Faculty and Staff Handbook

Table of Contents

 

Message from the Director

It is my hope that you will find this handbook a fast and easy way to learn about the various areas of technology support here in Technology Services as well as information about the staff responsible for keeping these vital services functioning.  There are standards and guidelines on how to get help for a variety of subjects.  It is in our mission statement to support the students, faculty and staff.  Please don't hesitate to call or stop by and discuss your technology needs.  Whether it is a phone move, printer problem, help with how to use software, an item on the web page, Internet connectivity, email question or an issue with administrative software the staff members of Technology Services will do their best to quickly provide the assistance you need.

You will find throughout this handbook references to forms on line that you can use to request services.  Your requests will be handled in turn as soon as we can get to them.  The standards you will see have been developed with the intent of supporting the widest array of products as possible while maintaining adequately trained resources.

The application of technology to academic and business situations is done best when proper planning is done.  We are more than happy to assist in planning for the future in the areas we support.  Staff members are available to answer questions about technology applications for hardware, software, networking, web usage or telephony.  Projects for utilizing technology in your plans can be done cooperatively with other departments on campus.

Please don't hesitate to contact me directly with questions, comments, complaints or suggestions about Technology Services.

Sincerely,

Rick Powell
Director, Technology Services.

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Mission Statement

Technology Services will be the catalyst for technological support for the advancement of thoughts and processes concerning the delivery of the educational effort to traditional and adult students at diverse locations utilizing a variety of delivery modes.  This group will provide innovative methods for the student body to increase the acquisition of knowledge through the use of technology to better prepare them for their post college endeavors.  Technology Services will support the faculty's efforts in fulfilling their mission devoted to the delivery of education to students wherever they may be, to their scholarly and creative development.  Tactical and operational support of the Administration and Support staff will be provided in all areas of technology applications with the same forward thinking effort.

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Departmental Overview

Location
Technology Services offices and staff are located in Buchanan Hall.  Administration and Datatel support staff are in room 400.  The student computing lab and the Supervisor of Student Computing are housed in room 405.  All other staff, including telephone, network, e-mail and personal computer support staff are located in Room 403.

Services
Technology Services is responsible for supporting the technological infrastructure of the Columbia College system of campuses.  To best accomplish that task, the department has grown into two logical groupings of staff; the "Datatel Software Administration and Support" staff and the "Networked Computing and Instructional Technology Support" staff.

Main Number for Support
To request support on any of the services we offer, you may call extension 4357.  Your call will be routed to the appropriate staff.

The administrative offices can be contacted by dialing (573)875-7313.

Hours of Operation
The Technology Services Office is fully staffed between the hours of 8am-5pm, Monday through Friday.  Partially-staffed hours are 7am-8am and 5pm-6pm, Monday through Friday.

The Student Computing Lab is open from 7am-12am Monday though Thursday, from 7am-8pm Fridays, 8am-5pm Saturdays, and 12pm-12am Sundays.  The Student Computing Lab closes during the College’s scheduled holidays.  Please call the lab at (573)875-7333 if you would like more information on its availability.

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Datatel Software Administration and Support

Overview

The Datatel Support group maintains the College's administrative software (Colleague and Benefactor) and database (Unidata).  The group's responsibilities include; system upgrades; troubleshooting; user support; custom programming; security; printing support  and various other tasks that aid the campus to meet their needs.

Current software versions:

Integrated database:  Colleague Release 17
Fund Raising/Alumni database:  Benefactor 5.0
Database Management System:  Unidata 5.136
Operating system:  HPUX 11.0 (32 bit)

Hours:
The Datatel office is open from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm, Monday through Friday.  If you require special arrangements for services outside of these hours, please contact the Senior Programmer/Analyst listed in the Appendix.

Location:
Room 400, Buchanan Hall

Training for Users

Basic training is available for new employees at the home campus to learn how to navigate in the system and to learn the basic features of the software.  To schedule a training session, please contact the Human Resources office at 875-7260.

Currently, trainers for on campus sessions include members of the TS staff as well as power-users from other departments.

New employees at campus locations outside of Columbia, MO, will receive specific software training from their site office.

Printouts

Each department at the home campus has a mailbox for printout distribution.  These mailboxes are located outside of the Technology Services office. Printouts are placed in department mailboxes at the following times each day:

 8:30am    11:30am   1:30pm     4:00pm

Arrangements may be made for rush jobs or special processing by calling the Office Coordinator at 875-7313.

Pressure Sealed Forms

A pressure sealer is available in the Technology Services print room for forms that are setup to print on sealer paper.  Currently, the forms that are setup to be sealed are

Grade Cards
If you have a mailable form that you would like to produced with this technology, please fill out an online SRQ detailing your request.

