Requesting Access

Budget Management & Financial Reporting is overseen and operated by the Financial Services department on campus. Financial Services is responsible for providing training materials and assisting with process issues related to running or downloading reports within MyTCU.

As a leader, you or someone on your team may be responsible for running, exporting, and reviewing budget and financial information specific to your department using the Financial Reports tile located under the Department/Budget Manager tile on the Home Page in MyTCU. 

Access to these tiles is requested by completing the PeopleSoft Financials request form on the Financial Services Forms page. When an employee with this access leaves your area or changes roles, you should fill out the form to request access removal.

Itemized Reports

If you are the budget manager or financial reporter in your area, you will likely use a Microsoft Excel add-in called Drilldown to view itemized breakdowns of line items in the budget reports you generate. For information about installing the Drilldown Excel add-in, visit IT's Drilldown installation guide.

Drilldown is only available for use on Windows computers, but Mac users may remote into a Windows computer on campus to use this tool. Contact the TCU IT Help Desk to learn how to remote into a Windows computer.

As a leader, you or others on your team may need to manage calendars to schedule meetings for individuals, teams in your area, between multiple departments, or with collaborators external to TCU. For scheduling meeting spaces, please review the Room Reservations section later on this page.

Note: Full details permission is not available when sharing calendars with non-TCU users.

Shared Outlook Calendars

You and your employees may need to utilized a shared calendar to provide visibility and management of team meetings, client visits, or other activities in your department. 

IT recommends using calendars that are a part of shared mailboxes (see the Email & Communication section). Benefits include:

• Easy assignment of access for new employees and removal of access for offboarding employees
• Varying levels of permissions (view only, edit)
• Varying levels of visibility (free/busy time only, free/busy time with subject and location, view all details)

For smaller needs, employees may create secondary calendars under their own mailbox that can be shared directly with colleagues. However, visibility and retention of calendar data is contingent upon the creator's continued employment and ownership cannot be transferred to other employees.

Microsoft Bookings

You or your employees may wish to utilize Microsoft Bookings to facilitate easy meeting scheduling, either through a personal or shared Bookings page. Since TCU accounts are tied to Okta Single Sign-On, Bookings pages must be owned and configured by individual employees, not generic email distribution lists or shared mailboxes.

To request access to Microsoft Bookings, reach out to the TCU IT Help Desk and provide:

• Name(s) of employee(s) needing access
• Brief business case regarding intended usage

IT strongly recommends that campus areas document their own internal work flows and processes to ensure continued productivity. Relying on individual knowledge or word of mouth can result in delay, disruption, and downtime during employee leaves or transitions.

As a leader, it is important to know what technology resources are in use in your department. Keeping an organized list will help with employee onboarding, offboarding, and technology access requests. IT provides the following PDF that you may use to document your department's technology resources.

IT Resources: Blank Sheet

IT Resources: Example Sheet

At minimum, IT suggests cross-training employees as backups for important departmental processes and creating employee transition plans. While IT does not assist with writing department-specific process documentation, leaders should prioritize this in their areas and save created resources in a secure, shared location (network share, Box cloud storage).

Many areas on campus have wall-mounted digital signage that displays area or program information as well as upcoming event announcements. TCU uses Korbyt as the platform for managing content, and digital signage is organized in groups by department.

All digital signage content is departmentally managed. Your area should elect both a primary and a backup content manager, called an Approver.  Approvers can upload media and configure playlists; familiarity with basic file formats and design tools (PowerPoint, Canva) is helpful but not required. To display content on signage outside your department, Approvers must share files and work directly with Approvers in other areas.

For learning resources and more information about digital signage at TCU, visit the IT Korbyt page.

To add or remove Korbyt Approvers for your area, reach out to the TCU IT Help Desk.

For general information about email at TCU, visit the IT Email page.

