June 2007

06.07.04
Subject - CWU Website

Hi, I used to be a student here at CWU and now work for a small IT dept and I came across this suggestion box on your website. I do helpdesk work among other tasks and I can't believe the amount of complaining folks do on your website. I want to personally compliment Jesse Days, Chris Timmons, David Hart, Terilee Germain, Steve Breyfogle, and Ken Young. Your work is appreciated by your peers and I was once a student and knew how hard you worked. Folks tend to think it's like turning on a light switch but wouldn't even have the first clue on what to do if things did work. It is frusting for me to see all those complaints because I deal with a lot of them too and most people think it's because you aren't doing your job. I don't think I saw many valid questions just complaints about the website and totally throwing ADA to the wind or complaints on macs not having the most current browser or why you have complex passwords. My point is ask a question and do it respectfully don't complain.

Forwarded to - Jesse B. Days, CWU Web Developer

Response - On behalf of all the folks mentioned, thank you so much! We here in ITS strive to make your browsing and IT experience at CWU the best it can be while working with in the constraints of ADA compliance, something the university is committed to. Our continuing goal is to be "customer first" oriented.

06.07.03
Subject - CWU Website

I find it frustrating that this website is so poorly, unsophisticated and unstylishly designed, difficult to navigate, and impossible to search. In previous responses you have stated this is ADA compliant and use that one benchmark as a sole source of pride. However, when the general public-students-parents and others find this website challenging and in poor taste, (as noted by previous comments) one has to wonder what percentage of the population you are serving with the website. When is a real and substantial upgrade to the CWU website going to happen? The time is due. The website does a disservice to those who are proud of our school to be embarrassed by the main portal that the rest of the world can see us by.

Forwarded to - Carmen Rahm, Assisant VP for Information Technology

Response - Thanks for your analysis. If you would like to submit specific recommendations, we would be happy to consider them. Different customers have different views of what makes a good website. However, it is worth noting that on June 6th, a presentation was made to the President's Cabinet outlining several new design possibilities for a CWU Homepage. The goals of these designs were to 1) Adhere to the CWU Graphics/Branding guidelines, 2) Eliminate some of the "clutter" that some perceive with the existing site, 3) Implement more efficient navigation (including ADA compliant fly-outs to reduce the number of links on the Homepage), and 4) Achieve an equal or higher rating of ADA compliance than our existing site (which was accomplished).

It isn't possible to have a site with all the "bells and whistles" that many would like to see, and still remain ADA compliant, which is a major goal of CWU. But it is possible to have a good site with improved graphics and navigation features. The proposals were well received by the Cabinet, and our goal is to have a new homepage for CWU ready to deploy prior to Fall 2007 classes. If you have suggestions on what you'd like to see to "improve" the CWU homepage, feel free to submit them to Jesse Days in the ITS Web Development Office. We are working closing with Marketing and Public Relations who handle the designs.

ITS Department

06.07.02
Subject - Mac Computers

Thank you for deciding to use a few MacBooks in the Library laptop checkout program. I prefer Apple computers and wish some were available in the SURC laptop checkout program. However, across campus, it seems that the Macs don't receive quite the attention the PCs do. For example, most of the Macs are still running Internet Explorer, which is a discontinued product. The Macs should be running the latest versions of Safari and Firefox. Also, in the Psychology building, the Macs are only set up to print to the HP 5Si printer, which is slower and of poorer quality than the HP 4xxx printer. The SA told me to change to that printer, but it's not set up. It would be very helpful if issues such as these would be resolved for all of us Apple-lovers on campus.

Forwarded to - Carmen Rahm, Assisant VP for Information Technology

Response - Thanks for your feedback. We do try hard, and we feel are successful, at supporting Macs and Windows system equally ... but there are always items that slip through the cracks. With regards to the browser on our Macintosh computers, we don't install IE as a standard browser anymore. Safari has been the standard browser for Macs for almost 2 years, and we install Firefox if requested. We did have a professor in Psychology that requested several Macs have IE installed on them, so that's most likely what you're seeing. We're actually taking steps to remove these old versions of IE, as the newer IE is not certified for use on a Mac with our PeopleSoft environment. The latest Safari should be on every Mac.

With regards to the printing. If you see situations like this, feel free to contact the ITS HelpDesk and let them know. The specific printers you are referring to (older 5si) are scheduled to be replaced this summer with funding jointly provided by CWU and the Student Technology Committee.

We are in the midst of deploying a new Desktop Asset Management system at CWU which will allow us to more proactively identify these issues, like you have identified.

Thanks
ITS Department

06.07.01
Subject - Good Job, CWU

Today, as a guest teacher, I worked with some fantastic high school students. One student informed me that she was headed to Eastern Washington University, and as an alumnus of Western, I found one of her comments incredible. She said that she was waiting for information on pledging to a house in the Greek system. I was a bit shocked since back in the old days, WWU, CWU, and EWU took pride in not creating some sense of haves and have nots. I was fairly sure she was wrong, but lo and behold, she was right. So here I am checking out your website too. Everyone in my family has attended WWU, and I have had friend's whose kids have gone to Central. I want to thank your for making your school a place everyone is welcome, and not one of inner and outer circles.

So you are not so bad! (P.S. the principal where my daughter teaches, is a CWU grad and we all have so much fun poking fun at the other....all in good taste.)

Forwarded to - Bruce Porter, Director, Business Services & Contracts

Response - Thank you for your kind comments about CWU.