amcmahon – Information Technology

Banner Fiscal Year End Processing

amcmahon — Wed, 19 Jun 2019 16:16:04 +0000

In order to complete critical year-end processing and reconciliation, Banner and associated systems and services (Self Service, BanWeb, PCC Pay) will be unavailable from 10pm on Sunday, June 30 until no later than 2am on Monday, July 1. Banner will available earlier if processing finishes ahead of schedule.

During this down time:

Students will not be able to make payments, register for classes, or set up payment plans
Banner reports and jobs may be delayed
No reports or jobs will be lost
Banner login will be disabled

Please contact IT Service Desk at 971.722.4400 or by email to servicedesk@pcc.edu if you have questions about this announcement or any other technology topic.

1300 systems upgraded as part of Windows 10 migration

amcmahon — Fri, 31 May 2019 17:55:31 +0000

The PCC IT team just wrapped up a major project to upgrade all employee Windows computers to version 10. Microsoft is moving away from supporting Windows 7 by January 2020, so this work has been a top priority. This initiative involved working with college departments across the district to coordinate upgrades after business hours to minimize disruption of classes and department operations. Over the course of four months, we upgraded more than 1300 computers.

A BIG CONGRATULATIONS for this accomplishment goes out to staff in the campus teams and Service Desk.

To faculty and staff: You have our gratitude for your patience and collaboration throughout this major project!

CIO brief: upgrades to Windows, ImageNow, and backup & recovery system

amcmahon — Thu, 14 Feb 2019 17:42:52 +0000

The Client Services team has begun upgrading all district-wide Windows computers to Windows 10 (Microsoft ends support of earlier versions in 2020). The Infrastructure Services team, in partnership with the Office of Planning and Construction, has selected the Dell EMC IDPA 5800 to replace our end-of-life data backup and recovery system. Last weekend, the Application Services team upgraded our imaged document management system, ImageNow, to the latest supported version. The Information Security team has completed the 2018 Information Security Report and the 2018 Penetration Test Report (all findings resolved).

CIO brief: strong encryption protects employees and students

amcmahon — Thu, 17 Jan 2019 23:26:24 +0000

We have identified and resolved a significant vulnerability relating to system credentials (login and password). This had particular impact on student credentials. Through strong collaboration between Student Services and IT’s enterprise applications and service desk teams, over the last few months we have implemented the latest strong encryption protocol on hundreds of thousands of records in our core identity management system. This involved complex technology changes as well as coordinated outreach to students. This is an important step forward in protecting PCC from cyber attacks and students from identity theft.

New Cyber Security Month videos now available

amcmahon — Tue, 11 Dec 2018 18:16:04 +0000

IT produced for 2018 Cyber Security Month. Learn how you can stay safe – online, offline, and on mobile devices – as well as what happens when you’re the victim of identity theft.

2018 Cyber Security Month Wrap Up

amcmahon — Wed, 21 Nov 2018 22:19:37 +0000

Our October 2018 Cyber Security Month has drawn to a close. Here’s a wrap up presentation about the planning, activities, and outcomes of this year’s events.

CIO brief: Cost savings, security gains, and productivity all get a helping hand

amcmahon — Thu, 01 Nov 2018 21:20:20 +0000

IT has implemented business automation for the Grants Office using AODocs. AODocs is a complimentary software to PCC’s Google environment that adds state-of the-art document management and business workflow capabilities. By developing this solution in-house we negated the need for the Grants Office to purchase a 3rd-party software solution. IT is currently working on several other similar requests across the district. We anticipate that AODocs will drive significant cost savings over the next couple of years, improve staff productivity, and advance our critical “data at rest” information security program.

New Portfolio Report released

amcmahon — Fri, 26 Oct 2018 22:41:48 +0000

Our Portfolio Management Office has published a new quarterly report. In collaboration with multiple district-wide departments IT completed 23 projects this quarter. Read details about completed projects and what’s coming up next in our

For any questions regarding the IT portfolio please contact itpmo@pcc.edu or visit the .

Author and educator Max Macias honored with creative teaching award

amcmahon — Wed, 17 Oct 2018 17:20:18 +0000

Would information written by a conqueror about a conquered people be biased? Does culture impact information, and the knowledge we create with this information? Educator, librarian, and social justice advocate Max Macias asks these compelling questions in his video on , part of a lesson selected for the 2018 Creative Teaching Award by PCC’s Cascade Campus Teaching Learning Center (TLC) Advisory. Macias wanted to reach a wide audience about a subject that impacts many groups of people when it comes to the validity of information and the production of knowledge.

Every year, the Cascade TLC Creative Teaching Award recognizes outstanding teaching activities by part-time faculty. “This year the TLC honored Max for his culturally responsive and inclusive activity called Culture and Information Literacy. Max’s approach to this lesson is so wonderful because it teaches information literacy while taking into account the potential for varying cultures present in the classroom,” said Lisa George, Cascade TLC coordinator. (For more on the award, and how to apply for recognition this year, contact Lisa at tlc.ca@pcc.edu.)

By day Macias serves as a training developer for the College’s Information Technology department. In his role as an instructional librarian he works to develop students’ capacity to view media through a critical lens, to understand the influence of bias, censorship, and power on information and knowledge, and ethnocentrism in library science. “My background is in philosophy and I always want my students to reflect and to think deeply (beyond the surface) about any information they encounter. Power, knowledge creation, truth, inclusion, the vitality of diversity and history are all themes in this lesson. Who is left out of the story and their possible contributions are some things I want my students to ponder. How do these absent voices impact information and knowledge creation? Do they leave gaps? Are we missing vital pieces of the story by their being absent? These are key questions I try to ask about everything.”

Inspiration to present his ideas in a video came from a colleague. “PCC Video Camp had a call and I applied. Michael Annus and his video production crew helped me shape my ideas and voice in to a coherent and visually stimulating piece of work.”

The Information Technology staff and leadership join in congratulating Max on this award!

October is Cyber Security Awareness Month

amcmahon — Mon, 08 Oct 2018 20:37:29 +0000

During October we are looking at ways that we can better understand cyber security and the simple steps we can take to protect ourselves, our families and PCC.

Are you secure? Find out at our Identity Wellness Check Road Tour – visiting CLIMB Center, Sylvania. Willow Creek, Southeast, Rock Creek and Newberg Center.

View the Road Tour schedule