1. Executive Summary

The purpose of the Information Technology Strategic Plan (ITSP) is to leverage information technology to advance the mission of the University, to help achieve the goals identified in the University Strategic Plan, and to shape the future direction for information technology (IT) initiatives to create a competitive advantage for the University.

The ITSP is the culmination of an in-depth process that involved strategic thinking, research on IT and higher education trends, and discussions about technology needs with the University community. The Technology Plan was envisioned and created with guidance from administrators, staff, faculty, and students. The Plan will provide direction and set IT priorities for the next three to five years.

2. Governance Overview

The mission of IT is to provide services that are critical to the front-line mission of the institution: teaching and research. IT provides services that are critical to all of the other services that are directly or indirectly supporting the mission of the institution (e.g., business operations, academic and student support, research operations, auxiliaries, data security). Most importantly, IT provides important services directly to all students.

IT resource needs will always outstrip available resources, thereby requiring strategic prioritization of how resources are deployed, within the context of the mission of the institution. IT security, business continuity and compliance needs require sensible and enforceable policies that support, rather than unduly interfere with, the mission of the institution. Appropriately balancing central and local IT activities requires frequent recalibration and every member of the University community (student, faculty, and staff) is a direct stakeholder in the success of our IT enterprises.

Governance Committee Activities

• Evaluate and recommend technology related policies and procedures
• Recommend IT service and project priorities for the University
• Advise on the implementation of the IT Strategic Plan
• Advise on the development of future versions of the IT Strategic Plan
• Identify existing campus technology committees and working groups, then develop and maintain a framework that connects them back to this Committee for purposes of information-sharing
• Review proposals, recommendations, and input from other campus technology committees and working groups make recommendations for further action
• Provide recommendations for effective use of campus-wide technology resources
• Support the CIO (and appropriate others) in campus-wide monitoring of and ensuring compliance with best practices, IT policies/processes, and institutional priorities
• Provide input regarding technology project and service proposals into the University budget process
• Recommend approval of all proposed technology projects and services that meet certain criteria (e.g., affects a certain number of users, affects more than one division or unit)
• Make recommendations for aligning IT professional resources to institutional goals with respect to FDU’s IT organizational structure and standards for compensation and competency
• Recommend approval of procurement of all technology services and products that meet certain criteria (e.g., a large project over a certain dollar threshold)
• Implement a simplified and consistent cost and funding model for services. Fewer and more consistent funding models that work within the constraints of unit budgets and grants, incentivize adoption and retirement of services, provide transparency to costs, and support interdisciplinary work are crucial to supporting the goals in this strategic plan.
• Create and adopt a consistent decision frameworks and simpler funding models to guide funding decisions for existing and new services.
• Create the ability to procure subscription-based services aligned to the frequency and speed at which new services enter the technology market.
• Utilize advisory groups composed of members from throughout the University to recommend, and advocate for, appropriate service investment decisions, such as subsidization and retirement.

3. Fronts of Focus

3.1 New Jersey Campuses

New Jersey (USA)

3.2 Wroxton College

Wroxton College (UK) is the British campus of Fairleigh Dickinson University, situated in the ancestral home of Lord North at Wroxton Abbey in Oxfordshire. The Abbey is located in the Village of Wroxton, which lies in a dip on the northeast edge of an ironstone escarpment bordering the Cotswolds.

The main College building is Wroxton Abbey, home of Wroxton College, a fully modernized Jacobean mansion on 56 acres of its own lawns, lakes and woodlands. It now houses the College’s classrooms and seminar rooms, the library, fully modernized student lodging facilities, and computer laboratories.

Wroxton College is a unique experience both culturally and academically for students seeking to extend their horizons. Students come to Wroxton from more than 250 colleges and universities to participate in academic programs offered by resident British faculty and visiting British scholars and corporate professionals. The academic offerings are supplemented by a program of tours to various historic sites, artistic and cultural centers, and places of political and commercial significance.

Wroxton College has been a travel abroad campus which will be expanded to support new degree programs. Work is already underway to upgrade the technology infrastructure to support enhanced telephony, intranet, internet, smart classrooms, and videoconferencing. Full degree programs may require additional IT investment strategies to fully realize the potential of this charming campus location as a full degree granting location. Management of the Wroxton College IT infrastructure and support has been outsourced under the supervision of the CIO and University Systems and Network (USAN).

3.3 Vancouver campus

The Vancouver Campus (BC) offers accredited professional degree programs to international students with majors in business administration and information technology. Students majoring in business administration are required to complete a concentration in international business and may elect to complete a second concentration in entrepreneurship, finance, information technology, or marketing. Students majoring in information technology typically complete a minor in business administration. They also have optional concentrations in Network and Systems Administration or Web Technology.

The University also offers a Bachelor of Arts – Individualized Studies degree. A Master in Administrative Science degree and a Master of Science in Hospitality Management Studies are offered at the graduate level. In addition, the Vancouver campus offers a Pre-University Program which provides advanced English-language training for students who meet the requirements for admission but require additional training in English (in speaking and/or writing) prior to matriculating in a degree program.

The Vancouver campus boasts an excellent and dedicated core of full- and part-time faculty; a new, state-of-the art facility; small class sizes; close working relations between students, faculty and staff; and an intensive and unrivaled student support system focused on individual student success.

Growth at the Vancouver campus has demanded a facilities and IT program to increase administrative and instructional spaces. Having outgrown the existing Vancouver campus space, FDU will assume additional non collocated spaces (temporarily) while FDU plans for the construction of a new and larger facility to house the FDU Vancouver campus. As these locations come on-line over the next five years, FDU will standardize on platform, systems, and network capabilities to scale and tie into the larger FDU network infrastructure.

3.4 Student Success

Outreach programs are a necessity in higher education. Students rely on their instructors to set the tone for the course and seek their instructor’s guidance and mentoring throughout their time spent together in the course. Students, in general, need to know that their success in the classroom is important to both their instructor and the university.

Even more importantly, direct instructor outreach is an essential tool for success for online learning programs as students do not have face-to-face interaction with their instructors as they would in an on ground setting. Without direct instructor contact with the student, the student’s need for validation of their efforts from the instructor and institution is not met, which can lead to the student becoming disengaged within the class and/or the institution.

Online student tracking system net retention awards. The implementation of a tracking system assists in identifying at-risk students to develop individualized plans to assist the student in creating a positive educational experience. By instructors or advisors identifying the individual needs of the student, better strategies can be developed to serve the student population. It is important to note that instructor-student interaction plays a large role in the traditional on-campus environment for retention and student success.

Based on the current research and literature regarding student retention rates and the need of proactive approaches, two general conclusions can be made: The need for instructor-student interaction is a factor in the student’s success whether the learning environment is a traditional on-campus program or online program and the degree and approach of instructor-student interaction for online learning environments must be proactive in the online learning environment.

4. Guiding Principles for Plan Development

Technology Impact	Does the strategy recognize and acknowledge that changes in technology can have significant impact to the University as a whole?
Commitment to Investing in People	Does the strategy recognize a need to invest professional development to leverage modern technologies?
Representation from across the University	Does the development of the strategy include representation from the distributed units found on most campuses?
Update Mechanism	Does the strategy provide a mechanism for updating it?
Easy to Understand	Can the goals of the strategy be easily understood, and applied to daily operations within units?
Pathway to Success	Does the strategy include an assessment of the current state, a vision of the future, and a pathway for achieving the desired future state?
Tangible Outcomes	Does the strategy provide a clear picture of what success looks like with a defined outcome?
Understanding of the Influences	Does the strategy allow the reader to understand the influences and pressures on the University?
Descriptive not Prescriptive	Does the strategy provide a description of the outcomes without describing individual tasks that must be accomplished?

5. IT Strategic Goals

FDU seeks to develop an environment where information is easily leveraged to strengthen FDU’s leadership in collaborative research and learning, with appropriate levels of security and privacy. The continued growth of data-based research, learning analytics, and interdisciplinary collaboration requires data to be more available and accessible. At the same time, security, privacy, and regulatory compliance are critical and increasingly difficult to achieve. FDU will seek to be a leader in creating an environment that balances these often competing needs.

FDU will spur growth in the computational and data sciences by creating a unified university-wide research IT ecosystem that enables cost-effective and at-scale provisioning of on premise and cloud-based computing, storage, networking, and visualization services and tools.

The university is a learning laboratory geared towards discovery and positioned to change how the world teaches and learns. FDU will support an experience by capturing information about the university environment and using this information to advance research in the learning sciences. The learning laboratory will support the development of new applications and innovations in teaching and learning. The full experience of the student will be personalized to each individual, both inside and outside the classroom, increasing access, affordability, and inclusion.

FDU seeks to deliver an environment with minimal administrative burden for mission related work. Increasing compliance requirements combined with complex business processes consume time and resources that would be better directed to teaching students and conducting research. FDU must take an end-to-end approach to service design and development to eliminate waste and apply technology that makes administrative processes and adherence to compliance requirements less burdensome.

Understanding and advancing technology’s role in defining the student experience on campus (from applicants to alumni).

6. Strategic Alignment with FDU Mission, Vision, and Values

6.1 Education and Outreach

Outreach programs have been implemented in higher learning institutions to increase student retention and satisfaction. The challenges of outreach can increase when students are in an online environment. Online students do not have physical contact with their instructor and classmates and this can cause students to feel isolated and discouraged. Online higher learning institutions can approach outreach at various levels: no formalized outreach program for instructors, a formalized outreach program for instructors incorporating required outreach periodically throughout the course for at risk students, or a formalized outreach program for instructors incorporating weekly outreach throughout the course for at risk students.

6.2 Research Computing

FDU will champion open and advance conversations with the State of NJ and other institutions of higher education partners to develop a strategy for advancing the State as a national hub for computational and data science innovation. The development of an “open cloud infrastructure” that enables universities, government, and the business community to conduct collaborative research through sharing computational and data analytics technologies.

Provide a unified FDU research computing and data environment to enable collaboration and innovation. By bridging the “health to campus” research computing and data divide, FDU will accelerate the development of cross-campus and cross-agency interdisciplinary research initiatives, attract nationally recognized leaders in computational and data science, and realize a return on investment in computational and data science exceeding our peers.

We will coordinate and expand the research support community across the university, providing support that goes beyond narrow technical issues and complements domain-specific expertise with knowledge of best practices and available resources.

6.3 Information Security and Risk Management

Information security is not a risk that can be contained to technology operations alone. Information security risks are strategic risks to the institution and require a comprehensive, enterprise risk management (ERM) approach in order to be effectively addressed.

The IT profession is undergoing its own remaking that is every bit as monumental as higher education’s. The economic and political pressures on higher education have been placing constraints on its IT workforce. Higher education is not as intrinsically attractive a place for IT staff to work as it once was, and there are many other options that offer higher salaries, more interesting and more modern challenges, greater professional development, and better benefits. IT managers are challenged on multiple fronts. They need to attract and retain the best talent. They need to adapt the existing workforce to new roles and techniques. They need to work with non-IT managers to enlist functional staff in the critical roles that these staff can play in new technology-related initiatives. The work won’t get done without people, and the “people part” has become very difficult.

• Expand the cyber security awareness program (including mandatory training for staff and faculty)
• Continually review policies, content, and strategies to stay abreast of current threats and mitigations
• Two Step Authentication
• Annual Network Intrusion and end-user Phishing awareness and testing
• Make it easier to keep sensitive information secure and meet compliance requirements by providing guidelines, tools, and services to the entire community, based on data or system sensitivity, not unit
• Develop a risk-based security strategy that keeps pace with security threats and challenges

6.4 Administrative Systems

We must aggressively streamline the administrative systems in order to reduce administration and compliance burden on users. This initiative will increase the amount of time people in the FDU community spend working on their mission and improve the user experience when using technology. It will also help prepare the systems for an eventual move to a cloud-based provider, which will reduce the total cost of ownership, and expand the capacity for value-added initiatives to further the university’s mission.

• Optimize and standardize current end-to-end business processes to use industry best practices that are provided by our administration systems.
• Standardize management reports for university units, in order to increase consistency in reporting while decreasing the total number of reports.
• Review current administrative system customizations and remove or streamline changes that are unused or increase complexity for users.
• Eliminate shadow and supplemental administrative systems and reports when it is possible to combine multiple systems into a common solution.
• Nurture a university-wide IT community that delivers services and solutions in partnership, as a single team, regardless of organizational lines. Many initiatives in this strategy require IT cooperation across the university. A collaborative IT community that crosses the organizational boundaries, and has a diverse set of viewpoints, will provide consistently timely and effective support to faculty, students, and staff, in order to improve their productivity and retention.

