Putting the Power of Reporting in Your Hands with Informer

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In the past, Simmons staff members who wanted to run advanced reports or gather specific data stored in Colleague and other sources would have to contact Technology to have a programmer design and run a custom report. This expenditure of time and effort was necessary for every distinct report request that came in. As the number of requests grew, this put a strain on our resources and made it difficult to produce reports in an effective and timely manner. It had become obvious that it was necessary to empower our customers by implementing a solution that allows staff to create and run reports as needed.

Technology is happy to announce that we have installed a new reporting tool called Informer, available at myreports.simmons.edu. Informer provides an easy-to-use interface that can gather, sort, and analyze information to create reports as they are needed. While Technology will still manage the data and support your use of Informer, you no longer have to request reports and wait for us to run them and return the information to you. Currently, the Registrar’s office, along with the Comptroller and the Budget Office, are using Informer to create, manage, and run their own reports, and more departments will be using it soon. Please note that if you need reports from a specific department, you should contact that department to determine the best way to gain access to the report.

Over the last few weeks, Technology has provided Informer training to key stakeholders and will continue to do so. If you have started using Informer and you need some additional guidance, you can also access training online by visiting the Informer YouTube channel. If you need access to Informer or if you want additional training or support, please contact the Service Desk at 617-521-2222.

The Google Apps Migration is Under Way

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Over the last month, we’ve been busy helping staff members in the Library, Student Life, and elsewhere migrate their email to Google Apps. As we move into February, we’ll be finishing migrations for most of the administrative staff and focusing our efforts on staff and faculty in each college. To find out when you will be migrated, please check the timeline on the Google Apps project site. As we get closer to your migration date, our team will reach out to you get some additional information and set a date to move your email to Google Apps.

In the meantime, you can do a few things to prepare for the move. We know that, for most people, this is a big change, and we want to make it as painless as possible. To help, we’ve gathered resources on our project site, including answers to frequently asked questions, and introductions to Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Drive, and more. We’re also holding weekly drop-in trainings where you can watch a short presentation on Google Apps, ask questions, and get help with your account if you need it. Starting in February, we’ll have four sessions every week. Take a look at the schedule and find a time that works for you.

We also want to take this opportunity to reiterate a couple of important notes about the migration. First, your email address will not change. You can still use your @simmons.edu address as you always have. In addition, all of your email will come along with you to your Google Apps account. We’re migrating all of the email on your Simmons computer or on the Simmons server to your new account. When you log in for the fist time at gmail.simmons.edu, you’ll see all of the email that was in your inbox previously. Finally, events scheduled in Meeting Maker will not be migrated to your new account. There is no foolproof way to do this without potentially compromising your previously created meetings and events. To learn more about moving your events from Meeting Maker to Google Calendar, please see the step-by-step instructions available here.

We hope that the hands-on approach we’re taking to this project will make the transition smooth for you. It will take some time to learn new email and calendar systems, but the long-term benefits of moving to Google Apps are many. If you have specific questions about the migration process, please reach out to Roy Balcom ([email protected]). If you have questions about using Google Apps once you’ve been migrated, take a look at the FAQs on the project site or contact the Service Desk at 617-521-2222.

Reminder about New Process to Request Technology Projects (deadline: 2/8)

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In preparation for the FY14 budget year, we’ve implemented a new process for requesting technology projects. The Project Management Office (PMO) was recently established to allow for better allocation of Technology resources to support academic and administrative departments in managing technology related projects. Under this new process, all technology project requests will require approval from President Drinan’s Operating Committee and the timing of the project will be linked to the budget cycle.

There are several benefits to this new process. Foremost, Technology will be able to provide an increased level of project management support throughout the project life cycle, including assistance with developing business requirements, costing, vendor identification, project planning, and project implementation. In addition, the involvement of the Operating Committee in the process will ensure that approved projects are furthering the College’s strategy.

What types of projects need to follow this process? Projects that have any of the following characteristics must follow the new guidelines:

• Hardware or software purchase in excess of $5,000

• ANY Simmons data that is sent to a third party

• Requires more than 30 hours of Technology staff time to assist with project activities such as: requirements, development, testing, configuration, implementation or ongoing maintenance

• Requires integration/interfaces or other communication with existing systems

• Requires custom extracts from existing systems

Members of the Technology team have attended department meetings in recent months to review the process and to provide guidance on submitting project requests. In March, Technology will present all completed proposals to President Drinan’s Operating Committee for consideration and they will make decisions on which projects to approve in late March.

