STUDENTS FIRST! PROCESS REDESIGN
CHANGE PROPOSAL AND ACTION PLAN

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SERVICE: Information Dissemination - Unified On-Line Information System (WAN)

GLOSSARY OF TERMS:

Firewall: A protective barrier that provides security for confidential material. The information contained on the protective side of the firewall is only available to those who have been given prior electronic access.
Home Page: A document on the Internet that functions like a table of contents, providing information and links to other sites on the World Wide Web (WWW). At Lane the term "home page" is used to refer to our main page, located at http://2011sitearchive.lanecc.edu. Other areas in Lane's WWW webspace are simply referred to as "pages".
Hypertext Mark-up Language (HTML): Programming language used to create pages on the World Wide Web (WWW).
Internet: A world-wide network of computers which facilitates communications (through e-mail, listserves, newsgroups etc.) and makes information available through the World Wide Web (using browser applications like Netscape, Mosaic, etc.).
Mainframe: The system which houses administrative databases.
Network: Two or more computers connected together to in order to share resources and faciliatate communication.
On-line: An expression that refers to the use of (or access to) a computer network on the WAN or the WWW. Also refers to availability of information on the WAN or the WWW.
Wide Area Network (WAN): An interconnected network that spans a wide geographical area. Lane's WAN is an internal computer network that contains a variety of college information. This information can be modified by authorized employees within the Wide Area Network system, but cannot be modified from outside the network (through the internet) because of Lane's firewall protection.
Local Area Network (LAN): An internal computer network that functions within a single building or connects a group of buildings.
World Wide Web (WWW): A network of hypertext-based information accessable through the internet.

Current Situation:

Lane has not established a coordinated process for providing general college information on-line to students and employees. Information is in multiple formats, comes from a variety of sources, is inconsistent and often inaccurate or unavailable. In addition, minimal college information is available on-line.

Information is provided to students from services to students departments, from instructional departments, through printed information such as the catalog, class schedule and program brochures, and by contact with college employees. Information is often inconsistent and inaccurate due to the wide variety of sources, formatting, and publication timing.

As a provider of information to students, college employees gather data from a variety of sources and in multiple formats. In addition to printed materials, some information is accessed on-line. Other information is pertinent to specific departments and programs and may not be available to other departments across campus. This creates opportunities for inaccurate and inconsistent information which can be misleading to students.

The potential for increased student use of the Wide Area Network (WAN) and access to the Internet is supported by the OSRL survey. This survey indicated that 70% percent of Lane students know how to use computers, 65% actually own their own personal computer, and 58% of those who are computer owners also have have modem which could connect them to Lane's networks. The OSRL Student Survey also found that 37% percent of respondents have access to the World Wide Web (WWW). These students can access Lane information available on the web, including the academic calendar, information on credit classes, certificate and degree programs, disability services, financial aid, international student programs, tuition and fees and more. Eventually catalog and schedule information will be available as well. Advantages of accessing information in this way include ease of use, time savings, and accessability--information can be accessed from home or from any other linked computer.

College employees currently have limited access to general information outside their specific departments and as a result, students seeking assistance are often directed to other departments for help. This results in an undesirable hand-off situation which may require students to move from location to location to obtain complete information. In addition, employees may impart to students information about programs or departments outside their area of expertise that may not be current or accurate.

During input sessions, employees reported their ability to serve students is impaired by a lack of coordinated, correct, current and available on-line information. Examples of information that are not yet available on-line include: class schedules, complete catalog information, meeting locations and times, policy items, college events, departmental home pages, and program and faculty information. Specific information available only to students due to privacy restrictions includes access to viewing their own records such as transcript, student schedule and personal information.

Lane's computer network includes an Hewlett Packard (HP) 3000 as well as several HP 9000 machines.

Administrative databases (including student and financial information) are stored and maintained on the HP 3000. The HP 3000 contains security which allows employees to access only information pertinent to their areas of responsibility such as student records, financial, budget and payroll information stored in the mainframe databases.

Currently, a variety of general information is stored and maintained on the HP 9000s. The G45 machine is used as the firewall, the G50 is an administrative server and the 715 holds network management information.

Lane's WAN system includes 14 VINES servers and 11 Novell Servers which provide global messaging services and file storage for campus users.

