2018 Commission on Technology Conference

7:00 am – 8:00 am:  Breakfast in Cafe

7:00 am – 10:00 am:  Sponsor Booth Set-Up

8:00 am – 5:00 pm: Registration/Information Desk

8:15 am – 8:45 am:  Welcome and Devotions
Dale Lunsford, President, LeTourneau University

8:45 am – 10:00 am: Keynote I:  The Power of Ingenuity
How can we make, shape and create our own space as professionals in higher education, as technology pushes out the productivity frontier?

Speaker: Jay Gary, Associate Professor of Leadership, Assistant Dean of Online and Lifelong Learning, Oral Roberts University

10:00 am – 10:30 am: Morning Break & Sponsor Booths Open

10:30 am – 11:15 am: 4 Concurrent Breakout Sessions

The Future According to Jesus
How did Jesus navigate the disruptions in his day to shape the future? What should that say to us as IT professionals?
Speaker: Jay Gary, Associate Professor of Leadership, Assistant Dean of Online and Lifelong Learning, Oral Roberts University

Practical InfoSec for the Budget-Conscious: Rules & Tools
EDUCAUSE just released its 2018 Top 10 IT Issues and, for the fifth year in a row, Information Security was voted the top spot. As a college or university, you must mitigate the same cybersecurity threats as Yale, UCLA, or UT Austin but with far fewer resources. Come prepared for an overview of practical, inexpensive tools and ideas for budget-conscious InfoSec to help in areas such as effective patch management, threat assessment, removing admin rights, and standards compliance.
Speakers: Michael Davis, Director of User Support & Engagement, LeTourneau University

Technology Trends in International Education
As universities incorporate internationalization into their missions and strategic plans, additional efforts and expectations are being placed on the offices of international education (OIE). International student enrollments now top one million with the OIE expected to maintain ever-changing federal documentation requirements (including on-line) in order to keep their institutions in compliance. Study abroad offices, too, are experiencing growth in both student and faculty participation as opportunities and destinations become increasingly diverse. This growth, combined with an expectation of “duty of care” places institutions in a position of being able to contact their travelers anywhere in the world at any given moment. Technology is integral to meeting these expectations; however, not all OIE reach out to their IT colleagues for assistance and support. Even when they do, there is a learning curve as each office learns the vocabulary of the other, as well as the fiscal and/or staffing realities that each office faces. Communication, thus, is the foundation to an effective collaboration between the OIE and IT. This session intends to introduce the broad field of international education – from recruitment through alumni status – through a discussion of major trends that are impacting technology needs, including the GDPR. This interactive discussion includes the varied expectations and terminology encountered by international educators entrenched in incoming and outgoing student mobility. At the same time, our intention is to engage in dialogue with our IT colleagues in order to better understand the expectations and terminology they encounter related to campus internationalization. We hope this dialogue leads to further collaboration that moves both groups forward.
Speaker: Kerry Geffert, Product Evangelist, Terra Dotta, LLC

Panel on Backup Strategies
Using Built in Windows powershell, Google Drive and a spare external HDD, we have set up a backup for Windows VMs hosted on a Hyper-V server.
Speakers: Mark Reimer, Windows Servers & Networking, Prairie College, Caleb Cheshier, Windows Servers & Networking, LeTourneau University

11:25 am – 12:10 pm: 4 Concurrent Breakout Sessions

Disruptive Innovation & the Lean Startup
At the core competency in our ability to respond to disruptive innovation is our ability to quickly learn through rapid iteration. This workshop will explore the implications of disruptive innovation on higher education. It will also explore how the lean startup provides a methodology of the best practices from Silicon Valley in increasing the sped of learning through rapid iteration.
Speaker: Andrew Sears, President, City Vision University, MIT Graduate and founder of Christian Higher Education Innovation Alliance 

NIST Cybersecurity Framework
The NIST Cybersecurity Framework provides a structure for managing cybersecurity risk at all levels of an organization. This session will provide an overview of the framework’s functional areas which can focus efforts to reduce cybersecurity risk.
Speaker: Dale Lee, Director of Information Security and Projects, California Baptist University

