ST Handbook
Greetings to all newly-hired STs. What we hope you'll find in the ST Program is a fun and enjoyable work environment that will also provide challenges to enrich your work experience in preparation for future endeavors. To be hired as an ST, you have been regarded as a student with above average qualities and the potential to benefit from the program. Because of your exceptional talents, you have been chosen to be able to work with the MCC faculty and administration on projects. Some of the rules contained within this handbook may seem discouraging at first; however, they're all simple and effective rules that have developed from prior experiences. These rules are now present to protect you, the faculty, and the administration from any uncomfortable situations in the future.
The ST Mission
The Student Technology (ST) Program is a program that is designed to accomplish two main goals:
- To assist MCC faculty in incorporating and utilizing the continuously expanding realm of technology into their collection of teaching tools.
- To allow for an environment that will provide real world type work experience and learn up-to-date technologies that will assist the ST in future goals and pursuits. As STs, we aid faculty members in creating such projects as transferring a lecture course to a distance education format or incorporating any appropriate form of technology that can aid in the performance of their primary duties - teaching.
The ST Program Hierarchy
Dean of Instruction
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Director, ST
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ST Coordinators
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ST's
Procedures that New Hires are required to complete
- Ensure that you fill out your Employee Packet at Personnel. Bring a valid picture ID and Social Security Card.
- It is a requirement that a new ST have an MCC email account that he/she is accustomed to using. The ST Program needs a means of quickly and efficiently communicating between the Director, Coordinators and other STs.
- Have one of the ST Coordinators create an account on the ST NT server. Creation of the account includes the following features:
- FTP storage for your work files.
- Domain login for the ST workstations
- Have one of the ST Coordinators create an account on the ST database server.
From the database you are required/able to:- Clock in and clock out your hours (time clock)
- View all of the current projects.
- Bid on any new projects or tasks of an assigned project.
- View all STs and their email addresses.
- View who is currently on the clock.
- Review projects/tasks assigned to you.
- View your time report.
- Edit your ST profile.
- Access to the ST Web Board
- Read and sign the Non-Disclosure Agreement.
New Hire Two Week Probationary Period
Upon first being hired, we require that all STs go through a two-week probationary period. This is when the ST new hire will be evaluated to see if the individual has the ability to do the work assigned, and is able to integrate into the ST model of operation. The ST Director and ST Coordinators will be conducting the evaluation during this period.
3-strikes Rule
The 3 Strikes rule is policy that has been instituted to allow for STs and the ST Director to be able to ensure that there is a balance between compliance to the policies and allowance for mistakes in this learning environment. Strikes are a means of enforcing the policies that an ST must follow during his/her employment.
Strikes are given to individual STs due to non-compliance of any policies that are listed in this document and/or have been instituted as an addendum to the handbook. The ST Director is the sole person that can give out strikes. Strikes can only be given to individuals by means of a formal closed meeting with the ST Director after an ST commits an offense. Within that meeting the ST Director will describe the offense to the ST and counsel suggestions for future improvement.
Upon issuance of the third strike, the ST can and will be terminated by the ST Director for not following the policies as set forth by and for the ST Program.
Moral and Ethical issues regarding ST Employment
Due to the inherent academic nature of the work that ST's perform, this can place them in situations that are academically and professionally sensitive. As an ST, there will be projects that may involve working with faculty on implementing the courses that they teach, or in developing their quizzes and tests for online functionality. Because of this, STs must hold themselves at a moral and ethical level that is higher than the average student and conduct themselves appropriately. In the event that an ST is found to be in violation of what would be considered a moral and ethical issue, the ST can and will be reprimanded for violation of the policies as set forth by and for the ST Program up to or including termination.
Checking your Email Daily
Check your Email DAILY for any updates and information that may be necessary towards the completing of your projects or subjects that are essential and might also need a reply within a few hours. This diligence cannot be emphasized enough! Check your email daily and, if possible, at various times during the day. The ST Director, or any of the ST Coordinators, may be unable to locate you physically but will need to get a hold of you as soon as possible. Occasionally, important information with regards to the faculty member that you are working with must reach you and get a response back within a working day. In other words, it is a critical habit to check your email more than once a day.
Keeping up on your assigned Tasks/Projects
You should be consistently working on and making periodical progress updates on all tasks that you bid for and/or that have been assigned to you. There are due dates assigned to the various tasks and to the project as a whole. You can modify the due dates as appropriate to the project or task; however, these changes must be discussed with the ST Coordinators or the ST Director.
There are such situations where the project or task requires you to learn ColdFusion programming, Java, or some other difficult in-depth programming. These situations will of course necessitate a longer time frame for the project but; some sort of achievements must be completed in a reasonable time period. For example, a project that should take no longer than 1-2 weeks to complete shouldn't take 3-4 months. This would be considered an unreasonable amount of time. If your project/task is overdue, speak to the ST Coordinator about the problems that you are having.
Courteous Behavior when working with faculty
When working on projects that interface directly with faculty, you must maintain a professional manner of behavior and conduct. The Center of Teaching and Learning as well as the ST Program is here to assist and facilitate technology projects for the faculty members of MCC. It is a requirement to deal with any and all faculty members professionally when working on your tasks. It is imperative that an appropriate appearance and behavior be maintained. In short, this means you must be friendly and polite when dealing with any faculty members. Any behavior that would be considered unprofessional, rude, or offensive will not be tolerated. No swearing or profanity - watch your language!
