The goal of the Independent College Enterprise is to provide an effective means of collaboration in the area of administrative computing to the consortium's members. ICE is responsible for the majority of the administrative computing needs of each member institution. This includes ensuring the operation of the system hardware, operating system, and software. Database integrity, monitoring, and maintenance is also critical. System upgrades are coordinated by ICE personnel. ICE is comprised of a staff not only qualified to keep operations moving smoothly but which can also serve as "experts" in various arenas of the operations and modules pertaining to specific operations
All ICE data resides in a computer center on the campus of University of Charleston – a founding member of the consortium. ICE has four full-time staff members dedicated to maintaining the ICE system for all seven colleges – as well as staffing the help-desk to support all of the seven institutions’ users. While the colleges share servers, software licenses and technical personnel, each school has exclusive access to its own financial and academic data.
| Software Datatel's "Colleague" software is the foundation of the administrative computing system provided by ICE. This software system supports operations such as financial management, budgeting, accounts payable, payroll, student registration, financial aid, and myriad other functions for higher education institutions. ICE also uses Datatel's "WebAdvisor" system, as well as TimeCruiser's "CampusCruiser" web portal, to allow students, faculty, and staff to access data from any Internet connection. Blackbaud's "The Raiser's Edge" software package is used to support alumni and development office operations. |
Hardware ICE uses Hewlett Packard UNIX servers to support the Datatel environment. The Blackbaud environment is a Windows platform running Citrix. ICE is responsible for all aspects of hardware and operating system management, including monitoring, upgrades, and maintenance. |
| Connectivity The environment chosen by ICE allows its members to utilize centralized systems with a minimal requirement for infrastructure. The thin-client/server systems allow schools to utilize state-of-the-art systems without the financial and operational commitment of "going it alone." ICE institutions use their existing Internet connections to access ICE systems. |
Staffing ICE is staffed with 4 full time employees. These individuals are responsible for supporting the system and ensuring data integrity throughout the system. They also manage upgrades and help determine future modifications and enhancements. When problems or questions arise, each school have the ICE center personnel, Datatel support staff, as well as their counterparts at other institutions available as resources, increasing the knowledge base. |
