Hybrid Technology Improvement Project

Project Background:  

OIT is aware that current technology is making the delivery of hybrid work and education challenging. Your feedback reinforced that and helped us prioritize action items to best suit your needs. We’re focusing both on what immediate action we can take to improve the situation as well as strategizing long-term solutions. Moreover, we aim to build a practice of continuous improvement to meet the rapidly changing needs of the university.   

Key Project Goals: Based on your feedback, our goal is to standardize and optimize your experience with technology in the following ways. 

• Streamlined Setup: Our team has worked diligently to simplify the setup process, allowing teachers to seamlessly integrate the technology into their lessons. 
• User-Friendly Experience: The intuitive interface ensures both teachers and students can easily navigate and utilize the new technology. 
• Updated Technology: The updated technology is specifically designed to foster collaboration and facilitate more effective learning. 

You can learn more about the project and its iterations in our previous updates and articles. 

Project Rounds: 

The Hybrid Technology Improvement Project is broken down into Rounds, which may be running concurrently.  Speaking broadly, each Round involves a number of distinct phases, including Room Identification and Prioritization (see note below), Room Design, Equipment Purchasing, Installation, and Testing.  As part of our commitment to continuous improvement, we will leverage our experience and your feedback in each round to enhance the project as we go along, leading to more efficient processes and better outcomes. 

• Round 0: focused on identifying 6 initial rooms to evaluate, upgrade, and test. These 6 rooms were a starting point in the process so that OIT and AV could learn essential project details from the experience. Round 0 helped us learn the timeline to procure the equipment, duration of installation, the amount of testing required, and whether these upgrades accomplished the key goals of the project. There were only 6 rooms upgraded in this round to avoid creating a large-scale disruption to learning and business on the campus. 
  Round 0 completed August 2023.

• Round 1: is moving forward with the project and implementing lessons learned from Round 0 as OIT progresses with upgrading 22 rooms which were identified as having an urgent need for new technology. Currently, new equipment is being installed and half the rooms have been completed. See the list of completed rooms below.
  Round 1 estimated to be complete November 2024.

• Round 2: OIT is finalizing Identification and Prioritization of Round 2 rooms. Equipment procurement will begin in fall 2024.
  Round 2 estimated to be complete July 2025.

We are excited to continue working on these upgrades based on the positive feedback we've gotten from users.

This is a multi-round and multi-phase project that will continue through 2025 and will be ongoing.

Room Identification and Prioritization: 

The most common question our project leaders get asked is how OIT identified the rooms for these Rounds, and why these 28 rooms have been prioritized to be upgraded first.  

The room identification and prioritization process factored in a number of criteria. Our charge was to first target rooms for greatest impact to the campus.  To this end, we conducted an analysis based on EMS data, and feedback from stakeholders. Specifically, prioritization was guided by: 

1. Feedback from faculty, academic leadership, instructional designers, and IT partners in the Voice of the Customer sessions. 
2. Room capacity.
3. Room utilization in the last 18 months (# of reservations and attendees) based on data from EMS scheduling system. 

By prioritizing these rooms, we were able to address high-impact rooms that failed to meet our baseline success measures. Upgrading these rooms first ensures that hybrid learning and business can be accomplished across the campus in the majority of locations. As the project progresses, other rooms that were identified as needing updates to equipment or usability will be worked on as well in the order of their priority level.  

Completed Rooms: 

Below is a list of rooms that have had new equipment installed to create a better user experience. Per the project goals, these rooms have been designed to a new standard so that it is the same process to operate the equipment in each room for user consistency and ease. 

Rooms completed as of July 2024:

• Fitzsimmons: W1139
• Fitsimmons: Chapel Conference Room
• Fulginiti 105Fitz EG33C
• Fulginiti Gossard Forum
• Ed2S 2306
• Ed2N 1206
• RC1N MPL 1404
• Ed2N 2104
• Ed2N 1107
• Ed2N 2302
• Ed1 1400

All of these rooms are available for reservations in the EMS Room Reservation system. 

For AV Tech Support in these and any room on campus, contact the OIT Service Desk and/or follow the directions posted on the signage near the classroom or conference room computer.