TECHNOLOGY FOR THE TOP

SECTION I

Technology for the Top is an action plan to transform both the way the University functions and supports its constituents, and the way students learn and faculty teach. Technology for the Top will bring sweeping changes in the way computers, computer networks, and new digital technologies are used in administrative functions, as well as in learning and teaching across all facets of Florida International University.

Technology for the Top is an action plan for the next three years (July 1997 - July 2000) which will insure that the University can effectively and efficiently implement the information technology objectives of its 1997-2001 strategic plan Reaching for the Top. Technology for the Top represents FIU's commitment (1) to realize an enhanced educational experience, and (2) to create a significantly enriched information technology infrastructure for its students, faculty, and staff. Finally, Technology for the Top paves the way for FIU to restructure, in a manner that takes into account: (1) the fiscal challenges that confront higher education in the next three to five years, (2) today's increased emphasis on quality in higher education, (3) the changing demographics of our students, and (4) opportunities to leverage the effectiveness of faculty to compete better in presenting and marketing educational materials.

FIU's plan Reaching for the Top includes a vision of information technology at FIU and is the blueprint for the changes promised by Technology for the Top. The cornerstones of Technology for the Top are specific strategic information technology goals that, when implemented, will create the vision outlined in FIU's strategic plan.

These goals represent new commitments and new directions for the University in nine general information technology areas: single organization, people-oriented networking, University-wide "computing engine," people-centered administrative services, workgroup solutions, voice communications, hi-tech/multimedia professional development, DIRECTnet research laboratory, and quality management.

The total cost and scope of the goals are significant. Two principal strategies will be utilized to supplement funding for these goals. First, telecommunications recoverable funds will be used to set up a reserve trust fund balance to acquire and support an integrated University communications network. Second, alliances with select industry partners like Bell South, IBM, TCI, and Hewlett Packard have already been formed, and others are being explored.

In a very short time we have had notable successes in achieving the goals discussed in this action plan. A brief quarterly Technology for the Top "Goals Progress Report" is available on request from Information Resource Management.

Florida International University, a quarter of a century after its establishment as a major, public, urban, higher educational institution, is positioned to fully utilize information technology as a revolutionary tool for enhancing the scholarly environment of its students, faculty, and staff, while at the same time helping to contain escalating costs. Technology for the Top is a direct result of FIU's strategic plan, Reaching for the Top, which, in its "INFORMATION STRATEGIC THEME," recommended embracing information technology as a key component in meeting the challenges of the next century. In recognition of the facts that creating this new environment will be expensive, and that significant funding is a continuing challenge, the University will redirect existing resources and form strategic partnerships with both the private sector and other universities.

MOTIVATION FOR CHANGE

The impetus for change stems from four factors. First, higher education is being subjected to the same demands for cost effectiveness, efficiency, and productivity that have caused major restructuring in other sectors of society. Second, it is coming under increased scrutiny from both funding agencies and its customers to deliver a higher quality, more relevant product. Third, it must better meet the needs of a student population whose characteristics are much different than a decade ago. Fourth, higher education must take the opportunity to apply the benefits of the "information age" to society.

COST:

"California is turning to the Internet to cope with record enrollments from children of the baby boomers. On-line education helps universities to share resources and collaborate." [N.Y. Times 1/29/97].

QUALITY:

DEMOGRAPHICS:

OPPORTUNITY:

FIU already incorporates information technology as a primary vehicle for instructional delivery in programs such as:

1. the School of Journalism's Automated Writing Course,

2. video taped ("digitizable") courses in Biology, Construction Management, Electrical Engineering, and Industrial Engineering provided through FEEDS (Florida Engineering Education Delivery System), and

3. development of computer-delivered engineering courses for an Asynchronous Learning Network (ALN), supported by a recent Alfred P. Sloan Foundation grant.

4. adaptation of Academic Systems Corporation (ACS) asynchronous learning modules for a remediation courses program sponsored by English, Mathematics, and the Learning Center.

Florida International University has as its vision to become a TOP, PUBLIC, URBAN, RESEARCH UNIVERSITY by 2001. Reaching for the Top presents FIU's image of its future with a focus on the University's strategic themes and strengths, as well as challenges that must be met. It is a blueprint for realizing that vision.

