UNews - Information Technology Services

Back after two years — Nightmare on Shred Street supports ULSU Food Bank

trevor.kenney — Tue, 01 Nov 2022 22:01:51 +0000

The ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge’s Nightmare on Shred Street 5 returned Monday after being suspended for the past two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In just 3½ hours, the event raised twice as many cash donations for the Students’ Union Food Bank than its last event in 2019, collected plentiful food donations and served more than 70 people.

The event assisted more than 70 people in securely destroying personal records and recycling their electronic waste.

“We’re so happy we were able to offer this service to the community again and thank everyone for their kind donations, the ULethbridge staff and all our partners for making this happen, in particular Lethbridge Mobile Shredding and DBS Environmental for their generous support of this event,” says Diana Flores, ULethbridge records and information manager.

“The food items collected will go to stocking the food pantries on campus and the money donated will be used for the ULSU Food Bank to purchase gift cards for students struggling with food insecurity,” says Shelley Tuff, ULSU health and dental administrator. “With a spike in demand for both the pantries and the food bank, the donations are greatly appreciated.”

This year’s Nightmare on Shred Street event:

• Assisted more than 70 people in securely destroying personal records and recycling their electronic waste

• Shredded over 4.5 cubic metres of paper

• Degaussed and recycled 35 hard drives

• Sent 3 cubic metres of e-waste for recycling

• Raised $445 and collected 273 food items to donate to the ULSU Food Bank

Remember to save your personal papers, files and personal information for next year’s event — Nightmare on Shred Street 6 — on October 31, 2023.

Nightmare on Shred Street 5 readies for Halloween return

trevor.kenney — Wed, 26 Oct 2022 17:06:02 +0000

Donations of cash or non-perishable food items to SU Food Bank will be accepted

The nightmare has returned — but for those whose personal papers have been piling up and taking over the file cabinet, this is more of a dream.

A Nightmare on Shred Street 5, the free shredding event offered by the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge’s Information Technology Services team, is returning Monday, Oct. 31, 2022. With support from Lethbridge Mobile Shredding and DBS Environmental, free shredding of personal paper materials, hard drive degaussing and e-waste recycling is available to the public from 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. outside the 1st Choice Savings Centre for Sport and Wellness.

“We’re really excited to offer this event to the public again and if you’ve been saving up those personal documents, credit cards, hard drives and electronic devices, here’s your opportunity to dispose of them safely,” says Diana Flores, records and information manager at ULethbridge. “It’s also a great opportunity to support the Students’ Union Food Bank, as SU staff will be on hand to collect donations of cash and non-perishable food items.”

Identity theft and fraud are among the fastest growing crimes in Canada, and it’s imperative to protect yourself from identity thieves by safely disposing personal items. These include:

• Bank statements

• Credit card bills

• Utility bills

• Pay stubs

• Tax documents

• Medical records

• Store receipts

• Electronic files (photos, passwords, personal communications, contact lists, etc.)

• Electronic storage media (hard drives, USB keys, etc.)

• Old credit cards and ID cards

Papers will be shredded on site and there is a limit of six boxes per person; all binders, plastic sleeves and hanging file folders must be removed. There’s no need to remove staples, paper clips, elastic bands, coil bindings or binder clips. For non-paper materials, hard drives will be degaussed on site and electronics will be collected for recycling. For more information, visit the Notice Board.

Schell appointed to new role

trevor.kenney — Mon, 28 Feb 2022 18:08:23 +0000

Darren Schell has been appointed the interim associate vice-president (information technology) effective March 1, 2022. Schell follows Mark Humphries in this role, who recently announced he has accepted a position at another organization in Ontario.

Schell has most recently served as the chief technology officer at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ since June 2016. He has been with the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ since 2002, beginning as a programmer/analyst in the Registrar's Office where he supported the student information system. He has moved progressively within the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ, taking on new responsibilities within his roles as information security manager (2007-2012), director, Transformation Solutions (2012-2014), associate executive director, IT Services (2014-2016), and chief technology officer (2016-2022).