Six Things IT Can Do to Get Your Hybrid Program Online
Wheaton College has recently taken a four-pronged approach to adding flexibility to its modes of instruction. We have switched to a newer, cloud-based LMS, assembled our own lightboard, re-habilitated our production studio, joined and received additional training in Quality Matters, opened up “drop in hours” for instructional design consulting, and have come alongside our faculty to support these new initiatives. Our graduate school is expanding its low-residency options and we are positioning ourselves to support them globally through instructional design, high-quality video production and streaming, and LMS support.
Speaker: Steven Park, Director of Academic and Scholarly Technology, Wheaton College

Practical Windows 10: Embracing Microsoft’s new Paradigm from Deployment to Disposition
The AAD, MDT, WDS, and SCCM alphabet soup got you flummoxed? This session will explore how LETU is conducting their Windows 7 to 10 transition with an agile, iterative approach using myriad Microsoft tools along with lessons learned. Covers Build & Capture with MDT, W10 upgrades with SCCM, and tracking asset disposition with age reports.
Speaker: Michael Davis, Director, User Support & Engagement, LeTourneau University

12:15 pm – 1:15 pm: Birds of a Feather Lunch in Cafe
Grab your lunch and look for a table with a topic of interest to you to continue conversations

1:15 pm – 2:30 pm: Keynote II: The Power of Disruption

Speaker: Andrew Sears, President, City Vision University, MIT Graduate and founder of Christian Higher Education Innovation Alliance

2:45 pm – 3:30 pm: 4 Concurrent Breakout Sessions

Let’s Think Like a Futurist
How can we use foresight, in addition to hindsight, as IT professionals to bring greater insight to our teams?
Speaker: Jay Gary, Associate Professor of Leadership, Assistant Dean of Online and Lifelong Learning, Oral Roberts University

Creating a Competency-Based Online Program
Three years ago, UMHB embarked on a journey to develop a self-paced, low-cost, online competency-based degree program. The effort took commitment, support and creative problem-solving from all areas of university. Come hear about challenges, successes, lessons learned and the future of CBE at UMHB.
Speaker: Brent Harris, Vice President for Information Technology, University of Mary Hardin-Baylor

Cybersecurity and Digital Natives
Current college students have grown up with computers and technology at their fingertips. It stands to reason that they understand technology like no other generation before them; after all, they are truly digital natives. However, this is not always the case. Today’s college students are very comfortable with Facebook, Snapchat, Twitter, YouTube and other forms of consuming media. They are not afraid of using technology. However, they do not have an understanding of how the technology works. There is a great difference between using and understanding. This, in turn, has a direct impact on how Higher Education IT professionals approach cybersecurity. It is unrealistic to expect incoming students to understand cybersecurity enough to protect themselves. Therefore, we must be prepared to take the necessary steps to educate students and to secure our organizations against potential threats caused by this lack of understanding. This presentation will discuss security awareness training programs, potential threats and possible solutions.
Speaker: James Tippey, Assistant Professor of Cybersecurity, Montreat College

Roberts Wesleyan’s Journey Into SalesForce.org
Roberts Wesleyan has been researching SalesForce,org for a progressive implementation across multiple areas. The more we have spent time on learning this, the more we are amazed at what this unified platform and company has to offer to us and to Higher Education. We love what it can do out of the box, the pricing model and the complete student life cycle engagement across all the constituents. Their implementation and pricing model allows a cash strapped Christian College like Roberts to tryout, implement and leverage tools that the top campuses are using. We will present our findings and share where we are and where we hope to go with SalesForce.org.
Speakers: Peter Saxena, CIO, Roberts Wesleyan College, Robert Clark, Executive Director of Alumni Affairs, Pepperdine University

3:30 pm – 4:00 pm: Afternoon Break & Sponsor Booths Open

4:00 pm – 4:45 pm: 4 Concurrent Breakout Sessions

Cybersecurity Awareness for Staff & Faculty- Addressing the Greatest Weakness
How one small university went from a 33% click rate to 3% in less than one year. Training Staff and Faculty to understand how important their role is in cyber security awareness.
Speaker: Brenda Gibson, Director, IT, Multnomah University

ImIn- The College Tracking Attendance App
The ImIn App Project emerged as a solution to track students’ required attendance at college’s events/classes utilizing the latest mobile technology. Features like geofencing, tracking attendance based on a mobile device’s geographic location, make this app a great alternative to the regular ID card scanners. This app allows the user to check in/out of an event just by pressing a button on their mobile device. The app will require the user to authenticate using Touch ID (Face ID soon), and use the device’s geolocation and current time to verify attendance. Our University currently depends on several computers and laser scanners to track, for instance, required chapel attendance for residential students, three times a week. Crowded bottlenecks could be avoided and resources saved. by using an app like ImIn.
Speaker: Pablo Albuja Silverio, Programmer, Analyst, LeTourneau University