SECTION III

In a time of turmoil for higher education, FIU is fortunate to have the benefit of ten years of formal, institutional introspection and planning. This process included the 1988-90 SACS Self-Study that examined every phase of university life and culminated in the successful reaccreditation of FIU by SACS.

The self-study culminated with recommendations for on-going planning and evaluation, and the President's appointment of the Strategic Planning Advisory Committee. Each year the annual planning cycle has further refined the operational and long-range goals of the divisions of the University. This planning built consensus and provided direction for the University community. The fruits of those efforts were consolidated in the August 1992 edition of Florida International University in the Year 2001: Challenges and Opportunities. Since that time, broad and intense discussions by groups throughout the University resulted in revisions of the University's mission, themes and directions. The development of the 250-page FIU in 2001- Second Edition, which contains various scenarios, environmental trends, and benchmarks of role-model universities, benefited greatly from these discussions and the comments received from numerous groups and individuals. The 100-page Florida International University on the Threshold of the 21st Century, issued October 28, 1994, summarized these analyses for broader distribution. Reaching for the Top was first issued in draft form for broad discussion in Fall 1995. Its latest edition of December 20, 1996, updates FIU's image of its future, with a particular focus on the University's vision and strategic themes, as well as obstacles that must be overcome as FIU "reaches for the top."

A VISION OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY AT FIU

The "INFORMATION STRATEGIC THEME" of Reaching for the Top provides a vision of information technology for FIU:

... Satellite communications, personal computers, fiber optic information superhighways, the Internet, interactive cable television, facsimile machines, cellular phones and other wireless communications make it possible for ideas, information, materials, and services to move across state, national, and international boundaries at dazzling speeds.

Computers and communication systems are changing the structure and operation of organizations. People working in offices or at home, in cars, airplanes, and even at community multimedia kiosks will exchange information by plugging their personal computer terminals into an international high-speed data network. Computers are sorting, organizing, and condensing massive amounts of [data] so information can be more readily and easily understood. When "ubiquitous computing" arrives, we will be limited, not by the quantity of information but by its quality, and our ability to retrieve, manipulate and analyze it. By 2001, computers will talk to each other as readily as humans now communicate over telephone networks, completing a merger of voice, video, and data technologies that began to blossom in the 1980s.

Classroom instruction is being revolutionized by these information technologies. The classroom is no longer limited to a physical location. Interactive multimedia learning experiences are creating "virtual" classrooms at locations far from the campus. Asynchronous learning technologies are linking students and faculty who are remote from each other-- across the room, across the hall, across campus, across town, across the state, across the nation, and around the globe-- thus providing education and training experiences more convenient for the consumer/learner. One inescapable by-product of technology-mediated instruction is that it will expand the definition of the classroom and create new possibilities in teaching.

Technology will inevitably modify the service area and demographics of the University. As State policies change, technology will be an equalizing factor, allowing the University to deliver exemplary programs beyond its traditional service area, not only in Florida, but in the Caribbean, Latin America, and beyond.

To remain in the forefront, the University must utilize the dramatic developments in information technologies to improve learning through new modes of instruction and new forms of management and administration. Ways of accessing, processing, and transmitting information will change every discipline's methodology, and all students and faculty must be encouraged to explore these new techniques and approaches.

Students will find FIU a better place to pursue their education. In a traditional "synchronous learning" environment, faculty teach at a given time and place dictated by the institution, not necessarily convenient to either the students or instructors. In contrast, in the emerging technological "asynchronous learning" environment, it is the student who controls the time, place, and manner of learning. The Internet, kiosks and voice response systems, and other information technologies will support, enhance, and customize teaching and learning. As FIU establishes its new technology infrastructure, an increasing number of educational components will be delivered asynchronously. Students will be able to view "on-demand" a digitized version of a multimedia course, for example, that is archived on a super server and transmitted to their PC or TV using the FIU network. As this new learning mode of multimedia education-on-demand (or "asynchronous learning") evolves, students will have greater flexibility in arranging their schedules and choosing an information source that best meets their learning style.

