August 2015 ACUTA eNews

www.acuta.org
August 2015 / Vol. 44, No. 8
A Productive Visit to Baltimore
I was in Baltimore in May for the 2015 Spring meeting of CHEMA (Council of Higher Education Management Associations). CHEMA is an informal, voluntary assembly of management-oriented higher-education associations in
the United States and Canada. By sharing information, comparing experiences, and working collectively on projects
of shared interest, CHEMA members maximize their resources and create substantial benefits for the colleges and
universities they represent.
Corinne Hoch, PMP
ACUTA CEO
Since ACUTA will hold its next event at the Hyatt Regency Inner Harbor in Baltimore in October, it was a great opportunity for me to accomplish many things, not the least of which was to gauge my sense of safety for our members in a
city where the media provided acute visual images of the unrest in West Baltimore following the unfortunate death of
Freddie Gray only weeks prior to my arrival. Take a look at the video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Sr1gwE41c#t=12) in which I convey how comfortable, safe, and at home I felt in the Charm City after walking all over, going
to a baseball game, staying in a hotel outside the Inner Harbor, and walking almost everywhere I went …
With NACUBO as its coordinator, CHEMA meets twice a year at various locations across the country. Like ACUTA, it is
inevitably challenged by outside forces, such as the ebola scare when we were in Boston, the measles outbreak in
Anaheim just before we were there, and the tornados in Georgia when we were at the annual conference. But also like
ACUTA, these meetings enable CHEMA members to share information, compare experiences, and work collectively
on projects related to higher education, thereby maximizing their resources and creating substantial benefits for the
colleges and universities they represent.
Planned accomplishments while I was in Baltimore:
• Confirmation that John Walda, NACUBO President & CEO, is quite pleased with our collaborative, ResNet Study
continued on page 2
Calendar
Friday, September 18
Early Registration Deadline for Fall Seminar
October 25–28
Fall Seminar, Baltimore Inner Harbor
January 17–20, 2016
Winter Seminar, New Orleans
April 24–27, 2016
45th Annual Conference, San Diego
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Big News for the ACUTA Journal
Beginning with the Fall 2015 issue, the ACUTA Journal will be an electronic-only publication. This is a step in the right direction on many fronts: It’s environmentally friendlier,
it’s more convenient because it is more mobile and accessible, and it represents an
economically sound decision as ACUTA strives to improve your ROI.
Members will receive an email with a link to the new Journal mid-September. When you
click on the link, you will see in the center of your screen the new Journal (looking mostly
like the old one). At the bottom, when you open it, you can click on a page icon and
move instantly to the story you want to read first. At the right of the screen, there will be
icons from past issues, which will also be clickable links. So the whole Journal archive
will be in front of you wherever you are.
We are very proud to take this step, and we hope it serves you better. Please let us know
what you think! We value your comments very much. ([email protected])
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• Discovery that Mary de Niro, the new ACUHO-I Executive Director and her volunteer President from UNC-Chapel Hill both really
appreciated the partnership on the ResNet Study
• Corroboration that Doreen Murner, NAEP (Procurement) Executive Director, is delighted that Walt was asked to speak at their
annual conference in May 2016 to introduce ACUTA and the DAS Architectural Specifications Task Force Report
• Time well spent with Jack Vorheese of ACUI, current Executive Director of CSHEMA, and his volunteer President, only to find that
her mother and I attended high school together in Raleigh
• Meeting with the contacts we were considering who responded to our RFPs for the Monday night event (Bubba Gump Shrimp
Company) and the Saturday Board Dinner (Brio) as well as visiting the hotel, Hyatt Regency, and other potential restaurants in
the vicinity
Unplanned Accomplishments:
• I already mentioned my participation in the video promoting Baltimore tourism
• I spent time with Dr. Ron Rhames, President of Midlands Technical College in Columbia, SC (a non-member
school), visiting his wonderful, impressive campuses (well, 4 out of the 6 so far). Here’s a photo of Dr. Rhames and
me when he visited the ACUTA offices in Lexington recently.
