iPads @ BearLogic

Did you know that you can buy the new and highly coveted Apple iPad right here on campus?


The iPad is a revolutionary product at an unbelievable price! The iPad is the best way to experience the web, email, photos, and video. There are three demo iPads on display at Bear Logic in the University Center.

During a press conference just 6 days after iPad’s release, the CEO of Apple, Steve Jobs announced that approximately 450,000 iPads had been sold to date. This product is moving off the shelves faster than stores can get hold of them

Their first shipment of iPad’s came in at Bear Logic last Monday and by Tuesday, they were completely sold out.

You can still make it into the store to check out their new renovations to the retail space and the iPad demos. BearLogic is currently waiting for a shipment from Apple that will bring more iPads. They are taking preorders.

Sydney Specht, a senior elementary education major said that she think’s the iPad’s are really cool. “I’d buy one right now if I could!”

Specht also said that she liked the new layout of the store. “It’s organized, clean, and the staff is really knowledgeable.”

If you’re looking to get a great discount on a Mac computer, BearLogic is featuring a Tax Day Sale. Bear Logic will discount in stock Macbooks by more than 6%! The Tax Day Sale will be taking place on April 15th and 16th and includes all in stock Apple computers, Apple Protection Plan and displays. With the purchase of a Mac computer, you will also receive a free HP printer.

Bear Logic is also excited for the release of Adobe Creative Suite CS5 which is expected to be announced later this month.

Certified Apple Sales Associate, Jordan Metcalf, said that the iPad is a great tool for students to use, but feels that it’s important to check the product out before you buy it to make sure it’s the solution for you.

Jordan and the rest of the staff at BearLogic invite students, faculty members and staff to come into the store and check out the new iPads and store layout.

PUT AWAY THE NO. 2 PENCILS, INSTRUCTOR COURSE EVALUATIONS ARE GOING ONLINE!

Students, are you sick and tired of completely filling out the bubbles on the sheets used to get and give instructor feedback? Don’t worry about sharpening that No. 2 pencil because many of the instructor evaluation sheets can now be accomplished online, if your instructor chooses to use the new system. UNC’s IT department will be updating the archaic procedure formally called optical mark recognition, more commonly known as bubble sheets, this spring to a new web technology called EvaluationKIT.

Not all classes will be using this new technology this spring, but it is hoped that by the fall many faculty will begin voluntarily using the online course evaluation application. Not only is this a new and exciting technology, but it is also easier on our environment. Did you know that each year, the colleges and departments of UNC purchase and use approximately 60,000 forms? That’s a lot of paper. Not to mention, someone has to take all of those 60,000 forms and get them scanned… labor intensive and bad for the environment

About two years ago, the Center for Teaching and Learning (CETL) responded to faculty requests and put together a pilot using EvaluationKIT. The pilot proved to be successful and compatible with Banner and Blackboard. Extended Studies, CETL and I.T. are hoping that colleges and departments will voluntarily adopt the use of this new technology.

The majority of the funding for activity this came from the technology fee assessed to students and partially from the Center for Enhancement of Teaching and Learning (CETL).

If you’re a faculty member who is interested in using EvaluationKIT, please contact the representative from your college as listed below:

Clinton Harris                                  College of Education & Behavioral Sciences

Deborah Borelli                               Humanities & Social Sciences

Chris Vegter & Janie Voris              Monfort School of Business

Rebecca Croissant                          Natural & Health Sciences

Monica Coverdale                           Performing & Visual Arts

Colleges and departments who voluntarily use EvaluationKIT will have a lot of benefits. They will no longer have to pay for the OMR forms (bubble sheets), they will receive technical support and pedagogical evaluation assistance by request, they will be assured that only one evaluation will be accepted per enrolled student per course, they will be able to manage their own survey and get direct access to their college and department results only and also be able to provide their students with a common experience.

Let’s simplify things and lend a hand to our environment!

UNC I.T. Helps to Bring Internet to Rural Schools

University of Northern Colorado IT department only supports internet services at UNC, right?


WRONG!

Last year, UNC partnered with CBOCES (the Centennial Board of Cooperative Educational Services) to bring internet to rural school communities such as Kersey, Ault and Gilcrest. CBOCES is an organization which provides cost effective, shared educational services and programs for 15 member school districts located in the Northern Colorado counties of Larimer, Weld, Morgan and Boulder. Their mission is to provide value-added resources that enrich educational opportunities for all students though collaboration.

