OCTOBER 2018 RIC REPORTSusan Foster Offers Tips and Reminders for ServiceNow,

schooltool and eSchoolPLUS 4.1 Rollouts, and More This Month.IN THIS ISSUE:Check Out Our "Back to School" StatsCalleo Kicks in With Promised Special OlympicsContribution

Job Opportunities

PC/LAN Tech (continuous recruitment)Click here for more information Or Contact Ashleen Speen

Cheers For Peers

In this section of the monthly RIC Report, wetake a look at submitted kudos over the pastseveral weeks. Congratulations, everyone.Nicely done. For: Gene Cumm

From: Rick Robinson, Walton Schools

Message: Hey guys, I just wanted to say thankyou for Friday's switch-over. As usual, Gene did anamazing job and there was zero downtime.Thanks!

+++

For: Dana Tirrell

From: Andrea Steele, DCMO BOCES

Message: Dana was a great help today withEric @ GMU. We appreciate it.

+++

For: Stephanie Mohamed and Joel Munson

From: Brenda Thall, Unadilla Valley Schools

Message (to Donna Eaton): I wanted to saythank you for allowing your team members to cometo UVCS yesterday to train our staff (and myself).They are not only very knowledgeable, but veryprofessional in their work. Although we didn't haveas many teachers as I had hoped, we did seearound 16 teachers and they all seemed tounderstand the grade book much better after theirsession. Thank you again for sharing your team with us.

+++

For: Howard Dingman

From: Kathy Mras

Training: Susan Foster Offers Tips and Reminders

Susan Foster

This month we're pleased to announce a new addition to the RIC Report. Susan Foster will offer quick tips andreminders on a variety of subjects based on frequently asked questions.

Susan joined BT-BOCES in 2004 as part of the Data team. She has provided support and training to Data,Applications and Data Warehouse. She now works with the Service Desk, as well as to develop documentation.Expect to see more of her as she develops and delivers support training on topics vital to the RIC.

This month's topic and links to Quick Guides are below. Note: Please be sure you are signed in to Service Now beforeclicking. * How to Submit a Ticket - Customer View, as well as How to Update an Open Service Now Ticket: CLICK HERE

* How to Add a Printer, and How to Set Your Printer as Your Default: CLICK HERE

From: Kathy Mras

Howard initially sent this note to Jill Andrewsat Harpursville: Hi Jill, welcome to a newreporting year.I was amazed how well we did forthe first-time attempt.

In Demographics, two students (xxx708542 andxxx091669) need Career Path andGED/Commencement Credential corrections, andone student (xxx092314) needs a Location Code.

When those Demographics are fixed we'll see howmany others are left. When a Demographic recordhas an error, that creates other "No matchingdemographics errors" in other areas. We have acouple of weeks; we need to have Demographicsand Enrollment all correct and locked in earlyOctober.

You're the greatest, especially since the districttransitioned to SchoolTool and there are very few"hiccups" despite the change. Great job.

Kathy sent this note to Howard, inappreciation: Hi Howard - I wanted to let youknow that I saw this ticket that you created to sendJill Andrews the Import Error Analysis forHarpursville for this week. Great job! Thanks somuch for how you took charge and handled thiswith very little direction and for the nicely wordedemail in the ticket to Jill. Much appreciated.

Job Opportunities

PC/LAN Tech (continuous recruitment)Click here for more information Or Contact Ashleen Speen

Manager Meeting: Minutes Posted

To help us improve internal communication, themonthly Managers Meeting minutes are postedeach month in the shared drive.

Minutes can be found by going to:

"H:\RIC Staff\Manager Meeting Minutes"

RIC-Wide WebEx: Schedule

The next RIC-Wide WebEx:Wednesday, October 24Starts at 2:45 p.m., ends at 3:15 p.m.

Click here to join the WebEx meeting: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

Upcoming WebEx Schedule(Start time is 2:45 p.m.)

