CR ITS Organizational FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) Note: for our departmental FAQ regarding technical help for our online services, please go here.
Where is the Information Technology Services Department physically located?
Information Technology Services is located on the lower floor of the Administration Building, just downstairs from the main student information lobby. Our room number is AD106. Who works in ITS?
ITS includes our Operations staff, who perform various important tasks including overseeing processing, printing, data retrieval and reporting for the College's internal operational systems (student records, online services, budget, payroll, and so forth). Operations staff also run the College's Help Desk, providing assistance to students and staff in using CR's online services including WebAdvisor and Blackboard. ITS also includes our Programming staff, who write and update the programs that handle most of the processes noted above, and who interact with vendors who write those programs as well. The Programming staff also helps directly on occasion with Help Desk support. ITS also includes Technical Support Services staff, who maintain and repair the College's networks, computers, printers, desktop software, and related resources and who run the phone and email systems and assist with move of offices and other renovations. Who works closely with ITS?
The Technology Specialists at CR's Del Norte and Mendocino Coast centers work closely with ITS and attend our weekly technical staff meetings by phone conference. The Technology Specialists in CR's Computer and Information Sciences academic department and DSPS program also work closely with ITS and attend our weekly technical staff meetings in person. In addition the Technology Advisory Group, or "TAG" committee, meets weekly from 8:30 to 9:30 a.m. in the Eureka campus Board Room. This group, whose agendas and minutes are published in the College's Outlook Public Folders, coordinates technology services and policy across the College. The standing members of the committee include two Academic Senate representatives; various "data owners" from the major administrative units in the College; and ITS and other District technical staff. The TAG committee meetings are open to any interested College staff to attend.
What is the mission of ITS at the College of the Redwoods?
The mission of Information Technology Services consists of the following requirements set forth in the College's 2020 Education Master Plan: - Maintain up-to-date technology to support academic and administrative functions
- Ensure that all classrooms continue to meet adequate technical standards across the college
- Ensure that distance-delivery capabilities continue to develop
How does ITS assist the new Institutional Research Department?
ITS has long provided operational output in the form of mailing labels, printed checks, data extracts and a wide range of reports to College offices and outside agencies with a legitimate interest in CR's data. However it has never undertaken the complex and sensitive task of interpreting that data, gauging its significance in assessing the College's broader goals, or using it as part of conducting formal research. The Institutional Research Office has a professional staff who will help place the District's operational data in a broader context and use it to construct a Data Warehouse allowing scholarly analysis of trends over time. ITS is working to provide Institutional Research with as broad an array of extracted data as is possible within the constraints of fiscal control procedures and data privacy responsibilities. Some of these activities to help IR include the following: - providing a daily extract of important data files and elements
- documenting the procedures for storing and processing existing data
- provisioning and maintaining a high-capacity data-storage Microsoft SQL server for IR to use as centralized source for data and information
- documenting and sharing ITS' processes and procedures for internal and external data retrieval requests
- developing and maintaining college-wide mechanisms for publishing and sharing information
- installing and maintaining data-access tools that can provide IR staff with a powerful and flexible environment for developing new reports and data extracts
ITS is currently reviewing its existing data request and service request forms in an effort to make them as easily and widely available to CR staff as possible. |