Forms on line

It is our goal to have all of our departmental forms available to faculty and staff on line, including, but not limited to:

User ID Requests
Software Requests Form (SRQ)
Check the Public Access Area of the Columbia College intranet regularly for updated form availability.

Committees

The Datatel Support staff will participate in any campus committee that requires technical expertise or support in relation to any of Datatel's products.

Current committee assignments include:

Priority Review Committee
Shared Codes Committee
Web Advisor Task Force
Registration Task Force

Web Advisor

The Web Advisor product is delivered by Datatel to provide access to database information from the Internet for college students, faculty, and staff.  Unlike the Columbia College web page that is available to the general public, Web Advisor requires a login and password and allows access to information specific to the user.

Web Advisor logins and passwords are assigned by the Technology Services office according to the following chart:

Who When
Students Upon applying for admission to the college
Faculty At the time as user ID is assigned
Staff Upon request

Backup and Recovery

Backup tapes of the database are made nightly.  The operating system is backed up weekly.  Every Sunday and Wednesday all users are logged off the system at 12:01 am for full backup purposes.  Any jobs running at that time will be terminated regardless of whether they are finished or not.

In case of a disaster, a set of backup tapes is stored in a very secure fireproof safe on campus.  And, in case of a worse disaster, the operating system backup tapes, along with full database backup tapes, are stored in a secure location off campus and replaced weekly.

How to get help

For general questions, please dial the Help line at extension 4357 and select a menu option.  Or, you may dial the Technology Services main line at extension 7313.

To report a problem with the Datatel software, or to request an enhancement to the software, please submit a Software Request Form.  Access to the form is limited to the Columbia College main campus and its wide-area network locations.  The Software Request Form can be found in the "public" area of the intranet:

http://intranet.ccis.edu/public/swrequest/

Upon completion, the form will be sent to the Senior Programmer/Analyst for evaluation and assignment.  Depending on the requirements of the request, the item may go before the Priority Review Committee to assess the placement of the job among the current requests in progress.

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Networked Computing and Instructional Technologies Support

Overview

The NCITS staff are charged with supporting Columbia College's technology infrastructure.  Our customers include all of Columbia College entities; every faculty, staff, and student of each program, system-wide.  Our responsibilities include directly servicing the following for the main campus and the extended campuses:

We are also directly responsible for the following services at the main campus:

NCITS is staffed with full-time personel from 7am to 6pm, Monday – Friday.  It encompasses the offices in room 403 and 405 of Buchanan Hall.

Services and Support

Getting support from NCITS can be done via web form, e-mail, phone, or fax.  Please check the Technology Services departmental web page for the most up-to-date information:

http://www.ccis.edu/departments/technologyservices

Computer Hardware Support

Hardware support is defined as the installation, configuration, maintenance and repair of the physical components of a computer or peripherals. This does not cover drivers or application software, simply the physical components.  Please see Appendix A for complete listing of supported hardware.

Technology Services has two levels of support for hardware.

Full support includes installation, configuration and repair of a hardware device under its manufacturer's warranty.  If service is needed, Technology Services will be responsible for handling manufacturer exchanges for damaged or incorrect hardware items received.  Full support hardware items which have had their warranties expire will be assessed by Technology Services as repairable or irreparable when a problem arises.  Should the repairs require part replacement, the department owning the defective hardware will be responsible for the cost of said replacement parts.  Should the hardware item be irreparable, Technology Services will determine the cost of a replacement but will no longer support the defective device.

Partial support includes the physical install only.  A hardware device under partial support will be connected to appropriate power, ports, or network outlets as needed.  No attempt to configure the device will be made.  Should repairs be needed, they are the responsibility of the department owning the device.  If the item is out of warranty, Technology Services will determine the cost of a replacement (should there be a replacement which Technology Services supports), or provide contact numbers for a repair service should Technology Services be aware of one.

All other PCs, components, or peripherals will be given no support from Technology Services.  No attempt will be made to install or configure such devices.  Should repairs be necessary, Technology Services will attempt to provide contact numbers for a repair service, but will not provide any further assistance with the repairs.  Should there be a comparable item which Technology Services offers support, Technology Services will quote a price for said item should replacement be appropriate.

Note: Full or partial support of computers and peripherals does include the physical relocation of said devices when necessary.  This does not, however, translate in any way to the moving of office furniture, personal effects or unsupported electronic devices such as radios, coffee makers, adding machines, etc.  Please reference Appendix A for a complete listing of unsupported electronic devices.

Obtaining Support for New Hardware:

NCITS will revise the list of supported hardware bi-annually and update it as needed.  Any faculty or staff may request immediate consideration for new items by submitting the request in writing or electronically to the Systems and Networks Manager.

