FACILITY FIRE BRI FIRE AND EMERGENCY SERVICES INS FIRE PROTECTION, DETECTION, AN
FIRE SERVICE HYDRAULICS AND WATER SUPPLY HAZARDOUS MATERIALS TECHNICIAN PRINCIPLES OF PASSENGER VEHICLE EXTRICATION GROUND COVER FIRE FIGHTING FOR STRUCTURAL FIREFIGHTERS
organization. This included order taking, billing, recordkeeping, and product inventory. One fulltime FPP staff member, Rita (Harrison) Gleason, managed the computer with the assistance of a graduate business student employee by the name of Steve Beck. It didn’t take very long for FPP to outgrow the capabilities of the IBM System/34 computer. The organizational growth and increasing sales, business, and warehousing/shipping functions required increased computer capabilities. In 1985, FPP upgraded to an IBM System/38 computer. This unit did well in supporting the growing business-related needs of the organization. When FPP built its new, modern two-story office building in 1989, it included computer networking capabilities to all offices. This was a first for FPP. The computer chosen to run the new system was an IBM Application System/400 (AS/400). This was part of a new family of easy-to-use computers that IBM designed for small and intermediate-sized companies that was first introduced in 1988. The AS/400 was capable of supporting all of the business and product development (editorial, curriculum, and graphics) functions of the organization. This was also a major step in modernizing the product development process. The new computer facilitated the sharing of files among all the people that were working on a particular project. This greatly streamlined the development process and reduced the time that it took to get manuals and other products to market. The files were stored on the system for future use. When it was time to develop a new edition of a manual, the files from the current edition could be used as the basis to start with, rather than having to re-key the existing information into new files. Again, this was another major step in the product development process. IT Operations Today FPP’s Information Technology department served as a model for other small campus departments, businesses, and organizations. In addition to supporting the FPP business and product development functions, it also supports the IFSTA ResourceOne learning management system that will be discussed in more detail later in this document. The efficiency and effectiveness of FPP IT operations was not a well-kept secret on campus. The leadership within the College of Architecture, Engineering, and Technology (CEAT) noticed it, as well. CEAT had struggled with their information technology system for many years. On November 15, 2015, CEAT leadership asked FPP Director Craig Hannan if some of FPP’s IT staff could assist with strengthening the IT infrastructure for the entire college. FPP IT Manager David Eller and several other FPP IT staff members took on the task. As project progressed, Eller realized that additional full-time staff were needed to strictly to work on the CEAT project and the necessary people were hired. The CEAT leadership was so pleased with the improvements that were made, that on March 31, 2016, Dean Paul Tikalsky requested that all IT functions within CEAT formally be the responsibility of the FPP IT department. All of the new staff members hired to manage the IT functions formally became FPP staff members. Some of them were housed in the FPP office and others in the CEAT facility. In 2022, the decision was made to once again make a standalone CEAT IT unit that was not tied to FPP. FPP staff who hired to work on the CEAT IT functions were transferred over to the new department. FPP IT Manager Mike Melancon left FPP to lead the new department. The Evolution of eProducts As time progressed, FPP leadership realized that the key to longevity was entering into the world of electronic learning products (eProducts). There was an increasing demand for these in all aspects of society, including the fire service. The two main questions for FPP at the time were what do we want to try first and how we were going to get these products developed? The current staff had no experience in developing these kinds of products.
IFSTA/FPP: THE FIRST 90 YEARS 27
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