7. Advancing the FDU Mission

7.1 OIRT

The Office of Information Resources and Technology provides secure, innovative, reliable, and integrated technology solutions, quality services, and information resources.

OIRT will strive to create a collaborative and secure IT environment that attracts and retains the best students, faculty, and staff by providing a common foundation of anytime / anywhere technology that focuses on strategically funding targeted technology capabilities to support FDUs academic, administrative, and outreach goals. To achieve this, FDU must:

• Ensure that a collaborative IT Governance Model is deployed that continually focuses on prioritizing, funding and driving community-valued IT services
• Recognize that having a secure and robust underlying technology infrastructure is critical to providing all other technology services
• Identify core IT services and assess cost effectiveness and use potential savings to fund strategically targeted projects
• Mobilize collaborative campus constituencies to identify and address common goals
• Streamline administrative processes and systems to provide more seamless and automated service to all campus stakeholders
• Have consistent and strong executive support to ensure that the ITSP is supported
• Excite students and faculty to leverage technology to improve learning and research outcomes

7.2 Teaching and Learning

7.2.1 Classroom Technology

It has been demonstrated that when technology is integrated into lessons, students are expected to be more interested in the subjects they are studying. Technology provides different opportunities to make learning more fun and enjoyable in terms of teaching same things in new ways. For instance, delivering teaching through gamification, taking students on virtual field trips and using other online learning resources. Technology can encourage a more active participation in the learning process which can be hard to achieve through a traditional lecture environment.

No one learns in the same way because of different learning styles and different abilities. Technology provides great opportunities for making learning more effective for everyone with different needs. For example, students can learn at their own speed, review difficult concepts or skip ahead if they need to. What is more, technology can provide more opportunities for struggling or disabled students. Access to the Internet gives students access to a broad range of resources to conduct research in different ways, which in turn can increase the engagement.

Students can practice collaboration skills by getting involved in different online activities. For instance, working on different projects by collaborating with others on forums or by sharing documents on their virtual learning environments. Technology can encourage collaboration with students in the same classroom, same school and even with other classrooms around the world.

By using technology in the classroom, both teachers and students can develop skills essential for the 21st century. Students can gain the skills they will need to be successful in the future. Modern learning is about collaborating with others, solving complex problems, critical thinking, developing different forms of communication and leadership skills, and improving motivation and productivity. What is more, technology can help develop many practical skills, including creating presentations, learning to differentiate reliable from unreliable sources on the Internet, maintaining proper online etiquette, and writing emails. These are very important skills that can be developed in the classroom.

With countless online resources, technology can help improve teaching. Teachers can use different apps or trusted online resources to enhance the traditional ways of teaching and to keep students more engaged. Virtual lesson plans, grading software and online assessments can help teachers save a lot time. This valuable time can be used for working with students who are struggling. What is more, having virtual learning environments in schools enhances collaboration and knowledge sharing between teachers.

7.2.2 Lecture Capture and Distribution

Lecture capture is the process of recording classroom lectures as videos, and making them available for students to review after the class. The term “lecture capture” is actually quite broad and can be used to describe a variety of solutions, software, and hardware. One may need to record something as simple as audio and PowerPoint point slides. Or, you might want to capture a camera, computer screen, separate microphone, and webcam all for one class. Lecture capture solutions take on many forms depending on how each individual intends to use them.

Since recordings using software-based systems can be done on a standard PC or Mac — or even a mobile device — a lecture can be captured in a lecture hall, an office, or even on-site at a hospital. Capturing lectures helps keep students from falling behind. Less than 40 percent of full-time students complete their bachelor’s degree on time. In some cases, a student’s normal schedule may be interrupted due to illness or family emergency. The more sessions a student misses, the more likely they are to drop a class or even drop out of the program. Often, dropped classes are not offered again until the following academic year, putting the student further behind and driving up the cost of their education.

Video conferencing (VC) technology is becoming more reliable and robust, while hardware and software costs have fallen, making lecture capture a strong strategic capability to improve student success and retention.

7.2.3 ITV / VC

Education is evolving faster than ever. Educators are facing increasing demands as a result of new curriculum standards. While higher education institutions are increasingly competing through distance learning programs, distance learning programs can be enhanced by providing more interactive and synchronous learning resulting in improved student performance. Administrative staff can also more efficiently communicate across campus, across the state/district, or the globe.

The need for ITV is drastically increasing. In the past, ITV systems were large, expensive, and required special hook-ups. Today, there are numerous options to enable ITV capabilities in more locations across FDUs campuses, at reduced costs with increased performance. As these technologies become more mainstream and robust, OIRT will support the implementation to enhance learning, collaboration, and efficiencies. The classroom technology provided in different spaces is dependent upon size, function, and how knowledge and skills are exchanged in an educational context, and considers the interactions that take place during learning.

The future state of FDU requires a significant increase in the number of locations equipped with videoconferencing (VC) capabilities, without the high cost of dedicated VC equipment. FDU will benefit greatly from a standardized software based video platforms installed in all meeting, conference, labs, and instructional spaces.

The need to connect researchers to research studies in progress without the burden of travel requirements	ITV connects researchers to research studiesIn-progress – no matter the location. For example, FDU research fellows can connect with grad students conducting supporting research in a variety of remote locations. The ability to cut travel time and expense saves research teams precious time needed to complete work without exceeding department budgets or research grants.
The need to provide a collaborative platform for research teams	ITV makes it easy for researchers from different campuses, universities or locations to collaborate with one another. Researchers can connect within minutes for scheduled or ad hoc meetings – all that’s needed is a webcam-equipped device and an internet connection.
The need to bring researchers and stakeholders together	When researchers are able to connect with key stakeholders such as grantors, the result is increased visibility, knowledge sharing and accountability over the course of projects that may involve grants and require many months or years to complete. Enhanced communication helps researchers to provide stakeholders with timely and informative updates on progress.
The need to publish and disseminate information and research for continued analysis and practical use	Research is by nature dynamic, being analyzed and updated after its initial publication. ITV platforms extend access to and use of published work so that researchers can easily conduct webcasts or live lectures and record these sessions for archival and later use.

8. IT Strategic Plan Goals, Objectives, and Key Strategies

8.1 IT Strategic Plan (ITSP) Roadmap

Goals	Objectives
1. Advance the academic mission of the University through innovative and effective technologies, resources, and services.	1.1: Leverage technologies and information resources for recruitment and retention efforts and to support student services. 1.2: Provide technology systems and services to enhance student learning and to foster curricular innovation. 1.3: Provide technology infrastructure and support for research, scholarship, and creative activities.
2. Leverage our reliable, secure, and efficient information technology infrastructure and maximize staff potential to foster innovation and excellence.	2.1: Maintain and enhance the IT infrastructure to support the operations of the University. 2.2: Provide a secure computing environment that ensures data privacy and integrity and mitigates cyber-security threats. 2.3: Ensure a strong IT workforce capable of achieving the information technology goals of the University. 2.4: Align funding and explore new funding sources essential for IT operations and new strategic initiatives.
3. Advance business processes and operational efficiencies through effective implementation of information technology.	3.1: Support, upgrade, and enhance current business processes, tools, and administrative systems. 3.2: Evaluate and implement new technologies to improve operational efficiency. 3.3: Ensure excellent service to enable the effective use of technology, resources, and systems by the University community.
4. Provide technologies to enhance communications with the greater University community and the world.	4.1 Leverage web, social media, and mobile technologies to provide effective and consistent content delivery. 4.2 Support effective means of internal and external communications for all University constituent groups. 4.3 Institutionalize knowledge centered support (KCS) and self service capabilities.

Goal 1: Advance the academic mission of the University through innovative and effective technologies, resources, and services.

Objective 1.1: Leverage technologies and information resources for recruitment and retention efforts and to support student services.

Key Strategies:

• Optimize the effectiveness of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software to improve communication and engagement with prospective and current students.
• Deploy data analytics to shape strategy and decision making in enrollment management.
• Identify, evaluate, and implement enhancements to processes supported by the Student Information System (SIS).
• Investigate and implement technological solutions to foster communication and interaction between students, faculty, and advisors (Outreach)
• Deploy an early alert system to identify and engage at-risk students.
• Manage system implementations and integrations that support multiple student success initiatives.

2024 OIRT Update:

The following completed initiatives were driven by the focus to continually improve the student experience;

• Implemented Ellucian Experience as the interface for all Ellucian processes
• Implemented Ellucian Self-Service, replacing Web Advisor, for improving the course registration process
• Implemented Ellucian Advise to improve retention/graduation rates through proactive alerting and earlier potential intervention by advisors for at-risk students
• Implemented Chrome River for more an accurate and faster electronic expense tracking and processing
• Expanded use of DocuSign to streamline forms processing across various university departments

Objective 1.2: Provide technology systems and services to enhance student learning and to foster curricular innovation.

Key Strategies:

• Create individual and campus-wide opportunities for faculty, staff, and students to explore, evaluate, and implement new technologies to improve teaching, learning, and innovation.
• Provide dependable IT-enabled classrooms, computer labs, and virtual learning spaces.
• Develop a BYOD capability and strategy.
• Provide students with mobile access to lab software (via VDI?).
• Enhance video content management and distribution system.
• Provide a robust Learning Management System (LMS) and instructional technology to support ubiquitous learning, learning analytics, and adaptive learning.
• Enhance training options and diverse training modalities for faculty and students.
• Expand ePortfolio technologies to enhance the creation and preservation of personal learning experiences.
• Improve IT literacy to ensure competency in common IT skills for all students.
• Enable the ubiquitous use of iPads w/MDM and apps.

2024 OIRT Update:

• Zoom has been standardized across FDU for interactive remote learning and other video conferencing opportunities with the rollout in over 93 locations to date and increasing improving student experience over ITV
• Kaltura video repository system (Media Space) has been implemented as a repository with online courses in BlackBoard

Objective 1.3: Provide technology infrastructure and support for research, scholarship, and creative activities.

Key Strategies:

• Provide responsive support and innovative technical solutions to meet the needs of faculty and departments.
• Expand expertise in high-performance computing, open-source, and open-standard environments.

Goal 2: Leverage our reliable, secure, and efficient information technology infrastructure and maximize staff potential to foster innovation and excellence.

Objective 2.1: Maintain and enhance the IT infrastructure to support the operations of the University.

Key Strategies:

• Provide a robust, resilient, and reliable wired and wireless data network infrastructure.
• Maintain and upgrade data center hardware and software to ensure scalability to meet future needs.
• Provide a robust and reliable voice communications infrastructure.
• Develop a strategy for integration of personally owned devices to provide secure and effective access to enterprise data and services.
• Develop a cloud computing strategy based on benefits, return on investment, security, and data privacy risks.
• Identify and implement improvements that reduce power consumption within the IT environment.
• Develop an IoT (internet of things) capability and strategy.

2024 OIRT Update:

• Developed Wireless Infrastructure Strategic Plan
  • Measured current wireless needs and requirements
  • Enhanced wireless infrastructure with capacity capable of accommodating the growing number of devices with quicker turnaround for callers while maintaining security
  • Wireless capacity study and heatmap completed and is under review to prioritize additional capacity where critically necessary
• Upgrading/replacing infrastructure equipment for continuous High Availability of critical technology products and services
  • Storage Area Network Upgrade

Objective 2.2: Provide a secure computing environment that ensures data privacy and integrity and mitigates cyber-security threats.

Key Strategies:

• Create a comprehensive IT security position to help address the challenges with information security, network security, disaster recovery, and compliance issues.
• Develop an information security framework based on accepted best practices and standards that will be the basis of managing and mitigating cyber-security threats.
• Implement and maintain hardware and software essential for institutional information security.
• Educate the campus community about information security issues through various training modalities and opportunities.
• Enhance, operationalize, and periodically test the IT disaster recovery plan.

2024 OIRT Update:

• Implementation of DUO for consistent multi-factory authentication for university applications
• Established WISP program for mandatory continuing education and compliance tracking
• Established policy for Annual Penetration Testing and semi-annual vulnerability assessments with followup remediation plans and action items
• Firewall and DDoS services implemented to further protect University resources
• Partnering with 3^rd Party Monitoring Service for continuous monitoring and alerts for potential high vulnerability threats

Objective 2.3: Ensure a strong IT workforce capable of achieving the information technology goals of the University.

