UC Davis SmartSite Initiative: Communications and Change Management Achievements & Projections

I. Key Communications and Change Management Achievements:

A. Implementation Framework

One of the first steps taken in preparation for the roll-out of the new learning management system was the development of an implementation framework in support of the following project goals:

• Work in close collaboration with key campus units - such as the School of Veterinary Medicine, the School of Medicine, Teaching Resources Center, etc. - to develop an enterprise-level collaborative learning environment for UC Davis faculty, students, staff, and affiliates
• Develop and implement a local instance of Sakai that is easy to use, flexible, extendable, and supports multilevel collaborations among students, instructors, and other academic partners
• Gradually introduce the new online collaboration and learning system to UC Davis faculty, students, staff, and other affiliates.
• Build a campuswide community of users

The implementation framework draws on a number of resources, including:

• Focus groups conducted recently with UC Davis students, staff and faculty;
• Feedback from faculty members participating in the Winter 2006 pilot program;
• Spring 2005 findings and recommendations from the CCFIT Subcommittee on Course Management Tools;
• Discussions held with campus advisory groups (CCFIT, TIF, etc.);
• Research and recommendations from by the Davis Honors Challenge Project Team;
• Input from the project team;
• Research of other institutions' implementation strategies, and
• Other resources made available through the Sakai national consortium.

The framework is intended as a dynamic planning document. It captures background information essential to understanding the nature and scope of the change we are about to introduce, and it outlines the communications, training, and support models that must be put in place in order for the service to be successfully rolled out.

The framework is comprised of four major components: Change Management, Communications, Training, and Support.

The IET Information & Events unit has primary responsibility for developing and implementing the communication and change management components of the framework. During the planning phase of the project, I&E developed a comprehensive communication strategy. This strategy was built around two main priorities:
a) Learn from, and report on the pilot program, and
b) Build an awareness and publicity program that would lead up to the official roll-out of the new system in Fall 2007.

In addition to the development of the implementation framework mentioned above, key communication and change management milestones for 2005-06 included:

Change management plan

• Development of a change management framework (nature of change to be introduced, nature and scope of impact on target audiences, analysis of UC Davis CMS environment, strategies for change preparedness, etc.)
• Series of focus group sessions (undergraduate and graduate students, staff, faculty, researchers, etc.)
• Analysis of implementation strategies at other institutions

Communication framework

• Communication strategy, goals and key messages; audience analysis; communication timeline and tactics, etc.
• Implementation of first phase of communications (Spring 2006)
• Development of internal communication mechanisms (biweekly newsletter, informational/coordination project Web site, etc.)

Key communication tactics: Spring-Summer 2006

• IT Times Summer 2006: SmartSite Special Edition
  Our full-color, special edition of the IT Times spotlights SmartSite as an innovative software development effort containing a toolset with sweeping implications with regard to the opportunities instructors, researchers and students at UC Davis will have to use technology as they teach, learn and work. This faculty-centric newsletter was delivered via intercampus mail and is also available for pickup at IT Express, the MU Info Desk, campus computer rooms, and other distribution sites. http://ittimes.ucdavis.edu/pdf/ITTimes_Summer_2006.pdf

• HyperText Summer 2006: SmartSite Special Edition
  Also appearing in full-color, our special edition of HyperText (IET's student-produced technology newsletter) marked our first major SmartSite communication to students of the campus community. The special edition featured SmartSite not only as a useful tool for managing and keeping track of course work, but also as a full-scale social networking tool which blurs the boundaries between academia, extra curricular activities, and social life. Forming study groups, organizing dissertations or research projects, keeping track of internships, cooperating on creative projects, and organizing clubs were just some of the uses suggested to our first prospective users. http://scg.ucdavis.edu/hypertext/2006summer.pdf

• SmartSite Public Web Site
  Serving as the online public face of the project, the SmartSite public Web site introduces students, staff, faculty, and researchers to SmartSite by providing background information, frequently asked questions, up-to-date announcements, a features list, news stories about the SmartSite in both internal and external media repositories, and a broad array of audience-specific support and training resources. In addition, visitors to the site are encouraged to fill out an application for a class or project site so they can become playing with the system as early adopters. http://smartsite.ucdavis.edu; http://sakai2.ucdavis.edu

