Glendale Community College
Office of Information Technology
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Communications, Lead - Michelle Shivnani

Members: John K, KC, Jim D, Rich, Amber

May 25, 2006

Amber had a detailed handout for us to update on the Network Redesign project, thank you Amber.

External

  1. Newsletters (online, print, email) will be sent every 2 weeks, the first one is 6/1. Team members will report on below topics and send to Michelle for editing/compositing. We have 3.5 working days to get this together so we need to get articles ASAP

    1. What is upcoming that will impact our users (Michelle will find out at the Tuesday meeting)

    2. Intranet/Extranet (Rich)

    3. Accomplishments - Softricity training, others? (Amber)

    4. Microsoft aquisition of Softricity including link to press release (Jim)

    5. Where we are overall, are we on target? (KC)

    6. Photos where appropriate, team, etc. (everyone see if they can find any or take some)

  2. Amber will have a plan draft for the Fall rollout event - 20th anniversary

  3. Communication regarding the Network Redesign Project will come from the IT Communication Team so it is "official."

Internal

  1. Wiki
    1. There is a meeting next week with Karen Schwalm. Amber and Roger are putting together an information architecture for the Network Redesign pieces and documentation. Michelle and Crystie would like to be involved in overall Admin architecture. Karen Schwalm can do her Faculty area but we recommend having a heirarchy there as well.

    2. We need to do training if we are going to use this as our intranet. How we access, how the heirarchy works, how permissions work, how to get an account, etc. Crystie may be good to head this up as she doesn't have a big role in the Network Redesign so may have some time over the summer and she has been working on learning the ins and outs of the wiki on her own.

  2. Tools
    1. We will be promoting the use of the Rio Helpdesk System through project group "Champions" in a one on one casual atmosphere. Rich, Amber, Michelle and Roger B. will be helpful advocates for the software and offer to assist people one on one, get their password for them and any other way we see fit to try and promote the use in a friendly way.

    2. Amber will send out communication regarding the mandatory use of Jabber as an IM solution along with links to our recommended client - Exodus. She is combining this with Helpdesk communication channels information.

    3. Need to market the OIT Technology plan somehow.

    The next Com Team meeting is scheduled for June 1 @11am in the Small Conference Room.

    April 20, 2006

    One of the charges of the Communications group is to develop a system for harvesting, storing, editing and creating documentation. This includes information we write for our own use, internal use, and customer use.
    Here are a brief list of requirements for this system (please feel free to expand/edit):
    1. Must be searchable and sortable by: Topic, keyword, intended user group (internal/external)
    2. Must be easily accessible from anywhere (on and off campus)
    3. Must be easily editable by intended editors (permissions and ease of use)
    4. Must be easily expandible and become a "permanent" place for everything that exists and does not yet exist.
    Some suggestions for how this could be done include:
    1. Oracle Collaboration Suite
      • Advantages: Built in powerful search engine, change control/permissions can have web interface to include external users (students/public)
    2. Wiki (Confulence and MediaWiki)
      • Advantages: Easily modified, scalable, indexed
    3. Web interface
    4. Content Management system (Confluence may also fit into this category)

    March 23, 2006

    The four Directors have requested that all OIT/IC/IC/TED employees start using our current Helpdesk ticket system. Meaningful reports will be generated from the data collected.ÊThey hope this will improve some of the communication gaps thatÊexist between the departments.ÊSome first steps will be training all users on the system and setting up guidelines on how and when to create and accept tickets. Ê

    March 9, 2006

    We recommend that a documented process be created for communicating disruptions ofÊexpected service to users of all levels. There are many possibilities for this communication and we will pursue pinning down viable options to present. Ê
    1. Portal interface for all employees/students as their "start page" they can customize with campus news, access to email/calender systems, outages and planned maintenance could be displayed prominently.
    2. Email lists... we have a lot of these already. Some of them work and some are filtered so users are still unaware of the outage.
    3. Phone system/web page/email certain groups when necessary is the current method but sometimes we are not sure what should go on there, does it affect the majority of users? If not, should it not be included.

