Celebrating 10 years Office of Information Technology - Princeton ...

IT Governance at Princeton
Committee on Academic Technology (CAT)
The Committee on Academic Technology (CAT) facilitates communication and collaboration between IT providers and the
University offices most directly responsible for the curriculum. The specific charge of the committee is to:
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• Serve as an informational clearinghouse, so that those responsible for technology and those responsible for the
curriculum are well-informed of each other’s initiatives;
• Develop new initiatives that may enhance the curriculum through information technology;
• Help evaluate IT initiatives that affect the curriculum, and prioritize the distribution of resources;
• Take leadership to assure that the use of academic technologies in the curriculum receives appropriate assessment, both
evaluative and formative.
During FY11, members of the CAT were:
David Redman, Graduate School
Rebecca Louie (secretary), OIT, Academic Services
Mary Baum, Office of the Dean of Faculty
Marvin Bielawski, Library
Serge Goldstein, OIT, Academic Services
Highlights
Clayton Marsh, Office of General Counsel
Jed Marsh, Office of the Provost
Peter Quimby (chair), Office of the Dean of the College
Janet Temos, OIT, Educational Technologies Center
Polly Griffin, Registrar
The committee met three times during the 2011 academic year: in October, March, and May. Major topics discussed were:
Mobility
OIT licensed the Blackboard mobile suite on December of 2009, and released the first version of iPrinceton in September of
2010. The committee reviewed OIT’s plans for iPrinceton, and made a number of recommendations on how iPrinceton could
be developed to serve the Princeton community, including the implementation of online “Tours” and a facility that would allow
members of the community to easily access information on open hours for dining and other facilities (“Places”).
Blackboard 9
CAT reviewed the transition from Blackboard 8 to 9, and endorsed OIT’s plan to upgrade from 9.0 to 9.1 in summer, 2011. The
committee also considered Princeton’s plans to continue licensing Blackboard and concurred with current plans to maintain
Blackboard as the University’s Learning Management System (LMS) for the foreseeable future: a time frame of 2 to 5 years.
During this time, OIT will continue to closely monitor on-going developments in the LMS space, so that, should the need arise,
Princeton can quickly adjust its LMS offerings to market and educational contingencies.
The Committee also considered a new capability in Blackboard 0.1 that would link the Blackboard LMS to the Blackboard alert
system (PTENS). While recognizing that it is important not to dilute the impact of PTENS messages, the Committee felt that
this opportunity should be investigated further. OIT will gather data on how often faculty use existing facilities (Blackboard
announcements and course e-mail lists) to reach out to students, and will pass this information on to the Committee for future
discussion.
Course Reading List
OIT demonstrated the Course Reading List tool currently under development, and the time line for rollout was discussed and
finalized. The committee was pleased with the tool and believes it will be successful with faculty.
Printing
CAT members discussed the on-going issue of extensive printing at Princeton. Committee members suggested that a campaign
be started to make departments more aware of the extensive amount printing, possibly through the implementation of software
that would keep track of paper and toner usage.
Lynda.com
OIT demonstrated the Lynda suite of online training modules, and the committee endorsed the plan to provide a site-license for
this suite for the entire campus. Lynda.com will provide online and just-in-time training on a wide range of IT topics to the entire
Princeton community, and may be particularly helpful for students who need to quickly master basic IT technologies.