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FSEC receives MyUB update
By MARY COCHRANE
Contributing Editor
All faculty members at UB have MyUB accounts. According to a recent one-day "snapshot" and a survey done last spring, about half of them are active users of the portal that offers one-stop surfing for university Web resources, according to data gathered by the MyUB team.
The team—introduced by Carole Ann Fabian, director of the Educational Technology Center (ETC)—presented a report to the Faculty Senate Executive Committee yesterday that showed a spring 2005 survey of 2,428 faculty members garnered 1,238 responses, for a response rate of 51 percent. Fifty-four percent of the respondents reported they use MyUB daily or several times a week, while 42 percent said they use it "just once in awhile."
The team also reported that a "snapshot" of faculty use of MyUB taken one day this month found 46 percent of faculty reporting that they had used it in the past two weeks, 58 percent in the past month and 84 percent in the past year.
The team defines the 2,428 faculty as those with "02 appointments," while another 7,013 users with an instructional or academic role "have accounts that utilize faculty MyUB."
What do faculty use MyUB for? Most go to the teaching, Web mail and MyUB home pages. After that, the most clicks occurred on the search engine and the My Library and UBLearns pages.
A faculty survey about MyUB in spring 2005 received a tremendous response of 51 percent—or 1,238 surveys. Of those respondents, 54 percent reported using MyUB daily or several times a week, while 42 percent said they use it just once in a while. Faculty members identified nine areas needing improvement, including:
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Simplify the menus for easier navigation; cut down on the amount of information
Add links to departmental pages
Enable users to turn off the MyUB header, giving users access to URLs and allowing them to print pages
Improve the search engine
Guide users to making MyUB their home page
Allow round-the-clock access to services; extend service hours
Add direct links to courses on UBLearns and course schedules, MyBookbag
Give users a single sign-on to access UBLearns, grades, Web mail, etc.
Improve access to departmental directories and individuals
Several of these improvements already have been made, and work continues on the others, according to the team, which is led by Robert M. Wright, IT manager for Administrative Computing Services, and Rebecca Bernstein, Web team leader for Creative Services.
The team told the senate it is developing a new paradigm for MyUB that is more "responsive" to faculty needs, according to Bernstein. The new design allows the home page to function as an information center for users, while secondary pages serve as task centers. In addition, users can personalize the MyPage with channels of their choice and use a need-to-know channel to keep up on key events and news. Continuing redesign of MyUB this summer will include a new header; a new, more up-front position for UBLearns, and Web mail.
Several FSEC members applauded one of the changes on MyUB that gives them access to the new photo classlists that allow them to become more familiar with the students in their courses. Senators offered several other suggestions to the team, including allowing users to archive information on such things as classes they have taught in order to access it later, and enabling faculty to connect through MyUB to electronic teaching evaluations.
Fabian also reminded faculty members that ETC offers training on MyUB to faculty throughout the year.
To access MyUB, go to http://myub.buffalo.edu.