2009 MSU IT Conference
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
at the Kellogg Hotel and Conference Center
The 2009 MSU IT Conference is open to Michigan State University students, faculty, and staff interested in learning about the technology environment at MSU and enhance their IT knowledge.
Welcome Address
Kim A. Wilcox
Michigan State University (MSU)
Provost and Vice President
for Academic Affairs
Kim A. Wilcox has served as Michigan State University’s provost and vice president for academic affairs since August 1, 2005. As the chief academic officer for Michigan State University, Provost Wilcox provides leadership for matters that affect academic programs, research, and outreach involving faculty, students, and staff. He oversees the quality of instruction and research at the university through collaborative work with deans, departmental chairs, and other vice presidents, addressing issues such as effective planning, good management, and program reviews.
Keynote Presentation
Beyond the False Dichotomy of Centralized and Decentralized IT Deployment
Jim Davis
University of California (UCLA)
Associate Vice Chancellor for
Information Technology
Jim has broad responsibility for university-wide IT visioning and strategic technology planning. He coordinates the IT technology planning, policy setting, prioritization and decision-making processes and is responsible for the strategic deployment of the academic and administrative IT operations, services and resources in support of the university mission and its central and distributed technology requirements.
Breakout Sessions
Virtualization at MSU: A Central IT View
Michael Zakhem, Academic Technology Services
As virtualization has taken hold in the IT community, many people have asked what MSU is doing with the technology. This session, which will include a panel discussion, will explain the benefits seen by Academic Technology Services and Administrative Information Services as they have started virtualizing their data centers, as well as what challenges they have experienced and what is planned for the future.
Accessibility: The Nuts and Bolts of Implementation
James White, International Studies & Programs
Covering the details of website accessibility, as well as a discussion on the sometimes unavoidable compromises, this session provides insight from departmental IT staff and discusses how International Studies & Programs navigates the accessibility guidelines and will help you to do the same. Specific details from access keys to z-indexes will be covered, along with linearization, font sizes, coloring, and more.
Managing Change During Times of Stress
Lew Dotterer, Enterprise Business Systems Project
Change: the word everyone loves to hate. And when times are stressful, change can be even more difficult. However, there are effective techniques you can utilize to make the process of change easier. Learn the difference between transition and change, ways to work with coworkers and managers during the process, and how to take care of yourself as well.
Electronic Records Management at MSU
Cynthia Ghering, University Archives &
Historical Collection
In the age of electronic media, management of electronic records can be a daunting task. What is good Records Management? When do we keep or destroy records? How is MSU approaching Records Management? This overview will examine electronic records management in a university environment, including technical requirements for the management and preservation of records and practical guidelines for campus units.
Everyday Version Control
Jonathan Babbage, Biomedical Research
and Informatics Core
Version control provides the ability to solve many problems that may arise in the software development process, but can be difficult to institute. This session will review specific examples using TortoiseSVN and and will demonstrate how version control can resolve issues commonly confronted by developers. Topics covered will include an introduction to basic version control ideas, capturing version changes, branching, merging, and more.
Understanding the Gobbledegook:
Managing Up Strategically
Mitzi Taylor, Not So Basic Training
In today’s environment, employees at all levels need to understand the mission and vision of their organization and how they fit into it. "Managing Up" means you are aware of your role within the organization and pay attention to how your goals add value upstream. This session discusses areas necessary to consider when managing up successfully, including thinking strategically, communicating effectively, and interpreting management’s messages.
Centralized Application Provisioning toward an Increasingly Virtual Environment
Dave Beaudoin, Academic Technology Services
Centrally supported public computer systems are transitioning to a virtualized client model to improve performance, energy savings, and ease of maintenance. This session will discuss the challenges of integrating thin clients and application virtualization with existing campus networks and systems to achieve these goals, as well improve boot time and software availability.
Creating Web 2.0 Applications
with Adobe Flex and AIR
Nick Kwiatkowski, Telecom Systems
Sample applications: rickroll.zip and superBrowser.zip
A recording of this session is available at : http://adobechats.adobe.acrobat.com/p93062822/
Creating beautiful, creative, and interactive Web 2.0 applications that deploy on every modern browser and desktop environment is straightforward with the Adobe Flash Platform. Flex is a framework that lets you compile applications to a Flash player that easily deploys regardless of browser or desktop environment. Utilizing the Adobe AIR runtime, you can create applications in multiple formats for almost any platform.
Moving into Management: Navigating the Neutral Zone
Craig Rosenberger, Administrative Information Services
Moving into management from a technical role involves an exciting and challenging journey through the sometimes-rough waters of the “Neutral Zone.” This session presents some “navigational aids” for challenges that arise in the transition, including disconnecting from a technical role, managing changing relationships, and developing a leadership perspective.