November 28December 19

* And ... Barracuda Essentials - Managing Quarantined Emails: CLICK HERE

SCRIC Responds to "Back to School" Requests

It's often said that things get a bit chaotic at the SCRIC - and everywhere you'll find a RIC employee throughout theregion - during the first couple weeks of a new school year, but we wanted to see what the numbers looked like.

Robert Parlett, Ken Angulus and Angelo DePersiis helped pull together some numbers - after things had calmed downa bit - and they're very impressive.

While the number of calls to the Service Desk couldn't be attained for 2017, we did determine that in a two-weekperiod this fall, the RIC Service Desk fielded 2,345 calls.

That was just the tip of the iceberg. Take a look at the chart we've pulled together, above.

Well done, all.

More Schools Adopting schooltool; Additional Training On The Horizon

Missed the May WebEx?

No worries.Click here to listen to the recording.

Welcome Aboard: Jenna Del Santo

Jenna Del Santo Jenna Del Santo came aboard with BT-BOCES,replacing Jacquie Gorman, who has transferred tothe Central Business Office. Jenna's first day withus was September 24.

Jenna is a 2018 graduate of SUNY Brockport andreceived her bachelor of science degree infinance. She is also a Union-Endicott High Schoolgraduate, and she played soccer for the Tigers formany seasons. She said she enjoys the outdoors,particularly hiking and the region's lakes.

She said that so far, her work has includedhandling "a lot of purchase orders for ExtendedClassroom and Arts in Education" and that she willbe getting more into "fiber billing."

Welcome, Jenna!

Best of Luck: Jacquie Gorman

Jacquie Gorman

Jacquie Gorman recently transferred from the BT-BOCES finance department to take a position withthe Central Business Office, in Endicott. (Shestarted there September 24.)

Jacquie said she was pleased to have theopportunity for the move because she has abachelor's degree in accounting. "I haven't beendoing much of that lately," she said. Jacquie is nowworking as one of the accountants for theBinghamton school district. "So I'm pretty excitedabout that," she added.

Jacquie and her husband of 34 years, Joe, live inWindsor. Joe recently retired from the BroomeDevelopment, Jacquie said.

Best of luck, Jacquie!

Congratulations Are In Order

Joel Munson

Kathleen Mras

Bill Beebe

Justin Dreher

Jordan Geertgens.Congratulations to the following on recentpromotions:

* Joel Munson: From STA I to STA II

* Kathleen Mras: From STA II to STA III

* Bill Beebe: From STA I to STA II

* Justin Dreher: Hired as computer programmer(previously had served as an intern with us).

* Jordan Geertgens: To Assistant Coordinator ofManaged Services, primarily at Norwich andSherburne-Earlville districts.

A Reminder: Enhanced Flex Plan Benefit

Last month we introduced you to this newopportunity. We wanted to include this info oncemore to give folks a reminder.

We also wanted to let you know that beginning nextmonth, Robin Eccleston, BT-BOCES humanresources director, will provide one item from his

Pictured above, new teachers in the Binghamton school districtreceived schooltool training at the end of the summer atColumbus School, downtown Binghamton.

schooltool is a student management system that gives administrators, faculty and staff the power to record and reportinformation faster and easier than ever before. Harpursville school district and DCMO BOCES implemented schooltool as their new Student Management System thissummer, and current schooltool districts' newest teachers received training with the program in late August.

"The process to implement the program with the new districts began in November and December of 2017," saidStephanie Mohamed. "That started with project planning. Then in January we started to pull data - we were setting upfields and modules, doing training, and data cleanup. It's a big undertaking."

Other area districts that utilize schooltool are: Binghamton, Chenango Valley, Deposit, Maine-Endwell, Otselic Valley,Union-Endicott, Walton and Whitney Point.

Four additional school districts will be implementing schooltool this fall. They are: Cherry Valley, Franklin, Sherburne-Earlville and Vestal.

