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Completed Initiatives for 2021-2022

Â鶹¹ÙÍø TECHNOLOGY SUPPORT


Move our Incident Management System to the Cloud Increase adoption of Blackboard Ultra Courses
Local Administrator Password Solution (LAPS) Enhance teaching experience in the classrooms
Administrative Access to User Computers Audit Support of Windows 11
Improve Customer Satisfaction for Classroom Support Automatic uploads of Zoom Cloud Recordings to Yuja
Audit on Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) Deployment

 

Move our Incident Management System to the Cloud

The incident management system used at Â鶹¹ÙÍø assists our IT department in managing over 68,000 support requests every year. The current system works well, but enhancements are available by migrating to the SaaS (cloud-hosted) version. The on-premise version which we are currently using is dated and experiencing sporadic performance issues. Furthermore, the APIs available in our on-premise version is not compatible with newer systems we want to integrate with. Finally, the mobile app of the current system is problematic and limited to older mobile devices. Moving to the cloud offers many benefits such as keeping the system updated, secured, and highly available. It will provide better API support and be compatible with the latest mobile devices. One of the significant operations enhancements that we are looking for in the cloud version of our system is the remote screen sharing capabilities to provide remote support to users on computers, laptops, and mobile devices.

Outcome:

This project is partially completed and will continue into next year. On November 26, 2022, we completed upgrading the incident management system to the latest version required for cloud migrations. Nevertheless, the improved performance and most desired new functionality were accomplished by this upgrade. For example, the mobile app on the latest mobile devices works perfectly. On this new version and before we move this system to the cloud, we will first add two more ways for our Â鶹¹ÙÍø community to get our help with the integration of Microsoft Teams and Live Chat.

 


 

Increase adoption of Blackboard Ultra Courses

Blackboard’s Ultra Course View (UCV) was made available to all faculty in Fall 2021. With this new and enhanced course option available, we must work with faculty to increase its adoption. To help with adoption, we plan to offer introductory training on UCV to faculty throughout the year. Our goal for fall 2022 is to have at least 10% of all semester courses in UCV.

Outcome:

We implemented the following strategies to increase faculty adoption:

  • Developed comprehensive UCV training and offered it in in-person (Aug & Nov 2022), online, and self-paced formats.
  • Created a self-paced training and websites with resources for Blackboard UCV and other instructional technologies.
  • Enabled instructor’s choice on the system for fall 2022 course shells. This allowed faculty to preview their courses in the Ultra Course View and give them the option to convert to the new view if they chose to switch.

Unfortunately, we didn’t meet our goal since the UCV adoption was at 7% in the fall 2022 term. Nevertheless, I am very proud of our team because they accomplished quadrupling the number of courses in UCV compared to the fall of 2021.

 


 

Local Administrator Password Solution (LAPS)

Local Administrator Password Solution (LAPS) is a Microsoft product that manages the local administrator password of domain-joined computers. This solution automatically updates the password on a routine basis and each domain computer will have a unique password for the local administrator account. Currently, the local administrator account has the same password for all domain computers and that password change is a manually initiated process that is performed on a scheduled basis or when someone who knows the password leaves the department. Technology Support with the collaboration of the Systems team will identify strategies to deploy LAPS to all Â鶹¹ÙÍø domain Windows computers. This initiative further improves the security of our users and their computing devices.

Outcome:

LAPS was successfully implemented in July 2022 and over 5,200 computers have been enabled to use this solution. Technology Support groups and Technology Implementation Managers have been trained and provided with guidance on managing this solution.

 


 

Enhance teaching experience in the classrooms

Tech-related issues with technology in the classrooms negatively impact teaching performance and student success. A malfunction of any of the equipment below hinders in-classroom instruction.

We can be proactive to equipment malfunctions by monitoring the equipment in the classrooms in real-time. A centralized equipment monitoring dashboard will allow for Technology Support to respond and resolve any equipment issues before they are a problem to teaching faculty; therefore, maximizing their in-person teaching performance. We will create a centralized dashboard with all AV equipment reporting their operating status.

