NGU Skyliner

Jon Harris
Staff Writer

Technology improvements have been nonstop for the staff in North Greenville University’s information technology department. The summer storm became a driving force behind many server improvements and a new email system.  

Due to the damage from the storm, NGU lost nine servers and was able to purchase new up-to-date equipment and hardware for on campus networks. 

“It allowed us to replace a lot of old equipment with some new stuff,” Paul Garret, director of information technology, said. “From a student perspective, what that translates into, is better performance, more reliability and therefore, more up time.”

One server damaged during the storm was used for email. The server was rebuilt but some of the back up was not complete, resulting in many errors and data corruption in the database.  

“It has caused us problems continuously. Our email system would go off line two or three times a day,” Garrett said.

Students had trouble sending attachments to faculty and email groups were corrupted. The technology department decided on a new email server and it took them from the beginning of September to spring break to implement.  

“What we wanted to do is make it as seamless and painless as possible,” Garrett said. “We were looking for a time where most everybody was gone, so spring break week was perfect for this. Other than a minor issue or two it was a successful conversion.”

The school Web site was also recently updated. After a visit at Bob Jones University, NGU President Jimmy Epting told Paul Garrett North Greenville needed to improve the Web site. In the past, the university had never spent money on a Web site, had student and faculty volunteers do the programming and had the old website running off slow, retired servers.  

The school contracted with iModules, a web service, to create and implement the new Web site. This new site has been in the works for 18 months and has yet to fulfill its potential.  

“We’ve only scratched the surface with those capabilities,” Garrett said. “The desire, what really needs to happen, is to change the culture among the students, faculty and staff, so that we’re more focused on the website as a place we can get good, reliable, timely information. It can’t be a static site.”

Garrett hopes to eventually have a student community on the Web site for current and prospective students.

Other advancements include a new partnership with CollegeNET, which has given prospective students an opportunity to submit applications online.

Future Advancements

Online registration and bill payment will be implemented on the student portal in the next 12 months. 

Garrett also sees the campus going wireless over the next 12 months. The current wireless system has reached its capacity and cannot expand.

“If we expand we have to buy a whole new system,” Garret said. “We are working on that business case. The problem is the first wireless access point will cost us $40,000.”

Computer Services is also looking at digital signage. This will place announcements on an information channel, where special events, such as chapel or athletic events, will be broadcast live.

A new Mac lab for the art department will be set up on the second floor of the Runion Building. The lab is not open but the machines are currently set up across from the Registrar. 

North Greenville will also be expanding its online class offerings through the technology of Blackboard and discontinuing the current course management system, iDeal. Beginning this past January, the graduate school has offered MBA and MCM degrees on Blackboard. More undergraduate classes will begin to be offered as true online classes through Blackboard.

Information Technology is also looking into iPhone and Windows mobile support on campus. 

A communications project team, composed of students and staff, are currently working on proposals to increase and better the communication needs across campus. 

“The reputation for technology has improved because the reliability has improved,” Garrett said. “We’ve got a lot going on and we’re excited about the coming year.”

Tags: Spring 2009, Vol. 108 - Issue 7

This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 1st, 2009 and is filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.