News From the Help Desk: November 2023
Feedback from Our Last Newsletter
Thank you for your active engagement with our last newsletter. Your feedback is vital, and we're here to address some of the comments and suggestions.
Survey & Email Responses: We received 2 survey responses and 9 email responses. Your feedback offers valuable insights that drive our service improvements.
ithelp.hancockcollege.edu: We're thrilled to learn that respondents preferred the new layout to the previous version. The "something broke ticket" and the "podium/classroom technology walkthrough form" emerged as favorites.
Dynamic Responses: Both survey respondents found dynamic responses beneficial in locating the right resources, enabling faster issue resolutions.
Requests On Behalf of Others: There was an understandable request for an option that identifies who the ticket affects rather than assuming it is the requestor. We will implement a 'who does this affect' solution for a number of ticket types. However, intermediary reporting has its challenges:
- Lack of firsthand knowledge of the issue.
- Challenges in identifying the appropriate contact for resolution—often, the person experiencing the problem should be that contact.
Using ‘Other’ in Ticketing Forms: We strive to make ticketing comprehensive yet user-friendly. While the 'other' option provides flexibility, it can lead to vagueness, rendering our technicians unprepared for specific challenges. Our goal is a balance between specificity and simplicity, ensuring that users can quickly relay the who, what, when, where, and why of a ticket.
A Greener Footprint: Reducing Our Paper Consumption
Printing has a tangible cost, both financially and environmentally. Reflecting on a statement from frevvo.com:
In a single NYC school year, discarded paper amounted to 28 pounds per person (students, teachers, and staff). That’s 2,800 sheets each annually. For a district with 10,000 members, that's 28,000,000 sheets! This costs a staggering $200,000, excluding printers, toner, and other supplies. But what if we went digital? The entirety of this data would fit on a flash drive, with storage services like Google Drive offering unlimited free space for education. Besides the monetary savings, this shift would save 2,500 trees and 55,000 gallons of oil annually.
Embracing this reality, Allan Hancock College is pivoting towards reducing our paper footprint:
- Reduction in Personal Copiers/Printers: We aim to cut down the number of personal printing devices across the campus, reducing waste and energy consumption.
- Improved Departmental Shared Printing: Shared, efficient printing hubs will be more strategically placed, encouraging communal use and reducing individual print jobs.
- Promotion of Digital Data Management: Encouraging departments to adopt digital data management practices will reduce the need for paper storage. It ensures better security, accessibility, and ease of sharing.
- Blu-Ray Over Paper Storage: Long-term digital storage solutions, like blu ray, are efficient and space-saving. They offer better data retrieval and reduce the environmental impact compared to vast paper archives.
We remain committed to a sustainable, efficient, and user-centric future at Allan Hancock College. Let's evolve together, embracing the digital age responsibly.
Updates from Technology Council and Committees
Technology Council
- Town Hall Meeting 11/15/23: On behalf of the Technology Council, you are invited to a technology town hall on Wednesday, 11/15 from 2:30pm-4pm on Zoom. The purpose of this all-campus event is to discuss the current state of technology at AHC, brainstorm improvements, and make recommendations. We had similar events during the development of the 2022-26 technology master plan, and this event will guide the Technology Council in recommending activities as we implement the plan.
Please register at the following link: https://hancockcollege.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZcodeqoqT0tGtQlE8wDCdDSV4x9jDw-U88r. Why do you need to register? Much of the town hall will involve working in breakout groups with your peers. When you register you’ll be asked about your role at AHC, so we can place you in the appropriate breakout group. Students are encouraged to attend, so please spread the word to your students as well.
- Schedule: Meetings are held bi-monthly, usually on the 1st and 3rd Wednesday, from 2:30-4:00 p.m.
- Current Goals: The Technology Council is working to update, prioritize, and support activities in the Technology Master Plan. They are focused on supporting the technology-related activities and goals in the Technology Master Plan. Further, they seek to foster and maintain effective communication with stakeholders about significant technology changes (accreditation of plan).
Educational Technology Advisory Committee (EdTAC)
- Schedule: Meetings are held bi-monthly, usually on the 1st and 3rd Wednesday, from 2:30-4:00 p.m.
- Current Goals: EdTac has prioritized completing current Technology Master Plan activities and to propose new goals for the plan. To best meet the instructional needs of the college, the committee is working to assess the current status of classroom technology campus-wide in order to establish a modern classroom technology standard that can be implemented throughout the district. This will include prototyping new technology for use in classrooms and to establish a streamlined, cyclical process for technology upgrades. The committee is currently working to discern the ideal criteria and minimum needs for classroom technology to hopefully create an adaptable teaching environment
Banner Committee
- Schedule: Meetings are held monthly, usually on the 2nd Monday, from 9:00 - 10:30 a.m.
- Current Goals: The Banner Committee provides updates on Banner projects, upgrades, problems, etc.
Web Services Committee
- Schedule: Meetings are held bi-monthly, usually on the 1st Thursday, from 9:30-11:00 am.
- Current Goals: The Web Services Committee is focused on enhancing the user experience and ensuring up-to-date content on the public website and portal. The committee plans to integrate curriculum sequences into the guided pathways program pages for clearer educational navigation and will utilize web analytics to inform and drive improvements in web page effectiveness and user engagement.
Significant Technology Changes
New Teams
- Switch to the New Microsoft Teams: Check out Microsoft's article on how to switch to the New Teams.
- What's the difference? Microsoft explains, "The new Teams app was reimaged from the ground up to deliver improved performance and enhanced reliability, security, and IT management. The result is a faster, simpler, smarter, and more flexible app that is up to two times faster while using 50% less memory."
- Really, what's the difference? For many, there may not be a large difference aside from improved performance. Primarily, Channels are expected to change the most.
New Outlook for Windows
- Switch to the New Outlook for Windows: Check out Microsoft's article on how to switch to the New Outlook.
- What's the difference? Outlook has been redesigned to appear more uniformly against their web version of the software. Feature changes include: personalized options and settings, scheduled send for email, a new ribbon toolbar, and more. The full list of changes can be viewed here.
Please take our survey related to these topics:
https://forms.office.com/r/ugXienRTTR
For assistance with or questions about OneDrive, Storage, or Teams:
helpdesk@hancockcollege.edu