China and its Discontents

Archive for the ‘SGA Blog Posts’ tag

“14 Days” Library Response is Inadequate

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The library has just published responses to a summary of the questions asked during the “14 Days” comment period back in February. I find many of the answers inadequate.

Question after question, the library and computing center staff writing the responses don’t directly address the question, and offer annoyingly vague and unhelpful answers that can never lead to a successful resolution. What do I mean by this? The answers either restate the current policy of the library, or say ‘our hands are tied,’ or ‘we’ll consider this in the future.’ The Trinity community cannot hold the library responsible to these answers – there’s no metric by which we can evaluate success, and thus, no success is likely to be achieved. Let’s take a look at some of the questions and answers:

  • Switching Microsoft Exchange to Google Apps.
    • Computing Center Response: Many educational institutions have moved student e-mail services to Google, and we’ve been monitoring the success of these.  Although we have concerns associated with administration and security of data, Google continues to make upgrades and improvements that address many of these.  We are planning to re-evaluate the use of Google Apps for Trinity this coming fall.
    • My response: Who’s going to evaluate the switch? How are you going to evaluate the switch? Is there going to be any participation across the Trinity community? What exactly are your concerns? Google Apps for educational institutions is completely free. In the collegiate vicinity, Wesleyan and Connecticut College both use Google Apps. As I wrote in an SGA blog post recently, Google even released a tool to migrate all Microsoft Exchange information to Google Apps seamlessly. As has been pointed out before, the library (and the college) could save so much money by not paying licensing fees to Microsoft, server costs, and the additional labor costs of IT administration. This would be a boon for Trinity. Seriously, Google Apps would save us a boatload of money. Check out this website, designed to calculate the costs of Google Apps for businesses, to get an overestimate for the costs for non-profit Trinity.
  • More printing dollars, printing too expensive, more printers around campus, system slow, printers jam.
    • Computing Center Response: We are currently evaluating all components of the printing system (printing hardware, print release stations, and print payment software) to determine if there are ways to make the printers more error-free and shorten the time to print. We do not expect to be able to allocate more funding for printing at this time, but we are working with the SGA to determine ways of keeping printing costs manageable while still providing the service.
    • My response: Again, what is the evaluation process? “We are working…” is a non-answer answer, since “keeping printing costs manageable” is meaningless if you cannot lower the costs. With the money you could save by switching to Google Apps, you could easily give every student unlimited printing and fix every problem associated with printing. We may decide against unlimited printing for environmental reasons, but you could at least increase it back to $25 again. This could eventually have a Google-centric solution too. Just this morning, I was reading about a new Google project to develop a cloud-based printing system, Google Cloud Print, in conjunction with Google’s new operating system, Chrome OS. The system works both with Chrome OS and other operating systems. While the project is still early in development, Google has released the code and documentation as open-source. With the fast pace of development of Google projects, this could eventually be used by Trinity.
  • Open up entrances to the building, especially the long walk doors; find turnstile alternatives; too many non-Trinity guests at night.
    • Library Response: The current building entrances and access policies have been designed to protect 1) the students, staff, and faculty who work in and use the library, and 2) the equipment and collections contained within it. We are attempting to achieve a balance between allowing students the freedom to come and go when they please, and ensuring the safety and security of students and their belongings when they are in the building. At this time, we cannot open up any more entrances without sacrificing a degree of security, but as we plan for building improvements in the coming years, we will bear in mind the desire for easier access.
    • My response: I concede this is a difficult problem. But this post doesn’t identify the specific barriers to changing student access to the library. The Level B entrance is currently opened through an RFID scanner, as is the Level A entrance after library hours. Why can’t this system be implemented in the inner doors on the main quad? This system has costs, but I’ve already identified serious cost-savings which could also pay for this. And unlike other costs, this is a one-time expense. This potential entrance is not staffed as the Level A and B entrances are, but neither are the Level A and B entrances staffed at night. It’s less clear what the barriers are to opening up the glass doors around the main stairwell. There has not always been a turnstile at the main entrance – this was only added in the past few years. I do not have the answers to make the layout more efficient – but these issues must be explicated further, something not accomplished by this response.
  • Enable rooms used for guest lectures (McCook, Washington room, etc.) easy video and audio recording and make recordings available online on the Trinity website or ITunes U (so they can be watched on an IPhone).
    • Library Response: Lectures cannot be taped without permissions from the lecturer, and there are many lectures and events that occur on campus every year. So, at this time we record lectures only upon request. To request that a lecture be taped, please contact Media Technology Services (http://www.trincoll.edu/Academics/AcademicResources/media/default.htm.) Recorded lectures will then be placed on a server for viewing as streaming video.
    • My response: What about iTunes U? This response makes no mention why we can’t do this. It is a great promotional tool, not only for taping lectures, but also for uploading all kinds of student creative output. Student music groups could (and do, at other colleges) upload music directly to iTunes U for distribution. Trinity could offer both a selection of videos from Trinity courses, and guest lectures. The requirement of a permission form is not a major impediment to this. Right now, students and professors have to be knowledgeable about and actively seek out this form and Media Technology Services. The use of the service and form could be advertised and made the default option for major lectures.
  • Creation of a Trinity wiki?
    • Computing Center Response: Anyone with a Trinity login can create a personal wiki at http://personal.trincoll.edu. Once logged in, use Site Settings to allow others to edit and view your wiki. This wiki will be viewable only by people with Trinity College logins that you have given permission to access.
    • My response: A personal wiki defeats the purpose of a Trinity-wide wiki. I don’t want a wiki on personal.trincoll.edu/personal/wyale! I want a wiki on wiki.trincoll.edu! “Given permission to access?” The idea is that everyone is able to access it!

