TRITONLINK EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
MEETING
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2009
PC WEST BEAR ROOM – LEVEL 2
(2:00 - 4:00 PM)
Members
Steve Relyea, VC Business Affairs (Co-Chair)
Penny Rue, VC Student Affairs (Co-Chair)
Mae Brown, AVC Admissions & Enrollment Services
Cynthia Davalos, Special Assistant to Vice Chancellor-Student Affairs
Emily Deere, Exec. Director IT Applications, ACT System
Sydney Donahoe, Director Portal Services/ACT Systems
Jeff Gattas, Exec. Director University Communications & Public Affairs
Bill Haid, Registrar/ Admissions & Enrollment Services
Elazar Harel, AVC Administrative Computing and Telecommunications
William Hodgkiss, Academic Senate Chair of Division
Michelle Humphrey, Senior Director University Communications & Public Affairs
Rick Nornholm, Director Technology/Admissions & Enrollment Services
Barbara Sawrey, AVC Undergraduate Education
Beth Surrell, Director TritonLink Project
Jonathan Whitman, Director/Provost Muir College
Gabriele Wienhausen, Associate Dean/Education, Div. of Biological Sciences
Student Representatives
Rishi Ghosh , Undergraduate Student Representative
Manuel Ruidiaz, Graduate Student Representative
Members Absent:
Steve Relyea
Our meeting started with general introductions of all the participants.
1.
TritonLink Survey Update –Beth Surrell
A student survey focusing on the content, navigation and features of TritonLink is currently available. Based on comments
from the group, the survey will remain open until Nov. 24th to cover the initial enrollment period for winter quarter. Preliminary
results show students value the announcements and deadlines, quick access to tools and all information in one place. They are
interested in having us add the shuttle schedule and maps similar to what is currently on the new Blink. A surprising statistic is more
than 68% say they use the navigation of the site over the search feature. Beth will have final results for the next meeting.
II.
BLINK Re-Design Update – Sydney Donahue
Sydney provided a brief guided tour of the new Blink 2.0 Web site, featuring these elements in particular:
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Search feature in the header; soon to be expanded to call out people vs. site searches
Blink tab drop-down list and Tools lists in global navigation
Rotating news images, which now have a pause feature
Toolbox, with a link to “Forms” and “All tools” content pages; soon to feature new “MyBlink” section
Calendars widget, featuring links to 4 UCSD calendars
MapLink widget and expanded application
Link to live shuttle routes
Blink new and updated pages section with archive
Most popular pages section
Blink statistics for month of October:
 459,000 page views
 179,000 unique visitors (up from former average of 100,000)
 Academic Calendar: 20,000 page views
 Student/Class Info tab: 15,000 page views
III.
Academic Success Review Update – Beth Surrell
Beth reviewed the revised content of the Academic Success pages. The collective effort of Patrick Velasquez, Agustin
Orozco, Ed Spriggs and Karen Fisher helped get this new content up at the start of the Fall quarter. Karen continues to work with
Agustin for weekly teasers and updates to keep the page fresh and drive students to the content from the Academics tab.
IV.
Student Feedback Update – Beth Surrell/Cynthia Davalos
Beth and Cynthia suggested going to an open forum/focus group concept next year. This would allow us to identify key areas to focus
on and allow broader access to students who would like to be involved. Cynthia and Beth will work this summer to draft a schedule
for the 09-10 academic year.
V.
Status Update on Website Projects - Bill Haid
Subject: Initial Progress Report from Electronic Grades Workgroup
This is an initial progress report from the eGrades workgroup. On behalf of the workgroup, Bill Haid submitted this report to the
TritonLink Executive Committee. He anticipates completing the specifications stage of the workgroup and submitting a proposal
to you by the end of the year. Please contact me if you have any questions or wish to have additional information from me or the
workgroup.
Electronic Grades Workgroup - Initial Progress Report - September 30, 2009
Table of Contents
1.
Executive Summary
2.
Formal charge to workgroup
3.