• I also spent much quality time with a University of Maryland contact, Donna McMahon, the Assistant Director of
Risk Management
• And I was able to send greetings to Mona Brenan-Coles via the President of CAUBO
CHEMA’s excellent program this year featured legal updates; diversity; Jeffry Selingo (a journalist on higher ed); Dr.
Kirwin, the retiring University of Maryland System Chancellor on the future of higher education; and risk management.
One of the many, positive take-aways was that the generation after the millennials will look for the personal touch … so this was a
reminder to offer a pre-session in Baltimore to appeal to young professionals and to incorporate the next-gen CIO for our Leadership Forum in San Diego.
I am looking forward to returning to Baltimore for the ACUTA Fall Seminar in October and to the prospect of seeing you all there!
What’s on Your Desk, Keith?
Keith Fowlkes
Director of ITS & CIO
Centre College
[email protected]
As with most of you, my summer work has been filled with sun, palm trees, and mixed drinks by the pool…
well, actually that’s only when I fell asleep at my desk and hit my head on the stapler from exhaustion. Okay. I
HAVE BEEN VERY BUSY THIS SUMMER… BUT WHAT’S NEW??
Early in the summer, we completed a large-scale project to automate all of our telecom and print/copy charges
with two of our new software partners, ComView and PaperCut. This project, along with moving to block/bulk
billing for AT&T’s IPflex services, have saved my staff and others well over 100 hours in work time per month
while being much more accurate on chargebacks to departments.
One of the largest projects that we are working on here at Centre is a document management and workflow
system implementation using Alfresco Community (an open-source, document-management software). We
began an implementation two years ago with another major commercial document management software, but
after assessing the ongoing costs, we decided to pull the plug on that project. After a solid product review of
both commercial and open-source systems, we selected Alfresco Community, and it has been a great experience. The open-source software is advanced and easy-to-manage and offers most all the bells and whistles
that the major vendors offer without the monolithic costs of commercial software licensing.
Finally, Centre College and DePauw University started the process of forming a new consortium for private
institutions, focusing on cost savings in specifically ERP and ancillary software purchasing and licensing. To
date, more than 60 private colleges and universities have expressed interest in becoming members, and we
Continued
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Continued from page 2
are finishing up our non-profit corporation status now. The new consortium, called the “Higher Education Systems and
Services Consortium” or the “HESS Consortium,” will be ready to begin working with vendor partners by the end of 2015.
HESS already has letters of interest from Ellucian, Jenzabar, Campus Management, CAMS/ Three Rivers and Oracle to
be our initial ERP vendor partners. You can read more about this new purchasing group at www.hessconsortium.org.
The summer has been busy, but we are so excited about the work that we are doing in Information Technology Services
and how it is supporting the mission at Centre. Better yet, we are excited about how we are making work, scholarship, and
residential life better for our campus community. Centre College is a healthy and exciting institution, and we are so happy
to be a part of the work being done here. I hope that you feel the same excitement about your work at your institution
and that there are great days ahead for you too!
Fall Seminar Pre-Sessions
Session I. The RFP—How to Write One, Get a Fair Price, and Protect Your Organization
Presenters: Geoff Tritsch and Jon Young, Vantage Technology Consulting Group
Session II. Leadership Toolkit for Young Professionals
Presenter: Joanne Kossuth, Olin College of Engineering
Track 1: Preparing & Innovating for Tomorrow
Location-based applications, social media applications, flipped classrooms, unified communications, crowdsourcing: If
your institution isn’t driving the technological innovations of today, you can expect a professor will soon be calling upon
you to support them. What are the new applications that will place new demands on your infrastructure? What can your
institution do to prepare an infrastructure that supports the applications that have yet to be created? Through institutional
success stories and case studies, this track will tackle the delicate balance required to manage the demands of today
while looking to the future.
