Cornell University 2011-2012 Annual Report - DFA Home - Cornell ...

and resources, toward an effective response to emergencies.Work continued on the program in FY12 and will progressin FY13.FY12 Annual Report at hr.cornell.edu/about/fy12_annual_report.pdf for more information.Information TechnologiesFaculty ExcellenceInformation Technologies launched a one-year strategicin areas of research and scholarship, teaching and learning,administrative processes, and other issues of concern.An increasing number of site-licensed or cloud-basedservices are becoming available for faculty to use. Examplesin 2011–2012 include Box (document and workgroupcollaboration), WebEx (video conferencing with advancedfeatures), and Kaltura (video on demand).Educational ExcellenceA new Learning Technologies Advisory Committee,LTAC, was formed in December 2011. The committee hasbroad faculty representation and is charged with overseeingstrategic direction and activities related to learningtechnologies.Several important improvements were made to thecourse management system BlackBoard to increase thereliability and performance of its basic infrastructure and tointegrate it with the Student System (for class rosters andother functions).Cornell is an early adopter of eTextbook technologiesthrough a series of pilot initiatives. Cornell is working withpublishers and other universities to evaluate its collectiveexperience and to take an informed approach to what isarguably an inevitable evolution in the delivery of academiccourse materials.Information Technologies also established a site licensefor a product called Turnitin, which is used to guardagainst plagiarism in student assignments.Excellence in Research, Scholarship,and CreativityIn May 2011 the Board of Trustees Buildings andProperties Committee approved a plan to provideappropriate research networking connectivity in all suitableacademic spaces. The new Network Connectivity Program,NCP, will cost approximately $15 million less than the priorplan, EzraNet, and will be completed in FY14, several yearsearlier than the EzraNet plan.Staff ExcellenceInformation Technologies has taken great strides towardbroader and more purposeful engagement of the distributedIT leaders at Cornell (IT Service Groups and others). IT isFramework in order to provide the building blocks for asuccessful and fulfilling IT career at Cornell, addressingthe new skills needed in this decade for both technical andmanagement streams.The first cohort in the IT Leadership Program (ITLP),a yearlong leadership and career development effort,responded with rave reviews. Cornell is participating forthe first time, but ITLP is a staple of IT staff developmentin peer schools like Stanford, Columbia, and many others.Student and Academic ServicesStudent LifeIn the summer of 2011, Cornell joined the Nationaldrinking, providing a structure and catalyst for the AlcoholAbuse Amelioration Strategy defined a year ago. Throughstrategies to reduce the incidence of high risk drinkingamong students, especially first year students and thoseinvolved in the Greek system. Several new actions werelaunched, including joint police patrols, creation of theBear’s Den (a late night venue), alcohol-free rush week, anddevelopment of Cayuga’s Watchers.The Office of Fraternities, Sororities, and IndependentLiving launched the Recruitment, Acceptance, Retention,and Education (RARE) Task Force in response to PresidentSkorton’s challenge to end pledging as we know it. TheTask Force’s draft report is being reviewed in preparationfor formal recommendations for change by winter 2013.During the year, Cornell Outdoor Education’s Team andLeadership Center piloted a Greek Leadership Academyto move to a healthier model of new member education.Fourteen chapters participated in this first year and aslightly modified version will be offered to 30 chapters in2012–2013.recognition from two national agencies. The NationalCommittee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) recognizedGannett for having achieved the highest level ofto provide high levels of care, access and communication,care coordination and integration, and care qualityand safety. Gannett is one of the first university healthservices nationally to achieve this status. Gannett was alsoaccredited for the fifth time with highest marks by thecited Gannett as a flagship organization in college health.based accreditation in order to examine and evaluate healthcare organizations.EngagementTwenty-three Cornell students spent a day helping25