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Kevin B. ANSEL

New Student Health and Counseling System

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Student Health

In February, UCOP mandated that all UCs move student health operations to a common EMR (Electronic Medical Records) system.  UCI was using a system call “Medicat” for the Student Health Center and a product called “Titanium” for the Counseling Center.  The new system UCOP selected was “Point and Click” (PnC).

UCI was one of four campuses that were not currently using PnC.  The time line set by the Regents and UCOP was aggressive.  They wanted the conversion completed by August.

Combining both independent programs into one caused several issues with privacy and security.  Technical staff had to learn PnC in a hurry.  New virtual hardware was prepared and site visits and evaluations of the UCI environment were conducted.   A huge amount of collaboration was needed with the vendor.  A lot of the research and testing took place after hours and on weekends so that it did not disrupt normal business operations of the centers.

With support and assistance from staff and leadership within Student Health and the Counseling Center, the challenge to make this high-visibility conversion was met.  On August 14th the Counseling Center was migrated to the new system successfully.  Technical issues with the Medicat database caused delays for migrating the Student Health Center, but it finally took place on September 10th.  During this conversion process OIT staff continued to provide a high level of service to the other departments within Wellness, Health and Counseling Services as well as supporting the existing EMR system.

PnC is now in production at the Student Health Center and the Counseling Center.

Digital Signage System

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Digital sign

The Visix digital signage system was introduced with 5 displays in the Student Center  when it re-opened after the new construction in the Fall of 2007.  The displays were used to list event times and locations, advertise special events such as Wayzgoose and sales in the Bookstore, campus trivia, weather, and more.

Over the past 4 years, the system has grown to comprise 23 displays managed by a wide range of departments from across the campus, including the Visitor’s Center, Environmental Health and Safety, the Cross Cultural Center, Financial Aid, two Bus Shuttle stops, Social Ecology, Medical Education, Engineering, and the UCI Libraries.

All displays are coordinated by a centralized server located in the Student Affairs data center and managed by Student Affairs IT (SAIT), now part of OIT.  Departments create their content on SAIT’s server using a web-based system.  Content can be configured to launch at any desired date or time.  A “player” system owned by the department communicates with SAIT’s server to get content and timing information, and controls its local display.

The content creator determines how long each slide is shown, the order that slides will run, and its transition to the next slide.  The look and feel of the layout is also completely customized.   It is very easy to upload, configure, and manage content.  Technical staff typically does not need to be involved after the initial setup.

The Student Center is planning an expansion of the system to support small LCD displays located at each conference room with up-to-date details of meetings and events that are taking place at that time.   Our hope is that the digital signage system will continue to grow and provide current information in a visually appealing format to an ever-broader campus audience.

Interested departments are invited to consult with SAIT regarding the equipment, set-up, and licensing costs.