Computer Software Support

Software support is defined as the installation, configuration, and assistance with the operation of programs run on a supported operating system.  This does cover telnet programs to access the administrative database (Datatel), but does not cover assistance in manipulating data once connected (NCITS is not responsible for the adminstrative database, consult the the Datatel Software Administration and Support group for assistance with these issues.)  Software support covers PC software drivers for full or partially supported hardware devices, but would not cover any settings stored on the device itself, which would be considered hardware support. Please see Appendix B for a full listing of supported software.

Technology Services has two levels of support for software.

Full Support includes installation, configuration, troubleshooting, and assistance in a program's usage.  Technology Services will have the resources on hand to install and assist with any problems that might arise with software under full support.  Note that full support covers a single installation of a program on a PC which meets the minimum requirements of said program.  Multiple installations of the same program will not be supported, nor will software installations on computers without sufficient resources to run them.

Partial Support includes installation, configuration, and troubleshooting of software, but not application support.  Technology Services will ensure that the program is working correctly, but will not be responsible for answering "how-to" questions for software under partial support.

All other software will be given no support by Technology Services.  Technology Services will install software under no support provided that: (1) the software comes packaged with an installation “wizard”, (2) the software must have a work-related usage, and (3) the software has been approved by the department director or faculty chair responsible for the employee requesting the software installation.  Should a problem arise with a program under no support, Technology Services will not troubleshoot it, even if Technology Services performed the installation utilizing the guidelines listed above.  An attempt to provide contact numbers for the software’s vendor will be made, but no further support will be garnered.  Should there be a comparable product which Technology Services supports, Technology Services will install it on a supported platform if desired, but no attempt will be made to troubleshoot the problem on the existing software.

Note: Technology Services is not responsible for errors caused by the installation of unsupported programs.  Should unsupported software cause conflicts with full or partially support software, Technology Services will then consider the affected software as unsupported.  Technology Services will once again support the affected software only under the condition that the offending software be removed.  Should the offending software not have a work-related function, it will be reported to the director or department chair responsible for the workstation in question.  Please see Appendix B for a complete listing of supported software.

Obtaining Support for New Software:

NCITS will revise the list of supported software bi-annually and update it as needed.  Any faculty or staff may request immediate consideration for new items by submitting the request in writing or electronically to the Systems and Networks Manager.

Printer Cartridges
As a courtesy to the campus, Technology Services stocks common inkjet and laser printer cartridges.  They may be obtained by stopping by any of the Technology Services offices.  Technology Services will charge the actual cost of the cartridge to your department.

Telephone, Facsimile, and Analog Modem Support

NCITS will be responsible for any moves, adds, or changes to analog or digital telephony devices and services at the main campus.  This includes the infrastructure of wires and devices as well as the troubleshooting and physical relocation of phones, modems and facsimile machines.  Defective or malfunctioning ROLM digital telephones, telephone cords, or analog adapters will be replaced free-of-charge.  However, Technology Services will not be responsible for the cost of replacement for defective facsimile machines or modems.

Computer Laboratory Support

NCITS is responsible for maintenance of the computer labs in Buchanan Hall.  All software installed in these labs is considered to be partially supported, even if it would be fully supported in a staff office.

No hardware or software is to be installed, removed, updated, or otherwise changed unless expressly approved by the Supervisor of Student Computing, Systems and Networks Manager, or the Director of Technology Services with no exceptions.  All requests for new software or hardware must be submitted in writing or electronically to the Supervisor of Student Computing in order to be considered.

Scheduling lab time
To obtain time in the labs, submit an electronic or written request to the Supervisor of Student Computing or the Systems and Networks Manager.  Requests should contain the following information:

Name of instructor
Name of class
Times of class
Specific dates
Number of students
Software required
Telephone and email address of the instructor

(*Electronic requests are the preferred method of delivery)

The Student Computing Labs are available for use on a first-come, first-served basis (CS, CISS, and graduate classes will take priority if there is a conflict, as per the Department of Academic Affairs).  Lab time will not be automatically scheduled, as most classes do not use the labs in every class period.  Instructors (day or evening) must schedule lab time in advance.  If lab time is required for class, please schedule as far in advance as possible in order to ensure that the lab is available.  In most cases, you will receive confirmation within one business day.  If you do not receive a prompt response, please contact the lab immediately.

Reporting Lab Issues
From time to time, computers in the labs will malfunction.  To report a malfunctioning computer, please fill out a Request for Computer Maintenance form, available in hanging file folders located in the labs.   These forms may be turned in to the lab assistant on duty for immediate attention, or may be placed in the hanging folder below the blank forms.

Data Networking

NCITS is responsible for installing, maintaining and upgrading the physical and logical layers of all Columbia College data networks.  This includes the physical cabling and moving of data ports, switching, routing, and administrative tasks.  All connectivity concerns for a PC or networked peripheral are considered to be a part of data networking support.

