OCTOBER 15, 2019 RIC REPORTSCRIC, Area School Districts Get Ready For Education Law 2-D to Take Effect;

BT BOCES Collaborates to Help Host Two Tech-Based Conferences at Area Schools

IN THIS ISSUE:Who's Receiving Kudos This Month?Sean Culligan Talks RIC Automation

Job Opportunities

The following positions are posted to theBT-BOCES website:

* Associate Coordinator - Managed Services* Information Technology ProjectCoordinator - Data Integration andDevelopment* Network Specialist* Information Technology Assistant (4 positions)* Assistant Manager of Data Services* Data Security and Privacy Coordinator* Software Support Specialist (continuousrecruitment) * PC/LAN Technician (continuous recruitment)

Please check the BT BOCES website formore information, or contact Kristin Wittig viaemailat kwittig@btboces.org.

Cheers For Peers

In this section of the monthly RIC Report,we take a look at submitted kudos over thepast several weeks. Congratulations,everyone. Nicely done.

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For: Numerous RIC employees involved withSherburne-Earlville's schooltool conversion -some mentioned by name in the body of thetext, below. The email was sent to KellyTwitchell.

From: Joanne Blenis, Sherburne-Earlvilleschools (Data Coordinator & InstructionalTechnology Coach)

Joanne's email: Good afternoon! I know weare not 100% rock solid with our schooltoolconversion, but I feel like I need to make someacknowledgments.

As difficult as this process can be, I would likeyou (and whomever else you can share thiswith) to know that the team I have been workingwith has been terrific. At the risk of leavingsomeone out who has helped me or us, I needto call out some people. From the variouspeople who have assisted us via the help desk,to Donna Eaton, who always answers myquestions and has helped with people who still

Final Pieces of Level Advancement Initiative Coming Together

"I think we're finally there."

Dan Myers, SCRIC Director had that message recently when reviewing the progress of the RIC's LevelAdvancement and Core Competency guidelines.

"We now have the Core Competencies building into Oasys, which is a Frontline product," he said, "so pretty soonwe'll be sending out instructions (via email, to RIC employees)."

Dan said everyone in the RIC will have an account. From there, each employee will be able to go into their accountand do a "self-assessment" regarding core competencies. Managers may also review the employee's corecompetencies.

"This would be the basis for (employees') professional development and growth and the justification for leveladvancements within existing titles," he explained.

Note: Thanks to Kristin Wittig and Dodie Sherman for their efforts in helping to get this process up and running.

Getting Set for Ed Law 2-D to Take Effect

questions and has helped with people who stillneed PowerSchool access, to Alan Slocum,who has helped with all of my exports, whilealso teaching me how to edit exports goingforward (he was actually my favorite person ofAugust - I told him so), everyone has beenwonderful and that has made this transition alittle easier.

Then there are the trainers - Penny B, Jenn K,Maureen E, and Stephanie M. They havetrekked out here numerous times, hosted onlinetrainings (and let me hang out in a conferenceroom there once or twice, and answered all ofmy questions), answered emails, and helpedme on the phone many times. Like the people Ipreviously mentioned, they have always beenprofessional and helpful. They have also beenfun (which means SOOOO much with a changelike this). Their patience seems infinite and iscommendable.

Miss Stephanie has been my main go-toperson throughout this entire process. I cannottell you how many calls and emails she hasfielded from me. Never once has she (oranyone on the team) made me feel like I amasking too much or that I am asking a stupidquestion (and I'm sure I have). That woman haseven answered my emails at 11 p.m. (or later)! Iappreciate her (and everyone) more than I caneven put into words.

I know we have more work to do, but I know wewill get through all of it because I have suchgreat people to work with. As I said (and I'msure you know), this process could have beenawful. While we have not been without roughpatches, it has never felt hopeless or painful. Iwant you to know how great the people are thathave been a part of this transition. I look forwardto the continued partnership.

Have a great weekend! Joanne

Response to Joanne, from Kelly: Joanne,thank you so much for sending this along. It's sonice of you to take the time out of your busy dayto acknowledge the team like this. Oftentimes,we only hear about the things that have gonewrong with implementations.

