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Electronic Classrooms

Service Level Agreement

January 23, 2007

An electronic classroom (e-classroom) is a space in which the University places a set of appropriate technologies to support classroom instruction. E-classrooms are University resources and are not owned by a specific department. This document outlines the responsibilities shared by faculty members teaching in e-classrooms, administrators scheduling the e-classrooms and Computing Services providing technical support and training to make the e-classrooms as available and effective as possible.

To qualify as a supported e-classroom, the facility must have been planned and implemented in close consultation with Computing Services. Ad hoc facilities and those funded by grants or faculty start-up funds can be qualified as supported e-classrooms only after having been approved by the Information Resources Advisory Committee.

The staff of Computing Services will:

Consult with departments in the preparation of proposals for new e-classrooms. To ensure proper funding, proposals should focus on the pedagogical justification for the e-classroom and be submitted during the fiscal budgeting process. E-classroom proposals will be reviewed for approval by the Information Resources Advisory Committee.

Oversee the design, installation, technical maintenance and equipment renewal for e-classrooms.

Provide up-to-date documentation and technical training for faculty members and other users of e-classrooms.

Maintain an updated inventory of all e-classrooms including publicly accessible data on technical features that may be used for scheduling and planning.

Provide at least one week's advance notice for any regular maintenance that makes all or part of an e-classroom unavailable.

Respond to calls as a top priority when problems in an e-classroom are reported to the Help Desk. Computing Services' goal is to respond to a problem report within the class period in which the call to the Help Desk was made. We all acknowledge that some repairs may take a longer time to complete.

Post appropriate signs regarding e-classroom systems that are "out of service" or "repaired" so that faculty members can plan their use of the e-classrooms.

Will support e-classroom software at several levels:

Faculty users of e-classrooms will:

Consult with instructional technologists to ensure that they know how to use the technical features of the e-classrooms they use.

Test their plans for e-classroom technologies in advance and allow time before class begins to set up for a smooth session.

Read the documentation for the e-classroom upon encountering a problem. Faculty members will reboot or restart the e-classroom computer as an initial strategy for problem solving, and report problems promptly to the Help Desk at x6395.

Consult with instructional technologists at least two weeks in advance for any special software needs in an e-classroom.

Follow the instructions to turn on and turn off the e-classroom equipment, appropriately.

Ensure that the e-classroom is ready for the next class.

Consult with Computing Services in the preparation of proposals for new e-classrooms. To ensure proper funding, proposals should focus on the pedagogical justification for the e-classroom and be submitted during the fiscal budgeting process. E-classroom proposals will be reviewed for approval by the Information Resources Advisory Committee.

The Registrar's office and Event Services will:

Maintain familiarity with the status and configuration of e-classrooms.

Ensure that faculty members who need the features of an e-classroom are assigned the most appropriate e-classroom available.