In our November newsletter I talked about how every challenge is an opportunity to learn and grow. I described the giving and receiving of feedback during our move to Workday as essential for us to survive and thrive in this new environment. I would like to talk a little more about Workday and also how technology change will continue to be both a challenge and an opportunity for Carleton.
Feedback and Learning Workday
The feedback that the Workday implementation team has received has covered a wide range of reactions. The majority of the feedback has been positive, including appreciation of the extensive training materials and sessions, the 4 weeks of drop-in hours and the quick and capable responses of the functional and technical staff members.
It is also clear that this is a big transition with some cases that went beyond the scope of our (extensive) implementation testing. Many of those issues have already been fixed. As you use the new environment, I would like to encourage you to submit “not working right” questions to hr@carleton.edu, businessoffice@carleton.edu or the ITS ticketing system. For a full list of contact information, please visit https://www.carleton.edu/seams/help/.
There are policy and workload questions that will need continued conversation. For policy type questions, like “why does it work this way” or “it would be better if”, please submit feedback on the SEAMS website.
The Next Big Thing?
Speaking of new technologies, you have probably heard about a new Artificial Intelligence (AI) tool called ChatGPT. The higher education publications have been writing about it, almost daily, since it launched in November. Wiebke Kuhn, Director of Academic Technology, wrote an article which provides some information about it and raises a few questions about the role of AI tools at Carleton. Wiebke, George Cusack, and Victoria Morse have formed a new AI Community of Practice to share knowledge and concerns as we figure out how to educate ourselves and our students about the power and the role of AI at Carleton.
Will the Change Ever Stop?
I love working in higher education, and in technology leadership, because I am constantly learning and growing and applying that knowledge to help others leverage new opportunities. Like most learning, it’s not always clear that knowledge has been acquired or that a particular change has been accommodated until you look back.
For instance, when email was first introduced, it was seen as a more efficient way of communicating than typing a letter and putting it into campus mail or picking up the phone and hoping the other person was available. It wasn’t on the forefront of our minds that email would result in a shift to an approach where each person would suddenly have more personal responsibility for managing their communications.
From a support point of view, I remember a set of 6 servers and a full-time staff member trying to prevent spam delivery (and a faculty member who felt that we should all be aware of the spam, so why are we removing it). I also remember various mail clients (like Eudora and Thunderbird) and the challenges of using “pop” which put the email only on the computer where the email was checked. And in the early 2000’s, we could still take the email server down for several hours of emergency maintenance during the work day without very much community impact. Clearly a lot has changed (and improved) since then.
Conclusion
Technology is infused throughout our work lives and our personal lives, and it is constantly changing. We generally just move along with the incremental changes and adjust, embrace or reject each one as they come along. As we reflect back on the dramatic changes to email, it might serve as a good reminder that big changes, like Workday or AI tools like ChatGPT, take time to get exactly right and to figure out exactly how they fit into our personal and institutional environment.
All of us in ITS are here to explore these changes with you and for you.