"Darren brings a varied skill set to the position," says Nancy Walker, vice-president (finance & administration). "He has extensive experience within Information Technology Services, including project management, IT governance, policy/procedure development, change management, cybersecurity, and oversight of IT infrastructure, enterprise applications, web services, and client support. He also represented IT Services on the Destination Project Technical Committee and oversaw the network design/deployment and audio/visual commissioning in the Science Commons.

"Many of you have worked with Darren over the years and find him to be a passionate leader, and one who believes in collaboration across all units in order to achieve the strategic goals of the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ. I look forward to working closer with Darren in his new role."

Darren is a graduate of the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge, with a Bachelor of Science (Computer Science) degree in 2001. He has also achieved various professional development certificates related to his responsibilities.

Recognizing winners of the 2020 President's Awards

trevor.kenney — Fri, 20 Nov 2020 23:20:02 +0000

The President’s Award for Service Excellence is awarded annually to ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge employees in recognition of the provision of exceptional service to the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge and members of the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ community.

Typically, one award is given to an AUPE/ESS employee, one award is given to an APO/Executive Director employee and a third is given to a team or group (not awarded this year) that has distinguished itself.

Following are the 2020 winners.

APO — Catharine Reader

A dedicated and creative professional, Catharine Reader goes above and beyond to raise the profile of our students, faculty members and ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ.

As director of marketing and communications in the Faculty of Arts & Science, the breadth of Catharine’s work spans more than 30 departments and programs, ranging in scope from supporting recruitment initiatives, managing the Faculty’s web sites and social media, developing content and organizing events. With everything she does, Catharine represents the Faculty and the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ with grace and professionalism, always ensuring the highest of standards are exceeded.

Catharine is the driving force behind a number of initiatives within the Faculty, including the Arts & Science Scholarship Dinner, the Celebration of Academic Excellence and the PUBlic Professor series. Over the years, Catharine has worked tirelessly taking the PUBlic Professor series from an idea to a greatly anticipated monthly event that connects the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ with the community, sharing the Faculty’s outstanding research with the public and sparking important conversations. Even the COVID restrictions this year couldn’t put a damper on the series. Catharine expanded her video production and social media skills and took the series online to a worldwide audience.

Through hard work, long hours and an enormous amount of care, Catharine has built a reputation of being a knowledgeable and trusted resource among her colleagues from across the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ. Catharine continuously updates her skills, and is recognized for her expert project management, technical, communication, recruitment and marketing abilities. She is generous with her time and knowledge, and is always there to collaborate and help a colleague, friend and her family.

Catharine puts her heart into everything she does, and her love for the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ and our students truly shines.

AUPE — Ron Schreiber

As a support analyst in the Managed Applications team with Information Technology Services, Ron Schreiber supports key information systems across campus. Within Ancillary Services, Ron supports with an array of systems and programs that affect everyday life on campus, including Bridge Bucks, student laundry, printing and dining plans. His expertise is critical to the smooth operation of the systems behind the many daily transactions students make on campus.

Regardless of the time of day, Ron provides excellent service in a calm, unflappable way. Often, staff will call him with an urgent matter involving a system malfunction and he responds immediately to solve the problem. His dedication to great customer service extends to making sure students, when they move in to residence, have access to a back-up dining plan card if they misplace their card, making sure new students have a positive first impression of the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ in the process. When students have an issue he can’t resolve behind the scenes, he’s open to having them visit his office so he can address the problem in person.

Ron takes a proactive approach and quickly identifies potential challenges or technical issues with Ancillary Services systems to minimize the impact on operations. In addition to maintaining current systems, he seeks out new solutions to expand services while reducing costs to the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ. These projects typically include coordinating with other departments and vendors on campus and he takes a lead role in ensuring a successful outcome.

Described as positive, reliable, helpful, prompt and downright amazing, Ron goes above and beyond in carrying out his duties. His steadfast dedication to excellent service inspires everyone he comes into contact with.

Campus-wide effort prepares ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ for onset of new-look Fall 2020 semester

trevor.kenney — Tue, 08 Sep 2020 17:00:03 +0000

The way in which the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge will deliver its courses may be new, but as the Fall 2020 Semester begins this week, students can expect the same high-quality learning experience from one of Canada’s top-rated universities.

When classes open on Wednesday, Sept. 9, the majority of course delivery will be via an online format. Anticipating this would be the case, the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ made the decision in late May to commit to providing the most complete online experience as possible to students and used the summer months to prepare.