    February 17, 2006

    The Communication Team's goal is to improve communication:
    • Within the IT Departments
    • Between the 4 technology departments
    • With our users (Faculty, Staff and Students)

    February 2, 2006

    The group discussed particular types of communication that needed to be improved. It was agreed that each mode of communication is composed of a) sending a message and b) receiving a message; and that both components should be addressed from a quality assurance perspective within the current culture on campus. It was noted that some aspects of current culture might not be conducive to the current modes of communication employed, rendering some methods of sending and/or receiving a message ineffective.

    The group identified key areas of communication to be improved:

    sent FROM technology departments:

    • Internal communication from tech departments (between technology support professionals) to facilitate workflow
    • External communication from tech departments to the users about updates and changes (*issue identified with people disregarding and deleting emails and electronic notices)
    • External communication from tech departments to the campus at large for those who are generally interested in technology
    • sent TO and received by technology departments:
    • External communication from users to the tech departments about services received and performance satisfaction [feedback]
    • External communication from users to the tech departments about routine incidents and trouble reports [regular requests for service]
    • Internal communication to the tech departments (between technology professionals) to manage incident response

    sent TO and received by technology departments:

    • External communication from users to the tech departments about services received and performance satisfaction [feedback]
    • External communication from users to the tech departments about routine incidents and trouble reports [regular requests for service]
    • Internal communication to the tech departments (between technology professionals) to manage incident response
    It was noted that the Helpdesk software is the main tool to be used for consolidating communication efforts between technology departments and from the users. Even though the current system is not sufficiently customized (and is being reviewed for replacement by a District RFP process), it is necessary to utilize the current system to standardize problem/resolution management and statistical data gathering/reporting.

    The group agreed that assigning a status/alert level to the condition of the network and other services would be a beneficial and effective mode of communication to the campus.

    The group agreed that communication also includes the assurance that people receive messages clearly and are receptive enough to the information to be interested in the follow through (what happens next). It was noted that the group should brainstorm methods of communication follow through to ensure that messages are received by the intended audiences (i.e. email shouldnÕt be the only medium).

    The group agreed to inventory current mediums and channels of communication being used. A short-term solution for communication would be needed for the Network Redesign project too - possibly web page updates and weekly reports from team leaders. From here, long-term methods would need to be developed based on what works.

    ACTION: Amber to develop weekly report template for team leaders.

    ACTION: Team leaders to begin sending brief weekly updates to KC and Rich for posting to the OIT website.

    ACTION: Team leaders to begin using the dl-gc-isteams distribution list for matters related to this Network Refurbishment/Redesign project.

    ACTION: All technology departments/employees to funnel communication about requests and issues through workorders via the Helpdesk software.

    BRAINSTORMING on methods of communication:

    • All campus emails can be sent to the specialty network distribution lists (nsdb list; up/down list; ctc list; etc)
    • Users should be empowered to write up their own work order tickets
    • Need to communicate in multiple ways to let people get the information in their own preferred formats
    • Hybrid method - identify, publish, and endorse
    • Prepare information to distribute in the Admin Services newsletter; possibly a CTC newsletter
    • Internal communication needs would be satisfied by documenting "best practices" and the standard ops/SLA approach
    NOTE: OCS will be used for project planning ; all team leads will have OCS accounts and will submit reports through the system; need to utilize the system!! Connie has other pilot people besides the team leads; need rough how-to sheets on file sharing; need to develop a list of features for Oracle trainer to train us on... virtual meetings...

    NOTE: Need to build confidence in systems and people. This is key. Also an always active process with someone in constant communication with the customer... customers need to input tickets themselves; KC will take this to the directors meeting; need to get buy-in from both helpdesks; needs to be a one click step for users (ease of use, fast, friendly...)

    ACTION: Rich & Amber to work on testing OCS features, then get it out to the people who will do account creations; possibly give the Helpdesk admin rights for this; need to use shared space; user documentation to be written by Deborah Gilsdorf? Michelle will confirm this...

    Decisions for unified messaging will be made soon...

    Next meeting is Thursday 2/9 at 11:00am.

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