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Bethel University

2006 Fall Update

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Information-Technology-Services Update
Bethel University
September, 2006

As usual, the ITS team has worked on a variety of new projects since last year’s report,
some of which are highlighted below. I encourage you to join me in thanking ‘your
favorite ITSers’ for the many long hours of very creative work, often well beyond 40
hours/week, required to accomplish not only these changes but also the many transparent
tasks necessary to keep our complex information-technology environment operational.


Anti-spam enhancement. To filter spam more consistently from our inboxes, we have
implemented a new commercial technology. This technology calculates and assigns a
spam score to each message. Those messages that achieve a user-definable score are sent
to a quarantine area. Via a daily email, the user is given opportunity to visit and manage
the quarantine area and to set personal preferences for the sensitivity and operation of the
anti-spam engine. We hope that the individual ability to customize one’s spam filter will
significantly improve most users’ anti-spam experience.

Backup environment. We have implemented broad improvements to our backup
environment. We have purchased new tape drives that are more reliable, much faster, and
store significantly more data (more than one terabyte per tape). We have also created a
disk store onto which most data is moved in preparation for long-term storage on tape.
The disk store houses about 30 days of data and enables most restore operations to be
done from disk (much faster than from tape). The backup tapes will primarily meet our
needs for disaster recovery going forward. The timing of these significant enhancements
is at least partially in response to the disheartening failure in our Exchange environment
one year ago.

Update on Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA). The
courts recently clarified that universities, if their networks are private, are not subject to
an extension of CALEA from voice to data networks. While the definition of “private
network” is complex, I am pleased to say that Bethel University’s network passes the test.
Thus, Bethel can now upgrade its network electronics without the expensive
enhancements that CALEA compliance would require. Going forward, Bethel will be
required to cooperate with any court order to monitor our data network. But we do not
have to provide for remote, automated data gathering. Instead, we will authorize federal
authorities to install temporary monitoring equipment only if Bethel’s legal counsel
advises us to do so.

Internet bandwidth. Providing bandwidth adequate to meet everyone’s needs in all
locations continues to be a challenge, especially in St. Paul. Because we now have a fiber
connection from 3900 Bethel Dr to the 511 Building, a telecommunications hub next to
the Metrodome, we are able to change our bandwidth without the steep one-time costs
previously incurred. Thus, we are purchasing 25 megabits of bandwidth during the
academic year and only 9 megabits during the summer when relatively few people are on
campus. We are using all of the summer savings to purchase more academic-year
bandwidth than what would have been possible otherwise. We hope this strategy
improves performance for both the residence halls and academic buildings. And of course
all traffic bound for other Internet 2 sites enjoys nearly a full gigabit of bandwidth. About
25% of Bethel St. Paul traffic now traverses our Internet 2 connection, significantly
reducing the load on our commercial Internet connection.

Exchange server upgrade. We have replaced a single Exchange email and calendaring
server with two more powerful, clustered servers. Clustering enables both systems to
contribute to overall performance, yet provides continuity of services should one server
fail. We have also upgraded to Exchange 2003, adding additional functionality and
reliability. These enhancements will enable a more robust, more stable Exchange
environment going forward.

Microsoft licensing agreement. This academic year will be our fifth in this program that
provides a site license for Microsoft Office, the Windows client operating system, and
licenses required to access Exchange and Windows file servers. This agreement enables
us to install the latest versions of these Microsoft offerings on all institutionally-owned
computers. The program also authorizes qualified employees to purchase for use at home
(educational use only) a copy of Office for $25 (plus postage for those on the coasts).
Eligibility to participate in the program is limited to full-time administrators; full-time,
associated, or extended faculty; and full-time staff who use a personally-owned computer
to do Bethel work at home on a regular basis. If you qualify and are interested, contact
Computer Village (638-6493) to sign Microsoft’s required agreement and to make a
purchase.

Network Security. Bethel has taken seriously the challenge from Richard Clark, former
security advisor to the White House, that educational institutions must improve network
security at their own initiative or the federal government will mandate change that we
will not like. We have purchased a security suite from our preferred network vendor that
will provide several new capabilities. First, via a product named Sentinel, we will provide
greater protection against viruses and other security risks. All computers that attempt to
connect to the network will be scanned for viruses and patch levels. Machines not current
will have to be brought up to date before they will be allowed on the network. Second,
via a product called Dragon, we will provide greater protection against unwanted
electronic intrusions. Intrusion attempts will be identified so that they can be resisted in a
timely and appropriate manner. Third, we will require all systems not owned by Bethel to
be registered before authorizing a network connection. This step will enable us to identify
more easily any machine that violates our appropriate use policy. Finally, we will require
authentication before allowing wireless access to our network. Each of these steps will
contribute to a safer, more reliable network to support your work.