Key Strategies:

• Provide technical and leadership professional development opportunities for IT employees.
• Provide flexibility in scheduling and projects to allow staff time to work with innovative technologies.
• Recruit, develop, and retain a strong permanent staff and student staff.
• Establish cases for new employee positions focused on the strategic needs of the University and the Technology Plan.
• Execute an IT staffing skills assessment and deliver a professional development plan to stay ahead of the learning curve.

2024 OIRT Update:

• Leadership development opportunities in various platforms, examples in Rising Leaders Forum and Gartner Symposiums
• Current staff trained and now Apple Certified able to service a large portion of FDU’s devices

Objective 2.4: Align funding and explore new funding sources essential for IT operations and new strategic initiatives.

Key Strategies:

• Demonstrate and communicate, through a transparent and inclusive governance process, how IT directly impacts the core institutional missions of teaching, research, scholarship, and service to the community.
• Develop metrics and quantitative measures to establish the effectiveness of IT projects.
• Develop a long-range capital plan for IT including funding for lifecycle replacement of hardware and systems including classroom technology.
• Identify opportunities to administer centralized software licenses for cost-savings, operational efficiency, and security
• Implement Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI).
• Explore opportunities for external funding for IT related projects.

2024 OIRT Update:

• CapEx planning with major project tracking shared with IT Executive Governance committee twice a year for review
• Launched OIRT resource and capacity study
• Developing Project Rationalization and Prioritization Framework within OIRT before potential rollout to key business stakeholders

Goal 3: Advance business processes and operational efficiencies through effective implementation of information technology.

Objective 3.1: Support, upgrade, and enhance current business processes, tools, and administrative systems.

Key Strategies:

• Provide ongoing support for existing administrative processes and business systems.
• Streamline workflow and automate business processes to improve business efficiency and reduce the use of paper.
• Enhance interfaces between administrative systems to optimize efficiency and ensure the integrity of shared data.
• Provide access to data and analytical tools to support administrative decision making and compliance.
• Leverage existing systems and platforms to improve the on/off boarding processes.

Objective 3.2: Evaluate and implement new technologies to improve operational efficiency.

Key Strategies:

• Research and deploy a new file storage solution that meets organizational needs including cost, usability, security, compliance, and scalability.
• Deploy a course catalog system for academic departments to effectively manage course information.
• Conduct an ERP feasibility study and evaluate business processes to assess whether a new ERP can improve the administrative functions of the University.
• Identify and implement new business technologies and systems, including e-commerce options, which can improve the administrative functions of the University.
• Investigate and implement technological solutions to help assessment initiatives.
• Publish an online service catalog that outlines the services IT that provides.
• Research and deploy a solution for managing, searching, and archiving digital assets such as photographs and videos.

2024 OIRT Update:

• Working with multiple 3^rd party resources, a customization study was undertaken to determine the readiness for modernizing the current SIS environment, both database and platform, in preparation for the eventual migration to a SaaS hosted model

Objective 3.3: Ensure excellent service to enable the effective use of technology, resources, and systems by the University community.

Key Strategies:

• Develop and enhance training using various modalities for students, faculty, and staff.
• Work with departments to provide training on enterprise technologies.
• Identify and implement a common service and support philosophy, including the use of IT service management tools and processes where it will improve the service and support experience for faculty, students, and staff.
• Identify and implement ways to further strengthen the helpdesk operations, including self-help capabilities, knowledgebase, and AI as a means of reducing the number of support requests.
• Enhance communications to keep the University community informed of changes in the IT environment.

2024 OIRT Update:

• Partnered with key stakeholders across various student facing departments to ensure OIRT engagement with new and existing students about available technology services and support opportunities
• Established and maintaining various communication channels ensuring University constituents are aware of impending changes and potential disruption to technology services
• Annual deployment of surveys to key constituents to better understand the technology support experience and find opportunities for improvement
• Lecture capture system implemented university wide allowing pre-recorded lectures to be viewed by students on-demand
• Video Repository System for centrally managed and dedicated student and staff training videos
• Enhanced antiplagiarism tool integrated into the Learning Management System increasing academic integrity while reducing faculty resource time

Goal 4: Provide technologies to enhance communications with the greater University community and the world.

Objective 4.1: Leverage web, social media, and mobile technologies to provide effective and consistent content delivery.

Key Strategies:

• Deploy a web content management system (CMS) to improve web usability, accessibility, and content delivery.
• Create a strategy to enhance University’s web and social media presence.
• Improve the social media presence of departments to engage with users more effectively.
• Implement a mobile application to provide content and functionality uniquely suited to mobile devices.
• Increase the number of technology rich classrooms including ITV capability.
• Evaluate, and where appropriate, implement services as they become available to meet institutional needs.

2024 OIRT Update:

• Dedicated OIRT resource assigned for establishing and maintaining consistent branding experience across distribution platforms
• Conducting scheduled review of shared OIRT documentation for accuracy and relevancy as part of self-service and knowledge transfer

Objective 4.2: Support effective means of internal and external communications for all University constituent groups.

Key Strategies:

• Develop a comprehensive plan for digital signage across the campus.
• Optimize the effectiveness of the University calendar, event, and notification systems.
• Research and provide technical solutions to enhance communications with alumni, the community, and donors.
• Leverage VoIP capabilities to improve communications throughout the University.

Objective 4.3: Institutionalize knowledge centered support (KCS) and self service capabilities.

Key Strategies:

• Develop and implement just in time knowledge centered support (KCS) methodologies.
• Develop an in-house knowledge base and self-service capabilities to ubiquitously deliver support content.
• Foster student internships as an innovation center to develop and publish creative content.
• Champion the development and distribution of institution-wide content on any device, at any time.

2024 OIRT Update:

• Implemented and enhanced existing products with self-service capabilities
  • Student Information System
  • ITSM platform

8.1.1 ERP Evaluation

ERP projects impact the entire organization – they are not limited to just financial and operating metrics. The disruption is felt during both implementation and in the production environment. Missteps due to a lack of strategy can cost time as well as financial resources. Over half of ERP projects fail to achieve their planned business objectives.

An ERP strategy is an ongoing communication tool for the business. Accountability for ERP success is shared between IT and other institutional business units. An actionable roadmap provides a clear path to benefits realization. Align the ERP strategy and roadmap with business priorities; securing buy-in from the business for the program including the identification of gaps, needs, and opportunities in relation to business processes; ensuring the most critical areas are addressed and to assess alternatives for the critical path(s) most relevant to FDU’s direction. Upon completion, a roadmap that promotes structure and accountability by categorizing and prioritizing work initiatives, and by identifying resources, timelines, and investment.

8.1.2 VoIP

The aging POTS infrastructure will become too expensive to upkeep, and telecom companies are investing in the latest technology like fiber optic cables and 5G. VoIP is built on internet protocols and works via Ethernet cable, Wi-Fi, and even LTE. One can make VoIP calls from any internet connected device – including traditional desktop phones (older models just require a small adapter to connect to Ethernet ports).

VoIP is constantly evolving and due to the nature of VoIP contracts (monthly subscription-based), customers can take advantage of software and hardware advancements without having to pay more. It’s a competitive market, so new features and even greater reliability and security protocols are being put into place.

Most importantly is the promise VoIP brings as a springboard from which one can access new business communication capabilities. It’s a great first step on the road to fully Unified Communications, which integrates voice calling with other advanced office communication features like video conferencing.

The promise of unified messaging (a business term for the integration of different electronic messaging and communications media technologies into a single interface, accessible from a variety of different devices) will enable efficiencies and streamline communications channels throughout the University.

Objectives

• Expanding unified communications capabilities to extend the campus telephone experience to off-campus and mobile devices

8.1.3 Virtual Labs

Classroom technology is evolving rapidly. Virtual laboratories are making it easier and less expensive for students to do experiments remotely. Here are some of the benefits of virtual labs:

1. Flexible access. Perhaps the most often cited benefit of any online learning is that it can be done at the student’s convenience and when he or she learns best. The same is true of virtual laboratories if the experiments are on the student’s own time. In some cases, a virtual lab may be used during regular class time which narrows this benefit but still allows flexibility for the teacher who is not limited by using resources within a strict timeframe.
2. Instant feedback. Students can redo experiments on the spot while they are still in a critical thinking mode. All the results are recorded, making communication between teachers and students more efficient too. Experiments no longer have a “one chance” option and students can analyze what went wrong immediately and give it another shot.
3. Top-notch equipment. Schools and students that use virtual labs have access to cutting-edge technology when it comes to experimentation. Companies that build and maintain virtual labs must compete with each other to stay ahead of technology progression and that raises the quality of options for students. With a virtual lab, students do not have to settle on outdated, yet expensive, equipment because a school cannot afford to replace it consistently.
4. Lower costs. There is a fee associated with using virtual labs but the capital and maintenance costs are drastically reduced. Instead of one school footing the bill for resources, the cost is split among the clients of the particular virtual lab. This allows school to provide a better learning experience for students at a fraction of the cost.

2024 OIRT Update:

• SIM Lab implemented with the support of OIRT providing a stable and reliable real-world experience to the School of Pharmacy

8.1.3.1 VR and AR in Data Visualization

Harnessing the combined power of Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR) and Artificial Intelligence (AI), enhancing the process of data analysis, presentation, collaboration, and general daily work flow. Revolutionizing the way we interact with information, data analysis, and presentation.

2024 OIRT Update:

Supporting the School of Nursing in piloting VR for training

8.1.3.2 STEM

Virtual and Augmented Reality are poised to profoundly transform the STEM curriculum. In this article, we offer several inspiring examples and key insights on the future of immersive learning and the sciences. Immersive technologies will revolutionize learning through experiential simulations, modelling and spatial representation of data, and a sense of presence in contextual gamification.

Understanding our place in the universe, building the next Martian Rover, designing new transportation systems, fostering sustainable communities, modeling economic stability — finding the solution for these pressing and interconnected challenges brings us to STEM and STEAM in teaching and learning. The movement behind STEAM advocates incorporating the arts and humanities to the science, technology, engineering and math curriculum.

8.1.4 VDI – Virtual Desktop Infrastructure

Desktop virtualization is software technology that separates the desktop environment and associated application software from the physical client device that is used to access it. Desktop virtualization can be used in conjunction with application virtualization, user profile management systems, now termed “user virtualization,” to provide a comprehensive desktop environment management system. In this mode, all the components of the desktop are virtualized, which allows for a highly flexible and much more secure desktop delivery model. In addition, this approach supports a more complete desktop disaster recovery strategy as all components are essentially saved in the data center and backed up through traditional redundant maintenance systems. If a user’s device or hardware is lost, the restore is straightforward and simple, because the components will be present at login from another device. In addition, because no data are saved to the user’s device, if that device is lost, there is much less chance that any critical data can be retrieved and compromised.

8.1.4.1 System Architectures

Desktop virtualization implementations are classified based on whether the virtual desktop runs remotely or locally, on whether the access is required to be constant or is designed to be intermittent, and on whether or not the virtual desktop persists between sessions. Typically, software products that deliver desktop virtualization solutions can combine local and remote implementations into a single product to provide the most appropriate support specific to requirements. The degrees of independent functionality of the client device is necessarily interdependent with the server location and access strategy. Virtualization is not strictly required for remote control to exist. Virtualization is employed to present independent instances to multiple users and requires a strategic segmentation of the host server and presentation at some layer of the host’s architecture. The enabling layer—usually application software—is called a hypervisor.

8.1.4.2 Remote Desktop Virtualization

Remote desktop virtualization implementations operate in a client/server computing environment. Application execution takes place on a remote operating system which communicates with the local client device over a network using a remote display protocol through which the user interacts with applications. All applications and data used remain on the remote system with only display, keyboard, and mouse information communicated with the local client device, which may be a conventional PC/laptop, a thin client device, a tablet, or even a smartphone.

Remote desktop virtualization is frequently used in:

• Distributed environments with high availability requirements and where desk-side technical support is not readily available, such as branch campuses.
• Environments where high network latency degrades the performance of conventional client/server applications.
• Environments where remote access and data security requirements create conflicting requirements that can be addressed by retaining all (application) data within the data center – with only display, keyboard, and mouse information communicated with the remote client.

Remote desktop virtualization is also used as a means of providing access to Windows applications on non-Windows endpoints (including tablets, smartphones, and non-Windows-based desktop PCs and laptops). Remote desktop virtualization can also provide a means of resource sharing, to distribute low-cost desktop computing services in environments where providing every user with a dedicated desktop PC is either too expensive or otherwise unnecessary. For IT administrators, this means a more centralized, efficient client environment that is easier to maintain and able to respond more quickly to the changing needs of the user and business.

