This is a summary of a poster session presented at the 1993 CAUSE Annual Conference held in San Diego, California, December 7-10. It is the intellectual property of the author(s) and may not be published without permission. Disseminating the material otherwise is permitted, provided that the author(s) and the original presentation of the 
paper at CAUSE93 are acknowledged. 


  IMPLEMENTING NEW TECHNOLOGIES THROUGH THE EFFECTIVE USE OF  
     TEAMS:  TAPPING EVERYONE'S ABILITIES MEANS SUCCESS 


Sharon R. Setterlind

Eckerd College
St. Petersburg, Florida


CAUSE93
Poster Session


INTRODUCTION


More and more institutions of higher education are 
experiencing a demand for new technologies along with an 
effective and efficient way of implementation.  Consider the 
following scenario:

You have just been notified that the funding for the proposal 
you submitted to the administration three years ago has been 
approved.  How will you install and implement a new  
dministrative and academic computer system; install a fiber 
optic network campus-wide; convert the administrative 
database to a new operating system; install three new student 
computer labs and upgrade two existing labs to LANs; and, 
provide continuing support services without additional 
personnel?

This is one school's attempt to use teamwork with the 
Computer Center personnel to achieve a successful 
implementation in a nine month time frame.


COLLEGE PROFILE

Established in 1958, Eckerd College is an independent, co-
educational college  of the liberal arts and sciences with a 
current enrollment of 1,350 students.  Often described as  
"responsibly innovative," the College continues to uphold the 
priorities that have been its  hallmark -- a strong 
curriculum, dedicated teachers, and a supportive learning 
community.  Eckerd is  accredited by the Commission of 
Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools  
to award the Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science 
degrees. The campus is located on 267  acres of tropical 
waterfront property in a suburban area of St. Petersburg, 
Florida.


HISTORY OF COMPUTING RESOURCES

Since the initiation of the campus Computer Center twelve 
years ago, Eckerd has made steady progress in the development 
of its computing and communication resources. The Computer 
Center started with a single Prime minicomputer which hosted 
an administrative software package, AIMS(Academic Institution 
Management System), and software and  programming
compilers in support of academic computing.

As campus computing needs grew, a second networked 
minicomputer was added and administrative and academic 
computing was separated. In 1986, Eckerd College  moved back 
to one super minicomputer environment and four computing labs 
for student use were established on campus. An asynchronous 
serial data switch, that made use of existing data and 
telephone wiring, was added to provide a minimal, campus-wide 
"network" facility.

Computing as an administrative and academic tool became 
increasingly more important as microcomputers, terminals, 
workstations, and printers in offices and labs provided 
operational support. The support services offered by the 
Computer Center, to the three user groups(administration, 
faculty, students) evolved into: database management; 
consulting; hardware and software support; hardware and 
software purchasing; programming; training; and  
documentation.





COMPUTER CENTER PERSONNEL PROFILE - JANUARY 1993

The Computer Center had a staff of eight people, including 
the director,  in January 1993.  The reporting structure and 
job responsibilities are shown in the following chart:


FIGURE NOT AVAILABLE IN ASCII TEXT VERSION



PROPOSAL FOR NEW TECHNOLOGY

The Task Force on Instructional Equipment and the 
Computerization Long-Term Plan of the Computer Policy 
Committee of Eckerd College both included an evaluation to  
upgrade the central processing system in 1992 and to begin 
networking campus-wide. Funding  for a new system proposal 
that included: the installation of two new main computer  
systems; the installation of three new student computer labs 
and the upgrade to four existing labs; and the installation 
of the foundation to a campus-wide network was approved, and  
implementation was scheduled to begin in April of 1993.


MAIN SYSTEM

Prime Computer began to make major shifts in their company 
nationwide and announced that they would no longer produce 
and/or develop the PRIMOS operating system and their 50 
series line of computers. The Prime 9955 Mod II (50 series) 
was purchased in 1986 and was running an outdated technology. 
The Prime system provided limited disk space; limited 
processing speed; and limited line capacity which was our 
most pressing concern.  Prime had a proprietary system that 
prohibited the use of communicating with other systems by 
associating major costs to do so.  The Prime maintenance was 
$ 39,825 a year, and this figure was increasing at a rate of 
5% a year.  Also, in 1990, the vendor of the AIMS System 
enabled it to run on different platforms and it was in 
Eckerd's best interest to move onto a new platform.

The proposed new system would provide external network access 
as well as the ability to provide E-Mail campus-wide. It 
would be compatible with existing LANs to allow moving 
student and faculty instructional computing into laboratory 
environments.


NETWORK FOUNDATIONS

In keeping with the overall planning for computing on campus, 
it was imperative that networking (external and internal), 
begin at this time.  The new system proposed as the main
system would set the foundation for networking which was 
included in the system configuration.

