jody) supporting the legacy network and three new servers (Genesis, Ghidora and Gecko) supporting the Instructional Palette. The legacy servers (200 mhz Pentium Pro computers with 128 mb of ECC RAM and 6 gigabytes of storage space each, running NetWare 3.12) operate in pairs, one a mirror of the other, for greater performance. Should one server fail, copies of student files will be available on the twin; students working on that server may be disconnected, but when they reconnect, they will attach to the viable server without difficulty. Building a fault-tolerant system increases both the reliability and functionality of the network; a cable failure won't take down an entire classroom; a server failure won't take down an entire building. Automated software duplication procedures across servers should provide identical software set-up anywhere and anytime students are working.

 
2. Two of the servers for the Instructional Palette, also 200 mhz Pentium Pro computers with 128 mb of ECC RAM, are running NetWare 4.11 and duplicate the architecture of Guts and Glory, the new administrative servers developed as part of the Desktop Project. Ghidora, an application server, has 20 gigabytes of storage space; Gecko, the user server, has an additional 20 gigabytes of storage space. As the balance between the legacy network and the new network changes, we plan to move the legacy servers to the new academic network. Behind the scenes, the third server, Genesis, running an Oracle database under NT, manages account creation and synchronization of user records.

 
3. The HTCs have been completely re-wired with Category 5 twisted pair cabling, with a dedicated wire for each of the 966 possible computer locations in the two High Tech Centers. Network electronics were also upgraded, moving to switched ethernet to replace the older shared thin wire networking. This combination of hardware and cabling provides a dedicated full 10mb "pipe" to each individual workstation. Servers are connected via two (2) 100mb full duplex connections to the switching fabric. A year's experience indicates that software loads very quickly and response time is very fast.

 
4. This increased network capacity was designed to provide network storage space for student files. Previously GCC provided a total of 5 gigabytes of storage space; that has been increased to 24 gigabytes. Previously the network could provide approximately 500 simultaneous connections; now our network should support 1000 connections. The new student server, Gecko, will provide 10mb of storage space for each student, including space for student web pages. In addition, students will have an additional 5 mb of storage for electronic mail if the email pilot goes according to plan.

 
5. The Desktop Project has identified several basic software packages for faculty and staff members; as part of the Instructional Palette, students will have access to a similar standard suite of tools, including Windows95, Office 97, web browsers (Netscape and Internet Explorer), and a set of utilities (WinZip, WS FTP_LE, and anti-virus software). A new interface to the library catalog (OPAC) is available from any workstation running an Internet browser, although CD-ROM resources are available only in the library itself.

 
6. GCC was an initial implementation site for LCS which was intended to transform the ways in which students accessed their college records and the ways in which faculty and staff assisted them. While the schedule of LCS implementation has slowed, GCC has made many changes in the way it provides information to students, including an on line schedule of classes. Increased network capacity within the HTCs and eventually across the campus will support these new tools.

 
7. Communication between and across networks for faculty and staff is primarily a training issue, one which we are now more fully capable of addressing. Last year, GCC hired a new Director of Training and Employee Development (Debbie Krumtinger) and constructed a new training classroom which can be scheduled more flexibly to address the learning needs of faculty and staff members. The GCIS group is committed to a significantly-enlarged HelpDesk staff whose goal is to provide more effective user support by "working smarter." In addition, The Instructional Palette provides roaming preferences for students and easy data transfer between and across networks for faculty with security equivalence between their administrative and academic accounts.
8. Communication from off-campus for faculty and staff via PPP (point-to-point protocol) connections expanded in summer, 1996, with the addition of several dozen new accounts. During the fall, 1996, the college added an additional 6 PPP lines (for a total of 14). This is the maximum number of connections our terminal server will accommodate. In addition, the district has entered into an agreement with US West to provide low-cost ISP access for Maricopa students, faculty and staff.
2. Scheduled access and/or specialized use
1. In the fall of 1996, the Library Media Center embarked on a very small pilot project to provide non-networked CD-ROM access for students. The goal of this project was to identify the ways in which faculty intended to incorporate student use of CD-ROMs into their instruction in anticipation of building and supporting a larger facility in the future.
2. One course during fall semester, 1997, is using student-purchased CD-ROMs (with on-campus access provided through the Instructional Palette workstations). Some 44 workstations have been outfitted with volume controls that allow students to use their own earphones with these materials.

