As of August 1, Julie Coleman is the new Classroom and Events Media Specialist in Technology Services. Julie graduated in May from Puget Sound with a degree in comparative sociology. Over the past four years, she worked in TS as part of the department’s student staff. Julie says of her student experience, “I feel the training I received in my work-study position in Media Services was just like a second major. I could not have wished for a better outcome to my studies than gaining a permanent position as Classroom and Events Media Specialist.”

A native of Spokane, Julie worked in the state correctional system, among other positions, before her arrival at Puget Sound.

Julie is working in event and classroom support, including maintenance, installations, and programming audio-visual systems in classrooms, conference rooms, and large-scale venues. We are very excited to have Julie as a member of the TS staff!

Technology Services (TS) is proud to announce that our new telecom system is now live! On July 14 this new, state-of-the-art phone system replaced our former (obsolete) faculty and staff phones, which were no longer supported by the manufacturer. Based on Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) technology, the new phones give users many advanced features, including crystal-clear call quality when calling another on-campus number, new MeetMe conference call capabilities, greatly enhanced speed dial functionality, better caller ID, caller history, and much, much more. But it doesn’t stop there. In the months to come, TS will roll out even more features. Stay tuned!

For more information on the new phones and their capabilities, please visit www.pugetsound.edu/phones.

Beginning July 2 PeopleSoft Financials will go live for the campus community. This is a significant milestone in delivering new capabilities to the university for budget administration and purchasing. Training will happen in person and online over the summer. View class content and preregister for sessions on the Optimize Training page. Please note that purchasing will be rolled out to departments beginning with the heaviest users first. Stay tuned for your turn to learn how to submit and approve requisitions. After the PeopleSoft go-live, if you have not yet been trained and need to purchase goods or services, send an email message with your needs to procurement@pugetsound.edu or simply use your P-Card. We thank you for your patience and understanding as we undertake this project.

TS is excited to announce that, effective July 1, Travis Nation will be director of the newly created Technology Services Project Management Office (PMO).

As evidenced by our very own Optimize Puget Sound project, having someone with extensive project management skills dedicated to the completion of key initiatives is vital to their success. Nationwide colleges and universities are beginning to realize this, and, with the input and insight of Director of Enterprise Systems Steve Renker, Puget Sound is ahead of the curve in establishing such an office.

“I feel very fortunate to have someone with such demonstrable skills to lead our inaugural efforts in this area,” said Chief Technology Officer William Morse. “Travis helps you get done what you need to get done in a timely and organized manner.”

Because Optimize is such an all-encompassing project, not much will change for Travis immediately. Long term, however, he will direct the development of the PMO and help all of us in TS move university projects forward effectively and efficiently. Congratulations, Travis!

Technology Services is pleased to announce two new additions to our staff list!

Ethan Moreley is the new Copy Services Technician at Print and Copy Services. Ethan is working toward an associates degree in visual communications and was previously employed by Green River Community College. Ethan is experienced in a wide range of graphics software and enjoys drawing and fishing.

Garrett Dieckmann is the new Implementation Developer for Optimize Puget Sound. In this role, he will work with the Enterprise Information Systems team to implement PeopleSoft. Originally from San Diego, Garrett is a 2012 Puget Sound graduate who spent his senior year working as Project Assistant for Optimize Puget Sound.

Ethan and Garrett, we’re glad to have you here!

The Office of Communications issued a news release today on a recent agreement between Puget Sound and Pomona College in Claremont, CA. Check it out to learn how this innovative approach will provide enhanced data protection for both institutions in the event of disaster.

Technology Services extends congratulations to the Class of 2012 and especially to these seniors from our own student staff:

Anthea Aasen
Evan Arnold
Jan Biernacke
Julie Coleman
Garrett Dieckmann
Matt Dreaney
Lindsay Fuson
Chris Hale
Stephanie Hoffee
Megan Janes
Chris McGee
Daniel Parecki
Josh Schmidtlein
Shana Tsukiyama

We appreciate your great work and wish you all good luck in your future endeavors!

The spring issue of the Technology Services quarterly newsletter, TechNews, is out!

Topics include the telephone system replacement, Business Professor Eda Gurel-Atay’s use of technology workshops for her marketing class, and offerings from Print and Copy Services, as well as updates on Optimize Puget Sound, the Moodle upgrade, and PrintGreen.

The next issue of TechNews is scheduled for distribution in August. Please send ideas for articles and other suggestions to technews@pugetsound.edu.

Residents of campus housing should see significantly faster Internet connections thanks to an increase in bandwidth implemented Tuesday, April 10. The increase is from 150 Mbps (megabits per second) to 250 Mbps, which combined with the 100 Mbps connection in academic buildings takes the overall campus connection to 350 Mbps. One Mbps is a data transfer rate of one million bits (125,000 bytes) per second.

Enjoy!

Technology Services is pleased to welcome John deGroot as the newest member of the Technology Services staff. As database administrator, John will support the Oracle database and PeopleSoft and Hyperion application server environments required for Optimize Puget Sound.

A native of Lancaster, PA, and graduate of Bucknell University, John’s previous work roles include database administrator at Regence Blue Shield and application developer at Georgetown University.

John has been a hobby beekeeper and member of the Puget Sound Beekeepers Association since 1996. He serves as caretaker of the observation hive at the Pacific Science Center in Seattle. In addition to his beekeeping activities, John studies and practices pre-modern coin making techniques as a member of the Society for Creative Anachronism.

Welcome to Puget Sound, John!