One of the reasons that UNC’s IT department and Enrollment Management area partnered with CBOCES for this project was to get publicity into schools, promoting UNC and getting their name out to students so it is at the top of their mind as a choice for higher education. The internet service that UNC provides for these schools is called EAGLE-Net and it provides K-12 schools access to Internet 2 which is an education and research network. EAGLE-Net is short for the Educational Access Gateway Learning Environment Network and is a Colorado cost-sharing, non-profit consortium. EAGLE-Net provides educational benefits and services to connected Colorado school districts. UNC’s IT department is enabling the access for a technology-rich and quality education to students in Kersey, Ault and Gilcrest. These students would not be able to connect to Internet 2 without the collaboration and help of UNC and CBOCES.

Antivirus and Firewall Protection for UNC Faculty, Staff and Students at NO ADDITIONAL COST!

Do your personal computer a favor and not only read this blog, but put the information to action! Malware such as viruses, worms, Trojans, spyware, adware, bots, zero-day threats and rootkits are just waiting for the opportune moment to strike your personal computer and crash it. Well, don’t worry because UNC’s Information Technology department has your back! You can forget about paying the $49.95 (give or take) to renew the AntiVirus software on your computer and take advantage of the Symantec download that the University is offering at NO ADDITIONAL COST!


UNC’s IT department has recently made Symantec available for download to your personal computer, which will help ward away attacks from nasty malware. Symantec is new AntiVirus software that is now available to faculty, staff and students at UNC on URSA. This new software integrates essential technologies such as antivirus, antispyware, firewall, intrusion prevention, device and application control.

It is important to download this software because it will help protect your personal computer as well as protecting UNC’s network.

To download Symatec to your personal computer, just log into URSA, go to either the employee or student tab, and you will find a link to download this protective software. It gives you a choice to download either 32 or 64 bit, depending on the architecture of your computer. If you are unsure of the artitecture of your computer, go to “My Computer” and then click on“Properties.” It should tell you what type of operating system you have, either 32 or 64 bit.

Be sure to take advantage of Symantec to protect your investment!

Employee Spotlight: Paul Sharp

This week the Information Technology department is spotlighting Paul Sharp. He is the director of client services and his office in the University Center, although he is often found in many other parts of the University of Northern Colorado’s campus. Paul has been working at UNC for more than 25 years. He really enjoys working for IT because he gets to work on a lot of different types of technology. If he could trade jobs with anyone in the world, he would trade with his father because he is retired.



Paul is happily married with 2 kids.

Being a Pilot: A Small Headache for the Greater Good

Chances are that you have been asked to be part of a pilot group at one point or another during your professional career. You may have even refused to take part because you didn’t want to deal with the inconveniences and headaches that participating in a pilot group can bring.

For those of you reading who might not know what a pilot group is, I will explain it now. A pilot group is also referred to as a pilot experiment, a pilot study, or just a pilot. According to Wikipedia, it is basically a small-scale preliminary study conducted before the main research in order to check the feasibility or to improve the design of the research. They are usually put together to avoid time and money being wasted on an inadequately designed project. A pilot is often used to test the design of the full-scale experiment so that adjustments can be made before rolling out the new project. The pilot participants have a vital role in critiquing the design so the design group can then make the changes necessary to make the change as painless as possible.

The IT department is often looking for people to test out new applications or changes to the ones that are already in use. Some of the applications that have been tested in a pilot group before being introduced to the rest of the UNC community include Windows 7, Office 2010, Apple 10.6OS, Internet Explorer 8, Thinapp Software Virtualizations, Grader, Academic Alert, Banner 8 and most recently MidTerm Grades and HP Thin-Clients.

On Friday, it was agreed upon that I would be a part of the HP Thin-Client pilot group. When I came into work this morning, I noticed that something giant and archaic was missing from my desk: my CPU (central processing unit). It was replaced by a smaller piece of equipment that was hiding behind my computer screen and was about the size of a Cheese-It box (regular, not family sized). Excited to be a part of cutting edge technology I tried to log on to my computer. It didn’t work the way that it normally did. Was I frustrated? Not really… Inconvenienced? Maybe just a little. So, I called tech support and they literally came running to my office to show me how it worked. After a two minute tutorial, things began to run smoothly. The tech support group asked me to keep a log of things that I noticed were different or more difficult. They want to know the bad things about Thin-Clients so that they can analyze and fix the problems before they are rolled out to a larger group. At the end of the day, I guess I don’t mind having a couple inconveniencing minutes to help improve a process and save other people from experiencing the same problems. I also really enjoy getting personalized support and learning the system a step ahead of everyone else.

