You see them at the end of every parade–beleaguered kids with wheelbarrows and scoop shovels. Just doin’ their job.
That’s where IT has traditionally delivered technology orientation to faculty and staff. At the end of the parade.
New UM employees endure a mind-numbing blizzard of bullet points about benefits, policies and paperwork during Human Resources’ 90-minute orientation program. Shoehorned in at the end–when brains and bladders are bursting–are a dozen departmental representatives, each with 90 seconds to cram in PSAs about their programs and services.
That’s the extent of a new employee’s formal introduction to campus technology. It’s barely worth the stuff in the wheelbarrow. We need to do a better job. It’s time for us to get on a horse and ride.
IT, with input from colleagues, is designing a two-hour introductory course to help new faculty and staff get off to a good start with campus technology. We plan to offer the course at least once a month beginning in August. We’ll also reconsider the collection of short courses we offer throughout the year that provide specific skills training. And we want to beef up online training and tutorials so continued technology training is accessible and convenient for employees.
Thanks to everyone who helped us with our survey and especially those who participated in our follow-up focus group. Keep your ideas coming.
