Trunk Support

Trunk Project History

In the spring of 2009, UIT, in collaboration with colleagues from across the University launched a broadly participatory process to develop a comprehensive strategy for implementing a next generation platform for teaching, learning and collaboration university-wide at Tufts. This process culminated in April 2010 with the release of Next-Generation Tufts LMS Strategy Recommendations. This document recommended implementing and leveraging a common learning management system (LMS) platform for Tufts University which is based on Sakai, an open source collaboration and learning environment (CLE) that has been developed by the academic community.

A cross-university team is now in the process of implementing a customized version of Sakai at Tufts. Tufts’ version of Sakai is called Trunk. Trunk was the winner of a university-wide naming competition that was held in December 2010. The competition received 284 entries from across the university.

Trunk Project Implementation Plan

Trunk is now being implemented at Tufts. The implementation of Trunk will occur university-wide in a 3-phased approach. Each phase of the implementation project is outlined below:

Phase 1

During the first phase of the project, Trunk will implemented on the Medford campus so that all faculty currently using Blackboard Basic can start teaching with Trunk in September 2011. The schools that will begin using Trunk in the fall are the School of Arts and Sciences, the School of Engineering, and the Fletcher School. Phase 1 is well underway. The Trunk support team is now working with faculty to move course content from Blackboard course sites to Trunk and Trunk training will begin on May 16. Trunk is scheduled to go live on August 1st.

Phase 2

The second phase of the Trunk project will begin in fall 2011. Phase 2 will focus on moving the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy and the Fletcher School’s GMAP Program over to Trunk. These programs are now using the Angel Learning System. Plans are already being put in place for this phase of the project.

Phase 3

The final phase of the project will focus on integrating important TUSK functionality with Trunk. TUSK is the platform used by the School of Dental Medicine, School of Medicine, and Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts. A TUSK-Trunk planning task force has been created that is now studying the two systems and determining options and effort required for integration. Strategic planning for phase 3 will take place in summer of 2011, and this phase of the implementation project will take place over a period of two to three years.

Project Updates

Throughout the implementation process, members of the Trunk support team will be keeping the community informed of the project through presentations and question and answer forums. If you would like to receive project updates, get information on the process of moving Blackboard and Angel courses over to trunk, and learn about Trunk training opportunities, you can subscribe to the project announcement list. Please also contact us with any thoughts, questions, or suggestions as we move forward with the implementation of trunk.