Track 2: Enterprise Telephony and UC: Today and Tomorrow
According to industry analysts, most companies aren’t replacing or expanding their enterprise-telephony platforms. Instead, these companies are investing in collaboration technologies such as video conferencing and unified communications. Many institutions replaced enterprise phone systems in 2000, preparing for the Y2K incompatibilities. These aging
platforms are ripe for replacement or upgrades, but most campus business leaders are asking “what’s new” in enterprise
telephony to warrant the investment. This track will explore creative and unique ways campuses are leveraging enterprise
communication and collaboration systems. Topics to be covered include: call center operations, voice mail system, SIP,
hosted telephony, mobile integration, attendant options, VoIP, and E911.
SAVE WHEN YOU REGISTER BY SEPTEMBER 18
www.acuta.org
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From the listserv:
Auditing Firms and Telecom Billing
Well Said...
}
The first rule of any technology used in
a business is that automation applied
to an efficient operation will magnify the
efficiency. The second is that automation
applied to an inefficient operation will
magnify the inefficiency.
—Bill Gates
Once a new technology rolls over you, if
you’re not part of the steamroller, you’re part
of the road.
—Stewart Brand
Technology has the shelf life of a banana.
—Scott McNealy
Jeanne Jansenius from Sewanee, the University of the South,
recently posted a question to the listserv about working with
an auditing firm to check telecom billing to find carrier errors.
Geoff Tritsch responded with some good advice. In case you
missed it, here’s Geoff’s reply.
I don’t know anything about [a particular company], but I have
some experience with this type of consulting. While I am sure
there are reputable bill-auditing firms out there that provide a
valuable service to their clients, this sector of the consulting
industry has a well-earned bad reputation. Generally, Vantage does not get involved in any
type of bill auditing. It is low-level grunt work with very little strategic value to the client. We
especially eschew any contingency consulting (“we save you money and we get half”) as it
is rife with innate conflict of interest.
This type of consulting was very popular in the 1980s and ’90s when telecom rates (especially long distance) were high and the telcos were known for bad accounting processes, old
billing systems, and years of errors that had crept in during the conversion of manual billing
systems to badly automated systems. Customers would receive pages and pages of cryptic
bills (remember USOC codes?) and few took the time to comb through the PCABs (Printout of Customer Account Billing) for errors. Lately, we just don’t see this type of consulting
much anymore.
If you do decide to go down this road, here are a few things to keep in mind:
• If the service is provided on a fee-for-service basis, do you really think the potential savings will be worth the cost? If there is a doubt, don’t bother.
• If it is offered on a contingency basis, read the contract VERY CAREFULLY. There are a
lot of “gotchas” in those contracts, potentially including a need to pay the audit firm before
you get your refund from the provider. Many providers have limits on their liability for billing
errors. Make sure you are paying a percentage of what you actually get back, not what you
are potentially owed.
• Many of these contracts also include “optimization services” where the firm will provide
recommendations for “telecom cost improvements” such as proper trunking levels and other
services. In some cases, you might need to pay them for the “savings” even if you don’t like
or take their recommendations. Many of the recommendations can be bogus, especially if
the audit does not take into account the varying demands due to the academic calendar or
other higher-ed specific issues.
ACUTA
Best Practices
Trends
Mutual Support SKILLS
Continuing Education
Building Bridges
New Technology
COLLABORATION
Opportunities
Peer-to-Peer
Professional Networking
Finally, it seems to me that this is a no-win situation for Telecom. If they find nothing, management says “Oh good, Telecom is doing their job,” and you are no further ahead than you
were before the project. If Telecom needs validation in the eyes of management, that’s a
different issue and should be attacked on that level not through billing. If the audit firm finds
anything, there is inevitably the potential for “Look what they found! I thought we were paying
YOU to manage Telecom.” If it’s a small amount of money (which for most of my higher ed
clients, it is) it’s a royal pain for little return. If it’s a large amount of money, it might be a
better financial return but it can come at quite a cost.
You can contact Geoff at [email protected].
Help us grow the network: Share ACUTA with a colleague today!
www.acuta.org
Randy’s Top 10
Info Links
Special Interest
Hackers Remotely
Immobilize a Moving Car
Frequently, vendors, associations, governmental
bodies, and others provide white papers and other
informational documents that are announced
through a variety of media sources. While some
admittedly have a certain slant or opinion, others
are quite objective; however, they often contain
valuable information. Below are links to this
month's selected documents.