Workgroup roster
4.
Schedule of meetings (past/future)
5.
Project tool – SourceForge
6.
Project scope
a.
System requirement template
b.
Process flow
c.
Step 3 document
7.
High level project estimate
8.
Timeline expectation
a.
System specifications complete by end of Fall 09
b.
Project proposal to executives by end of Fall 09
9.
Issues and resolution plans
a.
Sub-committees
b.
CEP topics for policy discussion/revision
c.
Process re-engineering opportunities
10.
Review of other UC systems for issue solutions, shared perspectives
11.
Executive review/approval to proceed – Jan 2010?
Attachments
A.
Charge Letter
B.
Workgroup Roster
C.
Schedule of Meetings
D.
Overview of SourceForge
E.
Project Scope document
F.
High Level Design and Estimate
Executive Summary
The University of California, San Diego is the only campus in the UC system to not collect grades from faculty using a web-based electronic
interface. Electronic grading systems have become the standard method for grade submission for institutions using integrated student
information systems and web-based interfaces and with the ability to identify and authenticate faculty and individuals with associated roles. The
fundamental support infrastructure is now or will soon be in place at UCSD to proceed with the development and implementation of electronic
grade submission. Faculty and administrators have identified electronic grading as an application of interest with significant benefit in reduction
of manual effort and improvement in workflow.
With a great deal of enthusiasm and energy, the eGrades workgroup has begun its work in earnest to determine the specifications for developing
electronic grade submission at UCSD. As described in this initial progress report, the workgroup is fully engaged in the activities necessary to
achieve its expected results.
Formal Charge To Workgroup
In a joint letter from VC Steve Relyea and VC Penny Rue, the workgroup was charged on
July 14, 2009 to work on the development
and implementation of a web-based grade submission application. The project is being referred to as “eGrades” as a working name. A chair
(Bill Haid, registrar) and eight other members were named to the workgroup. The workgroup was charged to produce this initial progress report
by the end of Summer quarter 2009, and a project proposal no later than the end of Fall quarter 2009. A copy of the charge letter is attached to
this report. (Attachment A)
Workgroup Roster
In addition to the chair and eight representative members named in the charge letter, other technical, functional and optional attendee members
have been added to the workgroup roster. There are 19 members on the current roster. Additional persons may be brought in for special topic
discussions or testing at later points. A copy of the current roster is attached to this report. (Attachment B)
Schedule of meetings
A small number of the current workgroup began meeting monthly in March in anticipation of the formal charge to this workgroup and to
designate eGrades as a project in the ACT work plan. Formal workgroup meetings began on July 29 and are scheduled twice monthly
throughout the summer and fall of 2009. A schedule of meetings is attached to this report. (Attachment C)
Project Tool – SourceForge
The workgroup has adopted SourceForge as the project tool used by ACT for tracking all documents and progress of this project. All members
of this workgroup have been given access to SourceForge and permission to interact with this project. Tina Ivany and John Baker from ACT are
the project administrators for SourceForge. This tool provides for document management, tasks and assignments for project members (such as
document or process reviews), tracking of comments and feedback, creating and tracking of discussion threads and forums, and technical tools
for the analysts and programmers at a later stage. The tool is proving to be very valuable to the workgroup and is helping to keep work,
assignments and documents in good order. An overview of Source Forge is attached to this report. (Attachment D)
Project Scope
A template used by ACT has been created for documenting the project scope and system requirements for E-grades. The business case and
description of the current and proposed process is based on the charge letter and the proof of concept presentation that was initially approved for
this project. The workgroup is reviewing all sections of this document and currently focusing on general requirements, which will become the
system specifications for the project. The general requirements are listed in three categories; committed, negotiable and out of scope.
