Michael Rea with recycled technology
Windows 8 touch screens
Student using JCCC’s wireless network
Technology at JCCC JCCC was again recognized as one of the top-rated community colleges for digital technology by e.Republic’s Center for Digital Education for the sixth straight year. This recognition is based on how community colleges are using information technology to deliver services to students, faculty and staff. Survey questions and criteria examined and scored areas of digital and emerging technologies such as the use of mobile devices, technology integration into the curriculum, strategic planning, data management, delivery models, professional development and availability of technology tools and training.
$3 infrastructure tech fee investment Major advances continued to be made in strengthening JCCC’s network and data center infrastructure, thanks to the $3 per-credit-hour technology fee that the college charges students. The tech fee was established to meet growing demands for faster and greater bandwidth, wireless, video, voice, storage and virtualization technologies. Infrastructure investments in 2012-2013 included a campus fiber infrastructure strategy for highavailability, increased capacity and survivability of the campus network; remote site upgrades and connectivity to the main campus; a single, unified, secure high-speed wireless network with expanded coverage; unified communication services integrating voice, video conferencing, data sharing, voicemail, email, instant messaging and faxing; 30
network and data center energy efficiency upgrades; uninterruptable power supply upgrades to sustain college operations and business continuity; and scheduled network equipment replacements. This fiscal year also saw the accelerated completion of Internet telephony (Voice over Internet Protocol or VoIP) on the main campus and remote sites after the aging legacy phone system sustained a lightning strike in May 2012, severely damaging phone service across campus. VoIP technology, which provides the ability to transmit voice (telephone) over the college’s existing data network and broadband connection, provided users new functionality and better tools for staff to improve services and enabled the college to increase the number of phone lines or call paths during high call-volume days. Internet bandwidth and wireless usage continued to increase at dramatic proportions as students, staff and college patrons use their mobile devices on campus. JCCC was featured in The Explosion of BYOD (bring your own device) in the September 2012 CDWG.com/ higher education online magazine for the overhaul of its network infrastructure to support the proliferation of students’ personal devices. As noted in Working without Wires by Wylie Wong, Ed Tech Magazine Online, in a winter 2012 article, JCCC’s new wireless control system allows support staff to centrally manage more than 300 access points throughout campus, providing the ability to drill down to building floors to monitor access points, coverage areas and
number of devices connected, automatically adjusting configurations to maintain optimal performance.
Constituent relationship management The college is employing constituent relationship management tools to help unify and manage the various relationships the college has with a variety of constituents. The initial release provided the Continuing Education sales team the capability to track leads as they work their way through the transaction lifecycle from lead to contract. Student Success and Learner Engagement developed a process that identifies and tracks students in the early stages of needing assistance, known as Early Alerts. The development of a credit student online application consolidated seven separate applications into an information-based application that builds upon the data provided to the tool.
Mobility JCCC responded to the tremendous expansion of mobile technology in today’s world by offering a mobile version of the college website as well as a mobile-friendly application that lets campus constituents securely shop or make a payment from their mobile devices. Development of a mobile application platform and store and integration of new VoIP functionality such as soft phones or follow-me capability provided added mobility solutions for JCCC employees. JCCC also entered into an agreement with the college’s enterprise resource planning vendor