Faculty will find FIU a better place to work. All their offices will have high-speed network connections and modern workstations to communicate with students, interact with colleagues at FIU and around the world, facilitate research, and fulfill their administrative duties. Administrative tasks will be easier due to new software applications that focus on the task at hand, not the requirements of a specific administrative computer system. Faculty teaching also will be enhanced, and faculty will benefit from better support for teaching. A faculty instructional technology resource facility will help with the development and production of technology-based instructional modules that can be used to enhance a traditional lecture, to support a student-directed learning module, or perhaps be part of a complete multimedia course being developed in collaboration with a colleague at a different university. E-mail and video-mail will enable faculty to interact with their students and conduct discussion groups. Advanced technology will make these services readily available from network PCs at home, as well as on campus-- the FIU network will, in effect, be extended all over the South Florida area and even beyond. FIU is committed to providing faculty with an environment that enhances their teaching, research, and public service.

Staff, too, will find their environment more productive as FIU moves aggressively to reduce the amount of paper that flows through the University. Using the same network and information systems as students and faculty, those that carry out the necessary administrative functions will have new tools and streamlined procedures to make their efforts more productive.

To establish the user-focused environment in FIU's vision, four technological components are required:

1. High-speed communications networks will be in all FIU offices and residence hall rooms. Network access also will be available in private residences through new services offered by telecommunications companies, and it will be available over the newly restructured radio spectrum in devices such as cellular- or satellite-communicating laptops.

2. A multimedia information server, the "hub" of a very large and fast computing "engine" with huge storage capacity, will deliver multiple, independent, simultaneous information streams in the same manner that communications companies are beginning to deliver video-on-demand to individual homes over ordinary telephone lines.

3. Inexpensive access devices, such as "network computers" or mobile workstations, will allow University constituents to participate in asynchronous learning and streamlined administration. These devices will be much less costly than today's personal computers, as a result of the investment by the entertainment industry to produce affordable, "set-top," interactive Web-TV boxes to deliver interactive video to the home.

4. Sophisticated instructional software is required to produce and control this environment along with the intellectual content. With its experience in delivering "synchronous" distance education, FIU is strongly positioned to take a leadership role in the new "asynchronous learning" environment. The technologies to accomplish this already exist, and FIU is transforming its information technology infrastructure to take advantage of them.

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   Florida International University is actively implementing the strategic themes in Reaching for the Top. As we bring life to the information technology goals explained below, FIU will quickly move in the direction required in the "INFORMATION STRATEGIC THEME:" "To remain in the forefront, the University must utilize the dramatic developments in information technologies to improve learning through new modes of instruction and new forms of management and administration."

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   SECTION IV

   Implementing the Information "Strategic Challenges"

   In Reaching for the Top, information technology is defined as a critical component in accomplishing FIU's objectives. Section V of Reaching for the Top sets forth two key "Strategic Challenges" that the University must meet to succeed in the "INFORMATION STRATEGIC THEME:" Underdeveloped Information Technologies and Library. These challenges can be summarized as follows:

   Underdeveloped Information Technologies: Rapid technological growth and innovation places greater demands on the University to keep pace with its telecommunications and computing infrastructure.

   1. Information Resource Management will bring in outside experts to look at the entire telecommunications and computing infrastructure of the University and develop a long-term plan to get FIU onto the information superhighway and to keep it there.

   2. More specifically, access to computer information resources is mandatory in administrative and faculty offices, laboratories, and classrooms. Linkage of campuses and administrative offices through the University computer network and teleconferences is critical to addressing the efficient management of multiple campuses.

   3. Equipment and service are imperative to support interactive learning, multiple network systems, management and financial data base systems, interactive computer instruction, and telephone banks and other equipment used in surveys.

   4. It is necessary to purchase or develop a set of rule-based, integrated administrative software systems to address student data bases, registration and financial aid accounting; personnel/payroll/budget/and human resource computerized functions; and all financial transactions of the University. Such a system must complement the existing SAMAS and SUPERS systems, be easy to maintain and be compatible with the University requirements and plans for development.

   5. Recruitment and retention of trained technical professionals is essential to implementing a technical re-engineering of University administrative systems, as is the training of students, faculty, and staff.

