Ways to use tech to further the University's Mission

Hello Malone Students, Faculty, and Staff:

This week's IT blog is a slight lane change from what you might be used to seeing. In this edition:

• Why do we do what we do? Students who go out and, "...serve the church community and world."
• Seven ways to use tech to further the mission.

Have a blessed week!

-Adam

Why do we do what we do? Students who go out and "... serve the church community and world."

I have a personal mission statement. "I help others help others [often through technology]." This is why I love my job as the Chief Infomation Officer at Malone University. Because my team and I keep tech running, the campus at large gets to send several hundred men and women out each year to serve. As our campus mission states: 

"...to develop men and women in intellectual maturity, wisdom, and Christian faith who are committed to serving the church, community, and world." 

We get excited when we hear about what our students, faculty, staff, and alumni are doing. Students, faculty, staff, and alumni who are having lasting personal impacts on the people around them. Just this past month we've had two great examples (I am sure they are more than just two!). The first is in the Canton Repository about women's softball making a dying girl's dream come true and the second - also in the Rep - about grad students helping residents of the Haven of Rest shelter. We love our students! If we can play even a small part in our students and alumni caring for others, we happily jump into that effort. We leap. We help others help others.

I recently spoke with my team and was pleased to hear that many of them echo a similar missional attitude. I asked them what Malone was here to do. Comments such as "furthering God's kingdom," "forwarding the mission of the University", "molding future leaders and professionals", or help students "develop as a person" were the rule -- not the exception -- to their answers. 

Seven ways to use tech to further the mission

The following ideas are simple suggestions for how to use the tech resources we have on campus to better serve our students. This list is targeted at staff and faculty, but I am sure there are some things that students will also find useful.

1. Keep your Calendar up-to-date and share your free busy information

Each student, faculty, and staff member has access to a personal calendar through Google workspace (this is the new name for Gsuite). Keeping your calendar up-to-date means that Admissions can schedule students to meet with Faculty, peers can easily coordinate meetings. This straight-forward act can save a lot of time and frustration when trying to get people together. 

Setting up and maintaining this is as simple as one, two three...

One. Set your business hours. Go into your calendar settings and browse to the  "working hours" section. Set your business hours where you are available for meetings. It will look something like the image above when it is set up correctly!

Two. Make sure that you have shared your free/busy information to all of Malone University. In the "Access Permissions" section for your personal named calendar, make sure the "Make available for Malone University" checkbox is checked and that the menu next to it says "See only free/busy (hide details)" option is selected. This will allow others to schedule meetings with you when you don't already have a meeting.

You can also selectively share your calendar information to associates and peers using the "Share with specific people" section just under the "Access permissions" section. I share my meeting details with my staff so they know where I am.

Three. Maintain your schedule. If you have classes, schedule them on your calendar. If you have a meeting or are going to be away, then put it on the calendar. Don't be afraid to set up blocks of time to indicate when you can't meet too!

2. Use EDUROAM for your wifi connection

There are two networks on Malone's campus, EDUROAM and Malone-Guest. Choose EDUROAM for your best wifi connection. Follow the guidelines in FAQ188 to connect. Be sure to use your full email address for the username!! EDUROAM also lets you connect to different wifi all over the world. View all the places that EDUROAM is available at https://www.eduroam.org/where

3. Chat

A relatively new feature in Google workspace is "Chat." This is an instant messaging and group chatting app that behaves a lot like Slack if you are familiar with that tool. The IT department uses Google Chat to interact with each other both one-to-one and many-to-many through the use of rooms. There is also a chat app available for your smartphone (iOS and Android). 

Google Chat allows you to send data and information back and forth quickly using your PC or smartphone. Remember to not send sensitive information using this channel. Use it in a similar fashion as how you use email. Rooms can be set up for committees, projects, whatever.

4. Leverage lecture capture and recording facilities in Google Meet and Zoom

We have been using Zoom and Google Meet all year to meet both in and out of class. Be sure to use the record function to record presentations and lectures so that you can use them later or provide them to students for review.

5. "Help" button in the classroom

If you run into trouble in the classroom, look for the "Help" button on the black control panel located in nearly every classroom on campus. This will page IT personnel who will come to your assistance.

6. Meeting spaces with wireless video tech

I know we have gotten out of the habit of meeting in person, but - when the time comes again [and we hope very soon!] - be sure to check out the meeting spaces with wireless video tech located throughout the library Timken Center for Student Success and the RH300 "Hub" meeting space. These standing tables and wall-mounted TVs offer wired and wireless video for Apple and Android devices. HDMI ports enable a quick connection for your laptop or other wired device too!

