Introducing Academic Technology Services

By Carrie Regenstein, director, ATS; assistant dean for educational technology, the College

You've Got Mail. It's one of the most popular movies in theaters today, the plot of which revolves around e-mail correspondence.

Virtually every student, faculty member, and employee at the University also sends and receives electronic mail every day. More important, the use of information technology (IT)--including e-mail and other, wide-ranging uses of computers--is becoming part of the way we all fulfill the University's mission. At the same time, the rate of change of the technology itself is increasing along with its power and potentials. The entire process is dizzying for anyone simply trying to get his or her work done.

To quote another movie (Ghostbusters): "Who ya gonna call?" Who can help folks get their work done in a way that will be effective and efficient when the technologies inevitably change yet again?

After serving the University through the development of many technologies and services, the organization long known as the University Computing Center (UCC) is responding to these new and pressing issues by becoming Academic Technology Services (ATS) as of January 1999. It's ATS' goal to maintain the best of UCC service while enhancing it to meet these new challenges.

What's changing? Information will be made available to the campus about recommended, well-supported hardware and software configurations; ideally, these selections will help ensure outstanding support. At the same time, ATS' Information Center in Taylor Hall hopes to achieve 24-hour turnaround of answers to your questions. Information about services and solutions to problems will also be available at info@ats. rochester.edu. In addition, ATS will work with departments to create new partnerships for the best possible service.

What has stayed the same? ATS will continue to provide a host of services to University departments and individuals, including Service Level Agreements (SLAs) to support operating systems like UNIX and NT or networked desktop environments, including Macintoshes and PCs. Installation and repair is provided by Computer Equipment Services (x5-7910) and software site licensing assistance is available at sitelic@ats. rochester.edu. As before, Internet services such as listservs and usenet are available to the entire University community.

What's new? One of the new elements of ATS' mission includes focused support for students and faculty of the College in Educational Technology Services, such as the use of information technology and research tools in instruction, especially coursework. For students, in addition to the successful ResNet program, ATS is enhancing the computer labs such as CLARC that are used for both curricular and noncurricular uses of computers. Student suggestions are welcome.

ATS also is enhancing its services to College faculty seeking to incorporate the use of computers into their courses. The new Educational Technology Center--formerly the Technology Resource Center--is located in Taylor Hall, Room 31 (273-1718), and has staff dedicated to helping with Web pages for courses and other Internet and multimedia possibilities. In its services and referrals, the Ed Tech Center hopes to become a "one-stop shop," working in collaboration with other service organizations such as the Multimedia Center and AMES, all of which receive guidance from the College Teaching, Learning and Technology Roundtable (CTLTR).

New technologies seem to be all around us. Consumers must balance the conveniences of e-commerce with the security concerns of using a credit card online. The nature of the online community is still being defined. ATS' goal is to make available as much information as possible to Rochester's scholarly community while keeping computer systems secure. None of us wants to feel like the Sandra Bullock character in the movie The Net, in which online security violations disrupted her life.

There's more information about ATS at its new Web site (www.rochester.edu/ATS) and you're encouraged to make suggestions to info@ats.rochester.edu or x5-2811.