Not mentioned in any of the questions or responses was that Blackboard could potentially be eliminated through the switch to Google Apps also. This is a far more complicated transition because we currently run the administration of Bantam Bucks through the Blackboard Commerce system. The Blackboard website, however, could completely be substituted with Google Apps. I’m unfamiliar with Moodle and what role it could play in this transition.

This is a long post, I know, but I have only focused on a fraction of all of the comments submitted and responses received.

SourcedFrom Sourced from: Trinity College Student Government Association » William Yale

Stop Asking Us to Reset Our Passwords!

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According to the Boston Globe, it is a waste of our time and doesn’t do anything to improve security. Can someone please tell the Computing Center to stop asking us to change our passwords every few months or so?

SourcedFrom Sourced from: Trinity College Student Government Association » William Yale

Written by Will

April 12th, 2010 at 8:32 pm

Switch to Google Apps from Microsoft Exchange?

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Something that caught my eye recently was this post over at one of the many Google blogs, outlining a new tool Google developed to migrate email, calendar, and contact data from Exchange to Google Apps. In the library’s recent 14 Days comment system, I left a note mentioning how I would like to see the college transition from an email system based around Microsoft Exchange to one based on Google Apps. This new tool seems like the perfect way to do that. Google Apps is free and I believe a superior product. The Computing Center ought to look immediately into making this transition, especially with all of the other cost-saving measures the Administration has enacted or is considering.

SourcedFrom Sourced from: Trinity College Student Government Association » William Yale

Written by Will

March 20th, 2010 at 8:31 pm

Faculty Night at Mather

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On Monday, March 15th at 6-7 PM the SGA and Chartwells are hosting Faculty Night at Mather to bring faculty and students together outside the classroom. Students are encouraged to invite any of their professors and peers for a classy Mather dining experience. The SGA will be funding the cost of meals for all members of the faculty. Just show up – there’s no reservation system.

Please invite your professors and friends! There’s no barrier to entry – just show up. This is a great and easy way to bring the Trinity community closer together.

Sincerely,

Will Yale
Senator at Large

SourcedFrom Sourced from: Trinity College Student Government Association » William Yale

Written by Will

March 10th, 2010 at 8:30 pm

January Term Plans

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Hello All,

For those not in the SGA loop, I wanted to give the campus an update on my new long-term brainchild for the year (and into next year). I’m putting together a January Term at Trinity to be held yearly starting in January 2011. If you haven’t heard of similar programs at other colleges, January Term exists to offer 1-credit courses outside of the regular academic year. Besides regular courses here at Trinity, here’s how you could earn that credit:

  • Intensive programs offered at Global Learning Sites. Study abroad in this manner would be less disruptive than normal study abroad, and could be an easier path to academic enrichment. Plus, it would be cool, or rather, warm! Why spend January in snow when you could complete a month-long theater program in Trinidad?
  • Classes taught by students. While it is currently rare, junior and seniors can design their own pass/fail courses, obtain faculty sponsorship, and then teach those courses. A month-long course would offer far less stressful commitment on part of the student teacher, but would still provide a valuable experience. The courses could be designed around any subject – obscure academia, practical hobbies – it just needs to be approved by the Curriculum Committee.
  • Focused, meaningful internships. With academic internships soon moving over to Career Services’ responsibility and the economy bust, January would be the perfect time to step out of one’s normal semester commitments and intern in Hartford for a month. Students would work one-on-one with Career Services advisors to develop a concentrated intern experience that is more than a job-shadow or reception duties.
  • Community service campaigns. Trinity students could design and lead their own community service projects within the city of Hartford. In a time when it is difficult for the college to focus as much attention on community outreach, students could be ambassadors for the school doing work that has direct impact on the surrounding community.
  • Research projects for one’s major. Is there a burning question related to your field of study that hasn’t even been asked yet? Commission a study, design a course of experimentation, and answer it. There’s no better time to do original student research than in January without the pressures of a regular semester.

