Major IT Initiatives
OHIO IT manages many projects that help Ohio University toward its goal of digital transformation. This page lists major initiatives of broad interest to the University community that aim to improve processes, student learning outcomes, teaching environments, and the campus as a whole.
Current Initiatives
Go OHIO
| Initiative Summary |
Go OHIO is the Ohio University web and mobile app that is designed to connect students to their OHIO experience, meet students where they are, and provide digital access to key services, important contacts, support, and information that help students succeed. The University-level initiative aligns with the presidential priority to continue improving the student experience and student success and is supported by OIT and cross-functional partners across OHIO. |
| Initiative Sponsor | Product Governance Board |
Learning Management System Evaluation Project
| Project Summary | OIT launched a request for proposal (RFP) to evaluate the LMS market and select a technology that aligns with the University’s needs. With support from the Office of the Executive Vice President and Provost, OIT will engage students, faculty, and staff to clarify their needs and wants for the preferred LMS for OHIO. The desired outcome for this project is to establish whether the University should migrate to a new platform or continue with Blackboard and move all courses to the Ultra experience. |
| Project Sponsor | Eszti Major-Rohrer |
Course Evaluations - Blue Implementation
| Project Summary | Blue, provided by Explorance, Inc., will replace Class Climate as OHIO’s preferred course evaluation tool. Blue is expected to improve the security and transparency of the course evaluation process, as well as enhance the user experience for both students and faculty. The selection of Blue was completed during the Survey Technologies Evaluation Project. |
| Project Sponsor | Eszti Major-Rohrer |
Blackboard Integration Updates
| Project Summary | Updates to Blackboard will occur between semesters through December 2023, as vendors replace outdated technology for publisher content and add-ons. Some changes will require instructors to rebuild course content or update links. The changes are spaced over a period of 18 months (May 2022 - December 2023) to minimize disruption and reduce the amount of content instructors need to rebuild at one time. |
| Project Sponsor | Eszti Major-Rohrer |
Blackboard Integration Updates Site
Azure MFA Migration
| Project Summary | The Office of Information Technology will replace Duo Mobile with Azure Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA), a more secure and user-friendly multi-factor authentication application by March 2023. Multi-factor authentication protects OHIO accounts from lost or stolen passwords by adding a verification step, most often a push notification to a mobile device, prior to logging into OHIO applications. Azure MFA is a Microsoft product, which aligns with other OHIO applications and will bring additional cost savings to the University. |
|---|---|
| Project Sponsor | Chris Hayes |
Power Platform Citizen Developer Community
| Project Summary | OIT is exploring the creation of a citizen developer community that will empower faculty and staff to develop their own low-code web applications using Microsoft’s Power Platform. The Power Platform consists of Power Automate and Power Apps. |
|---|---|
| Project Sponsor | Tim Kresse |
Citizen Developer Community Site
Classroom Improvement Initiative
| Project Summary | The Classroom Improvement Initiative is an ongoing partnership with the Classroom Taskforce to reconfigure classroom technologies in all centrally managed OHIO learning spaces. The goal is to enhance the teaching and learning mission of the University by engaging today’s learner and planning for the future OHIO student. Upgrades include new computers, height-adjustable lecterns, external speakers, and flat screen displays or projectors with wireless display capabilities. |
|---|---|
| Project Sponsor | Papa Owusu-Kwarteng |
Classroom Improvement Initiative Site
Student Response System Evaluation Project
| Project Summary | OIT launched a request for proposal (RFP) to evaluate the Student Response System and select a technology that aligns with the University’s needs. With support from the Office of the Executive Vice President and Provost, OIT will engage students, faculty, and staff to clarify their needs and wants for the preferred Student Response System for OHIO. The desired outcome for this project is to establish whether the University should migrate to a new platform or continue with Top Hat. |
| Project Sponsor | Eszti Major-Rohrer |