Resources for Department Chairs - Information Technology

Resources for Department Chairpersons

Welcome to this resource website for CCRI department chairpersons. If there is any information you need that is not included please contact the Help Desk at helpdesk@ccri.edu or via phone at 401-825-1112, and we will add it.

Book Orders

Department chairs are responsible for approving and submitting all book orders to the Bookstore. Don Baker, Director of the Bookstore, will send an e-mail reminder of order submission deadlines (November 1 for Spring semester, April 1 for Fall and Summer semesters) prior to each deadline to all chairpersons. Although all book orders have been done using paper forms provided by the Bookstore in the past, as of October 2008 online submissions will be required. Training sessions will be scheduled during Summer and Fall 2008 on this new system.

Good reminders:

Faculty using a WebCT/Blackboard Learning System course e-pack with their students they need to forward the ISBN for the bundled product to the Bookstore so that students will have the access codes needed for the beginning of classes along with their textbook. If a book has been used for several semesters, faculty should also provide a separate ISBN for the access code so that students who purchase used books can also buy an access code.

Faculty utilizing media that comes with a textbook or specialized software need to notify IT via the online Technology Request form by the dates listed on the form to make sure that the computers are loaded with all the information needed by the beginning of classes.

Departmental Websites and Information Providers

Each department has an official website that is maintained by a designated member of the department called an Information Providers (IP). Information providers are expected to keep their site current and accurate. Department chairs should do an annual review of their departmental pages to verify that they are up-to-date and reflect the goals of the department. View a list of information providers on the About IT webpage. Any questions about, or changes to, a departmental website should be directed at your department's information provider. Broader questions about the CCRI website may be sent to IT's Web Manager Jim Kirby at: jkirby@ccri.edu. More information about the CCRI website, including policies and stats, can be found at: hhttp://www.ccri.edu/web/.

Handling Data

Department chairs have a variety of tools to input, aggregate and analyze data for their departments. Special security is attached to many processes and requires special permissions to be set on a department chairperson's account to allow access. Permission granting agents differ by system.

Banner Purchasing Authorization Request Form - Security access to the Finance module in Banner allows you to order, approve and track requisitions for your department. In addition, chairs can view their budget allocations online through this module.

Banner Student Authorization Request Form - This security access to the Student module in Banner gives you access to assign faculty load and run authorization reports for adjunct payroll.

Discoverer - When you have accepted a chairperson position you are automatically given security access to Discoverer by IT. This tool allows you to run reports from course data, student data, grad lists, student addresses, grading verification etc. A full list of reports is listed at: http://it.ccri.edu/Banner/CCRI/discoreports.shtml.. You will have to log in to this page with your domain account (usually your Pipeline username and password). Training is provided by the IT MIS group and full documentation is available on the Banner webiste for reference.

Pipeline - Once you have authorization you can use some of the Banner Finance functions right from within Pipeline. More information on this utilization can be found in the Finance Quick Reference Guide. In addition, faculty can access many resources directly through their Pipeline account. One example is displaying a roster from any course by typing in a CRN to the Faculty Schedule form under the For Faculty tab. Faculty can also get student contact information for any student registered for their courses.

Departmental Network Shares - IT has set aside special password-protected storage space for each department on a server referred to as departmental shares. This storage space allows members of a department to safely store and share data and is accessible via domain accounts across campuses. All departmental shares are backed up every night to provide extra security and are the best place to store important data. Keep in mind that all members of the department with domain accounts can view any unsecured data on this drive so if you are storing sensitive or confidential data it is best to password-protect your files. For more information and steps on password-protecting files see the Departmental Network Drives page.

Help for New Faculty

This Orientation to IT for New Faculty site was designed to inform and guide new CCRI faculty and would be a helpful link to provide your new hires.

Human Resources

The Office of Human Resources site has all the union contracts and handbooks along with information on benefits, retirement, lecturers payroll, a host of forms, calendars, and so much more.

Important Policies to Know About

Data Security Policy - defines the guidelines for the security and confidentiality of data maintained by the Community College of Rhode Island (CCRI), both in paper and electronic form.

Electronic Communication Policy - identifies electronic communication as the official means of communication within CCRI and defines the responsibilities of CCRI students, faculty and staff related to electronic communications.

E-Mail Aging Procedure - describes the policy on removing mail from the server.

Procedures for Requesting Data - ensures that requests for data are directed to the appropriate parties responsible for information distribution and to ensure the accuracy of all reporting.

Responsible Use of Information Technology - defines responsible and ethical behavior that guides faculty, student, and staff use of information technology resources at CCRI.

Technology Renewal Plan - details the replacement cycles for all College-owned technology.

Wireless Network Policy - explains the regulation and management of all wireless access points and the radio frequency bands used by wireless technology to ensure fair and efficient allocation and minimize collision, interference, unauthorized intrusion and failure of the wireless network.

World Wide Web Site Policy - guidelines for the use of CCRI's website as an official publication.