As you might have noticed, the focus of this program is to offer a meaningful experience during a time that otherwise might not be. I’m sure there are some enterprising students who accomplish amazing things during winter break, but I know that many, including myself, take most of the month as vacation. While I’m sure some students would continue to do so, I know many others want choice. A Trinity January Term would empower, engage, and challenge students to lead, take initiative, and design an amazing January for themselves that gets back to the core of the Trinity experience – intellectual curiosity.

While costs have not been fully determined, preliminary estimation would set tuition, room and board near $2500, with financial aid offered. January Term would be completely optional. I want to know how this program could serve you. Are there components you would add, modify, or scrap all together? What are the best ways to get students engaged? Please comment below, or email me at william.yale@trincoll.edu.

Thanks for your interest, and I look forward to hearing from you,

Will Yale

Senator at Large

Academic Affairs Committee

SourcedFrom Sourced from: Trinity College Student Government Association » William Yale

Nearly All After Office Hours Rules Removed

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I am pleased to announce that nearly all of the original regulations concerning After Office Hours have been removed, for the sake of attracting more students to the program. Students can now take out to dinner any professor, with any number of students, any number of times. Listening to people interested in the program, I realized that there were interactions between students and faculty that AOH needed to better promote, such as in language classes, between advisers and advisees, and in small classes such as senior seminars. The revamped rules pare it down to the basics: meals with up to $20 per person off-campus and $10 on-campus, with a faculty member present. You can still get the reimbursement form at the Dean of Students Office or under the Services tab on this website.

~ Will Yale

Class ‘12 Senator and Chair of the Academic Affairs Committee

SourcedFrom Sourced from: Trinity College Student Government Association » William Yale

Written by Will

March 30th, 2009 at 8:27 pm

After Office Hours

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The SGA is pleased to announce the beginning of a new program, After Office Hours, to be co-funded with President Jones. Here’s how it works:

  1. 2-5 students in a particular class get together for an off-campus dinner with their professor OR a larger group (perhaps the entire class) gets together for an on-campus event involving food, with their professor.
  2. Pick up a reimbursement form from Dean Alford’s office, fill it out, and return it with an original receipt.
  3. Free meals! (up to $20 off campus and $10 on campus per student, with one dinner per class and three per semester per student; transportation not funded – go local!)

And that’s it. Be bold! With After Office Hours, the entire impetus to hold these dinners and events is on the individual student. The variations in ideas on how to use this money and the program itself can only grow exponentially from here. Particularly with the on-campus component, an infinite number of gatherings are possible – the food is what brings people to the the table.

If you have any questions, please email me at William DOT Yale AT trinity DOT edu. The original resolution that created After Office Hours is attached below, in case you want to look at the original source material. Look out for soon-to-come advertisements!

~ Will Yale

After Office Hours Resolution

SourcedFrom Sourced from: Trinity College Student Government Association » William Yale

Written by Will

January 16th, 2009 at 8:26 pm

Student-Faculty Dinners

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As a dove-tail to Eamon’s post last week, I’m working on setting up a pilot program for next semester for student-professor dinners. Dinners would be student-initiated, and would help build personal relationships with professors. Although faculty can currently receive reimbursement for meals with students, field-trips, and meetings over coffee, there is no institutionalized program so that a small group of students themselves can organize a dinner with a professor. My plan would build such a program.

As I’ve written it thus far, the program would be a simple system of reimbursement at any restaurant up to $15 per student; any fraud would be accounted for by trust in the form of signatures and acknowledgment from professors that each dinner did take place. The as-yet-unnamed program would be integrated with the Dean of Students Office’s system of faculty reimbursement mentioned above.

I am looking for student input as to how such a program would best serve you. What should it be called? How would it best be advertised? Is the system of reimbursement as outlined fair? What, if any, set limit should be imposed on the number of students participating in any particular dinner? What are your thoughts? Thanks for your input!

~ Will Yale

Class ‘12 Senator

Academic Affairs Committee

SourcedFrom Sourced from: Trinity College Student Government Association » William Yale

Written by Will

November 8th, 2008 at 8:24 pm