Staff Happenings

I am pleased to announce that Jay Kohn has accepted my offer to add Card Services to her current role as our Hospital Liaison. As you are aware, in the role of Hospital Liaison, Jay responds to requests and provides dedicated support and linkages to the Hospital’s strategic planning efforts. In her new role, Jay will be responsible for the strategic direction and management for Card Services. This mission-critical service provides identification card, electronic key, privilege and entitlement assignments, and purchase capabilities to the Stanford community of faculty, staff, students, hospital, student residences, and on-campus businesses. She will provide leadership to the Card Services Governance Group and work with staff and clients on card service requests. Jay will be a member of Client Support reporting to me.

- Jan Cicero
Client Support

Comings and Goings

The following people have joined Information Technology Services. Welcome.

Troy Angelo Hernandez (Kim Seidler)

Daniel Dale Johnson (Anne Pinkowski)

Adrian Arduini (Chris Lundin)

The following people have left Information Technology Services. Please contact their manager if you need to follow up on any open items.

Lambert Viado (Christine Soldahl)

its in bits welcomes more detailed employee news submissions from all staff. Please submit to itsinbits-submissions@lists.stanford.edu

Tech Briefings

Tech Briefings

Fridays
2:00–3:30 p.m.
Turing Auditorium

Friday, January 9

Low Cost Storage Solutions — Dan Stillmaker, Technical Manager in IT Services will discuss the intended and possible uses for the LCSS. The talk will be about how to get it, the pro’s and con’s, the alternatives, and future plans. There will also be a discussion on CIFS and AFS (two current ways to get the storage), as well as iSCSI. If time permits, the presenter will solicit feedback for better fitting client needs.

Tech Express

Once a month
12:00–1:00 p.m.
Turing Auditorium

Thursday, December 18

Stanford Email and Calendar — Ammy Hill, IT Services, will give a quick demo geared toward day-to-day use of the new Stanford Email and Calendar. There will be a quick tour of the system with plenty of time for questions and answers.

Check the Tech Briefings home page for future sessions and to subscribe to the mailing list. Also see the Tech Express home page for information on upcoming presentations.

Technology Training Courses

Tech Training Courses

IT Professional Development:

MySQL Workshop, Wed, Jan 14, 9:00–4:00, $325

Email/Calendar Training—All classes free

Outlook 2007 Mail, Thurs, Jan 8, 9:00–12:00

Stanford Email (Webmail), Mon, Jan 12, 9:00–12:00

Sundial: Tips and Tricks, Tues, Jan 13, 9:00–12:00

Introduction to the New Stanford Email and Calendar,
- Mon, Jan 5, 9:00–10:30
- Fri, Jan 9, 9:00–10:30
- Tues, Jan 13, 2:00–3:30
- Fri, Jan 16, 9:00–10:30

The full listing of Current Courses is available on the Tech Training web site.

Upcoming Tech Training classes of interest to IT Services staff:

ReportMart1, Wed, Jan 7, 1:30–4:30, Free

Photoshop 101: Start Here (Photoshop Lite), Tues, Jan 13, 1:30–4:30, $195

OrderIT Site Training, Tues, Jan 13, 8:30–12:00, Free

Word 2007: So You Think You Know Word? (Level 1), Tues, Jan 13, 9:00–4:00, $325

Mac OS X Fundamentals (Leopard), Wed, Jan 14, 1:30–4:30, $195

Dreamweaver 101: Start Here (Dreamweaver Lite), Thurs, Jan 15, 1:30–4:30, $195

Sign up at http://axess.stanford.edu.

Classes with low enrollment may be cancelled one week in advance. More information on courses, registration, and training is available at the Technology Training Services site.

- Nancy Baumann
Technology Training Services

IT Employment Opportunities

There were no new job postings for IT Services this week.

To view the complete listings or to apply for a position, visit the StanfordJobs web site at: jobs.stanford.edu.

There are other open Information Technology positions at Stanford. To see what other opportunities exist on campus, link to the full list of all open IT positions at Stanford.

