Kim Todd

We've come a long way, baby!: but where women and technology are concerned, have we really?

Women have been making an impact on computing since the days of the Electronic Numerical Integrator Analyzer and Computer (ENIAC). Yet, the contributions of women in information technology (IT) have been largely down-played or ignored. Two of the greatest challenges facing early women IT pioneers were the lack of feminine role models and gender bias. Unfortunately, those challenges have yet to be entirely overcome today and more significantly, there are still few role models for women in IT fields.The disinterest and decline of women in computer-related degrees and consequently, in IT careers, has its roots embedded in a society that typically still pays its female workers far less than their male counterparts. More significantly, gender-related bias has found fertile ground to flourish in our nations secondary and higher education institutions, where genetics, as recently as January 2005, was held up as a determining factor in womens IT aptitude and success.In this paper, the authors will focus on the historic and current challenges faced by women who pursue IT careers and the reasons for the growing decline of women in these fields. In addition, the authors will discuss the methods that educational institutions can implement to recruit and retain women in IT degrees such as gender myth debunking and mentoring programs, female-centric professional development opportunities and the establishment of role models.

The evolution of the electronic campus: from a communication system to an educational delivery system

In 1987, Northwest Missouri State University implemented the first comprehensive networked campus in the nation at a public university in an effort to prepare its faculty, staff and more than 6,000 students for the emerging information-driven society. Northwests Electronic Campus Program, which was heralded by the Washington Post[1] and USA Today[2] as innovative and exigent, provided networked computing stations in every residence hall room, faculty office and administrative office. In 1997, Northwest also began issuing a personal notebook computer to all of its faculty members and added electronic classrooms with audio and video projection systems. Since its inception 16 years ago, Northwests Electronic Campus has evolved from an academic system with high capacity communication structures to a complex educational delivery system that has truly become an integral part of the universitys daily living and learning experience. Moreover, that evolution has been filled with all the joys and headaches associated with the growing pains of nurturing and watching an infant develop into a rambunctious teenager. Northwests Information Systems has had the responsibility of parenting this digital entity to help it cope with new and increasingly greater information and technology demands. These demands include, but are not limited to, the support for online degrees and courses in cooperation with the Center for Information Technology in Education. In this paper, the authors will discuss that development-its past, present and future-along with the costs of rearing such an entity, and how Information Systems is helping Northwests Electronic Campus master the many technological challenges of the twenty-first century.

Notebook universities do not have to be expensive

Most notebook universities have a process to provide notebook computers for a large portion of its students. The universities charge each student a notebook fee which is typically around

Oh, my aching laptop: expanding the boundaries of campus computing ergonomics

1,000 per year. Usually, each university owns or leases the computers and tries to replace them every two years. Northwest Missouri State University has implemented a system to provide notebooks to every student living on-campus by increasing residence hall and tuition technology fees for a total cost of about

Implementing a network improvement action plan

300 per year. Students living off-campus also have the option to rent a notebook computer at a similar cost.Northwests model for providing notebooks to students has several key features. First, the notebooks are purchased by the university and the expected life cycle is three years. Second, the notebooks are purchased with a three-year warranty and students are responsible for providing damage and theft insurance. Third, the university owns the computers and utilizes volume independent licenses for most software. Finally with 2,500 student notebooks to support, Northwest has only 2.5 FTE staff positions for maintenance and repair of these units.With Northwests computing model, higher expectations can be set for freshman academic assignments, since they are required to live on-campus and faculty can depend on students having access to standardized computing resources. Experience has shown that upper-classmen try to stay compatible with the computing model they have used for one or more years.This paper will discuss the challenges and benefits of implementing a low-cost, university-owned notebook computing model.