8.2 Organizational Evolution

8.2.1 CIO | University President | FDU Alignment

We must reposition the role of IT leadership as an integral strategic partner of institutional leadership in achieving institutional missions. This requires change leadership to assist institutional constituents (including the IT staff) to adapt to the increasing pace of technology change and to communicate effectively to stakeholders.

Mastering the basics

• Filter through the alignment jargon by asking the right questions
• Get a comprehensive look into the business from FDU’s President’s perspective

Ensure that IT stays on the right path

• Stay on track with the President’s vision for the future of FDU
• Invest in technologies that suit academic and business needs

Target alignment efforts effectively

• Determine how IT can best support FDU’s top priorities
• Address gaps by understanding the differences between the CIO and the University President

Deliver and communicate IT progress

• Use the right indicators and metrics to evaluate your IT department
• Deliver results in a way that allows the stakeholders to recognize IT progress
• Build common leadership language, strengths and a culture of inclusion by investing in a continuing leadership development program and ongoing activities that bring IT leaders at all levels together

2024 OIRT Update:

• Increasing OIRT presence in business governance and steering committees creating a bidirectional relationship with various stakeholders;
  • President’s Leadership Team
  • OIRT Executive Governance
  • Data Governance Committee

• Introduction of the Academic Technologies BRMO department to better align the core business and OIRT

• OIRT teams establishing relationships with key stakeholders within individual departments creating strategic alignment and fostering a partner-type relationship

• With the implementation of the ITSM platform, key data is now captured and available allowing for measurement of current OIRT performance and opportunities for improvement
  • Continuous Process Improvement Team in place to review customer feedback and find new opportunities to improve the customer experience
  • Feedback process implemented recording Customer Satisfaction
  • Scheduled review of Incident resolution time between OIRT and 3^rd party Help Desk to ensure consistent and improving turnaround times
  • Quarterly newsletter published with relevant articles about the work within OIRT, article writers are comprised of non-managing personnel
  • Daily operations dashboard leveraging with near real-time statistics and auto update features made available for viewing with key stakeholders

8.2.2 Develop a Technical Skills Sourcing Plan

The IT organization must acquire skills in the five trending areas – mobility, cloud, big data, social media, and security – within the next few years, or risk running a skills deficit. We must decide whether to retrain existing staff, hire new staff, contract, or outsource the work; poor decisions here will result in higher costs, delays, or inadequate quality. Having chosen a particular direction, IT must move quickly to define skill requirements and find appropriate talent, often in a very competitive market.

All industries are expected to be affected by the talent gap in the coming years. We need to plan ahead to address our organization’s future needs as the demand for talent far exceeds the supply of available professionals. We need to identify the skills that will be needed to meet our organization’s short- and long-term initiatives in order to systematically source skills. Then, we can develop roles that align with these skills and create the action plan to acquire skills.

• Plan for the inevitable. All industries are expected to be affected by the talent gap in the coming years. We need to plan ahead to address our organization’s future needs.

• Base acquisition decisions on the five key factors to define skill needs. Create an impact scale for the five key factors (data criticality, durability, availability, urgency, and frequency) that reflects our organizational strategy, initiatives, and pressures.

• A skills gap will always exist to some degree. The threat landscape is constantly changing, and our workforce’s skill sets must evolve as well.

Ensuring adequate staffing capacity and staff retention in the face of retirements, new sourcing models, growing external competition, rising salaries, and the demands of technology initiatives on both IT and non-IT staff. Balancing and rightsizing IT priorities and budget to support IT-enabled institutional efficiencies and innovations in the context of institutional funding realities

2024 OIRT Update:

• OIRT has taken a Standardization First approach for the planning, implementation, and support phases for both Wroxton and Vancouver campuses
  • Site Agnostic Implementation and Support Teams
  • Continued adoption of Ellucian Colleague and related products throughout campuses where applicable

8.2.3 Best Practices and Frameworks

Adopting IT Service Management (ITSM) principles is key towards organizational maturity and agility. ITIL, CoBit, and CIMM offer frameworks to optimize and standardize current end-to-end business processes to use industry best practices that are provided by our administration systems. We need to evaluate, and where appropriate, implement ITSM best practices to meet institutional needs.

2024 OIRT Update:

• FDU managed ITSM software (TOPDesk) rolled out and now capturing data and metrics for technology resources.
  • Modules released include Ticket Management, Project Management, and Change Management, Contract Management
• Adopting an Agile type of approach for product management and delivery ensuring continuous alignment with organizational demand

8.3 Professional Development

Develop a professional development plan to engage, enlighten, cross train, and reward IT staff for acquired knowledge, implementation, and process improvements.

9. Measures of Plan Success – KPIs

Security Posture Index	Industry recognize security index, measured quarterly against peer universities.
Client Satisfaction (students)	The percent of students satisfied with Technology Services.
Client Satisfaction (faculty)	The percent of faculty satisfied with Technology Services.
Client Satisfaction (Staff)	The percent of staff satisfied with Technology Services.
Calls resolved on first contact	Percent of support incidents resolved on the first contact with the UTAC
Unplanned Effort	Percent of technology resource time spent on unplanned work in each quarter
ROI and Digital Foundation Ecosystem	Number of technology projects that yield a positive return on investment.
Strategic Alignment Index	The measure of the contribution of technology projects to the achievement of the FDUs institutional goals, determined in collaboration with the client.

10. Conclusion

11. Acknowledgements

This work has incorporated independent research, interviews with students, faculty, and staff, technology vendors and industry analysts. Many ideas, thoughts, and strategies were developed from peer institutions, EDUCAUSE, Gartner, InfoTech, and others.

This plan represents a refined and collective process to forecast educational and technological trends that will change the face of higher education.

12. Appendix           

12.1 Scope of IT at FDU – An Overview

Fairleigh Dickinson University IT provides the following services:

• Administrative systems which enables the fish and administrative functions by providing systems that support the achievement of institutional goals services include access to management of student business and public safety systems as well as facilitating integration between the systems.
• Client support which provides clients with a digital workspace that enables effective performance. Services include desktop and software management, printers, Storage Solutions, research computing, and much more.
• Communication Services that promotes information sharing some communication and collaboration, enabling the FDU community to work together effectively. Services include online collaboration, video conferencing, messaging, email, event services, and digital signage.
• Teaching and Learning supports achievement of student success by fostering the 21^st century teaching and learning environment. Services include academic support resources such as Blackboard, technology in classrooms and smart computing labs, lecture capture, and more.
• Analytics and reporting enables decision makers by providing a full range of reporting and business intelligence tools. Services include data analysis and mining, predictive analytics and then, creation of interactive dashboards, data visualization, and ad hoc reports.
• Mobile and Web Services empowers the FDU community to engage their clients using dynamic, secure recognizable web and mobile solutions. Services include custom application development, business process Automation Solutions, web site hosting and management, web content management, user experience, and mobile app development.
• Consulting Services assists clients in the optimizing use the technology to solve challenging institutional needs. Services include research consulting, visualization, three D modeling, project management, process improvement, new technology solution valuations, and more.
• Cyber Security Services reduces the risk of cyber security threats by protecting FDU’s technology assets. Services include secure computing such as data protection and encryption, and vulnerability scans.

12.2 University IT Strategic Plan Teams

12.3 University IT Strategic Plan Documents

12.4 Technology Budget

Operating:

For FY19, the total operating budget was $5.7M. Of that, almost $1.7M represented software licensing; another $800,000 represents contracted Help Desk and contracted tier 1.5 technical support; $870K represents equipment leases (laptops, desktops & Servers); $696K represents equipment service contracts; 500K represents Internet and Inter-campus data lines; and $195K represents telephone services. In total, the contractual commitment of the OIRT budget was about 4.761M or 83%, leaving about $940K available for office operations, data and lab center operations, non-contracted repairs and maintenance; and the ability to meet new demands for services as they come up. While this budget might appear significant, when you consider the size and scope of the University combined with the continuing and growing demands from faculty and students, coupled with the needs and desires to use technology as an instrument of recruitment and retention, these dollars are small by any measurement.

Compensation:

The OIRT compensation budget for FY19 was $5.1M which includes a $296K (6%) vacancy factor. For years leading up to Y2K, our ability to hire and retain employees was extremely challenging and our vacancy was therefore high. As a result, the vacancy factor was created to help balance the budget based on the reality of spending and the difficulty in fully funding the budget. While Y2K may have been over nineteen years ago, that vacancy factor still haunts us and causes an operational challenge to balancing the budget each year.

Another piece noteworthy of mentioning is that of the total compensation budget, $155,000 (3%) is allocated to student assistants. These student assistants operate (or staff) the computer labs which are open more than seventy hours per week. At the Metropolitan campus, this includes two separate locations (Dickinson Hall and University Hall). At the Florham campus, it includes lab assistants in Dreyfuss, ZEN and the Library.

The Technology Fee:

Created, approved and communicated as a dedicated fee in 1999, this fee was established to help meet the growing demands of technology. It was further agreed that this fee would increase as necessary with the additional funds going directly back to OIRT in support of its mission.

Based on a twelve month look back on actuals, the total revenue generated by the Technology fee is approximately $5.9M. This represents 54% of the OIRT combined Operating and compensation budgets.

IT Capital Refurbishment Plan and Budget:

During the latter half of 2017, we developed a five-year (2017-2022) CAPEX IT plan to provide financial vision and guidance in making CAPEX investments that keep our physical assets up to date and thus allowing us to remain competitive and maintain service levels at the University. The primary drivers of the CAPEX plan are to help cut costs and boost efficiency; replace or upgrade old assets; meet new requirements or take advantage of opportunities; and help the University gain and maintain competitive advantage. A capital budget in the amount of $1M per year has been set aside and is under the control of the Senior VP for Finance and Administration.

IT Capital Enhancement Plan and Budget:

What is not included in any of the budgets above is capital funding for new innovative initiatives. The budget above maintains and enhances the status quo. Working with the Deans and members of the IT Executive Governance Committee, we will develop a baseline set of new priorities coupled with the associated costs. While no funding sources will be initially identified, this plan, coupled with the priorities and costs, will act as a framework for planning to that end.

12.5 Imperatives, Objectives and Tactics

12.5.1 ERP Evaluation

ERP projects impact the entire organization – they are not limited to just financial and operating metrics. The disruption is felt during both implementation and in the production environment. Missteps due to a lack of strategy can cost time as well as financial resources. Over half of ERP projects fail to achieve their planned business objectives.

An ERP strategy is an ongoing communication tool for the business. Accountability for ERP success is shared between IT and other institutional business units. An actionable roadmap provides a clear path to benefits realization. Align the ERP strategy and roadmap with business priorities; securing buy-in from the business for the program.

Identification of gaps, needs, and opportunities in relation to business processes; ensuring the most critical areas are addressed.

Assess alternatives for the critical path(s) most relevant to our organization’s direction.

Develop a roadmap that promotes structure and accountability by categorizing and prioritizing work initiatives, and by identifying resources, timelines, and investment.

12.5.1.1 Analysis of Current Portfolio

Activities		Outputs
1.1	Conduct an inventory collection of key ERP applications.	ERP application inventory
1.2	Conduct an inventory of key processes related to the ERP applications.	ERP processes compiled
1.3	Develop a high-level current state map of applications.	Current state of application portfolio

12.5.1.2 ERP Needs and Solution Alternatives

Activities		Outputs
2.1	Determine remediation alternatives for current applications and validate with IT.	Future application needs
2.2	Review future solution alternatives for ERP – maintain, augment, optimize, transform, hybrid vs. cloud, etc.	Alternative solutions

12.5.1.3 ERP Gap Analysis and Strategic Initiatives

Activities		Outputs
3.1	Using gap analysis, identify application initiatives and categorize by objective.	Gap analysis
3.2	Define and prioritize application portfolio business value metrics.	ERP portfolio objectives

12.5.1.4 ERP Roadmap

Should FDU make the decision to migrate/adopt to another ERP platform

Activities		Outputs
4.1	Prioritize application initiatives.
4.2	Develop 3-5-year ERP roadmap.	Detailed 3-5-year ERP roadmap
4.3	Develop main executive communication messages	Executive communication messages

12.6 Supporting Documentation

12.6.1 eSports

The idea of colleges fielding teams for video games, an oddity just several years ago, now supports an athletic conference and is seeing major growth. What was perhaps a wild pipe dream decades ago has come true: colleges are paying students scholarships to play video games.

