New From IST: Classroom Tech, Online Security Training, More WiFi Networks
From revamped research laboratories to a special network for your dorm-room PlayStation, there's a new wave of computing resources being rolled out by the Information Services & Technology office in the 2019-2020 school year and beyond, the interim Chief Information Officer Gregg Chottiner said.
Access to everything starts with the University Credential Identification (UCID) which every student, professor, and staff member receives as one of their first activities upon joining the New Jersey Institute of Technology. Click here to claim your UCID, which is also your email name for the @njit.edu domain and your password for wireless networks. In addition it's your login for online resources such as unlimited Google file storage, software downloads, schedules, grades, and so on.
The first thing students and faculty will notice this year are new computers and wireless projectors in about two dozen classrooms. "I want to completely move away from these carts that they have to push into a room because a faculty member forgot their laptop," Chottiner said. An ongoing project is to equip more classrooms with podiums that have computers built-in for audio-visual control. "We are trying to make it now so people don't have to drag cables with them, don't even have to necessarily bring their laptop with them, but that's still an evolving process," he said, noting that 10-15 minutes of technology fumbling per class is valuable lost learning time that adds up.
Other immediately noticeable improvements include more overall bandwidth for campus-wide wireless networks and a new Internet-of-Things network (look for "NJIoT" in your device's wireless options) which is intended to reserve bandwidth for connected devices such as tools, appliances, and videogame consoles. The university’s Linux and UNIX environments are rebranded as Highlander *NIX, and students are encouraged to use Google Apps via their NJIT login for file storage rather than the previous Andrew File System.
Security is another major focus. A ransomware attack at nearby Stevens Institute of Technology on Aug. 8 led to several weeks of downtime for critical systems including class schedules and study aides. Chottiner said NJIT's firewalls automatically block thousands of hacking attempts every day, which is fairly routine in large organizations. He is working with the human resources and legal departments to implement mandatory online security training so that faculty, staff, and students are better informed about how to know if emails and websites are real, fake, or outright malicious. The plan would roll out to faculty and staff this semester, and potentially to students at the start of the spring semester, he said. Large businesses commonly have policies such as disabling USB ports and banning unauthorized software installations, but that would be poorly received in a public university with a focus on academic freedom, he noted.
Chottiner also said that he's moving applications to the cloud whenever it is viable. Currently about 60 percent of the university servers are located here on campus and 40 percent are in the cloud. Examples of the latter include housing applications, class scheduling, email, credit card processing, and certain research programs. The gradual transition to cloud-based applications has many benefits, one of which is it reduces the size of the university's physical data center which will be turned into more classroom space. High-performance computer clusters will be built into new space in Faculty Memorial Hall, and investments will be made to increase NJIT's ability to use cloud services and the Regional Engineering Network, he added.
IST is supporting the growing trend to give everyone the freedom to use their own devices rather than only college-approved devices, which is known as the "bring your own device" or BYOD trend in the computer industry. IST is also looking at options for virtual desktop technology, which would let students who could only afford an older or slower system access to the same software available to students who have the latest computers. The department is considering developing an NJIT-branded virtual desktop to allow high school students an opportunity to peek at the freshman college experience.
Some parts of NJIT's infrastructure are outdated and restructuring is underway inside the IST department itself. Chottiner is an expert at understanding, evaluating, and fixing complex systems -- he trained as an electrical engineer, got his start in computing with build-it-yourself kits, and then worked on both submarine and anti-submarine weapon simulators for the U.S. military. He served in several government and university roles as an information technology leader.
"One of my tasks is to write an IT strategic plan. Right now we have nothing," Chottiner explained. "I'm looking for ways to help this school differentiate from the other ones."
Be sure to read about more 2019-2020 campus updates here.