SIGUCCS 2016

Often one thinks of mentoring being used to prepare a mentee for a new position, where the mentor has a job role similar to the goal position. However the ACM SIGUCCS Mentoring Program has always been open to other types of mentoring relationships, where the mentor is the "guide on the side" to help a mentee reach one or more goals during the 10 month mentoring period. In 2016, Trevor and Kathy applied for the mentoring program, requesting to be paired up. Trevor, who has past experience as a mentor (to someone else) is the mentee of the pair while Kathy, who has past experience as a mentee with a different mentor, is serving as a mentor for Trevor. Our goals for the year do not include seeking promotions or attaining a professional certification. Although one of us is ostensibly the mentor, we both plan to learn and grow from this relationship. We decided to keep track of any challenges and life lessons we encounter during this year and share our thoughts at the conference for the benefit of those considering applying for the program in the future. We will keep the personal details of our mentoring sessions confidential and instead discuss in broader terms what we are accomplishing.

In Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, by the part of the information strategy, we promote to abolish the conventional computer room, and make the user to bring the user's own computer (BYOD: Bring Your Own Device). The trend of this BYOD are expanding progressively in other universities in Japan. The type of user's device is wide variety , its usability is too. In this situation, it increases the cost of teacher due to the difference of the operation.

To reduce this cost, we propose our brand new designed computer environment, Virtual Computer Classroom (VCCr). Our VCCr is based on virtual desktop technology, and each user can use the VCCr by accessing to the remote desktop, which can be accessed from everywhere in our campus. VCCr can be used by HTML5-compliant web browser (e.g. Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox), instead of the dedicated client in a conventional VDI or remote desktop environment. This enables the use from a variety of access device that are independent of the device type of the user (e.g. Windows, Mac, Linux, or Chrome). As a result of this, convenience for the user is significantly improved.

We present the detail of the design and structure of our VCCr architecture. We also provide a VCCr reservation system, which can adopt the class schedule, in order to manage the number of the virtual desktops for class and self-study use efficiently. We also present the detail of this reservation system.

Classroom polling at Williams College is infrequent and sporadic occurring in classes only when they are most pedagogically appropriate for the content. Some courses use classroom polling once a semester. Other courses use classroom polling often, but the data is not used in grading or stored for future analysis. Flexibility and portability make classroom polling an easy tool to apply when the anonymous collection of class input serves a teaching purpose. Recently, classroom polling vendors have moved to a subscription model where classroom polling users have cloud accounts that require monthly fees. This new subscription model does not match with the use of classroom polling at Williams College. Students do not purchase accounts with monthly fees to participate in classroom polling that may or may not be used in classes. This paper follows Williams College as it creates and follows a new process for finding the right classroom polling vendor for its campus.

The operation of the education and research system, which includes network, server and client services, produces a variety of log output. The effective analysis of these logs makes it is possible to ascertain user trends, and often points to issues that require troubleshooting. However, due to the difference in the type and diversity of format of the log, it takes a considerable amount of effort to organize them in a cross-sectional manner in order to obtain useful information. To resolve this issue, we have constructed a log collecting system by using Splunk to centrally aggregate logs. Most logs are automatically stored on the Splunk database from each system. As a result, the administrator and service support staff can view these logs via a simple interface, and can check the usage of the users across multiple systems in near real time.

In this presentation, we introduce how to approach and construct a system in order to change the logs of the various systems to be able to obtain valuable information. We also show how you can utilize aggregated log for service support and security. Particularly based on the user ID and IP addresses, it is possible to gain a bird's-eye view of logs for analysis, making it a valid tool for understanding user behavior.

How would you develop, engage, mentor, train and assess a group of 30 part-time student workers at a non-conventional Tech Desk? As part of my interview to become the Service Desk Manager in the Vice Provost Office of Teaching and Learning at Stanford University, I was tasked to formulate an answer to that complex question. In turn, I developed a philosophy entitled "Taking the S.T.A.I.R.S". It outlines what I’ve come to think are the most important ideas and concepts to successfully managing a group of student workers. Specifically, identifying Strengths in each individual student, being Transparent with them, emphasizing Accountability and responsibility, seek Input and teaching how to take initiative, Respecting each other and the university, and finally showing Support for the student workers and their decisions. Now, roughly 6 months at my new position, I keep returning to this philosophy and evaluating just how effective it has been. 

The role of IT is changing from control to collaboration. Many IT solutions do not require the involvement of the IT organization in their selection. Increasingly IT organizations are being asked to validate and implement solutions selected by others outside central IT e.g. faculty, staff, departments and colleges. IT organizations need to ensure they are part of these conversations to ensure choices are aligned with overall institutional goals and strategies. Embracing “engagement” helps align IT with campus constituencies. 

This poster will highlight  insights, stories, and lessons learned from four different institutions who have started to go down this path.

Starting in 2010, and culminating in 2015, the College of Business at the University of Oregon experienced Digital Signage. This process began in 2010, with Virtual Desktops. This process ended in 2015, with Virtual Desktops. However, during the middle three years, Digital Signage ran on Mac Minis. This poster will show you how we display digital signage today. On hand we will show a current sign, working remotely, via a Virtual Desktop. The paper which accompanies this poster will outline our three step process, why we made the mistakes we did, and where we sit today.

This session is an opportunity to learn about a variety of projects presented in a poster format, network with your colleagues and collaborate with the SIGUCCS 2016 Exhibitors!

Desserts will also be served during this session.