From Network World Daily News PM • July 21, 2015
www.networkworld.com
One brave Wired journalist agreed to drive a Jeep
on a St. Louis highway while two hackers hacked
it remotely, taking control of everything from the
air conditioning to the transmission. The hackers say they want automakers to look into security issues. Looks like this got their attention.
Webinar Archive: BOGO
Buy One Get One FREE*
ACUTA strives to deliver relevant and timely webinars designed to provide you with learning opportunities without the travel. For a limited time,
we are happy to offer the recorded archive of our
two most recent and highly rated webinars as a
bundle. Purchase video streaming of either of the
following webinars and we will email you with links
to view both:
First Responder Authority (FirstNet)
Amanda Hilliard, Director of Outreach, discusses
the First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet)’s
efforts to deploy a nationwide public safety broadband network. Topics covered include FirstNet’s
background, consultation and outreach, and the
acquisitions process.
120+ Days of Protest: How Higher Ed Dealt with It
Matt Arthur, Washington University in St. Louis’
Director of Incident Communications and Media
Services, and Mark Bagby, Director of Emergency
Management, discuss the August 2014 shooting
death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, and
how the events (daily protests that lasted for more
than 120 days) affected higher-education institutions in the area.
To take advantage of this special offer, simply
place your order in the ACUTA Store and we will
email you the url link for both webinars.
* Discount applies only to the June 30 and July
15 webinars. Offer valid now through August 31,
2015.
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Randy Hayes
Leg/Reg Affairs Committee
Univ. of Northern Iowa
[email protected]
 Gig U – Next Gen Network Connectivity Handbook:
http://www.gig-u.org/cms/assets/uploads/2012/12/Val-NexGen_design_7.9_v2.pdf
 ITU – ICT Global Regulatory Tracker:
http://www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Regulatory-Market/tracker/Pages/default.aspx
 Georgetown: Regulation & Investment…FCC Title II Regulation:
http://httponline.org/wp-content/uploads/HassettShapiro_Policy-EvaluationunderUncertainty.pdf
 NECA/Vantage Point – A-CAM Study Results:
https://prodnet.www.neca.org/publicationsdocs/wwpdf/71315vantage.pdf
 Pub Knowledge -- TDM-to-IP Comm. Backup Power:
https://prodnet.www.neca.org/publicationsdocs/wwpdf/71315pk.pdf
 Ericsson – Wi-Fi Calling Finds its Voice (Survey):
www.ericsson.com/res/docs/2015/consumerlab/ericsson-consumerlab-wifi-calling-finds-its-voice.
pdf
 Next Century Cities –Policy Agenda for Broadband Stakeholders:
http://nextcenturycities.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/NCCPolicyAgenda_Web.pdf
 CTIA – License Spectrum Deficit—Updating Projections:
www.ctia.org/docs/default-source/default-document-library/bazelon_mchenry_spectrum-deficit
_2015-06-23.pdf
★ Pub Knowledge – Internet Zero-Rating Challenges:
https://www.publicknowledge.org/assets/uploads/blog/Final_Paper-Jul_28-TM.pdf
★ NERA – The Economics of Zero-Rating:
http://www.nera.com/content/dam/nera/publications/2015/EconomicsofZeroRating.pdf
★ I found these two very interesting.
Repeated from last month (because it’s so good!)
 FEMA – Emergency Mgmt. Institute Free Online Courses:
https://training.fema.gov/is/
Board Report
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July 2015
President Michele Morrison called the July 8, 2015, ACUTA board meeting to order at 2:05 PM Eastern time.
All board members were present with the exception of Director-At-Large Cathy O’Bryan.
