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Compiled by Jan Stubbs, Administrative Assistant: August
1998
Revised by Kollenn Whitley 7/22/08
May 1989
- Rutgers University
President Edward J. Bloustein approved a
proposal from the New Brunswick Associate Provost to create a
"campus assistance and information center" modeled after a
similar program at the University
of Wisconsin - Madison.
November
1989
- Matt Weismantel,
Cook College Class of 1985 and Graduate School New Brunswick Class
of 1990, the Assistant Coordinator of Student Activities, Rutgers College, was hired as
Director of the Student Information and Assistance Center (SIAC) to
set up the new service. The office was established in an attic
office at Bishop House and outfitted with used furniture from the Rutgers Student Center.
- Matt hired two Information
Supervisors to help put together the Rutgers Rolodex and Outside
Rolodex and to set up the SIAC information library. SIAC's grand opening was on January 22, 1990. By
that time, six Information Assistants had been hired, and they were
later joined by four additional IA's. SIAC had three phone lines for
answering questions.
Bishop House, first home of the
Student Information and Assistance
Center.
December
1989
- Jan Stubbs was hired as
secretary for the new department, a ten-month per year position.
January
1990
- During SIAC's
first week of operation, just over 500 calls were received, and the
total number of calls for that first semester of operation was
5,871. The busiest day that first semester was Commencement Day,
with a total of 222 calls.
July
1,1990
- Rutgers Off-Campus Housing
Service became a part of SIAC, with Guy Colvin working as Assistant
Manager, Housing Services. The OCHS office was located in the
Stonier Hall Lobby.
September
1990
- Satellite facility
operations began at the Rutgers
Student Center and Cook Campus
Center.
- SIAC began assisting other
departments with information for their publications and began
providing up-to-date individual campus maps for use at the satellite
facilities.
September
1991
- Busiest day, 9/2/91 (first
day of semester) - 719 calls handled.
- Began satellite operations
at Busch
Campus Center.
- OCHS established a free
weekly legal clinic staffed by RU alumni lawyers and began holding
evening hours one night a week. First issue of The Cable published.
OCHS established the Faculty/Staff Housing Search Program.
- SIAC's computerized information
system was copyrighted and was shared with other universities
world-wide.
- Jan Stubbs promoted to
Unit Coordinator, a twelve-month position.
Spring
1992
- First Student Satellite
Facilities Coordinator hired.
- Rutgers Rolodex, Outside
Rolodex and Daily Calendar added to Rutgers'
new internet paged called INFO.
- OCHS resumed holding
"Apartment Hunting 101" seminars.
- OCHS listing fee structure
implemented and housing complaint process formalized.
- SIAC's first visitor parking
program was established at the information desk of Rutgers Student
Center.
- SIAC began archiving
informational materials for the University Archives.
- CARE (Campaign for an
Affordable Rutgers Education) held a sit-in at Bishop House which
closed SIAC for one day.
Fall
1992
- Satellite operations
expanded to Douglass College Center Information Desk.
Spring
1993
- "Ask Colonel
Henry" pilot went on line on INFO.
- Rutgers Neighborhood
Relations Program (RNRP) community service effort was established at
Off-Campus Housing Service. It was jointly sponsored by the
Provost's Office, Community Affairs and Public Safety, with support
from the City of New
Brunswick to give students the opportunity
to help senior citizens living in the Fifth and Sixth
wards of the city and, thus, help improve town/gown relations.
- With a grant from Diverse
Community Affairs, a TDD device for the deaf was purchased for the
SIAC.
- The OCHS computerized
housing listing service was revamped for easier use.
- The visitor parking
program was expanded to the Cook Campus
Center.
October
1993
- SIAC and OCHS moved from
under the supervision of the Provost's Office to the new Office of
the Vice President for Student Affairs.
November
1993
- SlAC assisted University
Communications and Rutgers University Computing Services (RUCS) in
the publication of the first student telephone directory released in
over five years.
Fall
1993
- SlAC was mentioned in the New
Brunswick Campus Middle States Self-Study as a "low cost
program that has high impact on students and that has become a
national model for student services."
February
8-9, 1994
- These were the two busiest
days for SlAC because of snow storms; 1828
and 1854 calls were received respectively.
Spring
1994
- The Rutgers Neighborhood
Relations Program established the "Adopt-a-Neighbor"
program for senior citizens who need long-term assistance with small
chores. RNRP co-sponsored, with the Second Reformed Church on College Avenue,
the Second Study Hall, which was open nights
during final exam period. This program grew out of efforts NRP made
to repair a Christmas manger scene vandalized outside the church in
December 1993.
May
1994
- Campus Information
Services established to include SlAC and
OCHS and expanded to also include responsibility for the University
Directory Assistance program, responsibility for content on lNFO, development of a University informational
Kiosk program, editing and updating campus informational
publications (maps, directories, guides), development and
implementation of a campus visitor center and coordination of
general campus tour programs.
June
1994
- Matt Weismantel
participated in the first conference of the National Collegiate
Visitor Services Association (NCVSA) in Birmingham, Alabama,
and was asked to chair the program committee for the 1995 conference
and serve as a member of the constitution committee.
August
1994
- The first full-color New Brunswick
campus maps were produced and distributed (60,000 copies). This was
a joint project with University Publications.
November
1994
- CIS is designated as the
information point for measles immunization questions, prompted by a
measles outbreak at RU the previous spring.
February
1995
- New CIS computerized
calendar designed for use on the Kiosk project.
April
1995
- Pilot Rutgers U-Touch
Kiosk began operations at Cook
Campus Center.
May
1995
- The first time information
center is open past Commencement Day.
- Edward Kozack,
Assistant Vice President for Auxiliary Services, hosts a dinner for
CIS staff at the Rutgers Club to facilitate receiving input from
knowledgeable CIS staff on areas under his supervision.
- Matt Weismantel
promoted to University Director for Campus Information Services.