   Library:To realize its vision of becoming a major research university, FIU must:

   1. provide access and training to members of the University community so that they can readily access and authenticate local and global information resources from the desktop,

   2. provide systems for efficient processing and archiving of library materials, and

   3. maintain the telecommunications infrastructure that (1) and (2) require.

   The University can leverage additional resources by strongly promoting the the "digital library" concept and by subscribing to select external information resources like Lexis/Nexis and RLIN.

   To address these challenges, in late 1995, the University recruited as Chief Information Officer (CIO) and Vice Provost, Dr. Arthur Gloster, II. Since 1986, Dr. Gloster has had similar responsibilities at Virginia Commonwealth University and California Polytechnic State University, where he pioneered environments for delivering multimedia education-on-demand. He is now actively in the process of developing and fine-tuning specific goals which will insure implementation of the "INFORMATION STRATEGIC THEME."

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   Technology for the Top is a proposal to develop a new "asynchronous learning" environment at FIU by implementing information technology goals.

   To guide our efforts for the next three years, FIU has identified 20 goals grouped in nine general information technology areas: single organization, people-oriented networking, University-wide "computing engine," people-centered administrative services, workgroup solutions, voice communications, hi-tech/multimedia professional development, DIRECTnet research laboratory, and quality management.

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   SECTION V

   The Information Technology Goals

   SINGLE ORGANIZATION

   Until early 1997, FIU's three major information technology organizations were operating under separate administrations. With advances in, and melding of, information technologies, such a split was more and more an inefficient and cost-duplicating way to do business.

   Goal 1 - Restructure Information Technology (IT) Services: The three current service providers: the Libraries, Instructional Media Services, and Information Resource Management (SERDAC, University Computer Services, and Telecommunications) have been integrated and are reporting to one central administration provided by the University's new CIO/Vice Provost. Major efforts are now underway to fine-tune the components of this new structure to optimize cost effectiveness and IT service delivery.

   PEOPLE-ORIENTED NETWORKING

   FIU is in the process of consolidating its networking facilities to provide a single, integrated, reliable, secure network infrastructure to serve academic, and administrative needs. During the last few years, FIU has made significant progress in deploying fiber backbone infrastructures on and between its two campuses. However, much of the wiring within buildings will not support the emerging network technologies and will have to be upgraded. The multimedia/video delivery applications that FIU plans to implement will require that the institution move from old technology, local area networks (LANs) to a higher-throughput, switched network architecture such as Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM). This improved networking service must be readily connectible to inexpensive access devices of FIU students, faculty, and staff, wherever they may be located.

   Goal 2 - Campus Integrated ATM Network: Implement an ATM-based network capable of supporting multimedia education-on-demand to offices, classrooms, residence halls, and more than 400 desktops in the University Park and North Campus Libraries. In the first phase of implementation, the network will utilize the two existing communications technologies, along with ATM.

   Goal 3 - Off-Campus Integrated ATM Network: Interface the campus network with high-speed, commercially available ATM solutions from public carriers so that FIU has the capability of delivering multimedia to individual homes and businesses, and of exchanging voluminous research data sets with other institutions.

   Goal 4 - Wireless Networks: Use wireless technology, such as cell phone laptops, to augment or replace "wired" networks as a medium for delivering technology-based education and electronic student services.

   Goal 5 - Network Operations Center: Create a single, central, network operations center to monitor and control all FIU networks to the level of the wall connection, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

   Goal 6 - Residence Hall Service: Make available high capacity digital data/video to wall connections in student residence hall rooms.

   UNIVERSITY-WIDE "COMPUTING ENGINE"

   To realize its vision, the University must improve its "computing engine" by moving to a large-scale megaserver/processor system, expanding its multipurpose "digital library," and enhancing its present UNIX capacity. In the short term, it must continue to support the hardware/software systems that have long been used for critical applications (proprietary, legacy systems).

   Goal 7 - Megaserver: Replace the existing mainframe/supermini systems with (a) high-speed processor(s) capable of delivering multiple video and data streams while supporting new client-server applications as well as legacy systems. A massive data storage capacity also will be available. New generation technology will be used in order to minimize personnel costs.

