At GPC, the OIT organization measures its success by constantly striving to be in alignment with what the college is focused on doing. We do not deploy technology for technology’s sake, but instead, bring the right service and technology to meet the needs of the faculty, students and staff. By being in high alignment, we become successful by helping our clients become successful. A second key success measure is that OIT wants to be an attractive magnet: keeping the excellent staff we have and attracting others to GPC from across Georgia and the nation.

Some examples of OIT’s recent alignment with college goals are:

• We are attempting to improve student success by being the first USG institution to use iPad and iPod Touch for all our students in selected courses. This is an experimental program for faculty & students for Nursing and Dental Hygiene majors, who use college-provided devices, with student-acquired software & publications. Also, we are constantly negotiating with major publishers to provide e-textbooks for students. This will be for both online and in-class students, using mobile devices and web browsers. Our publisher partners say this will allow those students who volunteer to save as much as 50% on those textbooks. OIT also is experimenting with how best to serve our students through use of mobile devices.

• We are attempting to create and foster a culture of teamwork, leadership, quality, service by operating via an IT project portfolio, vetted with the Executive Team, then focusing resources toward approved projects, resulting in effective use of rare resources. Also, GPC is the first University System of Georgia (USG) institution to implement Business Intelligence using Cognos. We are planning to show that data-driven decision-making really works! This toolset was subsequently adopted by the Board of Regents IT Services, and now several other institutions are following. GPC has become a leader in innovative infrastructure technology deployment with its newer, eco-friendly power and cooling in the new Clarkston data center, plus we have been partnering with PeachNet to create a North Atlanta fiber ring to connect three of our campuses to this USG backbone. We are a USG leader in Cisco voice-over-IP telephony, advising several other institutions how to emulate GPC’s solution.

• We enhance community with our peer higher education institutions by being a pacesetter nad information sharer. GPC is the first large USG institution to deploy Banner on the Linux operating system. This has provided much higher performance for significantly lower operating cost, resulting in dramatically improved efficiency. We also advised other institutions on how best to do this.

• We help GPC expand access and enrollment capacity by being the first USG institution to implement the Banner Enrollment Management Suite software product. This SunGard Higher Education product uses data to help us “get our hands around” enrollment decisions and opens the door for Business Intelligence at GPC. It will allow us to manage and coach prospects via e-communication, resulting in improved access. OIT has been instrumental in supporting the infrastructure to support the GPC Student Contact Center, which helps get students enrolled and awarded financial aid. The rapidly expanding GPC Online enrollment opens doors for non-traditional students who wish to earn college credit. OIT supports all faculty in their use of instructional technology.