Strategic Planning for Course Management Systems California State University October 9, 2006

CSU Chico Case Study Chico Academic Technologies Profile LMS Selection Process The Change to Enterprise LMS Project Schedule, Planning & Teams Faculty Training Issues and Challenges Resources

Calif. State University, Chico 90 miles north of Sacramento 14,550 FTE / 15,600 Students 913 Faculty Serving 12 counties in NE California 30-year history in distance education 1995 Technology and Learning Program (TLP) 1998 started with WebCT 1.3 Chico is one of the original 14 WebCT Institutes Instructional Designers design training Rubric for Online Instruction

Chico’s WebCT 4.1 Status 96% of students access WebCT 32% of course sections (active/engaged) 68% of faculty using WebCT WebCT 4.1 Server: –SUN V processors, Solaris 8 –350GB Hardware RAID System & Course back-ups nightly

Estimated WebCT Usage Spring 2003 Spring 2004 Spring 2005 Faculty Students Course Sections 14,727 Students 1,547 Sections 760 Faculty Spring

WebCT Integration Portal/LDAP –uPortal channel links to current term courses –Link to MyWebCT to link to other courses –LDAP supports direct “back-door” access to WebCT Student Information System –2003 SCT SIS+ “Connected Learning Solution” –Course shell for every course section –Adds and Drops “semi-real-time” –Moved to PeopleSoft Fall 2005 Library –Course shell: generic link to Library resources

Next Generation LMS Available 24x7 Fault Tolerant Integrated with other campus systems Expandable Today’s technology (no perl, relational db) Must do migration from WebCT 4.1 “Modern” features

Chico IT Strategic Planning Target > Beyond > Aligning with the Future These plans included the LMS We were changing ERP systems The LMS was going to move with them Latch on to change and ride the tail

LMS II Selection Process CIO charged a campus committee Committee Demographics Review Chico State’s Priorities –Teaching and Learning –Academic Program Assessment –Support and Sustainability –Enterprise Integration –Institutional Partnership LMS Needs Analysis and Rubrics

Pass/Fail Rubric

Best Fit Rubric

Vista Enterprise Wide (VEW) DVD Changing the Learning Management System Moving it to an Enterprise Application

Old Architecture WebCT CE LDAP Network Back-upsuPortal www Student Information System Data Users Auth ATEC “Control” Computing Networking Web Services DBAs Applications

Vista Architecture Vista Development & Training Vista Production

Change Management Academic Technologies –Vista hotfixes, service packs and upgrades Computing Services –OS upgrades and patches Security and Networking –Host firewall issues DBAs –Oracle configuration, monitoring, management and upgrades

Enterprise Planning (Communication!) Kick-Off meetings (technical and campus) –Informed IT Team Establish ownership & collaboration –Informed campus Set expectations & future vision Project Planning Teams Project Planning Meetings

Project Management Bill Evans Project Management Bill Evans Vista Project Teams (Rev 3/06) California State University, Chico User Services DBAs Application Development Vista Technical Mgmt Lead D. McElroberts Vista Technical Mgmt Lead D. McElroberts Networking ATEC Project Management B Evans P Weddington L Post D McElroberts D Partington K Fernandes Implementation Committee F- B Evans J Kennedy T Somma K Batt S Hillaire T – D Partington B Groendyke Systems Team HW/SW/App B Evans L Sederberg K Fernandes L Sederberg J Ringel B Kissinger D Kuechel F – B Evans C Araya T Somma T – D McElroberts P Berry Technical Integration and Testing F-L Sederberg C Araya J Nowotny T- B Evans B Evans C Franquet Functional Testing Team T – C Franquet L Sederberg Faculty Training & Support C Franquet T- C Araya F - L Sederberg B Evans J Nowotny Content Migration Application & System Security T Somma T-D Partington F- B Evans Student Training & Support Esposto L Sederberg M Ferris C Franquet T Somma B Banks T – J Nowotny S Blackstone J Ringel P Weddington C Araya Application Administration B Evans T Somma B Evans L Sederberg L Gardiner C Guenter R Esposto B Banks Communications L Sederberg V Breeden B Oppy J Bracey R Esposto J Irving Vista Project Director Kathy Fernandes Vista Project Director Kathy Fernandes S Hillaire B Groendyke A Mox D Abbott A Graham D Abbott Vista Project Instructional Documentary K Fernandes D Carter L Sederberg B Evans C Araya P DiFalco C Franquet J Nowotny S Kodai J Musselman M Owens M Spiess Faculty PeopleSoft Info Security

Project Scheduling & Tracking

Targets and Milestones 2005 –Fall – Installation & Train the Trainers –Fall/Winter – Develop Training for Faculty 2006 –Winter – Train Fac. & Develop Pilot Courses –Spring – Run Pilot Courses; Integration – Full Training Series; Train Faculty –Summer – Migrate courses; Test integration –Fall – Half courses running in Vista 2007 –Spring – All courses in Vista –Summer– Clean-up & wrap up

LMS Transition by Department More fun to learn with people you know Less confusion for students Easier management of change Vista is a better department tool –Group decisions/communication –Sharing resources –Program assessment goals

Training Options “Transition to Vista” migration module –2 -1/2 hours, experience with WebCT CE required Foundation series –Vista 101 through 105 (beginners welcome) Intermediate modules –List of electives by topic

Faculty: Why Training? Faculty decisions to be made –Migration methods to choose from –Migrate one course or more? –Consultations

Faculty Training Aids Coffee and cookies Graphics for Vista tools Posters Hats for Build, Teach & Student tabs T-Shirts

Training with Props Chico trainers teach Vista tabs with hats: Build = Construction hat Teach = Mortar board Student View = Chico ball cap

Issues & Challenges Getting Buy-in/Ownership –Started with selection process –System maintenance Cost factors: Buy or build? –Training? Services? Getting others plans –Strategic Plans –Project Plans

Resource Links Chico’s IT Strategic Plans Chico’s VEW Web site Rubric for Online Instruction

Questions?