If you’re a person who usually has trouble adapting to new technology, you are the perfect person to participate in a pilot. If you are a person who likes to be a step ahead of your colleagues, you are the perfect person to participate in a pilot. If you are uber-critical about new processes, you are the perfect person to participate in a pilot.

So, next time you are asked to participate in a pilot, say yes! Change can be difficult, but if you participate in a pilot you can help make change a positive thing.

Employee Spotlight: Jennifer Rasmuson

If you've ever been in the University Center, you have probably passed by Jennifer at least once. She is the Manager of BearLogic and has been working in UNC's IT department for five years. She obtained her undergraduate degree in marketing and then went on to complete her M.B.A. BearLogic currently employs eight people and Jennifer says her favorite part about her job is getting to work with students because "it keeps you young!" She thinks the most challenging part of her job is the fast pace in which technology changes. It can be hard to stay up with the newest trends. She also thinks that following the acronyms and "crazy tech talk" that her peers use can be hard because she does not consider herself to be a "techie." If Jennifer could trade jobs with anyone, it would be Michelle Obama because, "it's like being the President of the United States but without the extreme pressure." She thinks it would also fulfill her need to rule the world. "If I'm gonna shoot big, i should go REALLY big."

She wants people reading this to know that BearLogic is a non-profit retail store. It is not state funded. That's why students are able to get such great prices on all the the tech gear sold there. Any money made from BearLogic goes to the university general fund where it helps to keep students employed, among other things. "You have to buy this stuff anyways, so you might as well buy it as BearLogic and keep a student working! At the end of the day, the money you spend at BearLogic will come back to you in some say," said Jennifer.

Jennifer has a husband, Craig, who was the coach for UNC's basketball team for seven years. They have two awesome kids, Ella, who is 13 and Mitch, who is nine.

BANNER 8 UPGRADE: The "Rest" of the Story

You've heard about the Banner 8 upgrade and you know you have been affected by it, but do you really know what went into the planing and implementation of this project that was rolled out on budget and on time?



The short window of time that the system was down was just the tip of the iceberg for the University of Northern Colorado's Information Technology Department to roll out the Banner upgrade. It took months of planning, assembling and testing before the three day conversion that the university members saw on January 30th-February 1st.



The Banner product is used at More than 1,000 colleges and universities throughout the United States. Some colleges and universities have not upgraded to Banner 8 yet, but they are well on their way. The company that wrote Banner (SunGard) required all universities and colleges to upgrade by April 2011.



The Information Technology department began this project in July of 2009. It all started by researching how other universities make the conversion, taking the lessons learned from other institutions and applying them to make our upgrade smoother. After understanding the difficulties that other universities faced with Banner 8 and reading the documentation, IT staff had to build the 30+ servers it actually takes to run Banner. After assembling the server, test plans were written by IT and other departments. then the Banner 8 software was installed on the servers. After months of constructing a test environment, the Information Technology department asked Payroll, Accounts Receivable, HR, Accounting, the Registrar's office, Admissions, and other departments to conduct their tests to verify that Banner 8 was working correctly. Finally, after everything was tested, the Banner 7 information was transferred to Banner 8 and it was ready for faculty, staff and students to use.



All in all, the time, research, and effort put into this project was quite substantial and affected many people from the university. Many of the 70+ staff members in Information Technology worked on this project diligently for more than six months, as did personnel from Payroll, Accounts Receivable, HR, Accounting, the Registrar's office and Admissions.



Next time the UNC's systems are down for maintenance, you can bet that staff members have been putting in a lot of extra time and effort to make sure the maintenance or transition goes smoothl



If you have any questions about the Banner 8 conversion, you can call technical support at 351-HELP.

Employee Spotlight: Heath Moore

Heath is originally from Longmont, Colorado and has been working at UNC's IT department since November. He currently maintains and installs smart classroom technologies. His favorite thing about working for IT is that he can help students in their learning process by keeping the smart classrooms up and running. When there's a problem with a smart classroom, he's a man to fix it! He loves contributing to education, "even if it's just a little thing like fixing a problem with the smart classroom." I asked him, "if you could trade jobs with anyone in the world, who would it be and why?" To which he replied, "Well... I think my boss is going to read this, so I'm going to say that I don't want to change my job with anyone!" Then he thought for a moment and said, "Pat Boland, so i could own the Denver Broncos!" One of his favorite quotes is, "Be patient with the new guy, he's trying to learn as fast as he can." Heath is married to his high school sweetheart, has 3 great boys and a dog named Lilli.

