Information Technology Services ~ Bits 'n Bites ~ Winter 2005

Announcing Team Collaboration Portal

ITS is pleased to announce a web-based technology now available to faculty and staff -- the SharePoint collaboration portal.

http://portal.umflint.edu

SharePoint facilitates team-oriented Web sites for sharing information and fostering collaboration. Portal sites could be used as a departmental intranet or to support committee or research project collaboration to allow teams to create, organize, and share information quickly and easily. Below are types of available site templates.

The Team Site template creates a site for teams to create, organize, and share information quickly and easily. It includes a Shared Documents Library, and basic lists such as Announcements, Discussions, Events, Contacts, Quick Links, Pictures, Surveys and Tasks.
The Document Workspace template creates a site for colleagues to work together on documents. It provides a document library for storing the primary document and supporting files, a Task list for assigning to-do items, and a Links list for resources related to the document.
The Basic Meeting Workspace has all the basics to plan, organize and track your meeting. This Meeting Workspace contains the following lists: Objectives, Attendees, Agenda, and Document Library.
The Decision Meeting Workspace contains all the Basic meeting workspace lists from above plus Tasks, and Decisions which aid in reviewing relevant documents and recording decisions.
The Social Meeting Workspace is a planning tool for social occasions, featuring a discussion board and a picture library to post pictures of the event. This Meeting Workspace also contains the following lists and Web Parts: Attendees, Directions, Image/Logo, and Things To Bring.

To request a site on the SharePoint portal, please complete the Web Services request form at http://ww2.umflint.edu/its/forms/webservices.pdf. For more information about SharePoint, please contact ITS at 237-6647 or ITSTraining@umflint.edu. Training classes for portal site developers is scheduled on the ITS Training web site at http://ww2.umflint.edu/its/training/ or private consultations by appointment. Please consult Quicknote #56 for basic SharePoint instructions.

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Purchasing Software for Your Department?

Consult ITS Before Software is Purchased
To ensure compatibility, please engage ITS early in the process of acquiring new technology for use on University systems and equipment. To ensure that you involve ITS early enough, you should contact the Network Support Services (NSS) team by sending an email to nss@list.flint.umich.edu or by calling 762-3123 and asking for a member of the NSS team as soon as you have a request to evaluate software. They will determine who in ITS should be involved in the evaluation and also begin the process of determining if the software will be compatible with University systems standards. Please note that you should allow 15 days for ITS to complete its compatibility study, and this study must be completed before any software installation can take place.

For full details of the software policy, please consult http://ww2.umflint.edu/its/policies.htm#software

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Go Behind-the-Scenes with Mediated Classroom Services (MCS)
MCS staff work tirelessly to maintain an excellent classroom technology environment by providing Smart Cart technology in most general classrooms and delivering presentation equipment campus-wide. For a list of MCS staff, please consult http://ww2.umflint.edu/its/units/mcs.htm.

In addition to providing classroom presentation equipment, this team of talented ITS staff is also responsible for maintaining seating capacities in general classrooms and engineering all open and instructional computer labs. MCS also supports computer and video equipment for the Faculty Technology and Video Production centers and maintains "UM-Flint UnPlugged", the campus wireless network. MCS staff provide training on supported equipment upon request. The MCS team is a key component in ITS outreach efforts such as the Freedom to Learn project.

Learn more about MCS and how they can assist you at http://ww2.umflint.edu/its/mcs.

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Instructional Technology Tips & Techniques
Security Alert
Be sure to log off the computer in the Smart Cart and instructional labs before leaving the classroom.

Turn off lights when leaving classrooms
Did you know? Lighting accounts for about 17% of total annual U.S. electricity consumption. Simply turning off unneeded lights can reduce the amount of energy used for lighting up to 45% (http://www.earthshare.org/tips/light.html). Get into the habit of always turning off the lights, if the classroom will be empty for more than 5 minutes. Making sure the projectors and all presentation equipment are turned off will save on replacement bulbs and energy!

Viewing Slides
Here's a tip for an easy way to show a few of those 35mm slides without spending the time to convert them to a digital format. Just place one slide face up in the center of the document camera and zoom in until the slide displays at a nice size on the screen, focusing if necessary.