- Jan Stubbs promoted to
Administrative Assistant.
June
1995
- Matt Weismantel
elected President of the former NCVSA, now named the Collegiate
Information and Visitor Services Association (CiVSA),
at its annual conference in Waco,
Texas. Steve Garwood,
student Information Supervisor, was elected as the Eastern Regional
Director of the Association.
- Matt Weismantel
began working on a committee to develop a University Home Page.
- On June 9 CIS absorbed the
operations of Rutgers Telephone Directory Assistance. Information
Assistants can now be reached by dialing either 2-1766 or 2-9090.
July
24, 1995
- CIS (including OCHS) moved
into its new location at Riverstede, 542 George Street.
There were 7 IA stations available to answer calls.
Riverstede, built in 1868 by Professor
George Cook, was made
the second home of RU-info and Off-Campus Housing Services.
August
1995
- Ford Farewell Architects
surveyed Riverstede in preparation for
presenting their plans for its historic renovation.
- Steve Garwood hired as the
first Assistant Director for Information Development.
September
1995
- CIS added head sets for
its IA's to free up their hands in using the computers.
- Rebecca Killeen, formerly
Assistant Director at the Visitor
Information Center at Cornell University,
was hired as the first Assistant Director for Staff Development. She
also served as Chair of the Membership/Recruitment Committee of CiVSA.
October
1995
- CIS proposed a low-power
radio station for the university for
broadcasting emergency, directional and calendar information to
visitors.
December
1995
- CIS open for the first
time during winter break.
February
1996
- Site approval for the
location of the broadcast equipment for the low-power radio station
was granted and application for a FCC license was made.
March
1996
- CIS open for the first
time during spring break.
- On March 23rd, CIS staff
took a field trip to NYU's Visitor/Information Center and
participated in a customer service workshop.
April
1996
- Rutgers U-Touch Kiosk
prototype set up in the lobby of Rutgers Student
Center.
May
1996
- CIS began its first full
summer of operations at Riverstede.
June
1996
- Riverstede hardwired to the Rutgers internet backbone.
- RU Welcome Page, a joint
project of CIS, RUCS and University Communications, went on-line.
- Matt Weismantel,
Steve Garwood and Rebecca Killeen attended the third annual CiVSA conference in Fort Collins, Colorado,
where Matt Weismantel was elected to a
second term as president of the group and Rebecca Killeen was
elected to a two-year term as Northeast Regional Director.
August
1996
- Leny Struminger,
former Systems Programmer, Lab for Computer Science Research, joins
CIS as Assistant Director for Advanced Technology.
September
1996
- Rutgers U-Touch Kiosk
installed on the Camden Campus.
October
1996
- Campus Information
Services entered into an agreement with University Admissions to
provide first-contact informational support for anyone contacting Rutgers University for Admissions
information or materials. This initiative is called the Admissions /
Campus Information Services Partnership.
- A staff of
Information/Technology Assistants (I/TA's) was formed to work with
several of the database administration tasks and to assist in design
of websites.
- Rutgers U-Touch Kiosks are
installed at SCILS and the Alexander Library.
November
1996
- Training for the
Admissions / Campus Information Services Partnership began, and a small group of veteran Information Assistants were
promoted to trainer positions. The I/TA
staff designed a number of websites to support this effort.
- Off-Campus Housing Service
Homepage established for access away from Riverstede.
- The Neighborhood Relations
Program began an expanded program of events for those attending the
New Brunswick Senior Citizens' Center, including hosting a series of
film showings and a program to partner senior citizens with students
for better understanding.
December
1996
- Rutgers INFO Radio began
operations on December 16, with a signal that reaches seven to eight
miles from its broadcast site on the Livingston Campus.
- All preparations for
implementation of Admissions / Campus Information Services
Partnership completed (i.e., hiring and training of staff; purchase
and installation of furniture, telephones, computers, and other equipment;
and design and posting of on-line databases for internal CIS use).
This expands our IA facilities to include 12 IA stations along with
two supervisor desks.
- CIS installed its first
network server.
January
1997
- The Admissions / Campus
Information Services Partnership began full operations on January 2,
and an on-line status search designed by CIS staff was posted for
use by the general public.
- A Rutgers U-Touch Kiosk
was installed in Hill
Center on the
Busch Campus as a donation to the University by Dr. Leny Struminger on her
retirement.
February
1997
- A presentation on the
services of CIS was made to and a tour of our facility was conducted
for the members of the Board of Governors Student Affairs
Sub-Committee.
April
1997
- CIS began work on designing
a Continuous Education database website.
May
1997
- Nicolae Stanescu
joined the CIS staff as Assistant Director for Advanced Technology.
- The Council for
Advancement and Support of Education awarded Rutgers University
with a Silver Medal for the Rutgers Welcome Website, one of six
medals awarded out of more than 170 entries.
- Approval received to
expand operation hours for the Fall 1997
Semester.
Summer
1997
- To better market and
explain its services, the main telephone contact service numbers
(932-1766, 9090, INFO) were renamed RU-info. New logos were designed
for Campus Information Services and the Off-Campus Housing Service.
- The Rutgers Neighborhood
Relations Program was transferred to the Citizenship and Service
Education (CASE) program, which hoped to expand this community
outreach effort.
July
1997
- The Rutgers Historical
Tour program began regular operations with weekly tours of the
Voorhees Mall/Old Queens section of campus. Tours were also written
for each of the New
Brunswick campuses, along with a
University-wide driving tour.
- The first CIS planning
retreat was held in Vernon,
NJ. This retreat
produced a Strategic Plan for 1997-98, along with statements of Mission and
Beliefs, a Staff Philosophy, Goals, Strategies and Action Plans, and
an Annual Planning Cycle.
August
1997
- A pilot program of
extended hours for RU-info was begun. Hours of operation during the
semester were increased to 8:30 a.m.-8:30 p.m. M-F and 10:00
a.m.-4:00 p.m. S-S.
