EDUCAUSE 2021 - University of Houston Information Technology (UIT) - University of Houston
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University Information Technology

About UIT

EDUCAUSE 2022 Colorado Convention Center | Denver Colorado

Wednesday, October 26, 2022 | 10:15a.m. – 11:00a.m. MT

Wednesday, October 26, 2022 | 3:00p.m. – 3:45p.m. MT

Session Type: Poster Session
Delivery Format: Poster Session

The Good, Bad, and Ugly QR code

QR codes are everywhere, and some are good, some are bad, and some are just ugly. Explore different scenarios and what we can do to address these concerns on the way to providing a useful and secure QR experience.

Speakers

  • Robert Birkline, Manager of Web Technology, University of Houston

 Downloads:

  • Downloadable poster : [PNG]
  • QR code answer key: [PDF]
  • QR information packet: [PDF]

Educause 2021 Philadelphia Convention Center | Philadelphia, PA

Wednesday, October 27, 2021 | 4:15p.m. – 5:00p.m. ET

Session Type: Poster Session
Delivery Format: Poster Session

Transforming Campus Safety with Location Services and Emergency Calling in Your Mobile App

Class ends, it’s dark, and your car is a 15-minute walk away. Shadows become ominous, every other person on the sidewalk is suspect, anxiety builds. You feel threatened! Do you call 911, campus police? How do you explain where you are? An emergency phone kiosk 300 yards away. If it works, you’ll get the police, and they will know where you are, but you are stuck there and vulnerable until the police arrive. During this session we will demonstrate the mobile solution we developed in house and built into the campus mobile app that calls the University of Houston (UH) emergency number and uses geolocation and geofencing to allow the UHPD to track the caller during the call. We will explain how we worked with UHPD, students, local law enforcement, and others to deliver a highly effective emergency calling feature. See behind-the-curtain administration functions and dashboards used by UHPD that go beyond the technology used on most campuses. This demonstration will go far beyond a normal show-and-tell, providing insight on how we worked with key stakeholders from initial conceptualization to testing and deployment, all while saving the university hundreds of thousands of dollars through cost savings and cost avoidance.

Speakers

  • Robert Birkline, Manager of Web Technology, University of Houston

 Downloads:

  • Downloadable poster [PDF]
  • Poster Powerpoint: [PPTX]

Educause 2019

Tuesday, October 15 | 1:15p.m. – 2:15p.m. and 5:00p.m. - 5:45p.m. CT

Session Type: Poster Session
Delivery Format: Poster Session

Journey Through a Mobile App

Explore paths along the journey through a mobile app implementation. We'll share experiences from the perspective of organizational leadership as well as consideration for software development. From conception to engaging stakeholders to end-user adoption, we'll address many unanswered questions as we examine the "why" and "how" of mobile.

Outcomes: See the value and process of strategic planning, building relationships, and understanding your options in your journey ahead based on firsthand experience from our key team members * Receive a downloadable journey guide, which covers our journey from past to present.

Speakers

  • Robert Birkline, Manager of Web Technology, University of Houston
  • Diane Trippel, Director of Web & Communication Services, University of Houston

 Downloads:

  • Journey Guide: poster [PDF]
  • Sample Project Templates [long] [short]
  • Sample Organizational Chart [PDF]
  • Sample Testing Matrix [PDF]

Understanding and Interpreting the Needs of a Centralized/Decentralized Help Desk

Our aim is to demonstrate an IT help desk system for the entire University of Houston system that's easy to use, cost-effective, scalable, adaptable, and integrable with SharePoint and Microsoft Microsoft 365 for the centralized/decentralized IT model of the university system.

Outcomes: Identify the unique support needs of a centralized/decentralized IT structure * Understand the complications that a decentralized model places on IT support in a major university and how this can be addressed to the benefit of the customers * Identify the financial benefits of implementing an economically viable software

Speakers

  • Srinidhi Parshi, Instructional Assistant, University Information Technology, University of Houston

 Downloads:

  • Overview Poster: [PDF]
  • Middle Poster [PDF]
  • Results Poster [PDF]
  • Sample Financial/Market Analysis Matrix [PDF]

Network Assessment

This project was initiated by the Assistant Vice President for Technology and Support Services University of Houston to assess the UH network. The main objective was to determine the current state of the UH network, identify future needs, expectations, and emerging technologies and create an immediate and long-term Network Plan. Furthermore, a cursory look into the methodology used, the first step was to identify the departmental structure, personnel and stakeholders involved in delivering information technology solutions; for the UH case study this departmental team were

  • Network Planning and Development - the Core Network,
  • the IT Network Services, -access layer network planning,
  • the UIT customer support ticket-based customer support,
  • Information Technology Availability Center (ITAC)Network Operations Center.

Customer feedback was gathered through online surveys and the use of a mobile app during townhall meetings. Input used to determine expectations and future demand on the UH network was also gathered from stakeholders including everyone who's activities were impacted by the network from teaching faculty to faculty Researchers, Students, Administrative Staff, IT Leadership etc.

In addition, we needed a way to measure and quantify the data available to us. during the early stages of the network assessment, one key strategy was to pull up all relevant data. This efficient data collection and analysis will be presented.

Finally, the results are interesting as this produced several high risks immediate action items and also future network plan.