7. Malone phone from home

Staff who need to work from home have the ability to use a softphone on their smartphone or computer which will allow them to be contacted to/from their Malone number. Be sure to contact the Help Desk if you want to be set up with this functionality. FAQ389 has additional details.

Tech update for 19 February 2021

Dear Students, Faculty, and Staff:

Here's what's new in tech on campus this week.

• Qtrak package delivery
• Classroom monitor fixes
• Course list "in-person" or "online" data available in the Phiz
• Always back up your data!

Qtrak package delivery

If any of you have had a package delivered on campus recently, you may have noticed you've started getting emails when the package is on campus or ready for pickup from the mailroom. We have implemented a new package tracking system on campus so that we can serve you more efficiently. 

Since implementation, grounds and mail room staff have delivered 1,964 packages (as of 18 February) and counting! Be sure to let the mail room know if you have any questions or feedback about the system. Stay tuned for more improvements to package delivery on campus!

Classroom monitor fixes

One of the biggest changes to our classrooms - in addition to the Owl cameras - is that we have enabled three outputs/screens in the hyflex rooms:

• Primary monitor for presentation notes and stuff that is kept off-screen from student view
• Secondary monitor for use as a screen to see your remote students
• Projector screen to show students in the room your slide deck or other content.

We have a number of faculty and instructors who want to change these. The most common variation is where the Secondary monitor mirrors the projector output.

We have set up FAQ396 to explain how to use multiple screens. It includes a video tutorial on how to set up each configuration using shortcuts/icons on each classroom desktop which make all the changes for you!!

Course list "in-person" or "online" data available in the Phiz

Attention Faculty: Many of you already know that you can pull a picture directory of your student by course in the Phiz. The Phiz now also contains whether a student will be in person or remote for class.

If you sign into the Phiz you will now see a green checkmark, a yellow warning, or a red remote sign for each student. Similar to your own personal COVID status:

• Green checkmark: They can report for class! Means the student filled out a COVID survey today and is symptom free
• Yellow exclamation: They can report for class! Means that they have not yet filled out the survey for today, but have not reported symptoms or been contact traced or have some circumstance that requires them to be remote today.
• Red Octagon: They will NOT be in class. They have opted out of being in person or have some circumstance that means they will not be in class today. This does NOT mean they have COVID. It means that they will not be in class today.

You can read more about the XPress COVID daily symptome tracker here.

Always backup your data!

We have had a rash of hard drive failures these past few months. This is a general APB that you should always back up your data. Whether it is important work, school, or personal information, it is always a good idea to keep a backup! Take a look at FAQ404 for recommendations on how to back up your data using Malone and external resources.

Welcome Back to Campus: Tech edition

Dear Students, Faculty, and Staff:

Welcome back to campus. Here are some changes, updates, and reminders about tech on Malone's campus for the start of 2021 Spring Semester!

• COVID Daily Symptom Tracker
• COVID Surveillance testing info
• Watch out for COVID-themed Spam and Phishing emails!
• New and updated classrooms for spring
• Copier (and printer) RFP

COVID Daily Symptom Tracker

You may have noticed a new addition to Malone Xpress when you signed in. The daily symptom tracker is a tool that we have set up as another layer to slow the spread of COVID-19 on our campus. Fill out your survey daily to let us know that you're ok. If you start having symptoms, let us know and we will work with you to make sure you have what you need to be tested, weather, and ultimately recover from the virus.

  

Green checkbox: Means that you have filled out the daily survey and have reported no symptoms.

Yellow alert!: Means that you have not yet filled out the daily survey.

Red Remote: Means that you are learning remotely because you have: 

• chosen to be remote, 
• have reported symptoms, or 
• are either in quarantine or isolation.

COVID Surveillance testing info

We have begun randomly testing the students who take classes on campus, both commuters and residents. We are testing 3% of students weekly through Spring semester. If you are chosen, you will receive an email with instructions on what paperwork to complete and how to download the Navica app and set up a profile.

Many of you asked about the guidelines for being chosen. They are as follows:

• Resident and commuter students who are NOT completely online students
• Who haven't gotten a surveillance test in the prior 3 weeks (this includes athletic testing and surveillance testing) on campus
• Who are not already in quarantine, isolation, or shelter-in-place according to our records.
• Who are recovered but it has been more than 90 days since they first experienced symptoms.

We mistakenly sent out a copy of the email to everyone on Friday afternoon. We do apologize for the error, but it did give you a preview of the instructions. Questions about surveillance testing can be sent to healthcenter@malone.edu .

