CATS BEST PRACTICES FOR COMMUNICATING WITH FACULTY : Moving
forward with the implementation of the new and upcoming technologies.
Facilitator: Sylvester “Sly” Donelson, CSU East Bay
Issues and Concerns:
 Push back in training
 Use of clickers
 Classroom technology
 Learning training and feedback
 Avoid failures- faculty not following protocols-bringing in tools that were not
compliant w/classroom systems
Standardization of technologies that aren’t supported by the CSU esp. when brought in
or introduced by the faculty member. Service Level Agreements (SLA) *Assessing the
equipment in the facilities before the quarter begins in order to generate a list of
compatible software and auxiliary components being used in class.
Lab usage: communication regarding the usage prior to the first day of instruction that
will help the class be successful. Review reservation list. Generate emails of
inroduction/solicitation. Increases compliance rate where the interaction needs to begin
before the first day of instruction.
Ask for faculty feedback regarding formal training sessions.
Now: faculty who has worked in classroom & had issues with IT tests beforehand.
Use tech rooms for orientations.
Posting phone numbers and e-mail addresses for the support staff posted in the work
stations and classrooms. Also a FAQ link that will have an SMS (chat) contact method.
This method will allow issues to be resolved before physical support arrives.
Having someone there during the first 20 mins. of instruction in order to help get the
classes started that required technology support.
Having the client/faculty record the problem in the facility to be left there so that the
techs can be aware that there is a problem.
Ideas:
 Generate an online training / screen shots tutorial that helps faculty with the LMS
which will help the faculty members with implementing their classes through the
new technology.
 Using diplomacy in your wording when empowering a faculty member to be
successful in their endeavors. We should try to TEACH and SUPPORT the
”centric” user, but with the client, we are hired to actually do the hand-holding
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work. This is especially an efficient approach when dealing with faculty who are
strictly on-line teachers that never come to the campus or part time lecturers.
“Welcome week” to give new, intermittent and returning faculty to disseminate
information regarding technology and support systems.
Brown bag events that serve as refresher courses for upcoming events and oneissue specific hands-on training.
Implementing policies that will prohibit the faculty from bringing in unauthorized
technology without it being approved by the IT/AT departments.
Communication devices/strategies that can be implemented during different times
of the semester/quarter in order to alert them to upcoming training sessions that
correspond to the current activities esp. university calendar reminders,
departmental admin. e-mails, electronic bulletin boards
Partner with more than one support department in order to combine resources and
plans of attack.
Stronger support documentation. Simplistic wording of operational
documentation.
In session support: Online forms go straight o tech support. Jabber server IM
secure transmit CMS IDs to other staff.
Media services support classroom 24hr. support ticket--HEAT—attach IM
messages to the actual tickets. The need to review tickets at night. Get feedback
after follow up on the ticket.
Review the evaluations to validate the reality of completing the task. Quality
assurance—call client to verify.
Help desk—Top 5 things for LMS
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Give links in e-mail direct links to tutorial
REQUIRED training instead of suggested
Incentives for faculty to attend the trainings
Sign-up people on mailing lists automatically. They will need to OPT-OUT of
the mass mails—concern phishing
Open labs for entering grades when support staff is available. This will help
generate compliance.