“I’m proud of how our units from across campus have come together and collaboratively worked to support our faculty members so that they can be in the best position to present a great experience to our students,” says U of L President and Vice-Chancellor Dr. Mike Mahon.

The Teaching Centre played a big role in preparing faculty members for the challenge of online courses, designing a number of tutorials and webinars aimed at enhancing online engagement. The Fit for Online: An Online Teaching Bootcamp, gave faculty members advanced strategies for teaching and student learning online, addressing issues such as how to build community and create student engagement, designing assessments and facilitating online learning.

“We also created and continue to offer a number of Shoptalk workshops on online teaching and learning,” says David Hinger, executive director of the Teaching Centre. “Our faculty members have really come together to support one another as we make this shift. Many created videos and FAQs for their colleagues and others have hosted Community of Practice Zoom sessions that cover everything from online assessment strategies to how to teach large classes or social sciences and humanities courses online, for example.”

For students, undergraduate and graduate, there is no denying the U of L experience will differ from what was before, but every effort has been made to ensure they still feel connected to the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ community.

“We’ve worked hard to create an online experience that will give our students the academic rigour they expect from a U of L education, as well as the personal and supportive relationship with their instructors,” says Dr. Erasmus Okine, provost and vice-president (academic). “There are new platforms that allow our students to connect with their professors and with one another. It’s important to feel that connectedness, something that has been a hallmark of a U of L education and something that will remain.”

That means finding new ways to offer the valuable support systems that nurture students throughout their academic journey.

“Student Affairs and many other teams across the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ have worked together to ensure students will continue to benefit from a full range of top-quality support services, including counselling, health services, study spaces, tutors and learning strategy support, and more,” says Kathleen Massey, the associate vice-president (students). “Some supports will be offered exclusively online and others will be offered both in-person and virtually. As well, online learning strategy sessions have been offered to students throughout the summer to help prepare them for online courses this fall.”

The ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ realized a robust participation rate in its virtual New Student Orientation sessions, and had excellent uptake from students for its preparatory academic advising Zoom sessions.

Meanwhile, the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ’s Information Technology Services team was busy transitioning the Moodle learning management system to new hosting in the Alberta Learning Management Cloud. Moving Moodle to the cloud will improve the student experience by making this important service more robust, resilient and responsive to the increased demand online learning will create. Participation in this consortium of Alberta post-secondary institutions, backed by Amazon Web Services (AWS) which powers some of the largest sites on the Internet including Netflix and Amazon.com, also supports improved collaboration and efficiencies of scale within Alberta post-secondary which is critical in current fiscal times.

The IT Services team also migrated all students to the Microsoft Office 365 email, calendar and collaboration platform this summer, alongside existing faculty/staff accounts. Having students on the same platform as faculty simplifies collaboration inside and outside of classes which is especially important in a semester that is being delivery mostly online.

Some in-person and experiential courses will continue in the fall term, everything from laboratory-based science courses to fine arts studio courses and health sciences offerings such as nursing and addictions counselling. As well, nearly 300 students will be living in residence on the Lethbridge campus.

A new phone app, uLethbridge Safe, has been designed as a mobile safety application that provides quick access to numerous services and information for the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ community. One of its main features is a COVID-19 daily health check, required for anyone entering campus buildings, as well as a Safe Walk feature that can be used regardless of location.

“It will be different in some respects but the majority of what we do and have always done will still be taking place,” adds Mahon. “Students will still have access to all the supports they have come to know, and we are pushing ahead with new initiatives as well.”

This month will see the launch of Career Bridge: Centre for Work-Integrated Learning and Career Development, a new initiative designed to elevate work-integrated learning opportunities for students.

“First and foremost, with every decision the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ has made, the health and safety of our students, faculty and staff has come first. Public health protocols are built into every experience,” adds Mahon. “While it may not look like business as usual, our researchers are still pushing the boundaries with their work, our students will be challenged and rewarded through their class experiences, and the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ will continue to be a major contributor to the economic and cultural vibrancy of southern Alberta.”

UNews - Information Technology Services

Back after two years — Nightmare on Shred Street supports ULSU Food Bank

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