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Annual Report
CONNECTED
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Message from the President and CEO , George Laskaris
NJEDge.Net, our member driven non-profit
consortium of academic institutions in New Jersey,
was also very instrumental in providing professional
development programs. These programs covered
the topics of virtualization and advanced networking
technologies that enabled our staff to gain the
knowledge needed to implement the technology at
Passaic County Community College. With NJEDge’s
consortium buying PCCC was able to purchase
the software and support needed to implement
virtualization at a significant savings.
“
”
Robert Mondelli
VP of Information Technology
Passaic County Community College
The 2014 annual report is
about connectivity:
In 2014, NJEDge.Net focused greater attention on our community’s growing needs and began working on expanding its range of member contacts to focus on engaging faculty and professional staff in the use of technology to improve teaching and learning. This annual report is about how we built and continue to build a connected community.
I am particularly proud of this year’s achievements because the senior staff has made great strides, collaboratively, across functional areas, creating robust programs and services in cloud, network and video solutions. Through their efforts, NJEDge was extremely productive in improving and expanding the range of member services and increasing the economies of scale in supporting the consortium.
I asked each senior staff member to write out his or her accomplishments for this year’s annual report so that our members hear from them individually to gauge if the corporation has fulfilled its mission to support the higher education community of New Jersey.
Through Brian Gately’s thorough understanding of the operational dynamics of NJEDge he is essentially the chief operations officer and coordinates functional areas as well as the overall budget. His forecasts have been on target year after year and our financial stability has grown over the last several years. Brian as our deputy executive director is second in command of the organization and also oversees business development.
Sheri Prupis, in her dedication to academic and
community engagement, created numerous memorable events over the last several years. Attendance to our conference, showcase, luncheon, activity group meetings, webinars and workshops has risen by 30%. We routinely facilitate collaboration between members through our activity groups, EDge.Networks, and professional development programs. Under Sheri’s oversight, the Affiliate Partner Program grew to seventeen vendors. Sujay Daniel and his team have built many new features and capabilities into NJVID, New Jersey’s Academic Digital Media Repository service. A user can now move multiple video objects in bulk from one collection to another; there is audio support for uploads. NJVID has integrated Instructure’s Canvas Learning Management System interoperability. NJVID gained new institutional subscribers not just in New Jersey but also in Virginia, Michigan and Maryland. Our strategic plan to “Grow NJVID” is in full bloom.
Bruce Tyrell oversees telecommunications and network infrastructure services that connect member campuses to the NJEDge regional optical backbone. Because of his vast knowledge and telecommunications background, Bruce is able to assist institutions with their connectivity options and optimal network solutions. Post super storm Sandy, Bruce spent considerable time and energy working with members to design redundant circuits to prevent possible outages in the future. Bruce facilitated
Stevens Institute of Technology’s adoption of a new GigE Internet and a 10 Gig virtual desktop infrastructure. Jim Stankiewicz engineers the design and architecture of our state-wide optical backbone at Halsey Street and all of our co-locations at Montclair State and in Philadelphia and Camden. This year he worked with Ocean County College and The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey on their LISP upgrade. To date, Jim has configured 24 Connected Members to run LISP in their campus network. As business manager, Joe Rearden oversaw the extension of our VMware agreement, and organized a week long, in-depth course on server virtualization for five member institutions. Currently, Joe is working with New Jersey Institute of Technology on the production of a new “LIFEBOAT” Infrastructure-as-a-Service as part of the NJEDge Community Cloud.
Eric Kumala deployed the videoconferencing needs for Super Bowl XLVIII, held in Rutherford. For months, NJEDge was at Giants Stadium to test the Vidyo
equipment to be used at the actual game. Eric presented Vidyo capabilities to many school boards and as a result we have gained more K12 members.
Through keen management, the senior staff proved to be prodigious in accomplishing their goals.
NJEDge.Net will continue to apply its vast knowledge and expertise in academic and network technology to support its member institutions.
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A letter from Sr. Rosemary Jeffries, Chair of the Board of
Trustees & President, Georgian Court University
Sister Rosemary Jeffries will have a
lasting impact on NJEDge. Probably one
of the biggest challenges facing higher
education today is how to best utilize
rapidly developing technologies in the
teaching and learning process. Under
Sister Rosemary’s visionary leadership,
NJEDge has fostered an environment
where our academic and technology
leaders have come together to develop
innovative approaches to better serve our
students.
“
”
Steven Rose, Ed.D.
President
“The
Almanac of Higher Education 2014,” published by The Chronicle of Higher Education in August lists the following as the top four priorities of information technology: help faculty members integrate technology in teaching; hire and retain qualified IT staff members; provide adequate user support and leverage technology to help students succeed. NJEDge.Net has addressed all these goals this year with its professional development programs and activity group initiative. This is no small feat.The board initiated the following addendum to the strategic plan: “foster an academic technology partnership.” The new goal reflects the trustee’s 2012 policy of forging a partnership between technology and academics. It is evident that NJEDge carried this strategy forward with increased visits to meet with the CIOs, CAOs, faculty and professional staff from member institutions about their needs.
Through a series of retreats, the board has also forged for NJEDge four guiding principles for developing an academic/technology partnership with its members. These guidelines are a blueprint to the paramount mission of ensuring student success. To carry out these principles NJEDge must work with faculty and professional staff to embrace academic technology tools and integrate them to develop sound pedagogy. EDge.Networks—the NJEDge activity groups— will provide greater assistance in its professional development programs.
The board members worked very closely with the NJEDge staff with personal letters to our counterparts to pave the way for direct interaction.
The Board of Trustees is extremely pleased by NJEDge efforts in introducing video conferencing, virtualization, LISP, NJVID, and academic engagement programs. We applaud all the senior staff for their follow-through and commitment.
We say thank you and goodbye to Anthony Modorsky for his years in service on the Board of Trustees.
As for me, the role of chair of the NJEDge.Net Board of Trustees ends this fiscal year. It is a bittersweet farewell. I am extremely pleased with the activity of the board these three years. We have accomplished much. But I will miss the comradery of conferring with other presidents, provosts and executive directors on the future of NJEDge.Net.
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NJVID, NJEDge’s Digital repository and streaming service continues to be a success among its instructional technology, library and student users in the higher education community. Usage of NJVID both in media uploads as well as viewership of the media in the service has doubled since the past year. The easy to use interface along with the out-of-box capability for instructors to start uploading content from within their LMS environments has led to a rise in user uploaded content. Currently the repository hosts over 4,800 hours and over 12,000 media files that were uploaded by Institutional users. NJVID has contributed not only to the application of a flipped classroom but also let instructors and students make innovative use of media through video and audio uploads.