• Summer Institute on Teaching and Technology (SITT) 2006
  In July, the 2006 Summer Institute on Teaching and Technology offered an excellent opportunity for faculty to explore new approaches to great teaching at UC Davis. As one of the more populated SITT tracks, communications analysts, technical support representatives, and other members of the team provided a wide variety of SmartSite resources throughout the various workshops and training sessions, as well as presentations introducing the new tools to attendees. https://sakai2.ucdavis.edu:8443/portal/site/89d918e5-7f50-4d50-00c1-d4b926303e91

• Davis Wiki Informational Site
  DavisWiki, one of the most comprehensive resources concerning the city of Davis, is a premiere success story for online collaborative projects. To support their community and incorporate SmartSite into their sites' architecture, the following wiki site was developed by SmartSite communications analysts and is freely editable by visitors: http://daviswiki.org/SmartSite

• Picnic Day Fliers
  As the largest student-run event in the United States, we believed Picnic Day would be a great venue to spread the word about SmartSite. As a result, an informational flier and implementation timeline was written by communications analyst and designed by IET student designers, then distributed widely at computer rooms and other tech-related events. https://confluence.ucdavis.edu:8443/confluence/download/attachments/7794/PicnicDay+flyer.pdf

II. Projections for 2006-07:

This upcoming year, we expect to move forward with a number of SmartSite communication goals and tactics (see below). Several communication vehicles have been identified as primary candidates to drive these communication goals. Wherever possible, it will be our goal to supplement the mentioned resources with other innovative communication mediums, such as podcasts, Captivates, SmartSite project sites, wikis, and social networking sites.

1. External communications:

• Inform students, faculty, staff, and researchers about the presence of SmartSite on campus
• Coordinate with Schools of Veterinary Medicine and Medicine to ensure unified campus communications
• Ensure all major audiences are aware of the system's tools and their potential uses
• Identify early adopters, champions, and those with extensive use of class and project sites. Report on effective uses of SmartSite by early adopters.
• Collect feedback on external communication needs, strategy and tactics.
• Key tactics in support of this goal (Fall 2006-Winter 2007):
• Public Web Site: Provide fresh content, news, and updates. Focus on practical uses of the system's tools; feature user rofiles.
• Spotlights & Profiles: Conduct interviews of those using SmartSite in unique and interesting ways. Use these profiles in various publications.
• T Times & Hypertext Quarterly Newsletters.
• Special Events: Provide literature, attend, and support special events.

2. Internal communications:

• Communicate to existing SmartSite community the acceptable expectations and current limitations of SmartSite, as well as planned upgrades and enhancements to current limitations
• Identify potential SmartSite champions and/or case studies
• Develop and publicize SmartSite user profiles
• Collect feedback on internal communication needs, strategy and tactics.
• Key tactics in support of this goal (Fall 2006-Winter 2007):
• Internal Community Communication Vehicle: Develop method to keep in contact with the various audiences within the internal SmartSite community.
• Internal SmartSite Team Communication Vehicle: Circulate biweekly newsletter of announcements for the communications newsletter.
• Project Site Requests: Execute appropriate communications to users and team members throughout the project site request process, as designed by workflow.

3. Support resources:

• Direct all audiences into the proper support and training venues and publicize special events and workshops.
• Key tactics in support of this goal (Fall 2006-Winter 2007):
• Training Workshops: Publicize and provide assistance to training workshops

4. Modeling SmartSite:

• Promote use of innovative technologies by disseminating our messages from within those same technologies to demonstrate their effectiveness.
• Key tactics in support of this goal (Fall 2006-Winter 2007):
• Podcasts
• Captivates
• Project Sites
• Web sites
• Wikis
• Social Networking Sites

5. Critical Success Indicators:

• Identify and track critical success indicators for the pilot and for the official roll-out. Include Critical Success Factors and Key Performance Indicators.
• Generate reports to be analyzed and discussed with the project team.