As a leader, you may now be responsible for managing or approving access to shared mailboxes or distribution lists in your area. These often serve as the primary points of contact for departments (internally or externally to TCU) or for specific programs or teams within departments. Both shared mailboxes and distribution lists have a display name (e.g. TCU Super Frog Booking) and an email address (e.g. superfrogbooking@tcu.edu).

Shared Mailboxes

A shared mailbox serves as a hub for multiple employees to receive, send, and manage messages from a single email address. As a leader, you may be required to request and approve access for employees.

Benefits of a shared mailbox include:

• Central storage and retention of all emails (not in individual employee mailboxes).
• Flexibility for departmental work flows fielding incoming requests.
• Easy assignment of access to all historical messages for new employees.

Distribution Lists

Distribution lists are best suited for broadcasting information to multiple individuals simultaneously and gives each person their own copy of an email. Distribution lists are limited to TCU contacts and cannot include non-TCU email addresses. Because the messages are not stored centrally, there is no way to provide access to historical emails for new employees without manually forwarding individual emails. Distribution lists can only receive emails from TCU email addresses unless the ability to receive external email messages is specifically requested.

Benefits of a distribution list include:

• Easy, unified communication with set groups of recipients.
• The ability to create community across units with a group of individuals with a common interest (e.g. faculty interest groups, research groups).
• The option for members of the distribution list to easily contact each other (this can be restricted to the owner only upon request).

To request creation of a shared mailbox or a distribution list for your area, reach out to the TCU IT Help Desk and include the desired display name and email address along with the names of any employees needing access. Please note that due to existing resources or organizational naming conventions, an alternate display name or email address may be needed.

Contact Groups

Employees may also create personal contact groups through their TCU email account for efficient, recurring communication with the same individuals. Contact groups may include external email addresses and can be helpful when communicating with a mix TCU employees, vendors, and employees from other institutions. Contact groups are visible only to the creator, who will enter the contact group name as the email recipient into the To, CC, or BCC field. Recipients do not see the contact group name but may see the names of the other recipients depending upon how it was sent.

Benefits of a contact group include:

• Elimination of repeated entry of the same individual email addresses for each new message sent.
• The ability for individuals can create, edit, and delete custom contact groups at any time without approval.

Event Planning & Sponsorship

As a leader, you should be aware of important campus contact points and expectations for events that your department hosts or sponsors.

If you will be inviting people from outside the TCU Community to your event, you will need to work directly with University Events as you plan. For both internal and external events, University Events' planning resources page contains helpful information related to reserving campus spaces including links to specific policies for those spaces. Additionally, the University Events planning and scheduling page contains important timeline information to help you prepare. University Events can also provide wireless credentials for outside guests attending conferences or larger events on campus that are associated with the department.

Should an outside organization, such as a national association, wish to host an event or conference on campus, they will be charged the necessary fees, including but not limited to venue, housekeeping, staffing, contract, and catering fees as necessary. The sponsoring or hosting department must submit a contract for all services and work with University Events to ensure all liability and accommodations are managed effectively.

Event Technology

As a leader, please keep in mind that your department is responsible for operating all technology during events you host; make sure to plan accordingly. Most reservable spaces on campus are already equipped with audio-visual technology, and IT can schedule a time to confirm it is functional before your team operates it for your event. For more information, visit the IT Audio Visual page. Please note that each facility has different capabilities that should be reviewed before booking the space.

If your department will need to live stream your event, you will need to identify a third-party vendor and submit a contract requesting their professional services well in advance of your event. Live streaming events will incur additional costs to the department through the approved outside vendor.

Departments should elect one full-time faculty or staff member to serve as the technology asset sponsor, which grants them access to special tools within MyTCU to generate technology inventory reports for their area.

To identify the existing technology asset sponsor in your area (or to request a sponsor change), please reach out to the TCU IT Help Desk.