Sherburne has been an absolute joy to workwith throughout this transition. Change is nevereasy, but I am pleased to hear we are goingabove and beyond to help make this easier forthe district. I do want to point out that havingdistrict "buy-in" is also an important piece to asuccessful rollout. You have been instrumentalwith this and we really couldn't have done thiswithout your support, too!

Thanks again for reaching out! I will be sure topass this kudos along to the team. Have a greatweekend! Kelly

Feedback from Dan Myers: This is reallyawesome! Thanks to everyone involved and foryour commitment to great customer service.

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For: Kelly Twitchell, Stephanie Mohamed, MaryBeth Townsend and Maureen Eberly

Relayed from: Jamie Pane

Email subject line: Feedback from ChenangoForks trainings

Jamie's message: Hi everyone. I got somefeedback from Drew regarding yesterday'sschooltool training at CFMS. He wasimpressed with how well Maureen did. He saidshe was very clear, easy to understand, andwas well-prepared.

Feedback from Donna Eaton: Maureen,another happy customer. You are definitely

Dan Myers, SCRIC Director, gave his most recent RIC-wide overview on Education Law 2-D Requirements duringthe last RIC WebEx. We wanted to give a brief review of a couple high points, exemplified by two graphics.

As he mentioned in the WebEx, the new Ed Law 2-D Part 121 will be adopted by the state Education Departmentand the Board of Regents this month. This requires school districts to address items listed in the nine areas listedin the first graphic, above.

Dan then covered a second graphic that details the NIST Cybersecurity Framework.

"The part (NIST Cybersecurity Framework) that's going to affect us most (at the RIC), everything from how we buythings, what we buy, who has access to it, how it's inventoried, who's monitoring, who's detecting all of thesethings," he said. "The NIST Cybersecurity Framework lays out 121 different controls."

How can everyone help us through this process, and become fluent with the new regulations? He mentioned threeimportant components of the process.

* Maintaining and using authorized requestors in Service-Now.* Accurate, thorough and properly authorized account provisioning for all RIC systems.* Accurate and complete inventory.

To review this information in more detail, you can listen to Dan talk about it by accessing the most recent SCRICWebEx AT THIS LINK.

The password to access the recording is: UrgCT3uF

BT BOCES, Maine-Endwell Collaborate to Bring "Mindfully Digital" Conference to Fruition

another happy customer. You are definitelysetting a positive impression with these districtswho have transitioned to schooltool. Pleaseknow I am very appreciative of the effortinvolved. Donna

Feedback from Kelly: Maureen, great job! It'snice to see the positive feedback from thetrainings! Thanks you, Kelly

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For: Beth Wilton and Bill Rabey

From: Donna Eaton

Cheers: Beth and Bill, thank you for your jointeffort in helping us resolve the complicatedService Now ticket/issue that came up first thingthis morning. Your professionalism, knowledgeand teamwork to research and execute the fix insuch a timely manner is greatly appreciated bythe district and me! Your efforts did not gounnoticed. Thanks again! Donna

Feedback from Kelly Twitchell: Bill and Beth,awesome teamwork! Thank you!

RIC-Wide WebEx: Upcoming Schedule

The next RIC-Wide WebEx:Next WebEx is October 30

The WebEx meetingsstart at 2:45 p.m. and conclude by 3:15 p.m.

You can also access the recordings ofprevious WebEx sessions through the RIC

Staff folder.Here is the file path:

H:\RIC Staff\Monthly RIC-Wide WebEx\RIC-Wide WebEx Recordings\2019-2020

Here is the direct link to the the recordingof the September WebEx:

https://scric.webex.com/scric/ldr.php?RCID=2e98f4b7a06b0e87036d8aa98c1e07e8

The password to access the recording is:UrgCT3uF

Here's our schedule for upcoming WebExsessions:

November 27December 18

Click here to join the WebEx meetings:https://scric.webex.com/join/aspeen

Access code: 641 090 631

To join from video conferencingsystem

or app, dial:aspeen@scric.webex.com

To join by phone:+1-415-655-0002 U.S. toll Access code: 641 090 631

Congratulations, Barb Tasber!