Watch out for COVID-themed Spam and Phishing emails!

Campuses and businesses all over the country have seen an uptick in COVID-related phishing schemes. Be on the lookout for fakes.  Know that Malone will never ask you to provide information via email. The ONLY two ways that we will ask for COVID-related information or information related to your care for COVID are through the COVID tracker on Malone Xpress or through the COVID intake form on the Malone web site. 

New and updated classrooms for spring

We have brought JC201 a new tablet armchair room that seats 49 students (COVID capacity). 

FH24 in Founders has also been reactivated now that it is done storing books from the library/Center for Student Success renovation. 

To view the status of all classrooms and meeting spaces on campus, their COVID capacity (reduced seating for social distancing) and whether they are equipped with Hyflex cameras and equipment, visit this published Google Sheet (sign in with Malone.edu credentials required).

Copier (and printer) RFP February through June

We wanted to give students, faculty, and staff a heads up that we will be undergoing a "request for proposal" or RFP to replace the copiers and some of the printing on campus. We are gathering requirements for the replacements NOW and plan to evaluate a couple manufacturers' units around the month of March with an eye to replace all copiers on campus during the month of June with the new contract. 

IT updates for 11 December 2020

Hello Students, Faculty, and Staff of Malone University!

This update contains miscellaneous updates for spring semester. Highlights include:

• Laptop loaner program
• Equipment checkout updated
• Updates to classrooms and computer labs for spring
• Staff and faculty self-service vehicle registration on Xpress
• FREE MONEY!

Laptop loaner program

Through a generous equipment donation from Smucker, Malone is now able to offer a limited number of long term loans of laptops for students who do not have access to their own equipment. These long-term loans differ from a normal equipment checkout in that they are for the full academic year and are renwable over the student's entire tenure on campus. 

If the equipment fails or needs replacing, it can be swapped out for a new unit for free. More details about the program and the ability to apply are available on the Student Development web page here. Please note that approval for the program as well as a $50 deposit is required before getting one of these laptops. The deposit is returned to the student once the equipment is returned to the Help Desk.

Equipment checkout updated

There have been a few upgrades to the IT Help Desk checkout equipment. We updated our iPad checkouts to new 5th generation ipad minis. These have replaced our old minis and will be fully charged, updated, and sanitized for every reservation. These can be used for video recording and editing and are leveraged by our education students for TPA videos as well as CVPA recording projects.

Equipment available for checkout from the IT Help Desk in Haviland Hall includes:

• iPads. 
• Camcorders and tripods.stands
• audio recorders and microphones
• data projectors
• and more. All available at your request.

You can view a complete list of checkout equipment and how to reserve that equipment in FAQ77.

Updates to classrooms and computer labs for spring

We will be bringing two additional classrooms online in Spring 2021:

• FH24 (near the Human Resources office in Founders) has been reactivated for Spring
• JC201 (South side of Johnson Center on second floor near the stairway closest to the fountain) will be a 49 person tablet armchair room.

If you have not been to the Johnson Center, there have been a few changes to the second floor:

• The Mac lab (JC207) and overflow Mac lab (JC205) received new iMac hardware this fall.
• The edit suites in JC207A and JC207B also were updated. 
• A new office suite has taken over the old Mac lab space. More announcements around that will come from elsewhere!

Computer labs and classrooms will continue to be socially distanced in the Spring.

Staff and faculty self-service vehicle registration on Xpress

Students have been able to self-register their vehicles on Malone Xpress for years. We have modified the Vehicle Registration Tool so that faculty and staff can now use it. This includes the ability to request a new or replacement vehicle permit. 

You can access the tool on the faculty, staff, or campus life tabs of Malone Xpress! If you request a new or replacement permit, it will show up in the campus mail to your office mailbox on campus!

FREE MONEY!

FREE MONEY! Do we have your attention? Several HUNDRED of you are leaving money that is available to you from the CARES Act in the spring untapped. This message applies to any students who were enrolled at Malone in Spring of 2020.

Log into Malone Xpress and see if you have this message at the top of the screen:

If you see this message, you may be eligible to receive money from the CARES act. Fill out the survey  and we will process your response and let you know! 

Seeing students now and looking ahead to next semester!

Hello Faculty:

This post is mostly for you. In this update:

• Meet and Zoom Stats
• Zoom recording deletion procedural change
• Seeing your students for Spring Semester

Google Meet and Zoom Stats

By the numbers:

• 1,036 unique users have used a Google Meet in the last thirty days. 773 unique users in the last seven days.
  
