Promotions and New Hires

ITS is pleased to announce the following staff promotions: 

Anna Coleman is now the Director of Web Development Services.  Prior to this promotion, Anna served as the Associate Director of Technical Services and Database Administrator.  In this new role, Anna is responsible for support of the daily operations related to the university’s Web activities and coordinates implementation of Web projects.

Bruce Entwistle has been promoted from Network Manager to Associate Director of Enterprise Services. His new responsibilities include the management of systems and networking services. 

Christine Robitaille has been promoted to Director of Operations and User Services.  Christine recently completed her MS degree in Information Systems here at the University of Redlands.  She is responsible for providing project supervision and managing the budget for ITS.  Christine also manages User Services/Help Desk.

New members of ITS include Michael Aquino, Mirrissa Lizardi, Todd Logan, Keri Then and Glenn Townsend. 

Michael Aquino is the new Senior Programmer.  Prior to coming to the University of Redlands, Michael held a similar position at Chapman University.   His main area of specialization is writing customized programs for Datatel.

Mirrissa Lizardi joins ITS as the new Administrative Assistant.  She comes to the department with much enthusiasm and an essential skill set. Mirrissa will be responsible for a variety of clerical duties in support of the department.  

Todd Logan is the new Database Administrator.  Todd joins us after six years at Western University of Health Sciences.  His primary responsibilities will encompass database administration tasks in support of the Datatel systems.

Keri Then serves as the Director of Enterprise Services.  Keri has recently completed her doctoral course work in Business with an information systems emphasis from Argosy University. She will manage technology resources and will assist in the development of short and long-term technology initiatives.

Glenn Townsend joins ITS as a Telecommunications Specialist.  With over 25 years of experience working for Verizon, Glenn is here on campus doing telephone repair work and switch programming.

Refreshment of all network switches

The University of Redlands data network is designed to provide secure, reliable access for the main campus and all regional campuses. During the College of Arts and Sciences school year, approximately 3,000 computers and more than 100  printers are attached to the network.

In May of 2007, ITS undertook a project to refresh all of the network switches.  Network switches play an important, behind-the-scenes role in how information is sent from one computer to  another.  It all begins with the blue Ethernet cable that connects each computer to the wall jack.  This cable, in turn, is connected to a port on a network switch which is located within the  same building.   These network switches are used to connect one building to another and, in the end, the campus to the outside world.

“The planning and design of the network switch refreshment project took most of the past year,” said Hamid Etesamnia.  This project was funded by a grant from NASA.

Three key factors made this refreshment project a high priority, including:   

· The existing switches were 5-7 years old.

· Due to the lack of storage capacity on the aging switches, ITS was unable to apply vital software upgrades, causing a potential security risk.

· Many of the older switches were no longer supported by the vendor, making replacement parts and service more difficult to receive.

By replacing the network switches, the university now has a consistent set of equipment for the main and all regional campuses.