CIT Annual Conference 2020

Gladly We Game: The Past, Present, and Future of Esports at Illinois State

David Kirk, Illinois State's Esports Program Director, will talk about the history of esports and gaming at ISU prior to his arrival in January of 2000. Additionally, he will cover the different aspects of the program, from varsity to casual, and provide insight into what the future holds for the Redbird Esports program - including ways for you to get plugged into to this new campus initiative.

• David Kirk
  David is a higher education student affairs professional who got his start in esports as the Assistant Director of Esports at the University of Akron where he helped to create one of the most comprehensive collegiate esports programs in the country, winning 3 national championships during his time there. He is in his first official semester of the program launching here at Illinois State University, with plans to develop and advance a model of collegiate esports that focuses on community, competition, and esport industry skill development. David is the co-founder and Executive Director of National Collegiate Esports, a free membership organization that aims to connect collegiate esport professionals, student club leaders, and the general student gaming population to help advance esports and gaming efforts on campuses across the country.

IT News and Presentation of the CIT MVP Award

IT News features the latest announcements and news from campus technology leaders.

The annual CIT MVP Award recipient and nominees will also be announced during IT News. This award recognizes a full-time IT staff member who has made outstanding contributions to the support of faculty, staff, students, and operations over the previous fiscal year.

Keynote Address and IT News Recording

Keynote Address and IT News Chat Transcript

IT News Slide Deck

COVID Accomplishments list

Break! Take a few minutes to stretch or check (briefly) back in with work before the conference resumes at 11:00 am.

Solarwinds Orion: AMA!

In the last year, the Office of Technology Solutions has rolled out Solarwinds Orion for use by any and all IT partners on campus. But what all does that mean? What can you do with it? Join Mike Knerr and Tony Brook, Application Administrators for Solarwinds Orion, in a discussion and Q&A regarding the monitoring platform. Feel free to bring questions about what the system does, how it does it, and how it could be leveraged. Want to know why we chose certain settings? What about application or transaction monitoring? Or maybe how to utilize the powerful PerfStack, Maps, or Reporting features? All questions welcome! Answers not guaranteed, but we'll try our best!

• Tony Brook
  An application administrator for Administrative Technologies since January 2014, Brook has been working in the IT field officially since 2010, and with computers in general since before he could read. He is a graduate of ISU with a bachelor's in English studies, with a particular interest in rhetoric and prose. Ask anyone who has seen his documentation to get an idea how those interests mesh. Brook is the primary administrator of Ellucian Colleague, TouchNet, and GitLab.

• Michael Knerr
  Michael is an application administrator for Technology Solutions and has been with the University since 2010. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Finance from ISU and has worked professionally in IT since 2005 with roles including network administration, system administration, and hardware/software support. In his off-time, he enjoys home projects and gaming. He is currently an administrator of Cherwell, WebTMA, and Orion.

Solarwinds Orion: AMA! Recording

Solarwinds Orion: AMA! Chat Transcript

Teams - Meeting the Challenge!

Teams has made an impact on the campus since the first pilot group was established, and has been utilized in support of many different efforts. We will review the innovative ways Teams has made an impact in supporting instruction and engagement over the past several months. We will also propose effective use cases for how recently released features can assist continuing and new efforts. Our Microsoft partners will be assisting us with this conversation. The session will be interactive and ask participants how Teams has benefited their area and what could be done to build on those successes.

• Max Fritz
  Max is a Senior Program Manager for Microsoft Teams over the past two years. He previously served as a solution architect and consultant focused on providing Microsoft solutions with clients. He also is the founder and former president of the Minnesota Microsoft 365 User Group.

• Craig Jackson
  Craig is serving as the Director within Technology Solutions for the Infrastructure, Operations & Networking team since December 2015. He previously was at the University of Illinois at Chicago and at Urbana-Champaign, before that working in various IT roles.

• Dr. Emily Jones
  Dr. Jones teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in Physical Education Teacher Education. She has participated in our pilot for using Teams to support her Physical Education Department, and the Teams for instruction pilot. Her research includes issues related to: (a) school- and community-based physical activity programs and initiatives and (b) integration of instructional technology in physical education teacher planning, delivery, assessment, and advocacy efforts. Dr. Jones has been a key team member on 17 grants or research contract proposals seeking over $4 million.

• Ella Wurth
  Ella is our Microsoft Account Manager and has been with the company for 3.5 years, serving half her time in this role and the other half as a Modern Workplace Specialist. She has been very helpful and enthusiastic in her support of ISU initiatives.