The concept of collegiate eSports has blossomed and become much more organized in recent years. Some smaller private institutions view gaming as a way to attract prospective students amid enrollment downturns, and even a number of Division I colleges and universities have entered this digital arena. Video games support an athletic conference and is seeing major growth and colleges are paying students scholarships to play video games.

The system works like this: Institutions form teams that train and compete with other institutions in some of the nation’s most popular strategy and battle video games. Those players often maintain stringent practice schedules that occupy a massive chunk of time, not unlike a typical athlete’s regimen.

Coupled with game design and development program, exclusively for students who want to design a new generation of video games and virtual reality on multiple platforms, it allows students to pursue their dreams and ambitions within the lucrative entertainment and software industry.

Game based learning, such as the initiative at Texas A&M, Design Teams brainstorms each game’s concept, mechanics, and background, incorporating learning objectives and prototyping concepts to test their validity. The Concept Team develops the look and feel, creating a style that effectively conveys the topics while engaging players. The 3D Team, specialized in procedural generation using technical modeling software executes the game’s visual target on a more massive scale. The Engineering Team brings all of the work to life, programming and integrating both the mechanics and art assets and performing quality assurance testing. Finally, the Management Team oversees and tracks the progress of all teams and operations, ensuring the quality and integrity of each project.

Employees/students are paid above minimum wage, receive royalties for any commercialized products they have worked on, and—most important—gain exceptional game development experience and exposure before graduating college.

With skilled and complete production teams, the help of subject matter experts, and a passion for game development, such programs have managed to create balanced interactive experiences that are both entertaining and educational.

12.6.2 Virtual Labs

Earlier this year, the Stanford Human Computer Interaction Lab released a free virtual reality simulation, The Stanford Ocean Acidification Experience, which transports students to a simulated ocean of the future. The goal of the simulation is to educate, spread awareness and inspire action on the issue of ocean acidification. Director Jeremy Bailenson and his team developed the experience in collaboration with Stanford marine biologists Fiorenza Micheli, Kristy Kroeker and Roy Pea, a professor at Stanford Graduate School of Education.

Designed as a field trip to a location that few scientists will ever visit in person, students use the HTC Vive headset to observe the effect of carbon dioxide on marine life and collect samples from the ocean floor. The simulation is one of many virtual experiences developed by the Lab in its mission to use VR in research and to “improve everyday life, such as conservation, empathy, and communications systems.”

Stanford Virtual Human Interaction Lab Ocean Acidification Experience

At the University of Michigan–Ann Arbor, a variety of STEM projects are supported through MIDEN (Michigan Immersive Digital Experience Nexus), formerly known as the CAVE. The CAVE concept was originally developed through the groundbreaking work at the University of Illinois at Chicago. CAVE environments create an immersive experience by projecting stereo images on the inner surfaces of a room-sized cube. Users wear special glasses that, along with an optical motion-tracking system, help render digital objects in response to the viewer’s position. Since the system is “see-through” users can see their own hands and actual physical objects can be brought into the space.

The College of Engineering uses MIDEN to experiment with 3-D building models to better understand the structural stability of engineering projects. Students and faculty in other programs use it for architectural walkthroughs, virtual reconstruction of archeological sites, human ergonomic studies and training scenarios for dangerous situations.

Among a variety of projects at Texas A&M, students and faculty in the Immersive Mechanics Visualization Lab are bringing computational and experimental data into AR and VR environments. In virtual reality, 3D CAD models can be manipulated and refined within virtual worlds, turning industrial design into a highly intuitive and collaborative process.

In addition to their work in the lab, Professor Darren Hartl and undergraduate student Michayal Mathew connected with high school students to help them prepare for an international STEM competition, by inserting their 3D CAD designs into a virtual world, which allowed aerodynamic experts to provide feedback on their car models using Tilt Brush.

As Matthew pointed out, “To be honest, seeing things in 2-D on a whiteboard just doesn’t cut it, because almost all our important concepts are three-dimensional.” For Professor Hartl, these projects serve as an opportunity to assess whether his graduate students can improve their intuition about their results by interacting with data in virtual environments.

Immersive Software Platforms

If you can turn your data into a VR world, how about stepping into a VR science lab? This is what Labster and other software platforms are doing to bring immersive technology into the STEM classroom. Labster has developed a suite of advanced lab simulations that encourage open-ended investigation. With a gamified experience, students can play the role of a CSI-type forensics analyst who solves a crime. More importantly, the simulations provide access to high-cost NGS machines and electron microscopes that many institutions are unable to afford. While today Labster is a platform for learning, tomorrow’s science research will likely happen over distributed virtual environments.

Students as Creators

While research centers will continue to build advanced immersive labs, the developments in standalone VR headsets and software platforms like Unity and Unreal engine are driving a democratization of immersive experiences. New VR native applications like Tilt Brush will enable our students to become creators in virtual worlds. They will not only have the opportunity to observe unseen phenomena but to prototype solutions to complex problems.

NYU’s Tandon School of Engineering made a splash with its Tandon Labs experience at the 2017 SXSW Gaming Expo. Incoming students at Tandon for a second year were sent a 3D cardboard viewer in their acceptance packages. It took them into a game-like environment that “. . . enables users to explore and engage with a microscopic, intracellular world.”

The game built on the research by Alesha Castillo, an assistant professor in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, the project was done in collaboration with NYU’s Mobile Augmented Reality Lab, and a graduate student from the Integrated Digital Media program. Using a female undergraduate to narrate the experience, it also helps support Tandon’s commitment to diversity. Projects like this inspire and encourage collaboration across disciplines.

Immersive Technologies and the Future of STEM

Scientists are also using immersive technologies to communicate difficult concepts to the broader public. Brian Greene, the director of Columbia’s Center for Theoretical Physics, uses VR to explain string-theory which posits that the universe exists in more than three dimensions. As part of the World Science Festival in New York, Greene taught a featured session on string theory with students from across the world wearing VR headsets. We can expect to see many more immersive global experiences transforming the classroom.

At NASA, scientists and engineers use Microsoft’s HoloLens mixed reality headset to collaborate in building a true-to-scale visualization of the next Martian Rover in an embodied experience, which is something unique to immersive technologies. They also use HoloLens to “teleport” to Mars “walk on” the Martian surface to determine the optimal path of the current Rover. While today this only available to people at JPL, in the future researchers and students from universities and libraries across the world will be able to participate in the explorations of the solar system.

All these projects are a window into the future of STEM education. Immersive technologies along with AI, computer vision and machine learning will transform engineering, enable scientists to visualize data to advance exploration research, and provide new opportunities for collaboration between faculty and students and across disciplines.

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Using MediaSpace from Kaltura

MediaSpace is a campus video distribution platform from Kaltura, similar to YouTube, where you can securely upload and share your videos anytime and anywhere with an internet connection. It supports multiple devices and provides powerful control and governance tools.

There are various ways that content can be locked down. It can be visible to only specific NetIDs, specific course members or to the general public.

1. Log into your Kaltura account:

2. Click on use FDU NetID to Login and enter your credentials

Adding Content to MediaSpace

1. In the upper right corner of the page, select the ‘Add New‘ drop-down list, and choose ‘Media Upload,’ to open the ‘Upload Media‘ page

2. Click the ‘+ Choose a file to upload‘ button to search your computer for the media file that you would like to upload; select the file; and click the ‘Open‘ button to upload the file

3. While the file is uploading, you can add the metadata in the following fields:

Name

• The name of the media being uploaded.
• This is a required field and is by default the filename of the media being uploaded.

Description

• This is displayed below the media or on the player info pane.
• This is a required field for publishing and/or adding the media to a playlist.

Tags

• These are used to help describe your media and are used as keywords when searching for media.
• Multiple tags can be separated by commas or new lines.

4. When you have finished editing details, click the ‘Save‘ button
5. Once the media has uploaded and you have given it at least a title and description, you will need to select one of three file sharing permission settings. This setting can be changed later, so pick the setting that best applies at the moment:
   • Private: Only you will be able to access the file.
   • Unlisted: Only those with a link to the file that you provide will be able to access it. Select this option if you want to share your video using a direct link to the video that you might share via email.
   • Published: Assign the file to a MediaSpace channel. It will be visible individuals that have viewing rights to that channel.

You may continue uploading more files by clicking the ‘+ Choose another file‘ button and repeating the steps above.

NOTE: At this point you may not be able to view your media and you may see the message: “Media is being processed” This is completely normal. Your media will continue to process even if you navigate away from MediaSpace.

How To Access My Media

Click on your name in the upper right side of your screen and select My Media from the dropdown list. When your list comes up, choose which one you want to access

How To Share a Media

1. While in the “My Media” section, select the video that you want to share and click on the “Actions” button and click Publish

NOTE: Make sure your video is set to Unlisted. Any other choice will have some access restrictions associated with it.

2. Click on the “Save” button
3. Click on your video to get to the video details and click the share option under the video. You can copy the link and send that to anyone you would like to share it with

How to Edit Closed Captioning

1. Open the video that you want to edit the captions
2. Click on Actions and select + Captions & Enrich. This will take you the captions request table

NOTE: You can only edit captions that have been completed.

3. Click on the pencil edit icon to open the editor. The captions editor is open automatically alongside the captions that have been selected in the captions requests table

• If you have multiple caption files, you can click on the “Captions” drop down menu and select which file you want to use
• To edit caption text, click on the section you want to change and edit accordingly
• If you are not sure where the text is that you want to change, you can enter that in the “Search Captions” box. That term will be highlighted in each caption line. You can also replace the terms that you search for with a new one by entering the new term in the “Replace with” box and clicking “Replace”.

4. When you have completed all of your editing, click on the “Save” button

This document outlines how the help desk should handle issues regarding supporting personal hardware.

All support tickets for personal hardware will need to be created and supported by the help desk. Limited support will be provided by completing basic troubleshooting and diagnostics.

This includes:

• Laptops and Desktops
• iMacs and MacBooks
• Docking Stations, Monitors, and Peripherals
• Mobile phones and Tablets

The following basic troubleshooting steps can and should be performed when any of the above hardware is having issues:

• The device should be power cycled and/or rebooted to ensure all device resources have been refreshed.
• If the machine or device is frozen locate and hold the power button for a minimum of 60 seconds until the device has powered down and then have the user power on the device and attempt to use the equipment.
• The help desk can check and confirm if any updates have recently been loaded on the workstation that may be pending a machine reboot to complete the installation.

The following should not be performed on any personal machines:

Regarding the troubleshooting of issues related to personal docking stations, monitors, peripherals, mobile phones and tablets. The basic functions of unplugging the power cable and/or power cycling the equipment will be the acceptable troubleshooting necessary.

We do not want to perform any updates for devices operating systems such as mobile phones or tablets. The steps involved in completing these kinds of updates require a more extensive timeframe to be available to successfully be completed.

If you have any questions or require additional information, please contact the FDU Director of Computing Services Peter Mannarino via email p.mannarino@fdu.edu

---

Vendor Support Contact Links

Apple

Dell

HP

Microsoft

1. Go to selfservice.fdu.edu and click on “Proxy Login”

2. Type in your username and click “Continue”

3. Type in your password and click “Sign In”

4. After successfully logging in, you will automatically receive an email containing a multi-factor authentication code. Copy and paste the code into the sign in page and click “Submit”

5. Once you have successfully signed into Self-Service, you may see a page that says, “You do not have access to any menus on this page.” This means you need to switch the profile you are viewing to the student’s profile

6. You can switch profiles by clicking on the “Sign Out” button at the top of the page and selecting “Change Proxy User”

7. Select the student’s profile in the pop-up window and click “Continue”

8. Once viewing the student’s profile, you will have access to the menus they granted you permission to. You can navigate by using the menus on the left-hand side of the page or the tiles on the homepage

If you have any questions or need assistance, email us at selfserviceadmin@fdu.edu.

What is Clutter?

Microsoft has implemented a new feature to its mail client called Clutter. Clutter acts as a filter that separates e-mails that it Deems low priority. The e-mails are placed in a folder and are out of sight, with no notifications visible to the user. The problem with Clutter is that it is a learning program that tries to guess what emails are important or low priority and might filter out emails that you need.

If you wish to disable clutter, log in to Office 365 using our portal office365.fdu.edu with your NetID credentials.