Policies for the digital age campus

Feeling pins-and-needles in your fingers, having a sore back, blurry vision or aching wrists are common symptoms for many employees in the technology field. Such aches and pains are often warning signs that significant injuries are just one more mouse click away. Until recently, such ailments have not traditionally been considered common symptoms for students. Yet, with the rapid growth of game-playing software, computer-related coursework and online classes, which cause students to spend longer hours in front of a computer, repetitive stress injuries are inevitable. Consequently, such injuries should and must be considered in the educational environment by department heads and information technology personnel. Repetitive stress injuries are of particular concern at Northwest Missouri State University, where all campus-housed residents are provided with campus-owned notebook computers. Notebook computers can increase the chances of injury since the monitor and keyboard cannot be positioned separately. Also, due to the notebook computers portability students can work in locations and positions that can increase the risk of acquiring repetitive stress injuries from neck pain to carpal tunnel syndrome. Computer users need more education and training in the science of ergonomics in order to avoid injuries.In this paper, users and educators will learn techniques for adapting workspaces and habits in order to perform at optimum efficiency. The paper will define the problems and costs associated with workspace ergonomics and offer solutions to these problems. Additionally, the authors will discuss techniques to avoid repetitive stress injuries and how to effectively train users before injuries occur.

Strategic guidance: blazing a path to student employee excellence in leadership

Firewall failures and the recent onslaught of computer viruses and worms, such as Klez, loveletter, SoBig, and BadBoy, increased network traffic and ever-growing network abuse, propelled security awareness at Northwest Missouri State University to a higher level and increased the need for finding and implementing effective solutions. Northwests Information Systems Department was able to build awareness of computer security issues, decrease network abuse, institute significant enhancements to the network and better ensure network reliability, through the implementation of a multiple step network action plan. This plan included the adoption of new policies and procedures, new student staff positions and equipment upgrades.

Synergy in action: when information systems and library services collaborate to create successful client-centered computing labs

Inappropriate use of Information Technology (IT) infrastructure is a growing problem faced by educational institutions across the nation. Therefore, policies governing such activities are a necessity in todays technologically dependent society and educational system. Consequently, it is vitally important that universities and colleges have easily accessible and clearly defined IT policies to govern and protect campus IT users.In this paper, the authors will describe the problems that higher education institutions face with regard to abuse of the IT infrastructure and why the need for the development of campus computing policies governing such conduct is vital to the campus community. Too often valuable institutional time and resources are often wasted on sexual content, on-line gambling, game-playing, and other inappropriate recreational and commercial activities. Furthermore, IT abuse can cause network down time and create various ethical dilemmas that range from privacy violations to copyright infringement.Moreover, the authors will describe the problems faced at their own university, including departmental issues and stakeholder involvement, and the many challenges involved in the research and creative, cooperative process of developing such documentation for students, faculty and staff. One of the more hotly debated issues dealt with privacy. The concerns revolved around user rights versus those of the university, including, but not limited to, system administration rights. The paper also discusses the creation of the Computer Ethics/Policy Workshop, which was designed to educate initial IT offenders about the campus IT policies. The analysis and discussion of these policy creation endeavors is designed to guide and assist educators and administrators in their efforts to improve, expand and/or create IT policies within their own higher education institution, or design and implement an ethics/policy workshop or credit course.

Tech-NO-Nerds: why the best student computer lab consultants are often not from the computer science department

Seeing the need for quality paraprofessional development, Northwest Missouri State Universitys Residential Life department created a curriculum based student staff development plan. Due to its success, Northwests Information Systems department, who jointly supervise the PERT (Peer Educators in Residence for Technology) student staff with Residential Life, adopted the model in the fall of 2004. In fall 2007, the model was further refined to incorporate PERT specific needs. Under the model, PERTs receive training in technical and leadership skills as defined by the core staff development curriculum. The curriculum provides the knowledge for PERTs to deliver presentations, confront inappropriate behaviors, build relationships and become strong leaders. PERTs, who live and work within their residence halls, use their knowledge to facilitate technology training, confront computing policy violations and assist residents with computing problems. PERT supervisors build strong mentoring relationships with each individual student staff member to help hone skills needed for career success. The supervisors challenge the PERTs to push their skills to the next level and serve as mentors to fellow student staff members. Furthermore, PERTs must seek out and attend up to four academic, professional or personal development offerings by the university per year. Each semester, the PERTs are evaluated by supervisors from both departments against the curriculum by which they were trained. Returning staff, who receive low scores, are then required to repeat relevant sessions further refining their leadership skills. This paper will cover the curriculum and mentoring process Northwest utilizes to provide effective student staff professional development.