Tech Bytes

A letter from the Director

01I S S U E

D E C E M B E R2 0 1 4

N E W S L E T T E R F O R S B S

T E C H N I C A L S E R V I C E S AT

T H E C O L L E G E O F S O C I A L &

B E H AV I O R A L S C I E N C E S

T H E U N I V E R S I T Y O F A R I Z O N A

Greetings SBS Faculty, Staff and Students;

my name is Ed Xia and I am the Director of

Information Technologies for the College of

Social and Behavioral Sciences. Over the past

few months our unit has undergone a makeover

to help organize our structure and we have been

feverishly working on fine-tuning our existing

services and creating new ones. The prima-

ry mission of SBSTech is to help the College

achieve its mission of academic innovation in

teaching, learning and research by providing reli-

able, timely and strategic IT solutions for all fac-

ulty and staff. We strive to provide responsive,

cost effective and quality information technology

services and with that in mind we offer expert

support in the following areas: application devel-

opment, web service, research support, desktop

service and server/network support. With all of

these new changes, our staff has consistently

managed to continue working above and beyond

my expectations and I would like to personally

thank them for all of their hard work. As we head

into the New Year I am excited for SBSTech to

continue to flourish and for our team to contin-

ue providing you with the best support. Happy

Holidays from everyone at SBSTech.

TICKETDOG SURVEY In late September SBSTech sent new surveys to people who had submitted service requests through TicketDog. The goal with these surveys was to gain insight into how people feel about our services, our employees and our response time to requests.The Director and supervisors are reviewing your feedback through these surveys on a daily basis. We encourage everyone to continue responding to them.

IN THIS ISSUE

Greet ings f rom Director P.1New Services Launching P.1

What’s New with SBSTech? P.2Welcome New Members P.3

NETID+ P.3Tech Spot l ight and Q&A P.4

Service Center Map P.5

New Services Launching

SBSTech is proud to announce

several new services that have

made their debut or will make their

debut soon.

E x t e n d e d S e r v i c e H o u r s

SBSTech is extending its service

hours and will now be open from

8am to 8pm, Monday through

Friday.

S e r v i c e C a l l C e n t e r

SBSTech has established a new

call center (621-1596) that caters to

the needs of staff and faculty, who

have an emergency and need sup-

port right away.

S u p p o r t T h r o u g h R e m o t e

C o n n e c t i o n

SBSTech will be able to support

your device remotely with the

aid of a new software program

called Bomgar. You will have the

opportunity to choose this service

when you submit a ticket through

TicketDog.

G r a n t p r o p o s a l s

SBSTech can assist PI grant writ-

ers with technology evaluations

and estimates for their proposals.

Please TicketDog us as early as

you can if you plan to apply for a

grant.

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Comments about Our Technicians

“Josh (Albertson) is doing a great

job as our Marshall tech. I’m

hearing nothing but positive com-

ments from everyone, repeatedly.

He’s fast, cordial and very com-

petent. Great hire!”

“Thomas Martin solved my prob-

lem quickly. I was very impressed

with how quickly he diagnosed

the problem and provided a solu-

tion. Great work!”

“Deb (Petrich) was wonderful.

The speed of the response and

the skill of the problem-solving

were both excellent. Thanks for

making sure I had everything I

needed!“

“Drew (Woodard) showed real

initiative and creativity to solve

the issue with getting me a sec-

ond, functioning monitor to work

with the “new” computer recently

installed in my office (one of the

last-generation ones from the

SAL). He is very pleasant to

work with.”

TicketDog Report(June 30, 2013 ~ July 1, 2014)

Total number of tickets: 6,982

Average: 27.7 per work day

Desktop Service: 53%

Other: 16%

Network & Server: 8%

Purchasing: 8%

Website/Application: 7%

Lab equipment: 6%

In an effort to better serve the College, SBSTech has taken a few steps to accommo-date our faculty and staff.

During the month of October, SBS Tech took part in a Disability Resource Center train-ing course that was meant to better inform everyone about the University’s obligation and commitment to ensuring accessibility and what roles our staff could play in fulfilling this commitment. Accessibility issues seen in the electronic environment were highlighted in the training and demonstrations were given. Our staff left the training with skills they could begin using immediately in their daily work.

