Marc Hoit, the University’s first vice chancellor for Information Technology, began working Sept. 1, and today, he will be a part of the new OIT Web site’s debut.
As with the new site, Hoit said a lot of IT’s goals are about integration, and making services easier for students.
“If we do our job well, you won’t know we’re here,” he said.
Information technology includes aspects of communication services, classroom support, projection systems as well as the ways students enroll for classes and faculty receive payroll information, Hoit said.
The new OIT site will simply integrate once-separate entities that are involved in IT, Hoit said. Hoit’s position will act similarly, as many IT-related services on campus will now report to him.
The University hired Hoit, who was a chief information officer at the University of Florida, to provide guidance in a time when changes had taken place in the IT world, he said.
“Services have to be robust and user-accessible,” he said.
Some changes in IT will come in registration technology, as Hoit said the University is moving to a new PeopleSoft version that 40 percent of schools around the country are using.
After many institutions have used the software, Hoit said it can be more reliable, as other schools will have worked out its kinks.
Technology has become a large part of University life, he said, changing libraries into “common areas.”
Kim Brown, a freshman in engineering, said she uses the library frequently and does not have any complaints about its IT services.
Student computer use has also affected legal matters, as Hoit said N.C. State is one of the top-25 offenders for illegal music downloading.
Hoit will now be working toward education and possible solutions in the University’s struggle with illegal downloading, he said.
“There’s a new federal law that says you must do something about illegal file-sharing,” he said.
The University must help students find legal alternatives to file-sharing, and educate them on what is and is not legal, according to Hoit.
In pursuing solutions for this problem, he said he is a big believer in the right to privacy, and if a students computing information is needed, he will likely help determine what actions are necessary.
“In cases where the technology is something I control, I would ask that it comes through me,” Hoit said.
The University of Florida created a “peer-to-peer monitoring and blocking program,” he said, but measures like this would take IT governance into account.
IT governance is the idea of listening to student and faculty concerns, and weighing that input when making decisions, he said.
Ryan Kabatchnick, a senior in computer science, said the only IT service he doesn’t like is the MyPack Portal.
“The old system was much simpler, much more user friendly [and] much more powerful than the new system,” he said. “The new system is a complete travesty — they try to do too much in one place and it’s failed and most people would agree.”
Kabatchnick also said the University could better educate students on the Virtual Computing Lab, in which students can access certain applications from non-University computers.
There is no detriment to educating students about it, and it “saves students a lot of time and money,” he said.
Before Hoit deals with any IT issues, he said, he has a lot to learn about how the University works.