   Goal 8 - "Digital Library": The FIU Library already has a large collection of on-line materials. The University will expand the "digital library" to include the storage of other materials: special collections, digitized lectures, multimedia courses, and other large "binary objects." New advanced software will organize, store, and access this information. One good example of a "binary object" is the new Everglades Information Network (EIN) and Digital Library, whose mission it is to provide worldwide, timely, and efficient research access to information about the Everglades. A collection soon to be digitized will be that of the Wolfsonian Museum in Miami Beach, recently donated to the University.

   Goal 9 - Enhance Unix Capacity: Replace the currently over-taxed, shared academic UNIX systems with a large system capable of supporting multimedia education-on-demand, and faculty and student supercomputing needs.

   PEOPLE-CENTERED ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES

   Administrative systems have typically been designed to automate processes within administrative departments rather than to improve overall institutional efficiency. FIU plans to evolve to user-focused administrative systems designed to serve all members of the University community.

   Goal 10 - Replace Student and Financial Systems: Implement a comprehensive, integrated, client-server-based suite of administrative applications that provide an enhanced student information system, a student financial aid system, an institutional financial resource system, and an alumni & development system. This suite will later be extended to incorporate a human resources system.

   Goal 11 - Enhanced Student Access to Administrative Services: Continue to install a distributed kiosk, World Wide Web, and workstation access network and an improved voice response system so that students, as well as others, will have direct access to pertinent information and systems, such as registration and financial aid data, class schedules, etc.

   Goal 12 - Smart Card: Implement a single FIU "smart card" that combines a computer chip and magnetic strip to function as a picture ID, a debit card, and a long distance calling card. It will also control access to buildings and events, can be used as a vending card, and will allow appropriate access to on-line information sources.

   WORKGROUP SOLUTIONS

   Workgroup applications (software/hardware that helps groups of people work better together) typically have been deployed to meet individual departmental needs; these must be redirected to forging University-wide solutions. This will position FIU closer to an internal "paperless" workplace.

   Goal 13 - Electronic Mail/Calendar/Visual Information Systems: In the short term, provide a uniform, University-wide electronic-mail, calendaring, and office automation environment to serve students, faculty, and staff. In the longer term, pilot an image-based visual information system to archive administrative paper documents coming from outside of FIU and making them available to a large number of individuals who need access to them. If successful and practical, the technology will be used University-wide.

   VOICE COMUNICATIONS

   FIU considers voice communications to be as strategic as data networking. FIU will deploy a comprehensive and uniform voice environment, including a single, intercampus, state-of-the-art telephone system, voice mail, pagers, cellular services, etc.

   Goal 14 - Replacement of Existing Systems with ATM-based Technology: Replace FIU's aging and incompatible ESSX and ROLM telephone systems with ATM-based technology capable of carrying high bandwidth streams of voice, data, and video. Improve on or provide a University-wide set of auxiliary voice communications services. Also, enter into a direct contract with telecommunications providers to minimize overhead and provide more affordable and convenient telephone and data services to students, both on- and off-campus.

   HI-TECH/MULTIMEDIA PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

   FIU will develop multimedia educational modules internally, as well as partnering with other educational institutions and industry leaders. It will also implement an applications software training program for faculty and staff.

   Goal 15 - High Technology Instructional Development: Implement an in-house, technology-oriented instructional development center with both appropriate technology and user services, so that FIU faculty can develop new educational modules that can be used internally or at other institutions.

   Goal 16 - In-house Training Program: Implement training for faculty and staff in widely used applications software such as E-mail, spreadsheets, word processing, Windows-95, etc. Special training will also be provided in asynchronous content development tools like Web Course In A Box and Lotus Learning Space.

   DIRECTNET RESEARCH LABORATORY

   FIU will be using leading-edge and experimental technology to implement its multimedia education-on-demand environment. Through DIRECTnet (Digital International Repository for Education, Commerce, and Telecommunications net), it will be exploring technologies that have not been used elsewhere. It will work with multiple vendors to insure that all the parts are able to work together (interoperability) before making major procurements. It will also develop network hardware/software evaluation and measurement techniques which will be applied to the production environment.

