GVSU IT's vision is to deliver seamless, transformational, and secure technologies designed to enable and empower students, faculty, and staff to achieve more.  Throughout the summer of 2024, our Division has been working diligently to deliver on this promise by adapting, reviewing, and introducing new technologies for the GV community. Below are some of our recent accomplishments and achievements: 

During the summer of 2024, several projects in collaboration between Facilities Planning and IT have focused on implementing technology to transform traditional classrooms into dynamic active learning spaces on campus. These include the Cyber Security Range and classrooms in MAC, MAN, ASH, and DEV. These initiatives reflect GVSU’s commitment to modernizing educational environments and enhancing student engagement. 

 IT Services has been working diligently on assessing needs and with feedback from the FFPAC survey and Academic Affairs were able to identify 110 classrooms to refresh with new Laser Projectors.

Over the past few months, IT's eLearning Technologies Team has been working diligently to implement Blackboard Ultra. If you have not already done so, please consider attending one of their training programs to become familiar with the changes. In addition, check out their New Semester Checklist and join them at their weekly virtual office hours every Wednesday from 12 - 12:30 pm.  Registration is not required.

Instructor podium computers in all of our most used classrooms on the Allendale and Grand Rapids campuses were replaced. These replacements will ensure future computing needs are met in classrooms and allow our faculty to continue to be successful in teaching and instruction. 

The eLearning Technologies team, was honored at the July  Anthology Together conference where they received the Catalyst Award in the Leading Change category for their efforts in assisting other institutions with their transition to Bb Ultra. In addition to direct consultations with schools, they have developed a comprehensive website filled with Ultra resources, designed by eLearning Technologies and collected from other Michigan institutions, which are now being utilized globally.

This action responds to the growing need for police officer training as Michigan law enforcement agencies have posted 900 available positions over the last three years while projections also show a three percent increase nationally in policing jobs. The Meijer Campus in Holland provides a centralized facility for the academy’s various training needs with the space and flexibility to increase class sizes. ~ President Mantella 

Facilities Planning and IT collaborated to renovate the Holland Campus, which serves as a dedicated facility for the Police Academy. This transformative initiative marked a significant step toward expanding the Police Academy’s offerings, enabling year-round education and training. IT played a pivotal role in the AV Technology installation for this endeavor. The PMO worked closely with Enterprise Architecture, IT Operations, IT Services, IT Security, and Facilities Planning to design and implement cutting-edge audio-visual technology across classrooms, conference rooms, common areas, and other spaces, ensuring a state-of-the-art learning environment. This strategic partnership underscored GVSU’s commitment to fostering innovation and providing a conducive space for continuous academic and professional development. 

Academic Research Computing (ARC) has upgraded the High Performance Computing (HPC) cluster this summer, doubling the number of available GPU’s, and increasing memory, computing power, and storage. For more information on the HPC environment, please see the Knowledge Base.

Over the summer, the IT Innovation + Research (I+R) team hosted a variety of campus tours and visitors, providing immersive experiences with extended reality as well as makerspace demonstrations in the Atomic Object Technology Showcase in the Mary Idema Pew Library Learning and Information Commons. I+R's Student Technology and Innovation Guild (STING) finalized an Occupational Therapy (OT) virtual reality application, featuring patient transfer movement and proper wheelchair operation for students in the OT program. Research was conducted in collaboration with a professor in the legal studies department around a virtual reality-based 360 courtroom experience. Experimental research has begun in leveraging generative AI in the creation of instructional video content in courses at the Seidman College of Business.

In collaboration with WGVU, Project Grand Path, and I+R, a state-of-the-art volumetric studio was configured and implemented, providing real-time and recorded video capture using 8 depth-sensing cameras. 3D avatars and the integration with game engines are available through this emerging technology.

The I+R team has collaborated to promote GVSU's innovative technology at Tech Week GR which will be held in September

Lakers now have access to university resources, events, announcements, services, and technology through Laker Dock, GVSU's NEW online hub. Content currently on Laker Dock is student-focused.  In the coming project phases, additional content specific to faculty and staff will be added. 

Download the Laker Dock app or view it on your desktop.  Learn more on the Laker Dock webpage. 

Multi-factor authentication (MFA) for all GVSU student accounts was introduced in May 2024 as part of our commitment to protecting our students' information security.  With this enhancement, students can protect their academic and personal information.  

Additional information about this implementation can be found on the MFA for Students webpage. 
 

GVSU IT collaborated with departments and divisions throughout the university to complete the following Workday Platform projects between April 2024 and August 2024. 

WD Strategic Sourcing (April go-live): WSS replaces manual and decentralized procurement management with a streamlined process in Workday, and provides a central repository for contracts that will provide GV more competitive pricing.

WD Advanced Compensation (May go live): Advanced compensation streamlined the spring/summer 2024 salary increase process, and will expand to further automate manual processes in future years.

WD People Analytics (June go-live): GVSU leadership will be able to use data from HR to make more informed business decisions and track things like Diversity and Inclusion, Retention, and Talent and performance metrics.

WD Journeys (July go-live): GVSU HR will be able to streamline and condense HR processes to improve the user experience when performing tasks in Workday, such as New Hire Onboarding and Benefits Open Enrollment.

WD Learning (August go-live): Learning replaces Sprout as a course registration system, but it is also a central location that GVSU is using to house and present different courses and training for the GVSU community.

WD Help (August go-live): Help has 2 primary functions. The first is as a central repository for Help articles. Currently, it contains HR articles, and Business and Finance are expected to add to their library in the fall. The other function is an HR service ticketing system, that HR can use to log and track HR inquiries and problems that arise.