Current Initiatives

IT at Yale is actively advancing the following initiatives for FY24, selected as the technology projects providing the most value in support of Yale’s mission, with oversight and guidance by the IT Governance Committee. The list below is the culmination of the IT annual planning process. IT takes a strategic approach from identifying emerging trends and university needs, hosting collaborative conversations with stakeholders across each pillar, and selecting projects to recommend for funding each fiscal year.

Pillars

Academic

Improvements focused on productivity and efficiency enhancements.

Classroom Technology

Improves the functional capabilities of lecture hall and classroom technology.

Key areas of focus:

  • Upgrade features for lecture halls and other specified classrooms.
  • Evolve audio and video technology standards that support teaching and learning throughout the campus.
  • Provide recommendations to intake, fund, prioritize, and establish appropriate support models to improve teaching and learning.

Graduate Student Funding

Supports the ongoing development of the Graduate Student Funding (GSF) process, which replaced the Graduate Student Payment System (GSPS) in July 2022 with Banner, Workday, and a new data warehouse and data mart.

Key areas of focus:

  • Ensure post go-live support.
  • Complete data mart and reporting capabilities for new processes.

University Financial Aid Review

Consists of analysis on the varying systems and processes across the University’s financial aid offices.

Key areas of focus:

  • Conduct a detailed analysis of current processes and policies within financial aid to determine where updates are needed.
  • Complete the requirements and design for the standard use of Banner’s common functions, including reports and population selections.
  • Recommend integrations with additional technology to address gaps.

Professional School Registration

Transitions the University’s professional schools to Self-Service Banner Registration.

Key areas of focus:

  • Conduct a detailed analysis of current processes and policies within the professional schools’ registrar offices.
  • Complete the requirements and design for the standard use of Self-Service Banner Registration.
  • Migrate the University’s professional schools to Self-Service Banner Registration.

Student Housing

Assesses current Yale College student housing processes and the use of StarRez to support future state processes.

Key areas of focus:

  • Conduct a detailed analysis of current processes and workflows used by the Yale Housing unit in support of Yale College student housing, Summer Program Housing, and Graduate Housing.
  • Identify and focus on those areas that will benefit from implementing efficiency and optimization improvements for Yale College housing processes along with key roles needed to support the newly reconfigured Yale College and Yale College Housing organizations.
  • Create and communicate a series of end-user, system administrator, and power user-type documentation with various audiences.
  • Implement (and automate) key reports and metrics, as well as deliver critical integrations to enhance security further and use the StarRez platform.

Administrative

Elimination of non-value-added tasks to increase service quality and system reliability.

AssetWorks

Supports the development of a data mart for AssetWorks, the Facilities management system that replaced FAMIS. This iteration will create a data mart focused on reporting, to better guide Facilities leadership and operations. This will require ongoing integrations to keep the data mart up to date with relevant data needed for reporting.

Key areas of focus:
Create a DataMart to support reporting on AssetWorks data in support of Facilities and Operations leadership.

Local 33 Graduate Student Workers Union

Supports any people, process, and technology changes resulting from the contract negotiations between Yale and the newly formed Local 33 Graduate Student Workers union.

Key areas of focus:
Evaluate, modify, and implement administrative processes related to wages, benefits, workplace, reporting, and classifications to support the new Local 33 Graduate Student Workers union.

Egencia Replacement

Implements a solution offering high-quality, cost-effective customer experience when booking domestic and international travel for the Yale community.

Key areas of focus:
Deploy the World Travel tool to the larger Yale Community.

Project Control System [“PCS”] Replacement

Replaces existing PCS (Project Control System) with a hosted cloud-based solution used for capital construction projects to provide necessary improvements to the Capital Project Management group within Facilities.

Key areas of focus:
Gain technological advantages in all capital construction project management capabilities – including project tracking, resource tracking, construction milestone tracking, document management, funding approvals and tracking, purchase order issuance, contract and change order workflow, contract authorizations and invoice logging, and integration with Workday.

Operations Notifications

Assesses the implementation of a consolidated status dashboard to push targeted communications to communities affected by events impacting University facilities, including power outages, network outages, weather closures, etc.

Key areas of focus:
Complete the requirements gathering to identify key functionalities needed for a consolidated dashboard. FY24 will include designing, architecting, and developing a notifications dashboard to allow facilities to submit messages as part of an initial MVP.

FileNet & AppXtender Replacement

Supports the migration from FileNet and AppXtender to OnBase as part of the University’s goal to implement a strategic document management system.

Key areas of focus:

  • Analyze existing documents stored in Human Resources, Finance, Alumni Affairs, and Academic Administration for conversion.
  • Extract, transform, and load applicable documents from Filenet and AppXtender to OnBase.
  • Develop processes for imaging existing paper documentation in OnBase for improved searching capabilities, adherence to pre-configured retention policies, and integration with transaction systems.
  • Decommission the Filenet and AppXtender applications.

DEIB Metrics Reporting

Continues the work of creating a centralized data mart to support DEIB metrics and reporting. The data mart will provide consistent and reliable information to university stakeholders to enable them to make informed, data-driven decisions.

Key areas of focus:

  • Create a data mart and dashboard reporting focused on staff, faculty, and academics.
  • Develop training and processes for reporting.

Clinical

Campus Health Systems

Introduces a new university program to develop and maintain a campus health infrastructure that will allow the university to protect its core mission while maintaining the health and productivity of its community in the face of routine and emergent health risks.

Key areas of focus:

  • Build on lessons from COVID by improving basic data infrastructure.
  • Serve as a trusted voice for campus public health issues.
  • Provide focused planning and systems to mitigate future risks.

Cultural Heritage

Increased preservation and reach of Yale’s cultural heritage collections.

