MULTI-FACTOR AUTHENTICATION | TEAMDYNAMIX KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT, ASSET MANAGEMENT, AND SERVICE CATALOG | MANAGED PRINT SERVICES | SUMMARY OF 2022 PROJECTS
MULTI-FACTOR AUTHENTICATION
In 2022, UMS:IT completed the pilot phase of our multi-factor authentication (MFA) to better protect the intellectual property and personal information of faculty, staff, and the digital assets of our campus. During the pilot phase, several teams worked through the technical, support process, and other decisions required to successfully deploy MFA within the University of Maine System using the Duo Security application.
During this phase of the multi-factor authentication project, the primary focus was applications that utilize the UMS Single Sign-On (SSO) environment for authentication. Starting in the summer, faculty and staff volunteered to participate in the pilot. In parallel with this effort, residential students on the UMaine campus were allowed to enroll in MFA in support of the UMaine initiative to provide a Mobile MaineCard – a fully functioning University ID card secured in a smart device of the cardholder.
As of mid-December 2022, there are approximately 1,000 UMS account holders using MFA. Feedback from those account holders is being used to make adjustments as the service moves out of the pilot phase, including a recent decision to enable “Remember me” functionality.
As we enter 2023, multi-function authentication will exit the pilot phase and become generally available to faculty and staff. Discussions are underway with service and campus stakeholders to determine how multi-factor authentication can be made generally available to students.
Finally, in 2023, we will transition to a new Duo interface, which will provide more functionality for those who are using multiple machines and multiple authentication devices.
TEAMDYNAMIX KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT, ASSET MANAGEMENT, AND SERVICE CATALOG
Over the past several years, the UMS:IT organization has focused significant time and resources on improving service to the entire UMS Community. To some extent UMS:IT’s progress in developing, delivering and supporting high-quality impactful IT services has been limited by the lack of access to modern and integrated IT Service Management (ITSM) tools.
IT Service Management is an industry-standard set of practices, guidelines and disciplines that have evolved over several decades to help IT organizations design, build, deliver, and operate services that end-users rely on to support their work, and serve the strategic goals of the organization.
Last Fall, UMS:IT began onboarding TeamDynamix, a popular Service Management platform for higher education and other public sector organizations. The platform’s Asset Management, Knowledge base, Service Catalog, and Project Management modules, and our new IT Support portal (itsupport.maine.edu) are now in use and undergoing refinement. The platform and TeamDynamix consulting services have enabled us to review related processes and improve them based on industry good practices. For example, the Asset Management module will improve our ability to forecast and plan for device replacement needs and costs.
We continue to work closely with TeamDynamix as we onboard additional modules such as Incident & Request Management. We have begun discussions and planning initiatives on this module and are excited about its capabilities for automating the submission and fulfillment of many common service requests.
We are designing our TeamDynamix platform so that it can include other university service areas as part of an enterprise service center and have included representatives from Human Resources and Strategic Procurement in the visioning process.
MANAGED PRINT SERVICES
The Managed Print Services project is underway and includes both new multifunction devices (copiers) and a redesigned infrastructure to improve print services. Through an RFP process, Xerox Business Solutions was selected as our partner in this effort.
The new Managed Print Services program is being designed and implemented following these guiding principles:
End-User Experience
- Consistent UMS-wide user experience
- Every User – Staff, faculty, students, community patrons
- Pay-for-print or UMS-funded – same experience, same device
- Every Campus – All UMS Campuses and major locations
- Every Device – Any user can use any device at any campus (that they can physically access)
Security
- Secure print release with campus ID Card (No more PIN codes)
- Secure fax functionality
Sustainability
- Less waste from jobs that are never picked up
- Reduction in energy consumption
Efficiency / Fiscal Responsibility
- Fewer devices needed
- Reduction in smaller costly to operate devices
- Vendor provided assessments and recommendations for devices and locations
- Campus involvement in adjusting recommendations and finalizing deployment plans
Representatives from Xerox have conducted site visits at all of the major campuses and are making recommendations about how we can maximize the efficiency of our device fleet. These recommendations are being reviewed and adjusted by each campus to meet its needs. New devices will begin arriving in late December and it is expected that the majority of new devices will be deployed by the end of March 2023.