1. Look for the settings icon on the upper right corner of your window and click on it
2. Click on the “Mail” option under “Your app settings”

3. Drill down to “Mail > Automatic processing > Clutter”
4. Uncheck “Separate items identified as clutter”

A Distribution group (formerly known as mailing list) in Office 365 is a uniquely named email address that consists of multiple users and is managed by a designated owner. Distribution groups are intended to easily facilitate ongoing communications between a large and relatively fixed group of people.

There are a few important concepts to understand about distribution groups before we get started with group management:

• Emails sent to a distribution group are distributed to all members of that distribution group.

• OOnly users granted permission by the Distribution Group Owner can send emails to a particular distribution group. Permission to post (send emails) to a group is managed by USAN, and Group Owners should open a ticket with the SAMI Service Desk to change members that can post to the group.
  
• A distribution group can be configured in such a way that emails sent to it can be held for approval and specific users can be made approvers (also known as moderators).
  
• A distribution group has a unique email address attached to it. Users granted permission to send email to this email address can do so from any email client such as Outlook on the Web or Outlook installed in your computer, laptop, tablet or phone, Mozilla Thunderbird, Mac Mail and more.
  
• You can request a distribution group by submitting the Distribution List/Shared Mailbox Request form located at FDU Forms Portal.
  
• As a Distribution Group owner, you can change the group’s settings via the group’s management page on your Office 365 account (Outlook on the web).

• As a Distribution Group owner, you can add or remove members (recipients) from your group via your group’s management page. This can be accomplished via Outlook on the web or by using the Outlook application installed on your machine.

1. Open “Outlook” on your computer

2. Open “Address Book”

You can open Address Book in two different ways:

• One way is to click the “Address Book” icon located at the top when “Home” tab is selected:

• The second way is by composing/creating a new email and clicking the “To” button:

3. Select “All Distribution Lists” from the drop-down menu located under Address Book:

4. Select “More Columns” and enter the name or email address of your distribution group in the search field as shown in the first screen capture below. If you see your distribution group on the list, highlight it and double click it. If you do not find your list using “More Columns”, then it might be easier to find by using the “Name only”

5. Click on “Modify Members…”

6. If you want to remove a member, then select the member from the members list, click “Remove” button and then click “OK”

7. If you want to add a member, click “Add” button

8. Select “More columns” and enter the new member’s name in the search field

9. You should see the user in the list. Select “Name only” to search again if you are unable to locate the user. Once you have found the user, highlight the record and click “OK”

10. Verify that the new member is in the member’s list and click “OK”

11. Click “Apply” and then click “OK”

1. Go to “fdu.edu” in the browser of your choice
   
2. Go to “Shortcuts” menu
   
3. Click “Office 365 and Email“
   
4. Sign-in with your NetID and password
   
5. Go to online Outlook app by clicking on the “Outlook” icon

6. Go to Settings by clicking on the “Settings” icon

7. Click on “View all Outlook settings”

8. Click “General”

9. Click on “this portal“

10. Click on “Distribution groups”

Here you see the list of distribution groups that you belong to and the list of distribution groups that you own.

How to open the Configuration page for a particular Distribution Group that you own in Outlook on the Web

1. Select the distribution group that you would like to make changes to and then click “Edit” (Pencil Icon)

2. You should see the distribution group configuration page

How to see the list of recipients (members) for this Distribution Group in Outlook on the Web

1. Click on “membership”

How to add recipients (members) to this Distribution Group in Outlook on the Web

1. Click on “+” icon (Plus Icon)

2. Click “All Users”

3. Please enter the name or NetID of the user that you would like to add to this distribution group in the search text box

4. Click “+” button beside the user that you would like to add from the search results (you can search and select more users if you would like)

5. Click “Save” when you are done

Remove recipients (members) from this Distribution Group in Outlook on the Web

1. Go to the membership list as shown in Step: 3 How to see the list of recipients (members) for this distribution group

2. Click on the recipient (member) that you would like to remove

3. To select a range of adjacent recipients on the list, click the first recipient from that part. Now, press the “Shift” key and click last recipient in this part

4. Click “–” button at the top located below the “Members” title

5. Click “Save” when you are done

1. Follow Step 1 & 2 in “Adding and Removing Distribution Group Users in Outlook on the Web”

2. Click “Message Approval”

3. Check (select) “Messages sent to this group have to be approved by a moderator”.

4. Click “+” button under “Group Moderators”

5. Click “All Users“

6. Please enter the name or NetID of the user that you’d like to add to this distribution group in the search text box

7. Click “+” button beside the user that you’d like to add from the search results (you can search and select more users if you’d like)

8. Click “Save” when you’re done. You’ll be taken to “Message Approval” screen

9. You can add users’ emails from who do NOT require any approval by clicking “+” under “Senders who don’t require message approval” and following the same process as above

10. You can choose who should be notified when an email sent to this distribution group has been held for approval -or- you can choose to disable these notifications as shown:

11. Click “Save” again on “Message Approval” screen

Unused Teams and Groups can accumulate and become a burden to resources over time. To prevent this from happening, Fairleigh Dickinson University has implemented an expiration policy for Teams and Groups. This article will explain the expiration policy and provide you with information regarding renewal.

What is the FDU expiration policy for Teams and Groups

1. Any Team or Group inactive for 365 days or more will expire
2. Team and Group owners will be notified 30 days, 15 days, and 1 day before the team’s expiration date. If the Team or Group is not renewed before expiration, it will be deleted.

3. The expiration period of 365 days begins at the creation of the Team or Group, or the date it was last renewed

How to renew a Team or Group

There are two methods to prevent the Microsoft 365 group from being deleted.

1. The group owner can manually renew the group by clicking the button in the warning message

2. A member of the group can perform a monitored user activity:
   • SharePoint: view, edit, download, move, share, or upload files (viewing a SharePoint page does not count as an action for automatic renewal)
   • Outlook: join or edit group, read or write group messages from the group, and like a message (Outlook on the web)
   • Teams: visit a teams channel
   • Yammer: view a post within a Yammer community or an interactive email in Outlook
   • Forms: view, create, or edit forms, or submit a response to a form
3. When the team owner receives the expiration notification, go to the Team’s group “Manage team” option and click on Renew now as shown below

Whenever the Microsoft 365 group is renewed by any of the methods mentioned, the group’s lifetime will be extended for another period of 365 days.

What are Microsoft 365 Groups

Microsoft 365 groups are created from a variety of tools including Outlook, SharePoint, Planner, and Teams. Microsoft 365 groups allow you to choose a set of people to collaborate with. You can use Microsoft 365 groups to communicate with others, share files, and apply permissions to shared resources.

Who are Group Owners

When a Microsoft 365 group is created, the person creating the group is designated as the owner. After adding members to the group, the primary owner can also promote other members to owner status. We suggest that when practical, Microsoft 365 groups have at least 2 owners. This can be important as only the group owner will receive the warning messages. In some cases, the group owner may have removed themselves from the group or left the university entirely. If you find yourself a member of a Microsoft 365 group without an owner, please contact support by creating a SAMI Support Request.

Groups without Owners

Ownerless or orphaned Groups may be deleted by USAN. USAN will notify Group members prior to deletion, but if they receive no response, the Group will be deleted. If USAN deletes a Group, all the records associated with the Group’s shared space will be deleted as well

Automatic Renewal

Groups that are actively in use are renewed automatically setting the days to zero. Any of the following actions will auto-renew a group:

• SharePoint – view, edit, download, move, share, or upload files. (Viewing a SharePoint page does not count as an action for automatic renewal.)
• Outlook – join the group, read or write group messages from the group, and like a message (Outlook on the web).
• Teams – visiting the Teams channel.

Recover Deleted Teams or Groups

When the 365 days limit hits, the Microsoft 365 group will expire and be put into a “Soft-deleted” state. Which means it can still be recovered for up to 30 days. To have the Microsoft 365 group recovered please contact support by creating a SAMI Support Request and include the Microsoft 365 group or Team name to be recovered.

Where to Get Help

For assistance with Microsoft 365 groups, please contact support by creating a SAMI Support Request. We can answer questions about the expiration policy, renewing groups, and updating group owners.

Spam Quarantined Email

Microsoft 365 email has filters to protect users from spam and malicious emails like phishing scams.

Messages caught by the filters are placed in quarantine for Fairleigh Dickinson University and its users’ protection. Users will receive a Spam Notification message once a day, notifying them of any messages placed in quarantine. Any legitimate mail caught by mistake can be released directly from this message or from the quarantine portal.

Handling Quarantined Email

Legitimate messages placed in quarantine may be released into your inbox in one of two ways:

1. From the daily spam notification email message

If you receive mail that has been placed in quarantine, you’ll receive an email message from quarantine@messaging.microsoft.com. The message will look like the one below:

The following options will be available to you by clicking the respective links in the email notification or you can choose to do nothing.

• Review Message – go to the Microsoft 365 Security & Compliance Center to review it
• Release – the message is removed from quarantine and placed in your inbox
• Block Sender – add the sender to the Blocked Senders list in your mailbox

2. From the Microsoft 365 Security & Compliance Center

Quarantined email can also be handled in the Microsoft 365 Security & Compliance Center.

1. Go to Microsoft 365 Security & Compliance Center >
   
   • A list of your emails in quarantine will be displayed
     
2. Click on any message to select it, then choose from the options given:
   
   • Release message
   • Preview message
   • View message header
   • Block Sender

For more details, use this link:

Section – Upgrading

Part : Should You Upgrade?

The New Outlook is compatible fully with all Office365 functions but because there are some features missing that presently exist in the classic Outlook, FDU IT highly recommends NOT switching to the new Outlook currently, especially since not all features are present and Microsoft is still developing the new Outlook.

Some of the features not available in the New Outlook are:

1. Existing Offline Outlook files called PST files stored locally on your computer
2. Virtru Email Encryption Client: While the Add-on is not supported, you can still send and receive encrypted email using the “#secure# tag in the subject line of the email
3. Adobe Acrobat and/or Foxit PDF Professional Outlook using the COM-Add-ins platform
4. Zoom Outlook Plugin or any other Meeting platform using the COM-Add-ins platform
5. Any other third-party COM-Add-in
6. Custom Macros or Custom Visual Basic functions manually added
7. Many Rule templates and options are not available

Part : Steps for Upgrading

1. Turn on the toggle “Try the new Outlook” which will begin downloading the New Outlook

2. From the Success window, select “Switch”. This will close the current version of Outlook and New Outlook will sign you in automatically. Select “Next” to accept the privacy settings
   
3. Select an option about sending optional data, and then select “Accept”. Review the privacy information about connected experiences, and then select “Continue”
   
4. Select “Import Settings” to bring over your settings from classic Outlook. New Outlook will begin adding your accounts

5. The new Outlook for Windows will open once the setup is complete, and you can start reading and sending emails immediately.

New Look

This is the new Outlook mail icon. It might also include the word NEW.

When you open new Outlook, you’ll see the following tabs on the ribbon: Home, View, and Help. This version includes Settings which is available in the navigation header. Settings is where you can customize your Outlook experience.

Section – New Features

Part : Personalization Options and Settings

If you switched from the classic Outlook for Windows, you’ll have the option to migrate some of your settings, which you can learn more about on following the link below:

Microsoft Learn

However, it’s still good to familiarize yourself with the latest options.

You’ll find Settings in the gear icon in the upper right corner. You can also make quick updates to certain settings by clicking on the View tab.

Changes you make to settings in the New Outlook for Windows will also be reflected in Outlook on the web.

Part : New Ribbon

Become Familiar with The New Ribbon

The top bar of the app should be familiar if you’ve used any apps like Word or Excel before, including the classic Outlook for Windows.

Known as the ribbon, it is the place to find the commands you need to manage your inbox or format emails. You can make the ribbon larger (the classic experience) or smaller (the simplified experience) using the dropdown arrow on the right side of the bar. If you want to personalize the commands you see in the simplified ribbon, select Customize.

Part : Navigation Bar and My Day

On the left side you’ll see the navigation bar, which makes it simple to switch to Calendar, Contacts, or any other app you frequently use. For quick access to your calendar or tasks without leaving the inbox, you can use My Day by selecting the icon in the upper right.

Part : New Email Features

Pin Emails

Do you ever have trouble tracking down that key email thread you’re actively responding to? Or is there an email with key information you frequently refer to? Now, simply right-click any message and choose. Pin and that email will appear at the top of your inbox, saving you time from having to go back and search for it.