TASBER

The news of Barb Tasber's promotion waspublished in a longer update piece from RICDirector Dan Myers as this new school yearbegan. But we wanted to be sure to make aslightly bigger, separate announcement, soeveryone was well aware.

At the end of the summer, the BT BOCESBoard of Education voted to appoint Barb to acertified administrative (management) positionwith the RIC.

Said Dan Myers: "Barb has been an active partof the Managed Tech work we have been doingat Maine-Endwell and Windsor. She has filledChrissy Choi's role and has been workingprimarily in in the Windsor schools."

Congratulations to Barb!

Sean Culligan Talks RIC Automation

The RIC's Sean Culligan has offered a coupledifferent talks on IT Automation and the RIC:what it is, what we're doing with it today, wherewe want to take it, why we should use it. Also,what's the future for RIC IT automation?

He first addressed a mixed-RIC group during aDAS staff meeting at Union-Endicott, and thenmore recently covered the subject during a RIC-wide WebEx.

"We're creating processes or work flows that wecan run against IT systems," Culligan explained."We can take those processes or work flowsand hand them into our automation software,and that will carry out those tasks for us - with nointervention."

Sean offered more insight based onexperiences many of us may have at home.

"To compare that to something folks might be abit more familiar with, you can think aboutAmazon Alexa or Google Home. They turn onlights automatically, play music when you talk tothem," he said. "You tell one of these what to do,it follows the processes. That's automatic athome, and we can transfer some of that to howwe do things in IT."

He offered some quick-hit items to consider,such as: Why should the RIC use automation?

* Reduce number of incidents* Lower time to resolve tickets* Enable teams to do more* Speed up or replace manual tasks withautomated ones* Remove human error from tasks* Run repeatable processes the same everytime* Allow access to perform tasks without accessto systems* And more.

Sean said the journey toward more RIC IT

On Thursday and Friday, October 10 and 11, Maine-Endwell schools hosted the Mindfully Digital Conference.Along with M-E officials, Tom Guillon, RIC Assistant Director, also hosted this regional event.

"It was a great two days of learning attended by more than 300 teachers, administrators and SCRIC staff thatincluded both student- and staff-led presentations," Tom said. "The feedback received on the day was amazing,and many walked away inspired to take back what they learned."

Over the two-day event, the M-E district showcased its use of "technology with a purpose." On Day 1, participantsvisited district schools and interacted with students and teachers who demonstrated how they use technology inthe classroom. On Day 2, M-E staff and conference participants heard from conference keynote speaker DevorahHeitner, Ph.D., author of "Screenwise: Helping Kids Thrive (and Survive) in Their Digital World."

Throughout Day 2, breakout sessions highlighted many "best practices" and technology tools M-E teachers haveadopted and use in instruction, as well as topics centered on the district's ongoing, ever-evolving experience withtechnology integration.

BT BOCES Hosts Southern Tier Conference That Included Technology Integration

Sean said the journey toward more RIC ITautomation began two years ago, with the goalto streamline and innovate our day-to-dayoperations. First was to implement the "SCRICAutomation" platform, after which initialautomation jobs were created for TISEngineering.

"We expanded to TIS Operations, DAS,Financial Services with additional jobs created,and we're today continuing expansion to reachmore teams," he said. "We feel this will enablethe RIC to work on new innovative projects toachieve the unimaginable with informationtechnology."

Sean added the following items as examples ofour continuing expansion to reach more teams:

* Enable the RIC to work on new innovativeprojects to achieve the unimaginable withinformation technology.* Ideas for jobs that may benefit you and yourteams.* Try to automate anything and everything.

RIC Recruitment Hits The Road

As ongoing recruiting continues, the RIC's ChrisWhite and Chris Alunni will be taking the effortson the road - specifically to the DCMO/ONCregion.

