Provide NDSU Agriculture and University Extension faculty and staff with the hardware, software and training necessary to use IT effectively and efficiently

• Have all units budget for purchase of new equipment to meet rising IT demands

• Develop a plan for hardware and software replacement

• Encourage faculty and staff to conform to hardware and software baselines

• Have Ag Communication staff, NDSU Information Technology Services staff and others teach Ag faculty and staff on IT issues

• Facilitate faculty use of technology to complement and enhance established methods for disseminating information, such as CDs and DVDs

• Facilitate automatic or scheduled backup of servers

• Provide remote support of computers as possible

►Have faculty and staff utilize videoconferencing

• Use videoconferencing to increase contacts and interaction with clients

• Continue saving time and travel dollars by having some internal meetings and inservice trainings via videoconference

• Use videoconferencing for training on immediate issues for staff to share with clientele

• Use videoconferencing for interacting with small groups of clientele

• Document time and travel funds saved when videoconferencing can be used instead of a face-to-face meeting or program

• Collaborate with the N.D. Interactive Video Network on scheduling, programming, policies and other issues

• Streamline procedures for scheduling videoconferences, especially out-of-state connections

• Improve the Ag Consortium videoconferencing Web page

►Establish learning centers across the state

• Enhance learning centers at NDSU’s off-campus offices

• Secure dollars to fund administrative support at learning centers for assessing community needs, recruiting and enrolling students, and providing student support

• Collaborate with NDSU, NDUS and other organizations to bring educational programming to the learning centers

• Support online and videoconference learning opportunities

►Continue to take part in the national eXtension program

• Encourage NDSU faculty and staff to become active in Communities of Practice

• Market eXtension as an information resource

• Align revisions in NDSU Agriculture’s use of electronic dissemination with eXtension strategies

►Improve look, feel and searchability of NDSU Ag Web pages

• Develop a more consistent, graphically pleasing design for home pages

• Implement headers and footers on Ag pages that consistently identify NDSU Agriculture and provide navigation

• Increase Web hits by at least 10 percent in the biennium

• Utilize video and audio Web streaming when appropriate to reach a variety of learners

• Develop more online organizational reporting, such as the Quarterly Program Reports

• Explore utilizing a content management system for Web pages

• Check Web pages for accessibility

• Confirm searchability of departmental servers from home pages

• Market NDSU Ag Web pages

►Develop distance and continuing education non-credit classes

• Develop online and other distance-delivered classes to most effectively teach targeted informal educational topics, such as Master Gardener and pesticide training

• Gain access to an online learning system such as WebEx, Centra or Breeze with audio capability for training

►Develop e-commerce for NDSU Ag

• Develop the capability to securely accept credit card payments online

►Move all Ag faculty and staff to NDSU e-mail

• By the end of the biennium, do away with the @ndsuext.nodak.edu e-mail and have all Ag faculty and staff on firstname.lastname@ndsu.edu e-mail

►Explore telephone and phone replacement options

• Study voice over IP possibilities

• Study a 1-800 number that goes to a certain office based on what prefix the call is coming from

►Expand IT in general research

• Study and share digital image analysis and wireless monitoring