If you have additional questions about the PMO, please see this FAQ or contact Deborah Bernstein ([email protected] or x2061).

Get the Scoop on Internships with the Peer Internship Network

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As part of the yearly Founder’s Day celebration, students are asked to participate in an essay contest that proposes a project that aims to improve the Simmons experience. Last year’s winner, Marie Ledger ’12, advanced the idea of an internship database that would provide prospective interns at Simmons with feedback on internship experiences from other students and create a way for current students and alumnae/i to network.

After President Drinan selected Marie’s essay, the Career Education Center (CEC) started work on planning and implementing the database. Once the CEC had proposed building the database into CareerLink, they partnered with Technology to identify a vendor to configure the database and to begin work on a rollout and communication strategy.

As of January 2013, the Peer Internship Network is set up and the team is gathering internship feedback from students and alumnae/i to populate it. The database will contain information about the student who submitted the internship listing, basic information about the employer, whether the internship is for-credit and/or paid, and a description and rating of the experience. If you have past internship experience and you’d like to contribute, please log in to CareerLink and see the information at the top of the screen.

Once the Peer Internship Network is officially unveiled, we’ll be spreading the word on campus and online. Keep an eye on Simmons Connection for more information.

Tips for Better YouTube Video Streaming

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As the number of educational and informational videos on YouTube has grown, it has become an important source of streaming video content in classrooms and meetings. Because so many people are uploading and/or viewing content on YouTube at any given time, this can lead to occasional lags when videos are loading. Unfortunately, there is little that Simmons can do to rectify this issue. The lag is caused not by our servers or the Internet connection at Simmons but by the volume of bandwidth available at YouTube.

If we think of a flow of information like water, bandwidth represents the size of the pipe that the water flows through. Depending on the availability of bandwidth, a YouTube video can fluctuate in quality or pause while additional content loads. YouTube is working to make their video player more efficient and to present videos that will automatically adjust in quality based on available bandwidth, but neither of these tactics represents a complete solution to the lag in loading times.

There are a couple of things you can do to help alleviate slow loading times for videos. First, if you’re loading a long video but only want to show a select portion of it, you can create and share a link or embed the video on a website with a specified start time by following the instructions here. If a video is slow to load, you may also want to refresh the page or clear your web browser’s cache. You can find instructions on how to do that here. If you’ve tried these solutions and you find that video lag is still a persistent problem, please contact the Service Desk at 617-521-2222.

An Update on Google Apps for Faculty and Staff

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The Technology team is moving rapidly to prepare for the Google Apps migration for faculty and staff. As we get ready to kick things off in January, we wanted to let you know when you’ll be migrated and what you can do to prepare.

We have recently posted the full migration schedule on ourproject website. The timeline is broken down into departments and schools. As your migration date approaches, Technology will work with a department or school liaison to coordinate individual migrations based on your availability.

Prior to your migration date, you will receive additional information about what to expect. If you want to get a jumpstart on migration, you can take a few steps to prepare. These include cleaning up old email folders. If you have email from several years stored on your computer, this is a great opportunity to get rid of old emails and files you no longer need. If you have questions about how to do this, please contact us. If you want to know more about the Simmons College email retention policy, please visit theSimmons College Policy Index or contact the College Archivist, Jason Wood.

If you’d like to learn more about Google Apps and how to use it, we recommend checking out the Quick Start Guides on the project site or attending an introductory training. We’re scheduling these sessions now and they’ll be available starting in January. Each session will provide an overview of Google Apps for Education and we’ll be available to answer questions you might have.

A question we’ve been hearing a lot recently is, “What’s happening to Meeting Maker?” To make this transition as smooth as possible, we’re going to keep Meeting Maker running for the time being. Once everyone has been moved to Google Apps (late April), we will set a timeline for shutting it off. One reason for keeping Meeting Maker active is that not all faculty and staff are moving to Google Apps simultaneously. If your department is moving early, you might still need Meeting Maker for appointments set by colleagues in other departments. Additionally, there is no foolproof way to move all meetings from Meeting Maker to Google Apps without potentially losing data. You will need to manually create any recurring appointments in Google Calendar. We estimate that this will take no more than an hour, even for those of you with complex recurring meetings. The Service Desk and migration team are also here to help you with the transition.

