Classroom Support for the New Semester

For most of the University of Richmond community, Winter Break is a time to relax. For Academic Computing Services (ACS), Winter Break is an opportunity for the four-person team to update the 915 classroom computers on campus. Fixes and security patches were released over the course of the Fall Semester, but they needed to be tested to ensure they would not cause unintended problems. Winter Break is the chance for ACS to deploy updates without disrupting classes.  

“ACS can update the 548 desktop computers over the University network,” says Fess Khan, project manager and team lead. PC configurations are managed by Justin Prosser with Christina Shepperson. Carlos Flores-Melgar is responsible for the configuration of Apple computers. Khan manages the different servers that ACS needs to do their work, including PaperCut (the student print management server) and the servers that dynamically authorize specialized software to run on UR computers every time the application is opened.  

Laptops are stored off the network in carts. Each of these 367 systems need to be physically touched to apply the operating system patches. That takes more time for the team to do than the desktop systems.  

Beyond the operating system, ACS manages 215 applications. While no system has all of these applications, many computers have a lot of software loaded, so they can be used for all of the classes scheduled to use them. Software application updates are released year-round by their vendors, but ACS typically updates applications only during the summer when there is more time to set up all of the applications going onto a system, making sure to resolve any conflicts that different programs may have with each other. 

Updates are always finished before the semester begins. The first weeks of the term can be busy, with additional requests for software in the computer labs. And there is always planning for the next opportunity to update classroom computers around campus. 

Mark Nichols, Assistant VP for Telecom, Media, & User Services says, “Keeping classroom technology up to date is essential to the teaching and learning environments for students and faculty. The hard work of the Academic Computing Services team during Winter Break allows us to maintain secure, reliable, and updated systems across campus. Their efforts make it possible for faculty to focus on teaching without technical disruptions, and for students to have access to the tools they need at the start of the Spring semester.”