Technology asset sponsors have access to tools that help their department:

• Keep physical asset inventory up to date by checking assigned device ownership and location.
• Identify aging assets needing replacement to ensure compliance with university technology life cycle guidelines.
• Forecast budget needs for asset replacements and new purchases in future fiscal years.
• Assess technology gaps relating to departmentally-funded devices for shared workspaces used by adjunct faculty, temporary employees, or student workers.
• Identify devices currently assigned to the area that are potentially missing or lost so they can be reported to IT.

IT recommends that technology asset sponsors verify their department's technology inventory at least once a year to ensure that records remain up to date. If there is a discrepancy, please gather the asset serial number(s) and the specific information needing update and contact the TCU IT Help Desk.

When an employee leaves your area, you should reach out to the TCU IT Help Desk so that their computer may be re-provisioned and re-assigned.

For guidance about purchasing approved technology for your area, visit IT’s Purchasing Technology page.

IT Liaisons

Being in the loop about unexpected system maintenance or service outages ensures that your area can quickly adjust work flows to maintain productivity amidst any disruptions. IT Liaisons serve as departmental contact points for IT and receive email updates with urgent, important information from IT. A Liaison is responsible for communicating within their department, and while some technology background is helpful, it is not required.

As a leader, you should elect an employee in your area to serve as an IT Liaison. To request addition to the IT Liaisons list (or to identify any existing liaisons in your area), reach out to the TCU IT Help Desk.

System Maintenance

In order to maintain the security of the campus network and systems, Information Technology has a weekly maintenance window on Sundays from midnight to noon. During this time, campus systems may be intermittently available due to upgrades and testing.

As a leader, if your area will be hosting events, make sure your planning team is aware in order to avoid potential technology issues.

To confirm upcoming maintenance times (and the business hours of the IT Help Desk), visit IT's Hours & Location page.

As a leader, you or people on your team may need additional tools in MyTCU for job responsibilities. Tools in MyTCU are linked to specific, invisible roles: some are automatically assigned based upon an employee's job record, and others require manual approval and assignment. Not all employees will have the same level of access; consequently, not all employees will have the same tools in MyTCU. 

Some tools in MyTCU appear as a square, named tile in the middle area of the page. Other tools are only accessible from within the menu that appears by clicking the navigation (compass) icon in the upper right-hand corner of the page. 

For the Financial Reports tile specifically, refer to the Budget Management & Financial Reporting section earlier on this page.

Departments whose work flows require specialized access in MyTCU have a dedicated individual, usually at the highest level in the college or unit, who requests access on behalf of new employees. As a leader, you should partner with your unit's highest level of leadership to identify the requester in your area.

Since access to specialized roles and tools in MyTCU is managed by multiple departments on campus (both IT and non-IT), working through your area's requester directly will expedite the process of requesting access.

As a leader, it is important for you to understand the kind of data to which you or your employee need access so that you can properly specify and route the request.

General data categories and access request approver departments:

• Departmental Financial/Budget Reporting Data
  • Financial Services
• Institutional Financial Data
  • Financial Services
• Employee Records/Approvals/Time Clock Data
  • Human Resources
• Scholarships/Financial Aid Data
  • Scholarships & Financial Aid
• Student Affairs/Residential Data
  • Information Technology
• Student Financial Data
  • Student Financial Services
• Student Records
  • Office of the Registrar

Detailed information about network shares is available on the IT Network Shares page. Network shares are an internal, on-campus file storage solution (no external collaboration).

All employees are granted access to the CommonFile network share in their area. Some areas also have additional network shares with restricted access.  

As a leader, it will be helpful to be familiar with any additional network shares in your area and their purpose. These shares are generally labeled with your area's abbreviated department code first, followed by the share purpose (e.g., IT_Superfrogpics for IT's pictures of SuperFrog).

All data stored on network shares must be in alignment with the Data Classification policy located on the IT Policies page.

Every network share has an assigned owner, and IT routes all access requests to the share owner for approval prior to fulfillment. During employee transitions, it is important to notify IT of network share access or ownership changes.

