Abstracts
John Kuefler
Pittsburg State University
Bringing New and Legacy Applications Into a Unified Portal with ADFS
Most universities have a myriad of different applications that use different authentication providers. Having to keep track of multiple sets of credentials can be make for a cumbersome user experience. Pittsburg State University has worked around this by creating a modern, mobile friendly, single sign-on enabled portal powered by Active Directory Federated Services (ADFS). Learn how PSU extended the base functionality of ADFS to interface with legacy systems, Shibboleth providers, and provide a fully customizable, feedback driven portal experience.
Becky Qualls & Tracy Holzem
Pittsburg State University
Help for the Helpdesk: How to structure a student helpdesk with policies, training, and supervision.
Having a helpdesk staffed by students benefits not only the campus as a whole but also the students who work. The Gorilla Geeks Helpdesk at Pittsburg State University utilizes a tiered system for both supervision and support. At Geeks we have instituted processes for training our student workers and support for campus. Join us for this workshop where we discuss the methods and processes we employ to ensure quality support for our clients. Sample paperwork and process plans will be available.
Brian Osbourn & Tyler Gastineau
Emporia State University
HornetTV: The Digital Pulse of Emporia State University
This session will explore how ESU built a platform for digital signage, media sharing and social engagement using a combination of FourWinds Interactive software and our custom-branded Microsoft SharePoint environment. The goal of HornetTV is to not only expand the concept of “work virtually, anywhere” by providing all content on interactive digital signs and TV’s across campus, but to also make it available on computers, tablets and mobile devices. We will highlight some of tools we use, the architecture, and how we made SharePoint responsive and mobile-friendly. Additionally, we will discuss the role of IT in managing and promoting the system, custom apps we’ve created and what we’re planning for future enhancements.
Kathleen Adams
Kansas State University
Phishing - not just for days at the lake!
Phishing scams have been catching users unawares, creating problems, confusion, and chaos. We'll be talking about the domino effect that happens when a scam comes in to customers and the processes and procedures we use to combat the scammers and to protect our customer's accounts.
Andrew Feldstein, Kristin Rupp, & Jeff Bitikofer
Fort Hays State University
Collaborative Learning Spaces
The Learning Technologies group at Fort Hays created a collaborative learning space that was designed to provide a multi-functional environment for faculty and course development activities. The furnishings in the space are modular which allows anyone to easily change the configuration of the room to meet specific needs and use cases. It is possible to have one large event or, up to, seven smaller activities occurring simultaneously. Seven stationary whiteboards and two rolling whiteboards are placed strategically and interspersed with three wall-mounted flat screen displays. At the center of the space a fourth display , an 84" Clary Icon interactive touch screen computer. The philosophy behind the design of the space is the idea of 'possibilities'. The level of flexibility in the furnishings and the equipment is meant enable different scenarios and different styles of interaction. This is unlike a traditional lecture-based classroom or conference room where it is immediately apparent what type of activities you can engage in once you enter. When people walk into our collaborative learning space they comment on being comfortable in the environment. Many also marvel at the amount of equipment we have in the space. Interestingly, there is not a lot of equipment per se. Although we have taken great care that the functionality of the touch screen system is robust and that it is possible to easily network and connect with the other displays, there is not a lot of equipment in the space. We believe what people are responding to is the way the room has been designed and the fact that the space leaves room for people to think of possibilities that we couldn't have thought of when designing the space. It is interesting that what you leave out of the design can be as important as what you include.
Nick Brown & Andrew Kuehler
Kansas State University
Centralizing and Simplifying Application Management in Windows
With over a dozen images and a staff of 2, application management has been a challenge for Kansas State University’s lab and classroom team in the past. Learn how K-State is simplifying application deployment and is able to rapidly deploy, update, and manage applications without touching the gold image. This session will cover where we've been, where we're going, and provide a live demo of our current methodology.
John Godfrey & Anurag Patel
University of Kansas Medical Center
Superchicken pot pie: A recipe for help desk KPIs, PPIs, and SLAs
Based on the concept of superchickens —where individual superstars on a team can be detrimental to team performance and outcome—this discussion will focus on how KUMC is utilizing KPIs, PPIs, and SLAs in order to better understand how to retard this process while making the team more efficient and effective.
