Continuing our online town hall series, Ask an Influential, we introduce Tim Brooks, Vice President and Chief Information Officer of Information Technology Services (ITS).
Just like we did with Sam Howard SGA President (Click here to see Sam’s Answers), we gave you, the students, a chance to ask the burning questions you have about the technology of SLU. We sent your questions to Mr. Brooks and now he has the answers!
Read on to see what he said.
- What do you enjoy most about your job at SLU?I really enjoy the diversity of my constituents. Between the students, faculty, staff, and alumni, we have such a wide variety of IT requirements, backgrounds, interests, and personalities. Because of this diversity, I learn something new practically on a daily basis.
- As a student getting ready to graduate, I am interested in hearing about different career trajectories. Would you share with us your educational background and any jobs you had before you accepted your current position? I was not fortunate enough to begin with a traditional on-campus, 4 year academic education. I am a product of the St. Louis Community College system. I earned my undergraduate and graduate degrees as an evening, professional student. The value of course was the ability to apply my education immediately to my secular career. I began as a field service technician and subsequently progressed into IT management, administration, and eventually my role as CIO for Saint Louis University.
- What, if any, do you see to be the main problems on SLU’s campus that need to be addressed in the near future? Are there any projects on the books that are coming up that you can share with us? While I think SLU does a reasonable job managing the overall information technology life cycle, I think we can better utilize technology to improve our sustainability, mobility, and overall learning experience. We have initiated projects to 1) investigate residential hall technologies 2) virtualize the classroom and lab to provide these resources campus wide and 3) implement systems to enable a more feature rich environment for distance learning, (WIMBA) classroom capture, (Itunes) video/audio streaming, etc.
- Why does the Internet connection at Reinert Hall and Griesedieck slow down to a crawl around 9pm every night? Also, at this time, numerous students get kicked out of the SLUNET network, and are forced to either connect via Ethernet or to the SLUGUEST network. Does ITS have any plans to upgrade to current “plugged-in” internet service on campus? We have already initiated a network change request to update our wireless management system. This is in response to the symptoms you are describing. This change should be implemented and tested by the start of the Spring semester.
- With the preponderance of non-computer WIFI devices that are being used today, is there a plan for SLU to support theses devices? One prime example is the iPhone, which is unable to connect to the SLUNET network, instead relying on the SLUGUEST network which continually asks for the submitting of a terms of use. As a WIFI friendly campus, the constant need to reconnect to SLUGUEST reduces the usability of WIFI devices.
Excellent suggestion. We will forward this request to networking.
- With the rise of the Amazon Kindle and other e-readers, do you see a near future where we will all buy one as freshmen, then pay for (hopefully cheaper) digital copies of our textbooks? I know that a small number of campuses are suggesting this as an option. I anticipate things to continue in this direction. While we do not have a project on the books to implement, I know this has been discussed in terms of textbooks and library services.
- Are there plans to offer options and/or technologies to professors to allow them to better digitally distribute their lectures. (i.e. Pod/Vid Casting). Along that line, is there information available to professors to update them on new technology trends that they can take advantage of to better reach their students? Yes, as I mentioned in the previous questions, we have projects already underway to implement iTunes and WIMBA for faculty and students.
- As mentioned in several educational articles regarding tuition increases recently, the authors state that the demand for spending on technology will decrease now that wireless is standard on most campuses. How will SLU squelch this myth among university shoppers and help them understand that wireless is not the end-all to technology development? I agree. Wireless is one generation of technology aimed at mobility. ITS is committed to continuously improving and upgrading the campus experience, both inside and out of the classroom. Mobility is only the first step. Providing services that are web enabled and designed to be platform, operating system, and location agnostic is the next challenge. Our current virtualization projects are a step in the right direction.
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As mentioned in several educational articles regarding tuition increases recently, the authors state that the demand for spending on technology will decrease now that wireless is standard on most campuses. How will SLU squelch this myth among university shoppers and help them understand that wireless is not the end-all to technology development?
A couple questions…
What do you enjoy most about your job at SLU?
Some students, specifically from Griesedieck, have expressed concerns about the wired internet connection in the dorms, both in terms of speed and consistency in connectivity. Does ITS have any plans to upgrade to current “plugged-in” internet service on campus?
Mr. Brooks,
What, if any, do you see to be the main problems on SLU’s campus that need to be addressed in the near future? Are there any projects on the books that are coming up that you can share with us?
Thanks,
Andrew Brady
As a student getting ready to graduate, I am interested in hearing about different career trajectories. Would you share with us your educational background and any jobs you had before you accepted your current position?
Why is the wireless internet so spotty? It seems consistently difficult to use and slow, especially in the evening when I assume more people use the internet. Is this a known problem, and are there any plans to improve the wireless internet around campus?
Why does the Internet connection at Reinert Hall slow down to a crawl around 9pm every night? Also, at this time, numerous students get kicked out of the SLUNET network, and are forced to either connect via ethernet or to the SLUGUEST network.
With the preponderance of non-computer WIFI devices that are being used today, is there a plan for SLU to support theses devices. One prime example is the iPhone, which is unable to connect to the SLUNET network, instead relying on the SLUGUEST network which continually asks for the submitting of a terms of use. As a WIFI friendly campus, the constant need to reconnect to SLUGUEST reduces the usability of WIFI devices.
CJ,
The iPhone does work on slunet, as well as the iPod Touch. It’s tricky to setup, but it does work!
With the rise of the Amazon Kindle and other e-readers, do you see a near future where we will all buy one as freshmen, then pay for (hopefully cheaper) digital copies of our textbooks? I know that a small number of campuses are suggesting this as an option.
Are there plans to offer options and/or technologies to professors to allow them to better digitally distribute their lectures. (i.e. Pod/Vid Casting). Along that line, is there information available to professors to update them on new technology trends that they can take advantage of to better reach their students?
Chris… How do you set up the iPod touch for SLUnet?
Aaron,
Go to the Settings App
Select Wi-Fi
Under “Choose a Network…” select Other…
Now a new window will slide up. There is an option for Security, tap that to bring up a list.
Select WPA Enterprise, then tap “Other Network” at the top to go back.
The name of the network is slunet and your username & pwd are the same as MySLU, Novell, Banner, etc.
chris, was able to connect but when I tried to accept the certificate, it will never finish. It continues to say it is joining SLU net. Any advice?
Aaron
Try this first and then try to reconnect.
Make sure the software on the iPod Touch is up to date and then try this.
1) Tap Settings > Wi-Fi Networks, then tap More Info next to the network.
2) In the DHCP panel, select the Renew Lease button.
3) Try to create the Wi-Fi connection.
This should help you connect but if it does not please let me know.
Chris I am having the same problem that Aaron is experiencing. when i hit accept the certificate, it never finishes.
Still no luck. In fact, I cannot even connect to slunet! Help!!
Did you ever get this working?
If not, try this – http://www.sluconnection.com/?p=3132