Category: Advance an Analytics-Enabled Environment

Participate in National Higher Education Survey

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EDUCAUSE, the leading nonprofit association that advocates for strategic use of technology and data in higher education, sponsors an annual national survey at colleges and universities. The survey focuses on the use of classroom technologies and technology adoption by faculty and students.

An ‘invitation to participate’ email was sent to instructors and undergraduates on Monday, Oct. 23. The survey will remain open through Friday, Nov. 17. This is an opportunity for instructors and undergraduates to let UF Information Technology (UFIT) know how the division can better support teaching and learning. All feedback is anonymous.

UFIT activities are driven by the University of Florida’s Strategic Plan for IT: 2020-2025. Several of the goals in the strategic plan will be supported by faculty and student responses to the EDUCAUSE survey. And, since the survey is administered at hundreds of universities, information collected at our university becomes part of a large research project, enabling UF to benchmark its data against other public land-grant institutions. Members of the university community with questions about EDUCAUSE’s survey data collection process are welcome to contact them through their online “Contact Us” form.

New Workshop: Applying Learning Analytics

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As part of the university’s ongoing efforts to enhance student success, UFIT created a new unit whose sole focus is on learning analytics and assessment. One of the first outputs of this unit is a new workshop highlighting how learning analytics tools can be utilized to enhance student outcomes.

Registration is now open for the Applying Learning Analytics workshop. The online workshop was developed with fellow Unizin member institutions as a cross-institutional effort to prepare faculty to use learning analytics data ethically, effectively, and equitably. It has been added to Canvas Commons as an open educational resource and is being piloted at several institutions, including UF. The workshop introduces instructors to course-level learning analytics data in Canvas and other educational tools. Participants will learn how analytics can inform changes in their course design and provide customized student guidance during the learning process. Over a three-week period (March 30-April 13), participants are required to attend two 90-minute synchronous sessions (Zoom available). There is an option for an additional 90-minute synchronous or asynchronous session. All synchronous sessions are held on Thursdays from 10:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.

Instructors with questions about the new learning analytics and assessment unit or the workshop are welcome to email Dr. Heather Maness, assistant director of the Center for Instructional Technology and Training.

Empowering UF to Meet Our Future Needs

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Over the past two weeks, more than 700 employees participated in product demos for Empowering UF, the multiyear initiative underway to replace the 19-year-old PeopleSoft application. Staff governing the initiative want to ensure UF’s enterprise systems meet today’s needs for security, data reporting, and other functions, while also serving our complex administrative environment, including human resources, research administration, finance, and procurement.

“Ultimately, while technical in nature, Empowering UF is really about people,” says Interim Vice President for Human Resources Melissa Curry. “Modernizing our systems will give us a competitive edge in meeting the needs of a modern workforce — helping to ensure we attract, recruit and retain the best and brightest while easing the administrative burden.”

The Empowering UF website includes the roster of the initiative’s executive sponsors, steering team, and project implementation team. There is also a robust and frequently updated FAQ page on the site. Anyone with questions about the initiative is welcome to contact the project implementation team: https://empowering.ufl.edu/contact-us/.

Progress Towards the 2020-25 Strategic Plan for IT

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The 2020-2021 Contributions Report is now available online.

“This annual report covers July 2020 through June 2021, an extraordinary period of change and challenge,” said VP and CIO Elias Eldayrie. “I am extremely proud of the way our staff not only contributed to the university’s effort to combat COVID-19, but also that we could still support the campus with more than 300 completed projects and enhancements during this time period.”

UFIT is deeply committed to improving UF’s customer experience. Investing in new and innovative ways of delivering campus support is a primary focus for the work underway to achieve the goals outlined in the University of Florida’s Strategic Plan for IT: 2020-2025. Anyone with comments about the publication may send them to UFIT Communications.

Sunset Date for Enterprise Reporting: September 30

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The Enterprise Reporting environment in myUFL will cease on Sept. 30, 2021. UFIT is sunsetting Enterprise Reporting because the product is no longer supported by the vendor, and because a more robust tool–Enterprise Analytics–has been available for the UF community since May 2020.

Faculty and staff have multiple options to help maximize their work experience in Enterprise Analytics. Self-paced training resources and facilitated lab experiences (via Zoom) are available:

• Enterprise Analytics Open Labs: Held each week on Tuesdays (9:30-11:30 a.m.) and Thursdays (1:30-4:30 p.m.). Email the Reporting Services group to receive the Zoom meeting ID code
• Enterprise Analytics Toolkits: Easy to follow PDF documentation for help with dashboards, reports, and analysis studio
• Intro to Enterprise Analytics: Available in myTraining, course number UF_ERA050_OLT
• Analysis Studio Workshop (new FIT Cube training): Available in myTraining, course number UF_ERA300_ILT
• Updated Reporting Tools Website: Quick start guides and best practices PDFs to help you master the financial data reporting environment.

Please email Reporting-Services@ufl.edu for technical issues or security related questions. Anyone with reporting-related inquiries may email General Accounting-Help.

Our Purpose. Our Legacy.

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On behalf of the staff of UFIT, it is with great excitement that we share the University of Florida 2020-2025 Strategic Plan for IT with Gator Nation! This five-year plan outlines how UFIT will support the university as it transforms to a national leadership role in the application of AI in higher education, including an expansive plan to elevate research, teaching, and economic development. The plan is built around six goals:

1. Enable Student Success
2. Empower the Future of Research
3. Accelerate Philanthropic Impact
4. Elevate the Stakeholder Experience
5. Advance an Analytics-Enabled Environment
6. Build a Resilient Cybersecurity Environment

We gratefully acknowledge the hundreds of faculty, students, and staff who gave their time to assist in the formation of the University of Florida 2020-2025 Strategic Plan for IT. While the plan was under development, the U.S. has been grappling with a global pandemic and addressing racial equality and social justice, important causes on campus and in our community. These issues are also addressed in the plan, with actionable items included as part of UFIT’s objectives. Anyone with questions about the plan or who would like to provide feedback is welcome to send their comments to VP and CIO Elias Eldayrie.