Because of the Ethernet LANs, and to take advantage of the 
Equinox Dataswitch equipment and lines already established on 
the campus, it was decided to use Ethernet networking 
technology with 10Base-T twisted pair connections.  Offices 
on campus that connect through Equinox and not through the 
10Base-T Hubs would have the benefits of main system 
connection, Internet access, and E-MAIL.


STUDENT LABS

The concept of computing at Eckerd would move to LAN lab 
network environments.  In order to accomplish this we had to 
provide students and faculty the hardware and software tools 
that in many cases the Prime had supplied. This would include 
compilers (BASIC,PASCAL, FORTRAN), SHAZAM and SPSS.



TEAM BUILDING


In January of 1993, the Computer Center at Eckerd College 
began a series of 'brainstorming' sessions to prepare for the 
implementation of the new system proposal and to evaluate 
existing services for the allocation of resources (time and 
personnel).  The first meeting was used to identify projects 
and assign teams to the various projects.  The teams would 
function under the assumption that they would exist only for 
the duration to complete the project and that there would be 
no change in current job titles and responsibilities.


IDENTIFY TEAMS, MEMBERS, AND RESPONSIBILITIES

The process for identifying teams, members, and 
responsibilities spread over a six week time frame.  Although 
smaller teams were used for many tasks, four major teams were 
created to implement the proposal: New Systems and Database 
Conversion; Campus Network; Student Labs; and Training and 
Documentation.  These teams were made up of members from 
their areas of expertise.

TEAMS               MEMBERS                  RESPONSIBILITIES

New Systems &       Asst. Director           Install UNIX
Database Conversion Sr Programmer Analyst         Convert 
programs
                    Coordinator Operations        Conversion 
AIMS
                                             Install Software
                                             Install Helical 
Scan
                                             Convert 
utilities
                                             Convert 9 track 
tape

Campus Networks          Director                 Define 
Topology
                    Asst. Director           Install Fiber & 
Hubs
                    Admin Micro Analyst      Connect to 
Internet
                    Acad Micro Analyst            Install CC 
LAN
                    Coordinator Operations        Upgrade 
Dataswitch

Student Labs             Asst. Director           Design New 
Labs
                    Admin Micro Analyst      Upgrade lab 
Novell
                    Acad Micro Analyst            Install 
Hardware
                                             Install software
                                             Install Scanner

Training &               Director                 Provide 
external training
Documentation       Training & Doc Asst      Provide internal 
training
                    Secretary                Document new 
procs
                                             New/Revise 
workbooks
                                             Revise Disaster 
Plan
                                             New Computing 
Handbook



IMPLEMENTATION STRATEGIES


In preparation for the additional work load that the new 
technology proposal was bringing to the department, an 
evaluation of existing support services was implemented.  
This process was spread over a four week time frame and was 
the focus of the monthly Computer Center meetings.  Each 
staff member was encouraged to participate in the discussions 
and to add input into fine tuning and streamlining support 
services to prepare for the April deadline to begin the new 
proposal process.


EVALUATE EXISTING SUPPORT SERVICES

AIMS Database - All programming projects were put on hold for 
the internal database.  Only emergencies and regulatory 
processes would be acted upon.

Computer Liaison Program - A microcomputer and database 
liaison program was instituted where knowledgeable users 
attended workshops to help with the work load in their 
respective departments.  The database liaison group also 
worked with a test system for the conversion. Training and 
Documentation - All training classes were put on hold for the 
term. Current documentation projects were suspended so that 
time could be spent documenting new procedures.

Help Desk - The Help Desk hours were shortened from four 
hours daily to two and users were encouraged to contact their 
department liaisons.


COMBINE TIMELINES

Each designated team for the new technology proposal had the 
responsibility of producing a timeline for the tasks 
associated with the project they were working on.  The  
material was combined to form a complete timeline for 
beginning to end of the implementation.   This timeline was 
discussed at meetings held in two week intervals throughout 
the implementation process.


BUDGET MANAGEMENT

All purchases for the new technology proposal were processed 
through the budget manager and a spreadsheet  was created 
recording the budgeted amount against the actual amount 
spent.


REPORTING

Each team member was to track time on the individual tasks 
associated with the projects and the project management work 
request system was modified for the new technology proposal.



CONCLUSION

Although, the actual process of identifying teams with 
members and responsibilities. and the evaluation of existing 
support services was designed to achieve implementation of 
the new technology and provide on-going support, it became 
increasingly clear that the overall process  could not be 
accomplished with the current staffing.  By April of 1993, a 
report identifying all new tasks and current job 
responsibilities was submitted to the administration and a 
request for additional personnel to handle the demand was 
approved for hiring in July.
  

TEAM DYNAMICS

By definition, a team is a group of workers who are charged 
with a specific task and have the expectation that when the 
task or goal is met it will disband.  The members of the four 
teams experienced a special feeling about the team and were 
excited about being included and having an opportunity to 
meet  the special challenges.  Because the teams included all 
the personnel from the Computer Center, the opportunity to 
grow with new responsibilities occurred and leaders arose 
from the process.  Also, because of the excitement of the new 
technologies and the ability to learn new technical skills, 
there was no going back.  It was just plain and simple; team 
members wanted to stay on the team.