- The former Rutgers Welcome
Page and Rutgers INFO system were combined into one principal Rutgers University website
, providing a more consistent look and feel and a much more
intuitive information menu structure - the culmination of a year's
work and planning for CIS and University Relations.
- CIS oversaw the
installation of a University interactive on-line calendar system to
allow any member of the University community to directly input
calendar information after applying for and obtaining a password.
- Internships in several
areas of CIS were offered.
- Kiosk installed in Douglass College
Center and new Kiosk
installed in Rutgers
College Student Center.
September
1997
- As part of the Admissions
/ Campus Information Services Partnership, CIS assisted with the
development for an expanded and enhanced Electronic Undergraduate
Admission application which went on line during the month.
- The student colleague
recognition program was begun. This program included "Moment of
Truth" cards to acknowledge exceptional quality efforts as they
occur, the monthly Stellar Service Award and the Star of the
Semester Outstanding Student Employee Award.
October
1997
- Kathy Licinski,
Off-Campus Housing Secretary, had her duties reassigned, and she
became the Departmental Secretary. This staff reallocation
accompanied an emphasis on student service providers in the
Off-Campus Housing Service area and allows for more clerical
assistance to all of the department
Assistant Directors.
- Blue and white Rutgers
INFO Radio road signs were posted throughout the area roadways.
November
1997
- Matt Weismantel
chaired an effort with other administrators in the areas of student
life and student services to plan and conduct the first Student
Life/Student Services intra-university conference at Rutgers University.
- CIS installed its second
and third internet servers.
December
1997
- Rebecca Killeen worked
with the Office of Quality and Communication Improvement (QCI) to
set up a cross-functional University team to develop training
programs and materials for other University departments and offices
that employ or plan to employ students as service providers.
- CIS began hosting the CiVSA website.
- Several areas of Riverstede were repainted and had new carpeting
and window treatments installed.
January
1998
- Matt Weismantel
was honored with the presentation of the President's Award for
Excellence in Administration.
- The job of reviewing
student colleague applications and conducting interviews for CIS was
delegated to a selection committee consisting of current IA's and a
supervisor.
- CIS began handling the job
of maintaining membership records for the Collegiate Information and
Visitor Services Association (CiVSA) and
assumed responsibilities as the National Headquarters for CiVSA.
February
1998
- A Supervisor Summit was
held at the University Inn and Conference Center,
with focus on situational leadership development and strategic
planning.
- Off-Campus Housing
Service's Cable publication went online.
- The Rutgers Historical
Walking Tour program was expanded to include tours on Saturday
mornings in addition to the Friday morning tours.
March
1998
- Steve Garwood resigned as
Assistant Director for Information Development and Nicolae Stanescu
resigned as Assistant Director for Advanced Technology. Guy Colvin
moved into the position of Assistant Director for Advanced
Technology. Student supervisors were hired to temporarily fill the
vacated position until new staff were hired and on board. The job
description for the position vacated by Guy Colvin was changed to
Assistant Director for Off-Campus Housing and Visitor Services.
- The original Rutgers
Rolodex which had been developed in the HyperCard® format was
replaced with the web-capable FileMaker Pro® format, and placed online
for Internet access for the first time. Previously, this database
was only available to CIS and the information satellites at the
student centers.
April
1998
- The recruitment phase of
the CIS Mentor Program, which would be fully operational in the fall,
was begun. Mentors will work with new student staff in the fall.
May
1998
- Dr. William H. (Will) Clifton joined
the CIS staff as Assistant Director for Information Development.
Will came to us from the Campus Assistance Office at the University of Wisconsin
- Madison,
on which the information center at CIS was originally based.
- Rutgers main website received a
Bronze Medal from the Council for Advancement and Support of
Education (CASE) as one of the top eleven sites out of the 150
nominees considered.
- Matt Weismantel
made a presentation with members of the Undergraduate Admissions
staff on the Partnership at the American Association of Collegiate
Registrars and Admissions Officers (AACRAO) national conference.
This presentation was awarded third place for quality out of the
hundreds presented. Matt was also presented with a Lifetime
Achievement Award for Student Organization Advising by Rutgers College Student
Centers and
Student Activities Office for his work with the Rutgers Glee Club.
- The Council for Advancement
of Standards in Higher Education accepted CiVSA
as a new Association member; Matt Weismantel
was appointed as CiVSA Director to the CAS
Board.
- The Kiosk which had been
located in the Alexander Library was moved to the Administrative
Services Building (ASB) on the Busch Campus.
June
1998
- Staff from CIS and
Undergraduate Admissions met for an in-house retreat to develop a
strategic plan for the future of the partnership.
Summer
1998
- An eight passenger golf
cart was ordered to enhance the VIP and Historical Tour Program.
Nicknamed "The Flying Dutchman," the cart went into
service for the start of the Fall 1998
Semester.
- CIS designed and posted
the website for Parking and Transportation Services.
August
1998
- La Dawn DuVall, who had nine years experience at the University of California
- Berkeley,
joined the staff of CIS in the restructured position of Assistant
Director for Off-Campus Housing and Visitor Services.
September
1998
- The name Rutgers
Rolodex used by CIS was changed to the Rutgers INFOdex
due to possible copyright issues.
- Matt Weismantel
began chairing the Video Content Subcommittee of the RUNet 2000 Project, the University plan to
hard-wire all University buildings for high-speed voice, data, and
video connections.
October
1998
- Issues arose with usage of
the Dutchman on public grounds. A solution was not found until 2
years later.
November
1998
- CIS operated "INFO to
Go" at the Rutgers University Clothing and Gift Shop throughout
the holiday season at the Menlo Park Mall.
December
1998
- Rebecca Killeen resigned
from her post as Assistant Director of Staff Development to pursue a
graduate degree full-time. CIS welcomed Michael Shapiro, Rutgers
College Class of 1998, and former IA, as the Acting Assistant
Director for Staff Development.