We hope you will take time to look at the project site and to familiarize yourself with Google Apps for Education. We’ll make announcements about training and additional resources after the winter break.

GSLIS Student Analysis Helps to Improve Simmons Connection

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In Technology, we’re always looking for new ways to collaborate with other members of the Simmons community to get a fresh perspective on how we are contributing to Simmons and in what areas we could improve our services.

During the Fall 2012 semester, a group of students in GSLIS Professor Rong Tang’s Usability and User Experience course applied their knowledge to conduct a thorough evaluation of the Simmons Connection website. Working with Senior Web Developer Shino Ito, the students, Eric Gibbs, Lin Lin, and Elizabeth Quigley, researched usability studies for similar websites, designed a usability test, and recruited other students to participate in it. After the study sessions were completed, the GSLIS team analyzed the results and made recommendations for usability improvements on Simmons Connection.

The recommendations they included mirror several areas where we have focused attention based on previous feedback. Their work validated anecdotal evidence we had received from our customers and provided us with useful suggestions for how to improve the usability of the site. We’d like to thank them for their work and recognize the value of these kinds of projects that provide constructive feedback and give students experience and knowledge they can apply in their careers.

Microsoft Office Work-at-Home Discounts for Faculty and Staff

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Did you know that you can get Microsoft Office for your personal computer for only $15? The Microsoft Work-At-Home license program allows Simmons College employees to purchase Microsoft software for use on their personal computers at a discounted price. The software can be downloaded instantly or mailed directly to you.

Available software includes Office 2010, Office for Mac, Windows 7, and more. To get started, follow this link and sign in with your Simmons user name and password. Then click on the “Faculty/Staff” tab and choose the product you’d like to purchase.

Through this site, you can also access discounts on software from Adobe (Photoshop, InDesign, and more) and statistical analysis software like SPSS.

Microsoft Unveils Windows 8

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In October, Microsoft released the newest version of the Windows operating system. Windows 8 represents a big change for Microsoft because it is designed to work across computers, tablets, and phones. It also takes advantage of new technologies like cross-device synchronization and cloud computing by incorporating them directly into the operating system.

Any major change to an operating system (like Windows or Mac OS) presents a unique challenge for the Technology team. We need to simultaneously support customers who are using the new system and carefully plan for an upgrade of all compatible Simmons-owned computers and devices.

At this time, we are working to provide Service Desk employees with the skills needed to support Windows 8 as members of the Simmons community begin purchasing devices running the new operating system. We’re also making a careful assessment of the effort involved in upgrading compatible computers at Simmons. The first step will be to install Windows 8 on several computers in Technology and on a small number of public-use computers in the library. Deploying Windows 8 to these computers will allow us to assess its viability for a large scale upgrade in the next 12-18 months.

If you are considering upgrading your personal computer or purchasing a new device running Windows 8, we recommend visiting the officialMicrosoft Windows 8 website, where you can get more information about the operating system and find out how it is different from previous versions.

An Update on Google Apps for Faculty and Staff

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As we continue to plan the migration of faculty and staff email and calendaring to Google Apps for Education, we want to keep you up to date on the project. We respect your need for information, so we will be transparent throughout this process as we bring these powerful new tools online for the community.

Right now, Technology is working with the Leadership Team to determine dates for migrating faculty and staff. The migration will be done in phases so we can provide individual assistance and instruction to everyone. Our goal is to begin the migration in January and continue through the Spring semester. We hope to have the full migration schedule available for you in December.

In order to prepare for the migration and to better anticipate issues that might arise, we are currently moving all Technology employees to Google Apps for Education. This pilot period will help us work through technical challenges so we can minimize disruption during the larger migration. During this period, our staff is also completing additional Google Apps training and certification so they can provide expert-level support.

With regard to training and support, we are evaluating options for online and on-site training sessions and preparing a project website that will provide you with the migration schedule, answers to commonly asked questions (for example, what if you have a personal Gmail account?), links to support resources, and more. You can access the site here, and we hope you’ll continue to check back for updates as we move forward.

We will continue to communicate updates frequently via this newsletter, the project site, and individual messages as necessary, and we are always available to answer questions you have.