Portal and calendaring. A portal is a software infrastructure that will enable, from one
place with a single login, secure electronic access by constituent status to the
information, people, and processes that we require to fulfill our responsibilities at Bethel.
This environment will enable both mandatory and elective targeted communication based
upon role. It will also provide access to discussions, online chat, advising and
registration, self-service processes such as making payments on one’s Bethel account,
and group and personal calendars with automatic populating of information from Banner,
including Blackboard course schedules. The selection of a personal calendaring solution
is in process. The portal implementation team is expertly led by Amanda Wanke.

Staffing. New positions, resignations, and reorganization resulted in several vacant staff
positions. Here is an update on our progress.

New positions. Mike Vedders has filled a new Blackboard and Web-Applications Support
position. As a primary responsibility, Mike will own issues associated with Blackboard, a
critical, enterprise-level application. Mike will address user-identified problems, advise
on upgrades and patches, and generally serve as a Blackboard champion, especially for
students. He will also provide user support for Silva, our content management system.

De Zhang has joined the IT-consultant team as a multimedia specialist. Hoping to defend
her dissertation in December at Iowa State University, De’s primary responsibility will be
to help faculty identify and implement appropriate ways to use multimedia applications to
facilitate teaching and learning.

Our new position for a network/security specialist remains open.

Replacements. Betsy Wall filled our open desktop-support-specialis position.
Responsible primarily for Macintosh support, Betsy recently graduated from Bethel with
a degree in Computer Science. Dan Makosky filled the student-services position vacated
by Mike Vedders. Dan graduated from Bethel in December, 2005, with a degree in Youth
Ministry. .

Ross Buchanan has filled our web master position. He formerly led our desktop-services
team. The desktop-services manager position has been filled by Gavin House, who comes
to us from Aveda Corporation where he was IS Service-Desk Lead.

Reorganization. Susie Brooks has accepted an offer to fill a new IT consultant position
that was created as a replacement for a position she previously held in CAPS/GS. In her
new role, Susie will serve primarily CAPS faculty. To enhance the effectiveness of the IT
consultant program, Bob Kistler will continue to serve as team lead and will work
primarily with GS faculty. Lucie Johnson will work primarily with CAS faculty, and
Scott Strand, an employee of the seminary, will continue to work exclusively with
seminary faculty and programs. As mentioned above, De Zhang will focus on helping
faculty across all schools to enhance teaching and learning through the application of
multimedia materials and activities. While Bob, Lucie, and Susie have primary
responsibilities to defined faculty groups, they will be available to assist faculty
throughout the university as time and priorities permit.

Update on our CARS replacement project. Bethel, Macalester, Northwestern, and St.
Catherine have just passed the halfway point time-wise on this collaborative project to
implement SunGard’s Banner, an institutional database system in use at five other private
institutions in Minnesota and over 1400 schools world-wide. Banner finance went live for
accounts payable and general ledger on June 1. CAPS/GS and seminary admissions will
likely go live sometime this fall followed by CAS admissions in January, ‘07. HR is
slated to go live in December; the registrar’s module will go live in March, ’07; Financial
Aid has multiple go-live dates, the last of which is scheduled in April, ’07; and a late
summer (’07) go-live date is planned for Institutional Advancement.
This project affects all of us. However, administrative offices are bearing most of the
load, making extraordinary efforts to implement the new system while continuing to
maintain CARS. While the inevitable necessary changes in business processes will
require patience and commitment, the ultimate efficiency gains resulting from a stable,
modern, and fully web-based system will make the change very beneficial. When the
project is complete, everyone will enjoy most of the current functionality of CARS plus
additional capability including new self-service features. However, we will have to
navigate web pages that are organized differently and to perform current on-line
processes differently. For example, registration will continue to be web-based, but will
likely require a different sequence of steps (mouse clicks) and perhaps different logic.
But improved stability of product and company, expanded functionality, more timely
updates, and better integration with other applications will make the changes beneficial to
all of us.

We greatly appreciate Mary Holmes for the talent, wisdom, and excellent leadership she
is contributing to this project.