Along with the Disability Resource Center training course, SBSTech expanded its Desktop Support hours from 5:00pm to 8:00pm, Monday to Friday. The new service hours took effect on Monday, November 3, 2014. The goal of this time expansion is to ensure that all faculty and staff in urgent need of IT assistance receive technical support after regular business hours.

Three new support centers are in the process of being established in order to allow our technicians to work closely with staff and faculty and respond to requests in a timely manner.

The New College Website is scheduled to launch on December 22nd, 2014. Lizeth Mora has been working with Jennifer Yamnitz and John Stobbe on design and develop-ment of the new website structure and theme.

SBSTech Helps PI Develop Grant Proposals Thanks to increased interaction between SBSTech and SBS’s Associate Dean for Research, we are working to support the development of grant proposals in new ways. A prospective PI can request a meeting with SBSTech’s research team, during which the entire project is reviewed. SBSTech’s research team will discuss what it is you are trying to accomplish and once the team understands the broader issues, they can do more than find estimates for computers. They can suggest the best possible choices for any technology and make sure all of your technical bases are covered. The research team can ask detailed questions about the PI’s assumptions, including topics that will

affect the budget and budget justification as well as the data management plan. These efforts respond to the SBS IT Advisory Board’s study of SBSTech and recommendations for there to be a more defined and structured grant support

service.

What’s new with SBSTech?

“The primary mission of SBSTech is to help the College achieve its mission of academic innovation in teaching, learning and research by providing reliable, timely and stra-tegic IT solutions for all faculty and staff in the College”

Page 2

Department/UnitsPrimary Support

AIS: Drew Woodard

ANTH & BARA: Dave Thompsen

CMES: Josh Albertson

COMM: Thom Martin

DEAN’S OFFICE: Deb Petrich

ENGLISH: David Rodriguez

FREEDOM CTR: Josh Albertson

GWS/SIROW: Drew Woodard

SGD: Drew Woodard

SGPP: Deb Petrich

HIST: Dave Thompsen

JOUR: Josh Albertson

JUS: Josh Albertson

LAS: Drew Woodard

LING: Thom Martin

LMRS: Thom Martin

MAS: Deb Petrich

MENAS: Josh Albertson

PHIL: Thom Martin

SBSRI: Deb Petrich

SIRLS: David Rodriguez

SOC: Deb Petrich

SWC: David Rodriguez

Off-campus Sites: Mike Geary

Services Support

Call Ctr: Cassidy Martin

Call Ctr: Kaitlyn Colyer

Evening Shift: Mike Geary

GIS Support: Tawny Lochner

Purchasing: Juliana Luft

Event Support: Mike Geary

Research: Vanessa Garrison

New Faculty: Young-Gie Min

Other Projects: David Fletcher

Security: David Fletcher

Servers: Jeremy Smathers

Servers: Juan Godoy

Software: Ashwini Rajashekar

UA Vitae: Vanessa Garrison

Web Service: Lizeth Mora

Juliana Luft is SBSTech’s new

Administrative Associate, who will be

responsible for processing purchase

requests and performing general office

duties. Juliana is a University of Arizona

graduate, who was an assistant manag-

er at a clinic in Chandler before moving

back down to Tucson and joining SBS

Tech. Juliana enjoys working in admin-

istrative environments and likes to make

sure an office is running smoothly. She is

excited to be back at the University and

part of the SBSTech team.

Recently the University has dealt with

increasing issues of outgoing institutional

email being blocked by outside recipients,

such as cox.net, aol.com, gmail.com, etc.

This is primarily due to UA NetIDs and

passwords being continually compromised

and used to send large amounts of spam.

In an attempt to resolve this problem, the

University has decided to implement NetID+,

which is a two-factor authentication service

that enhances the security of UA NetID

accounts. The first uses of NetID+ will be for

Outlook Web App (OWA) and Virtual Private

Network (VPN), with a scheddule as follows:

1. On November 17, NetID+ was imple-

mented for all those who have already

opted in to NetID+.

2. By the end of January 2015, colleges

with defined Virtual Private Network

profiles for specific user groups will

be required to use NetID+ to

access departmental VPN

profiles.

3. By mid-April 2015, NetID+

will be required for all UA faculty and

staff to access OWA.