When you submit a request to the TCU IT Help Desk regarding network shares, please provide:

• Network share name
• Nature of the request (addition of access, removal of access, ownership change)
• Employee name(s)

For general information about phones and extensions at TCU, visit the IT RingCentral page.

As a leader, you may need to request or reassign a desk phone if needed. Please reach out to the TCU IT Help Desk and provide the following information:

• Building name
• Suite, room, or office number
• Full employee name of future phone owner
• Department budget codes

All desk phones require a network drop (ethernet port) in a nearby wall. If you are unsure that your area has a usable drop, contact the TCU IT Help Desk for assistance. If no drop is present, your area will need to request and fund installation of a port, unless the request is part of an existing Facilities-led construction project. 

Campus areas may have special needs regarding phone call handling. TCU's employee phone provider, RingCentral, supports the following configurations:

• Call forwarding (useful for employees on leave or staffing vacancies)
• Calls to one extension ringing to multiple desk phones (and the ability to answer from other phones)
• After hours phone call routing (on-call, emergency)
• Call queues (agent-based support scheduling)
• Menu-based routing (press a number to select an option)

Networked Printers

For the security of the campus network, no wireless printing is allowed on campus. All employee printers must be wired, either directly to a computer or to the campus network via ethernet. All networked printers require a network drop (ethernet port) in a nearby wall. If you are unsure that your area has a usable drop, contact the TCU IT Help Desk for assistance. If no drop is present, your area will need to request and fund installation of a port, unless the request is part of an existing Facilities-led construction project. 

Xerox

To reduce costs and improve efficiency, TCU IT has standardized and deployed Xerox machines to most campus areas for employee use. Supplies and maintenance are included at no cost to departments. Xerox usage is billed to departments through a service called PaperCut, and employees must be enrolled in PaperCut before they are able to print.

As a leader, you or someone from your team will be responsible for requesting PaperCut access for new employees by contacting the TCU IT Help Desk and providing your department's budget codes. Some areas have multiple accounts for printing. If this applies to your department, review the relevant information on the IT Xerox page.

You should also request PaperCut access for existing TCU employees who are transitioning into your department so that the budget codes are updated. When an employee leaves your department, you should submit a request to remove PaperCut access since it is linked to your department's budget codes.

For information about Xerox printing access, supply orders, and support, visit the IT Xerox page.

HP

In the past, some departments purchased desktop HP printers in order to print in color or for confidential printing. With Xerox machines, many already include color printing and all include credentialed print release for confidential printing called FollowMe. HP printers and all associated supplies must be funded and replaced using departmental funds. HP printer and supply purchases must be done through the IT Purchasing team in alignment with the Technology Acquisition policy with additional information on IT’s Purchasing Technology page. If you would like your HP printer to be available on the campus network, please indicate this in the request so that IT Purchasing can recommend a suitable model.

As a leader, you may want to find out if you have HP printers in your area and assess their usage in order to determine if they are still needed. Additionally, you may be responsible for requesting or approving supply purchases.

For information about HP printing access, supply orders, and support visit the IT HP page.

Specialty Printing & Scanning

Campus areas may use departmental funds to purchase specialized printing and scanning solutions such as barcode and label printers or large format (plotter) printers. Important considerations include operating system compatibility (Mac and Windows), software compatibility, and vendor support options; the IT Help Desk provides limited support for specialized printers and scanners. Departments are responsible for purchasing extended warranty support.

All printer and supply purchases must be done through through the IT Purchasing team in alignment with the Technology Acquisition policy with additional information on IT’s Purchasing Technology page.

Please note that all printers are subject to technology life cycle guidelines found on the IT policies page.

All technology purchases must be done through through the IT Purchasing team in alignment with the Technology Acquisition policy; additional important information is located on IT’s Purchasing Technology page. Purchased technology belongs to the university at large regardless of funding source.