Consent Agenda items approved:
Jeanne Jansenius
Secretary/Treasurer
Sewanee, The University of the South [email protected]
1. May 2015 Financial Statements
2. Monthly committee Agenda, minutes and Reports
3. Membership Reports
4. Committee and Subcommittee Nominations approved:
• Publications/Media Committee: Ed Wozencroft, Stevens Institute of Technology; Giselle Collins, British
Columbia Institute of Technology
• Program/Content Committee/OnLine Learning Subcommittee: Andrew Nichols, Univ. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; Michael Tierney, Univ. of Alabama; Kevin Ormsby, UNIFY, Inc.; Deepa Kurup, Univ. of
South Florida
• Awards Committee: Matt Arthur, Washington Univ. in St. Louis; Christian (Chris) Boniforti, Lynn Univ.;
Scott Claverie, California State Univ.–Chico; Kurt Faszholz, Taqua; Joe Harrington, Boston College; Christine Mulvey, Marist College; Becky Goudy, e2Campus
• Higher Education Advisory Panel: Abraham George, Columbus State Univ.; John Gallant, IDG Communications; Brian Holley, Middle Tennessee State Univ.; John McGuthry, California State Polytechnic
Univ.-Pomona; Carol Stillman, Cisco Systems, Inc.
The 2015-2016 budget was reviewed and approved.
Board meeting adjourned at 3:36 PM Eastern Time
Respectfully Submitted,
Jeanne Jansenius
Secretary/Treasurer
2015
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1995
20 Years Ago at ACUTA
Climb into the WayBack Machine for a look at ACUTA back in 1995. Many of you were a part of ACUTA back then—and some
of you were still in elementary school! It’s been an interesting couple of decades for all of us.
Dave O’Neill, who was from Washington State University back then but now is at Community Colleges of Spokane, became
ACUTA President as Randy Collett, from Central Missouri State University, stepped down. (Randy is now retired from CenturyLink.) Jim Cross, at Michigan Tech back then, was President-elect for 1996-97.
At the Annual Conference in Orlando, Tony Mordosky (then at Millersville University but recently retired from Rowan University)
officially announced our presence on the Internet. (Wow. Has it been that long?)
The big news on campus was card technology. Here’s a snippet from the ACUTA News July 1995: “Now, electronically savvy
students want access to the latest telecom voice services such as speed dialing,...voice messaging, and other related
services. They want access to high-tech data services such as those available through the Internet, research facilities, and
bulletin boards, as well as e-mail. And they want debit- and cash-card convenience, both on and off campus.”
Another of the biggest news items for ACUTA members was the turmoil surrounding the Communications Act of 1995. Everyone followed the progress of this legislation as it worked its way through Congress that fall. Among other changes, this
legislation planned to usher in new rules about local competition among phone companies, address who could provide
cable TV, and permit the Bell Operating Companies to provide long-distance service and to manufacture telecom equipment.
Vice President Gore criticized the bill in committee, saying, “The highest bidders, not the highest principles, have set the bar.”
7
Board of Directors 2015–16
Welcome New Members
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Institutional Members
President .......................... Michele Morrison, Brit. Col. Inst. of Tech.
President-Elect......................... Arthur Brant, Abilene Christian Univ.
College of Charleston, Charleston, SC, T3............................................................................www.cofc.edu
Marcia Moore, Dir. of Enterprise Info Management (843/953-8200) [email protected]
Secretary/Treasurer................. Jeanne Jansenius, Univ. of the South
Corporate Affiliates
Immediate Past President........ Mark Reynolds, Univ. of New Mexico
Copper Member
Directors-at-Large...............................Adrienne Esposito, Rutgers Univ.
Riny Ledgerwood, San Diego State Univ.
Chris Megill, The George Washington Univ.
Sharon Moore, Smith College
Cathy O’Bryan, Indiana Univ.
COMMITTEE/SUBCOMMITTEE CHAIRS
Ambassadors Task Force........ Carmine Piscopo, Providence College
Corporate Liaison............................................ Wendi Lisso, Apogee
Environmental Scanning ...Dee Childs, Univ. of Alabama, Huntsville
Higher Ed Adv. Panel....Joanne Kossuth, Olin College of Engineering
Legislative/Regulatory Affairs......... Eric Breese, Illinois Inst. of Tech.