The NJVID staff is also currently working on importing over 4000 student jazz performances from William Paterson University to the repository.
The year also saw the addition of over 500 commercial video titles from upwards of 10 new commercial video distributors such as Landmark Media, Zeitgeist films, Centre for New American Media and many more. In addition, NJVID also hosts the complete collection for some of the new vendors such as First Run Features, Documentary Educational Resources and Interfilms Inc. NJVID subscribers can not only choose from more than 6,500 available titles and 26,000 learning objects from over 65 vendors belonging to a diverse array of educational fields but also avail attractive discounts on these purchases. Institutions and libraries today are adopting the concept of Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) and streaming content that their faculty and students are interested in seeing. NJVID makes this very easy and streamlined for an institution. This not only
benefits the institution but also other NJVID subscribers as they can then license content from such vendors.
NJVID users can easily access licensed content from their institutions, homes, mobile devices as well as from within their LMS courses where these content are embedded. This results in a higher ROI for institutional purchases. The popularity of the commercial video service among the subscribers has resulted in more distributors such as Media Education Foundation choosing NJVID to be the streaming location for all their new offerings as well as collections. An increasing number of institutions are looking at NJVID to converge their streaming and repository needs using the platform.
In the past year, NJVID has gained subscribers not just in New Jersey but also in Virginia, Michigan and Maryland. George Mason University (Virginia), Carnegie Institute of Science (Maryland), Aquinas College, Lawrence Technological University and Madonna University (Michigan) are some of the new subscribers of NJVID. NJEDge has been successful in striking a deal with Collaborative Services of Maryland (CSM) to resell NJVID to the educational institutions of Maryland. In the next year, NJEDge will be working on finding more partners around the country to resell and make the service more affordable for New Jersey Institutions.
Some of the new features that were added in the last year include
• Support for audio uploads:
NJVID users can upload audio files, expanding the media types supported by the service. Audio files are encoded automatically and offer all features that are available for videos. With the introduction of the feature; institutions are now expanding their usage of the service into the audio domain.
• NJVID releases integration tool for Instructure’s Canvas LMS:
NJVID now integrates with one of the most popular LMS that has a growing user base among higher education
NJVID Update
Vineet Phillips, Application Developer. Adam Adamou, Systems Administrator, Sujay Daniel, Network & Information Systems Architect & Project Director, NJVID, Abhishek Hegde, Systems Analyst
Stevens Institute of Technology has been using NJVID for over a year now and we have been extremely pleased with the experience. We started to use and promote it as an alternative to the other digital repository systems that are out there. In an effort to save storage space within our learning management system, we encourage instructors to put their videos into NJVID. This not only helped them store and categorize their lecture content, it provided them additional options for securing their videos with various privacy settings.
I help instructors tape their podcasts and the output after editing. NJVID allows me a space where I can load the videos, share them with the instructors instantaneously, and keep them private. This provides feedback before I make the final video public.
Stevens is now using a learning management system that is integrated with NJVID (Canvas.) We have seen the usage numbers spike as instructors have an even easier way of accessing the system and sharing content with the students. Instructors appreciate the embed feature that NJVID’s integration has to offer. I am also a student and this makes the course look more technologically advanced and visually appealing.
The best part about NJVID is working with its staff. The team is
so responsive and helpful. I work specifically with Abhishek and Sujay, and they are wonderful. Abhishek recently trained me on the Canvas integration TWICE! I had missed a few items in the first training as there were some distractions in the office, but he had no problem scheduling another walkthrough. I wasn’t hesitant to request this of him, because the team is always willing to help. I now feel much more confident to train my team and the instructors on how to use the system. I am always amazed how NJVID already has all of my questions covered. If there is a feature or setting that I am looking for it is either already in place, or has been considered. It is almost as if they thought of everything, or at least that they know their
users very well. NJVID’s team has provided me with the best experience and support.
• Creation of more administrative permissions within profiles:
Administrators can now create user roles with permissions to create sub-collections thereby providing an additional functionality for instructors.
• Availability of wide screen video player options in LMS’s:
Instructors can opt for a larger, wide-screen media player for video playback within the LMS course.
• Integration with Crestron HD lecture capture devices:
The Crestron lecture capture system provides a very simple, one-box component for capturing lectures, presentations, medical procedures, seminars, and training sessions. NJVID integrates with Crestron to provide an end-to-end delivery solution of the captured content to users on their computers and mobile devices via website as well as LMS systems. This seamless integration is an addition to the other lecture capture systems such as Camtasia Relay that are currently supported by NJVID.
In addition this past year also saw the release of other useful features such as:
• Support for larger set of video and audio input formats and codecs
• Bulk transfer of digital objects between collections • Support for Multiple Identity Federations
• Generation of high resolution thumbnails To learn more about NJVID, please visit www.njvid.net
NJVID at Stevens Institute of Technology
institutional community. Leveraging the Learning Tools Interoperability (LTI) technology standard, NJVID gives instructors the capability to upload as well as pick and choose their media, publish and share content directly from within the LMS using the provided tool. Instructors who require time release of content can control its availability - making it an ideal option for pedagogies such as the flipped classroom. Canvas is an addition to the list of popular LMS’s such as Moodle, Blackboard and Sakai that are already supported by NJVID.
• Enhanced usage reporting tool for administrators, content owners and librarians:
The NJVID reporting tool lets administrators, librarians and content uploaders and owners view detailed statistics of their media assets. The reporting tool provides key insights into how the service is being used within the institution through a combination of graphs and statistics. Users can not only track media uploads, usage, and views but also view storage being used. Using an intuitive interface, users can filter the reports based on media types, collections and platforms and other elements.
• Exporting MARC records for media in bulk:
Institutions can download MARC records for their entire commercial collection for reference and for exporting into their OPAC/ILS systems.
• Student upload functionality in LMS systems:
In addition to instructors, students can also upload content into courses enabled by their faculty. This provides a greater flexibility and avenues of using media in courses for the subscribing institutions.
Allison Ruppino Instructional Designer, WebCampus Department
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Keeping NJEDge’s network robust and secure is vital and the responsibility of Jim Stankiewicz, Director of Internet Engineering. Jim reports that our network at Halsey Street, Newark, with co-location facilities at Montclair State University, Philadelphia and Camden, maintains a sturdy presence. Over the past year, NJEDge’s Internet capacity has been increased and a new network design is in place.
During Hurricane Sandy the NJEDge.Net system remained reliable, helping schools like Fairleigh Dickinson and Georgian Court universities, and The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey, stay in contact with students, faculty and staff.
To remain reliable, Jim completed a Network Core transition to Cisco ASR9K Series and installed a new NJEDge POP at Rowan University in Camden.
