Office of Information Technology Affiliates/Guests – Who are these people and how do we give them services? Copyright, Barbara Hope, University of Maryland,

Office of Information Technology

Affiliates/Guests –

Who are these people and how do we give them services?

Copyright, Barbara Hope, University of Maryland, 2007. This work is the intellectual property of the author. Permission is granted for this material to be shared for non-commercial, educational purposes, provided that this copyright

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January 2007


Problem/Issue

• The University of Maryland provides limited services to affiliates/guests (not faculty, staff or students).

• There was no coordinated methodology to:– Track population– Facilitate authorization of services– Enable Directory authentication


Disparate Systems Held Affiliates Information

• Service Offices tracked affiliates separately, with no institutional definition/direction regarding:– Who should be given services– Who is responsible for the affiliate/guest– When services should end

• Use of the Directory for authentication was problematic.

• Many “holes” in the processes to give services to affiliates.


Proposed Affiliates System

The Office of Data Administration took the lead role in creating a single, integrated system to collect information on affiliates & guests, and meet the need for all units to manage affiliate information and the services provided to them.


Researched Services Providedto Affiliates

– Library Services– Building Access– Email– Calendaring

– Directory Authentication – Parking– Campus Recreation Services– Voice/Data Services

• Services were researched & current business practices documented.

• Limited services included:


Researched the Affiliate Population

– Volunteers– Researchers w/ MOU’s– Retirees– High School Students– Vendors

– Trainees– K-12 Faculty/Staff– Auditors– Interns

• Examples of people who are considered affiliates at the University of Maryland:


Project Design/Rules• Affiliate must have a departmental sponsor.

• Minimal required information collected.

• System must be web-based.

• Utilize existing Payroll/HR system’s security structure and functional administration.

• Feed affiliates data to the Directory.

• Service Offices to validate against central database prior to activating services.

Rules MatrixServices Uses

ID CardBasic

Affiliate

Retiree

Affiliate

Regular

Affiliate

Research Affiliate

Directory ID

OIT Email

OIT Calendar

Glue Acct

Voice/Data

Publish in Dir

Campus Rec Svcs

Library Services

Library On-line Databases

Campus Bldg Access

Residential Bldg Access

Parking Permits


Affiliate Information Screen Shots


Data Conversion

• Sent lists for departmental review

• Needed UID’s for existing affiliates

• Needed expiration date for existing affiliates

• Many “required” data fields not available in existing systems

• Actual implementation brought a number of affiliates “out of the woodwork”


Affiliates Today & In The Future

• Now we know:– “who” these affiliates are and– “why” they are associated with UM

• Initial charge was to “keep it simple”, however…

• System flexible enough to handle new UMpolicy with relative ease.


Who Should Lead the Projectat Your Institution?

• May be difficult to determine who should lead project

• Many offices provide services, however…• It is a project about people, however...• The IT Office can provide the technology,

however…


Who Led the Project at theUniversity of Maryland?

• The Office of Data Administration was a natural fit:– Partnerships with service offices.– Close working relationship with technical

personnel.– Understanding of campus business processes.– Daily interaction with academic and

non-academic departments.


The Cost of Supporting Affiliates

• Institutions need to analyze how much it costs to support these affiliates.

• If the number of affiliates grows exponentially, the use of services can impact budgets, scheduling of personnel, physical resources, and can lead to degradation of services to faculty, staff and students.

• Should sponsoring departments pay for services?• Should the institution pick up the cost?


Relevance to Other Institutions

• With increasing security concerns, know who your affiliates are.

• Need institutional oversight.

• Sponsor affiliates at the appropriate level.

• Drive service activation on departmental sponsorship for that service.

• Monitor costs and assess future growth.


Questions?


Lead Presenter:Barbara HopeDirector, Data [email protected]

Co-Presenter:Marla BonnerData [email protected]

Documents

Office of Information Technology Affiliates/Guests – Who are these people and how do we give them services? Copyright, Barbara Hope, University of Maryland,