Snooze an Email

Sometimes email is very important, but not yet. With the Snooze feature, you can schedule a time for the email to be re-delivered to your inbox, appearing at the time you want it to, so you can handle it when it’s the right time for you. Just right-click any message and choose Snooze, or select Snooze from the ribbon. Then choose the time you want it to be delivered.

Scheduling Poll (Formerly Find Time)

Schedule an Email

In today’s hybrid work world, your day might be someone else’s night, so you don’t want to send an email to someone in the middle of the night. With the new Outlook, it’s simple to send an email when you want to. Just select the dropdown arrow next to Send and choose Schedule send.

Part : Categories

You might be familiar with categories, but they’ve been significantly upgraded. See the category names and colors directly on your messages in your inbox. Want to see everything you’ve tagged with that category? Just click it right on your message. You can even add a category to your Favorites.

Part : Add-ins

Install an Add-in from The Office Store

1. In Outlook, go to the navigation bar and select “More Apps > Add apps”

For guidance on how to locate the Apps button to access add-ins while reading or composing a mail item, see Use an add-in in Outlook following the link below:

Using an Add-in in Outlook

2. In the “Apps” page, search for the add-in you want from the available list. Alternatively, if you’re after a specific add-in, enter its name in the search box. When you find the add-in you want to install, select it to learn more about the add-in and review its privacy policy
   
3. When you’re ready to install the add-in, select “Add”

Add-ins Installed by your IT Admin

If you’re part of an organization and a new add-in is installed for you by your IT admin, the add-in will be available on the read or compose surface where it’s designed to work. For guidance on how to access an add-in, follow the link below:

Use an add-in in Outlook

Using an Add-in

The location of where an Add-in is installed depends on whether you’re reading or composing a mail item.

For guidance on how to use Add-ins in classic Outlook, visit the link below:

Use an add-in in Outlook

Using an Add-in While Reading a Message

1. Select a message in the Reading Pane or open a message in a separate window
   
2. From the action bar of the message, select “Apps”
   
3. Select the “Add-in” you want to use

Use an Add-in While Composing a Message

1. Create a new message or reply to an existing one
   
2. From the ribbon, select the “Message” tab, then choose the Add-in you want to use. If the Add-in doesn’t appear in the ribbon, select “Apps” to view your installed add-ins

Use an Add-in While Viewing or Scheduling a Meeting or Appointment

1. Open an existing appointment or create a new one

2. From the ribbon, select the “Add-in” you want to use

Delete an Add-in

1. Go to the navigation bar and select “More Apps” then “Add Apps”
   
2. On the “Apps” page select “Manage your Apps”
   
3. Under “Manage your Apps” find the app you want to delete and select “More options” then “Remove”

Part : Groups

As of November 2023, the Microsoft 365 Groups experience in Outlook is generally available for Outlook on the web and new Outlook for Windows. Access new Groups by selecting Groups on the navigation bar.

New Outlook Groups

Groups in Microsoft 365 let you choose a set of people that you wish to collaborate with and easily set up a collection of resources for those people to share. Resources such as a shared Outlook inbox, shared calendar or a document library for collaborating on files.

Outlook now has a new home for Microsoft 365 Groups - one place to connect, communicate, and collaborate with your team. Groups Home provides a central destination to get critical information from all the different groups you may be part of.

Benefits of the new Groups experience include:

• Group Home landing page – Stay updated on your groups, including recent files across all your groups. From Home, you can access frequently used groups and find new ones based on your interests.
  
• Recent groups and Recent files – Find recent active groups and quick links to get to files, emails, events, and member management from the Groups Home landing page.
  
• Revamped individual Groups experience – Create, consume, and share information related to a particular group, as well as manage events and members efficiently in fewer clicks.

Accessing New Groups

In the New Outlook, from the navigation bar select “Groups”. This takes you to Groups Home.

In the Classic Outlook, from the navigation bar select “More apps” then “Groups”.

From Groups Home you can see all your groups at once. Or, when you select an individual group, you can:

• Send an email to the group, access and edit your group settings and preferences, and manage group membership as needed.
  
• Access the group email, files, events, and members by selecting the respective tab.
  
• Access connected apps like Teams, SharePoint, OneNote, and Planner.

Talk

Conversations in Microsoft 365 Groups in Outlook happen in the shared inbox for the group. Users can read and reply to messages, and members can easily search or scroll back through the message history to get caught up on what’s been discussed before. The shared inbox looks a lot like the personal inbox that Outlook users are familiar with. Each conversation appears separately in the message list at the left and clicking on one will open it in the reading pane. If a user marks a message, or conversation, as read it doesn’t affect how the messages appear for other members of the group so you don’t have to worry that other members may miss an important message.

The shared inbox for your Office 365 group is where conversations occur.

Now that you’ve got your group created, let’s start a new conversation. You can post a new message by opening the shared inbox for the group and clicking New Conversation on the Ribbon. Or you can simply send an email to the group’s alias. All members of the group will be able to read the new message you’ve posted and any members who follow the group will get a copy of your message in their personal inbox.

Share Files

Each Microsoft 365 Group gets a shared files library where you can store, share, and collaborate on documents, workbooks, presentations, or just about any kind of file.

Access the files library by going to your group in Outlook (on the left navigation pane) and click Files on the Ribbon. The files library will open in a browser and from here you can create new files, upload files from your computer and do just about anything else a SharePoint document library can do. Think about what kind of files would be useful to share with your group, and don’t feel limited to Microsoft Office files. You can also share PDFs, photos or just about any other kind of file that your group would find useful.

To download or delete a file just select it and those options will appear on the toolbar at the top.

Collaborate

Each Microsoft 365 Group gets its own shared OneNote notebook where they can gather ideas, collaborate and store research.

Go to your group in Outlook by finding it on the left navigation pane, or in Outlook on the web by going to the People tile. Once you’re there click Notebook on the Ribbon to open the group’s shared notebook.

The first time you open the group’s shared notebook it will open in the browser in OneNote for the web. You can make edits there, or if you have OneNote 2016 and you’d prefer to use that just click Edit in OneNote from the Ribbon. Once you’ve opened it in OneNote the notebook will sync to your list of open notebooks and you can access it directly from within OneNote without having to go to the group first.

Try going to your group’s OneNote notebook and think about what might be useful for the group to collect ideas and collaborate on. For example you might have a section that you use to gather and comment on web content that is relevant to your team.

Plan Events

Chances are good that your group has events, meetings, milestones or other items that would benefit from a shared calendar. Each Microsoft 365 Group has a shared calendar that all members can see and contribute to.

Working with the calendar of your group is no different than working with your personal calendar. If you select the calendar button on the navigation pane, you’ll see your personal calendar, plus the shared calendars of any groups you’re a member of. You can check the boxes next to each calendar you want to see and view them side by side or overlapped.

Adding an item to the shared calendar works just as it does on your personal calendar. Any meeting you add to the shared calendar will invite the other members of the group to that event as well, so they can have it on their own calendars. Appointments added to the shared Group calendar do not appear on the personal calendars of other members.

Now that you’ve got your shared calendar try adding any upcoming meetings or events that your group might be participating in.

Section – New Teams

Part : What’s New

A New Teams client is rolling out! Though it looks nearly identical to classic Teams, it has been redesigned from the ground up to take advantage of future developments. Microsoft has discontinued the use of classic teams in July of 2024.

For a comprehensive list of all the new features of Microsoft Teams, click the link below:

What's New in Microsoft Teams

How To Upgrade

Looking for the new Teams experience? The upgrade process itself is quick and silent, where Microsoft 365 will install the new Teams client in the background.

• For all university owned computers, the new Teams app has been silently rolling out in the background and may be presented with as the following options to switch over

• You may be presented with an option to Upgrade your device with the New Teams experience

• A “Try the new Teams” toggle switch will present itself if the new Teams app upgrade has completed but continue to use the classic Teams experience.

During the transition phase, which will end in June of 2024, you might see two icons. The old Teams is labelled Microsoft Teams classic (work or school), and the new Teams will be labeled Microsoft Teams (work or school). The new Teams will also have a cyan “New” label on the icon as well.

Microsoft Teams Changes

Device Settings

When you’re upgraded to the new Teams, your display settings will reset. Here’s how to change the most commonly accessed display settings.

1. Click on the “Ellipses” in upper right-hand corner, and then “Settings”

2. The default theme for new Teams is Light, which appears grey. Dark will color the window black. Classic will bring back the purple/gray theme from classic Teams

3. Another commonly changed display setting is Layout. You can choose your Teams to display in a Grid view, which is the new Teams default, or a List view, which will show all your Teams in a list on the left, similar to how Outlook displays folders.

There are many other settings in Teams, and we encourage you to review your device settings and video effects (blurred and custom backgrounds) prior to joining your next meeting. Custom backgrounds may need to be re-added.

Part : FAQ

FAQ

Microsoft has moved the Contacts list to the People app. You can find People by clicking the “…” tab in the left navigation bar and typing “People” in the search.

To pin it to your sidebar, right click “People” then select “Pin”

Saved Items are not currently available in new Teams. Microsoft plans to release a new functionality that will replace it and offer you a method for exporting Saved Items from Teams Classic in the near future. For now, Microsoft recommends using Classic Teams to access Saved Items.

We have observed some cases where upgrading to new Teams will reset your file open preference. You can change it by going to “Settings > Files and Links” from the (•••) menu at the upper right.

We have observed that you cannot @ mention or tag some private channels in the new Teams experience. This issue appears most likely to affect older private channels and has been reported to Microsoft.

Groups are now called Categories and how to create and manage categories will be discussed in the Section for Teams Chat.

Contacts have been moved to the People App. How to manage and use People will be discussed in the Teams Chat Section.

Section – Installation

Part : Install and Launch Options

Install and Launch Options

If you are using a mobile device, or your personally owned computer, you can download Microsoft Team using the link below.

The page will automatically detect your operating system and redirect you to the appropriate desktop client (e.g. Windows, macOS) or mobile client (e.g. Android, Apple iOS).

The Microsoft Teams application is automatically pushed to all university owned computers. To determine if you already have it installed, search for “Teams” using the Windows Search Bar or Spotlight Search on Apple devices. If you are working on a university computer and you cannot locate the Microsoft Teams application, you can install by following the instructions below.

Windows – FDU Self Service Portal for Software

1. Press the “Windows key” on your keyboard and type “FDU Self”

1. Launch “FDU Self Service Portal for Software” from the search results list

3. Select the “Microsoft Teams” experience from the list and click “Install”

Web – Access the Office Web Application

The web client is a full, functional client that can be used from a variety of browsers including Google Chrome, Edge Browser, and Mozilla Firefox. Microsoft Teams will also be available on Safari soon. 

1. From an internet browser, click the link below:

Office 365

1. Sign in to your FDU Office 365 account using your NetID and NetID account password
   
2. Click the “App Launcher”, then click “Teams” from the list of apps

Section – Chat

Part : Starting a Conversation

Starting a Conversation

Teams allow’s for text-based conversations using the Chat feature. Although it does not replace email in all use cases, it is a great tool for asking quick questions or just saying hello. When using chat, be mindful and adhere to FDU’s Written Information Security Program.

1. Select “Chat” from the left menu and then click on the top search bar

2. Type the name of the person you are attempting to locate and click on their name. Only FDU faculty, staff, and students are accessible in Microsoft Teams

3. You will be brought to the chat window and can start your conversation

Part : Navigating the Chat Window

Navigating the Chat Window

The Chat window has many convenient tabs and shortcuts aimed at improving collaboration. Near the top of the screen, next to the name of the contact that you are chatting with, you will notice the default tabs, followed by a plus sign.

1. Chat: tab contains the conversation
   
2. Files: tab contains all files shared in during the conversation
   
3. Organization: Two person conversations, the Organization tab shows your contact’s organization chart. This information is pulled from Office 365

4. In two person conversations, the “Activity” tab will list the latest activity of your contact
   
5. You can use the “+ sign” to create a new tab from a file or an app. This can be a quick and convenient way to access a collaborative file that was previously shared in the conversation

To the right of these tabs are a series of shortcut icons which perform the following functions:

Classic Teams – Shortcuts

1. Video call: icon starts a new video call
2. Audio call: icon starts a new voice call
3. Screen sharing: icon allows you to share your desktop or an application
4. Add people: icon is used to invite additional people to the chat
5. Pop out chat: icon creates a separate window with your chat

1. Chat: contains the conversation
   
2. Files: Contains all files shared in during the conversation
   
3. Add a Tab: Add an App to the tab list for all users

To the right of these tabs are a series of shortcut icons which perform the following functions.