Interested in a second ISP connection, Ocean County College recently installed Locator/ID Separation Protocol (LISP), a routing architecture that separates a device’s identity and attachment to a network. Inspired by Jim Stankiewicz’s presentation about LISP at Rider, I talked to him about having it installed rather than using BGP. I had previously been at NJEDge meetings with Jim, Mike Kobal and Cisco, where they discussed it. Based on these talks, I decided LISP was the right path for Ocean.
Besides the second ISP connection, LISP has other benefits for Ocean. One is that it is easy and simple to use. Additionally, LISP has a feature that allows colleges to use their own IP addresses at remote sites, a feature that may come in handy in the future for disaster recovery.
In order to meet the institutional needs, Stevens Institute of Technology opted to install its virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) at the NJEDge Montclair co-location facility. Jim facilitated this move by implementing a network design to accommodate Stevens’ needs. We have also begun to test secured Internet routing known as rPKI.
Jim is in the process of conducting a pilot to test Host Mobility. Members have enhanced connectivity options through our co-location at Montclair State University. LISP provides a streamlined solution for handling multi-provider connectivity and policy without BGP complexity. It is offered to our members at no additional charge. Presently, there is increased resiliency to our LISP Mapping System. We have also installed a new 10G service for Rutgers University to connect to the BIG 10 Conference. Jim has configured twenty-four connected members to run LISP in their network. Ocean County College and the Pingry Schools are the most recent adopters of the LISP technology.
Now Ocean has two ASR routers, one going to Comcast and one going to Verizon/NJEDge. Jim Stankiewicz did the configurations for both connections using LISP. The two different ISP’s were thoroughly tested, one at a time. Having a second ISP connection makes Ocean more confident that the college’s Internet can handle something going wrong. Working with Jim was great. He presented the information for the LISP configuration. Jim made his instructions very clear and left no guesswork. After getting the circuits and Comcast equipment installed, Jim Stankiewicz and I were able to transition into LISP on a Sunday, during regular network maintenance time. At the same time that Ocean County College installed LISP, the college also increased the bandwidth to NJEDge and to Comcast to four hundred megabytes. Increasing the bandwidth to NJEDge took care of increasing the bandwidth to Ocean’s satellite campus in Manahawkin because Ocean’s internet connection goes through the Tom’s River’s campus in a point-to-point connection. Anthony Carfora
Network Manager
Network Update
Jim Stankiewicz Internet Engineer
Program Management Update
The NJEDge program management unit facilitates member support. The unit is responsible for the NJEDge strategic goal of maintaining technical excellence for our members. In order to make sure that NJEDge is responsive to member needs, and proactive in helping members plan, Bruce Tyrrell and his associate, Bridget Trapanese, work with members to optimize their network connections to the NJEDge core and at off-site campus locations.
Bruce collaborates with Jim Stankiewicz, NJEDge’s Internet Engineer, in providing dual connectivity, redundancy, disaster recovery, and WAN optimization for our members. Bruce coordinates between the members and vendors, while Jim designs and operates the NJEDge core network. In 2014, together they developed and implemented vendor circuit testing and certification process; installed network support of the new Camden POP at the Cooper Medical School of Rowan University and provided remote support to troubleshoot existing NJEDge and member network issues with the new Fluke test platform.
Eric Kumala, NJEDge’s Video Engineer, is a member of Bruce’s team. Together they work to educate members on Vidyo, the video conferencing solution. They present on video conferencing benefits to K12 school districts, higher education institutions and local municipalities. This past year they installed nine new Vidyo room systems.
NJEDge has had a significant growth in video in the last twelve months. Cumulatively, K-12 and high education members access nearly 800 hours of video conferencing per semester. Egg Harbor Township School District used video conferencing to conduct real time conversation with students in France.
Bruce facilitated Stevens Institute of Technology’s adoption of a new GigE Internet and a 10 Gig virtual desktop infrastructure through our co-location facilities at Montclair State University. By leveraging Montclair State University, Bruce helped Ocean County College plan for its disaster recovery system. This year Bruce brought on board Pingry School and Linden Board of Education as new connected K-12 members. He assisted Montclair Board of Education and Township in a major upgrade, bringing them to a GigE connection.
Dual connectivity is vital for any institution, especially when faced with an emergency like Hurricane Sandy. Ocean County College, Raritan Valley Community College and The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey are new dual connected members to the NJEDge’s network (which has its own redundancy). This ensures NJEDge members reliable Internet connection.
To increase last mile diversity, Raritan Valley Community College, College of St. Elizabeth and Bergen County College moved their last mile redundant access to Fibertech. When UMDNJ merged with Rutgers, NJEDge managed the Rutgers’ WAN migration project and assisted Rowan University with its massive circuit redesign.
Bruce and Bridget implemented Send Word Now, the emergency notification platform, to improve communications with our members during emergencies and policy changes.
Bruce Tyrrell Program Manager
Deputy Director Update
As Deputy Executive Director, Brian Gately has overall responsibility for financing, and member relationships.
Together with George Laskaris and Sheri Prupis, Brian puts together the strategic plan, that turns the Board of Trustees’ priorities to the action plan. Brian has added responsibility of assuring NJEDge is fiscally sound. Brian has a telecommunications background that he combines with business acumen and budgetary expertise
to help the NJEDge.Net team. He manages vendor bids and contracts plus looks for new services to meet members’ needs. Focusing on optimal strategies and services for the network, he evaluates and plans new services. Tactically, Brian meets with member institutions to support them in the planning process.
Brian brings to NJEDge.Net a better way to do business. He coordinates bid preparation, bid evaluation, and works on contract execution. Brian’s detailed budget management background has benefited NJEDge.Net’s planning efforts. He is the main contact with the auditors and the NJIT financial services group.
Like any successful team member Brian knows his colleagues all wear multiple hats and each one pitches in where needed. Another reminder of how NJEDge.Net serves the community holistically.
Brian Gately
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The New Jersey Common Core and State Technology Standards brings new challenges to K12 school districts. Equitable access for our students and faculty is the most demanding need our school district has been forced to deal with to enhance our technology infrastructure and support.
The Vidyo portal service provided by NJEDge has helped the Egg Harbor Township school district participate in home and global community projects. Having a safe social network for communicating with other classes and students around the world is one of the main core objectives in establishing global communities for future work place readiness. Egg Harbor Township students are able to participate, in real time, conversations with students in France through this video conferencing system.
Michael Sweeder
Educational Media Technology Director
Egg Harbor Township of New Jersey
Brookdale Community College had a single connection to NJEDge’s network. This created a vulnerability for its branch campus and four higher education centers. The centers were connected to the Internet through a single switched Ethernet
service circuit to their main campus in Lincroft. With increased reliance on hosted services such as Google Apps and the Canvas learning management system, the college needed to improve the reliability and resiliency of Internet at all their sites.