  
  
  
  
• There have been 2,960 unique zoom meeting in the month of November (through 20 Novermber).
  
  
  
  
  
• In the past seven days, windows has been used to access our meetings 43% of the time while Mac, iOS, and iPadOS have been used a combined 46% of the time. Your students are using a mobile device to connect roughly 17% of the time; that's one out of six connections.
  
  
  
  
  
• The #1 user of zoom's name (since August) rhymes with Ban Mawson with 9,568 minutes. Number two's rhymes with Jebenezer Bolivera with 8,787 minutes.

Zoom Recording Deletion Procedural Change

As noted in an email I sent out earlier in the week, we will begin automatically deleting Zoom Meeting recordings older than one month.

Beginning Monday, 23 November 2020: We will start deleting older content to make space for active and recent recordings. We reserve the right to automatically delete recordings that are older than one month from the system without notice. Recordings older than a month will be deleted. 

What should I do?

You should download any recordings that you want to retain and upload them either to Google Drive or to your Moodle course. If uploading to Moodle, please follow Wiley guidelines for doing so. Remember to copy it to your master course if you are planning to reuse a recording in a future semester or to your current course if you want to continue to share it with your current students as reference material. 

What is getting deleted

206 recordings will be deleted when we run the cleanup process on Monday. That is all recordings dated 23 October and older.

Help!

Please contact the IT Help Desk if you need assistance in migrating and downloading content you want to retain. We can be reached via email at helpdesk@malone.edu , via the web at http://www.malone.edu/helpdesk or by phone at 330.471.8428.

Seeing your students for Spring Semester

With the new Phiz on Malone XPress, you can see a pictorial directory of the students who have enrolled in your spring courses RIGHT NOW! 

1. Click on the Phiz in the Quicklinks:
   
2. In the Phiz click "My groups" and then choose which class you want to see!
   
   
   
   
   
3. Once you have chosen a group, you can send them an email or create a PDF directory.
   
   
   
   
   
4. More complete instructions which include how to make your own groups can be found in FAQ241

Remember that enrollments can change daily so check back closer to the semester to see a more complete listing of your students.

Classroom Technology Updates for 13 November 2020

Hello Faculty & Staff:

In this update:

• Owl installation COMPLETE
• Google Meet now has breakout rooms, polling, and Q&A features.
• Fixing display settings [in the classroom]
• Sharing streaming content, e.g., Amazon Prime, Netflix, Disney, etc., in Zoom or Meet.

Owl installation COMPLETE!

All of the Owl cameras have been installed in the classrooms. We have observed some quietness in the volume in some spaces. Please make sure that you go into your Google Meet or Zoom settings and make sure that the correct microphone and speakers are selected (both should be Owl).

Let us know if you encounter any issues with the tech. Several of the Owls came in with outdated firmware. Firmware is the software for the hardware. Firmware is the Owl's operating instructions/system. We are working to get all of the Owls up to the latest firmware release.

Google Meet now has breakout rooms, attendance, polling, and Q&A features

We know that many of you are Zoom fans, but we encourage you to take a look at the additional features are now available Google Meet. These include:

1. Automatically distribute recordings to your guest list when used in conjunction with calendar invitations.
2. Automatic Attendance. You will now get a spreadsheet emailed to you that contains who signed into the meeting and when they arrived and left the meeting.
3. Breakout Rooms. While meeting you pick how many breakout rooms you want and Meet will automatically and evenly divide your class into each room. You can reassign people to different rooms and then activate them. The presenter can enter and exit each room and students can come back to the common meeting to ask you questions.
4. Q&A. Once activated by the presenter, people can post questions in the Q&A feature. Once a question is posted, others in the class can vote it up by clicking the "thumbs up" icon. You can sort and respond to questions by the time they were posted or by their popularity (how many thumbs/upvotes received). 
5. Polling. Just like students can ask questions in the Q&A, you can poll your students using the polling feature. 
6. Direct Jamboard integration. Jamboard is a shareable whiteboard. You can use the Chromebooks in each classroom to write on a shared jamboard.
7. Custom backgrounds or blurring your background.
   
   
8. In addition to the spreadsheet of attendees, you will get information after the meeting containing a records of the Q&A activity, a transcript of the chat messages, and the results of any polls.
9. Streaming a meeting. Google meet allows up to 250 live participants in a meeting, but you can stream to up to an additional 100,000 view-only participants as long as they are signed in with their malone.edu account. This feature could be used to do an "all campus" meeting.