Learning Resources Center

Information on LRC processes and procedures can be found on the Library Information pages. To create electronic reserves for courses (especially helpful for distance courses) faculty would follow these steps:

Go to your campus library and fill out paperwork with information on the content to be reserved, along with any copyright restrictions
If the content is only in print form, the documents must be scanned into a pdf file (this can be done by library staff or by individual instructors using the equipment in the Centers for Instructional Technology)
Once the content is in an electronic format (which may take up to a week if done by library staff) then a librarian would upload the file to the HELIN server which organizes and delivers the files under Course Resources listed by instructor and course.

Marketing and Communication

The Department of Marketing and Communication website cocontains information on guidelines for official CCRI communications, including writing style guides and graphics standards, as well as the process for external publicity and internal publicity for programs or special departmental events.

PC Replacements

A Technology Renewal Plan governing all faculty, administrative staff, lab and classroom PCs is in place to provide regular replacement of old equipment. Replacements are identified based on an equipment inventory kept by the Department of Information Technology with the oldest equipment having first priority. A certain portion of new equipment is set aside for new employees each year and chairs may be submit requests for PCs for new faculty by contacting the Help Desk. Any new initiatives involving technology can be requested by chair persons through the use of the online form at: http://it.ccri.edu/forms/new_initiative/new_initiative.xsn by March of each year. The number of replacements and new equipment are subject to available resources for the year.

For more information on PC replacements, including the faculty laptop initiative, see Desktop Computer Replacements. .

Scheduling Classrooms with Technology for Faculty

Department chairs are responsible for communicating faculty needs for classrooms with technology to Enrollment Services on the master schedule. Faculty should be polled in advance of submitting the master scheduling about their technology needs so that they can be scheduled in the correct rooms. If faculty neglect to inform a chair of their needs, if a new faculty member comes in with technology needs after the submission of the master schedule or if cancellations or changes occur, a Request Form for Classroom Adjustment should be completed as soon as possible. A list of rooms with technology at each campus can be viewed at: http://it.ccri.edu/classrooms/techclassrooms.shtml. Note that if a course is offered in an alternative delivery method, such as fully online, telecourse, or hybrid, this information should also be included on the master schedule so that the correct information is disseminated to students and rooms are not reserved unnecessarily. Any change in class size to accommodate an alternative delivery method should be forwarded for approval to the Dean or Vice President before inclusion on the master schedule. Questions may be forwarded to Cathy Tessier (ctessier@ccri.edu) or Renee Gaboury (rjgaboury@ccri.edu).

Classroom Equipment Requests

If there is no room with technology available or for occasional technology needs, faculty may contact IT Classroom Support at 455-6111 or via an online Equipment Request form on the IT Services - Request forms site to have equipment delivered to their classroom. Requests should be made at least 24 hours in advance to guarantee availability.

Video Conferencing Courses

In the case of under-enrolled courses at one campus, chairs may opt to video conference a fully-enrolled section of a course to another campus to avoid cancellations. For more information and to learn how to schedule video conferencing see Interactive Video Conferencing. .

Software

Microsoft Office

The Microsoft Campus Agreement allows full-time faculty to borrow the Microsoft Office Suite from their campus IT Department to install on their home computers. This agreement includes multiple versions of Office up to the current versions. Faculty and staff may contact the Help Desk to have their office PC upgraded to the latest Office Suite to match the applications currently running on all classroom and non-departmental lab computers. See the Microsoft Campus Agreement page for additional information.

Lab and Classroom Software Requests

Faculty who would like to use specialized software in a classroom or public lab must notify IT through the online form on the Request Forms page by the dates listed on the form in order to assure that the software will be up and ready for the beginning of classes for each semester. This includes any CDs that come with textbooks that may be used in our labs and classrooms as well as software for devices like clickers. Note that faculty will have to provide licensing information for software loaded in classrooms and public labs and that dedepartment chairs are responsible for keeping annual licenses current.

Vice President of Academic Affairs

Go to this site - http://www.ccri.edu/acadaffairs for a wealth of information for chairs, including links to important forms for things like promotion and tenure, authorization for reduced work load and sabbaticals, curriculum proposals and experiments, academic appeals, lecturer authorizations, etc. Additional targeted information and forms may also be found on the Deans pages listed below.

Dean of Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences

Dean of Business, Science & Technology

DeDean of Health & Rehabilitative Sciences

WebCT (Blackboard Learning System) Course Management System

WebCT (now renamed as Blackboard Learning System or BLS) is the course management system used for 98 % of CCRI's web-based supplemented, hybrid and fully online courses. As of Summer 2008, CCRI is using Blackboard Learning System CE 4.1 (formerly known as WebCT 4.1). The URL for this version is: http://webct.ccri.edu. Accounts are automatically created from active student and faculty accounts in Pipeline using the same usernames and passwords. These Pipeline accounts are manually uploaded at the beginning of each semester by IT on a daily basis. Students must activate their Pipeline accounts in order for them to be included in the WebCT CE 4 database. Faculty can request new WebCT course shells on the server by completing an online form. WebCT (BLS) documentation is online at: http://it.ccri.edu/Documentation/webct/webct_documentation.shtml.