Brookdale Community College
Initially the college investigated adding redundant circuits to each higher education center, but budgetary constraints forced it to look at other options. NJEDge designed and proposed a cost-effective solution to add some measure of redundancy at a far lower cost. NJEDge added a second virtual circuit back to a NJEDge point-of-presence; should the primary circuit path back to the main campus fail, traffic will be rerouted through this secondary circuit through a virtual firewall, directly out to the Internet. This solution moves Brookdale closer to the reliable network a college needs.
Camille Shelley, Executive Director
NJEDge.Net supports Vidyo as the video conferencing solution for K12, higher education, local and state government. Through Eric Kumala’s efforts, NJEDge has had significant growth in the adoption of Vidyo. Nearly 800 hours of video conferencing occur every semster. Among NJEDge.Net’s video conference successes, most noteworthy this year, was its involvement with Super Bowl XLVIII hosted at MetLife Stadium. Partnering with the NJ Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness, NJEDge’s Vidyo Service was utilized to provide real-time situational awareness to various federal, state, county and local agencies involved with the Super Bowl.
NJEDge’s Vidyo service was deployed at the Super Bowl Public Safety Complex to not only provide video conferencing to command staff but also used to retransmit various camera feeds from the PSC (public safety complex) to other agencies. Command staff had access to thousands of camera feeds including the stadium, NJ Transit and various other official sources. Video feeds were transported from stadium cameras and NJ Transit cameras to public safety agencies. To do so required cameras access to the stadium, helicopter video, and other assets. NJEDge’s video service was the glue that
was utilized to connect the stadium to other public safety compounds, such as the County of Bergen, Morris County, FBI, and other government agencies. Whatever was shown on the video wall at the stadium was sent to the other locations. In the event of something catastrophic happening, video was part of the disaster plan, so that local authorities could videoconference and share real time camera sources with other agencies, including the federal government.
To arrange the video feeds for the Super Bowl, work had to be done a year in advance. Monthly meetings became bimonthly meetings as work progressed in identifying locations for the cameras, and deploying equipment, assets and resources. Multiple weekends were spent structuring the video plan. For the last half of the NFL season, NJEDge was at Giants Stadium during the home games, testing, evaluating and rehearsing for the Super Bowl.
This is not the first time NJEDge’s Vidyo technology has been used for public safety situational awareness. During Hurricane Sandy, NJEDge’s video technology was provided to the state police to be used for situational awareness. Should something catastrophic happen, the situation can visibly be shared with public safety around the state or country, and recovery can begin.
Video Conferencing Update
Super Bowl Public Safety Complex Eric Kumala
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In July of 2013, NJEDge and VMware extended the Enterprise License Agreement (ELA) for an additional three years, allowing members to continue to receive outstanding discounts on software and support for their virtualization projects. As part of this extension, NJEDge also enlisted Carahsoft to provide aggregation services for the administration of the ELA. This was especially important to assist with bringing into the program more than twenty five VMware certified resellers.
Joe Rearden initiates and heads up the virtualization program for NJEDge. As Business Planning Manager, he negotiated the VMware agreement extension.
At the NJEDge Annual Conference in November of 2013, NJEDge and NJIT announced the production availability of a new “LIVEBOAT” Infrastructure-as-a-Service offering as part of the NJEDge Community Cloud. Six members have begun using LIVEBOAT and several have moved backups of their critical tier 1 applications, like websites, DNS and directory services into this environment. Early reports confirm that the LIFEBOAT provides a cost effective, on-net solution for disaster recovery and business continuity purposes, which will be available to members even if their campus infrastructure is taken offline by natural disasters or other emergency situations.
In January of 2014, NJEDge extended its strategic partnership with the New Jersey School Boards Association. Through this partnership, more than thirty school districts are now participating in NJEDge’s virtualization program. In the future, NJEDge and the New Jersey School Board Association (NJSBA) hope to extend this partnership to offer additional cost-saving opportunities and support digital learning for the entire K-20 community in New Jersey.
In March, NJEDge completed negotiations with Nutanix, a leading provider of converged infrastructure for virtualization which allows NJEDge members to receive special, member only discounts on Nutanix hardware, software and support.
NJEDge held a Virtualization & Community Cloud Day at Mercer County Community College in May. There were seventy five participants. Chris Wolf, VMware’s Chief Technology Officer for the Americas, was the keynote speaker. There were also several breakout sessions on virtualization and related topics, including one by the Core Systems team from NJIT. In addition, a “hands on lab” was provided where participants could learn about the latest technologies.
Two months later, NJEDge held a VMware vSphere: Install, Configure, Manage course at the Southern Regional Institute and Educational Technology Training Center. There were eight participants from five member institutions in this week long, in-depth course on server virtualization.
Virtualization Update
Joe Rearden
Business Planning Manager
NJIT/NJEDge LIFEBOAT
This year, I was asked by our vice president of academics to give a presentation to the faculty about VDI (virtual desktop infrastructure) at Passaic County Community College’s Faculty Development Day. I accepted and saw the advantages of having 120 or so faculty, deans, and VP’s in one room. I wanted to explain how we were able to implement Server and Desktop Virtualization at the college and how, with NJEDge’s leadership and professional development programs, we were able to accomplish this initiative. In assembling my presentation, I began by asking myself the question “What is VDI?” As any good Internet user would do, I consulted Wikipedia. According to Wikipedia, “Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) is a desktop-centric service that hosts users desktop environments on remote servers and/or blade PC’s which are accessed over a network using a remote display protocol.” I needed to be able to explain this in terms that the layperson could understand.
There are many advantages to using VDI, such as the many connection options. Besides using a thin client or PC, one can use a multitude of mobile devices such as smart phones and tablets. I regularly access my virtual desktop on my Apple iPad and can access my desktop using my Samsung Android phone. The biggest advantage to VDI is being able to access one’s desktop from anywhere on and off campus with a network presence. No longer does one have to be “at the desk” to access one’s desktop. One can be anywhere, at any time.
Gone are also the worries about PC failures, backups and hard drive crashes. Over the years at PCCC, we have built multiple datacenters with redundant power supplies, generators, computing resources, storage and backup strategies. With VDI, security and data get protected via centralization. The data no longer resides at the user device; it is stored in the data center. I told the faculty that besides providing them with virtual desktops, we are also provisioning student labs and parts of the library with VDI. This gives us the added benefit of providing students with a standard lab desktop with all the common software titles installed. This desktop can be accessed from anywhere on campus and eventually from anywhere off-campus as well.