Following your set schedule
Set your schedule--be sure to work around your school schedule during the week. Since you will be setting your own work schedule, you must indicate that schedule on the ST database and follow it as stated. Any changes to that schedule must be updated as the need arises. For example, the start of the new school semester will require that you update your schedule based on your new class dates and times. Following your stated schedule is important so that the ST coordinator and other ST's will know when you will be in. You must notify the Director on any temporary or permanent changes to your work schedule. This is for those situations where a particular faculty member or another ST member is trying to meet with you about a project in progress. You must get all days off approved by the director before the day in question. If you are ill, you must notify the Director of your illness before your shift is supposed to start. Not following your schedule, getting approved absences, or notifying the director of emergencies are examples of poor dependability and will result in a strike-see 3 Strikes Rule.
Walk-in Faculty
STs are discouraged from becoming drawn into a large project that a faculty member walks into the computer lab to accomplish. The purpose for this is that all large projects are required to be submitted to the ST Coordinator and then approved as a job before it can be bid on by ST's. This facilitates a means of tracking the projects by the computer lab and ST program. Jobs that are brought in by a faculty member on a walk-in basis potentially can become a huge endeavor and then it might not be properly accounted for or tracked. It is proper to assist walk-in faculty in any manner as long as it is not a large project, such as less than 1 hour. Any projects that become longer than this, STs should inform the faculty member that the project is something that will take more time than a single sitting and that the project should be submitted to the ST Faculty Interface Web page: http://dungeon.mc.maricopa.edu/faculty/facProj.htm The project will then be approved by a ST Coordinator and submitted to the ST project database.
Time Clock: Check In/Out Procedure
The Time Clock is a function in the ST Database from where all STs clock in and out of work. All new STs will need a login for the ST Database in order to access the Time Clock. STs will be required to clock in and out whenever they are working. This will be your record of hours worked and will be used to fill out your time card. If there are any discrepancies with your time report for the hours worked, you will need to contact either an ST Coordinator or Colleen in the business office to correct the problem. If you do not clock in / clock out, you may not get paid.
Time Card Procedure:
Time cards are due every other Wednesday by 3pm. You will be handed either your pre-printed time card or get a blank time card from a coordinator. Fill in your name, Social Security #, hours worked according to your database info, sign your name on the time card, and leave it on the board. Colleen will sign your time card only if the hours you have entered on the time card perfectly matches the hours in the database, then she will deliver them to the fiscal office. The fiscal office will then deliver all MCC time cards to payroll at the District Support Services Office in Tempe.
If your hours do not perfectly match the database time clock, the office manager will send you an email letting you know that your time card was not submitted due to the discrepancy. Your next chance to submit your timecard to payroll will be in 2 weeks, when the next batches of timecards are due. This means that you will not be paid on time, but 2 weeks late.
If the time clock is not working for you for any reason, email the office manager or one the ST Coordinators and they can fix it. Just let them know what time you came in and what time you left on what date and they will alter the time clock entries.
The time to fix any malfunctions in the time clock is not the day time cards are due. Keep track of the data each day that you work.
ST Book Checkout Procedure
The ST Lab now has an extensive library of books, donated by O'Reilly & Associates, which cover numerous subjects. These books are on HTML, JAVA, JAVAScript, CGI, Perl, C++, and much more.
The book borrowing procedure is:
- Select the book that you would like to borrow.
- Bring it to one of the ST Coordinators or to the ST Director.
- He or she will check the book out from the Computer Book Database by using the laser light wand to read the ISBN barcode.
- Books can only be checked out for a 1-week period at a time.
- If you require the book for a longer period, you can check it out again for another week. However, you must physically bring the book in to have it scanned again.
NOTE: There will be SEVERE REPERCUSSIONS if you do not return a book. This is due to all of the hard work and effort to get the books in the first place. So don't even think about it.
Friday Evening Computer Shutdown Procedure
If you are an ST working during Friday evenings ( or Thursdays during the Summer ), you will be required to shut down the computers when you are one of the last to leave. During the weekend, the air conditioning is shut off; to prevent the potential overheating of the computers, we turn them off before leaving Friday evenings. Shutting down the system means to power down the computers as well as turn off the power to the monitors. This is only for the computers that are directly used by the ST's. Do NOT touch anything other than workstations. All other computers such as those that belong to the lab proper, or the servers are to be left alone. If you are unsure which computers are which, contact one of the ST Coordinators or the ST Director for more information.
Using the ST Database
The ST Database is the hub of all ST activities and where you accomplish your activities. Some of the things that you can do in the ST Database are listed below. However, not all of the activities are listed due to the ever changing and evolving nature of the database.
The major parts of the ST Database
My Projects: Lists all current projects you are working on for the ST Program.
Un-owned Projects: Lists all new projects that can be bid upon by ST's.
Projects In Progress: Lists all the projects currently being worked on and by which ST.
Project Request: Allows for a worksheet to be filled out for suggesting a project.
Clock In/Out: Provides the interface for ST's to clock in and clock out from.
Schedule: Shows your individual timesheet, and allows you to update it.
Two Weeks: Provides access to your logged in hours for specific dates.
Help: Use this link to learn more about each option in the database.
Portfolio Skillsets: Allows for changing your Contact Info, schedule & skill set.
Change Password: Allows for changing of your password
Log Out: Allows you to log out of the database.