For more information on NetID+ and to sign

up for service, visit: http://uits.arizona.edu/

services/netidplus. If you would like assis-

tance with installing NetID+, please feel free

to submit a ticket through TicketDog or call

621-1596.

NetID+ (A messge from UITS)

Welcome New SBSTech MembersWith all of the new changes that SBSTech has undergone, three new members were hired in order to help the team provide technical support and service to all departments in the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences.

Josh Albertson has joined SBSTech

as an Information Technology Support

Analyst after working for the UITS 24/7

Support Center as a student worker for

the past two years. Josh’s past experi-

ence in IT includes software and hard-

ware troubleshooting, account adminis-

tration, and user support. His favorite

part of working in IT is that no matter how

much experience you have in the field,

there will always be new technology and

new things to learn. Josh will be respon-

sible for servicing the departments locat-

ed in the Marshall building.

Mike Geary also joins SBSTech as an

Information Technology Support Analyst

and has been a technology enthusiast

since he received his first computer at

6 years old. He worked in technical

support for the University of Arizona as

a student employee and since gradu-

ating has worked in technology-related

fields for the University’s Book Stores.

His interests are in privacy, security and

technological education. Mike will be

responsible for providing service to fac-

ulty members and staff during the day,

but also in the evening until 8pm.

Page 3

Questions & Answers with SBSTech

» Why does SBSTech primarily purchase products from certain vendors and not others?

At times people have asked us why we only deal with certain vendors and not others. Since our goal at SBS Tech is to provide you with the best knowledge, support and advice, we purchase specific supportable hardware from certain companies because we value the quality of their product. When we seek out hardware like computers, we prefer to look at companies like Dell and Apple because they have enterprise centers that cater specifically to business and educational institutions. This is extremely important because it allows us to speak with representatives, who know how to speak with customers in an educational institution and they also respond in a shorter amount of time. Companies such as Best Buy and Costco are tailored for at-home users and cannot provide

this type of service.

» What if I have an emergency that requires immediate assistance and I don’t have time to sub-

mit a ticket through TicketDog or I don’t have access to my computer?

If you encounter a problem that needs immediate assistance you can call our customer support center at 621-1596 and we will be more than happy to assist you as quickly as possible. If you call between the hours of 5pm-8pm and you are in class experiencing technical issues, our after-hours support technician will be available for assistance.

» Does SBSTech delegate a certain technician to each department?

Each department has a team that provides service, however there is one team member who is appointed as the primary point of contact. Please refer to the third page of the newsletter to familiar-ize yourself with the name of your department’s primary support technician.

» Would SBSTech check my budget justification and data management plans to make sure the details are

right? SBSTech can assist with both of these components in your grant proposal. Ideally, you should work with us in the early stages of your proposal before it has even been drafted. Early discussion will allow us to identify information such as data storage needs or data sharing limitations that could

potentially affect your project’s description.

Tech Spotlight David Fletcher

David has worked in IT for over 16

years and finds great joy in being

able to assist people with their IT

concerns. David has vast experi-

ence in many different facets in

the field of IT including: systems

administration, management and

instructional support.

Below is one of many comments

we received about David:

“I just wanted to say thank

you for assigning Fletch to our

event at 44 East Broadway on

Wednesday, June 18th. He did an

absolutely amazing job in very

challenging circumstances. He

was there to connect electricity

from the hallway to our loft and

run the PA system during the

event program, which involved

making many adjustments to

make sure the sound was right in

that huge, open room with high

ceilings, lots of guests, and loud

fans running. Thanks to his exper-

tise and efficiency, everything

went perfectly....”

Joe Bonito, Professor, COMM Jenn Earl, Professor, SOC (Chair) Bryan Heidorn, Director, SIRLS David Killick, Professor, ANTH Chris Lukinbeal, Assoc Profressor, SGD Cecile Mckee, Assoc Dean

Stephanie Pearmain, Admin AssociateNancy Sharkey, Professor, JOUR Sally Stevens, Executive Director, SIROW (Chair) Ed Wright, Profressor, JUC Ed Xia, Director of SBSTech

Tech Bytes Issue 01 December 2014

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2014-2015 SBS IT Committee Members

University Services Building888 N Euclid Ave. Room 302Tucson, AZ 85721-0158

520.621.1596 ph 520.626.2959 faxsbstech.arizona.edu