Dear members of the Fordham community,
At Fordham’s Office of Information Technology, we aim to reimagine the future of higher education through technology. Accordingly, we have been working tirelessly behind the scenes to introduce new tools and strengthen our existing services.
A key goal for IT is digital transformation; we strive to provide all offices, whether they provide services to students, faculty, or staff, with access to impactful tech tools that increase efficiency and move Fordham forward. To accelerate this effort, we introduced RamDocs, a robust workflow engine that offices can use to automate processes such as auto-populating information and routing for approval. As part of the System Fixes breakout session conducted with dozens of faculty and staff following President Tetlow’s State of the University Address, we received valuable feedback and recommendations about potential digital transformation projects. We have already launched such projects across the university, including a single Major/Minor Declaration form for students across all undergraduate schools and an Employee Action form.
We hope you will enjoy the improvements in IT services at Fordham that help prepare the university for the digital future, enable faculty to teach more effectively, and equip our graduates with skills for success.
New IT Services For Everyone:
Given faculty and staff feedback from the System Fixes session, we designed a new page that is intuitive, simple, and better organized. For easy access to popular Fordham applications, check out the new My Apps! More personalization features will be coming soon.
Unleash your creativity and innovation with the power of LITE! Check out our recording and podcasting rooms, collaborative workspaces, maker space area, virtual reality area, laser cutters, and more! Have a creative classroom assignment or personal project idea? All faculty, staff, and students can access LITE resources at both Rose Hill and Lincoln Center.
Faculty and student researchers requiring significant computational power can now use the Magis Cluster, Fordham’s new high-performance computing system (HPCC). Magis is a 56 Teraflops cluster that has separate Graphics Processing Units (GPUs) equipped with 64,000 CUDA cores, meaning it can handle multiple computationally intensive tasks in parallel at a high speed. We will soon be adding Grace-Hopper GPUs to Magis to further enhance the Magis Cluster’s capabilities. Please reach out to Research Computing for information and the Office of Research to request access.
Guests who come for athletic games, conferences, or family visits can now enjoy quick network connectivity by just scanning a QR code with their mobile phone. Hosting a campus visitor? Print or share the Guest Wi-Fi QR code with them.
Rather than a physical ID card which can be lost, stolen, or forgotten, the eID is conveniently accessible on your smartphone! We have enhanced the eID set-up process and functionality; signing up for an eID now takes only a few minutes and is super easy via the Fordham Mobile Go app (iOS, Android). Join the thousands of Fordham members with an eID by signing up today!
Over the summer we tested functionality, upgraded infrastructure to optimize reliability, and added many new Wi-Fi access points for stronger connectivity around all three campuses. As a result, everyone now has fast internet access, even during peak browsing times. If you have any Wi-Fi concerns, please contact the IT Service Desk (718-817-3999 or HelpIT@Fordham.edu).
For Students:
The Fordham Hub student user interface has been spectacularly redesigned thanks to feedback from the System Fixes session. It is now easier to connect to key Fordham services, determine whom to meet, and schedule appointments. The Hub serves as your gateway to vital resources such as Financial Aid, Academic Advising, Career Services, and Prestigious Awards. With this exciting upgrade, advisors can also seamlessly create success plans for students and receive alerts from faculty through progress reports within the Hub, streamlining the process for both students and staff.
Access software applications typically found in campus computer labs from anywhere via the Virtual Academic Space.
For Faculty:
Thanks to Flexible Grading, advanced visualizations, bulk downloading, and better rubric editing, grading now takes less time and allows students to receive faster and more specific feedback. Courses can also be enhanced with engaging images, better communication tools to students, and direct SafeAssign integration. To ensure inclusivity and meaningful engagement for diverse learners, Blackboard now provides the Ultra Accessibility Checker for instructors.
For Faculty and Staff:
The recently upgraded Virtual Admin Space for faculty and staff makes it easy to securely access all Fordham software (like R, Microsoft Office 365, SPSS, Banner, Hyland OnBase, and PowerFAIDS) from any computer – all you need is Wi-Fi! The updated Virtual Admin Space provides the benefits and display of the Windows 11 desktop experience, as well as the ability to connect hardware like webcams, USB sticks, and printers. Try out the new Virtual Admin Space today – from anywhere!
Important to Note:
To create a well-informed user community, the university requires everyone to review the AUP, which governs how we may use information technology resources and describes what we may and may not do when accessing these resources.
Sincerely,
Anand Padmanabhan
VP & CIO
Office of Information Technology