- Kathleen Licinski moved into a position at Alumni
Relations. The search for a new Departmental Secretary began.
January
1999
- Matt traveled to Michigan with
the RUNet 2000 Video Content Subcommittee
to research campus cable systems. CIS plans on having an
informational channel on the new Rutgers
television network.
- Money was allocated for
planning of the Rutgers
Visitor Center and Visitor
Information Places (VIPs).
February
1999
- Matt and Will met with
University Relations to establish guidelines for distributing
official University notices via email.
- Michael Shapiro was
appointed the Assistant Director for Staff Development, which he had
been acting as for several months.
- CIS joined the Alliance of
Information and Referral Systems (AIRS). None of their current
members handle more calls than the RIRC, except the information
center for the State of Texas.
- A new CIS listserv,
weather@cis.rutgers.edu, became operational, allowing members of the
Cook College Meteorology Club to give forecasts for use on Rutgers
INFO Radio.
March
1999
- The New Brunswick
Theological Seminary granted final approval for the Dutchman to
traverse their property. This is a major stepping stone in getting
final approval for usage of the Dutchman for tours.
April
1999
- CIS proposes providing
support for RU INFO TV, as part of the RUNet
2000 project.
May
1999
- Matt was awarded the Nick Kovalakides Award for Oustanding
Contribution to CiVSA.
- Coleen Meyer joined the
CIS team as the new Departmental Secretary.
June
1999
- The New Brunswick Official
Student Listserv (NBOSL), a New Brunswick Campus-Wide listserv for
official notices, was approved for further development.
Summer
1999
- Due to a variety of
coincidences of opportunity, CIS lost three of four Assistant
Directors: La Dawn Duvall, Assistant Director for Off-Campus Housing
and Visitor Relations; Will Clifton, Assistant Director for
Information Development; and Guy Colvin, Assistant Director for
Advanced Technology. Recruitment for replacements began.
- CIS designed their own
scheduling database in FileMaker Pro®, making it far easier to
manage the scheduling of the 90+ student staff.
- Thanks to the Office of
the Vice President for Academic Affairs, CIS replaced the slow and
deteriorating PowerPC computers in the RIRC with new iMac computers.
A dramatic increase in speed and access was seen immediately.
- Matt began serving on the
Administrative Systems Committee, which began developing MYRutgers, a personalized web portal to the Rutgers website.
September
1999
- Tropical Storm Floyd
struck the state of New
Jersey on Thursday, September 16. Between
that Thursday and Friday, the RIRC answers a record 20,474
inquiries! Friday takes the record as the most inquiries on a single
day at 10,600. Despite the fact that the campuses were separated by
the overflowing of the Raritan
River, CIS
maintained full staffing throughout the entire crisis.
October
1999
- CIS welcomed Sariena Carmichael, Douglass College Class of
1998, and former Information Assistant, as the new Assistant
Director for Off-Campus Housing and Visitor Relations.
- Additionally, Jim
Stapleton, Cook College Class of 1998, joined the team as Assistant
Director for Information Development.
- Matt attended the Disney
Approach to Quality Service at the Disney Institute in Orlando, FL,
bringing back many new customer service theories and practices that
would prove useful here at CIS.
November
1999
- Eric Jacobson, Cook
College Class of 1993, was welcomed to the CIS team as Assistant
Director for Advanced Technology. This is the first time that the
entire professional staff is comprised of Rutgers
alumni.
- Lucent Technologies
installed a new, Y2K-compliant phone system at Riverstede.
This new system was greatly improved, providing the Department with
important caller statistics.
- An emergency generator was
purchased for Riverstede to allow our
systems to stay on-line in the event of a power failure.
December
1999
- Rutgers QCI lists CIS as a
Quality Initiative at the University.
- A new departmental
newsletter, "Moments of Truth," began publication.
- OCHS upgraded their
computers to iMacs similar to those used in the RIRC.
January
2000
- CIS celebrated its 10-year
anniversary on January 21. Dr. Emmett Dennis, Vice President for
Student Affairs, was the guest speaker at the celebration.
- The first day of the
Spring Semester, January 18, broke the record of most inquiries recieved during a non-emergency with 5,058.
Additionally, on January 20, the RIRC answered 7,272 inquiries due
to a snowstorm that did not close the University. Also, on January
25, the RIRC opened early at 7:15 AM and during the day answered
8,456 calls due to another snowstorm; this one closed the
University.
- Melani Lopez, LC '02, became the
first student colleague to win the Stellar Service Award while still
in-training.
February
2000
- Administrative Computing
Services (ACS) began revisions to the Calendar to make it more
suitable for web viewing.
- OCHS website had a
dramatic increase in web-based searches, leading to a modification
of the OCHS website to display a "static" screen of all
available rentals if there are too many searches happening at once.
April
2000
- The Dutchman received
final approval for usage in Historical Tours. This is thanks to the
tireless efforts of Sariena and Jan of
CIS, Chief Anthony Murphy and Officer Jeff Janerone
of the RUPD, and John Mackin of Risk
Management.
May
2000
- Jim Stapleton met with
Christopher Waters of the Office of Print and Electronic
Communications (OPEC) to coordinate the launch of the Rutgers INFO
Channel, a 24-hour, text-based electronic bulletin board to be part
of the new Rutgers television network.
- Matt, Mike, and Jim
presented "Quality Service and the I&R
Experience" at the National Conference of the Alliance of
Information and Referral Systems (AIRS) in Minneapolis, MN.
- CIS established a direct
800-number to be announced to the general public in the event of a
major Rutgers
University
crisis situation.
Summer
2000
- From June 11 through 13, Rutgers University hosted the 7th
Annual National Conference of the Collegiate Information and Visitor
Services Association (CiVSA). 70 conferees
from 50 institutions of higher learning were welcomed to the Rutgers campus for the event. A welcome was
given by Dr. Emmett Dennis, Vice President for Student Affairs, and
the keynote address was delivered by Dr. Brent Ruben, Executive
Director of Rutgers Quality and Communication Improvement (QCI).
