At 4 p.m., the IT team will briefly take OnTrack offline. When the site comes back online, the OnTrack login experience will have changed, and OnTrack will have a more streamlined look and feel.

Login Experience Switches to the 黑料不打烊 Account and Single Sign-On

OnTrack will join the many 黑料不打烊 applications utilizing the single sign-on system. Faculty, staff and students will begin logging into OnTrack with their 黑料不打烊 account username and password, which are the same account credentials used to log in to email, Moodle and other platforms. Users will no longer have to remember a separate OnTrack password.

With the move to single sign-on, OnTrack will have an extra layer of protection via 黑料不打烊鈥檚 multi-factor authentication platform, DUO Security.

New Website Experience

OnTrack will have a new look and feel that may already seem familiar. During the past few years, the Enterprise Solutions team has been working with business partners across campus to convert OnTrack pages to a more modern product offered by our vendor, Ellucian.

This product, Self-Service, offers a more mobile-friendly and accessible website experience. Those who have registered for classes using Student Planning, enrolled in benefits as a faculty or staff member, or updated their phone numbers under the User Profile have already experienced the new look and feel Self-Service offers.

Now that a majority of OnTrack pages have been converted to this new product, it鈥檚 time to take advantage of the other streamlined feature of Self-Service: a role-based homepage for OnTrack. The OnTrack homepage will be tailored to the role of the person logging in, whether they are an applicant, student, faculty, staff or sometimes a combination of these roles.

Users may still see some things not applicable to them, but the pages may be specific to others with the user’s role. For example, Faculty Office Hours are available to all roles. While all staff members won鈥檛 use Faculty Office Hours, some staff may utilize this page to determine schedules and coordinate activities for their department.

The screenshots below offer a comparison between the current OnTrack site and what users can expect with the new look and feel.

Navigating the New Site

Role-based navigation is also a part of the new OnTrack site. Users will navigate the site by choosing one of the featured links on the homepage, or by utilizing the site navigation running down the left side of the page. To learn more about what鈥檚 contained in these categories, review .

Questions?

Questions or concerns can be directed to the . In addition, IT representatives will be at College Coffee on Tuesday, Nov. 15, for any questions that emerge after the transition.

Conference Theme: Teaching & Learning Beyond the Pandemic

As we look beyond the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our institutions and classrooms, we envision a world that has both changed in radical ways聽and also聽still retains many longstanding challenges. Our collective and personal experiences during this past year and a half, as educators and human beings, may leave us better positioned to reimagine that future world together.

Conference sessions will explore: In what ways might we and our students cultivate meaning, purpose, and connection that reignite our passion for teaching and learning after the widespread burnout of COVID? How can we leverage the momentum of 2020 toward racial equity to continue to iterate toward more welcoming and just courses in which historically underrepresented or otherwise disadvantaged students can truly excel? And, as climate-related disruptions become increasingly frequent, how can we leverage our recent experience to create more resilient鈥痑苍诲鈥痬ore sustainable courses and institutions?

Conference Program

罢丑别鈥�2021 Teaching & Learning Conference Program鈥痳uns from 9:00am to 4:30pm EST, and includes the following session types:

• A 60-minute keynote address, 鈥淭eaching Distracted Minds: Old Challenges, New Contexts,鈥� by Professor James Lang, director of the聽D鈥橝mour聽Center for Teaching Excellence at Assumption聽College聽and author of five popular books about teaching in higher education. Read more about Lang below.
• 60-minute evidence-based, interactive virtual workshops that help us imagine and reinvigorate our pedagogy for the post-pandemic era
• 30-minute virtual presentations, each highlighting an innovative pedagogical strategy and evidence of its impact in a wide range of contexts
• A 45-minute networking and discussion session to close out the day identifying and sharing key takeaways and pathways forward

Plenary Speaker: Professor James Lang

James M. Lang is a Professor of English and the Director of the聽D鈥橝mour聽Center for Teaching Excellence at Assumption College in Worcester, Massachusetts.聽His most recent book is “Distracted: Why Students Can’t Focus and What You Can Do About It,” published by Basic Books in October 2020. Lang is also the author of “Small Teaching: Everyday Lessons from the Science of Learning”鈥�(Jossey-Bass, 2016),鈥�”Cheating Lessons: Learning from Academic Dishonesty”鈥�(Harvard University Press, 2013), and鈥�”On Course: A Week-by-Week Guide to Your First Semester of College Teaching”鈥�(Harvard UP, 2008).

Lang writes a monthly column on teaching and learning for鈥疶he Chronicle of Higher Education; his work has been appearing in the鈥疌hronicle鈥痵ince 1999. His book reviews and public scholarship on higher education have appeared in a wide variety of newspapers and magazines, including the鈥疊oston Globe,鈥疌hicago Tribune, and Time. He edits a series of books on teaching and learning in higher education for West Virginia University Press; he co-edited the second book in the series,鈥疶eaching the Literature Survey Course: New Strategies for College Faculty鈥�(2018). Lang聽has conducted workshops on teaching for faculty at more than 100 colleges or universities in the US and聽abroad and聽consulted for the United Nations on the development of teaching materials in ethics and integrity for college faculty.

For questions about the 2021 Teaching and Learning Conference, contact Kelsey Bitting, Assistant Director of the Center for the Advancement of Teaching and Learning.

• Date: Thursday, Jan. 17
• Time: Noon to 1:15 p.m.
• Location: Belk Library 205
• Register for this lunch and learn. 

• Date: Wednesday, Jan. 16 
• Time: Noon to 1:15 p.m.
• Location: Belk Library 205
• Register for this lunch and learn.

• Date: Tuesday, Jan. 15
• Time: Noon to 1:15 p.m.
• Location: Belk Library 205
• Register for this lunch and learn. 

