IT Services
A Department of Learner Support Services
We have responded to the issues raised by students in our first ever survey. A web site was created which sets out the responses we have made and we have also put up a number of large format posters in each of the student PC cluster rooms with a detailed summary of the actions.
In a related initiative to improve the overall environment on level 01 of J. B. Priestley Library in particular, a site survey took place with our Fellow In Arts, who identified some really exciting new visuals for corridors and open spaces which complemented the current exhibition of student photography on display in the Richmond Building atrium. We now have an art space that has transformed the look and feel of this part of the Library. Signage for office doors now identify who we are and where we live.
The self-service student printing facility has continued to work very effectively. The total annual volume across the main self-service printers exceeded 1.5 Million pages in the last year. We compared the print volumes with the new service to the previous system and although there is an increase in the volume of paper that is being printed there is almost no waste paper (the problem we had in the past). Highlights include:
The University has procured this system (About UoB) initially for iPhones and iTouch, and also available cross platform (on smartphones and via a web browser). Bradford already has a dotmobi site and has been a pioneer in accessibility in particular. We are already active members of the inaugural University User Group and have been partners in the ALPS (Assessment of Learning in Practice Settings) initiative, hosting the multi-institution helpdesk. Our IT strategy reflects the fact that more and more students will have access to this sort of mobile technology which enables new ways of accessing a wide range of University services. We are also working on facilities which will complement the CampusM project, such as preferential student deals on mobile contracts and links with the Pebblepad and Questionmark Perception software. We are also collaborating with colleagues in the Academic Development Unit and SCIM towards a JISC funded project which could improve the student experience by interaction with the lecturer in the lecture theatre.
We are pleased to have secured external funding to enable us to extend the NorMAN out of hours IT telephone support service for a further 12 months. We will be reviewing the first pilot year’s operation shortly and believe that there are a number of opportunities to extend the service already offered.
We are pleased to announce the provision of new capacity (that’s incremental not substituting) of PC clusters on campus. A 30 seat purpose built cluster modelled along the F42 provision in Richmond Building has been approved and will be included in the Learning Mall of the new Student Central building hopefully available from start of next session. This is already work that is in progress:
The IT Service publishes real-time service information on the University home page, IT Services home page and cluster desktops. This is a transparent mechanism for all to see how key services are operating using a simple traffic light approach. The information is also provided in a format called RSS which allows feeds to other web-based systems. It is also displayed graphically on large screens within the J. B. Priestley Library.
All services are running as normal, unless stated here.
| Room | Number of Free PCs |
|---|---|
| J.B.Priestley 01.41 | 10 |
| J.B.Priestley 01.16 | 18 |
| J.B.Priestley 01.53 | 71 |
| J.B.Priestley 01.44 | 18 |
| J.B.Priestley Health Studies Library | 8 |
| J.B.Priestley Floor 0 Foyer | 14 |
| J.B.Priestley Floor 0 Scanners | 8 |
| J.B.Priestley Floor 1 Extension | 12 |
| J.B.Priestley Floor 2 Extension | 11 |
| J.B.Priestley Room 2.7a | 28 |
| Richmond J31 | 20 |
| Richmond L24 | 44 |
| Chesham C0.02 | 24 |
| School of Management Library | 5 |
| Richmond F42 (Sunray Cluster) | 99 |
| Student Central S038 (Sunray Cluster) | 30 |
