Project Scope and Strategic Goals

The Vista Implementation Project (VIP) is the implementation of a new online learning system at Weber State University—Web CT Vista—to replace the current technology tools for WSU Online.  These new tools will be connecting learning at Weber State University and will ultimately be available to faculty and students through all course offerings at the University. 
 

WHY is it needed? Because the existing WSU Online course management system is at or beyond maximum capacity, migrating to WebCT Vista will enable us to assist faculty to integrate more technology into their WSU courses--At the same time we will also increase our course management system stability and reliability. 
 

WHO is involved? A campus-wide steering committee of WSU faculty and staff is overseeing the VIP.  In addition to the steering committee, there are six work teams of faculty and staff that will oversee specific aspects of the VIP these work-teams will regularly consult with other campus individuals 

Educational Goals

Create a Virtual Campus

To make anything students can get by coming to the Weber State campus available online.  This would include course material, academic advising and student services. "Anywhere you want to go, from anywhere you are."

Flexibility for Students

To allow their students, who are typically working and have responsibilities in addition to school, to arrange their education around the other demands of their schedules.

Enhance Faculty Support

WSU wants to enhance technology support for faculty.  However, their bottleneck is that technical support personnel are always in reaction mode.  They are so busy trying to keep up with the internal demands of the current system (the home-grown WSU Online) that they can't add new services. They feel that they can't be proactive and can't provide the training that faculty need. 

 Support for Growth. 

Weber State currently has 4 campuses and is adding a fifth.  Over 18,000 students are enrolled.  There are 350 online courses serving 5,000  learners.  An additional 11,000 students are served by technology-enhancements to traditional courses (typically a syllabus and grade book).  The number of online courses is growing 15% per term.  However, the current WSU online set of applications cannot support this kind of growth rate nor the eventual goal of Web-enhancing all courses.  The current WSU Online Gradebook is particularly close to its breaking point.

Support for Educational Partnerships

Weber State University currently has a number of educational partnerships that are supported by WSU Online.  These include:

·        Partnerships with the APIC and ASQ

·        A statewide consortium of 5 schools leading to a criminal justice degree

·        High School students taking Weber classes. 

·        UEC - Utah Electronic College

·        Alaska Nursing Program

·        Radiological Outreach Program

Technological Goals

A Scalable and Reliable System

The new system needs to accommodate substantial growth while decreasing the support demands on WSU Online staff.  The staff feels that they are always "on the cusp of breakdown" and that the risk of going forward with the old system is too great.  They need a stable platform so the staff can focus on improving quality and faculty can focus on teaching.

 Improved Integration

There is a strong need to improve integration both within the online learning family of tools and with other campus systems, such as the SIS system and the student portal.  The current system is a group of separate tools that were programmed for functional flexibility, but not necessarily designed to integrate with one another.