General Information
Information Technology Systems and Services provides training for a variety of computer applications, use of the Internet and world wide web, classroom technology, and other technology related topics for UMD faculty, staff, and students.
- Classes/workshops are generally free, but there may be charges for books or other instructional materials provided to participants.
- Enrollment is limited. Classes/workshops with fewer than 8 people signed up will be canceled. If any class that you apply for is full you will be notified and your name will be placed on a waiting list. Unless otherwise specified, our training is for UMD faculty, staff and students only.
- Advance registration is required for classes/workshops. Brown bag type presentations typically do not require registration.
Specialized Training for Departments & Individuals
In general, Information Technology Systems and Services, ITSS will do training for departments and individuals upon request, with the following restrictions:
- We must be able to schedule staff to do the training.
- We must be able to schedule an appropriate location for the training.
- If the session desired is one of our standard workshops requiring no additional staff preparation time, and if the department provides eight or more participants, there is no charge to the requesting department except lab rental.
- Our preference is to schedule an additional session of our standard workshops at a time that is convenient to the department requesting the extra session, but to also make it open to the rest of the campus. The minimum enrollment of eight must be met in order to hold the workshop at no cost to the requesting department.
- If the session desired needs to be tailored to the special needs of the department, or if the number of participants is fewer than eight, then the department will be charged for staff time at our current hourly rate for consulting plus our cost for lab reservations. If the requesting department provides access to suitable facilities, there will be no additional lab reservation charges.
- Departments or individuals requesting specialized training will be responsible for providing refreshments at training sessions if they want them, and will ensure that campus food and beverage restrictions are followed.
Classroom Technology Training for Faculty
ITSS provides online user guides and in-room user guides for all high tech equipment found in the auditoriums and general purpose classrooms. But if this documentation isn't enough the following policy applies:
- It can be difficult to provide adequate training for our usual minimum of eight people at some of our classroom technology training sessions, because it is necessary for participants to gather around equipment which is being described and demonstrated by the trainer. Some sessions also allow for hands-on practice, but unlike a computer lab that has many computers on which participants can practice, classrooms generally have only one each of the equipment being demonstrated, so only one person at a time can do hands-on practice.
- For these sessions, ITSS will determine enrollment requirements appropriate for the session being taught, keeping efficiency as well as effectiveness in mind. For example, if the session can effectively be taught to no more than six people, it is efficient for enrollment to be as close to six as possible. A minimum enrollment will be enforced as is done for our other workshops. In this case, four might be an appropriate minimum.
- Training must be scheduled prior to the anticipated event as we are not able to guarantee any "on demand" training for any users.
- For the first year after new equipment is installed in a classroom, ITSS is committed to honoring training requests from anyone teaching in the classroom.
- We endorse the concept of enabling and empowering faculty in the use of ITSS provided classroom technology equipment, whether it is for their own presentations or to instruct their students in using it for class projects.
- ITSS staff will not go into a classroom to teach a class of students on use of the equipment. We will try to help the instructor gain a comfort level in using the equipment so they can pass that knowledge to their students.
- There is no charge for any classroom technology training, including sessions for departments or individuals.
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