  • Projector
  • Computer
  • Control Interface
  • Laptop Connectivity
  • Speaker Sysytem
Outcome:
  • On-premises installation of Extron’s Global Viewer Enterprise (GVE).
  • AV infrastructure is monitored in all classrooms with GVE-compatible equipment.
  • AV usage reports by classrooms and input source (e.g. laptop, PC…) are available.
  • A service desk request is created by GVE upon any equipment malfunction.

 


 

Administrative Access to User Computers Audit

An internal audit on administrative access to user computers was completed in February 2022. As a result, Technology Support will implement measures to address the recommendations of the six findings in the audit report.

Outcome:

Technology Support implemented recommended actions to remediate the following audit findings:

  1. An Active Directory (AD) administrator group is not properly maintained.
  2. Administrator passwords have not been changed by Â鶹¹ÙÍø policy.
  3. There are 2,248 non-administrator users with administrative rights to one or more user computers with no formal approval/periodic review.
  4. Account configurations and settings in five (5) computers are managed by a third party.
  5. Decentralized system administrators do not properly control and maintain AD administrative groups.
  6. An AD Administrative group exists with 3,989 members, giving each administrative rights to 177 classroom computers.

 


 

Support of Windows 11

Microsoft released Windows 11 to the public on October 5, 2021. this new version yields higher performance and security on compatible devices (eighth-generation Intel Core CPU or newer) than the Windows 10 version. Technology Support must update their processes to be able to deploy Windows 11 to existing compatible and new computing devices.

We must investigate Microsoft Intune for upgrading Windows 10 devices, but also Windows Autopilot to set up applications, settings, and policies into newly purchased institutionally owned Windows 11 devices.

Outcome:

New Â鶹¹ÙÍø computer standards for Dell equipment were released on December 2022.

 


 

Improve Customer Satisfaction for Classroom Support

Classroom support is our highest priority. It is in the classrooms where our students receive their education hence, we must excel in the tech support service we provide to faculty in the classrooms. To help us improve and measure our quality of work, we ask faculty for their feedback as to their classroom support-related requests are closed. Our goal is to obtain a monthly Customer Satisfaction rating of 93% or better.

Outcome:
  • Resolved a total of 1,135 classroom support requests throughout 2022.
  • 225 customer satisfaction surveys submitted by faculty.
  • Obtained a 96% positive customer satisfaction rating for the year 2022.

 


 

Automatic uploads of Zoom Cloud Recordings to Yuja

Zoom cloud recordings are saved temporarily in Zoom. With the installation of a Zoom connector in Yuja, any new Zoom cloud recordings will automatically upload to the user’s Yuja account. In Yuja, these recordings are saved permanently, captioned, and can be easily shared with students (publish to Blackboard courses). This connection between Zoom and Yuja streamlines the accessibility of Zoom recordings to students in Blackboard courses.

Outcome:

Starting on June 2, 2022, Zoom cloud recordings are stored on Â鶹¹ÙÍø's video management system, YuJa. This means that your new Zoom cloud recordings will automatically be available in your YuJa account and auto-captioned within an hour after your meeting has ended. For faculty, this streamlines the process of saving videos and embedding them inside your Blackboard courses. Note that these recordings will be temporarily available in Zoom's cloud storage for 7 days, after which, they will remain in YuJa where you can continue to download and manage them.

 


 

Audit on Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) Deployment

The audit goals were to determine if processes and tools were in place to ensure the EDR solution was working effectively, and that EDR-onboarded Microsoft Windows computers were periodically synching with the EDR solution. The audit was conducted over the summer of 2022.

Outcome:

Technology Support implemented remediation measures for the following audit findings:

  1. Windows computers that meet the criteria for EDR have not been enrolled in EDR.
    • Implemented Cloud Management Gateway (CMG). Â鶹¹ÙÍø endpoints such as laptops will continue to communicate with the EDR solution when these are off campus and connected to the internet.
  2. 365 active computers have a Windows operating system below the requirements for EDR onboarding.

 


Â鶹¹ÙÍø TECHNOLOGY SUPPORT

Â鶹¹ÙÍø Library Room 300  |  ts.utep.edu  |  915-747-4357 (HELP)