Conference Presentations

So, You Think You’re Prepared for a Disaster (View the video)

NCS Director Gary Bernstein and Associate Director Quan Nguyen describe how a power failure on campus uncovered deficiencies in many IST response mechanisms, fortunately without a disastrous impact on university operations. Their presentation reveals major lessons learned and the resulting plan that strengthens McGill's disaster recovery and business continuity efforts.

Why I Like Wireless (PDF)

NCS Director Gary Bernstein offered participants this glance at the current wireless infrastructure outlook at McGill University.

Launching a Project Management Office (View the video)

Joan Soares, Project Manager, and Kathy Wilmot, Office Manager, describe the steps launching the Project Management Office, which set out to handle McGill’s large scale IT projects. The presentation including the challenges and project governance issues of the PMO.

The power of games to reinforce learning in IT training (View the video)
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The power of using games to attract and hold the attention of trainees is well-known. At McGill’s IT Training Department, we use games throughout our courses to reinforce the concepts and procedures presented. Appropriately designing and hosting a game is crucial to creating an active learning environment. In this presentation we will show you how to create different types of educational games, such as Jeopardy, matching, scavenger hunt and more, using simple MS Office® software and SMART Board™ technology. We will also share our secrets of success in implementing games for IT training.

Using Adobe Captive and Presenter for E-learning (View the video)
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Choosing the “right” combination of software can ease the process of creating rich e-learning experiences. At the McGill IT training department, we have long been using Adobe Captivate to create different types of engaging experiences, such as software simulations and scenarios, quizzes, and more. However we needed a way to package individual learning modules into a full-fledged course. The ideal solution proved to be a combination of Adobe Presenter, MS PowerPoint and Adobe Captivate. Find out how you can use these tools in concert to develop professional online training!

"Is this thing on?" Self-serve classroom AV support for instructors (View the video)
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Audiovisual technology changes from year to year, and classrooms are continually being updated with new equipment. This poses a challenge for both professors, who rely on projected presentations and lecture recordings in their teaching, and support staff who struggle to provide support and training at the start of each semester. McGill IT Services’ new web-accessible Classroom AV Support tools, which include step-by-step instructions, photos of equipment in each classroom, and a diagnostic “solution finder”, let professors help themselves and prepare for each semester. Find out how these tools work and the marketing strategies we use to promote them.

Cleared for takeoff? Enjoy a smooth flight with McGill’s IT onboarding process (PDF)

McGill IT Customer Services initiated an IT onboarding process to ease new employees’ pain in finding their feet in a new environment. Giving employees access to all the systems they need involves a streamlined collaboration effort between various IT departments and administrative staff. The process ensures that new hires have access to the tools they need on their very first day– email, phones, network access, computer and software, etc. It saves the organization days or even weeks of costly unproductive waiting time and also allows employees to concentrate on their new responsibilities without worrying about logistics. Welcome aboard!

Educate your prospective students on IT tools from the day they apply to your institution (PDF)

Starting university is one of the biggest events in a young adult’s life – new environment, subjects, friends, etc. At McGill, we help reduce the stress of this experience by introducing students to the IT tools and services we provide well before their first day. Getting students comfortable with our IT support team and online tools early on reduces the number of support requests at the beginning of each term – saving time for both students and support staff. In this session we will present various methods we use to reach out to new students.

Student Awards in Self-Service Banner

This presentation by Jane Amro, who manages implementation of the Canadian Solutions Center Student Aid Module, illustrates the query page for applicants and recipients of scholarships and student aid, including the display of institutional awards, tracking requirements and disbursements. McGill's development of add-on functionality to show interactive pages when a student accepts a loan or scholarship award is also presented.

Implementing BSAC at Consortium Schools - Part 2

This is a joint presentation delivering updates from the members of consortium schools, and it includes sections prepared by Jane Amro (McGill), Naureen Nizam (Dalhousie) and Cheryl Richardson (U Manitoba).

BSAC - Meet AR and Finance!

A look at challenges and successes: This presentation describes the interface between BSAC and finance at McGill, especially how the use of AR and AP pieces, including direct deposits, were implemented. Also discussed are the finance/AR security implications in setting up BSAC disbursements in Banner.

Implementing BSAC at Consortium Schools

This group presentation of the Large School Consortium of Banner Student Aid for Canada includes an overview of Financial Aid at McGill, presented Thierry Mayrand of Information Systems Resources, which offers a quick look at Financial Aid processes and areas of service. Also presenting in this Sungard Summit 2009 session is Beth Armstrong from Dalhousie University and Elaine Baptie from the University of Saskatchewan.

"Agility" on a BI Project

At the Higher Education Data Warehousing 2009 conference, Information Systems Resources' Mike Deutsch hosted a lineup of five lightning talks on a variety of topics related to Data Warehousing and Business Intelligence and gave his own presentation, which introduced the Agile approach to software development and illustrated why Agility is a good fit for BI at a university.

Using Online Discussions to Promote Interaction
Creating Online Assessments

IT Services staff from Educational Technologies in Content and Collaboration Solutions participated in the Learning to Teach one-day professional development workshop for graduate students hosted by Teaching and Learning Services (TLS). Oksana Maibroda, with facilitators Ashley Logan and Mariette Xenopoulos, held two sessions during the event that combined technical and pedagogical elements and featured hands-on activities. In pre-workshop activities, students went online to use the assessment and discussion tools in myCourses (WebCT Vista) and were provided with development space there.

L’implication dans le renouvellement des systèmes institutionnels : L’expérience de l’Université McGill

Theresa Rowat, Director of Archives and University Archivist, and Sylvia Franke, Chief Information Officer, gave this presentation (in French) at the CREPUQ Journée d'Étude on June 12, 2009.