It’s Not Simply Infrastructure: Duke University’s VP for IT and CIO Tracy Futhey Talks about Networking and Innovation

Excerpted from an upcoming Q&A interview in Campus Technology magazine

Q: We’d like to ask you about national and regional networking initiatives, specifically NLR and Internet2: What’s been happening at those levels, and what will keep the momentum of these efforts moving toward building services for all institutions?
A: We’re making wonderful progress on the national level, on the regional level, and at the campus level, to start to take advantage of the newly available optical networking capabilities. We’re moving from the promise and the dream, to the reality of having very high-speed access from end to end—one campus to another, one researcher to another—that was historically only practical to expect within campus lab environments. The projects that are going on now at the national level include National LambdaRail and Internet2. I2 has a project called HOPI, hybrid optical packet infrastructure, that’s using NLR infrastructure. That and other projects at the national level are going to be introducing a whole new set of capabilities for faculty researchers.

The regional build out of optical networking has really been impressive over the last couple of years. For me, one of the key elements in participating and moving those initiatives forward is providing faculty on our campuses with the best access to research capabilities and the fewest barriers to collaboration as possible. It is often the case that collaboration within a particular discipline occurs across campus boundaries rather than within a single department. So, through the high-speed optical capabilities that we’re trying to introduce, we can make sure that a faculty member at Duke, for example, can communicate and network with research faculty at the San Diego Supercomputing Center, or at other supercomputing centers or universities—you name it. I’m able to make sure that faculty have such capabilities on this campus, and to collaborate with their colleagues at other campuses, without regard for the fact that Durham, NC, where Duke is located, has historically not been viewed as the networking center of the world.

Read More | Send Comment | Back to top

FCC Seeks Advice from Higher Ed

The Federal Communications commission has named Association for Communications Technology Professionals in Higher Education (ACUTA) President Tamara Closs, who is also the associate director of enterprise product and service development at Georgetown University (DC), to serve on a 55-member Consumer Advisory Committee that advises the FCC on the impact of new and emerging technologies, consumer protection and education, and access by people with disabilities.

New ECAR Study Probes Business Process Performance and Technology Investment

“Good Enough!” is the title of an Educause Center for Applied Research (ECAR) study of business performance processes, released this past week. IT leaders at more than 350 colleges and universities in the US and Canada contributed their thoughts to the study that Educause says “corroborate[s] the subjective impressions that trustees, regulators, and others have that colleges and universities lag behind the leading sectors of the economy in the performance of business processes.” But could it be that’s “Good Enough!” when IT investment must be considered across a range of institutional priorities? Check out the study: www.educause.edu/ers0504/ (for subscribers or to purchase); www.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ecar_so/ers/ERS0504/ekf0504.pdf (key findings, free to all).

| Send Comment | Back to top

Interim President

William H. Harris will begin July 1 as the Fort Valley State University (GA) interim president, and will serve during the Fall 2005 semester. Harris previously held presidential posts at Alabama State University, Texas Southern University, and Paine College (GA).

Planning Retirement

James E. Walker has decided he will retire after the 2005-2006 academic year, completing six years as Southern Illinois University’s president.

Out of Retirement?

The Haywood Community College (NC) board of trustees has called upon Donald S. Stanton to emerge from retirement for a six-month stint as the college’s interim president. Stanton retired in 1999 from his post as president of Oglethorpe University (GA). The appointment will be contingent upon his acceptance and the North Carolina Community College System’s final approval.

| Send Comment | Back to top