Presentations given by CIS staff included "Effectively Managing
and Motivating Student Employees: Employee Reward and Leadership
Initiatives" by Mike Shapiro, Assistant Director for Staff
Development, and Nathan Smalley, RC '01, Student Supervisor; and
"Quality Services and the I&R Experience" by Mike
Shapiro and Jim Stapleton, Assistant Director for Information
Development. The conference was well-recieved
and confirmed Rutgers' prominence
in the field of campus information and visitor services and CIS's
leadership as CiVSA's national
headquarters.
- Mike Shapiro resigned from
his position as Assistant Director for Staff Development in June to
attend Stanford
Law School
full-time. CIS welcomed Greg Bedard,
Rutgers College Class of 1997, as his replacement.
- The new professional
position of Coordinator of Informational Services was created,
reporting to the Assistant Director for Information Development, to
assist in the administration of the Rutgers On-Line Calendar of
Events, and to manage the New Brunswick Official Student Listserv (NBOSL),
Rutgers INFO Radio, and the new Rutgers INFO Channel, part of the
RU-TV Network. Sara Maleski, Douglass
College Class of 1999, was hired as the first Coordinator.
- Installation of new
carpeting and repainting of rooms was completed at Riverstede.
- The new version of the
Rutgers On-Line Calendar of Events (using an Oracle Database) became
fully operational.
- A new printer was found to
publish the Campus Map. More parking information was contained than
within the previous edition, and 120,000 maps were delivered to Riverstede for distribution in late August.
September
2000
- The Rutgers INFO Channel
made its debut as Channel 3 on the RU-TV Network on September 1.
Sara Maleski began training several
student colleagues to assist her in making slides for the INFO
Channel.
- Eric installed a new, more
powerful UPS system as backup power for the computer servers in Riverstede.
October
2000
- CIS purchased a weather
station, and began awaiting installation by Facilities Maintenance.
Once operational, the weather station would allow live weather to be
broadcast on the Rutgers INFO Channel.
- OCHS began a listserv to
give landlords and other interested parties valuable information.
- CIS and Rutgers
Administrative Computing Services (ACS) outlined plans to convert
the INFOdex from the FileMaker Pro® format
into an Oracle database.
November
2000
- Matt attended a conference
for the Council for the Advancement of Standards in Higher Education
(CAS) as the CiVSA representative. CAS approved
a set of standards for campus information and visitor services due
to Matt's efforts.
- Eric set up a computer
with various programs to monitor call volume and usage statistics,
to better enable us to monitor incoming calls to the RIRC.
December
2000
- Matt was chosen by the
Executive Board of CAS to chair a committee to review the
Disabilities Support Services Program Standards and Guidelines.
- Sariena recieved
congratulations for her extraordinary efforts in assisting in
running the 4th Annual Student Life / Student Services Conference on
November 17th.
- The on-line, live
streaming version of the Rutgers INFO Radio became fully
operational.
January
2001
- Greg started "CIS
Info Express," an email newsletter for CIS staff.
- Eric Jacobson's title was
changed from Assistant Director for Advanced Technology to Unit
Computing Manager after a review of Information Technology positions
by the University.
- PCAnywhere was installed on
computers involved in the Rutgers INFO Channel. This enabled Sara to
manage the INFO Channel without having to physically go to the RU-TV
Video Headend on Livingston Campus.
February
2001
- Greg met with
representatives from James
Madison University to assist them in
setting up their own information center, based on the CIS model.
- Eric set up
"ghosting" for the iMacs used in the RIRC. This enabled a
crashed IA computer to be resetup quickly
and easily.
March
2001
- Sariena resigned from her
position as Assistant Director for Off-Campus Housing and Visitor
Relations to pursue a graduate degree, and run her online business.
Sara Maleski, Coordinator of Informational
Services, was asked to fill in as Acting Assistant Director for
Off-Campus Housing and Visitor Relations. A student colleague,
Debbie Herrmann, UC '02, agreed to be Acting Coordinator of
Informational Services until a permanent replacement could be found.
- Additionally, Coleen
Meyer, Departmental Secretary, left her position at CIS for another
post within the University. Another student colleague, Jennifer
Dougherty, CC '01, agreed to be the Acting Departmental Secretary
until a replacement could be found.
- Between March 4 and 6, the
RIRC answered 11,550 inquiries due to a snow storm which closed the
University on March 5.
- Matt and Jim participated
in a panel discussion entitled "Best Practices for the Use of
Technology in Student Affairs" at the National Conference of
the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators (NASPA)
in Seattle, WA.
- The CIS website was moved
to a new, faster web server. Also, all of the iMacs in the RIRC were
upgraded to include additional RAM.
April
2001
- Matt was featured in the Winter 2001 issue of "The Welcomer," the official newsletter of CiVSA.
- Sara and Matt attend a
meeting of the Joint Advisory Board, part of the Mayor's Office of
the City of New Brunswick,
in an effort to improve town/gown relations.
- The Rutgers
automated weather hotline was discontinued. Henceforth, people
calling 932-7799 reach the RIRC instead.
May
2001
- Matt and Jim presented "Forming
Partnerships to Maximize Outreach" at the National AIRS
conference in Orlando,
FL. This presentation
covered the benefits of the Admissions / Campus Information Services
Partnership.
- Matt was elected to the
Trustee Board of the Rutgers Club.
- The Office of the
University Secretary asked CIS to assist in the University-Wide
Commencement Exercises as Commencement Ambassadors. Sara and Jim
attended, along with four IAs, and
provided informational assistance at the event.
- Due to the loss of
"Oscar," our old-fashioned time clock, Jan and Eric sought
out a computer-based replacement and ordered Virtual Time Clock. The
new system cut the time spent on payroll each pay period by
two-thirds! In memoriam, the new system is known affectionately as
"Super-Computer Oscar."