Internet Gaming in Higher Education: Action Research Impacting Behavioral Health, Advising, and Retention
Every year around 12% of first-year students enter college with problems associated with Internet gaming. Research revealed poor academic performance and behavioral health imbalance with students exhibiting Internet gaming addiction. Participant sampling included eight full-time faculty and professional staff members. This Appreciative Inquiry study assisted the campus in developing a response to this problem. This study incorporated a formal action, which generated practice change and policy development strategies to improve student success, persistence in matriculation, and retention to graduation.
Speaker: Mark Durham, Capella University

The Ideal Team Player: How to Build Humble, Hungry, Smart Teams
At Roberts Wesleyan College IT, we are using the Ideal Team Player book by Patrick Lencioni to help us build good team players. The Book identifies three characteristics : Humble, Hungry and Smart for a good team player. We will discuss what these are are and how we are implementing it in the IT team.
Speaker: Peter Saxena, CIO, Roberts Wesleyan College

4:45 pm – 6:00 pm: Free Time or Optional Guided Tour of LeTourneau University

6:00 pm – 8:00 pm: Dinner and Address: The Workplace, Our Mission Field/RG Innovator Speaker: Bill Peel, Executive Director, Center for Faith & Work, LeTourneau University

8:00 pm – 10:00 pm:  Free Time/Game Room Open

7:00 am – 8:00 am:  Breakfast in Cafe

8:15 am – 8:45 am:  Welcome and Devotions
Mike Hood, Vice President for Finance & Administration, LeTourneau University

8:45 am – 10:00 am: Keynote III:  The Power Courage: Facing Challenges by Showing That Faith is Greater Than Fear
There has never been a better time to be a great CIO in the midst of all the changes and challenges; yet there has never been a worst time to be a mediocre CIO living with the fear of change. Christian Higher Education stands on the brink of some of the greatest years of transformation. Even though any one college or university may not be able to afford all the technology to be the front runner, we can all leverage innovation and creativity. History has proven that innovation and creatively has far more power than money itself. This session will encourage all attendees to get engaged with creativity and innovation as you plan your campus technology plans.

Speaker: Mike Mathews, AVP of Innovation and Technology, Oral Roberts University

10:00 am – 10:30 am: Morning Break & Sponsor Booths Open

10:30 am – 11:15 am:  4 Concurrent Breakout Sessions

CyberSecurity Panel: There’s No Future Without IT
A panel discussion of all the issues surrounding CyberSecurity today. 
Speaker: Matthew Henry, CIO, LeTourneau University

How Augmented Virtual Reality Will Change Education Forever: ORU’s Solution Was Entertaining.
How AVR technology helps ORU’s students learn exponentially! We do this all within the IT department; faculty adoption is overwhelmingly successful. We incorporated Augmented Virtual Reality to reach students in all disciplines of study at Oral Roberts University. We have converted 3D content from head-mounted displays to multiple platforms, including the university’s LMS, D2L. We have created AVR solutions for every major, including American history, geology, engineering and pre-med/nursing. Our innovations have created new tools for faculty excellence and keep all students highly engaged. Students have said, “wow, I learned so much more!”
Speaker: Torance Jones, AVR & Innovation Specialist, Oral Roberts University

Empowering the Next Generation: How to Set Up An Effective Student Worker Program
Student workers are more than cheap labor, they can offer an insight into the minds of students and provide new perspectives in the workplace. As a Higher Ed institution, we have the unique opportunity to teach our students not only academic knowledge, but the more nuanced soft skills that make an employee truly valuable. Given proper training student workers can become an integral part of any IT department. Session presented by a student worker of 3 years with LETU IT.
Speaker: Mark Hegreberg, Lead Technician, LeTourneau University

11:25 am – 12:10 pm: 4 Concurrent Breakout Sessions

Cloudy with a Chance of Success: An O365 Transition
After having run an on-premise Microsoft Exchange mail server for almost 20 years, migrating all mail services to Microsoft O365 can be a daunting scenario. In addition to discussing our specific experiences, our mistakes, and our successes on this major project, we’ll also be talking more generally about considerations that are easily overlooked when adjusting processes to operate in a cloud-based environment.
Speaker: Ethan Cooper, Assistant Director for Network Services, LeTourneau University 

