As part of Strategy 2015, we have all been asked to identify opportunities for communicating the value of Simmons College and increasing the visibility of the characteristics that allow us to occupy a unique place in the higher education landscape. For the Technology department, this has meant focusing on how our community uses technology and looking for ways to improve core services. From a visibility standpoint, there is no platform more valuable than our online presence, which is frequently the primary source of information about Simmons for those outside of the College.

The platform we use to manage our website no longer meets the needs of our community and was not designed to handle the rich, interactive content (such as videos, social media, and apps) that have quickly become the backbone of the most successful websites out there today. The need to replace our content management platform has presented us with an opportunity not only to update the way we use our website, but to reassess the entire strategy for our larger digital ecosystem.

To accomplish this, Technology is participating in a College-wide initiative, with representatives from across campus, to create a strategy that focuses on organizing and sharing content, particularly the research of our faculty and the accomplishments of our students and alumnae/i.

Our goal is to have the first phase of the Digital Ecosystem Project complete by September 2014. We will be taking an iterative approach, beginning with a new website, a new mobile app for students, and a new way to manage content. Prior to these services going live, we will work with the community to develop policies to guide content creation, and focus on training stakeholders to use these new tools in order to maximize the visibility and impact of Simmons’s online presence.

In the coming months, we’ll provide updates on the Digital Ecosystem Project as it takes shape and moves forward. We also welcome your feedback, which is vital to the success of this project. Please contact Nephellie Dobie, Director of Project Management and Business Analysis, if you have questions or comments you’d like to share.

You might not have had this circled on your calendars, but October is National Cyber Security Awareness Month. NCSAM is part of an ongoing campaign to promote greater understanding of the threats to our computers, mobile devices, and data.

We would strongly encourage everyone to take time to make sure you’re studying, working, and shopping safely online. Here are a few resources to help get you started:

• Simmons College Information Security

• StaySafeOnline.org

• Google’s Guide to Online Safety and Security

• Microsoft’s Safety and Security Center

• McAfee’s Guide to Online Shopping (PDF)

These are just some of the many places to find information about staying safe and secure online. If you have any questions about cyber security, you can always reach out to the Service Desk and we will help you address your concerns.

We recognize that Google Drive has quickly become a popular way to store and share files at Simmons, and that the widespread adoption of this tool can make it difficult to keep track of what files you’ve uploaded and with whom you’ve shared them.

To help keep our data safe, Simmons Technology will deploy a solution called CloudLock to monitor sensitive data in Google Drive beginning November 15th. While Google Drive meets our security requirements and is FERPA compliant, there are certain kinds of data that should not be stored there, including credit card numbers, Social Security numbers, and student financial information. Many members of the Simmons community also access Google Drive on various mobile devices from non-Simmons WiFi networks, which increases the possibility of sensitive data being made available outside the Simmons network.

That’s where CloudLock comes in. It programmatically identifies certain data that appear to match these types of sensitive information, and if found, alerts you by email. This automated process does not require Technology staff to view or monitor files in Google Drive, and it directly alerts you to the presence of any sensitive data so that you can remove it.

Prior to the rollout of CloudLock, we will send an email to all faculty and staff detailing how you will be notified and what action you can take to remove sensitive data. In the meantime, if you have questions about CloudLock or keeping your Google Drive files compliant, please contact David Bruce, Director of Infrastructure & Online Services.

If you are a faculty or staff member who uses SPSS for statistical analysis, you can now download the newest version of SPSS to your personal computer.

To get started, make sure you’re connected to the Simmons network using the Simmons Virtual Private Network (VPN), and then follow the instructions here.

If you have questions about the download, or would like to install SPSS on a Simmons-owned computer, please contact the Service Desk at 617-521-2222.

On Tuesday, October 22, Apple released their newest Mac operating system: OS X Mavericks (10.9). The new operating system was immediately made available as a free download for current Mac owners. Mavericks is a completely new version of OS X and requires a reinstall of the entire operating system. Because Mavericks has just been released, we are asking anyone with a Simmons-owned Mac to continue using their current OS until the Service Desk has verified that Mavericks works with all applications commonly used at Simmons.

To find out more about Mavericks, please visit the official OS X webpage here.