evalUT, a course evaluation framework developed at the University of Toronto, is being made available to educators around the world. Montreal-based eXplorance, a leading provider of software solutions that support learning, will be licensing evalUT and intends to make the framework commercially available to the global education market. Read more about it at http://media.utoronto.ca/media-releases/course-evaluation-system-developed-at-u-of-t-to-be-available-around-the-world/ or in an article from the magazine “Campus Technology” at http://campustechnology.com/articles/2016/03/28/u-toronto-makes-course-eval-system-available-to-other-institutions.aspx
Month: March 2016
166 Countries!
We were just skimming our monthly Google Analytics numbers for the Portal. We are on pace to surpass 40 million sessions this year (based on currently monthly numbers). But even more interesting, over the past month, we had sessions from 166 different countries!
Other than Canada, the top ten countries are the U.S.A., the UK, China, India, the UAE, Hong Kong, Mexico, Australia, Brazil, and South Korea. Just one more piece of evidence that the University of Toronto is truly a global institution 🙂
Update on Email Migrations & Quotas
We have received approval for some short term expansion of Exchange infrastructure, so we are able to partially relax restrictions imposed on Dec. 1st regarding UTORmail to UTORExchange migrations.
Because the expansion provides only temporary relief for space pressures, please be judicious in requesting migrations – if the migration is not urgently needed, please hold off for now. Requests will continue to be evaluated and processed manually. (The automated, self-service provisioning website will not be reinstated at this time.)
For now, we are hoping to avoid quota increases. We ask that you work with your clients to clean up their mailboxes (delete unneeded messages and attachments, or at least store them offline), as an alternative to asking for more quota.
Account creation for employees new to the University (i.e., they don’t have an existing account) has never been frozen, and such requests will continue to be honoured.
This investment provides only temporary relief, to accommodate the delay in resolving our sustainable renewal plan for faculty and staff e-communications services.
Interesting Reading
Here are some interesting articles that have crossed my desk lately:
No Rush to ‘Go Digital’: Study shows faculty members remain skeptical of digital course materials and generally unfamiliar with open educational resources by Carl Straumsheim Feb. 22, 2016
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2016/02/22/study-faculty-members-skeptical-digital-course-materials-unfamiliar-oer
After Customer Feedback And Further Delays, Blackboard Changes Learn Ultra Strategy For LMS by Phil Hill Feb. 16, 2016
http://mfeldstein.com/after-customer-feedback-and-further-delays-blackboard-changes-learn-ultra-strategy-for-lms/
Muy Loco Parentis: How ‘Freakouts’ Over Student Privacy Hamper Innovation by Michael Feldstein February 02, 2016
http://chronicle.com/article/Muy-Loco-Parentis-How/235132
2016 Predictions: More Outside Management of Online Degrees, CRM Buying and Competition for Traditional Colleges by Dian Schaffhauser Jan. 5, 2016
https://campustechnology.com/articles/2016/01/05/2016-predictions-more-outside-management-of-online-degrees.aspx
Dr. Haniyeh Yousofpour
Dr. Haniyeh Yousofpour has recently joined the ITS Project Management Office, and among her other activities, she has been assigned PM responsibilities for the next phase of our Academic Toolbox Renewal initiative.
Haniyeh has a doctoral degree in Human Resource Management and Organizational Behaviour and an MBA with Finance Concentration. Further, she is a certified project management professional (PMP) as well as a certified six sigma (CSSGB) and process excellence professional.
In additional to teaching graduate level business courses at multiple universities (i.e. McMaster University, Ryerson University, and Canadian University of Dubai), Haniyeh provides consulting and project management services to large academic institutions and organizations globally. Her most recent projects include Graduate Professional Skills for Ontario Consortium and changing the teaching plan process at McMaster University.
The ACT team looks forward to working with Haniyeh, and the entire PMO team.