Teams - Meeting the Challenge! Recording

Teams - Meeting the Challenge! Chat Transcript

Setting up the Student Loaner Laptop Program

Starting at the beginning of this fall semester, ISU began giving out loaner laptops to students who needed computers for remote classes and remote learning. A question to IT quickly became how to build, configure, and secure these devices, because they would be off campus for a long time. This session will cover an overview of the technologies used to establish this cloud-native configuration.

• Jim Johnson
  Jim Johnson is a Windows System Admin for the Information Security Office. He is responsible for the design, configuration, and management of desktop operating environments and configuration management tools. Jim is an ISU alumnus and began work at ISU in 2013 in Tech Solutions Endpoint Support, moved to the Endpoint Systems team, and now the ISO as the teams have recently merged.

Setting up the Student Loaner Laptop Program Recording

Setting up the Student Loaner Laptop Program Chat Transcript

We miss sharing Avanti's with you this year, but enjoy your lunch and we will see you at 1 pm in Zoom.

Note: in Session #2, two subjects are presented within each one hour session option.

(1a) Supercharged Computing: An Introduction to High Performance Computing

An overview of the new resources now offered by Technology Solutions for when large datasets encounter even larger processing needs. We will be demonstrating the new High Performance Computing cluster, how to run your code on it, and discussing how we can extend the system to suit your researchers' needs, be they big or small. This exciting HPC journey is only beginning, and we want to hear your thoughts, ideas, and see your exciting new discoveries!

• Tim Walsh
  Tim Walsh is a system administrator in Technology Solutions' Cloud Compute and Authentication (CCA) group, who primarily supports Commvault, the university backup system, the Windows domains, and now the HPC cluster. Tim spent 10 years at UNC-Greensboro supporting their enterprise monitoring system, before moving to Illinois and receiving his Bachelor's at ISU in 2019.

• Jamie McGregor Johnston
  Jamie Johnston is an Operational Graduate Assistant within the Technology Services Department, brought in to maintain the new High Performance Computing resources acquired by Illinois State and to support its users. Jamie graduated from the University of Stirling in 2018 with a First Class Degree in Computer Science, and in 2020 joined ISU as a Graduate Student pursing a Master's Degree in Internet Application Development.

(1b) Securing Devices with the CIS Controls

The Center for Internet Security (CIS) publishes the CIS Controls, which are a prioritized set of actions to mitigate the most common attacks against systems and networks. In the Information Security Office, we have begun an effort to implement these 20 controls at ISU. This session will cover what these controls are, what we have done so far, and where we see this effort going.

• Jim Johnson
  Jim Johnson is a Windows System Admin for the Information Security Office. He is responsible for the design, configuration, and management of desktop operating environments and configuration management tools. Jim is an ISU alumnus and began work at ISU in 2013 in Tech Solutions Endpoint Support, moved to the Endpoint Systems team, and now the ISO as the teams have recently merged.

• Seth Pheasant
  Seth Pheasant is the Manager of the Information Security Office. He oversees the daily operational activities to (i) support the missions, goals, and objectives of the University, (ii) reduce the risk posed to the University due to loss, disruption, or corruption of information and information systems, and (iii) assure that the University complies with applicable state, federal, and industry laws, rules, and regulations related to information security.

Supercharged Computing/Securing Devices with the CIS Controls Recording

Supercharged computing/Securing Devices with the CIS Controls Chat Transcript

(2a) Overview: Learning Spaces and Audio/Visual Technologies

Since the inception of "Technology Solutions" mid-2020, many questions have been asked of LSAVT, such as: “What is a ‘learning space’?" "Where did Learning Spaces & Audio Visual Technologies come from?" "...what is it exactly that you do?” In this session, the history, unique services, and current status of LSAVT will be reviewed and the most common questions answered. Come prepared to ask your own audio/visual questions as well!

• Ted Coussens
  Ted started his career at Learning Spaces in 2006, and is currently the Assistant Chief Instructional Media Systems Engineer.

Overview: Learning Spaces and Audio/Visual Technologies Recording

Overview: Learning Spaces and Audio/Visual Technologies Chat Transcript

(2b) Using a Webcam as a Document Camera

In response to requests for document cameras to use outside the classroom, we have learned how to effectively repurpose an ordinary webcam as a document camera, without losing its primary function. A number of College of Business faculty have taken part in use and development of the concept and associated hardware. The session includes information about common webcams, mounting, lighting, appropriate markers, a method to save digital images of document camera sessions, and a 3D-printed document camera stand we developed in-house. We will also discuss using a smartphone as a document camera, and the 3D-printed stand developed for that purpose. The session includes a pdf handout and links to videos.

• George Wiman
  BA degree Milligan College, Johnson City, TN. 40 years supporting technology in photography, print media, printing, computer repair, and higher education.

Using a Webcam as a Document Camera Recording

Using a Webcam as a Document Camera Chat Transcript