More information about this project can be found in the following IT Knowledge base articles:
Managed Print Services (Xerox) Vision and Overview
Managed Print Services (Xerox) Implementation FAQ’s
SUMMARY OF 2022 PROJECTS
The Project Management Office (PMO) is currently partnering with other UMS:IT units and University departments on 21 active projects in the categories of Academic, Finance & Administration, Human Resources, Information Technology, and other.
In addition to Multi-Factor Authentication, Managed Print Services and TeamDynamix Knowledge Management, Asset Management, Project Management and Service Catalog, other system-wide initiatives include:
2019 DLT RUS Grant – UMS was awarded a $500,000 USDA Rural Utilities Service Distance Education and Telemedicine grant. The project funded by the grant, 21st Century Education: Modernizing Distance Education for Rural Maine, will convert both its video conferencing and instructional television 20th-century distance education systems to a new 21st-century web conferencing solution. A total of sixty-two sites, centers, and campuses across the State of Maine will receive upgraded equipment as a result of this award. The majority of this work has been completed, and only a few upgrades remain. A request for a no-cost extension was approved by the USDA, and the project has been extended through December 9, 2023.
2020 DLT RUS Grant – UMS was awarded a $1 million grant under the Distance Learning and Telemedicine Grant program administered by the USDA. This initiative includes all seven campuses of the University of Maine System as well as the University of Maine School of Law, the University of Maine Graduate and Professional Center and Northern Light Health. It links hubs in Portland and Bangor with end-users in rural Aroostook, Washington, Hancock, Piscataquis, Oxford, Somerset and Franklin counties. The ability to meet learners, patients and service providers where they live is a critical component of the plan to address rural inequalities across the state. The project includes 42 locations across the State of Maine including 31 web conferencing and 16 telehealth service locations. This project is about 50% complete. A request for grant extension has been filed with the USDA extending the project out to Spring 2025. This will allow ample time for equipment and location changes to be finalized and installations to be completed.
Accommodate Implementation – This solution will allow campuses to document and unify the accommodation request process for enrolled UMS students, streamline accommodation letter production by integrating letter common templates with consistent language and allow for either paper or electronic delivery to students and faculty, provide a common request and delivery system for note-taking requests, effectively manage disability exam proctoring and provide students with greater independence in the process of scheduling and receiving accommodated testing, collect system-wide data to track number of students with disabilities including types of disabilities, accommodations provided and other data including accommodation usage, student retention and persistence. Scheduled go-live for this project is Spring 2024.
Course Merchant Implementation – Multiple departments within the University of Maine System (UMS) are in need of an e-commerce solution that will: a) Integrate with the UMS Brightspace learning management system, including registration b) provide access to both maine.edu and non-maine.edu users, c) enable registration, payment and tracking. Course Merchant will fulfill these needs. This project kicked off in May 2022 and is nearing completion with final project implementation tasks underway, including website accessibility updates, the creation of a landing page on the maine.edu website, and documentation.
Kuali Implementation (Grants Management) – This project will implement Kuali’s pre- and post-award SaaS solutions, which will provide enterprise-level grants management to support multiple campuses. The projected go-live date is currently scheduled for March 27, 2023.
Peoplesoft Gender & Pronoun Implementation – Students, faculty, and staff will be able to access and feel confident that the representation expressed in UMS systems or activities of record (Systems: HR, Academic, and other fed by MaineStreet, Activities: Marketing, Citing, etc.) accurately reflects gender and can be edited via self-service. This will be supported by training in appropriate interaction and responsible use of pronoun information. This project kicked off in June 2022 with an anticipated go-live in Fall 2023.