Membership Experience................Jana McDonald, Texas A&M Univ.
Online Learning Subcom............ Eric Alborn, Univ. of Wisc. Madison
Program/Content.......................... Sheard Goodwin, Univ. of Florida
Publications/Media................. Mona Brennan-Coles, Western Univ.
PUBLICATIONS COMMITTEE
Chair, Mona Brennan-Coles.................................Western University
Tom Branan................................................... Utah Valley University
Robin Burns.......................................................... Principia College
Giselle Collins.......................... British Columbia Inst. of Technology
Keith Fowlkes........................................................... Centre College
Jennifer Hernandez.................................................................. AVST
Andrew Nichols......................Univ. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Doug West...................................................University of Richmond
Ed Wozencroft..................................Stevens Institute of Technology
STAFF
Chief Executive Officer ...................................... Corinne Hoch, PMP
Director, Strategic Relationships....................................Amy Burton
Chief Financial Officer....................................... Tom Campbell, CPA
Chief Technology Officer............................................ Aaron Fuehrer
Registration & Database Coordinator........................... Lori Dodson
Director, Communications.................................................Pat Scott
Chief Strategy Officer........................................ Lisa Thornton, CMP
Director, Professional Development ............................Michele West
The opinions expressed in this publication are those of the writers
and are not necessarily the opinions of their institution or company.
ACUTA as an association does not express an opinion or endorse
products or services. ACUTA eNews is published electronically 12
times per year by ACUTA, a nonprofit association. Send material
for ACUTA eNews to Pat Scott, ACUTA, 152 W. Zandale Dr., Ste. 200,
Lexington, KY 40503-2486; ph. 859/721-1659; fax 859/2783268; e-mail [email protected]. Copyright ©2015 ACUTA
Coriant North America, LLC. Naperville, IL.........................................................................www.coriant.com
David Hammond, Business Development Manager, [email protected]
With a distinguished heritage of advanced technology and service excellence, forged by over 35 years of experience and expertise in IP/data and packet optical networking, Coriant helps service providers and enterprises
maximize the value of their transport networks as bandwidth demands explode and end-user needs evolve.
GENBAND US, LLC, Frisco, TX...........................................................................................www.genband.com
Greg Zweig, director, solutions Marketing, [email protected]
GENBAND is a leader in real-time communications solutions. The company’s Nortel evolution, unified communications, mobility and embedded communications solutions strengthen the campus community by enabling
collaboration and improving productivity as well as enhancing safety and security.
Check It Out
Press Releases, Job Postings, & Corporate Webinars
The ACUTA website lets you communicate with other members—share some exciting
news, fill a position, or find just the right vendor. Check the website for the latest postings
frequently. Here are items that have been posted since our last eNews.
PRESS RELEASES: www.acuta.org/pressroom
Corporate and Institutional members may send press releases to Amy Burton (aburton@acuta.
org). those received by the 20th of the month will be posted in the next month’s eNews.
• Code Blue Promotes David Cook to CEO
• Code Blue Product Line Expands with Addition of CB 9-t Gatekeepers
JOB POSTINGS: www.acuta.org/jobs
Help your colleagues who are looking for work! To send job postings, go to www.acuta.org. Click
on one of the jobs listed there, and you will link to the jobs listed now and a link where you can
post a job.
• 2 Positions, Michigan Technological University, Houghton, MI: Director of Telecommunications, Data Center Technician
• Change Manager - IT Analyst 2, University of FLorida, Gainesville, FL
FREE WEBINARS HOSTED BY ACUTA CORPORATE MEMBERS:
www.acuta.org/corporatewebinars
Many free webinars are available through ACUTA Corporate Members. Check the website at www.
acuta.org/corporatewebinars to see what is currently available. (Corporate members: e-mail Amy
Burton at [email protected] to get your free webinars listed.)
Got a story you’d like to share in the eNews or the Journal?
We love to tell your stories!
Contact Pat Scott, ACUTA Communications Director, at [email protected].