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On behalf of all of us in the Irvin E. Houck Center for Information Technology, I wish to welcome you to Oberlin College and the start of the 2007-2008 academic year. As we do each summer, we’ve been working hard for the past 3 months to prepare for the start of the fall semester, and we hope that you will enjoy and benefit from some or all of the new facilities and services that we have created.

Here are some of the things that we accomplished over the summer:

- many of the computers in the public computer labs were upgraded, including those in Kade, King 137, Lord Saunders, Wilder 210, Robertson 177 and the Robertson alcove, ESR – King 235, the Con Library, Burton, and in the new Academic Commons in Mudd.

- much work with Blackboard, especially with regard to setting up facilities for better communication within and among groups

- most all of the application software in all campus labs was upgraded

- the campus wireless infrastructure was greatly expanded, and now includes Burton, the Athletic box office, new units in Mudd, Rice, Carnegie, and Severance

- all lab printers, and many office printers, were refurbished and given preventive maintenance

- many infrastructure system upgrades, including building switches and important security upgrades

A now a note about computer and information technology security…

Every chance I get, I want to remind the College community about the importance of network and system security and data privacy.  As everyone knows, these have become extremely important issues, and all institutions of higher education must pay special attention to this area.  In CIT, we strategize and take action in this area every day.  Much staff time is spent in making sure that our systems and network are as secure as they can be, without sacrificing the necessary openness and flexibility that a higher education environment demands.

We need the College community’s help in maintaining a secure IT environment.  Please look at the “security” section of the CIT web pages for advice and recommendations:

http://www.oberlin.edu/cit/security/protect.html

Also, please read our Acceptable Use Policy (AUP):

http://www.oberlin.edu/cit/policies/acceptableuse.html

And finally, PLEASE be aware of copyright policies.  Do NOT violate copyright law by downloading material for which you do not have copyright permission! See:

http://www.oberlin.edu/cit/copyright/p2p.html

Again, I welcome you to campus and the 2007-2008 academic year.  At any time, if you have questions, concerns or comments about information technology at Oberlin College, please contact me at john.bucher@oberlin.edu

John E. Bucher

John Bucher

Chief Technology Officer
Director of Information Technology