Technology Services Staff

The Technology Services Department provides technical leadership and expertise to all areas of the school system, administrative as well as instructional.  The staff is responsible for network engineering, technical support, user support, software maintenance, web resources, infrastructure, Internet access, security and repair of all computers in the district.  The department is also responsible for the web site and all major business applications including student information management.

All teams in the Technology Services Department report to the Director of Technology Services and the Chief Information Officer.

This section includes information on Technology Services staff in the following areas:

Technical Support
User Support
Communications
Repair
Warehouse/Delivery
Systems and Programming
Student Information Management

This section also includes information on site-based employees that work directly with the Technology Services Department:

Technology Assistants in Schools
Instructional Technology Specialists in Schools

If you need a computer repaired or would like to request technical assistance

Requesting Technical Assistance

Technical Support

As access to technology has increased in our schools, so has the complexity of maintaining that equipment.  Trained technicians with a reasonable number of computers to support are needed if we are to manage our investment in technology and continue our progress. 

Guilford County’s technical support is provided by full-time employees of the district and is augmented by contracted positions.  In October 2000, a plan was proposed and accepted that allowed Technology Services to reduce the number of contracted positions and transfer operating funds into salaries.  We have been able to hire additional technicians with the same budget and maintain our technician to computer ratio at 1 : 600 while the number of computers increased by more than 6,000.

Network Analysts and Technical Support Specialists address the task of implementing and maintaining our local area networks and desktop equipment.  Their duties include network design, server installation, email services, desktop configuration and continued support of users. 

The technical support staff is divided into teams to better address specific needs (Deployment and Central Servers, Central Office Administration, School Administration, Elementary Schools, Middle/High Schools, Vocational and Help Desk).  In addition to major replacement projects, the technical support team completes over 10,000 help desk requests each year.  The average completion time for all requests was 3.03 days. 

Job descriptions for all positions in the Technology Services Department can be found at:

www.gcsnc.com/HR/job_descrip.htm

User Support

Several employees are assigned to user support.  One works with the Help Desk directly and is responsible for setting up new email accounts, home directories and handling all password changes.

The Software Specialist is a member of the Technology Services staff.  Certified and technically trained, the person in this position serves as a liaison between the Curriculum Improvement Division and Technology Services.  He is involved with evaluation and deployment of district software.  He often coordinates and participates in training activities.

Trainers are dedicated to assisting schools with successfully using technology at their individual sites.  They communicate with the technical teams and provide support to school users on technology requests, issues and upgrades (handouts, web sites, courses).  They teach most of the short courses offered at school sites and work directly with the Technology Assistants. 

The user support team also maintains a web site of technical information and materials that may be useful to school staff.  The site was originally created for the Technology Assistants.  Examples of some of the documents that are available include:

1. Ordering Information
2. Who to Call List
3. Instructions on How to Use the Spam Folder
4. Directions on How to Use NetSupport School Tutor
5. Summer Computer Suggestions
6. How to Save Email
7. TARC Application for Non-Approved Software
8. Permission Forms to Publish Student Work

Communications

Communication Engineers and Communication Technicians are employed to manage the wide area network including security, Internet services, network switching equipment and the cabling infrastructure.  One of the engineers is dedicated to monitoring network traffic and related security issues.

Computer Repair

The district operates a Computer Repair Facility at the Technology Center to provide cost-effective repair of all computer hardware used throughout the district.  The repair technicians have A+ certifications.  The facility has gained service provider certifications with our major vendors (Dell and IBM) and now services our own warranty work.  This results in shorter turnaround for school repairs and has generated funding that is used to purchase repair parts for older machines. 

The repair team completes over 6,000 repairs each year.  The average cost per repair is $41.44 and the average completion time for repair is three days.

A budget is maintained for repair parts, for operation of the vans used by the repair technicians and for the salaries of the repair technicians.  Guilford County does outsource repair of specialized equipment such as NCS scanners and the central IBM iSeries 400s. 

Warehouse/Delivery

The Technology Services Department also operates a warehouse for delivery and storage of all computer equipment.  Computer Delivery/Surplus Workers are responsible for the inventory.  New equipment is delivered to sites and older equipment is picked up and prepared for surplus.  Usable computers parts are removed, disk drives are cleared and monitors are palletized for recycling.  

Systems and Programming

The Technology Services Department is responsible for all major business applications used in the district.  The Systems & Programming team manages and operates the central IBM iSeries 400 computer and provides for all programming needs.

A member of this team, the web master is employed to maintain the Guilford County Schools’ main web site.  The site serves as the primary online source for the district’s information.  The employee services section of the site, called “e-services”, includes web-based applications and information that are intended for Guilford County employees only.  For security, many of these systems have been designed to be Intranet applications.  Intranet applications require users to be connected to the Guilford County Schools’ network (directly or through a VPN) and have proper user identification. 

SIMS/NCWise Administration

A central-based team, including the SIMS Coordinator, is responsible for coordinating the use of the state-provided Student Information Management System (SIMS) and other third-party systems for student data.  Additional software packages such as an electronic gradebook and a teacher attendance module are used in the classroom and supported centrally by this team.  They are also responsible for collecting and reporting all state-required data and all information maintained in the district data warehouse.

Guilford County is in the planning stages for district-wide implementation of North Carolina’s Window of Information for Student Education (NCWise).  NCWise will replace the current SIMS system.  Members of the technology team have attended readiness workshops, completed assessment documents and are beginning to address various conversion issues.

Technology Assistants

Elementary schools may elect to exchange one Teacher Assistant position for a Technology Assistant.  Technology Assistants are responsible for scheduling the lab, assisting teachers with their students, simple installations and some troubleshooting.  The addition of the Technology Assistant position has been very effective in increasing the use of technology in our schools. 

Instructional Technology Specialists

Students must demonstrate mastery of various computer skills and pass the North Carolina Computer Skills Test in order to receive a high school diploma.  Test items access objectives from all strands of the computer skills components of the North Carolina Standard Course of Study for grades K-8 (desktop publishing, database use, spreadsheet use, telecommunications, societal issues and multimedia presentations). 

Instructional Technology Specialists (ITSs) are assigned to middle school sites to work with instructional applications.  Their primary function is to prepare students for the Computer Skills Test.  They also assist in facilitating the use of technology in the classroom and provide training for teachers.  

The middle school ITSs begin each school year by helping the 8th grade students review the computer skills’ curriculum and prepare to take the test in the fall.  After the testing window closes, the ITSs begin working with 7th grade teachers and students.

Requesting Technical Assistance

All requests for technical assistance from individual users should be coordinated through their School or Department Technology Contact Person.  These persons use a web-based Help Desk System to enter all technology-related requests - hardware issues, installation of software, additional cabling, email problems, etc.  The school contact is able to view the history log of the ticket as it progresses toward completion.  Users are notified via email when a ticket is assigned and completed.

Emergencies or complete outages may be phoned directly to the Help Desk.