I also described the benefits of VDI for IT administrators, such as providing a more centralized, efficient user environment that is easier to maintain and able to respond more quickly to the changing needs of the user. Virtualization gives IT the opportunity to manage users’ desktops centrally, without needing to leave the office. For example,
every semester we used to do a desktop refresh for every PC in the labs and Library, restoring every PC to a clean state and applying patches and updates. We needed to visit 1600 PC’s with 1600 different versions of operating systems, Microsoft Office, browsers and so on. This was a high maintenance, time consuming process. Today, using our virtualization software, we can send a fresh copy of the desktop each time the user logs in. All updates and patches can be applied very easily. System/PC maintenance is reduced dramatically through virtualization. VDI deployment provides anytime, anywhere access to desktops, apps and data, optimal user experience on most devices over most networks, centralized management of desktops and applications, up-to-date with security and compliance regulations and additional business continuity and disaster recovery options.
Savings are apparent in other areas as well. Using thin clients significantly reduces our electrical footprint. Desktop computers typically use about 65-250 watts of power per-hour whereas thin clients only use about 6-14 watts of power per-hour. Other savings come from software licensing because of different pricing models used for virtual environments.
NJEDge.Net was instrumental in providing professional development programs. These programs covered the topics of virtualization and advanced networking technologies that enabled our staff to gain the knowledge needed to implement the technology at PCCC. Also, with NJEDge’s consortium-buying, PCCC was able to purchase the software and support needed to implement virtualization at significant savings.
Explaining Virtualization to Get Buy-in from Faculty and Admin
Robert Mondelli
VP of Information Technology Passaic County Community College
We are defined by our work. Its
effectiveness is measured by
the connection to individuals
and community.
At the 2013 annual conference, we paid tribute to
those who created the foundation for NJEDge.Net.
Saul Fenster, Jeanne Oswald, George Carroll, Kathy
Ciociola and Dennis Bone were the first to envision
and put in place a statewide research and educational
network for New Jersey. They were given the Charles
McMickle Award for Innovation and Excellence.
At all our events—annual conference, faculty
showcase, activity group meetings, webinars—we
witnessed a community hard at work. Their agenda
is to collaborate, lead,
champion, celebrate and
connect. Attendance to all
the major events surpassed
the year before, attesting to
how the members feel about
the work we do. NJEDge is
relevant.
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- Wendell Berry, American novelist and cultural critic
…The real name of our connection to this everywhere
different and differently named earth is ‘work.’
“
”
Academic & Community Engagement Update
Academic & Community Engagement Update
2013 Annual Conference – Digital Reality
The annual conference did hear many projections of what is
digital reality. Vijay Kumar of the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology (MIT) spoke about new ecosystems of learning
opportunities formed by open source technology. MOOC
(Massive Open Online Course) is the new challenge, and the
new reality of massive online learning. Clive Thompson of
the New York Times Magazine discussed public thinking,
new literacies, ambient awareness, and, drawing on his own
experience using Google Glass, wearable computing. Jeff
Selingo from The Chronicle of Higher Education, discussed
how the perfect storm of financial, political, demographic, and
technological forces are changing higher education forever.
EDge.Networks—the activity groups—was very productive. At the first meeting of the Academic Technology Group
(ATG), Derek Weber of Raritan Valley Community College presented on his success with creating a flipped classroom.
Three attendees returned to their campus and developed their own flipped class. At the Executive Forum at the
2013 annual conference, the NJCIOs discussed cyber security and decided to produce a generic video, one for
faculty and the other for students, on initial steps to take in safeguarding personal and institutional data. Too often
the user services professionals who are in the forefront of campus service are forgotten but their responsibilities are
vital to maintain the welfare of faculty, students, administrators, and staff. NJEDge addressed the issues concerning
Helpdesk personnel, desktop support technicians, media assistants, IT support specialists and consultants by
sponsoring the first User Services Symposium in June 2014.
The action plan set by the Academic Technology Group was quickly embraced as was the decision of the NJCIO
Forum in creating a cyber-awareness video. The enthusiasm of the June gathering prompted the formation of a
User Services activity group.
We approached Raritan Valley Community College, New Jersey Institute of Technology, Rider and Montclair State
universities to write about their latest innovation on campus and how NJEDge made a difference in teaching
innovations. The consensus is NJEDge is attuned to their innovations, and is often the collaborator in their
academic technology. More and more we see members seeking out NJEDge to help them in their professional
growth. From student internships to student success, these write-ups are emblematic of the work of our members
and their relationship with NJEDge. Members make the most of what is new and they interact with the consortium
as a vessel, venue, or depot to continue the work.
Honorees receiving the Charles McMickle Award for Innovation and Excellence at the 2013 Annual Conference
Clive Thompson wearing Google Glass George Laskaris and Vijay Kumar
In spite of being in the age of webinars and video conferencing, a two and a half day face-to-face meeting is not
anachronistic, it is essential. It allows participants to get to know colleagues, it is paramount to see, touch and
feel the collegiality.
Brookdale Community College was the first two-year school to host the Faculty Best Practices Showcase. There were 28 breakout sessions and 14 poster presentations. Erin Templeton, associate professor of English from Converse College and Ken Ronkowitz from NJIT were guest speakers.
Professional development programs like the showcase attracts the younger generation of faculty and staff. They are eager to learn and share. It is a good opportunity to show works-in-progress because the feedback from participants is helpful and comes from seasoned presenters. Targeted to educators from K-12, higher education, institutional research, and healthcare related teaching, the faculty showcase is an opportunity to present work of New Jersey academics to colleagues.
The showcase features dynamic presentations and posters on technology-mediated instruction. This is an excellent arena for NJEDge members, faculty, researchers and professional staff to present on the newest applications and latest ideas about learning activities for on-ground and online courses.
The most satisfying demonstration of community engagement was the User Services Symposium. User services managers and directors, helpdesk personnel, and administrative staff from over 15 institutions came to the inaugural event. The guest speaker, John Bucher, talked about his experience from being a helpdesk personnel to becoming chief technology officer at Oberlin College to an appreciative crowd. The participants solidly engaged with colleagues from other schools. The enthusiasm was palpable. Managers of user services, helpdesk personnel and administrative staff who act as the first line of defense for any institution gathered for the inaugural meeting and were inspiring and inspired by what was presented. Most importantly, they networked with peers from other institutions, shared stories and made steps for future collaboration. All felt that such a gathering was long overdue and they made the most of the day by interacting with colleagues.
Everyone showed great appreciation for NJEDge’s coordination for the symposium and look forward to becoming part of new activity group in EDge.Networks.
Faculty Best Practices Showcase
User Services Symposium
Patricia Kahn of Brookdale welcoming attendees
Showcase assembly
Andrew Chiang of Brookdale addressing the panel
The Summer Luncheon is the
annual “feel good” event held
in July as a thank you from
NJEDge to our members for
their continued support.