Shortcuts – New Team

1. Audio Call icon starts a new voice call
   
2. Add people icon is used to invite additional people to the chat
   
3. Ellipses is used for additional features:
   
   • Open Chat in New Window: Pops chat in separate window
     
   • Schedule Meeting: schedules a meeting with individual
     
   • Screen Sharing: initiates a screen sharing session and calls individual
     
   • Pin: Pins person to pinned section in teams

Part : Managing Contacts

Managing Contacts – Now Called People

The Chat function allows you to have conversations with one person or groups of people. In classic Teams, this is known as Contacts and in the New teams, this is called People.

The pane on the left-hand side of the screen is split into Recent and Contacts. Contacts acts like a rolodex that allows you to store and sort a list of the people you contact most frequently. The Recent list will display your most recent conversations with single people or group messages.

Types of Contacts

There are two types of contacts, directory contacts which come from your organization, and local contacts which you can add from scratch to your copy of Teams.

• Directory contacts have some fields set by your organization, and additional fields which can be edited by you.

• Local contacts are stored within your local copy of Teams, and do not synch with an organization’s directory.

By default, the Contacts tab will already have a “Favorites” group. However, creating new groups can be a helpful way to organize your contacts. For example, you may wish to create a group for people that you are working with on a project or for people that you interact with from a department.

1. To create a new contact group, click “Create a new contact group” on the bottom of the pane

2. Enter a name for your group, and click “Create”

3. To add contacts to a group, click the “More options” icon (•••) next to the group name and select “Add a contact to this group” from the drop-down menu

4. Begin typing the name of your contact. Once you see their name appear, select it and select “Add”

You can add the same contact to as many groups as you would like. The chat with your contact will remain the same regardless of which group you are accessing the conversation from.

Microsoft has moved the Contacts into the People App. By default, the People tab will already have a “Favorites” group and a “My Group” category. However, creating new categoriess can be a helpful way to organize your contacts.

For example, you may wish to create a category for people that you are working with on a project or for people that you interact with from a department.

Add People to Favorites

1. Find the contact you wish to be added to favorite and click the star in front of their name

Add People to Category

1. Next to the contact, click the ellipses button and then click “Add Category”

2. Type in the name of the new Category, search for an existing category, or select from the provided list

Part : Sharing Your Screen

Sharing Your Screen

Screen sharing is one of Microsoft Teams’ most powerful collaborative features. You can show your screen to your colleagues and even grant them control to edit Microsoft Office files with you in real time.

1. From the chat window or from an ongoing call, click on the “Screen Sharing / Share” icon

2. You be given a choice to either share your desktop or an application from the Microsoft Office suite, click on the window you want to share

Once you select the screen you wish to share, the members of your chat or call will be able to view your screen and request access to remotely control your desktop or program.

You can only share your screen with a mobile device user if you are engaged in an active voice or video call with them.

Section – Teams

Part : Requesting a Team

Requesting a Team

Creating a team provides remote team members with the ability to work together and share information via a common online space. You can also organize your information by creating channels to help optimize your team’s workflow.

To create a Microsoft Team, you must request one using an online form on SAMI Support. To request a team, follow these instructions:

1. Navigate to the SAMI Support using the link below, logging in with your FDU NetID account

Request Microsoft Teams

2. Click on the “Forms Tile for Faculty and Staff”

3. Scroll down to “Microsoft Team Request” and click on it to expand the information

4. Fill out all the fields and click on the “Submit” button

4. You should now see a screen informing you that your form was successfully submitted

5. You will receive an email once the team is created. The next time you log in to Teams you will see your team listed in the Teams section

6. Click on your team to open the general channel. From here you can create channels, add users, and customize your team. Any team members that you add will receive an email notifying them that they were added to your team. The next time that they log in or open Teams, they will find the team listed in their Teams section

Part : Creating Channels

Creating Channels

Channels are dedicated sections within a team. You can keep conversations organized by specific topics, projects, disciplines, or whatever works for your team! Channels are where conversations happen and where the work gets done. There can be public channels which are open to all team members or, if you require a more select audience, private channels can be open to a subset of your team.

1. Select Teams from the menu on the left-hand side of the screen. If you have multiple teams, select your team of choice

2. Click on the “More options” icon (•••) next to the team name and select “Add channel”

3. Give the channel a name, and a brief description as if would would like
   
4. Select your channel’s preferred level of privacy and press “Add”

Standard channels are open for anyone to join
Private channels are invitation only

4. If you selected “Private” you will see a window that lets you add the team members that should have access to the channel. Once all members are added, press “Close”

5. Once a channel is created it will show up under the General channel in the channels list. If the channel was set to Private, only the members can see it. Anyone who belongs to the channel can click on it to view its contents

Part : Managing a Team

Managing a Team

Now that your teams and channels are created, you can begin to take advantage of Microsoft Teams’ management features. Team management includes essential functions such as adding and removing members, assigning permissions for individual members, and managing your channels. You can also implement granular customizations such as setting parameters on the use of tags and emojis.

1. Select Teams from the left menu. If you have more than one team, click on your team
   
2. Click “More Options” icon (•••) next to the team name and select “Manage Team”. From here, you can select one of the following tabs

Manage Members Tab

• Add a member by clicking “Add Member” button on the top right of the window
  
• Remove a member by pressing “X” button on the right of their name
  
• Use the drop-down menu to change a member’s role to Owner. This allows them full access to change settings

Manage Request Tab

• Use this tab to accept or deny a person’s request to join your team

Manage Channels Tab

• Create a channel by pressing the “Add channel” button on the top right of the window
  
• You can restore deleted channels by expanding the “Deleted” list and pressing on “Restore”

The experience for managing a team setting varies between both the classic and new Teams.

• Team picture: is an optional setting which allows you to set a profile picture for your team. You can upload your own image or use one of the colorful templates provided by Microsoft
  
• Member permissions: to set editing permissions for your team members
  
• Guest permissions: settings you can allow guests to create, update, and delete channels
  
• @mentions: lets you choose if you allow the @mention function to send notifications to individuals or entire channels
  
• Team code: will provide you with a join code that you can give out to new members. This will allow them to join without being placed in the Pending Requests section
  
• Fun stuff: lets you allow gifs and memes to be displayed on the channel
  
• Tags: setting to decide who can use the tags feature. With tags, your team members can add labels help them better identify other members of the team

• Team Details: is an optional setting which allows you to set a profile picture, description and set privacy options for your team. You can upload your own image or use one of the colorful templates provided by Microsoft
  
• Member permissions: to set editing permissions for your team members
  
• Guest permissions: settings you can allow guests to create, update, and delete channels
  
• @mentions: lets you choose if you allow the @mention function to send notifications to individuals or entire channels
  
• Team code: will provide you with a join code that you can give out to new members. This will allow them to join without being placed in the Pending Requests section
  
• Fun stuff: lets you allow gifs and memes to be displayed on the channel
  
• Tags: setting todecide who can use the tags feature. With tags, your team members can add labels help them better identify other members of the team
  
• Team Expiration: Specifies when the Team will expire. By policy no user can change the expiration policy and can visit SAMI Support to extend the expiration when nearing the expiration date.

Manage Analytics Tab

• The Analytics tab displays usage information for your team

Manage Apps Tab

• The Apps tab allows you to add or remove application plug ins for your channels

Section – Meetings

Part : Starting an Instant Meeting

Starting an Instant Meeting

Instead of scheduling a meeting for a future date, you can start one right away and invite people in on the fly.

1. Select “Calendar” from the left-hand side of the screen and press “Meet Now”

2. Give your meeting a name, select audio and video options, and press on “Join Now”

3. Your meeting should start with the “Participants” tab displayed so you can start inviting people right away. As you search for people and add them to your meeting, they will receive a call to be connected

4. As people accept the meeting invitation they will automatically be connected

Part : Joining a Meeting

Joining a Meeting

Meetings in Teams include audio, video, and screen sharing. They’re one of the key ways to collaborate in Teams.

1. The Teams Calendar can be found by clicking Calendar in the left pane

2. You can join a scheduled meeting by selecting the “Calendar” tab from the left menu, then finding and left clicking on your meeting and clicking join for the Classic Teams Experience, or simply press “Join” on the New Teams experience

3. Select your video and microphone options, then left click “Join Now”

4. If you are the first participant that joined the meeting, you will see a black screen informing you that you are waiting for other members to join. As people join the meeting they will show up on the screen. If you are the host and your meeting has the lobby opened, you will have to admit everyone who joins the meeting

5. When you are done with the meeting, close it by pressing the red telephone icon to “Hang up” the call

Part : Scheduling a Meeting

Scheduling a Meeting

Due to Office 365 calendar integration, scheduling video and voice meetings on Microsoft Teams is simple and convenient.

1. Select the “Calendar” tab from the left-hand side of the screen. This screen displays your entire FDU Office 365 calendar. Next, press “New Meeting” button on the top right of the window

You will notice that the New Meeting window offers 2 tabs: “Details & Scheduling Assistant”

2. From the “Details” tab, enter the following information about your meeting:

• Title
  
• Required Attendees

• Time
  
• Specify whether the meeting reoccurs
  
• Add Channel is optional and lets you specify an entire Teams channel to receive a meeting notification
  
• Add location is optional and enables you to select a physical location for members to meet at
  
• Add details like the topic of discussion, meeting outline, etc

3. The “Scheduling Assistant” tab allows you to view the calendar of all attendees to check for availability. It is possible to adjust the meeting time on this tab

4. When finished, press the “Send” button on the top of the page. The meeting will be posted on the channel you selected, and invites will be emailed to all requested attendees. The meeting will also show up on the calendar of the people who have accepted the meeting invitation

Section – Microsoft Flipgrid

Part : Microsoft Acquired Flipgrid

Microsoft Acquired Flipgrid

Microsoft has acquired Flipgrid for video submissions for Classroom Assignments. This feature is only available from within a Classroom Team for assignment posting and submission.

Faculty can request a classroom team by using the following SAMI Support form:

Microsoft Team Request

After the new classroom team is created, the requesting faculty member can assign students to the classroom team. Students can only access the Flipgrid video submission button within the classroom team.

After you have created assignments or posted to an assignment, A new app tab will be displayed within your Teams app list labeled Assignments.

Part : For Educators – Create a Flip video recording assignment

For Educators – Create a Flip video recording assignment

1. Click “Teams” and then click the classroom team

2. Click on “Assignments” channel and “Create” -> “New Assignment”

3. After creating the assignment name and description, click the “+New tab”

4. Select Flip video recording

5. Adjust video settings as desired

6. Click the middle record button to begin recording

7. Click the middle stop recording button to stop the recording

8. Click the “Review” tab to review your recording and confirm your video to be uploaded

9. When reviewing your recording, you may make trimming edits and music changes (if any). When finished, click “Next”

10. Name the Flip video recording and click “Upload”

11. Once the Video upload is complete, click “Done”

12. Click “Assign” to assign the assignment or click the down-facing carrot to select from the options: “Assign now” or “Schedule to assign in the future”

Part : For Learners/Students – Post to an Assignment using Flip video recording

For Learners/Students – Post to an Assignment using Flip video recording

1. Click “Teams” and then click the classroom team

2. Click on the “Assignments” channel and click on the assignment

3. Click “+ New”

4. Select Flip vVideo rRecording

5. Adjust video settings as desired

6. Click the middle record button to begin recording

7. Click the middle stop recording button to stop the recording

8. Click the “Review” tab to review your recording and confirm your video to be uploaded

9. When reviewing your recording, you may make trimming edits and music changes (if any). When finished, click “Next”

10. Name the Flip video recording and click “Upload”

11. Once the Video upload is complete, click “Done”

12. Click “Turn in” after the video is uploaded to submit your Flip video recording to the assignment

Part : Viewing Comments and responding to comments in Flipgrid videos

Viewing Comments and responding to comments in Flipgrid videos

1. Open Microsoft Teams and navigate to the classroom team

2. Click on the “Assignments” channel

3. Click the “Completed” tab at the top of the Assignments window

4. Click on the submitted assignment

5. Click on the submitted Flip video recording and then click the Play button in the middle of the screen

6. When viewing the video, you will see options for comments, among other options

7. Click “Close” when finished

Part : Additional Features – Flipgrid Sharing Space

Additional Features – Flipgrid Sharing Space

To create a Flipgrid sharing space for classroom team collaboration on videos, watch the following video:

Create a Flip video sharing space in Microsoft Teams