Committee meeting - March 26, 2020

Carol Lu  
Secretary to the Committee  
March 26, 2020  
  
Present: Erick Engelke, Steven Bourque, Jason Testart, Paul Miskovsky, Robyn Landers, Andrew McAlorum, Bill Baer, Adam Savage, Pratik Patel, Lori Paniak, Don Duff-McCracken, Andrea Chappell
  
Regrets: Dave Kibble, Daryl Dore, Greg Smith, Trevor Bain
  
Agenda  

  1. Roundtable discussion – all [60 min.]
  2. Next CTSC Meeting
    [Will be held Thursday April 16 at 1:30 p.m. via Teams Meeting]

 Roundtable

Science (Paul)

  • Currently working on setting up online thesis defenses for large groups
  • For thesis defenses where hearing impairment is a factor, Microsoft Teams can be used as Teams has closed captioning
  • Is there a way for students to remote desktop to computer lab workstations? 
    • A web page on how to do this should be set up with instructions for professors to send to students 
  • Science has been advocating for the use of Microsoft Teams to faculty, getting a lot of traction 
    • Currently using for meetings, thesis defenses, etc. 
  • Thank you IST for being responsive and providing useful resources

Comments and discussion

  • Regarding remote desktop to lab computers: how would professors monitor which machines are being used? 

    • The process should allow students to connect to a specific machine via remote desktop 

  • Would working with VDI or virtual machine work better than remote desktop? 

  • Active directory reports currently show clusters of machines and who is logged in 
     

Client Services, IST (Andrew)

  • Microsoft Teams is the official recommended tool for working remotely; WebEx is the official recommended tool for online teaching
    • Teams live events is currently not recommended for online teaching since only 15 live event sessions can be active at a time
  • Hosted a Teams live event last Friday
    • Currently supporting the Secretariat and Board of Directors using Teams
    • There will be virtual President Town Halls hosted using Teams live events
    • The number of teams created in the first week of working from home has doubled 
      • Approximately 400 new teams were created in the past week 
  • Currently working on adding the dial-in number feature for Teams meetings
  • Access to Teams live events will be on a request-only basis
    • Email migration needs to happen first before live events can be integrated more widely
  • Microsoft Stream will be rolled out in the future
    • Allows users to share and store video content
    • May not be announced widely in order to reduce information overload 
  • A lot of users do not need to use VPN if they are using Office 365
    • VPN is only required for access to certain applications (e.g. N:drive, private.uwaterloo.ca sites, Active Directory)
  • IST has created a guide on Staying connected while working remotely
     

Instructional Technologies and Media Services, IST (Andrea)

  • Currently supported WebEx use across campus
    • Being heavily used and running smoothly for the most part
    • Issues occur when students use their @edu.uwaterloo.ca email address to enter WebEx
  • Between March 23 and 24: 
    • 1278 WebEx rooms created
    • 465 WebEx hosts
    • 13,250 WebEx participants
  • Promoting creation of asynchronous content for LEARN as opposed to synchronous
  • Trying to figure out ways to allow international students (e.g. China) to get access to download content


Environment (Don)

  • Many people in Environment are still using their N:drive for file storage
  • Wrote a script to bulk migrate files from N:drive to OneDrive
    • Files or folders with special characters in the name did not migrate over smoothly
  • Profs are trying to move back to ArcGIS from ArcGIS Pro since it is not as GPU heavy
  • Would like to start supporting virtual thesis defenses
    • Will connect with Science and AHS to discuss
    • Looking to potentially move to using Microsoft Teams for everything including thesis defenses 

Comments and discussion

  • A test 24 hours before the actual thesis defense is recommended to ensure everything is working as intended

  • Microsoft Teams currently shows 4 video participant screens at a time


Math (Robyn)

  • There is a classroom in M3 with a SMART whiteboard
    • Some students want to be able to write on a whiteboard while doing their thesis defense, is there a way to do this in Teams? 

Comments and discussion

  • There is a Whiteboard app within Teams

    • Can use the mouse or might be able to connect a tablet

    • Only works within UWaterloo (guests would not be able to view; @edu.uwaterloo.ca would not be able to view)

Arts (Bill)

  • Rolling out a lot of equipment for working remotely (e.g. extra monitors)
  • Proposing a budget to convert all staff to laptops
    • Could help lessen the amount of people using remote desktop unnecessarily
    • Looking at quotes from Dell 

Comments and discussion

  • Math purchased Mac minis for working remotely; relatively well-priced and works well 
     

Technology Integrated Services, IST (Steve)

  • Majority of IST staff are working remotely
  • TIS is continuing to monitor for failed equipment and switches, which will be fixed if there are any issues

Computer Science (Lawrence)

  • Asking people not to use remote desktop if it is not necessary; some people are mapping their network drives
  • Helping users to install O365 through portal.office.com to eliminate unnecessary remote desktop connections
  • Looking to create a webpage of recommended hardware items and brands (e.g. mics, headsets)

Comments and discussion

  • How has the work day experience changed since everyone has been working remotely? 

    • Remind staff to maintain their regular work day hours and take lunch/breaks as they would in the office

  • The number of conferencing tools should be reduced (e.g. Zoom, WebEx, Teams, etc.)

    • It's difficult to get all users trained in multiple tools 

Environment (Don)

  • Should a CTSC team be created in Microsoft Teams? 

Comments and discussion 

  • IST has just transitioned an IST staff mailing list to a team in Microsoft Teams

  • It is recommended to provide users with flexibility when it comes to how they should use Teams rather than trying to define rules for use

WUSA (Pratik)

  • Looking to purchase USB-C friendly devices, possible Chromebooks
  • Training new employee while working remotely presents some challenges
    • Any suggestions on how to onboard a new employee remotely?
  • LinkedIn Learning has been a great resource for developing new skills