2016 Annual Review: Looking Forward
Overview
2016 was a huge success and the Pepperdine IT Department continues to aim high with our 2017 IT Initiatives.
If you have great Tech related idea or have noticed an area of improvement for Pepperdine IT, make suggestions to the IT Department about it, anonymously if you prefer. Submit a suggestion through the IT Suggestion Box by visiting bit.ly/itsuggestionbox.
Next Generation Support Initiative
The Next Generation Support Initiative, highlighted in this video and this video, has already brought about a number of improvements to our support model. While many of the support changes may not be visible, like the person on the other end of the phone when you call the IT Service Desk at 310.506.4357 (HELP), we have already seen a noticeable uptick in customer satisfaction with the improvements.
We are pursuing the Next Generation Support Initiative in three key areas, Education, Innovation, and Support.
With Next Generation Support, we also launched multiple projects to improve our support services. We have launched an in-depth discovery of the hiring, on-boarding, and "first days" of our new students, faculty, and staff, with a laser focus on how our community members learn about technology access, services, training, and support.
We are also revising our IT website for better self-help content, improving our internal tools to track and resolve support requests, and developing new apps for our University community to learn about technologies, request new services, and report issues.
Secure Connect Initiative
Most "hacks" start with a simple login screen that matches the same colors and layout as the original webpage you are trying to access.
Take your account security back, lock the door, and keep the key around your neck with Secure Connect. The weakest link in the IT security chain is not the technology, it's the person using the technology
Two-Step verification is like a digital eye scanner for your Pepperdine email or WaveNet. Your password becomes only part of your login process, separating your phishing scam error from the rest of the login equation.
When logging in, Secure Connect reaches out to another physical piece of technology that you own to confirm that you, and no one else, is trying to access your data. You can ask for a text, phone call, or smartphone app launch to unlock your account after entering your credentials. Your password knocks, Secure Connect unlocks.
Data Stewardship Initiative
The purpose and goal of Data Stewardship is to ensure that the university has the right data, and reliable data, to make the best informed decisions possible. Armed with quality, meaningful data, university leaders can move from a reactive to proactive approach to assisting students and departments - such as, initiating interventions to help keep students on track, improving retention, and ensuring academic divisions/courses are meeting the needs of the students.
The Data Stewardship team aims to identify and close the gaps in data collection and data management, instilling trust and confidence in the data, thereby empowering our leaders to implement change and better serve our community.