Bringing  together a group of talented people into a 
situation of supportiveness with a central goal allows 
creative solutions to problems to happen. The team building  
experience and the acquisition of additional personnel, 
enabled the Computer Center to recognize the need for a new 
reporting structure.  This new reporting structure and the 
respective job responsibilities are shown in the following 
chart:



COMPUTER CENTER PERSONNEL PROFILE - JULY 1993

                          Administrative Services

                              (Director)
(Training & Document. Specialist)                 (Secretary)

Polices/Planning              Handbooks/Faculty        
Planning Day
Cursor_                  End-of-year Report       Inventory
Professional Development      Workbooks/Training       Budget
Disaster Recovery             User Group Activities    
Evaluations
Documentation            Liaison Program          AIMS 
Control Group


Network & Systems Services    Database Services        
Desktop Services

     (Asst Director)          (Database Admin)         
(Manager Desktop 
Services)
(Computer Operations Coord)   (Programmer Analyst)     
(Microcomputer Analyst)
(Local Area Network Manager)

Proj Mgmt (Requests)          Proj Mgmt (Requests)          
Proj Mgmt Requests)
Dataswitch                    Systems Analysis              
Hardware/Software
System Admin (Sun)            Design                        
-repairs
Cabling/Lines            Programming                        
-purchases
Hot-Line                 Hot-Line                      
-consulting
LAN's                    Modifications                      
-installation
Security                 Development                        
-implement
WAN                      Implementation           Hot-Line
Internet                 Consulting                    Labs-
Students
Scanner                  Security                 User Group
E-mail                   User Group                    
Security
Training                 Training                 Training
Documentation            Documentation            
Documentation




FINAL RESULTS

The entire project for the implementation of new technologies  
was a lot of hard work.  Even though additional personnel 
were hired,  a major portion of the project  was completed 
before they came on board which made the strategy of using 
teams very successful.  The Computer Center made all its 
deadlines on time frames that were critical to the school's 
operation.   Following is a profile of new technologies at 
Eckerd College: 


MAIN SYSTEMS

Implementation of the new technology proposal  to date, has 
been successful.  In July of 1993, the campus went 'live' 
with the AIMS package on a Sun SPARCserver 10. The conversion 
onto a UNIX operating system set a new direction for 
computing at Eckerd as we moved to an "open systems" 
technology.  The conversion was a hugh success with minor 
problems in the area of printing communications that affect 
all major computer conversions. This inconvenience was offset 
by  the overall speed of the new machine  and  users  were 
excited about the change over.  In August 1993 the Sparc 
Classic was open to users requiring the software packages of 
SPSS and SHAZAM.


NETWORK FOUNDATIONS

The upgrade to the existing Equinox dataswitch to provide the 
foundation for Ethernet network connections and the 
installation of the Computer Center 10Base-T hub was 
completed prior to the database conversion in July.

The Computer Center received a grant from the National 
Science Foundation in September that  would provide Internet 
connection in December 1993.  An outside contractor was hired 
to begin the fiber optic cable connections and the first 
phase will be completed by mid-January.


STUDENT LABS

All upgrades and new installations on labs were completed by 
September 1993. Following is the configuration for all the 
student labs:

Galbraith Marine Science Laboratory - 6 IBM 386 Compatible 
PCs, 2 Laser Printers,Color Ink Jet Printer, Color Scanner, 
Polaroid 35mm slide Maker, Sun LX Color Server,
Ethernet Network. 

Creative Arts Laboratory (RO-112) - 4 Mac IIvx, Midi 
Keyboard, DAT recorder, 16 Channel Mixer, 2 Digitizing 
Tablets, Video -Spigot, Color Scanner, Film Scanner, CD-ROM 
Drive, Laser Printer and Appletalk Network.  

General Purpose Computing Laboratory (SE 102) - 30 IBM AT 
Compatible PCs, 2 Laser Printers, 1 printronix printer on the 
Sun, 1 486 IBM Compatible file server, Novell Network.

Writing Center (SE 103) - 18 Mac Classics, 1 Mac IIsi, 1 Mac 
SE/30, 1 Laser Printer, 3 Dot Matrix Printers, Appletalk 
Network.  Sheen Science Laboratory (SHA-104) - 9 486 IBM 
Compatible PCs, Ethernet Network to SHC-115 Suns.  

Sheen Science Laboratory (SHC-115) - 9 assorted micro 
processors, 1 Sun SPARCserver 10 model 30, 6 Sun SPARC 
Station SLCs, 1 Dot Matrix printer, Ethernet Network.  

Psychology Laboratory - 3 486 IBM Compatible Pcs, running 
SPSSx in Windows environment.


Date Revised: 02/27/94 (bdz)