OIT services in the spotlight: Technology Services Support
May 17, 2019The Technology Services Support (TSS) group is one of the largest areas within the Office of Information Technology (OIT), providing collaboration and solutions for a wide array of technologies on both the Denver and Anschutz campuses. This dedicated staff maintains full-time coverage for a myriad of technology needs, beginning bright and early every morning.
TSS is led by director Betty Charles, a higher education expert with more than four decades of experience at CU, ranging from telehealth programs to more than 15 years overseeing our educational and technology services. Charles’ passion for technology is directly related to how it drives innovation and empowers people in education, research and clinical arenas.
“Our primary goal is to provide an exceptional, technically advanced experience to meet the needs of our students, faculty and staff, with accessible and reliable resources. We rely on a collaborative effort from our service desk, project coordination including creative visuals (see the CU Productions article in this series) and the technical acumen of our classroom support staff and resources,” explained Charles.
The university’s classroom audio visual support and resources team provides a range of services for all classrooms and conference spaces including managing more than 150 rooms, setup and management of equipment, assistance with audio, video and recording devices, presentations and other multimedia equipment.
The event management system (EMS) is a room scheduling communication tool that allows many of these requests to work together from scheduling a conference with event recording to requesting facilities support for a special meeting with food and housekeeping. There are more than 5,000 faculty, staff and students actively using the EMS application, with 10-15 new account requests and approximately 100 room requests almost daily.
Although the team stays extremely busy, customer focused service, responsiveness and commitment always remain a priority. Last month, Van Browning, electronics specialist, was recognized by the Department of Communication for the work he did throughout the year supporting the department and in particular, the Daniels Fund series, an educational enhancement.
Lisa Keranen, department chair and associate professor, Department of Communication, wrote that Van was a “model of professionalism, efficiency, and good cheer” and that his skills helped them immensely making him a credit to both the university and “a true friend to the department.”
In addition to the day-to-day technical behind the scenes actions, special activities are common such as the multitude of upcoming commencement activities on both campuses and the recent livestreaming of the Regents vote on the university’s new president. This diverse team provides guidance and technological expertise for room upgrades and new design building strategies on both campuses.
Services also include technology resources for courses and computer training labs on the Anschutz campus as well as three CU Denver student lab locations. On the Anschutz Medical Campus, pagers are administered to medical residents and faculty and medical lab support is provided ensuring that science labs are prepped, ready for students and have met all safety requirements.
Overall this team provides centralized expertise and resources in support of education, research, clinical and administrative programs and services at the university. To learn more about the resources TSS can provide, visit the online catalog of OIT services.
Services in the Spotlight is a series of articles highlighting teams within the Office of Information Technology. For an overview of more services offered by OIT, watch the CU Productions video on our YouTube channel or visit our website: oit.ucdenver.edu.