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Certification Testing

UM-Flint Students can compete to become the next World Champ!

Prove you're the best in using Word or Excel. Take a Microsoft Office Specialist (MOS) exam and compete to become the next world champion! Students can win a ton of great prizes, including a trip to compete at the worldwide finals in Orlando, Florida! full details

MOS exams are $60 for UM-Flint students, faculty, and staff.

ITS administers the UM-Flint Authorized Testing Center located at 3105 William S. White Building. A few of the many types of IT and Professional Licensure exams that may be scheduled are:

Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA)
CompTIA A+ Certification
Microsoft Certified Desktop Support Technician (MCDST)
Microsoft Office Specialist (MOS)
Internet Core Computing Certification (IC³)

http://ww2.umflint.edu/cert

ITS can help you put a certification on your resume!

For more information, email certification@umflint.edu or call (810) 237-6647.

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Technology Training

Shopping Cart Notes

Software Sales
Students, faculty, and staff have the opportunity to purchase Microsoft software such as the Windows XP operating system for $15 and Office 2003 for $45. For Macintosh computers, Office 2004 is available for $45.

To purchase software, please visit the online shopping cart at http://ww2.umflint.edu/its/sales/. It's easy to print your order and pay at the cashier, then pick up your software at the ITS main office at 207 MSB.

Hardware Sales
The campus community can receive special discounts of up to 12% through the Dell University Personal Purchase Program. For more information, please consult http://ww2.umflint.edu/dell/.

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Expert Advice from the ITS HelpDesk

Lock Your Computer
When you need to step away from your Windows XP computer for a few minutes, it is a good idea, for security reasons, to lock your computer to prevent anyone from seeing your screen, using your computer or accessing your data. Of course you could logoff off your computer every time you leave your desk, but that is way too time-consuming to save your work and shut down your programs. Instead, you can leave all your programs as is and just lock your computer.

To lock your Windows XP computer, just hold down the Windows key on your keyboard and press "L". Then you will see a Windows Security Window on the screen telling you the computer is locked.

When you return to your computer, press the CTRL+ALT+DELETE keys at the same time to bring up the Windows Security Window. Then enter your LAN password and press ENTER to re-access your computer.

**This tip is only applicable for Windows XP operating system. Previous Windows operating systems do not have this feature.

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ITS Director Says "Goodbye"

Working at UM-Flint for the past three years has been such an honor! The ITS staff are second to none. In addition, having a level headed, supportive and caring supervisor, namely Dr. Lotfi, made my decision to leave so very difficult. However, I am blessed to be provided with the opportunity to work in Lake Fenton Community School District, my home town and the district of my two young children.

I am fortunate to have worked for the past three years with so many terrific people here at the University and hope to continue on with partnership opportunities involving K-12 and UM-Flint. You will find a goodwill ambassador in me, and I can only hope that this relationship will continue to grow.

Best Wishes,
Kathleen Conover

It is with much regret that I must inform you that Ms. Kathleen Conover, the Director of Information Technology Services, will be leaving UM-Flint to join Lake Fenton Community Schools as the Director of Curriculum and Instructional Technology, effective April 15, 2005. While I am deeply sad to see Kathleen leave the University, I am happy to see her return to a career path that has always been near and dear to her heart. Her new position is equivalent to an assistant superintendent and it is my understanding that it was created primarily with her in mind.

As you may know, Kathleen has been the director of ITS over the past three years. During her tenure, ITS has continued to achieve significant accomplishments, serving the campus community well and continually introducing new technologies in support of teaching and learning. Moreover, Kathleen has been actively involved in fund raising, grant writing, and outreach activities such as the Freedom to Learn and many others.

Within the next few days, I will be consulting with ITS staff, the Provost and others in forming a plan for recruiting the next director of ITS. In the meantime, please join me in wishing Kathleen well in her new position. From my perspective, UM-Flint will be saying goodbye to a highly valued employee while gaining a great friend in K-12.

~3/12/05 Email Message from Dr. Vahid Lotfi to UM-Flint Faculty & Staff

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