Darin Challacombe & Noel Field
University of Kansas Medical Center
Flipping the desk: Redesigning a help desk schedule
What do you get when you put five minds in the same room working on a shared problem? A slew of various possible outcomes. This discussion will describe the process KUMC followed when redesigning their help desk analyst schedule and ensuring maximized customer coverage.
Luecrita Haraughty & John Kuefler
Pittsburg State University
PSU Learns Valuable Lessons when Sharing through SharePoint
When starting a large lengthy project there are many things to consider. What is the timeline? Who will be involved? What are the tasks to complete? How will information and project progress be shared? So many questions but one tool that can make the information sharing portion easier is SharePoint. Pittsburg State University created and is utilizing a SharePoint site as a repository for large amounts of information during the Oracle Cloud Finance and HCM Implementations. Learn how SharePoint helped ease communication between multiple resources and across time zones.
Carl Dillman
Washburn University
No Stagefright: The Value of Theatrical Training in IT Service
I believe that introducing some public performance skills to one's arsenal can be of great benefit in the service-based world of IT. In my daily work, I draw on skills I learned in my years as a theater student and actor to improve the service I provide, be it following steps from a script, improvising, working as an ensemble, or fearlessly interacting with groups of potential strangers. When combined with technical knowledge, these abilities can give one an edge in the professional IT world, as well as build confidence and character.
Melinda Stanley & Merit Network CyberRange (Remote participation through Zoom)
Kansas Research and Education Network (KanREN)
CyberSecurity Education and Certification Opportunities
Today's cybersecurity challenges require we continually evolve our expertise to ensure the institutions, and stakeholders we serve are protected--as well as create a pipeline through education programs for cybersecurity professionals. Presenters will share Cybersecurity Education trends, resources and share experiential Cybersecurity courses and certifications available through KanREN’s recent partnership with Merit network, and the unique resources available through the Michigan CyberRange. Course offerings in this unique Merit-hosted, secure virtual environment include such things as penetration testing, ethical hacking, digital forensics, among others, provided by some of our nations experts.
Elizabeth Shannon
Knasas State University
Whatddya Mean I'm a Service Provider
Many vendors do not realize they are considered a Service Provider with the release of the PCI DSS 3.1. This presentation will cover to how to work with a vendor to determine if they are a Service Provider, what documentation they should provide, and how to manage Service Provider compliance.
Angela Neria
(Pittsburg State University)
Cory Faldine
(Emporia State University)
Tom Erwin (Butler Community College)
John Dunning (Wayne State University)
$$ Leverage partnerships to s t r e t c h your budget $$
Learn how partnerships among higher education institutions can result in real budget savings. Using tools like the Midwestern Higher Education Compact, your Purchasing Officer's know-how, and good, old-fashioned email list servs to see what's out there and who wants to partner can lead to savings. IT leaders from ESU, PSU, Butler County CC, and MHEC will share some of their experiences in accessing, negotiating, and collaborating on various information technology contracts. In addition, attendees will have the opportunity to collaborate on their own upcoming IT purchases during this session through a group exercise. The hope is that attendees will leave this session with the information that they need to access established contracts and/or partner with other institutions to leverage pricing.
Lyall Ford & Chris Enos
Washburn University
Smile! You're on Campus Camera: Leveraging IP Surveillance Technology to Make College Campuses Safer.
Today’s digital security camera systems produce a range of benefits for university campuses. Security camera systems have been shown to deter crime, prevent vandalism, secure university property and facilities, and protect students. The advent of IP camera technology and digital video recording means that campus IT departments play a crucial part in the design, installation and maintenance of campus surveillance systems. Lyall Ford of Washburn University’s Information Technology Services will present how Washburn University migrated from an analog Closed Circuit Television system to a digital IP system, and how this system has continually evolved to meet the university’s needs. Captain Chris Enos of the Washburn University Police Department will demonstrate how the department has leveraged this technology to prevent crime, catch criminals and make the campus a safer place.