 
3. Some limited remodeling in HT2 occurred during the summer of 1997 in which the Robinson Classroom was divided into two network-capable seminar rooms. However, no smaller spaces for collaborative student work have been created.

 
4. While no provision has been made to add docking stations for student notebook computers, switched networking dramatically reduces the dangers associated with attaching non-Glendale hardware to the network.

 
5. During spring semester, GCC installed a district-funded Unix training classroom outfitted with 12 DEC Alpha workstations and an Alpha server. In exchange for the hardware, GCC agreed to provide classes for district employees for the next three years.

 
3. Off campus, round-the clock access
1. Over the summer of 1996, seven faculty members (and a equal number of support staff) formed the Syllaweb Workgroup to develop highly interactive web pages. Supported by a new web server called Maverick (running Windows NT), this group helped us identify (and solve) numerous access problems and test a variety of web creation tools. A second group met during the summer of 1997.
2. In the late spring of 1997, US West began offering its !nteract ISP program on campus. Over the past year, the number of ISPs (and the variety of services they offer) in the valley has grown. Student use of GCC's modems continues to increase, but so also does the number who have purchased PPP access on their own.
3. The Student Email pilot (a cooperative project with Mesa CC) is intended to provide off-campus access to email, computer conferencing, and document transfer through the use of a graphical client where student home hardware and connections will support it. GCC is committed to providing text-based access to email and computer conferencing as well. The pilot will develop during the fall semester.
2. Planning (expansion and abandonment)
1. Local development: district and campus opportunities and constraints
1. Through creative use of existing funding, the four information services units (Network Services, the Innovation Center, Instructional Computing, and Training & Employee Development) have been able to increase dramatically the number of technical staff dedicated to lab support from one position to six. GCC also proposed a source for additional staffing money, the district accepted the proposal, and those additional funds have been made available to all campuses (along with GCC) to support initiatives on a timeline tied to new systems implementation. Some of these dollars are continuing; some are one-time funds. The four information services groups have worked together to create a coordinated staffing plan, the first phase of which has been completed.

 
2. GCC will continue to provide software on the network. While no firm plan for obsolescence and periodic upgrades has been established, the technology to accomplish easy upgrades of student software has been created with the new server architecture and with the introduction of the Instructional Palette. A policy for software retirement and a planned cycle of software upgrades that addresses both employee and instructional needs has yet to be fashioned, although the initial move to a new version of Office occurred in August with little difficulty.

 
3. In an attempt to provide greater flexibility for faculty and staff, GCC has increased the number of laptops available for checkout. As of the beginning of fall semester, 4 Macintoshes and 2 Toshibas were available; an additional 3 Toshibas were purchased during the semester, and a dozen more Macintoshes became available through the partnership agreement with Apple Computer as part of the Desktop Project. The laptops are housed in the Innovation Center but scheduled for checkout through the HelpDesk.

 
4. As part of planning for the Student Email pilot, GCC initiatiated a mailed survey about technology use of GCC students. Additional follow-up needs to occur during the fall semester.

 
2. Educational technology development in a broader context
1. The continuing challenge at GCC remains balancing maintenance of existing programs and doing new things. Developing cross-functional staffing teams to address support issues is one way of improving communication among and between the four IS groups; in addition, we have established a GCIS discussion list for our combined groups to discuss issues of concern to us all.

 
2. A second strategy we have devised (especially for exploring new operating systems) is the creation of user groups. Our first, for Windows95, met occasionally during fall semester.