As a leader, you may need to facilitate or approve the purchase of technology for your employees.

Employees who work on campus (or have a flexible work agreement) should use a standard TCU-owned computer. If you have employees whose position is or will be fully remote, please make sure to request the off-campus image so their software remains activated while away from campus.

IT encourages partnership as soon as your department is considering the purchase of new software or specialized hardware since many such tools involve university systems,  institutional data, integration for sign-in with Okta (our campus MFA platform), and/or connection to campus networks. Many times, the purchasing process will instead involve a contract and additional technology review.

Occasionally Remote Employees

To access certain TCU tools and resources from off campus, employees will need to configure TCU's VPN (and possibly remote access) by consulting IT's Working Remotely page.

Employees who have a flexible work agreement for weekly remote work days or who will be working off campus for up to 2 months at a time may use regular TCU-owned computers. These computers should be wired to the campus network when on campus in order to receive updates and security patches.

Fully Remote Employees

As a leader, if your area already has or will be hiring fully remote employees, you will need to make additional preparations.

If you or someone in your department needs to request phone access for a fully remote employee, submit a ticket to the TCU IT Help Desk to request a TCU phone extension without a physical desk phone (desk phones require a wired network connection on campus). Remote employees can install the RingCentral app on their mobile device or computer to make and answer calls using their TCU phone extension. For general information about employee phones, visit IT's RingCentral page.

If you or someone in your area will be purchasing a computer for a fully remote employee or requesting re-assignment of an existing computer, contact the TCU IT Help Desk and specifically request an off-campus image. The off-campus image is a special configuration for TCU-owned computers that provides continued software activation and access while away from campus.

Regular TCU-owned computers rely on routine connection to campus networks for continued usage. Remote employees using computers not provisioned with the off-campus image will encounter issues that interrupt their ability to work. 

Certain rooms require reservations due to shared or frequent use. As a leader, you should familiarize yourself with the purpose and usage of spaces in your area.

Classrooms

For leaders in academic areas, your building will likely contain several classrooms. Academic spaces are reserved exclusively through partnership with the Registrar's Office, with few exceptions. The Registrar may assign classes from a variety of departments, potentially outside your own, to classrooms in your building. Training and learning resources are available on IT's Classrooms & Technology page, and important support information is available on IT's Audio Visual page. 

Conference Rooms

Some department conference rooms are booked using reservation systems found on IT's Room Reservations page, but most departments use Microsoft Outlook to manage their specific conference room spaces. Room calendars are visible in the Global Address Book and provide flexibility in handling controlled spaces. As a leader, you should be aware of how conference rooms in your department are scheduled.

Room calendars in Outlook may be configured to:

• auto-approve meeting requests when there are no conflicts
• email meeting requests to a Delegate (generally operations or administrative staff) to be approved or declined
• define a buffer time between meetings to prevent back-to-back scheduling
• define a maximum reservation (meeting) length
• define how far in advance reservations may be requested

To request a new Outlook room calendar (or make adjustments to an existing one), reach out to the TCU IT Help Desk and provide the building name, room number, and request.

Many non-classroom spaces have a room scheduler display mounted outside the entrance which displays a calendar of reservations times, and some can be configured to allow walk-up booking upon request. To request troubleshooting of an existing room scheduler display or to inquire about the possibility of installation in additional spaces, please submit a ticket to the TCU IT Help Desk with the building name and room number.

Specialized Spaces

As a leader, you may need to help manage specialized spaces in your department and should familiarize yourself with the technology available in these locations. Most specialized spaces on campus may be requested for events, but each department has different processes and guidelines. For additional information, visit the TCU University Events page.

Study Rooms

Students regularly use study rooms on campus for a variety of purposes. Different reservation systems are used for different buildings; for more information, visit IT's Room Reservations page.

