6 P.M. is the bewitching hour for Datatel and Merlin.  Since Thursday Datatel and Merlin go down without explanation and users cannot access either Datatel or Merlin until an ITS staff member can reboot the systems.  ITS has been working to try to resolve this mysterious problem since it first occurred.  We found one bug and put a fix into production but that did not resolve the problem.  We are continuing to look for a solution and have contacted Datatel for their help.  If you attempt to login at the bewitching hour you may not be able to get into Datatel and Merlin.

 

Carnegie computer labs are now accessible 24/7 using your ID card.  The labs will be automatically open from 7:30 am until midnight Monday through Thursday;  7:30 am - 8 pm on Friday, 8 am - 5 pm on Saturday, and noon to midnight on Sunday.  During those times you can enter the building and use the labs without swiping your ID card.  After the posted hours on those days you will need to swipe your ID card to enter the building and again to enter the labs.  If Carnegie doors or the lab doors are locked, just use your ID card to enter.

 

Based on comments from faculty, staff and students the Help Desk area will undergo changes starting on Monday.  Currently the Help Desk is staffed by a 1/2 time professional and students.  It has been difficult getting students to come in the morning.  And, they do get sick, sleep in, study for exams etc. so they do not show up for work.  Of course, our half-time staff member also has other duties that takes him out of the office so there are times when no one is available.

 

Beginning Monday we will have a full-time Help Desk staff member who will be aided by student workers.  Our goal is to improve services and we will be constantly making changes to our practices to help us make better use of our time.  For instance, we are writing some programs that will allow us to see when classrooms are available so that when there are technology problems in a classroom we can try to be there between classes to determine if the problem is simple or complex.  If it turns out to be complex problem we will then email all the faculty that teach in that room of the problem.  And, when the problem is resolved, we will email faculty of that fact.  Also, if faculty will let a member of the ITS try to resolve a problem while they are teaching we will try to fix the problem on the spot.

 

Currently there are 60 tickets in the Help Desk that should take less than 7 days to resolve, 98 in Datatel, 51 in projects (take generally more than 7 days to accomplish), and 61 in the Web queue.  We are currently down 3 positions so we are making every effort to resolve problems.  It will take us some time to implement all of the changes but it will get better.