Robbie Melton from the Tennessee School of Regents was explosive! Her talk was a demonstration of the latest smart devices, such as a $100 tablet from Walmart, and introduction to new apps that can monitor your health and wealth. Robbie explained the benefits of some of the newest apps and eLearning innovations. The event was at a new location, McCloone’s of Long Branch, because our crowd has grown considerably. Attendance to the Summer Luncheon has grown 25% in one year. In 2014, over 180 participants gathered by the beach, along the Jersey shore, and celebrated themselves and NJEDge.
2014 Summer Luncheon
Robbie Melton’s presentation style
The 2014 luncheon was also the first time that a full social media blitz (a new NJEDge app, Facebook invites, and a live social tweet) played an integral part of making this luncheon a success.
At 2013 NJEDge annual conference, the NJCIOs met at the Thursday Executive Forum to talk about cyber security. How does an institution protect itself from inappropriate behavior of its end users--faculty, staff, and students? Incoming students and new faculty may not be aware of the protocol of keeping one’s identify safe. And in this community of computers, laptops, smartphones, and tablets, we are living out our lives through the use of these devices. In this BYOD environment, cyber security can easily be compromised, unwittingly perhaps, but a breach affects student records, financial aid, institutional research and many more data that reside on the campus IT resources. One preventive method was to create a generic video, one for faculty and the other for students on basic safety measures..
Princeton University supplied the script, and Neal Sturm, CIO of Fairleigh Dickinson University, took on the responsibility of producing two versions of the video. The videos run 5 minutes each and can be accessible through NJVID. NJEDge urges its members to use the two videos as part of student and faculty orientation.
At Raritan Valley Community College, my main responsibility is to teach Principles of Biology, a general education course targeted for non-science majors. Most students entering the course either have a fear or disdain for science due to past experiences. My goal for the course is to cultivate an appreciation and understanding for science, while also providing opportunities for students to improve in many of the other skills required for the 21st century student: problem-solving, responsibility, accountability, innovation, initiative, exploration, productivity, communication, and collaboration.
It became apparent that the structure of my classroom was one of the greatest impediments. Like most others, I was educated in an instructor-centered environment, where the students were passive recipients of information. Opportunities to problem-solve, to explore, or to collaborate were few and far between. By parroting my own learning experience, I was hindering the ability of my students to achieve these learning outcomes. I desired to modify my classroom to resemble an orchestral show, where the instrumentalists were at the center of the experience, guided by a conductor.
The flipped classroom model presented this opportunity. By delivering content pre-lecture either through the use of screencasts or reading, there are additional opportunities to maximize our twice weekly meetings. I no longer teach to a collective body of one. By using lecture time more efficiently, I am able to assess students individually and meet them where they are, all while providing opportunities for greater accountability, exploration, and contextually relevant learning. Instead of staring off into space or tinkering with social media, these non-science students were actively engaged in their own learning. We now engage in meaningful debates on the role of biology in society, which was always difficult due to my
The Collaborative Work of NJCIO Forum
Flipped Classroom Mode: Principles of Biology
obsession with covering the material.
The success of this flipped approach, with the infusion of instructional technology, has provided the impetus for
others within the department to choose this path. I am currently working with our Anatomy and Physiology instructors to assist in their efforts to flip by sharing my knowledge in the area of screencasting and mobile technology. The Environmental Studies program asked me how to get started. This approach is now mainstream and continues to grow in popularity.
One of the most helpful experiences in my journey was the opportunity to present my work in collaboration with NJEDge. I presented at the annual conference in November and with the statewide technology group in February. These opportunities to share my experiences and collect feedback have been an important part of the process.
Derek Weber
Associate Professor of Biology Department of Science and Engineering
For years I have participated in NJEDge because its members made me a better educator and IT professional. Getting the opportunity to meet my colleagues from around the state has confirmed that we all face many of the same challenges. Members are able to build professional networks and become more effective professionals by sharing strategies and experiences.
While the eight NJEDge activity groups cater to many of the IT professionals that support teaching with technology, the user services professionals have largely been underserved. Unfortunately, this is a common theme that can be seen on many campuses. Too often the user services professionals that are on the front lines of our campuses are forgotten about as policies are implemented and technologies introduced. The assumption is that whatever gets thrown their way will be easily handled and supported. Too often they get passed up for professional development opportunities either because budgets are being tightened or we need them on campus.
To address this need NJEDge hosted its first User Services Symposium on June 12. The turnout was stronger than expected as more than seventy Help Desk Associates, Desktop Support Technicians, Media Assistants, IT Support Specialists and Consultants came together to explore strategies for better serving our students, faculty and staff. They represented community, four-year colleges, and universities and research institutions. For many participants, this was their first opportunity to meet their counterparts from other schools and to establish dialogue and relationships that will form a new User Services Activity Group.
When planning for this event began we wanted to acknowledge that the user services profession has rapidly evolved. We needed a key-note speaker that was familiar with how the user services professions have evolved and more importantly the direction that it is headed. Dr. Bucher, Chief Technology Officer at Oberlin College, was a perfect fit. With more than four decades of end user support Dr. Bucher was able to help everyone as IT professionals – providing forward thinking suggestions for structuring careers as well as for ongoing professional development.
User Services Symposium at NJIT
After the morning key-note there were eight different presentations by NJEDge members on topics such as prospecting and retaining student talent, developing a Helpdesk ticket tracking database, time management, inventory tracking and PC management. In many cases the presentations were made by people who had not previously spoken at an NJEDge event. After the breakout sessions Dr. Bucher led a panel discussion with IT leaders from four schools who discussed the pressing issues impacting the user services profession.
From the positive reaction, it was apparent that there is a need for an activity group that can develop a community among these important and often under-appreciated user services professionals on our campuses. Moving forward I will co-chair this group with Yelena Lyudmilova, Assistant Director of Education and Computing Technology at Essex County College. One of our first tasks will be to establish a user services track at the NJEDge annual conference to continue the conversations and sharing.
Blake Haggerty
Director, Technology Support Center New Jersey Institute of Technology
During the 2011-2012 academic year, Rider University created a taskforce to evaluate its learning management system (LMS). This periodic evaluation was done to ensure that the university provided the best software to its community and to realize any potential cost savings. This Evaluation Committee was charged with reviewing available LMS systems and making a recommendation whether to stay with Blackboard, Rider’s current LMS, or to adopt a different one. The university had piloted Moodle and Canvas while Rider was still using Blackboard, and faculty who had tried Canvas were vocal advocates for its adoption on campus.
