Educating Minds and Hearts to Change the World

USFfiles

Xythos at the University of San Francisco

Educating Minds and Hearts to Change the World

Drivers for Web-based File Sharing

• 2002 Network Security policy developed– Desktop file sharing vulnerability – Support load of VPN, virus vulnerability to fac/staff network if run

on personal machines to access USF network from home• Lack of central backup services

– Use of public web server by staff for select file backup• Request from 2001 portal procurement process

– Campus Pipeline did not offer; Luminis still does not have what we consider a usable offering

• Bb Basic license level– Faculty desire to easily post syllabi and other materials without

using Blackboard• Student file sharing desires

– Accessibility from off-campus– Ability to keep files for more than one semester

Educating Minds and Hearts to Change the World

Why Xythos?

• Educause presentation by UT• Cross-platform client support (40% Mac

users among fac/staff)• Unix/Linux server platform• LDAP support• Security• Scalability• Imaging and workflow options• San Francisco company

Educating Minds and Hearts to Change the World

Implementation Process

• Project team formed summer 2004• Developed scope and objectives• Acquired server hardware and SAN• Xythos support

– Install and connection to SAN– Customization to deploy and manage folders by role

• Built Single Sign-on connection from SunGard SCT Luminis 3.2

• Beta testing and documentation• Ready in spring 2005

Educating Minds and Hearts to Change the World

Quiet Rollout

• Launched summer 2005 with upgrade from Campus Pipeline to Luminis

• New tab for faculty, staff and student roles

• Quick Start Brochure (portal Help -> Quick Start Guides)

• FAQs

• No formal announcement

Educating Minds and Hearts to Change the World

Early Utilization

• 260 Faculty and staff, 820 students have files stored in USFfiles

• 10% of portal user base• Faculty/Staff have used 4.38 GB of

storage; students have used 5.11 GB. Average of 17.25 MB per user for faculty/staff, 6.41 MB for students

• Approx. 50 training attendees • 53 help requests logged

Educating Minds and Hearts to Change the World

Satisfaction Survey Responses

• 73% of faculty and staff and 75% of students who have tried USFfiles are either satisfied or very satisfied.

• Majority of remainder are undecided

Educating Minds and Hearts to Change the World

Usage Survey Responses

• USFfiles users indicated that they use the system to:

• Collaborate with colleagues: 18.8% • Work on group projects: 31.2%   • To send/retrieve homework assignments:

43.8%   • To share documents with others: 53.1% • Using in place of attaching large files to e-

mail messages: 43.8%

Educating Minds and Hearts to Change the World

Usage Survey Responses (cont.)

• Other: 40.6% – created restricted access for students to

check their grades and class progress – posted software updates for a management

simulation– stored presentation files to be accessed while

attending conferences, anywhere in the world– stored back-ups– stored a file to be printed from the lab later

Educating Minds and Hearts to Change the World

Promotion and Contest

• Two new quick start pamphlets

• Online tutorials

• Contest for 30G iPod: “How can USFfiles be used innovatively to enhance teaching and learning?”

Educating Minds and Hearts to Change the World

Challenges

• Multiple content repositories– Xythos– Blackboard– Serena Collage web content management– Xtender image/document management

system – Innovative Millenium Media Manager– (future) E-portfolio– (future) Records Management

Educating Minds and Hearts to Change the World

Lessons Learned

• Single Sign-on was a good rollout approach

• Would do quiet rollout again; feel more confident about promoting system now that we are familiar with it in production

• 100 MB quota may be excessive, at least for starters

Educating Minds and Hearts to Change the World

Plans

• Cease offering LAN-based file storage for students starting in summer 2006

• Set up a hurdle for web account requests to ensure that the user really needs more robust capabilities than Xythos offers

• Require VPN for access to LAN resources, including personal desktop. Ensure that VPN requesters’ needs cannot be met by USFfiles.

• Develop LAN-based file storage and automated backup system for USF-owned computers