INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
This chapter examines Austin Community College's (ACC's) information technology in four sections:
- A. Technology Organization and Management
- B. Technology Planning
- C. Instructional Resources and Technology
- D. Network Infrastructure
D. NETWORK INFRASTRUCTURE
FINDING
Each campus in the ACC system is connected to the college's fiber optic network, with the exception of the Cypress Creek campus. ACC calls its infrastructure operation "ACCNet." ACC is a board member and active participant in the Greater Austin Area Telecommunications Network (GAATN). GAATN is a consortium of seven public sector organizations that banded together in 1991 to plan, purchase and build fiber optic and other telecommunications infrastructure in the greater Austin area. Each entity is the sole owner of its own fiber optic network but cooperates with the others to achieve more efficiency using vendors and other resources. The other members are the city of Austin, Travis County, the Texas Department of Information Resources, the Lower Colorado River Authority, Austin Independent School District and the University of Texas System (UT). The director of ACCNet Services serves on the GAATN telecommunications committee. In Austin, UT is also the internet service provider for ACC, which means ACC must follow UT's rules for acceptable use of telecommunications equipment. However, the UT system has the resources to upgrade or repair the system quickly and efficiently. On its own, ACC would not have access to the same quality of service and hardware.
The GAATN has greater bargaining power, better efficiency and more favorable pricing than its members could obtain individually. The state of Texas uses the same principle when it negotiates favorable rates on software and services on behalf of other state agencies and colleges like ACC.
COMMENDATION
ACC improved its telecommunications technology by participating in the Greater Austin Area Telecommunications Network.
FINDING
ACC's technology infrastructure uses software, hardware and other network troubleshooting tools to monitor all the major computing components at each ACC campus. The router hardware and software allows remote troubleshooting. Tools like these allow ACC technology personnel to identify where problems along the network might occur, and what other hardware and software might be affected when problems arise. The ability to monitor and repair computer systems remotely saves technicians time since they do not have to be dispatched every time there is a problem. Even if technicians eventually must go out to a site, the problem has already been identified, and they can go directly to its origin. When colleges invest in this kind of capability, fewer technicians can repair more computers.
COMMENDATION
ACC's technology infrastructure is efficient to monitor and repair.