Quote of the Week

“Winter is on my head, but eternal spring is in my heart.”

- Victor Hugo

News

Happy Holidays

its in bits will resume publication January 21, 2009.

- The Editors

A Note From Bill...

Later this afternoon, many of us will gather together for our annual holiday party. Given Stanford’s difficult financial situation, we have made a few changes. The party will be held in the Oak Lounge of Tresidder Union and festivities will begin and end a bit earlier (3:30–6 p.m.).

I hope that the earlier start allows more of you to attend, as I
always look forward to the events that bring the entire organization together. We will have drinks and hors d’oeuvres, and I suspect that the IT Services Holiday Elves have a few surprises for us. Please join us this afternoon as we celebrate the conclusion of another year and the approaching winter break.

I find winter break especially enjoyable because most of the
University takes vacation, helping to minimize the piles of work and email waiting when we return! For those of you who need to keep working in order to keep our critical services up and running throughout the holidays, I want to offer my sincere gratitude, not only on behalf of the University and the Hospitals, but also on behalf of everyone in IT Services who will be enjoying their break.

I hope that all of you have wonderful and happy holidays and that you have ample opportunities to relax with family and friends.

- Bill Clebsch
IT Services

Paging Administration Office Relocates

The “shuffle” is really popular in healthcare. I’m not referring to Apple’s musical product, but to something more akin to musical chairs. Moving offices, moving desks—you get the picture. There is always something like this going on in almost every hospital. Stanford’s is no different. As a result of its strategic plan to increase the number of inpatient beds, many hospital staff, physicians, and departments have had to move, including the Paging Administration Office (PAO). Moving day was Friday, December 12. The office was closed in the morning and reopened at 1 p.m. in its new location: HC009.

To find the new PAO, use the stairs across the main hallway from the Gift Shop to the lower level. Turn right and follow the signs toward Medical Records. At the end of that hallway, go through the door marked “Stairs” and turn right again. The PAO is on the right. We hope to stay there for a while.

- Carolyn Kane
Operator Services Center

DDD Adopts HelpSU

Starting in December, the Documentation, Design, and Delivery group (DDD) began using HelpSU to receive and track incoming work. If you need an IT Services web page updated, a document reprinted, or a new print or online project started, please use HelpSU.

To route requests to us, you can:

  1. go to helpsu.stanford.edu and specify Request Category Web Applications, Web Sites and Request Type Web documentation; or
  2. use links with a specially coded PCAT that will route tickets directly to the IT Services Publications queue. Links with this PCAT have been added to the main page of the IT Services Organization Chart and to DDD's What We Do page, and will be added to other IT Services web pages as appropriate. (A PCAT is a specially coded shortcut that pre-selects the Request Category and Type on the HelpSU form.); or
  3. use the new vanity URL itswebdoc.stanford.edu, which links to the helpsu form and automatically references our IT Services Publications PCAT.

A new DDD HelpSU Requests web page that summarizes how to submit requests, including how to add attachments to a ticket, has also been created. You'll find this page linked under the tools section of the IT Services Internal web site.

- Christopher Kittle
DDD

IEC Project Update

I am pleased to report that the IEC project team has achieved a significant milestone in completing the email migrations for the campus. We now have 39,708 active faculty, staff, and student accounts on the new Stanford Email and Calendar system. Our goal was to complete these migrations before the Winter Break. The team exceeded that goal by completing the migrations before the Thanksgiving break! Congratulations to the team, and special thanks to Huaqing Zheng for his efforts in performing the lion's share of the migrations and to Jason Cowart and the Help Desk team for fielding the calls post migration.

We now are actively working with Zimbra, optimizing system performance and testing the latest software release. We continue to plan for the next phase of migration: moving Sundial (Oracle Calendar) data. We will collaborate with our team of IEC Partners over the next few weeks to identify a preferred timeframe for the calendar migration. Additional details about this migration will be distributed via the Sundial Users mailing list and published in its in bits.

- John Freshwaters
Business Services

IT Open House Talks on iTunes U

If you were too busy staffing a booth or talking to other exhibitors at the October IT Open House to make it to some of the featured talks, you're in luck. All six presentations are now available on Stanford on iTunes U for you to view.

