Web Services and Web Technical Infrastructure

The Office of Information Technology, Web Services and Web Technical Infrastructure area, provides coding support and technical help to web publishing community at IU Northwest in order to effectively meet the goals of a student-centered learning community. Services are offered to students, faculty, and staff for departmental and personal web pages loaded on IU servers. Web Services and Web Technical Infrastructure is in the process of giving more access to individuals editing and approving of content on the web through the use of IU’s Web Content Management System (WCMS). As of the end of May, 2010, we will have converted 250 departmental websites and the IU Northwest Bulletin to IU’s WCMS.

Telephone, coding. and on-location support are provided from 6:30 a. m. to 4:30 p. m. weekdays to help faculty and staff with troubleshooting web-related issues. Access rights for coding editors and content creators are managed through Web Services and Web Technical Infrastructure. After checking with your departmental webmaster for support, Web Services and Web Technical Infrastructure appointments can then be scheduled for assistance in web-related issues to faculty, staff and students.

All web publishing issues involve the Office of Marketing and Communications to ensure that IU Northwest's web is following communication and vision goals.

Web Presence is part of Indiana Univeristy's Strategic Plan for Information Technology 2009 Empowering People Action Plan 13.

Web Services and Web Technical Infrastructure Accomplishments

The following major projects have been completed with the help of many people representing a variety of campus departments from the IU Northwest community. Our entire campus and the community benefit from the information available to them through these Web Services and Web Technical Infrastructure's projects.

IU Northwest Web site

The IU Northwest web site was analyzed and re-designed by the IU Northwest Office of Marketing and Communications and Web Services and Web Technical Infrastructure. Conversion is underway to upgrade departmental web pages to the new look. IU Northwest websites follow the IU Northwest Website Code and Content Policy.

IU Northwest Address Book

It is easy to 'Find People' at IU Northwest. Our IU Northwest Address Book application allows searching by:

• Name (including first name only) for Faculty and Staff
• Students
• Department
• Username or Network-ID
• Departments, Faculty and Staff - click the button to see a complete listing

Here lists titles, phone numbers, e-mail address, locations, and departments. Faculty members show "Classes" which links to IU Northwest's Schedule of Classes to show courses they teach.

'Find People' application is on the main page and on every departmental website under the search box. The information is loaded daily from the University People Soft application. Updates are given to Human Resources to make changes in the People Soft application and are reflected the day following entry.

Departmental Websites Dynamic Information

Our departmental web sites are designed to link to dynamic information. Below is an example from the School of Nursing website:

• Our Calendar
• Schedule of Classes - Course Descriptions & On-Line Bulletin

Previously most departments had either no calendar or a static calendar. Course information was hand-entered to the web, a tedious and time consuming job that each department did each semester.

Real-Time Event Scheduler

Our campus Event Scheduler allows all rooms available to the IU Northwest community to be reserved via the web. The program also allows requests for services associated with a particular event to be placed simultaneously with the room reservation. The Registrar’s scheduling of classes is coordinated with requests for rooms, and audio-visual equipment, with other features becoming available in additional phases. An administration module enables managers of specific facilities to approve or disapprove requests. The program also creates a report summarizing room usage.

This program allows users to:

• schedule rooms
• request AV equipment
• notify Marketing if pamphlets, brochures, etc. will be needed
• seamlessly integrate with IU Northwest's Calendar on a real-time basis
• send themselves a report of events they have scheduled for easy updates

The originator of an event and campus administrators are able to view all aspects of their event, from its room layout, to AV options, marketing support and catering options. However, benefits of this program extend beyond the availability of a convenient reservation system for event originators in that it provides a readily available listing of campus activities for the IU Northwest community. It also facilitates monitoring of campus activities by the campus police as well as physical plant’s setup of rooms and issuing cipher lock codes electronically for secured rooms.

An extra integration feature summarizes the event and automatically posts the events on the Indiana University Northwest Calendar, allowing the person requesting the event to automatically select the Calendar(s) they wish to feature their event.

IU Northwest Campus Dynamic Calendar

Our Calendar gives our campus and the community an extensive view of IU Northwest's involvement in both on and off campus activities. One detailed entry allows the event to be shown on a variety of calendars, from departmental or student organization to special category or divisional. No re-typing is necessary. Our departmental web sites each link to 'our calendar' to direct viewers to specific departmentally-individualized calendar information while still including that information on other appropriate calendars.