The Evaluation Committee was faculty-led, with broad
representation of academic departments, and once it agreed on Canvas, Rider formed an Implementation Committee, comprised of staff from the IT office, Teaching and Learning Center, and Academic Affairs office. The Implementation Committee met weekly to ensure project milestones were met. The committee was particularly sensitive to issues of communication and the training of faculty and students. Faculty on the Evaluation Committee served as early adopters of Canvas and worked with the Implementation Committee to provide support for their colleagues.
Rider’s Canvas Integration
Rider launched Canvas during the Summer Sessions to give faculty enough time to prepare for the fall semester. Now Canvas is the single LMS system to support the entire university. Rider did not experience any major issues with the conversion. In fact, the conversion resulted in fewer Helpdesk tickets and doubled faculty adoption of the LMS. Instructure, as a company, has been responsive and helped with the transition. Rider’s schools are currently working on using Canvas for outcomes collection and are in the process of replacing systems that they used to collect them.
Kim Heeyong
Coordinator of Distance Learning College of Continuing Studies
Boris Vilic Dean, College of Continuing Studies
It has long been established that online and hybrid college courses offer students the opportunity to achieve equivalent, and in some cases higher learning gains. So, why aren’t students doing better online?
Concerned with student persistence and performance in online classes, Professors Pattiann Kletz and Melanie Morris from Raritan Valley Community College developed a Student Success Module. The module instructs students on the realities of online coursework, the characteristics of a successful online student, where to get academic and technical help, and academic integrity. The materials were developed from best practices and scholarship on successful online study. The module has three components which each include a unique interactive element as well as an assessment to gauge learning.
During the 2013 NJEDge annual conference, enthusiastic presentation attendees interacted with the materials. The module was introduced into select courses beginning fall 2013. During summer 2014, students were surveyed about the materials. Student feedback indicates that students changed their approach to the course, with several noting that they
Raritan Valley’s Student Success in Online Courses
devoted more time to the course and took it more seriously. One student even commented that they scheduled their sign on times in their calendar. Another student volunteered that this was the first online course they completed, with all previous online attempts ending in withdrawal. Having a better understanding of online work provides students with the tools to take a more intentional approach to online learning and the opportunity to plan their studies appropriately. Preliminary quantitative data suggests that persistence in courses using the student success module increased in the summer 2014 as compared to summer 2013.
Establishing realistic expectations at the outset of online education should help students adapt to online study as well as raise their consciousness about the various ways in which they can achieve academically.
Patti Kletz Chair, Business & Public Service Department
Melanie Morris, Professor of Business Law
Within the past six years, the Division of Information Technology has developed an IT Internship Program at Montclair State University — a great new way to give students real-life work experience in IT.
This innovative program had its start in 2008 when IT began to notice a trend with current student employees leaving their positions as student assistants and working for companies off campus. With the support of then University Help Desk Manager, Summer R. Jones, the IT Internship Program began offering students a chance to work in IT for credit.
The division introduced its first two students to the IT Internship Program in summer 2008. As the program criteria had not been fully developed, it was decided that IT would allow the student interns to work on projects that were worthwhile but abandoned due to time constraints with the full time staff. That summer, the students worked independently creating and implementing a formalized Remote Desktop program and our first iteration of a “desktop lockdown”. In fall 2008, the IT Internship Program was opened to all eligible MSU students. Over the course of the last six years, the program has averaged two to three interns per year with several of those students going on to work as full time professionals within the distributed technology groups at MSU.
The IT Internship Program is part of a larger framework within the university. The program works directly with the Cooperative Education Program (CO-OP), which allows students to exchange supervised work experience for college credit. The Cooperative Education Program gives students skills that they can utilize in the future. In addition to receiving direct referrals from faculty advisors and Gennae Hinson, Director for Career Services within the College of Science and Mathematics, the IT Internship Program recruits through its listing as an employer in the CO-OP program.
In recruiting for the program, the desirable qualities are initiative, independence and aptitude to learn, since technical skillsets can vary from person to person. The internship is a platform for learning, so having those characteristics are key to completing the internship successfully. Each intern is matched with a full time staff member according to the intern’s skillset and assigned project. This staff member serves as the intern’s supervisor to guide the intern to the correct resources in order to complete his or her tasks.
Each student intern is treated as a hybrid of student and employee. They are given a workspace separate from the student area. In addition, they are able to work 40 hours versus the 20 hour limit that MSU imposes on
its student employees. The interns must present their projects to the supervising managers, directors and the Vice President of Information Technology. However, there is also an academic component of the internship program. To receive credit, all interns must submit a learning agreement for approval to their Faculty advisor. They must also complete both a mid-semester and final evaluation, and a site visit from their faculty advisors. Interns are evaluated by their CO-OP advisors, faculty advisor, and direct supervisors in IT.
For many graduating seniors MSU was a logical path to career development. Jeff Giacobbe, Associate Vice President for Enterprise Technology Services and Minto Gill, Director of Networking and Telecommunications, chose to work in their alma mater upon graduation along with countless other MSU technical staff.
Montclair State University’s IT Internship Program provides practical work experience, helps develop project management skills, presentation skills and exposes the intern to a real world work environment. This exposure is invaluable in today’s society for developing marketable employees.
The program provided a real benefit to IT as it has enabled interns to work on projects that might have been placed on hold. It gave full time staff direct supervision over the interns to increase their soft skills and produced policies and applications that are still being used today. Some of these major endeavors are the IT Services Status page, the Computer Lab Availability Tool and our campus-wide 24x7 Virtual Computing Lab.
The IT Internship Experience at Montclair State University
CONNECTED
COMMUNITY
Affiliate Partner Program Update
NJEDge.Net’s Affiliate Partner
Program is a valuable way for
companies to support
its mission.
2013-2014 was a year of dynamic growth for the Affiliate Program, with more companies than ever before seeking an affiliation with NJEDge.Net
The Affiliate Partner Program is an integral part of how we service our community. The support provided by the Affiliate Program helps NJEDge host successful events which strengthen the member community. Affiliate Program events give members the exclusive access to the experts and professional development they need to keep their institutions at the cutting edge of new educational technology.
Companies who are accepted into the Affiliate Program pay a yearly membership fee and receive significant discounts for their participation in NJEDge annual events.
The Affiliate Program was revamped in 2014 in order to
accommodate the growing number of companies wanting to join the community. The new structure enables NJEDge Affiliates to choose a partnership level that matches their company’s needs and budget. Companies can select Bronze, Silver, Gold, or Platinum sponsorship.
-- George Pashardis, ePlus Regional VP of Sales
As an Affiliate Member, ePlus Technology is proud to
be a Platinum Sponsor. Being a Platinum Sponsor
allows us to help educate NJEDge members as
well as strengthen our relationship with the higher
education community.