The firewall prevents outside communication from entering through the Internet and corrupting student and financial information stored in the HP 3000. Through the Wide Area Network, employees have access to e-mail and the 'outside world' of the Internet. OSRL survey results also indicated that forty percent of the respondents would pay for Internet access provided by Lane and sixty-two would use on-line information often or sometimes. Lane plans on offering Internet services to students, perhaps as early as this winter.

Information provided to students in any form comes (in part) from both services to students and instructional departments. Common data such as the catalog and class schedule information is accessed from different Web pages. Additionally, both instructional and services to students departments are creating their own general information Web pages to expand Lane data available to students. At least thirteen instructional and twelve service to students departments have created their own home pages. Individual department home pages have inconsistent programming standards and links to other Lane home pages are not correct. Enormous time is spent correcting these errors. Students are unable to access desired information if the Web page setup is not correct.

Desired Situation:

A coordinated on-line information system. Information is consistent, accurate and in a format which is easy to understand. Department home pages share basic design consistency and information is current and accurate.

Students and employees regularly use the WAN and WWW to access information and conduct transactions.

Employees are able to access information in areas previously unavailable, and thereby serve the student/customer more effectively. Handoffs are minimized or eliminated.

Proposed Solution:

The Wide Area Network is connected to the Internet and provides consistent, accurate and easily understood information about the college, programs and classes, procedures and policies, and is accessible to all employees and students alike, regardless of location. Chances for error will be minimized in that all information is entered only once and is therefore consistent. Information includes, but is not limited to, class schedule, catalog, departmental information, instructor profiles, home pages, program information, information on admission, registration, testing, and financial aid.

Computer Services will build and maintain databases to contain general college information. Information in this database will be accessible by both students and employees through the Wide Area Network and the Internet. When a request comes in from the Internet, the request is sent electronically to the HP 3000 which contains the information, data is assembled and returned to the Internet side of the firewall. Confidential college information remains protected.

Students are able to access information from any computer station within the college or from their home computer. Their needs are met as the information they seek is available irrespective of the time or place. Students are able to complete the admission application, and access testing, advising and new student information using the WAN and WWW.

A WAN Team within the Students First! Information Support Team will be responsible for data entry, updating and accuracy of general information in the Wide Area Network and Lane's information on the Internet. The team will oversee all on-line information dissemination so that consistency and accuracy are maintained. The team will also revise information standards and resolve conflicts. The team will include the Services to Students Information Dissemination Process Owner Manager and representatives from: Information Team, Institutional Advancement, Computer Services.

Coach (from Redesign Team): Johanna Hanley, Jana Nelson, Ray Smith
Sponsor: Marie Matsen
Due Date:

Performance Measure(s):

Measurement	Tools for Measuring	Responsibility for Tracking Measurement
track and increase annually the percentage of students and employees who are very satisfied with the WAN as a source of accessible and accurate information	baseline = must be established follow-up = student survey and employee survey	Information Dissemination Process Owner Manager

Action Plan For Implementing Solution:

Task	By Whom	By When	Resources Required
Create WAN team	Diane Dann, Nick Cheshire, Rich Freund, Linda Waddell	10/96-- on going	12 hours
Create plan to systematically collect and enter information into the information system. (Integrated with other information planning activities)	Information Support Team,WAN Team	12/8/96	120 hours
Computer Services designs information database and builds in maintenance controls	Nick Cheshire	1/97 -- 12/97	160 hours
Purchase software as needed	Computer Services	1/97 -- 1/98	8 hours
Input home page information from services to students departments	Computer Services	present -- ongoing	80 hours
Collection of general information data from departments	Information Support Team,WAN Team	1/97 -- on going	120 hours
Train Information Support Team and WAN team in use of information system software	Nick Cheshire	7/97 -- 8/97	24 hours
On-going input and update of data	WAN Team	8/97 --- on going	200 hours/year
Implement present information from administrative databases into the on-line information system (web pages)	Computer Services	3/98 -- 5/98	1200 hours
Train WAN team in use of software	Computer Services	5/98	24 hours
Train Lane employees in use of unified on-line information system which includes ability to submit applications and requests from the Web as well as retrieve information	Information Support Team,WAN Team	9/98 -- 1/99	12 hours

*Please note that this document is a corrected version of the original and slightly different from what you will find in the hard copy of the Students First! Final Report