Purpose:
The purpose of this policy is to establish the procedure by which Information Technology (IT) service requests are initiated by DSCC employees through a ticket management system. A ticket management system assists management in planning, scheduling and reporting while providing the requestor information about the status of their request.
Scope:
This policy applies to all faculty and staff requesting services from the Information Technology (IT) department.
Policy:
- Requests for service
a. Method of request based on emergency status
i. Non-emergency requests for service from IT will be initiated using the on-line ticket management system which is currently IssueTrak.
ii. Emergency requests for service from IT should be initiated by phone call or e-mail. IT staff will enter the ticket as time permits after the emergency.
b. Information in Request
i. The appropriate “type” of request should be selected. The use of “quick picks” can be used to quickly accomplish this.
ii. A description of the service needed and any pertinent details related to the request should be included.
iii. A required by date should only be included when absolutely necessary.
iv. Attachments may be added as needed to include additional information. - Evaluation of Requests
a. Requests will be evaluated by IT staff to determine effort required to complete the request and feasibility of the request.
b. Requests estimated to take 1 week or longer to complete will be considered projects and sent to the Vice President for Technology for evaluation and prioritization.
c. Projects requiring purchases using Technology Access Fee funds require the President’s approval for inclusion in the TAF spending plan and will be reviewed by the TLTR.
d. If a request is made related to information or systems which appear to be outside the authority of the requestor, the Vice President for Technology or designated IT staff member will consult with the appropriate administrator.
e. The Vice President for Technology may contact the Vice President of the impacted area for consultation as needed. Examples include requests requiring significant effort, impacting many areas or similar to existing requests. If a request is being denied or deferred after this consultation, the requestor will be contacted of the decision.
f. When authorization is needed for a request, the Vice President for Technology or IT staff may contact the appropriate administrator.
g. Any costs associated with the request will be determined when applicable and provided to the requestor and the appropriate Vice President and President as necessary. - Prioritization of requests
a. The following factors are among those considered by IT management and the IT committee when reviewing and scheduling requests and projects:
i. The overall plan for information technology as established by the college administration
ii. The requirements imposed upon College functions through Federal and State regulations.
iii. The requirements imposed upon College functions through the TBR requests and mandates.
iv. The relative value to Dyersburg State of the projects being considered.
v. IT commitments to current projects.
vi. Staffing considerations both in regards to the availability of personnel, but also to the level of expertise required to complete a particular request.
b. Requests are implemented as time permits and are prioritized with higher priority given to state,federal and TBR mandated items. Institutional priority is determined by the President and the senior staff as needed.
c. Projects may be referred to the Information Technology committee for prioritization as deemed necessary by the Vice President for Technology.
i. When a project is submitted to the IT committee, the requestor of the project will be invited to the IT committee meeting to provide information to the committee about their request.
ii. The IT committee will determine the appropriateness of the project and the priority for the institution. Actions taken may be delayed, deferred, denied, scheduled for completion or started immediately. The requestor will be notified of the action.
d. If a project is delayed, deferred or denied by the IT committee, the requestor will be notified. - Completion of requests
a. Approved requests will be assigned to IT staff member(s) as appropriate and scheduled. Additional line items for tasks may be added as needed to include additional staff in the ticket.
b. Updates about the status of the request may be posted to the ticket by either the IT staff member(s) or the requestor.
c. Once complete, the IT staff member will close the ticket.
Compliance:
All faculty and staff are required to utilize the ticket management system to request non-emergency services from IT. IT staff will assist the President and Vice Presidents in the initiation of their tickets as needed.
Definitions:
Emergency Requests Urgent, time critical issues which have a major immediate impact on the college. Examples include: equipment down issues in classrooms with active instruction, reports of Banner or Internet or other major system outage, and major equipment malfunction with associated physical hazard (for instance, a PC emitting smoke).
IT Information Technology. At DSCC this includes telephones, computers, printers, scanners, programming services, network wiring, ITV/video-conferencing, smart classrooms, Banner, other software, etc.
IT Committee Information Technology Committee, a standing committee of DSCC which serves as an oversight committee for the information technology functions of the college and is chaired by the President.
IssueTrak The software used for ticket management by IT
Project Request for IT service that is estimated to take 1 week or longer to complete.
http://support.dscc.edu URL used to access IssueTrak
TAF Technology Access Fee
TLTR Teaching, Learning, Technology Roundtable, a standing committee of DSCC which focuses on technology and instruction.
URL Uniform Resource Locator which is an address to a resource on the Internet.
Revision History:
Policy written in July 2015. Approved by Admin Council on July 31, 2015.