Reader Spotlight on Abdullah ALbagshi

Meet Abdullah ALbagshi!!

What year are you at UNC?

Freshman, and honestly, I find it difficult to belong to this place for many reasons. At the top of this list, it's Geographical location.
In Saudi Arabia, I went to an all boys school, so it is different to be in a university where there are more women than men.

What major are you studying?
Right now, i am studying special education, but I'm thinking to change my major to communication disorder or speech debility.

what do you want to do when you graduate?
I will return to Saudi Arabia and find a good job there.

Is there anything you would like to say to the IT department at UNC?
Keep going! Make school easier for us and please be more specific when you explain something. Be patient with international students like me! I have a hard time understanding IT stuff.

Sharepoint- Get With It!

University of Northern Colorado Colleges and Departments- are you a part of Sharepoint? If you aren't, you really should be. Sharepoint is a versatile technology that UNC faculty and staff can use to increase efficiency of business processes and improve team productivity. It offers tools for collaboration that help people stay connected across organizational and geographic boundaries. Sharepoint can be accessed from any browser, anywhere.

Sharepoint offers a secure single workspace for your college or department to coordinate schedules, recognize birthdays, organize documents and participate in discussions. It will allow you to author and manage documents, let others check out the document before editing, view past revision, and restore previous versions. Sharepoint also offers a place for the colleges and departments, whop have their own site, to participate in forums such as blogs and wikis. This tool will help you to create community within your college or department.

The best part about Sharepoint is that it comes at NO ADDITIONAL COST to faculty and staff members!

If your department or college would like to create their own Sharepoint site, it's as easy as filling out a form and faxing it to the Technical Support Center. Before you know it, your group will have these tools at their fingertips, wherever they can open an Internet browser. To get a copy of the form, go to www.unco.edu/it and click on the "forms" button on the left hand side of the page. Once you are there, click on number "3". Scroll down and click on "Sharepoint", and finally you will be able to open and print the Sharepoint Site Creation Form.

Don't let you college or department go another day without using this collaborative tool that is readily available for your use.

Worms, Spyware, Trojan Horses, Viruses and MORE!

Does your home computer seem to be running slow? Does it seem to have a mind of its own? If so, your computer may be infected with malware. Malware is short for malicious software which gets installed without your knowledge. Some more common types of malware are viruses, spyware, worms and trojan horses.

To help prevent malware it is important you have a reputable antivirus and keep it updated. Pop-up blockers keep those annoying advertisements from appearing, but they can also stop malware from being downloaded. Other ways to protect your computer are using a personal firewall, keeping Windows updated and knowing the files you share with other are not infected.

Even with all that protection, your computer can still get infected. If you are a member of the UNC community and you suspect your personal computer has malware installed, you may bring your computer to the Information Technology's Bear Logic at the University Center and let our service center fix your computer. The Bear Logic Service Center is very affordable and has all the tools to get your home computer cleaned of malware. For more information about Bear Logic's Service Center, please visit http://www.unco.edu/bearlogic/GeneralArea/service.htm

Self-Paced e-Learning from SAS

SAS is a software package providing data manipulation, statistical analysis and reporting. SAS is licensed by the university for student use at no cost to the student.

Included in the university license of SAS software is unlimited access to basic SAS Self-Paced e-Learning courses. These web based courses provide instruction on basic SAS software concepts, programming, data manipulation, analysis, and reporting.
Available Courses:
· SAS® Programming 1: Essentials
· SAS® Programming 2: Data Manipulation Techniques
· SAS® Programming Introduction: Basic Concepts
· Advanced SAS® Programming
· Querying, Reporting, and Analyzing Data Using SAS® Enterprise Guide®
To access these courses
· Go to https://support.sas.com/edu/viewmyelearn.html
· Create a SAS profile account using your e-mail address and a password.
· Enter the activation code(s) for each of the desired course(s).

Please call the Technical Support Center at 970.351.4357 in order to obtain the activation code for the desired course you wish to take.

SAS software will be needed to participate in these courses. SAS software can be obtained from The Barnes & Noble College Bookstore or is available in the following Labs:
· Candelaria 0345 PC Lab
· Gunter 1530 Lab, 1700 Lab
· University Center Computer Commons Lab

If your browser questions a website's security, stop, think and verify

When visiting the "https" secure sites of banks and online shopping retailers, you may see an onscreen warning, such as "There is a problem with the website's security certificate" or "Secure Connection Failed." Don't just click to continue or to make an exception. The warning may only indicate that there is a harmless temporary problem with the site or with the network. But it can also mean that the site is bogus or has been compromised by hackers, and someone is listening in on your conversation with your bank or retailer.
Be smart. Contact your bank or retailer by phone to find out if they know about a problem with their website or the network. Don't be the next victim of fraud.

