Tag Archives: 201301

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.