Ohio University held its first of two open forums for students to hear about the benefits of a network and Student Information System upgrade that would be paid for with a $22 quarterly fee.
The forum, which boasted about 20 pizzas to roughly 50 attendees, outlined additions that would provide 24/7 registration for classes, better security, faster downloads, and support for new services.
There'll be less downtime
or almost nonexistent downtime said Brice Bible, chief information officer.
If the fee is approved by the state, students would start paying it Fall Quarter 2009 and continue doing so for 10 years to help cover the new network. Eric Fingerhut, overseer of Ohio's public universities, said last week he will not wait for a May 14 student referendum to decide the fee.
With hardware for the university network about eight to 13 years old, Bible said that the current system would hit its bandwidth ceiling between now and 2012.
We talked about the network in terms of speed. Something you'll all see but there are many other benefits beyond that
he said. And of course
we're well behind our peers
he added.
Bible also stressed the necessity of new security updates in this system.
Some of the systems can't support today's expectations of security
Bible said.
He likened some of the new features to a personal banking Web site or Amazon.com, one that can combine many functions onto one page.
That's the kind of look and feel that you can expect when you log on with your OAK ID or user ID and password. You'll be able to get that information in one place
he said. We'll have shared data
meaning one source of info rather than multiple
he added.
It is possible that the new SIS could be used as a shared service with other regional schools.
We are designing the new SIS to serve Ohio University and all its regional colleges
including the college of medicine. However