Combined with business process diagrams and descriptions of current and proposed process, the workgroup is focusing their efforts on
reviewing and determining the system requirements by the end of the Fall 2009 quarter. A copy of the Project Scope document is attached to
this report. (Attachment E)
High Level Design and Estimate
As part of the process for project resource planning, ACT has conducted a high level analysis of the system requirements as they are currently
known and produced a high level design for the development and implementation of E-grades if approval is given. This high level design
incorporates the specifications and processes as they are currently envisioned. ACT used this high level design to develop an estimate of time
and resources to develop this project. At this point, the estimate for the core system requirements is roughly 9 person months with 3 FTE
assigned from ACT for the features listed on pages 1 through 5 of the high level design document. This does not include the expected effort of
functional and other campus staff. A copy of the high level design and estimate is attached to this report. (Attachment F)
Timeline Expectation
The workgroup is operating under a time line expectation of completing the specifications for electronic grading and presenting a project
proposal by the end of Fall 2009. Pending project and resource approval, a timeline for the development and implementation of eGrades will
follow. The workgroup is prepared to continue as a user-steering committee as the project moves into development.
Issues and Resolutions Plans
The workgroup is approaching the system specifications by examining current and proposed processes. Where clear consensus exists, the
workgroup is documenting that consensus. Where questions exist, the workgroup is engaging in discussion, discovery, and research.
Subcommittees are assigned to particular topics, such as incomplete grades. Some items are policy related and are being compiled for further
review by the appropriate authorizing body, i.e., CEP or Academic Senate. Where possible, re-engineering of processes for electronic
efficiency, process improvement, or simplicity are being considered. Other topics have been identified for discovery of how they are handled at
other UC institutions.
Review of other UC electronic grading processes
Contacts with 8 other UC registrars have been established for details of their electronic grading processes. Resources such as training
documents and web pages from the other UC’s have also been gathered and made available to the workgroup. Special attention is being paid to
instructional and training plans from other UC’s which could be utilized in this project.
Executive Review/Approval to Proceed
It is anticipated that a project proposal will be submitted from this workgroup to the executive sponsors by the end of 2009. The proposal will
include the project specifications and an estimate of resources, as well as a timeline for implementation.
VI.
Brief College Website Update – Jonathan Whitman
Here is the monthly digest of the websites that went live in the Campus CMS for the month of October.
October 16th
Sixth College Redesign:
http://sixth.ucsd.edu/
We worked with Sixth College to migrate their content by hand into the new campus-wide templates.
October 28th
Revelle College
http://revelle.ucsd.edu/
With the launch of Revelle College, 4 of the 6 Colleges are now using the CMS to maintain their website. Many thanks to
everyone involved to make this happen, especially:
Jonathan Whitman (All Colleges and Ringleader)
Greg Goldman (All Colleges and Master CMS Trainer)
Amy Herold (Roosevelt)
Shamara Madrid (Warren)
Chen Ming Chen (Warren)
Marita Beiner (Revelle)
Lynne McMullin (Sixth)
Shannon Sloan (Sixth)
Hopefully Muir and Marshall will one day decide to join the club!
We are actively working with the following groups to bring their sites into the CMS:
Ethnic Studies Dept.
Literature Dept.
Academic Internship Program
Center for Iberian and Latin American Studies
Division of Biological Sciences
Division of Physical Sciences
Philosophy Dept.
Women’s Center
Retirement Association
Get the Latest on the CWO…
You can always get updates by going to:
http://cwo.ucsd.edu/
Or by following us on Twitter at
http://twitter.com/campusweboffice
VII.
Student Systems Advisory Committee Review – John Baker/Rick Nornholm
This handout represents screen shots of a new Web site that will be used to manage requests related to functional changes in our
academic systems. This Web site was developed using a 3rd party product that ACT uses to manage projects and internal work. All
three committees chartered to manage and guide systems related to student systems (Academic Applications Response Team,
Student Systems Advisory Committee, and the TritonLink Executive Committee) will use this site to review, prioritize, and
disposition requests. The “rollout” of this site will be first to the Academic Applications Response Team, then to the Student
Systems Advisory Committee, and finally to the TritonLink Executive Committee.
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Meeting ended at 3:30 PM