Strategies for 97-98
Strategies for meeting customer needs:
- Students
- Faculty
- Offices/Departments
- Key issues raised in '96 Dept.
Interviews
1. Students as the customer
a. Students needs/wants:
- write papers, do their instructional assignments and have access to
electronic academic resources [email, Internet resources]
- making their computer work (and their friend's computer)
- telephone services
- television services
- help when they are confused or don't have the skills to accomplish
what they want to accomplish
- when there is the greatest demand for assistance/service to
students, that is when there are few students to use for help.
b. How to meet these Student needs/wants:
- provide a central academic (student?) computing
center, we could use our design of technological facilities (e.g.,
smart classrooms; high-tech meeting room, etc.) to design such a
facility. This facility could provide:
* training sessions, etc.
* a place for students to go to get help/consult on problems
* place to exchange phones
* account information/corrections (phone, email, Web)
* get software
* warranty service drop-off/pick-up point
- when support can't be offered at the time it is needed, it gets
scheduled.
- hire temporary help during peak periods of need (finals week, etc.)
use Penski Services, or something like that to get the help we need
- we should try to arrange a shuttle service between buildings to
this facility for security and weather-related problems.
2. Faculty as the customer
a. Faculty needs/wants as an instructor/advisor is the highest
priority; needs/wants as an individual in their office is a lower
priority:
- quick resolution for technology-based problems, with follow-up on
problems that can't be resolved quickly (every problem is resolved)
- demonstrations/presentations (brown-bags, conferences, etc.) and
how to get to what was demonstrated so they can evaluate its merit
- to be involved with how students use technology (mostly software)
- logistical support for instructional activities (installing software
where needed; A/V; special hardware)
- training for students on special curricular software so it doesn't
take up class time
- consistency between what faculty have and what students have access to
(software, services, set-ups)
- better control over voice-mail (want to see list of voice messages)
- development of instructional support services (FileMaker, Web)
- assistance in learning how to utilize technology that they are not familiar
with and a facility to learn about new technologies
- loaner eequipment
- more, better, easier-to-use smart classrooms
- support for research (e.g., acquiring hardware and specialized
software; assistance with learning how to use these resources)
- want all technology to be easy to use by them and their students
- want Potsdam to uphold its technology repuation
- software to be updated on their computers to be the latest version supported
on campus
- group-discussion support (groupware like newsgroups) for their
classes
b. How to meet these Faculty needs/wants:
- perform upgrades/installations on a department-wide basis, based upon
the priorities (which department is done before others) set by the
dean/school.
- be thorough in our approach/strategy (no revisits)
- HELPDESK training should be done as a discrete event, not just OJT
we should take time to plan/devleop a training program (separate
training into that which can be OJT and that which should not be)
Faculty as Individuals (Customers) Model:
- Assign all individual faculty to an specific support staff, based
upon platform, skill levels, etc., to get to know our customers better
- combine 1/4-time release faculty with our own staff to provide
individual customer attention
- what will compete for our time to do this will be:
* institutional purchases
* department-oriented activities (review, editing, planning)
* cycles of activity
* network services
- do customize communication (direct messages to specific individiuals
via email lists and keep ourselves informed of their on-going needs
- keep faculty from calling anyone and get them to use the HELPDESK
for tier 1 problems/support.
- individual needs evolve and may create additional work for the staff
member assigned to them
Departmental/School strategy:
- have department and school prioritize what they want done and that
will be our priority, but nothing else (for that area). This would
follow the strategy we are adopting for Web support for faculty
professional organizations.
"Cycles" strategy:
- do Web training during specific periods of the year
- do purchasing during specifice periods of the year
- plan activities annually with knowledge of the cyles of activities
that occur during the year.
3. All Offices/Departments as
the customer
Academic departmental clerical staff
All administrative offices
Student organiations (Racquette, SGA, etc.)
Non-state campus-based agencies (PACES, NCTOP and other granted agencies)
a. Office/Department needs/wants:
- stability, reliability, consistency (low-risk)
- systems-analysis consultation that encompasses office operations,
constraints, outside factors (other campus operations and systems)
- needs tend to be urgent
- their services affect multiple people (upgrades have to be made to
the entire office; systems-level support needed)
- automation consultation for processes and operations
- training is office-oriented
- specialized training for specialized office-workers (but might be
needed by other specialists in other offices)
- need just-in-time training/support (urgency is the key)
- changes (upgrades, installs) should be planned, coordinated and
carefully/thoroughly implemented to minimize disruption to the
office's operation
- backup services
- security for information and from unauthorized access to it
- confidentiality maintained by our staff when working with their
information
- compatible with systems (local, off-campus) they must use and
interact with
- voice-mail management/services
- databases are integral to their operations
- purchase consultation
- special network connection needs; they require alternatives to make
connections to their sources if our campus net goes down (HRD,
Purchasing Office, Payroll, etc.)
- email list-management (for broadcast announcments, groups they work
with)
- newsgroups (or group-oriented communications) needed as a forum
for on-going committee discussions (as part of automation and
efficiency)
- shared applications via campus servers (PATHWorks, "Public Server")
b. How to meet theseOffice/Department needs/wants:
- May need to plan and build strategies at the divisional level
(VP level) and at the office level. Our strategies should reflect
an intention to meet the needs/priorities of the division, but they
will need to be implemented at the office level
- May need to plan and build strategies that focus on planning
and day-to-day activities (e.g., reporting problems).
- Divisional planning/priorities should be done as Information
Services Division (perhaps an ad hoc strategic planning team) in
order to create a Division Information Technology Plan
that addressese the division's goals and priorities.
4. Key issues raised in '97 Dept.
Interviews
The following issues were raised by a number of departments and should be
taken into account in our departmental planning:
a. Smart classrooms - the need for more (see "Faculty needs" above)
b. Software - renewing, updating (e.g., SPSS-PC, Mathematica, Crane,
Education)
c. Distance Learning - opportunities and challenges
d. Departmental Labs - growing numbers of them; upgrading/managing them
e. Faculty Work Area - (see "Faculty needs" above); there was talk
about using our Carson office space for this.
References:
* Information Services Division's plan for 1996 - 2000
* 1997 Departmental Interviews
* Our 97-98 Department Plan
* Our Department mission
* Departmental priorities
Last modified: 6/16/97
Contact: R. Jewett (Email:
jewettrj@potsdam.edu)