"Chris Alunni and I will be heading to arecruitment event at the CDO Office starting at 9a.m. October 17," said Chris White. "I'm lookingfor a continuous recruitment offering that isneeded in area schools such as Norwich,Oneonta, Sidney, South Otselic, and others."

He added that a second location, to bedetermined, will likely be added for the RIC'srecruiting efforts.

"We have a real need for recruitment in theONC/DCMO region as a result of our recentgrowth," Chris White said. "As more districtsare availing themselves of our services andsupport, others see what we offer and they wantin."

The RIC's recruiting duo will be looking forcandidates to fill these positions: IT Assistantsand PC/LAN techs.

Teachers from around the region gathered to learn from each other in two separate workshop sessions during theOctober 10 Southern Tier Science Conference. Broome-Tioga BOCES played host to the event, which was heldat Chenango Valley High School. The event was conducted in partnership with the Science Teachers Associationof New York State (STANYS) and the NYS Master Teacher Program.

About 120 educators attended for the opportunity to learn from each other- sharing exemplar lessons, resources,instructional strategies, and technology integration ideas.

"Several sessions looked at not just science lessons, but how technology can be successfully integrated in thoseclassrooms," said Maureen Smith, who organized the conference. She is a Science Instructional SupportSpecialist for BT BOCES. "Through using video creation to present lessons, or how the Google Suite tools canhelp further student learning, a lot of great information was shared among area teachers.

"Also, a big thanks to Mike Decker of the RIC," Maureen added. "Mike was very helpful and a great support."

DECKER

Problem-Solving: We'll Now Bring You Highlighted Knowledge-Base Articles

ServiceNow Knowledge-Base News

* There are more than 100 useful articles in both the Public Knowledge Base and the RIC Staff Knowledge

* New articles added regularly

* Be sure to check and use these resources to help solve issues and assist our customers

If you have any suggestions for new articles, feel free to email servicesdesk@southcentralric.org

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Highlighted Article of the Month

Title: Email Not Updating and Outlook icon has a Red X on it

Summary: Email getting toggled offline happens frequently. This article can help an end-user easily fix itthemselves.

Permalink: https://scric.service-now.com/kb_view.do?sysparm_article=KB0011957

Note: We plan to make this a regular feature in the RIC Report, highlighting a given article (and new articles)as we go.

Chris Alunni: Removal of Java From District Machines is Under Way

The SCRIC team learned within the last few months that Oracle would no longer provide Java as a free softwareproduct. Chris Alunni, RIC Manager of Infrastructure/Operations, said his team did some research, contacted a"re-seller," and learned that to continue having Java on all desktops we manage, the cost was approximately$250,000.

"So we came up with a process for the removal of Java (from desktops where it had been installed)," Alunni said.He added that Java would no longer be added during imaging of new machines, adding, "The biggest reason (wewon't have it anymore) is that they won't be updating it anymore, so that's a real safety and security concern."

The Java uninstall will begin with the Maine-Endwell school district, Alunni said, and will continue on a district-by-district basis.

Once that process has begun, he added, there could be systems that are affected by the absence of Java.

"Some of the web pages used by teachers may have a plug-in that needs Java to work," Alunni said. "H-VAC isanother system that may need Java, in some cases, to run correctly." He added that as the updates go, RIC teammembers will address systems on a case-by-case basis to be sure everything runs properly.

Catch Up With Manager Meeting Minutes

To help us improve internal communication, the monthly Managers Meeting minutes are posted in the shareddrive. Full versions of the July and August 2019 Manager Meeting Minutes can be found in the RIC Staff shared folder:"H:\RIC Staff\Manager Meeting Minutes"

Got a Good Story for the RIC Report?

The RIC Report is about all things South Central Regional Information Center, and the report is evolving. It's abouttechnology, people and partnerships. It's about how things work, and those who make things go. If you have an idea for a feature, a photo you'd like to share, or even a blurb you believe the rest of RIC would beinterested to read, whether it's in the schools, at DAS or "on the hill," email Stephen Jensen at sjensen@btboces.org, orsend him a text at 607.743.0582. Let him know!

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