90% of activities involving IU Northwest Calendar items are scheduled through Event Scheduler and are added to selected calendars at the time of scheduling the campus location of the event. The remaining 10% are added either individually or through a batch process (off-campus athletic events). An e-mail notification feature allows a reminder of an upcoming calendar item. An administration module enables the marketing manager to review calendar entries and be informed of all campus activities, determining those that might need further publication.

Upon request, e-mail summary will be sent to originators of the Calendar or Event Scheduler for ease in management and tracking; indicating reservations requested, approval status, and allowing a link to view/modify/cancel information concerning the event. If an event was scheduled far in advance of the actual date, additional brief information or web page address can be added to help promote an event.

Dynamic Schedule of Classes

IU Northwest allows viewing the Schedule of Classes - Course Descriptions & On-Line Bulletin for a term by courses or by course or IU Northwest Department. Special course listings show schedules for our off-campus site and for evening classes. Both the graduate and undergraduate bulletins links give on-line descriptions for courses. The Registrar has a link to the Final Examination Schedules for the current year.

Departments used to type this information on web pages, making changes each term. Now, each department links to their courses from their website to give a dynamic schedule of classes that also indicates instructor and openings.

Since the main Schedule of Classes coding already lists by course and department, we have also created a "My Schedule of Classes" link for professor via their username.

Faculty classes can be shown in the following suggested areas:

• On the “Find People” Faculty - Staff listing search by either entering in search information or by clicking the button to see a complete listing. Select "Classes" with a faculty's name to go to that professor's My Schedule of Classes. Note: "Find People" is accessible from the IU Northwest Home Page and all other pages under the search box in the top right corner of the web page.
• Professors' web pages can easily show a specific professor’s Schedule of Classes with a "My Schedule of Classes" link. School of Education, Professor Dr. Julie Peller's personal website showing "My Schedule of Classes" example.
• Departments can list from the “Meet Our Faculty” page links to individual professor’s “My Schedule of Classes”. (My Schedule of Classes shown on this page as "Classes") Department of Chemistry / Physics / Astronomy "Meet Our Faculty" "Classes" example.

There are many reasons why the Schedule of Classes should be listed by professor and linked to the individual professor’s web page. Some of these reasons speak directly to the Shared Vision of IU Northwest including specifically Outcome 8 (comprehensive plan for outreach) and touches other Outcomes. Individual web pages showcase accomplishments and allow these to be shared with the IU Northwest Community and the wider community. 

As we are a student centered campus, students should be easily able to determine what classes are or will be taught by which professor.  This information is now available in several locations and easy for the student to access. This is especially important in a smaller campus, where student choices are often limited.  Through Outcome 4 (more ethnically and racially diverse workforce), we value diversity as do our students; students have the option of taking classes with as diverse a faculty as possible during their time at IU Northwest. A link to classes from the faculty web page allows the student to see a picture of the professor and then easily see what the professor is teaching.

Class Cancellation Notification - text message

IU Northwest's Class Cancellation Notification system allows students to receive a cell text message or e-mail when their professor cancels their class.  Students must sign-up to get a notice.

Today's Class Cancellations. (Cell phone friendly) shows what classes have been canceled each day. Make IUN Mobile (m.iun.edu) a favorite on your cell phone to see a link for "Today's Class Cancellations".

Event Reminders via e-mail or text message

All of IU Northwest events can allow either a e-mail or text message to be sent 1 or more days in advance of an event.

Federal Work-Study Job Listings and Management

The Federal Work-Study (FWS) Website provides the majority of the information necessary for a student to take advantage of this valuable program. Readily available is a guide with program information, requirements and how to find positions.

Via the orientation link, a student can sign up to attend the mandatory work-study information session. The postings link shows the majority of openings, both on and off campus. Within each position posting, the supervisors tell students what qualifications and requirements are necessary to obtain the position. Additionally, information is included listing the application procedure.

Last but not least, the hiring documentation is in one convenient location and easily accessible for students and supervisors. The FWS website is a One Stop Shop