“
Affiliate Partner Program Update
The 2013-2014 Affiliate Partner Program was responsible for 10 webinars on relevant and timely topics ranging from learning management systems to disaster recovery and planning for educational continuity. Our affiliates also co-hosted well-attended in-person events. One of these events, a special security summit at Rutgers University, gave NJEDge members the exciting opportunity to discuss security issues with Teresa Payton former CIO of the White House.
The Affiliate Program had a very positive impact on NJEDge.Net events in 2013-2014. Our partner companies provided important support for our Annual Conference, Faculty Showcase, Virtualization & Community Cloud Day, and Summer Luncheon. NJEDge.Net Affiliate Partners were a strong presence on our 2013 Conference’s vendor floor. They sponsored speakers, breakout sessions, and of course the creative social networking opportunities for which our conference is so famous. These special events included a wine and appetizer reception, special customized drinks for conference attendees, and several rounds of laser tag and tank battles.
The Affiliate Program is launching an exciting new program in 2014-2015. With an eye to deepening connections and providing even more quality programming for members, NJEDge opened a “Platinum Sponsor” category for long-time NJEDge supporter ePlus Technology.
Affiliate Partner Program Member Education –
Experts Teach Trending Topics
2013-2014 Affiliate Program Webinars
• The Convergence of Technology and Records Management: How to Create Anywhere/Anytime Access
• Optimizing Network Infrastructure for Video Surveillance • Compliance and E-Discovery: Managing Electronic Information • Student Success and Student Retention
• How to Choose a Learning Management System
• Designing a Continuity of Learning Plan for your Institution • Climate Change and Disaster Recovery
• IT Help Desk Lessons Learned • End-user Computing
• Data-driven Predictive Decision Making in Infrastructure Planning • Creating a Teaching Ecosystem
2013-2014 Affiliate Program On-Site Seminars
• Embracing the Internet of Everything in NJ Education - Rutgers’ HighPoint Stadium
• Core BTS and NJEDge.Net Presents Security in Education Summit – Rutgers Student Center
• Infrastructure Pitfalls in a Mobile World – Middlesex County College
ePlus inc. is a technology solutions integrator with core focus areas in data center/cloud computing, collaboration, IT infrastructure, services capabilities, and security. They are headquartered in Herndon, VA.
Gold Sponsor
Broadview Networks is a New-York based information technology and cloud services provider which offers its own advanced communications network as well as integrated networking services.
Gold Sponsor
Located in Long Branch, New Jersey, MRA International is a full-service Hewlett-Packard dealer which provides technical consultation and product training to clients in state and local government, K-12, higher education and healthcare.
Gold Sponsor
Johnston Communications Voice and Data is a privately owned telecommunications integrator in the New York metropolitan area which designs, installs, and maintains wireless networks, surveillance, and security solutions.
Silver Sponsor
Aspire Technology Partners is a professional technology services firm headquartered in Hazlet, New Jersey which specializes in business infrastructure and communication solutions.
Silver Sponsor
Brightspace is a learning platform created by Desire2Learn. More than 650 institutions in 20 different countries around the world use enterprise eLearning solutions provided by D2L.
Silver Sponsor
Canvas by Instructure is a cloud-based education technology platform in use at over 400 colleges, universities, and school districts that delivers mobile LMS access. Instructure is headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Silver Sponsor
Computer Design and Integration LLC , a New Jersey-based company focused on data center solutions, provides comprehensive and innovative technology infrastructure services that address the needs of our SLED customers.
Silver Sponsor
CoreBTS integrates technologies and customizes solutions for business and education customers. CoreBTS specializes in addressing the security and compliance challenges faced by K-12 and Higher Ed institutions.
Silver Sponsor
Dyntek Services, Inc., a project-based systems integrator provides professional technology solutions to clientele from Higher Education, K-12, and state & local government.
Silver Sponsor
PKA Technology is a New York-based company with expertise in disaster recovery, cloud solutions, high-performance computing, and “green” IT virtualization solutions.
Silver Sponsor
Headquartered in Bellmawr, New Jersey, PBG Networks is an information technology services firm specializing in virtualization solutions and high performance computing.
Silver Sponsor
Headquartered in New York City and with offices around the country, Presidio is an IT solutions provider with expertise in the areas of infrastructure, security, data storage, mobile computing, big data, mass storage, and security.
Silver Sponsor
Promedia Technology Services, Inc., located in Little Falls, NJ, is a technology solutions provider with a focus on education and government clients.
Silver Sponsor
Rockefeller Group Technology Solutions, Inc. delivers solutions for organization’s voice, data, internet, cloud, security, and storage, infrastructure, and professional service needs and requirements.
Bronze Sponsor
Blackboard Inc. is an integrated technology company with corporate headquarters in Washington, D.C. that is primarily known as a developer of education software, in particular Blackboard Learning System.
Bronze Sponsor
Sparta, NJ’s High Point Solutions provides professional services, planning, building and bespoke IT
infrastructure solutions to customers in financial services, retail organizations, healthcare, universities, and government agencies.
Platinum
Sponsor
OFFICERS
Chair
: Sr. Rosemary E. Jeffries
Vice Chair:
Steven Rose
Treasurer
: Joel BloomSecretary
: Neal SturmNJEDge.Net President & CEO
: George LaskarisPUBLIC RESEARCH UNIVERSITIES
Joel Bloom
, President, New Jersey Institute of TechnologyMira Lalovic-Hand
, Vice President & CIO of Information Resources & Technology, Rowan University
Donald Smith
, Vice President of Information Technology and CIO, Rutgers University
David Ullman
, Associate Provost for Information Services & Technology and CIO, New Jersey Institute of TechnologySTATE COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES
Edward Chapel
, Vice President of Information Technology and CIO, Montclair State University
Susan Henderson
, President, New Jersey City University
Harvey Kesselman
, Provost and Executive Vice President, Richard Stockton College of NJ
James McCarthy
, Associate Provost for Computing and Communications, Richard Stockton College of NJ
Taras Pavlovsky
, Chair, VALE Executive Committee/Dean of the Library, The College of New Jersey
Kathleen Waldron
, President, William Paterson University of New Jersey
INDEPENDENT COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES
Sr. Rosemary Jeffries
, President, Georgian Court University
Carol Kondrach
, Associate Vice President, Rider University
Neal Sturm
, Vice President and CIO, Fairleigh Dickinson University
COMMUNITY COLLEGES
Steven Rose
, President, Passaic County Community College
Jack Farrell
, Senior Professor, Union County College
Maris Lown
, Vice President Academic Affairs, Union County College
Maureen Murphy
, President, Brookdale Community CollegePROPRIETARY COLLEGES & UNIVERSITIES
Leonard DeBotton
, CIO and Vice President, Berkeley CollegeOUTSIDE HIGHER EDUCATION
