Month: October 2017

News

Innovative Classroom Technology Funded By Operational Excellence

Post author By Nick Rallo
Post date October 27, 2017

Inside the Trammell Crow Building’s upgraded room (All photos by Ian Aberle)

Last summer, the Office of Information Technology used funds allocated from Operational Excellence savings to outfit six new classrooms with cutting-edge “prototype” technology for SMU. Based on the expectations expressed in student and faculty technology surveys and direction from the Academic Technology Council (ATC), the new classrooms offer wireless screen mirroring, increased interactivity and expanded student device connection.

The project was overseen by a subcommittee of the ATC comprised of Dr. Amit Basu (Cox) and Dr. Tony Cuevas (Simmons), with facilitation and guidance from Jason Warner, Director of Academic Technology Services for OIT. Robert Walker from CUL also participated on the committee.

“Our work to develop cutting-edge classrooms focused more on types of teaching than on technology for technology’s sake,” said Warner. “In addition to working with ATC, OIT coordinated with the Center for Teaching Excellence to understand teaching best practices and how to equip teachers at SMU in the best possible ways.”

The rooms chosen for upgrades were identified to address four teaching formats:

Seminar/Discussion – Dallas Hall 138
Team-based – Annette Simmons 218
Lecture – Umphrey Lee 241, Junkins 112, Owen Arts Center 1030
Case-based – Crow 280

All six spaces received technologies such as new ADA-compliant lecterns that are larger and have adjustable height, Mersive Solstice pods that offer wireless presentation interfaces to facilitate screen sharing from student mobile devices, new seven-inch touchscreens for easier instructor control, Blu Ray players and room management automation. Each room features a different type of projection and additional components, based on the teaching format used in that space.

The team-based upgrades in Annette Simmons 218

For example, the seminar/discussion classroom has a widescreen, 1080P interactive projector and the team-based space uses multiple Epson interactive projectors and white-boards to allow separate content streams to be displayed simultaneously around the classroom or shared on the main screen.

Warner says initial feedback on the new technology has been positive. “Once faculty and students adjusted to the new platforms and installation kinks were worked out, we began hearing that the new classroom technologies really do have the potential to elevate both teaching and student experiences at SMU. Our next steps will be to promote the classrooms to faculty so they can schedule their classes in the new spaces next year and give us more feedback on how to improve them.”

Now that the equipment is in use, OIT will repeat student and faculty surveys to determine how teaching and campus experience changed in these spaces and how to approach future classroom upgrades.

Read more: Classroom Tech Revolution

Tags academic technology, smu technology

News

Minimizing Delays: New Account Permission Request Forms

Post author By Nick Rallo
Post date October 12, 2017

To streamline processes for requesting, approving and assigning access for new employees to email, Box, Sharepoint, my.SMU, network drives and other platforms, last year the Office of Operational Excellence established the Account Permissions Initiative earlier this year. In August, the initiative team launched a series of new account permission request forms available via help.smu.edu. The forms have been redesigned to ensure all required information is submitted with the request to minimize delays caused by incomplete forms. The team created help guides for each of the forms to assist managers in completion.

The forms or their fields may not appear different to managers submitting requests, but the process to assign permissions was completely overhauled. “In many cases, a single request would involve multiple teams,” said Rachel Mulry, project manager for the initiative team. “This, of course, required more time to complete as the request moved from team to team through the workflow. With the new processes, we’ve minimized the number of teams needed for approval or interaction with the request. In some cases, we have been able to eliminate any need to involve other external teams at all!”

OIT is now managing account request submissions and aims to fulfill them in under a week. “For those processes requiring training prior to any permissions being assigned, we have enhanced the communication to both the manager and the employee, enabling them to assist us in completing the permissions in a timely manner,” said Mulry. “We are closely monitoring the improved process and working on completing the request within the timeframe outlined by the established service level agreement.” Prior to the redesign, account workflows were requiring an average of 9.5 days to complete. Since they were implemented, requests are now being completed in 4.6 days on average.

The initiative team continues to work on automating permissions assignments based on job classifications and roles. “We recognize there is a significant amount of work to be completed before we can realize that goal,” said Mulry. “In the meantime, we will continue to refine the processes to ensure all employees have the access and training required to fulfill their job responsibilities at SMU.”

Tags account permissions, SMU operational excellence

News

Operational Excellence: August-September 2017 News and Highlights

Post author By Nick Rallo
Post date October 4, 2017

Three money-saving measures were highlighted in August and September:

A new Property Exchange listserv was established, and all faculty and staff were invited to join. Those who wish to have gently used SMU furniture for on-campus use may claim items for free on a first-come, first-served basis. The listserv is designed to match up available surplus furniture with campus employees who need it and to save departments on purchases.
The Purchasing team posted its newest data on Concur prices for hotels and flights compared to rates found on other travel sites, finding that Concur remains a competitive option.
An updated process to opt out of campus mail was posted, necessitated by changes in my.smu.edu. The opt-out feature ultimately saves departments on printing costs.

The new Staff Recognition Initiative announced it is identifying and implementing ways to honor staff excellence and service, including establishing an annual Staff Appreciation Week and exploring changes to the Staff Service Awards.

The Operational Excellence website also continued its series of spotlights on staff members who’ve taken on new leadership roles since the implementation of OE2C and are helping bring more innovation and efficiency to campus operations. Employees highlighted in August and September were Windy Epperson, accounts payable manager, and Eric English, director of maintenance and grounds.

Lastly, Operational Excellence posted its 2016-17 Year in Review, recapping OE2C savings to date – now more than $20 million per year! – and detailing new initiatives, survey results, performance metrics and more.

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