Hom Universityecom
Collegian T he Cameron
@KaleyKayPatt Everyday there are new technical issues emerging on campus. Whether it’s concerning faculty, staff or students, the CU Information Technology Services are the ones who try to meet the needs.
ncem ent i nside Volume 92 Issue 3
ITS a Cameron solution
Photo by Kaley Patterson
A&E Editor
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www.aggiecentral.com
Monday, February 16, 2015
Kaley Patterson
ing c ourt a
If the problem concerns Wi-Fi connection, password resets or Blackboard, all problems are directed to the ITS Help Desk. Student Help Desk Manager Margot Gregory deals with student-related issues. “At the very beginning of the semester the call volume is very, very high,” Gregory said, “but I speak to about 25 students a day once the
Critical Priority: Emergencies preventing people from using their computers; security issues to be addressed ASAP.
beginning of the semester slows down. Usually those type of calls pertain to password resets.” Since 2012, students are required to change their password to Aggie Access every 120 days, which then changes their password to get on campus computers and to access their Gmail accounts. This system is for privacy protection.
High Priority: Issues where people can use their PCs but may encounter errors with Banner, Aggie Access, etc.
“It’s not that they forget their password,” Gregory said. “It’s that they don’t keep track of their email, so they miss their password reset deadlines. Then their account gets locked.” During 2014 Gregory received 8,864 support inquires from the student help desk side of the ITS Support Desk. Gregory said students who have problems with passwords, Blackboard, Wi-Fi or anything regarding their account are supposed to get in touch with her directly. “If the student emails support@cameron.edu,” Gregory said, “it goes into [the faculty help desk] queue and gets routed to me. It can stay in the queue for a day or two before it actually gets to me.” Assistant Director of ITS Greg Duncan explained there are many systems a request has to go through before someone at the support desk can start working on the problem. Aggies can call the ITS Support Desk or email them to submit a support request.
Medium Priority: General errors, access requests, etc; people can use PCs but have issues with other devices.
“They have a track-it system. It’s a software for help desks,” Duncan said. “They’ll get that ticket in and create it based on the call or based on the email. It’ll automatically create it if it’s an email. They’ll assign a technician to it, or whoever is responsible for whatever issue they’re encountering, and then they’ll start working on that issue. It’ll be in their queue.” The queue is then labeled based on need by the support desk priority system. On Jan. 30, Help Desk Coordinator Greg Davies sent an email to faculty and staff explaining the priority system due to the recent questions from staff members about how it works. A graphic of the priority system is included below this article. In the email, Davies said, “These guidelines are based upon what we believe to be significant needs through lesser requests. For example, a person who is unable to power up their PC will most likely receive a higher priority than
someone who is requesting assistance with their iPhone.” In 2014, the support desk received 5,211 tickets for faculty/staff. Duncan said there are a lot of demands put on the help desk and in turn, the desk sees a high turn over rate. Aggies have complained about the support desk as being insufficient and untimely. Duncan said this depends on how the help desk is being contacted. “A lot of people don’t know who to call,” Duncan said. “We’re trying to push for everyone to send their issues to support@cameron. edu because one thing that does is it ... automatically creates a ticket. So it’ll automatically end up in the support queue and people will see it first thing in the morning. “If you call, it may end up on somebody’s phone and they may not check their voicemail. Who knows? Or they may call the wrong person, and the wrong person deletes it and goes on. So the best thing is to email support. “
Low Priority: Lowest Priority: Requests that are not Requests that do not affect emergencies that usually focus access or use of the current PC. on additional access/features for computer use.
Cameron University: Planning for the future Kaley Patterson
expectancy of our current buildings.” A&E Editor One example listed in @KaleyKayPatt the Campus Master Plan 2025 is the dorms, which Two plans are currently were built in the 1960s. McArthur said looking in working to improve and advance at replacing the beautify the Cameron dorms raised questions University campus: Plan such as, “If the dorms were 2018 and Campus Master replaced, what would be Plan 2025. built instead?” CU President Dr. John When brainstorming for McArthur said both plans each plan, student, faculty have different purposes. “Our campus master plan and staff listening sessions are one of the actions is really our guidance to McArthur said he deems what we want the physical the most beneficial. facilities of Cameron “To put them together, University to look like we usually appoint a faculty in Lawton and Duncan,” member to head up the McArthur said. team, and then they will Since there’s physical listen to different groups,” facilities involved, McArthur said. “They’ll McArthur said cost is a go to SGA. We’ll clump huge component of the our employee areas. We’ll master plan. A typical meet with computing building may range from and technology faculty a few hundred thousand and IT. We’ll meet with dollars to 20 million Public Affairs and the dollars. communication faculty “The time it takes to raise that amount of money – people with similar interests, but a little bit is one consideration, and different, so not just all certainly the time it takes professors or all staff. We’ll to build the buildings is get their views and then another consideration,” McArthur said. “So because we’ll do the same thing with of that, our campus master our community members… Then we take a year to boil plans tend to work on a all that down. They make 10 year time frame, so a proposal to me, I look at we want to think that far it, and then we present it to ahead of looking at needs our regents.” and looking at the life
Public Affairs
Both Campus Master Plan 2025, headed by Communication professor Dr. Matt Jenkins, and Plan 2018, headed by Communication Chair Dr. Christopher Keller, conducted these listening sessions when drafting their documents. “Plan 2018: Values Driven, Action Oriented”
began in 2013 outlining Cameron’s goals and initiatives for the next five years. It is the third strategic document of its kind. McArthur said the plan is more about action, rather than construction. “It’s guiding us in terms of, ‘What do we value as an institution?’ and then based on those values, ‘What steps
would we like to take?’” McArthur said. “Our time frames for strategic plans are five years. For us, five years gives us time to think about it and talk about it and then enact it and then test it and then tweak it. Five years is a pretty good fit for academia.” Plan 2018 lists six different values: student
learning; excellence in teaching, scholarship, service and mentoring; leadership in community and region; shared governance; diversity; and responsible stewardship of public and private resources, the public trust and Cameron’s future. McArthur has something special he associates with the strategic plan. “The value of the strategic plan, for me, is I have so many wonderful ideas come across my desk,” McArthur said. “I mean, our students, our staff, our faculty and our community members, a day does not go by that someone doesn’t stop me, send me an email or call and say, ‘hey, wouldn’t it be great if Cameron did blank?’ And they’re all great ideas. But the strategic plan, because it’s built on our values, really helps me focus and separate and see which ones are great ideas for Cameron. It helps me a great deal to establish priorities.” If Aggies have ideas they want to contribute to future strategic plans or campus master plans, they can contact McArthur or inquire with their SGA Representative, Senator or Executive Council member.
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