Multidivisional
Completed largest phone port
ITS has now successfully migrated nearly 14,000 phones with 3,000 or fewer working numbers remaining to port. In just the past 18 months, the migration project team has either ported or added roughly 15,000 phone lines. The project is on schedule and the team expects to complete all ports by early 2024.
ITS groups’ joint efforts supported Fall Rush
During the first week of class, ITS employees gathered at the Undergraduate Library to help students with their tech issues. This collaboration decreased in-person foot traffic to the ITS Service Desk during its busiest time while also enabling ITS employees to interact with end users.
Launched new-employee onboarding process
ITS Human Resources, ITS Service Management team, and David Eckert of Customer Experience & Engagement developed a new employee onboarding process within ServiceNow and launched it on September 19. A pilot group of ITS managers provided feedback. The ITS new-employee onboarding checklist outlines steps a manager and buddy should follow when a new employee is hired.
Customer case study showcased assistance to Department of Chemistry
ITS Research Computing and ITS Communications worked with the Department of Chemistry to produce a customer case study that published on ITS News on August 1. The customer case study highlighted how Shubin Liu, Senior Computational Scientist with Research Computing and adjunct chemistry professor, used Research Computing’s Longleaf cluster and Gaussian software to assist three Department of Chemistry members.
Customer Experience & Engagement
ITS Communications developed a new brand guide
In September, ITS Communications launched a new brand guide. The guide introduced ITS-specific colors, design elements and writing style while remaining strongly aligned with the University brand identity. ITS Communications created the guide as part of an ongoing effort to become a resource for creating ITS-branded public-facing communications, interfaces and products. The group will release additional internal resources such as graphics, templates and writing examples in future phases.
Redesigned employee newsletter
As part of its launch of a new branding guide, ITS Communications debuted a new design for Monday Morning News on September 6. The employee newsletter uses new fonts, colors, design elements and an expanded use of photos to reflect the vibrancy of ITS staff and the department’s work.
Amplified communications externally
In the third quarter, ITS Communications greatly expanded the reach of its own published content. Other campus outlets — WorkWell, The Well, and The Well’s In the Know section — collectively repurposed and republished more than a dozen excerpts of ITS content. That is many more than in recent memory. That repurposed content also performed well. ITS’ Zoom tips piece was the third-most read article within WorkWell’s July newsletter. That was the same ranking for an ITS article on Outlook Calendar tools in the August WorkWell. In the September WorkWell, ITS’ 10 things you didn’t know about Wi-Fi at Carolina gained the top readership spot. The Well also re-published the Wi-Fi article and re-used ITS’ guest post on effective change management and a customer case study about collaboration between Research Computing and the Department of Chemistry.
People
Chelsea Porter became interim Head of the Digital Accessibility Office (DAO) on August 1.
Infrastructure & Operations
Boosted Wi-Fi in three dorms
ITS Networking worked the entire summer — at least 10 hours five days a week plus some Saturdays — to boost wireless strength by installing an access point in every single room of three dorms. While completed during the summer, this upgrade positively impacted hundreds of students at the start of Fall semester when they returned to dorms with increased internet strength. To give some perspective on the project’s scope, ITS installed double the access points as a similar 2019 upgrade.
ITS Networking released biannual report
ITS Networking published its Biannual Network Report on August 11, covering the group’s accomplishments between January and June 2022. The report showcases such projects as upgrading campus distribution switches in Phillips and Manning, boosting wireless in three dorms and assisting with a campus laundromat modernization project.
Networking’s hybrid model improved teamwork
Ryan Turner, interim Director of Networking, started a hybrid work model for his team that enabled in-person time with staff while maintaining the benefits of working from home. Turner found traditional office drop-ins and impromptu chats improved problem solving and provided opportunities for colleagues to collaborate in ways Zoom interactions could not.
Educational Technologies
Retired Digital Desk
EdTech retired its exam scanning service, Digital Desk, and transitioned instructors to Gradescope on August 1. Gradescope lets instructors administer online or paper-based exams and easily re-grade exams. The service also offers student performance tracking, real-time instructor collaboration, electronic feedback delivery and statistics for both multiple-choice and open-ended questions. EdTech switched platforms after use of Digital Desk decreased. The number of scanned exams decreased from about 2,800 in 2016 to about 1,200 in 2019.
Rolled out Canvas
EdTech made the learning management system, Canvas, available to all University users on May 20 after piloting it during Fall 2021 and Spring 2022 semesters. In Fall 2022, nearly 2,000 instructors opted to teach using the new platform. To help campus users make this transition easily, EdTech offered workshops as well as recorded and live training sessions.