The first time you perform a task, it takes longer and feels more complicated than the 20th or 50th time. The higher the stakes related to the task, the higher the stress. So imagine what it is like for those responsible for ensuring the University's COVID-19 response runs smoothly and effectively. Continue Reading Training hub for contact tracers becomes model for other projects
Not long ago, University Park students lined up on move-in weekends for help with hard-wired connections for computers in their residence hall rooms and visited ResCom Service Desks in the commons buildings for other technology challenges. As desktop computers gave way to laptops, tablets, and cellphones, technology support also evolved. Continue Reading Changing student needs, overlapping services led to ResCom transition
The memories of 9/11 are fresh in nearly all of our minds. We can recall where we were and what we were doing when we learned about the attacks on our country that started with a hijacked jet ramming one of the World Trade Center towers on a beautiful sunny day. Twenty years later, five of our University IT colleagues who were in the military at that time are sharing their memories and how they were affected by the deadliest terror attack on American soil that claimed nearly 3,000 lives from New York to the Pentagon to Shanksville, Pa. Continue Reading 20 years after the 9/11 attacks, IT colleagues share their memories
Helping students, faculty, and staff quickly resolve their technology challenges is what motivates the Penn State IT Service Desk every day. It's also what has made it an attractive option to deliver Tier 1 support to 14 administrative units beyond Penn State IT.
For Outreach and Online Education, transitioning Tier 1 student support to the service desk also allowed Outreach IT (OIT) to begin filling gaps they had identified during a recent realignment, creating new opportunities for those staff who had been doing Tier 1 student support. Continue Reading Outreach IT expands unique services by using Penn State IT for Tier 1 student support
Hitting send on a carefully composed email is the easy part. What happens next determines if it will reach its intended destination – the inbox of a coworker, a potential donor, or a science foundation funding a research grant. It all depends on the sophisticated, behind-the-scenes communication between email provider servers on both ends.
For Penn State, there is added complexity because third-party companies like Constant Contact and Mailchimp help to distribute messages on behalf of units using Penn State email addresses. Continue Reading SPF record benefits email delivery, security
Students who live on campus can return to their dorm room as a haven during the day. Off-campus students who don't have the same option between their classes might gravitate to labs or other, often crowded, spaces to work, socialize with friends, or relax.
That was how it used to be, anyway, until social distancing disrupted routines. Finding an alternative became a priority, particularly for the Commonwealth Campuses.
Team E, the University's pandemic response unit responsible for delivering creative solutions to academic and facilities-based needs at University Park and the Commonwealth Campuses, suggested adding wireless coverage to parking lots as a potential remedy. Continue Reading Massive project brings wireless coverage to parking lots
New Student Orientation is a vital asset for incoming students designed to prepare them for all aspects of college life – everything from setting academic goals to being a good member of their campus community. The multi-day event helps get them on the right path for their time as a Penn State student.
As senior associate director for New Student Orientation (NSO), Katie Motycki has led orientation at Penn State since 2013 and knows a thing or two about what makes it successful. When the decision was made to change NSO to an online experience because of the pandemic, she turned to learning designers in Teaching and Learning with Technology (TLT) to help make it happen.
Boring handouts and endless links to read? Not on her watch. Motycki wanted Virtual Student Orientation to replicate the rich in-person experience she would otherwise plan. And she wanted it in Canvas, the learning management system students use for their classes. Continue Reading Canvas played integral role in Virtual Student Orientation
IT support can't always come to you when you're having a hardware or software issue. While a phone call may be sufficient to diagnose and suggest a fix, it isn't always enough. That's when software that allows support to open a remote session, see the client's screen, and experience the environment firsthand is invaluable.
The Donald P. Bellisario College of Communications has been using TeamViewer for that purpose since 2014. Yu Tai Chung, the college's IT director, said they initially paid for three TeamViewer channels for their four IT support staff. Each channel provides a connection to assist with various needs, from resolving a computer issue to offering training or installing a program. The channel is active during the remote session and then idle until it is opened for a new session.
A few years later, Liberal Arts reached out to Chung about his experience with TeamViewer when that unit was considering switching remote support software. Continue Reading Units save money by sharing pool of remote support channels
Necessity is the mother of invention – and sometimes the impetus to speed up or revise plans for a better outcome. That was the case this summer, when the University needed to find new ways to return students to campus when the old ways of doing things were no longer safe or sensible.
The changing safety protocols related to COVID-19 meant a rapid change of plans for Auxiliary and Business Services (ABS), which encompasses a number of units, including Housing and Food Services (HFS). Plans for a few limited-scope pilots this year, such as Penn State Eats, or mobile food ordering, were scrapped and a full-on effort was devoted to rolling out the program across all campuses. Continue Reading Agility helped ABS IT incorporate rapid changes for student return
As classes evolved from late-spring's fully remote atmosphere to this fall's combination of in-person, remote, and hybrid, technology in the classrooms took on even greater importance. Instructors had to be seen and heard in a different way, with the combination of students socially distanced in learning spaces and others joining online.
A classroom technology team was assembled and IT was heavily involved in all aspects of outfitting spaces with the necessary technology, following guidance from the CDC. Leading the team were Terry O'Heron, director of operations for Teaching and Learning with Technology (TLT), and John Hoh, senior IT director for the Commonwealth Campuses. O'Heron said they were charged by Provost Nick Jones with making classrooms Zoom-capable, so they started by figuring out a minimum viable solution to have audio and video in all classrooms. Continue Reading Hundreds of classrooms were upgraded to meet stringent fall requirements
