FAST FIVE for the week of September 8, 2013

News:

Unsung heroes: As students arrive back on campus this month and systems are straining to meet additional volume and new demands, help desks across the country are working overtime to provide support. The help desk team at the University of Victoria has received some wonderful praise from its clients: Recognition for great service

Social strategy: The British Columbia Institute of Technology has implemented an enterprise social networking system. The attached article describes some of the changes in attitudes needed to make the shift: New system / New culture

Making transfers easier: University of Toronto has released a new transfer credit system. This system is part of its student web service and allows students to check the eligibility of courses taken at other Canadian post-secondary institutions for transfer to the UofT. The tool also includes transfer credits among faculties at any of the Mississauga, downtown or Scarborough campuses. Transfer credit check

Adding bandwidth: Wilfred Laurier University has increased its external network connectivity from 1Gb to 10Gb through its ORION link. http://www.wlu.ca/news_detail.php?grp_id=0&nws_id=11524

Self-serve passwords: Algonquin College has introduced a new system called MyPass to allow faculty, staff, and students to change their own network password. This self-serve system will reduce calls to the help desk. Password changes

Question:

A recently published article from Inside Higher Ed indicates 12% of CIOs are assuming responsibility for campus libraries. What is your opinion of this trend?

The article is here: CIOs Wear Second Hat

Please respond to mprroman@gmail.com and I will post comments next week. Thanks!