Winter Break Classroom Changes

We have just finished the upgrade of technology in eight classrooms. These classrooms are part of the “FY10 Classroom Build Project” that will continue through the summer of 2010.

Five classrooms that didn’t have technology, are now equipped with a projector, electric screen and sound system with speakers.

Three rooms were upgraded from Projector Rooms to High-Tech Classrooms. High-Tech Classrooms have everything the Projector Rooms have plus an instructor’s lectern, laptop computer, document camera, VCR-DVD player and a push button room control system. All the rooms that were completed over the winter break are located in Candelaria Hall.

During the spring and summer, classrooms in Crabbe, Frasier, Guggenheim, McKee, Michener and Ross halls will be getting similar upgrades.

For more information about all the technology classrooms on campus, please visit the Smart Classrooms web site at www.unco.edu/smartclassrooms/smartclassrooms .

Banner 8 Implementation Update

We have reached phase II of our Banner 8 implementation. The test Ursa portal for Banner 8 is now available to the designated testing areas.

The new Banner 8 test link is http://Ursatest4.unco.edu. Use your firstname.lastname like you would use for production Ursa.

Please log on to ursatest4 when you need to access INB. INB links are available on the My Banner tab.

It is important for us to test the system in the same way you use Banner now. We will be contacting the student areas separately to test the student and faculty tabs.

We are planning on a Banner 8 go live date of 2/2/10. There will be a 3 day window prior to this date where Ursa and Banner INB will not be available.

Data Storage Expansion Project

UNC Information Technology department is expanding data storage for faculty and staff. The project will take place over the next 3-4 months and will be seamless to most areas. Storage is based on containers of space and will allow more flexibility when adding or removing disk space on an individual basis. For more information please contact the UNC Technical Support Center @ 1-4357.

Check Out Bear Logic For All Your Last Minute Holiday Shopping!

Bear Logic is UNC’s campus technology store, located on the first floor of the University Center. For the holidays, Bear Logic has stocked items that are highly requested for gifts. Great gifts like video game consoles, laptops, iPods, and accessories. Bear Logic has also special ordered things such as TV's, video cameras, some household electronic items, video games, and more! We are always happy to order items that are requested if they are available to us through our approved vendors.

Payment Plans
Employee Payroll
University employees may participate in the payroll deduction plan as long as they are approved through the Payroll department and have a purchase of at least $600 (we usually reduce to $300 for Christmas). The entire purchase is totaled with tax added and a $25 fee attached. Divide the total by 6 months and that is the payment amount that will be deducted from an employee's paycheck each month. You may only have one deferral in process at a time. If an employee leaves prior to a deferral being paid, the remaining amount will be subtracted from their last paycheck. If the remaining amount is more than the final paycheck, then the employee must make arrangements with Bear Logic for the remaining amount.

Student deferral
The student program is similar to the payroll plan except that students must be in good standing with the university. This is determined by reviewing their account balance and verifying that they are an enrolled student. Students pay their account over 6 payments, but the first payment is required at the time of purchase. The remaining 5 payments will show on their account monthly. Students may only have one deferral at a time. Note: Student employees do not qualify for the payroll deduction plan; they must be processed under the student plan.


These plans are not just available for the holidays, take advantage of them anytime!

Exam Scanning Survey Available Online!

If you use the Exam Scanning Services on campus, please take the survey located at www.unco.edu/it. This survey will help Information Technology assess how to better help you and your exam scanning needs in the future. Hard copies of the survey are also available at the Carter Hall Exam Scanning location, if you prefer to fill it out that way. Thank you!

Important Guide for Cleaning your LCD Screens Properly

Information Technology recommends you follow this helpful guide on how to clean your LCD screens. These screens are located on your computer, television monitors, and PDAs. These screens are susceptible to collect dust, lint, and finger smudges. A common mistake is to clean it like glass; however these screens can become damaged if the proper steps are not taken. Please refer to the following link http://www.cleanlcds.com/ to find this information and more, including a step-by-step guide to cleaning this type of screen. Also included is a list of materials needed for proper cleaning (cleaning fluid and cleaning cloth). These items are also available for purchase from this website. However, you may also get these materials at Bear Logic (UNC’s computer store), located on the first level of the University Center.