   Goal 17 - Mobile Student Workstations: Pilot student use of notebook/hand-held computers ("data appliances") as a common tool to access the new "asynchronous learning" environment. If successfully developed, these devices can gradually replace or supplement inexpensive desktop access devices.

   Goal 18 - Network Interoperability Testing: Create a facility to test network interoperability (e.g., Asychronous Transfer Mode (ATM) / Local Area Network (LAN) / Wide Area Network (WAN)) in a multi-vendor environment.

   Goal 19 - Network Evaluation: Develop techniques to evaluate ATM technologies versus other competing network technologies; decide how best to measure and manage ATM network traffic.

   QUALITY MANAGEMENT

   Excellence is an institutional imperative at FIU, which strives to employ concepts and methodologies that foster a systematic and institution-wide way to continuously improve the effective and efficient provision of services and the achievement of constituent satisfaction.

   Goal 20 - Evaluation and Benchmarks: Develop and implement techniques to evaluate: (1) traditional versus non-traditional (asynchronous, multimedia) education, and (2) customer satisfaction with applied information technology-- both academic and administrative.

   SECTION VI

   Resources and Partnerships "for the Top"

   In 1995-96, an annual budget of $19 million was allocated for the 200 full-time staff and operational costs of FIU's information technology organizations. To move FIU's information technology from its "underdeveloped" status to a "for the top" status, the University administration pledged a 1997-2000 supplement of $10 million. This is a significant increase (17 percent), but it will not completely cover the total cost (anticipated to be $ 25-30 million) or scope of the proposed goals. To succeed, other revenue sources and/or leverages must be identified. FIU will utilize two principal strategies to supplement funding: a telecommunications auxiliary fund and strategic partners.

   TELECOMMUNICATIONS AUXILIARY FUND

   Telecommunications recoverable funds, including service charges, will be used to set up an auxiliary fund which will be committed to the acquisition and support of an integrated University communications network.

   STRATEGIC PARTNERS

   Resources can be leveraged if FIU forms "win-win" partnerships with businesses which are distinguished by their innovative application of information technology to the needs of higher education and their ability to deliver necessary products and expertise. To date, the University has found four committed strategic partners: Bell South, IBM, TCI, and Hewlett Packard. It is actively engaged in talking with other potential partners which can help provide the required new technology.

   Bell South is one of two natural choices for providing the "wire" into the homes of FIU's students, faculty, and staff since it is the regional telephone provider for the South Florida area. Bell South is a leader among the regional "Baby Bells" in aggressively deploying new technology, especially in major metropolitan areas such as Miami.

   IBM, the world's largest manufacturer of computing and networking hardware and software, is an important FIU technology vendor and a major leader and innovator in applying information technology to higher education. It is involved in trials of interactive multimedia and television systems for education, residential, and business services.

   TCI Group distributes cable TV to 14 million customers, including many in South Florida. It also delivers digital television, telephone, and Internet services nationally through its own broadband network. It is another natural choice for providing the "wire" into the homes of FIU students, faculty, and staff.

   Hewlett Packard is a multinational firm that designs and manufactures hardware, software, and instrumentation. FIU will partner with this corporation for international web site support.

   SECTION VII

   Conclusion

   In a very short time, we have already had notable successes in achieving the goals described in Technology for the Top. Brief quarterly Goals Progress Reports are available on request from Information Resource Management.

   As we move on, in striving toward the completion of all the goals outlined in this paper, we would do well to remember two adages:

   1. "Don't forget, it took ten years to get the overhead projector from the bowling alley to the classroom." [Anonymous].

   2. "If everything seems under control, you are going too slow." [Mario Andretti].
   The lessons those sayings teach are important. Technological progress is often more sluggish and difficult than expected; we must be patient with ourselves! But, we are in a very challenging, competitive business; we just can't waste any time in getting prepared for 2001! To realize the visions set forth in the University's strategic plan, we must all join together as one-- students, faculty, staff, administration-- and with our valued partners climb steadily together-- FIU, to the TOP!

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   Information Resource Management
   Charles E. Perry Building, Room 523C
   FIU, University Park
   Miami, FL 33199
   (305) 348-3656, S/441-3656

   January 1998