Integrating Cultural Contexts

Integrates additional cultural heritage collections into the University’s newly launched LUX platform.

Key areas of focus:

  • Integrate new data into LUX.
  • Improve the LUX back-end technology and make improvements to front-end components.
  • Integrate new and existing services within the LUX front end.
  • Instigate a robust program of user assessment to understand priorities for system improvement and new development.

Environmental Monitoring

Assesses the aggregation of environmental monitoring data to improve collection storage, display conditions, and optimize energy use.

Key areas of focus:

  • Assess collection monitoring practices and define requirements.
  • Research monitoring equipment, tools, and data production.
  • Develop and test proof of concept sensors and align sensor data with CMS data.
  • Deliver recommendations for future work.

Foundational

Deep investment intended to mitigate risks and stabilize Yale’s network.

Next Generation Network (NGN)

Delivers a more reliable and secure method of transmitting data, essential for faculty research, particularly in the growing areas of science and engineering. Includes a security model suitable for the openness required by a research institution, resulting in solid protection for high-risk use and allowing increased freedom for lower-risk use.

Key areas of focus:

  • Advance Network security features.
  • Address Yale-occupied buildings (owned and leased within New Haven metro-area campuses) and Yale’s safety network, cultural properties, facilities network, science network, select AV systems, PCI systems, and other ITS network infrastructures, as they are identified.
  • Develop inter-building network infrastructure and intra-building network infrastructure.
  • Transition 60-90 Buildings to NGN, requiring NGN advanced prep work.

Related area of focus:  NGN Advanced Prep Work

  • Conduct NGN build discovery and advanced preparation work, including follow-up work related to IP Address Remediation and NGN Closet preparations in the building transition stage.
  • Support early transition of identified and agreed upon systems (e.g., printers, possibly phones/faxes, specialized systems, e.g., call centers).
  • Support owners of specialized systems to set up and coordinate testing before the NGN transition.

Related area of focus:  NGN Closet Surveys and Remediation

  • Complete the remediation of 4 Buildings.

Radio Communication System Replacement

Replaces the Radio Communication system used by Public Safety and ITS in the offices of the Fire Marshal, Emergency Management, Cultural Properties, and Environmental Health and Safety spanning 3-years, forming the foundation to assimilate all university radio users into a single system.

Key areas of focus:

  • Replace the radio communications system w/the P-25 system, the national standard for public safety communications systems.
  • Install FNE (Fixed Network) microwaves and antennas at five campus locations.
  • Install and configure the audio recording system. Program and distribute new subscriber units.

RMS Conversion

Replaces the CAD/RMS system used by Yale Police with a new system and software vendor and converts them to the same software system as NHPD to allow for RMS data integration.

Yale Police Department and New Haven Police Department’s Records Management Systems (RMS) and Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) systems share information integral to policing and investigations.

Key areas of focus:

  • Replace Yale Police’s current RMS system with a new RMS platform.
  • Integrate with the New Haven Police Department’s RMS database.
  • Develop custom forms for Yale Police.

Fit for Purpose Computing

Puts analysis from Fit for Purpose Computing at Yale (completed in FY’22) into action.

Key areas of focus:

  • Launch Bulldog computer to replace Yale’s managed desktop offering, providing the community with a flexible, reliable, and secure computing platform.
  • Enhance Faculty, Staff, and Student user experiences by offering a virtual desktop (MyApps at Yale).
  • Implement Hardware Asset Management, providing the community with guidance around procurement, tracking, replacing, and disposing of desktops, laptops, and workstations.

YaleSites Upgrade Program

Upgrades YaleSites, Yale’s web-publishing service, from Drupal 7 to Drupal 9. The initiative, which will provide a more supported, secure, and accessible CMS, is co-led by Yale ITS and the Office of Public Affairs and Communications.

Key areas of focus:

  • Fully integrate and implement SiteImprove for web analytics and accessibility across Yale.
  • Continue the development of the platform and key features.
  • Drive Yalesite moves to the new platform.
  • Drive Adoption through Community Engagement.
  • Continue to develop & deliver self-service training, policies, and procedures.

Information Security and Risk

Safeguard Yale’s Data and IT Systems.

Yale Information Security

Ensures that cyber threats don’t disrupt the delivery of Yale’s Mission and coordinates the university’s effort to safeguard Yale’s Data and IT Systems.

Ongoing areas of focus:

  • Identify, elevate, and track cybersecurity risks.
  • Operate several critical standard controls to help protect and detect potential cybersecurity incidents.
  • Establish security standards and guidelines to meet university and regulatory requirements.
  • Provide consultation and the cybersecurity information you need to know.

Research

Stabilization of platforms supporting the advanced computing needs of both the research community and research administration.

Environmental Health and Safety (EHS) Integrator

Migrates the current EHS platform to a modern and sustainable technology solution.

Areas of focus:

  • Complete migration to Microsoft Azure cloud service
  • Upgrade the Windows Forms UI to the new UI framework
  • Create a solution for Restricted Items Purchasing.

Intensive In-Home Child & Adolescent Psychiatric Services (IICAPS) Replacement

Deploys a new application to replace the current IICAPS application used by the Child Study Center.

Research Data Center FY24

Prepares, over multiple years, sections of the Research Data Center for higher-density systems focusing on power and cooling distribution.

Research Computing FY24

Refreshes the HPC cluster infrastructure and increases capacity using a forecasting model developed by the Office of Strategic Analysis in collaboration with the YCRC.

Research Storage FY24

Provides storage capacity, licenses, and supporting infrastructure for HPC storage.

Yale Ventures CRM Solution

Implements, over multiple years, a comprehensive Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and Intellectual Property (IP) database solution, leveraging the Salesforce platform.