- The Rutgers INFO Channel
was made available in a live-streaming format online.
- Parking and Transportation
Services asked CIS to assist in providing an elderly and disabled
shuttle service at the Rutgers College Convocation using our Dutchman.
A route was devised, and our Dutchman, along with two "Knightingales" of Rutgers EMS, provided
this service between the College Avenue Parking Deck and Voorhees
Mall.
- The NJ Turnpike Authority
Highway Advisory Radio advised all motorists travelling to Rutgers for graduation to tune in to Rutgers
INFO Radio for detailed area traffic and other campus information.
June
2001
- Sara Maleski
was officially promoted to Assistant Director for Off-Campus Housing
and Visitor Relations. Jennifer Dougherty, CC '01, was asked to fill
in as Acting Coordinator of Informational Services while interviews
were done for a permanent replacement.
- Danélle Miley
was welcomed to the CIS staff as the new Departmental Secretary.
- Jim and Sara were asked to
judge the Electronic Bulletin Board segment of the Annual Student
Production Competition for the Association of Higher Education Cable
Television Administrators (AHECTA).
Summer
2001
- Mildred Schildkamp, University Secretary, and several
staffers from her office and the Office of the President, took the
"Flying Dutchman" Historical Tour on July 3. They enjoyed
it very much, and agreed to promote it to VIPs visiting the
University.
- A new version of the
On-Line Calendar of Events debuted in July. It had improved graphics
and more efficient search capabilities.
- After working as a student
colleague since 1998, and as Acting Coordinator of Informational
Services for several months, Jennifer Dougherty, Cook College Class
of 2001, was hired as the Coordinator of Informational Services in
August.
- The RIRC remained open to
normal time as the emergency contact when the University closed at
2:30 PM on August 9 due to excessive heat.
- The liaison responsibility
of the Admissions / Campus Information Services Partnership changed
from being the Assistant Director for Staff Development to the
Assistant Director for Information Development. Also, responsibility
of the Colonel Henry program changed from the Assistant Director for
Information Development to the Assistant Director for Staff
Development. This was done in an effort to maximize efficiency of
office operations.
- A new online tally program
began being used on the IA computers to monitor the types of
questions asked by callers. Previously, tallying was done on paper
and did not categorize the types of questions asked.
- Matt, Greg, and Jim
presented at the National Conference of the National Consortium for
Continuous Improvement in Higher Education (NCCI) held in New York, NY.
The session was entitled "First Impressions: Quality Service at
the Campus 'Front Door.'"
September
2001
- The RIRC remained open
until 11:15 PM on September 6 as the contact number for information
on a campus bus accident that injured 19 people when an articulated
bus crashed into McCormick Hall on the Busch Campus.
- CIS acted in its emergency
role during the September 11 tragedy, helping to disseminate
accurate information and provide rumor control as the University
closed at 11AM on the 11th until it re-opened on the 13th. The RIRC
was open for 36 continuous hours (8:30 AM on September 11 through
8:30 PM on September 12), and answered 19,600 inquiries during this
period.
- The Colonel Henry
computers were moved to the OCHS area, which is across the hall from
the offices of the RIRC. This was done to help integrate the IAs and the Colonel Henry Assistants.
- CIS installed a Linux
server.
October
2001
- In order to improve
emergency contact capabilities, the Assistant Director for
Information Development, the Unit Computing Manager, and the
Coordinator of Informational Services were assigned digital
alpha-numeric pagers, and the Assistant Director for Staff
Development was assigned a numeric pager.
- Using CIS as its model,
the Newark Campus Information and Conference Services operations
began on October 8. Matt, Jan, Jim, and Sara attended its opening.
- Once again, CIS fulfilled
its emergency role as the contact number for information on the
suspicious substance found in the Food Science building on October
15.
- The Information / Technology
Assistant title was changed to Information Technology Analyst, as it
more adequately describes their expanding job responsibilities.
- The new version of the
web-based Rutgers INFOdex using Oracle was
fully implemented into the RIRC. This greatly improves the accuracy
and speed of the database, as it is no longer necessary to download
a new FileMaker Pro database onto each IA computer every time the
database is updated.
November
2001
- As part of the departmental
reorganization, Jim Stapleton, the Assistant Director for
Information Development, was promoted to Associate Director. Now,
reporting to him, in addition to the Coordinator of Informational
Services, is the Assistant Director for Off-Campus Housing and
Visitor Relations. Additionally, the Assistant Director for Staff
Development position was renamed the Assistant Director for
Information and Referral Services, as it more accurately describes
the responsibilities of the position.
- Matt attended the Disney
Institute People Management Program. Many of the concepts learned
there are being incorporated at CIS. A special committee consisting
of Matt, Greg, and several student colleagues was formed to
implement this.
- Jennifer met with
personnel at the Office of Print and Electronic Communications
(OPEC) to coordinate the production of a promotional piece for the
Rutgers INFO Channel on the RU-TV Network.
December
2001
- Riverstede was wired for video
access as part of the RUNet 2000 project,
which gave CIS access to the RU-TV network.
- CIS and OPEC completed the
INFO Channel Promotional Piece, to be used on the Rutgers Channel.
It starred Jennifer Dougherty, in addition to several student
colleagues: Joe Brodie, CC '04; Anna Oleinik, DC '02; and Robin Bhattacharyya, RC
'02. It was produced by Marisa Pierson of OPEC.
January
2002
- CIS formed a marketing
committee to re-evaluate the ways the department's services are
marketed to the University community, and make changes as necessary.
The group included Sara, Greg, and Jennifer, along with a few
student colleagues.
- Gail Wittman,
Dean of Students at and an alumna of Douglass College, visited CIS to give a talk on "The Ghosts
in Douglass' Closet." It proved to be a fascinating talk, and
several CIS staff attended and learned a lot about the mysteries in
the history of Douglass
College.
Additionally, it was videotaped for future new tour guide training.