Information Technology’s Fall 2009 Newsletter is Available

Information Technology’s fall 2009 newsletter,“Technically Speaking”, is now available. It is the purpose of the newsletter to inform the campus of current and future Information Technology initiatives in an effort to promote effective communication. Blackboard, Banner, lifetime email accounts, new smart classrooms, and much more is available in this issue. Copies are in faculty and staff mailboxes today! Technically Speaking is also available online on the Information Technology website, or you can follow this link http://www.unco.edu/it/ITNewsletters/Fall2009.pdf.

New Upgrades Complete (ODS, EDW, and Evisions)

The Operation Datastore(ODS) and Enterprise Data Warehouse (EDW) were successfully upgraded over the weekend. The ODS/EDW system is now on version 8. This upgrade was a prerequisite for the Banner 8 upgrade planned in Feburary 2010. The Operational Data Store (ODS) is a short-term data storage, structured to facilitate easy operational reporting from Insight. Because report queries can exhaust a system's resources, the ODS exists apart from the Banner ERP database to help conserve the resources of the transactional system for daily operations.


Evisions Upgrade planned for 11/23/09 5am -7am. Evisions products(Intellecheck and FormFusion) are used with the University Banner software to provide document enhancement, distribution solutions, and enhancements to payment methods. The upgrade will allow for software to be delivered securely through a web client and will no longer require client installations. The new system has been tested in test environment by Information Technology and functional units on campus.

UNC's Operation Datastore (ODS) In the Process of Being Upgraded

Information Technology is upgrading the campus Operation Datastore(ODS). This system provides data to Insight and Webfocus reporting tools. IT will be upgrading to ODS 8 in preparation for the Banner 8 upgrade this spring. We have tested the new version of ODS against all of the Production Insight reports. Insight will be unavailable from 5 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 19, through 5 a.m. Monday, Nov. 23, while Information Technology upgrades the system that provides data to Insight and Webfocus reporting tools. IT can help test reports in development or make sure a mission-critical report is working on the new version. For more information, contact Bret Naber at bret.naber@unco.edu.

Maintenance Windows

Regular preventative maintenance on the UNC servers is conducted every Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday from 5-7am. During this period of time, access to various applications such as email, Banner, BearDrive, etc. may be disrupted. Maintenance does not typically occur on all systems on the same date and time; it may be possible to access certain applications during the regular preventative maintenance. However, if you cannot access a university system, please try back after the scheduled maintenance window (outside of 5-7am on Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday). Hopefully, preventative maintenance times will not conflict with any major events. However, if it is imperative that you have access to a system during our regularly scheduled maintenance time period, please notify the Technical Support Center as soon as possible and they will try to work around your needs.

UNC SharePoint = A Web Based Collaboration Tool!

Microsoft SharePoint is a unique online collaboration tool that can be accessed from your web browser, without having to install anything to your computer. SharePoint was designed to make collaboration between members of a team (the member must be an employee of UNC) efficient, effective, and comprehensive. With SharePoint, people can have access to resources and knowledge shared by their entire team. The features within SharePoint include: a calendar, file sharing, task assignment, announcements, surveying, helpful links, RSS feeds, and posting messages to Microsoft Outlook.

The calendar is beneficial because it gives a snapshot of important events coming up (meetings, vacation, absences, and holidays). With the file sharing feature (this is similar to a swap drive) documents can easily be accessed by persons within the team, allowing many people to work a particular document. Tasks can be assigned through SharePoint. This makes it easy to delegate and keep track duty assignments for your team. Posting an announcement can be done on SharePoint in order to inform your team of important news. If you are interested in feedback from your team, you can use the survey feature. This feature allows you to collect helpful data on how to improve within your team. If there are helpful links to websites that are relevant to your tasks and duties that your team performs on a regular basis, they can easily be posted onto the SharePoint page for all to readily access. An RRS feed can be subscribed to so announcements that are sent to the SharePoint will also be sent to your Outlook email account.

SharePoint was designed to keep people in touch with co-workers in an effort to facilitate and improve collaborative efforts. To get Microsoft SharePoint for your team, please visit www.unco.edu/it/supportu.htm and search “SharePoint Creation”. Follow the link “SharePoint Site Creation Form”, fill out the form, and fax it to UNC’s Technical Support Center at (970)351-1354 and a representative will assist you. For more information on using SharePoint and its many features, please refer to this tutorial http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/sharepointtechnology/HA102055631033.aspx.