Use of the Columbia College data network is limited to those activities deemed as acceptable use as outlined in the Columbia College Ethics Code for Computer Users.

Data network access is provided per position as applicable.  Additional network ports may be requested by submitting a written or electronic request to the Telecommunications Engineer or the Systems and Networks Manager.  These will be added free-of-charge, but conditional to a supervisor's approval.

World-Wide Web Hosting

NCITS offers free web space for the following campus entities: departments, ESD locations, faculty members, staff members, organizations (with faculty/staff sponsor), courses (syllabi, assignment postings, etc.), and course work (students may edit the content).

To request web space, it is necessary to complete an official Web Space Request form.  An electronic version of this form may be found on the College's Intranet, or a hardcopy may be obtained from the Technology Services main office in Buchanan 400.  Users requesting web space must agree to be bound by the Columbia College Ethics Code for Computer Users.

Departmental and other "public" pages are to be approved by Public Relations and Marketing prior to being linked from the main site.

NCITS provides assistance with editing, content, and programming for departmental and ESD campus web sites.  All other sites will be supported in respect to their basic functionality and security.

Intranet

NCITS is responsible for the campus Intranet.  The purpose of the Intranet is to provide web-based tools for campus entities that would be unavailable to users outside the Campus system.  Security for Intranet sites may be set in such a way that only the responsible entity may gain access to them or they may be opened to the campus at large.

Intranet space is available to departments and ESD locations only.  To request Intranet space, submit a written or electronic request to the Systems and Networks Manager.  Users requesting Intranet space must agree to be bound by the Columbia College Ethics Code for Computer Users.

NCITS provides assistance with programming for Intranet sites.

Training

To better serve the Campus community, NCITS provides faculty and staff training on a variety of technologies.  Training is free and open to all faculty and staff.  Check the Technology Services departmental web page for current course listings.

To request training on a new technology or for individual or small group training outside of our scheduled times, please send your request electronically to the staff trainer (currently the Supervisor of Student Computing) or to the Systems and Networks Manager.

Electronic Mail

Electronic mail (or “e-mail”) is provided for every campus employee.  An e-mail account is generated automatically for each employee upon hire.  All users of Columbia College's electronic mail service agree to be bound by the Columbia College Ethics Code for Computer Users.

Unwanted, unsolicited e-mail advertisements (“spam”) can be blocked administratively from reaching your mailbox.  To report a spam domain or address, visit the Columbia College “public” Intranet site and submit an electronic request:

http://intranet.ccis.edu/public

Computer Virus Protection

NCITS staff are charged with protecting the campus from computer virus attack.  Virus protection is provided in two ways:  E-mail scanning at the server level, and file scanning at the desktop.  Anti-virus updates are applied automatically across the network as new viruses appear.  All e-mail attachments containing viruses are deleted before they may be sent or received.

Remote Authentification for Using Library Resources

NCITS hosts a proxy server to allow access to Stafford Library’s resources from off-campus. The user selects a database, and when prompted, eServices user ID and password are used for access.

All users of Columbia College’s library services agree to be bound by the Columbia College Ethics Code for Computer Users.

For more information on using library resources from off-campus, please visit the Stafford Library off-campus resources web page:

http://www.ccis.edu/offices/library/OffCampusAccess.asp

Terminal Services

NCITS provides free terminal access to the College's networked computing environment for all campus faculty and staff.  With this technology, users can access network storage, the College Intranet, and any software normally only accessible from on-campus from anywhere they have an Internet connection.  For more information, please visit the Terminal Services home page.

Network Storage

Secured networked storage is available to each of the following entities: main campus departments, main campus faculty, main campus staff and ESD campuses.  Additional network storage locations are available for special projects, groups or committees as needed.  By default, each individual main campus network user is granted network storage upon hire (a "home directory").  To request networked storage for any other College entity, submit your written or electronic request to the Systems and Networks Manager.

Quotas for individual user home directories are enforced at 10MB.  Currently there are no quotas on departmental and special project storage locations.

Back-up Procedures and Disaster Recovery

NCITS runs nightly backups on all networked servers and storage.  Back-up media is kept in a fire-proof safe on the premises, with bi-monthly full back-ups stored off-site.

Network servers may be fully restored from these back-ups in case of system failure.

Network data may be recovered by our back-ups within seven days of deletion.  After one week, there is no guarantee that old data can be restored.

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Appendix A

Hardware Support Listing

Full Support Hardware

Partial Support Hardware

Examples of Unsupported Devices

* Note that this is not a complete listing.  If an item is not listed under full or partial support, you may assume that it is unsupported.

Appendix B

Software Support Listing

Full Support Software

Partial Support Software

Examples of Unsupported Software

* Note that this is not a complete listing. Should an application not appear under the full or partial support listing, you may assume that it is unsupported. Please contact Technology Services if you are unsure about the status of your software.