In the Technology section, you'll find:

  • How Green Is Your Data Center with Bill Clebsch, Executive Director of IT Services
  • Server Virtualization with Lee Merrick, IT Manager, Office of Research Administration, and Hans Jacobsen, Data Center Director, School of Medicine
  • Stanford Solar Car Project with Sasha Zbrozek, Team Leader, Stanford Solar Car Project

In the Stanford Today section, you'll find:

  • Stanford Greenhouse Gas Reduction Goals with Joseph Stagner, Executive Director, Sustainability and Energy Management
  • Things Your Department Can Do to Save Energy with Joyce Dickerson, Director, Sustainable IT
  • Purchasing Technology at Stanford with Stuart Davis, Chief Procurement Officer, and Matt Riley, Associate Director for IT, Humanities and Sciences

You can stream the videos to your desktop or download them to watch on a mobile device.

- Jim Knox
Documentation, Training, and Licensing

Changes in the ITOC

With the recent changes in the financial forecast we decided that rather than fill the open IT Operations Center Manager position as had been planned, we would fill that billet with a 100% working staff member. With this change, we hope to obtain as much direct effort as possible while saving the expense of a manager. Direct management responsibility for the IT Operations Center has been assumed by me.

We're happy to welcome back Adrian Arduini, who has rejoined the IT Operations Center workgroup effective December 1, 2008 in a one-year fixed term position. Adrian had worked as a contractor in the group until the end of September.

Welcome Adrian!

- Chris Lundin
Help Desk Services

New Operating Rooms at LPCH

On December 1, Lucile Packard Children's Hospital opened seven new operating rooms. They had previously shared ORs with the adult hospital, and building their own ORs was a key part of the LPCH strategic plan. (They will add more with the opening of their new facility in 2015.) The ORs are in full swing and a huge success. IT Services staff from Facilities Engineering, I&M, CSE and CSM, ITOC, and the Service Desk all contributed to a big push over the final weeks of November to bring this high-profile project to a positive conclusion. Thanks to all for the great work!

- Jay Kohn
Strategic Liaison, Medical Center

Law School Residences Open

For those watching the construction over on the east side of campus, two buildings in the new Munger housing complex will open on Monday, December 15. Students will move from Crothers into Munger 2 and Munger 3 as part of the Housing Master Plan (the next buildings will open in the April time frame).

The Munger complex will be online with our new Lenel Access Control program. Keys will also be issued for a short period due to construction delays, but students will be able to use their cards on the main lobby doors. These are the first buildings to go live on the Lenel system since the Stern Pilot, completed earlier this year. We will bring on the balance of freshmen residences in early 2009. Many thanks to our Facilities Engineering, Application Support, Installation and Maintenance, and Network staff for bringing Munger online! It's been a great cooperative effort with our partners in Residential & Dining Enterprises.

- Jay Kohn
Strategic Liaison

2009 GO Pass and Eco Pass Are Now Available

The 2009 GO Pass and Eco Pass, which provide free transit for eligible employees, are now available at the Parking & Transportation Services office. The GO Pass allows eligible University employees to ride Caltrain for free. The Eco Pass allows eligible Hospital and University employees to ride VTA buses, express buses, and light rail for free. To see if you meet the eligibility requirements, visit the Parking & Transportation Services web site.

- The Editors

About its in bits

A regular summary of IT business, news about personnel, and pointers to other information of interest to IT Services staff. Coordinated, compiled, and published by the Communication Strategy and Standards Team. its in bits is published on the first and third Wednesday of the month.

Submissions are due by Noon on the Friday before the scheduled issue, to itsinbits-submissions@lists.stanford.edu for consideration. its in bits is distributed via email to its-all-staff@lists.stanford.edu and the subscription list itsinbits-subscribers@lists.stanford.edu People outside of IT Services can self-subscribe via mailman.

Note: Due to the holiday break, the next its in bits will be published on Wednesday, January 21, 2009.