Educating Minds and Hearts to Change the World USFfiles Xythos at the University of San Francisco

Educating Minds and Hearts to Change the World Drivers for Web-based File Sharing 2002 Network Security policy developed –Desktop file sharing vulnerability –Support load of VPN, virus vulnerability to fac/staff network if run on personal machines to access USF network from home Lack of central backup services –Use of public web server by staff for select file backup Request from 2001 portal procurement process –Campus Pipeline did not offer; Luminis still does not have what we consider a usable offering Bb Basic license level –Faculty desire to easily post syllabi and other materials without using Blackboard Student file sharing desires –Accessibility from off-campus –Ability to keep files for more than one semester

Educating Minds and Hearts to Change the World Why Xythos? Educause presentation by UT Cross-platform client support (40% Mac users among fac/staff) Unix/Linux server platform LDAP support Security Scalability Imaging and workflow options San Francisco company

Educating Minds and Hearts to Change the World Implementation Process Project team formed summer 2004 Developed scope and objectives Acquired server hardware and SAN Xythos support –Install and connection to SAN –Customization to deploy and manage folders by role Built Single Sign-on connection from SunGard SCT Luminis 3.2 Beta testing and documentation Ready in spring 2005

Educating Minds and Hearts to Change the World Quiet Rollout Launched summer 2005 with upgrade from Campus Pipeline to Luminis New tab for faculty, staff and student rolestab Quick Start Brochure (portal Help -> Quick Start Guides) FAQs No formal announcement

Educating Minds and Hearts to Change the World Early Utilization 260 Faculty and staff, 820 students have files stored in USFfiles 10% of portal user base Faculty/Staff have used 4.38 GB of storage; students have used 5.11 GB. Average of MB per user for faculty/staff, 6.41 MB for students Approx. 50 training attendees 53 help requests logged

Educating Minds and Hearts to Change the World Satisfaction Survey Responses 73% of faculty and staff and 75% of students who have tried USFfiles are either satisfied or very satisfied. Majority of remainder are undecided

Educating Minds and Hearts to Change the World Usage Survey Responses USFfiles users indicated that they use the system to: Collaborate with colleagues: 18.8% Work on group projects: 31.2% To send/retrieve homework assignments: 43.8% To share documents with others: 53.1% Using in place of attaching large files to e- mail messages: 43.8%

Educating Minds and Hearts to Change the World Usage Survey Responses (cont.) Other: 40.6% –created restricted access for students to check their grades and class progress –posted software updates for a management simulation –stored presentation files to be accessed while attending conferences, anywhere in the world –stored back-ups –stored a file to be printed from the lab later

Educating Minds and Hearts to Change the World Promotion and Contest Two new quick start pamphlets Online tutorials Contest for 30G iPod: “How can USFfiles be used innovatively to enhance teaching and learning?”

Educating Minds and Hearts to Change the World Challenges Multiple content repositories –Xythos –Blackboard –Serena Collage web content management –Xtender image/document management system –Innovative Millenium Media Manager –(future) E-portfolio –(future) Records Management

Educating Minds and Hearts to Change the World Lessons Learned Single Sign-on was a good rollout approach Would do quiet rollout again; feel more confident about promoting system now that we are familiar with it in production 100 MB quota may be excessive, at least for starters

Educating Minds and Hearts to Change the World Plans Cease offering LAN-based file storage for students starting in summer 2006 Set up a hurdle for web account requests to ensure that the user really needs more robust capabilities than Xythos offers Require VPN for access to LAN resources, including personal desktop. Ensure that VPN requesters’ needs cannot be met by USFfiles. Develop LAN-based file storage and automated backup system for USF-owned computers