- CIS nominated Dennis
O'Brien, RC '02, a Student Supervisor at the RIRC, for the
University's Student Employee of the Year Award. Dennis had been an
incredibly dedicated and outstanding student leader at our office
for the past several years, always going the extra ten miles,
including working all night during the September 11 crisis. This was
the first time CIS nominated one of our student colleagues for the
award.
- Representatives from NYU, Princeton University,
and Rider
University
toured Riverstede as part of an all-day
conference on the RU-TV Network. CIS gave an overview of the Rutgers
INFO Channel, and also provided a special tour of the Old Queens
Campus.
February
2002
- Two televisions were
installed in the RIRC offices to allow the INFO Channel to be shown.
Additionally, it will enable us to monitor news and/or weather
information during emergencies and events on campus.
- Matt Weismantel
crafted a communications plan for the University regarding the
upcoming Route 18 Expansion Project, scheduled to begin in June 2002
and last for two years. CIS secured a dedicated website for the
project, and created several email lists to assist in communication
within the University, as this project will have major impact on the
Busch and Livingston Campuses.
- Construction began on
replacing the roof on Riverstede. The roof
was the original one installed by George Cook himself when he built
this house in 1868, and was well overdue for a replacement. The
replacement was historically correct, including slate that had to be
specially cut to match the original.
March
2002
- A monthly student-designed
and -produced newsletter, "The Riverstede,"
went into production. This is meant to supplement the emailed
"CIS Info Express" from the Assistant Director for
Information and Referral Services.
- Paul Franklin, a reporter
for the Home News Tribune, and a photographer took the Historical
Tour. The tour, led by student tour guide Debbie Kim, RC '03, was
featured in the March 10 issue of the Home News Tribune.
- CIS conducted a caller
survey during this month. Based upon our call volume and in order to
achieve a 95% confidence interval, 630 people who had used the RIRC
during the first part of March were called and asked several
questions regarding our service. In brief, an overwhelming 98% of
the respondents said that their expections
were met or exceeded by our staff!
April
2002
- The control computer for
the Rutgers INFO Channel was moved from the Video Headend on Livingston
to Riverstede. This means that the
Coordinator of Informational Services now has control over the INFO
Channel here in this office.
- Jennifer trained Jim Nichols,
CC '04, of RU-TV on using the DSI program, which will be used by the
Cook College Meteorology Club to help produce weather forecasts on a
daily basis, for broadcasting on the Rutgers Channel.
- The Harvard Crimson, the
student newspaper of Harvard
University,
identified OCHS's website as one of the
best in the nation in their feature article "Spring
2002 Housing Guide." Sara assisted them in editing the article
to remove New Jersey-specific information, and guided them to some
information specific for Massachusetts.
- The new roof on Riverstede was completed.
May
2002
- Greg Bedard,
Assistant Director for Information and Referral Services, resigned
from his post to pursue his MBA at the Rutgers
Business School in Newark. While a search for a
permanent replacement was competed, graduating senior and student
supervisor Dennis O'Brien, RC '02, agreed to take on the role of
Acting Assistant Director for Information and Referral Services.
June 2002
- Based on an article about
Emergency Operation INFO Line of Los Angeles, CIS has begun to
develop a Special Projects Team which will coordinate collection,
publishing and maintenance of critical information during any campus
emergency.
July 2002
- A new initial training
unit entitled the “Heritage Program,” based on concepts from the
Disney Institute, was completed by student colleague Joe Brodie in time for the start of the fall
semester and the influx of new hires. This unit coordinated many key
concepts, philosophies, history and operations of both University
and CIS into one, more effective and comprehensive package for new
staff.
September 2002
- CIS installed a plaque
recognizing the tireless efforts of 46 student colleagues who worked
through the crisis of September 11th, 2001, when Rutgers
Information and Referral
Center was
open for 36 straight hours and handled 19,589 calls.
October 2002
- Matt Weismantel
was appointed Chair of the Commuter Program Standards review
committee for the Council for the Advancement of Standards in Higher
Education (CAS).
December 2002
·
Matt Weismantel, Sara Maleski and Dennis O’Brien completed site visits to
several outstanding visitor centers, which are members of the Collegiate
Information and Visitor Services Association (CiVSA).
·
Arrangements were made by Jan Stubbs to add 445-INFO (4636) to the
Rutgers Information and Referral
Center hunt group
to make it easier for everyone at RU to reach us.
January 2003
- CIS did a one-week assessment
of the call volume vis-ŕ-vis Undergraduate Admissions inquiries. In
all, the Rutgers Information Referral Center (RIRC) received 6,371
Undergraduate Admissions inquiries and Information Assistants
handled all but 199 of these inquiries.
- CIS played a key role in
the implementation of the pilot myRutgers
portal and was asked to chair the committee for its further
expansion and development for the entire university community.
February 2003
- During the blizzard which
took place between February 16th and 17th, CIS
remained open extra hours and handled just over 12,000 inquiries
during a three-day period.
- Campus Information
Services was contacted by the director of the Project Phoenix
Helpline for assistance in assessing the efforts of this program set
up in response to the consorted efforts CIS made in the midst of the
tragic course of events on September 11th, 2001. CIS
supplied the Project Phoenix Helpline with a copy of questions used
in the Inquirer Quality Service Assessment, which could be modified
to fit their inquirer base.
March 2003
- In response to the
national alert upgrade to Level Orange, CIS was asked by Public
Safety to develop an emergency management website, now
emergency.rutgers.edu, which is linked off of the
Public Safety website.
April 2003
- The University of Toledo
requested information about Campus Information Services’ Historical
Tours program in preparation of creating such a tour for their
campus.
May 2003
- Director of Campus
Information Services, Matt Weismantel
attended the spring Council for the Advancement of Standards in
Higher Education (CAS) meeting.
As chairperson for the revision committee for the
Disabilities Standards and Guidelines, he oversaw the process
whereby the revision was approved.
He was named chair for the process of the rewrite of the
Commuter and Off-Campus Living Standards and Guidelines, which was
approved in 2004.
