IT Services News No. 154 Nov-Dec 2011
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IT Services News No. 154 Nov-Dec 2011 |
Message from the Director, Information Technology Services
1. Introduction
Well another semester has been completed and we can look forward to a short break over Christmas as we prepare for next semester.
2. Annual Report 2010-2011
The 2010-2011 Information Technology Services (ITS) Annual Report has been completed. In order to clearly demonstrate how we contribute to the University’s mission and strategic priorities, the report is aligned with the University’s document “Strategic Development 2009-2014”. The report is available for viewing at http://www.itservices.hku.hk/annual_report/10-11/AnnualReport.pdf and I encourage you to have a look. The document contains an Executive Summary that will give you an overview of the key achievements. Highlight of some of our achievements in 2010-2011 is documented in another article of this News issue.
3. Moodle – the new Learning Management System (LMS)
As mentioned in the Annual Report, the University has adopted Moodle as the centrally-supported LMS. Moodle (Version 2.1) went live on 29 August 2011 and a number of members of the academic community are already using it. The project team is now fully established and the main areas of focus are two-fold: (1) providing appropriate training for the academic community in the use of Moodle, and (2) assisting with the conversion of WebCT courses to Moodle. As previously indicated, it is anticipated that the existing WebCT system will no longer be used for any courses in the 2012-2013 academic year and, therefore, a lot needs to be done in the next 8-10 months. Please keep a lookout in the coming months for important communications from Professor Amy Tsui, who is chair of the Moodle project steering committee as well as from the project team.
4. Oracle/PeopleSoft HR/Payroll System
As previously advised, the Phase A of the new HR/Payroll system went live on Monday 11 April 2011 and Phase B went live on Monday 15 August. The project team members are well aware that there remain a number of issues that are causing users of the system some difficulties. The team is working with our contractors to address the identified issues as a matter of priority. You will be pleased to know that, while many still remain, the number of issues have reduced by approximately 1/3rd in the past 2.5 months; the project team is making progress!
If you identify an issue that you think the project team needs to be made aware of or some process that does not work correctly, please advise the HCM Help Desk as soon as possible. You can email the Help Desk at AskHCM@hku.hk or call them on 3549-5678.-Back To Top-
5. Student email system to be outsourced to Google
As previously advised, the University is changing the in-house student email system to use Google Mail with all the associated benefits of a range of other Google applications that are provided as part of the relationship. One decision that has been made is that the form of the email address will be student-account-name@connect.hku.hk. Further details about this important project are provided elsewhere in this newsletter.
Finally, I wish you all the very best for Christmas and 2012.-Back To Top-
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