 
3. We experimented with a third option for managing rapid and continual change with the Early Bird Specials during the fall semester as part of the Desktop Project. Those who were most interested in leading the pack helped GCC staff troubleshoot installations, test documentation, and write procedures on designated weekends, outside of regular working hours. This was an opportunity for those who volunteered to build "sweat equity," learn on their own machines, and then pass what they learned on to others in their units or departments. The initial Saturday sessions were eventually replaced by a regular series of installation dates throughout the spring and summer; this model has become the college standard for hardware upgrades coupled with training.

 
4. GCC has become the district leader in heavily-implemented Ethernet switching. Other campuses are following our lead, some using different hardware, so we will be able to share results.

 
5. The pilot CD-ROM project, hosted in the Library Media Center, establishes a foundation for multimedia delivery as part of instruction. In addition, the upgrades to the HTC networking should now support multimedia to the desktop where licensing allows. During the summer of 1997, a dozen faculty from 8 different disciplines formed the Presentation Workgroup to explore using presentation software in the classroom and beyond.

 

 

3. Procedures
1. Ongoing reliability of academic applications
1. Various tools are now in place to quantify the reliability and efficiency of the campus network, although they have not been used in any systematic way.

 
2. The inauguration of the "standard suite of tools" for students attempts to do away with non-standard configurations of software. However, as part of the Instructional Palette, faculty can provide customized materials and templates for their classes by placing them in course folders which they "own" and control.

 
3. Because student preferences are stored on the server, they can follow students as they work at different workstations. Students can customize their desktop and applications as they see fit.
2. Changes are planned and consensual
1. A planning group for the development and implementation of the Instructional Palette met weekly throughout the spring semester, and regular reports were made at CTC meetings and via A1. We have much work to do in this area, however, as many faculty remained unaware of the changes in the academic network and were caught by surprise.

 
2. A communication strategy that combines email, Internet-based discussion lists, and web-based archiving of messages has had limited success, although both faculty and staff are being exposed to its benefits.
3. Maintenance
1. All of the GCIS groups have been involved in documenting technology procedures and then following the processes developed. A hardware database has been developed for tracking techology-related hardware; another has been developed to track network accounts. A notebook for tracking IP addresses was developed so that more than one person can perform this task. All of these databases are planned to be merged into a new database proposed for development in 1997-98.

 
2. Many processes and procedures are written and available to staff on the web.
4. Priorities
1. All GCIS staff have been issued pagers, and a system of alerts has been developed to ensure that the network and applications are available in classrooms when they are needed.

 
2. The CRC proposed, and the CTC concurred, that the upgrades to the PIT should not be sacrificed for upgrades to the classrooms. Additional funding was secured this year to bring the PITs back to where they should have been in compliance with the five-year plan.

 
3. Significant progress has been made in providing student access to CD-ROMs on campus, although the technical difficulties are daunting.

 
4. A complete set of technology priorities has yet to be established.
4. Quality Control
1. Analysis/Evaluation
1. The HelpDesk tracks calls for service, elapsed time to completion, and surveys the college community regularly about their satisfaction.

 
2. Participants in every training session have the opportunity to fill out an evaluation form; the results are tabulated and distributed to the four GCIS directors. Numerous changes in the Desktop Project sessions have occurred as a result.

 
2. Training
1. Training and Employee Development publishes a training calendar each month and offers a variety of training classes for faculty and staff. In addition, they provide CDs and videotapes for viewing or loan.

 
2. GCIS staff have worked in teams to support various parts of the Desktop Project which has resulted in expanded cross-training and increased knowledgeability. In addition, some staff members are working in more than one area (Operations and Lab Technical Support, Operations and HelpDesk).

 
3. Many workshops about the new software have been offered over the past year, including specialized workshops on equation writing, web page writing, and presentation software use.

 
4. Three staff members have been or are going to NT-Novell Integration training this fall in anticipation of bringing up a new web server for high-traffic web pages to replace GCUNIX.