"We try to offer monthly trainings for all of the school districts we support," Mohamed said. Trainings are based on avariety of needs, depending on the time of year in the districts.

"We're also looking to offer more training videos that will be posted on our support page in the future," she added,"not just for schooltool, but for PowerTeacher Pro and eSchool PLUS 4.1, as well."

DAS Team Rolls Out New Application for eSchoolPLUS 4.1

Several months ago, we brought to you an update on eSchoolPLUS. It mentioned that approximately four years ago,eSchoolPLUS introduced a new, enhanced version of eSchoolPLUS Teacher Access Center - version 3.1. Thisversion introduced the cross-browser platform which allowed teachers to use the web browser of their choosing.

Now, the cross-browser version of the Office/Admin application of eSchoolPLUS has been introduced - version 4.1.

The SCRIC eSchoolPLUS team has been preparing for this upgrade for the past two years and it will be rolled outover Columbus Day weekend (October 6-8).

When administrative users log into the application on October 9, they will be in the new 4.1 version. The userinterface has a completely new look and feel. The menu is easier to navigate, and the "Mega Menu" resembles aGoogle search.

There are approximately 2,000 eSchoolPLUS users representing 20 school districts supported by the SCRICeSchoolPLUS Team. One of the key features of this release is that it's not browser-specific and staff will be able toaccess the application on any device.

In preparation for the update, the eSchoolPLUS Team has been working with a pilot group of users over the summer.The pilot group provided positive feedback.

Training for all users of eSchoolPLUS 4.1 has begun and will continue in the months ahead.

Visions at the Education Center: The Finished Product, Hours, Etc.

resources director, will provide one item from hisdepartment that we believe will be helpful to ouremployees. This feature will continue each monthgoing forward.

For now, here's a refresher regarding the Flex Planopportunity.

You can read the entire 7-page slide show aboutthe by CLICKING ON THIS LINK.

If you have any questions about this offer, call(607) 766-3828.

The enhanced Flex Plan offers:

1. Debit Card direct pay2. Mobile App for plan balance3. Limits increased to IRS Maximum

$2,600/$5,200

Got a Good Story Idea for the RIC Report?The RIC is about people, and with them come a lotof terrific stories.

If you have an idea for a future RIC Report articlethat highlights our people and their work, either inthe schools or on the hill, email Stephen Jensenat sjensen@btboces.org, or give him a call (or texthim) at 607-743-0582.

These photos show the completed Visions Office at the BT-BOCES Education Center, which is now openWednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

The Visions Federal Credit Union branch opened in mid-September on BOCES campus, and this partnershipsoffers benefits for so many. It provides a great convenience to staff, while also offering great hands-onopportunities for students to work in and learn the banking industry. Rachel Kettle is branch manager, and she is on campus during the hours when our new branch is open. Thosehours are Wednesdays, Thursday and Fridays from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. (on school calendar days).

A recent email announcing the opening of the branch talked about the student-workers. It assured that students willonly see a name and address when they are conducting transactions, and that no balances or other information willbe available to them. The information that they do not have access to will appear with *** in the field. Morecomplicated transactions are handled by the branch manager. Privacy screens are also be used on the studentstations, so those walking outside the branch will not be able to read what is on the screen. For staff who may be concerned about students handling their banking needs, Visions has assured us that allpersonal and account information is kept confidential and accessible only by the Visions' full-time staff (notstudents) who will be on location at all times.

Our Purchases Led to Calleo's Special Olympics Donation

You may recall that during our RIC Unplugged event back in June, the Calleo Logowear Company, with which wehave an online store selling apparel sporting the SCRIC logo, agreed to donate $5 per item purchased to the SpecialOlympics.

Dan Myers recently received an email from Calleo, saying that we raised $90 from our SCRIC online store, and thatthe company will be donating those funds to the Special Olympics, as promised.

Also, we are working with them to do another discounted term so there will be free shipping for a period of time atsome point in the future. We will share more information about that as soon as it's set up. Thanks everyone!

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