These are all included in the advanced features license. This license is automatically granted to all faculty and instructors. If you are not teaching and want access to these features, please let the IT help Desk know and we will activate a license for you.

Here are some resources for learning how to use Google Meet:

• Getting started with Google Meet including transitioning from Zoom and other tools
• More information on the newly added collaboration features
• Contact the IT Help Desk with questions about how you might utilize these features in your classroom or event.

Fix Display Settings Icons on desktop

One of the largest sources of Help button presses is when the three outputs/screens are not set up the way a faculty/instructor expects when [s]he comes into the classroom. To help address this problem, we have added three icons to the desktop of each classroom computer which will automatically configure the screens to the three most common configurations.

1. "Extended Display" - Three separate displays - both monitors and the projector behave as independent monitors.
2. "Duplicate Right Display" - Right/Second screen mirrored/duplicated to projector.
3. "Duplicate Left Display" - Left/Primary screen mirrored/duplicated to projector.

Sharing streaming content, e.g., Amazon Prime, Netflix, Disney, etc., in Zoom or Meet

Please note that if you are planning to share copyrighted material that is being streamed via a service, you may have trouble including that on a screen share in both Meet and Zoom. The reason is that many of these services have copy protection which prevents their content from being shared via another service.

We recommend that you test sharing of potentially protected content in your synchronous platform prior to class. Be sure to talk to your department's library liaison if you want your students to see a particular online video as a class. They have access to additional streaming resources that can make it available to all your students. 

Several platforms have a "watch party" feature that allows subscribers to their services to watch the same content synchronously, but not all of your students will have accounts so care must be taken not to exclude those students. 

IT Updates! Phiz. POs, Classrooms, and Mac Labs!

Hello Everyone:

In this update:

• Students, faculty, and staff: New Phiz Campus Directory inside of Malone Xpress
• Staff and faculty: Automated Purchase Order system rollout.
• The Owls are coming. Classroom cameras are changing
• Upgraded Apple/Mac Computer lab JC207 and JC205

New Phiz! (Campus Directory) inside of Malone Xpress

We are pleased to announce that the "Phiz" our campus directory has recently been updated by Levi Muriuki and our Jenzabar summer intern Corvay Chapman. Here are some highlights of the new system:

• Everyone: Mobile friendly so it is more useable when on a smartphone or other mobile device
• Everyone: Improved search. Search results update dynamically while typing.
• Faculty: Improved group interface allows faculty to see their automatically generated course lists (think photo directory so you can learn all your students' names and faces) for any current or future term classes. Previously you had to wait until the class was "in term" (a couple days before class started) before you could see the group.
• Improved information security measures
• Improved look and feel - It now matches the rest of the Malone Xpress platform.

Pleasse check it out on Malone Xpress and give us feedback! There is a link to a feedback form at the top of the Phiz page.

Automated Purchase Order [PO] system rollout

We have been working on an automated method for creating and approving purchase orders for quite some time. Here are some highlights of the new system:

• Automatic PO numbering - you no longer need to call the business office for a number
• Automatic approval routing depending on the account numbers selected in the system and total amount of the PO.
• Choose invoice or CC as the payment type.
• Project mapping if the purchase is part of a larger project or capital request.
• Automatic GL balance lookups for accounts which you have been set up to see in Malone Xpress.
• Soft-encumbrance: This looks at the balance in GL and subtracts any other purchase order amounts which are active in the PO system so you don't accidentally spend the same money twice!
• Check the status of your existing PO's using a saved query.
• The person who originated the PO request will receive an email with a PDF copy of the PO that can be sent to the vendor when the request is approved.
• Once approved, invoices related to the PO can be attached and will automatically be routed for payment when you/they are ready.

We are ready to begin rolling this out to departments one at a time. Please reach out to the IT Help Desk if you are interested in being an early adopter.

The Owls are coming. Classroom cameras will be changing

The Owl cameras are the classroom cameras we originally ordered for the classrooms. They should all arrive sometime in the month of October and will be immediately deployed to classrooms. The Owl cameras will be placed closer to the center of each room since they can "see" 360 degrees. These units have the ability to focus and show whomever is talking through the use of directional microphones. 

Upgraded Apple/Mac Computer lab JC207 and JC205

New iMacs have been installed in the JC207 Mac lab. Overflow workstations in JC205 next door have also been updated. The lab is now 4K video editing capable. Let the IT Help Desk know if you have questions or are looking for a particular software package to be installed. Remember that you can log into the lab availability portlet on Malone Xpress:

to see whether a lab has available computers as well as what software is installed on each workstation. Remember that the lab availability tool only works if you are on campus.