August 2003
- A representative of the
Disney Institute asked CIS to share some of its adaptations and best
practices to use as a tool to create their Disney Quality Service
and Human Resource Management Training.
September 2003
- The Operating Status Page
was posted during Hurricane Isabel. This emergency situation allowed
CIS to test the new automated tool to activate the Campus Status page
and to send out the associated mass e-mail messages to all students,
faculty and staff. The actual ‘hits’ on the Campus Status page
reached the 1.2 million range.
October 2003
- Christopher Waters was elected President of AHECTA (Association of
Higher Education Cable Television Administrators), whose membership
then consisted of 147 educational institutions and 69 corporate
members. The mission of AHECTA is to promote and develop the use of
cable television as an instructional, informational, and entertainment
tool in higher education.
- The Off-Campus Housing
Service was contacted by the Office of Non-Traditional &
Commuter Students at the University
of Arkansas
inquiring about the development process and setup costs for ruoffcampus.rutgers.edu,
as UA sought to develop a similar website.
February 2004
- RU-tv,
in agreement with Rutgers University Housing, created a special
interest living-learning community.
Located in Winkler Hall on Busch Campus, this special
interest floor now has production and editing facilities available
to students twenty-four hours a day.
March 2004
- RU-info creates Colonel
Henry E-mail Processing System (CHEPS). This system allows individuals to
e-mail RU-info with questions to be answered by Information
Assistants within 3-5 business days.
May 2004
- Campus Information
Services’ Information Technology Assistants participated in the
Rutgers Information Technology in Education Conference. They informed participants about
any questions pertaining to the field of Information Technology.
June 2004
- Assisted Florida Gulf
Coast University regarding visitor
relations by giving detailed information about Rutgers Campus
Information Services’ visitor processes and procedures in order to
help assist their visitor relation programs.
September 2004
- Off-Campus Housing
Services, in accordance with Rutgers University Police, gave a
series of safety seminars.
Emergency Services attended the seminars to give out
information on CPR, Defensive Driving, and fire safety.
October 2004
- The Safety Seminars
conducted in September of 2004 were featured on RU-tv and the web to further inform students on
safety precautions.
- Campus Information
Services’ first Ghost Tour was held for a group of 40 students from
Residence Life.
February 2005
- Paired with RU Police
Department to produce the RU
Safe? Seminar to help educate students on how to stay vigilant
on and off campus.
- The Campus Information
Services Campus Status page campusstatus.rutgers.edu had a total of
14,260,759 hits.
March 2005
- Construction picked up
again on the Route 18 Expansion Project and CIS played a significant
role in keeping the Rutgers
community updated on traffic concerns.
April 2005
- Campus Information
Services hosted a “Neighborhood
Blood Drive” with New Jersey Blood
Services.
- CIS assisted the Office of
Federal Relations by escorting Congressman Pallone around campus
during his visit and tour of College Avenue.
- Four RU-info Information
Assistants attended the Governor’s Conference on Safety to help with
registration for the event.
- A handful of student
colleagues served on the CIS committee on the Dali Lama’s visit to
help facilitate the spread of information and to help the event run
as efficiently as possible.
May 2005
- RU-tv
produced a cooking show called Cheap,
Fast and Easy with underwriting from Chamberlain Bros.
Publishing.
September 2005
- A mobile alert system was
developed as a communication strategy in the event of an
emergency. Students
interested in being notified of campus emergencies were able to
register for the service at ruinfo.rutgers.edu/mobilealert .
- The Dalai Lama speech was
recorded and broadcasted by RU-tv and
partially staffed by CIS employees.
November 2005
- Several student colleagues
worked with the League of Municipalities at a reception in Atlantic City.
- Ghost tours given by CIS
were covered in several news outlets, including Star Ledger, Home News Tribune, Bridgewater Courier-News, WMBC
and News 12.
April 2006
- Student colleagues of
Campus Information Services coordinated a blood drive by the theme,
“Be a Superhero!” With
roughly fifty donors, this was one of the most successful
concentrated blood drive efforts in the university community.
July 2006
- Campus Information
Services’ Off-Campus Housing Services, joined forces with
craigslist.org to make the process of finding off campus housing
more accessible to potential tenants and landlords.
November 2006
- RU-info held a
departmental toy drive, the proceeds of which will be donated
through Rutgers Recreation.
Over 55 toys were donated to this worthy cause.
January 2007
- The Historical Tour was
translated into Spanish to broaden the horizons for more people to
attend the tour.
- The Historical Tour was
also added to the official New Jersey Tourism Calendar.
April 2007
- RU-info student colleagues
appeared at the Rutgers
Student Legal Information
Center’s
annual Off-Campus Clinic, providing information to the off-campus
community.
June 2007
- RU-info provided
Information Assistants during the summer for the local county fairs
to help spread the word about the services and great things offered
by Rutgers
University.
July 2007
- Rutgers University was recognized as the
fourth-highest contributor for university blood drives in the
nation, and RU-info was recognized as a major contributor to the
blood drives.
August 2007
- Rachel Carnefix
delivered a speech on visitor opportunities at Rutgers
and the services offered through CIS to a meeting for hotel
representatives hosted by the Middlesex County Regional Chamber of
Commerce.
October 2007
- ESPN-U producer called to
arrange an interview with someone from RU-TV about the W. VA. Game for a feature called Campus Crawl. Sports manager Danny Dai was
interviewed and the interview was aired on Sportcenter-U.
January 2008
- New OCHS website launched
on January 10th.
February 2008
- Two websites, realsports.com and The Palestra.com contacted
RU-tv looking for online content and
student producers.
- The first episode of Student Voices, The Politics of Race was produced in
partnership with the Rutgers University Association of Black
Journalists.
April 2008
- Campus Information Services’ Off-Campus Housing
Services was featured in the Daily Targum
on March 24th and 28th regarding the spectrum
of services offered.
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