Five Habits for Happy Tech Users at EMU
February 1st, 2010 – by Jack
On most work days I can honestly say that I begin my day thinking “How lucky can I be?” Our work is purposeful and hopefully transforming for our students; and the campus community is appreciative of the effort the Information Systems department team members put forth to ensure that the best technology we can afford is available and running well. But every now and then something happens where either a campus member’s expectations are not met or we (IS team members) ask “Did our customer really think that could be done?” or “Didn’t they know we have a policy about that?”.
If you ask me what five things I’d most want the EMU campus community to know about expectations for technology at EMU, I’d mention these:
1. PERIODICALLY LOOK AT OUR WEB PAGES: We try to publish as much information as possible to explain how technology is provided on at EMU. When you have a question or just periodically, take time to review our published information at our website www.emu.edu/is. The left column of the page provides links major areas of interest. The big helpZONE link in the middle of the page is a wiki that we use to provide all of our online help and documentation.
2. CHECK WITH US EARLY: We get to help with a lot of projects and if what you would like to do involves ANY type of technology we can help you best if you talk to us early in the process. The sooner the better! Sending an e-mail to helpdesk@emu.edu is our preferred method of hearing from you about anything. As soon as your message hits our Helpdesk mailbox an electronic record is created in the form of a Helpdesk ticket which is then used to track all of our efforts to get answers to your questions or technology resources for your requests.
3. IT IS NOT YOUR HOME PC: Your desktop or laptop computer may look like the one you have at home, but the one owned by EMU is very, very different. Info Systems is responsible for deploying and maintaining over 800 computers and we do this with less than half a dozen persons. For each individual computer there is no way for us to manually install and update software, configure it for the network or ensure that it is network-worthy. We have invested heavily in server-based administrative systems to perform much of this work which is quite different from the way you operate the computer you own at home. EMU provides you with a computer to help you do your work. Use it for work and use your home computer for personal matters.
4. LET INFO SYSTEMS DO THE PURCHASING: We are surprised how often someone starts telling us about some technology device or system that would help them do their work and then they say “shall I just go pick one of them up at Staples?”. The answer is “No, please don’t”. If you are using EMU funds or funds being donated to EMU for a particular project, the university policy is that all technology purchases must be made centrally through Info Systems. The reasons for this are described in the Financial Processes section of the Technology Resources Allocation Policy. Talk to us. Send a message to helpdesk@emu.edu to start the conversation and we pledge that we will work very hard for you. You will be happy and we’ll be even happier.
5. EMU-OWNED SOFTWARE MAY BE INSTALLED ONLY ON EMU-OWNED COMPUTERS: Most of the software that runs on EMU-owned computers is “site-licensed” and installing it on any computer not owned by EMU is in violation of the provisions of the license. This is another reason that trying to purchase technology on your own to use at EMU quickly leads to many complications and unmet expectations. If you have an idea that involves software — talk to us first. We want to help you, but we can’t if you don’t share your ideas with us early.
If technology users within the EMU campus community practice these five habits I believe they will have a solution that works well within our technology environment, we will be able to deliver it efficiently and, all things being considered, it will be at the lowest possible cost.
Jack Rutt — Director, Information Systems