Reshaping IT Services for Today’s Challenges
As the value of a college education is under scrutiny and recruiting students is more challenging, technology budgets are limited. This talk will outline the challenges and opportunities faced by an inaugural CIO; describe creative solutions and how they were achieved; explain the impact of relationships on their success; and close with an overview of their IT organization that demonstrates the impact of the effort. Participants will walk away with some new ideas about how they can effectively advance initiatives on their campuses, through partnership with stakeholders.
Speaker: Wendy Woodward, Chief Information Officer, Wheaton College

Throwing Away Forms: Streamlining Office Efficiency Through eForms and Automated Workflows
Endless stacks of forms got you down? Tired of waiting for a form to be approved, having no idea where it is in the approval process? Come learn how LeTourneau has been able to increase efficiency and cut down on the timeline for approval process of forms with the help of vendor NextGen Solutions and their product Dynamic Forms. Among other benefits, LeTourneau has increased HR Open Enrollment response rate from 75% over 3 months to 90% in 3 weeks. Take the “human” out of “human error” using APIs to prepopulate information from other databases at your university. Not only has productivity increased, but LeTourneau has also become more PCI compliant by moving payments that accompany forms off of custom internal systems and directly through integration with Authorize.Net payment system.
Speaker: Valerie Lewis, Programmer/Analyst, LeTourneau University 

Practical PowerShell: Sparking Ideas to go From Starter to Superstar
Every new app or service by Microsoft requires a fully-featured PowerShell cmdlet set before their engineering team signs off on its release. The world’s top 2 largest cloud service providers (Azure and AWS) expose a PowerShell CLI to automate their tools. If your Microsoft tooling doesn’t already include PowerShell, you may be behind the times! Come for a basic introduction to PowerShell and real-life examples of its use in production automation.
Speaker: Michael Davis, Director, User Support & Engagement, LeTourneau University

12:15 pm – 1:15 pm: Lunch in Cafe

1:30 pm: Buses depart LeTourneau for Offsite Activities

2:00 pm – 3:30 pm: Visit and Explore East Texas Oil Museum

4:00 pm – 8:00 pm: Abbott Aviation Center
Explore the Abbott Aviation Center where you’ll see the LETU fleet, attend a breakout session, hear a panel, and enjoy an authentic East Texas world renowned barbecue dinner.

4:30 pm – 5:30 pm: Session- Simplifying and Securing Wired & Wireless IT Onboarding-Admin, Faculty, Student, & Guest BYOD Devices Across Multi-Vendor Platforms
Mosaic will discuss the ease of onboarding and providing security in multi-vendor environments with the Ruckus Cloudpath platform.  Updates from the recent Dell
Technologies World & Global Partner summit will also be covered with a focus on security enhancements within client, server and storage platforms.
Presented by:  Daniel Modrusan, Sr. Architect, Mosaic Technology Corporation

5:30 PM: Dinner Served

6:15 pm: Keynote IV: The Power of Gender Diversity
Learn from your colleagues about the importance of diverse populations in IT, particularly as it pertains to women in IT leadership for Christian Higher Education.Panelists: Rebekah Campbell, Director, Support Center Moody Bible Institute, Brenda Gibson, Director, IT, Multnomah University, Valerie Lewis, Programmer/Analyst, LeTourneau University, Wendy Woodward, Chief Information Officer, Wheaton College, and Cindy Thomas, Director of Business Systems Management, LeTourneau University

8:00 pm: Buses return to LeTourneau University

8:00 pm – 10:00 pm: Free Time/Game Room (Optional)

7:00 am – 8:00 am:  Breakfast in Cafe

8:15 am – 8:45 am:  Welcome and Devotions
Ken Johnson, Director of Network and Telecommunication Services, LeTourneau University

8:45 am – 10:00 am: Keynote V:  The Power of Christ-Keeping Christ at the Center of Everything We Do
Dale Lunsford, President, LeTourneau University

10:00 am – 10:30 am: Morning Break 

10:30 am – 11:30 am: Open Forum Discussion/Hot Topics

11:30 am: Event Concludes and Box Lunches Available