Ryan Gay, service design manager in the Office of Information Technology, recently presented at EDUCAUSE, where he offered his insight into a new unit within IT’s Campus Technology Support called Service Design.This unit assists IT in streamlining the technology services that are available to the community. The EDUCAUSE conference is geared towards higher education IT professionals.

Gay, who has been with Campus Technology Support for five years, presented specifically on what service design looks like in a practical work environment. The intended outcome was to give attendees a better view of how to identify service owners.

When asked about the presentation’s goals, Gay commented that it meant to “give attendees a better view of how to identify service owners and service offering managers, as well as a real-world case example of how best practices translated to reality.”

EDUCAUSE paired Gay with fellow IT Service Management practitioners Todd Jensen and Meggan Levitt. Jensen is the Academic Technologies Manager at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and Levitt is the Director of Educational Technology Services at the University of California, Berkeley.

“Todd and Meggan were a joy to work with and present with,” says Gay. “It was odd—we were paired together on the presentation by EDUCAUSE and did not meet in person for the first time until 15 minutes before our presentation. Until then, all of our collaboration was via web conferences.”

Levitt and Jensen offered expertise they gleaned from working on an EDUCAUSE white paper that discussed theoretically the roles and responsibilities of service owners and service offering managers.

 Gay feels that the content of what he presented at EDUCAUSE is important to the higher education IT community for a myriad of reasons. He attests that it is not uncommon for IT organizations to become strapped with limitations and staff and budget, and as a result, many professionals are overwhelmed in focusing on daily operations or university priorities. Service Design is all about ensuring that what IT offers provides something of value to clients, so that organizational tasks are streamlined and efficiently managed.

 “We are able to help provide recommendations in this area so that staff can continue doing what they have been tasked with—keeping the lights on and the house running while still striving to bring innovation to campus,” says Gay.

At the conclusion of EDUCAUSE, Gay felt content in having imparted the importance of service design on conference participants.

 “For an end-of-the-day presentation time on the next to last day of the conference, the room was almost completely full,” he reported.

In addition to the high attendance, the audience was receptive and interactive when it came time to questions at the end. Afterwards, Gay was approached by many representatives from other universities from across the country that reached out for assistance.

 “An overwhelming response was ‘wow, we’ve been struggling this for a really long time—but y’all are actually doing it! That’s amazing!’” said Gay. “I made connections to universities both locally and across the nation, which will be valuable opportunities to reach out and collaborate with other institutions on future endeavors.”

To learn more about Service Design at 黑料不打烊, visit /u/bft/technology/about/departments/campus-technology-support/.

Are you interested in art, creation, or making an impression in downtown 黑料不打烊? Join the Maker Hub, 黑料不打烊’s Art and Art History Department, and Downtown 黑料不打烊 as they work together to decorate a portion of our downtown area. This public art installation will be displayed for the community to enjoy starting mid-October.

This event is open to anyone at the university as well as residents of the Town of 黑料不打烊. As art is family-friendly, faculty and community members are encouraged to bring their children. Shibori will be taught and practiced in Arts West, Room 114 from 5:30 to 8:00 p.m. There will be free pizza provided. 

If you’d like to take a sneak peek at Falk’s art before the event, her exhibit, Boundings, is currently on display in Arts West 406.

Summary Details:

• Date/Time: Tuesday, Oct. 2 from 5:30 to 8 p.m.
• Location: Arts West, 406 West Haggard Ave., Design Studio 114
• Create Shibori art for a public art installation, with guidance from visiting artist, Naomi Falk
• Free pizza provided
• Bring your family and friends

Ted Morée, a video producer on the Teaching and Learning Technologies (TLT) team, has been recently recognized with an Acorn Accolade. This award follows an eventful two years, as Morée joined the University community in 2016 and has been leaving his mark since.

“I love the variety of projects that come across my desk,” he remarks. “Even collaborations that aren’t strictly video-related can present interesting challenges, whether it’s recording a radio interview with a university archivist, snapping the IT department’s annual group photo or developing virtual home assessment tours for Physical Therapy.”

Morée stays actively involved in community-based organizations, and his work on campus is informed by a strong commitment to equity and social justice. Since coming to 黑料不打烊, Morée has pursued similar initiatives locally, on campus. He has participated in inclusion-related book groups as well as events. Morée recently participated in the inaugural cohort of the Intercultural Consciousness Certificate program at 黑料不打烊, a program that fosters dialog around cultural identity and views about difference. Morée’s culminating project involved surveying on-campus universal restroom facilities and promoting better wayfinding measures, including signage and updated information on the Gender & LGBTQIA Center’s website.

Considering his passion for community involvement combined with hard work as a video producer, it is no surprise that those who work with Morée offer high praise. Clients appreciate his exceptional work, and cite that he is a pleasure to collaborate with. One faculty member remarked, “It’s working with people like Ted that makes me love my job.” This is a sentiment echoed by many. Another nominee for the accolade wrote, “Ted is also a genuinely good person. When he swings by the office he makes it a point to drop in and see how everyone is doing. He also goes above and beyond to support his colleagues outside of the office.”

Morée sees the award as a happy surprise; as he’s still relatively new to the 黑料不打烊 team, he did not expect the honor. “I’m humbly grateful for the recognition, and will try to live up to the generous praise of colleagues who nominated me for the Acorn Accolade. This award is a perfect example of how 黑料不打烊 inspires hard work and loyalty by valuing employees.”

The Acorn Accolade is awarded each month to an exceptional member of 黑料不打烊’s Information Technology (IT) team. The individual must be nominated by his or her department head to the assistant vice president of technology.

Please register by July 10th.

Please register by June 20th.