TCC report

The TCC discussed IT reorganization at its meeting on Sept. 4.

The members answered these questions, working in small groups:

1. What services and standards of service do we want to preserve?
2. What services do we need to improve? What are we not doing, or doing poorly?

I edited the responses to

• remove duplicates,
• group related answers,
• expand some shorthand to improve readability, and
• exclude elements that refer to providers rather than services and standards,

but not for content. The order of the responses is not meaningful; I just started transcribing cards, then grouped related responses. If you see something I goofed up, let me know.

I haven't fully digested the responses, so I'll reserve comment until my next post. You can start commenting now.

- Services and standards of service to preserve:

• Security, safety, and privacy.
• Physical security of servers and network devices.
• A security plan that is used, updated and maintained, and that is supported by the University administration.
  
• Short response time 24/7/365, especially for networking and services provided to Public Safety and students.
• Emergency services.
  
• Robust network infrastructure - routing, switches, wiring - to the data port on the wall.
• Networking management.
• 24/7 up time on the network.
• Response to access problems for any campus IT.
• Well-maintained network and phone services.
  
• Ability to provide software images to satisfy needs of specific units, labs, faculty, and staff.
• Hardware and software support to faculty and staff in the classroom and the office.
• Immediate support for faculty in classrooms.
• Quick response to faculty and staff offices.
• Install software and hardware at last minute to use in class.
• Provide just-in-time assistance with good response time.
• Customer service.
• Flexibility to meet faculty, staff, and student needs.
• Meet expectations for use of technology in teaching.
• Meet program needs.
• Familiarity with programs.
• Response to faculty needs at a level that enhances and never impedes teaching.
• Quick communications about needs of units.
• Facilities response time.
  
• Ability to provide technical training to faculty and staff.
  
• Software development.
• Report generation.
• Application troubleshooting.
  
• Qualifications for PC technicians.
• Technical expertise.
• Accuracy.
• Professionalism.
• Close relationships with stakeholders.
  
• Website integration.
• Integration of all software and hardware.
• Standardization of labs, network, software.
  
• Enterprise applications to support efficient and coordinated use of IT: email, SIS, HR, management, assessment, user access via web to resources like the library
• Development and production servers, e.g. web and MySQL, on which to mount applications.
• Backup and restore.
• Machine room specifications.
  
• Business office functionality provided by Pharos, PeopleSoft, Pamet, reporting, Lenel, etc.
  
• "Easy" access to my personnel records.
• Appropriate data access without restraint and with good turnaround time.
  
• Researching new technologies.
• Diversity in thinking, innovation.
  
• Money, resources, space.
  

- Services to improve, provide, or do better:

• Web support for main and UWG pages.
  
• Human resources role to help IT, not to dictate.
  
• Central software purchasing, deployment, support, and license management.
• Accurate, up-to-date records of equipment and software.
  
• Duplication of resources.
  
• Standardization, consistency.
• Standardization of labs.
• Consistent use of software across the University.
• Common communication tools: email, calendaring, scheduling.
• Ease of use for faculty, staff, and students (e.g., true single sign-on).
• Integration of hardware and software solutions.
  
• A/V support difficult because of heterogeneous systems.
• Confusion about who to contact, who supports what.
  
• Data collection and reporting.
  
• User training in some areas.
• IT staff training.
• User retention of training.
  
• Advertising and communicating about available services.
• Evening and weekend support.
• Student support before the start of the semester.
• In some cases, customer service has room to improve.
  
• Response time in some cases.
  
• First-time resolution.
• Single point of contact, with problem farmed out to appropriate problem solver.
• Solving a problem vs. closing a helpdesk ticket.
• Clarity of both provider and solution: communicate solutions so the provider isn't sent back and forth to solve the problem.
  
• Looking at current practices and determining how they can be improved (e.g., manual to automated).
  
• Project management.
  
• Secure access to data from off-campus.
  
• Communication among IT staff and between IT and the users.
• Trust among IT staff.
• Coordination.
• Cooperation.
• Sharing ideas, solutions, etc., among IT staff.
• Less duplication of efforts.
• Areas of responsibilities not well defined.
  
• Confusing IT problems and people problems.
  
• Lack of understanding of where we are going.
  
• Equitable distribution of workload, based on accurate data.
• Better workload data.
  
• Differentiating between IT support and those people who support IT.
  
• Need to satisfy requirements of the IT security plan.
  
• Staffing, resources, and time to test, assess, and report upon alternative solutions.
• Explore new technologies.
  
• Classroom and lab scheduling.
  
• Campus event coordination.