Anna Catterson
Emporia State University
Lightboards for Teaching
Emporia State University recently adapted research from Northwestern University and built a lightboard for instructional purposes. A lightboard is made from a piece of starphire glass and an aluminum frame. LED lights light up the glass illuminating the writing. The advantages of a lightboard include the ability for the audience to see the presenters face and the writing at the same time. This presentation will review how the lightboard is being used at Emporia State University, future uses and research, complete plans and construction costs. A demonstration will be given in the presentation which includes how to use a 3D printer to print the pieces to assemble the lightboard.
Jason Holmes & Andy Speagle
Wichita State University
Architecting Oracle for High Availability and Failover
Learn how Wichita State University has architected a flexible high availability and failover environment for Oracle databases in a Linux environment without RAC. This architecture has allowed WSU to move Oracle databases from one server to another to accommodate hardware repairs, OS upgrades and other disruptive events with a minimal amount of down time for the database.
Thomas Roderick
University of Kansas
Skype for Business deployment at KU
The University of Kansas deployed basic Skype for Business functionality a year ago, and is now moving forward with deploying the Voice features of Skype to replace their Avaya services for faculty and staff. After speaking individually with several other Kansas higher ed institutions, KU would like to share their experience, lessons, and deployment knowledge with everyone. This presentation will cover the reasons for choosing Skype for Business (formerly Microsoft Lync), our deployment model, decisions made along the way, and lessons we have learned over the past three years of this project.
Joyce Scheck
Washburn University
Moving to the Cloud….A journey through the fog
This presentation will tell the story of moving several administrative systems from on-premise to cloud hosted environments (Admissions, Housing, Payments, and Retention). Benefits and challenges will be discussed, highlighting the sometimes surprising potholes along the way.
Blue Coat Gold Sponsor
Blue Coat: Cloud Generation Security Platform and Uncovering Shadow IT
Aligning to Gartner's Four Pillars of CASB, learn how Blue Coat can help enable the secure adoption and integration of Cloud Applications (i.e. Office 365, Google Apps, Dropbox, Box, Service Now, etc.) with on-premise perimeter security, and provide visibility into both sanctioned and unsanctioned use for effective management and compliance within a single pane of glass.
Lisa Qualls
IBM Corp. Gold Sponsor
Lisa Qualls is a Global Technology Services territory leader with IBM. She assists clients with solving mobility, security, cloud, resiliency, systems and network challenges. A former business owner, marketing executive and telecom manager she has experienced quite a bit that lends itself for fun storytelling and sharing a valuable lesson or two.
College students today. How do you keep them happy, engaged and becoming a future alum?
Technology can play an important role with student recruitment and retention. From cognitive analytics to the interactive experience, the possibilities are limitless but overwhelming. How does higher education prioritize, resource and afford student satisfaction? Let's embrace the challenge and chat about new ways to make the possibility a reality.
Steve Chase
IBM Cloud Gold Sponsor
Dan Anders is a Senior Cloud Advisor with IBM Cloud. His recent focus has been on enterprise cloud adoption strategies, workload affinity analysis, readiness assessment, and hybrid cloud. He has experience in multiple industries including financial markets, retail, education, and public sector. Prior to his work in cloud, Dan was Chief Architect on enterprise transformation, application architecture, and design / development programs. He is an IBM Certified Solution Advisor in Cloud Computing Architecture, IBM Senior Certified Executive IT Architect, and Distinguished IT Architect with The Open Group. Additionally, Dan had the pleasure to focus on cloud as a member of the first IBM Corporate Services Corp team at the University of Dodoma, Tanzania.
Observations on Successful Cloud Adoption Strategies
Types of service, deployment models, automation, governance, security, compliance, organization & culture considerations -- could there be more complexity?! Let's have a discussion about what leading adopters are doing to make sense of it all.
Russ Kromminga
Century Business Technologies Inc. Gold Sponsor
Can you eat the elephant all in one bite?
Century Business Technologies, Inc. is dedicated to helping our higher education partners address the critical operational questions they face every day, such as:
- How do we improve student based services through process improvement?
- Where do we enhance University business procedures and processes?
- How do we reduce the cost of education related IT needs, without sacrificing?
- How do we safe guard vital university business information?
We make education easy by partnering with our clients to assess needs, processes, explore strategies and expectations in order to develop a blueprint to address their challenges.
Understanding and implementing your blueprint is the first step toward capturing increased productivity and improving processes.