Departmental Self Review - UCLA Academic Senate

campus system must provide on paper all costs and features, a detailed service level agreement,and expected deployment dates before consideration can occur.Timeline: Next 5 Years.Initiative Four: Training for Faculty and Staff.The most significant barrier to more efficient school operation is a general lack of basiccomputer skills among faculty and staff. While many faculty and staff have excellent skills inmany areas of computer use, a significant number do not have the strong basic computer skillsneeded in the 21 st century. These problems have been compounded by the rapid evolution ofhardware and software over the last few years, which has served to render even recently acquiredcomputer skills quickly obsolete. The effects of inadequate computer skills are considerable. Notonly are faculty and staff requiring more time to complete projects, but support needs are greatlyincreased – pulling IT staff away from more critical proactive projects.During earlier strategic planning cycles formal training on productivity software was offeredinfrequently and without follow-up. While these training sessions were generally successful,their cost prevented the development of an ongoing program. This has resulted in a ‘binge-based’training methodology insufficient for the school’s computing needs. The development of aprogram of ongoing computer instruction that is both reasonable in cost and compatible withcomplex faculty schedules is critical to solving these problems.Recommendations:Training activities can be broken down into three distinct areas: basic skills, advanced skills, andspecial skills. Each of these areas requires a different approach.Basic skills are those which must be present to function effectively at UCLA. They includesimple Windows use, directory navigation, word processing, and email usage skills. A very basicorientation to network systems would also fall in this area. Many users in the school wouldbenefit from basic skills instruction.Advanced skills are needed by some faculty and staff in specific types of applications, such asdatabase creation and use, or Excel pivot tables, or SAS programming. Relatively few users needadvanced training in their software applications with the possible exception of word processing.Special skills are those not related to the school’s standard software suite. This includes trainingin distance learning systems, custom application training (such as in the CENTRAL system), andhigh-end IT staff training.Basic skills are currently the most critical need. AIS (UCLA Administrative InformationSystems) has recently made use of a novel training approach utilizing student trainers to teachproductivity application skills. A student trainer is hired short-term to provide one-on-one orsmall group training, and if necessary given supplemental instruction so as to have the necessarycontent and training skills. The student is then made available to faculty and staff for an extended284