As a leader, you or someone on your team may be responsible for digitizing paper documents in your department for processing or archival purposes.

Xerox Scan to Email

For information about PaperCut enrollment, review the Printing section above or visit IT's Xerox page.

Employees enrolled in PaperCut may use the Email option after authenticating at an employee Xerox machine to scan documents and email the files to themselves or others at TCU.

Perceptive Content/ImageNow

Perceptive Content, formerly known as ImageNow, is a content management platform for digitizing and managing paper documents needed for institutional work flows and long-term retention.

As a leader, it is important to know if your department uses Perceptive Content. If you or someone on your team needs access or assistance installing and configuring the desktop app, you should contact the functional lead in your area, who is usually an employee at the highest level of your college or unit.

Because areas outside IT manage access to Perceptive Content, reaching out directly to the correct contact person will expedite the process of requesting access.

Perceptive Content has a desktop app available only for Windows computers that is used in conjunction with a wired desktop scanner for document intake. The Perceptive Content app must have a pre-configured profile manually installed to function properly.

In departments approved for access to institutional documents that do not need to scan, a web-based portal for Perceptive Content is available.

A student worker account is required for student access to employee resources. While most student workers will have active job records with Human Resources, in some cases this will apply to students assisting with research as well.

For information about technology access for student employees, visit IT's Student Worker page.

As a leader, you are responsible for sharing this information with your employees if they will be overseeing students for work or research purposes. For the security of campus systems and data, individuals must use unique accounts (e.g. no generic, local accounts or sharing of credentials). Student worker accounts allow collaboration between students and employees while separating students' work-related access from their academic student account.

To protect university systems and data, all student worker accounts expire annually on June 1.

All student worker accounts must be sponsored by a full-time, permanent employee.

Sponsors are responsible for:

• Maintaining a list of student workers and their needed technology access
• Requesting new student worker accounts by contacting the TCU IT Help Desk and providing an itemized list of access needed
• Communicating new account login information to student workers
• Facilitating student workers' first sign-in
• Serving as the primary point of contact for troubleshooting student worker account issues
• Notifying both Human Resources and the TCU IT Help Desk when a student worker is no longer employed in the department or no longer needs access
• Requesting renewal of student worker accounts by reaching out to the TCU IT Help Desk in the weeks leading up to June 1 for continuing student employees

Current Students

TCU accounts for current students automatically remain enabled when a student is enrolled in at least one credit hour each major semester (fall, spring).

Current students who do not enroll in any courses for the next major semester will lose access to their TCU account and all related services (e.g. email, eduroam wireless, Microsoft Office, campus computer sign-on, library access) on day 12 of that semester.

Because accounts are automatically enabled or disabled based on enrollment status, the IT Help Desk does not have tools to re-enable them after access is lost.

Adjunct Faculty

Adjunct faculty accounts remain enabled during the dates listed on their teaching contract. If an adjunct is not contracted to teach during a semester, they will necessarily lose access to their TCU account and all related services (e.g. email, eduroam wireless, Microsoft Office, campus computer sign-on, library access).

If an adjunct in your area has ongoing responsibilities with TCU outside of the dates of their teaching contract, the department chair will need to request an Associate account by following the process on the TCU Human Resources Associate Request page.

Undergraduate Applicants

Undergraduate applicants to TCU must complete and submit their application to the university, at which point the Undergraduate Admissions team will process the application over the course of several business days. Once finished, applicants will receive a message at the personal email address given on the application which contains their assigned TCU ID number. Using provided instructions, applicants create their TCU account and reserve a potential, future TCU email address. At this point, applicants may only use their TCU account to check their application status. For all questions related to the application process, please visit the TCU Undergraduate Admissions page.

If an undergraduate applicant is accepted to the university, they must sign into their TCU account to officially accept the offer and pay their deposit fee. After both of these steps are complete, applicants will gain access to use the TCU email address they had already reserved and will become incoming students.

If an undergraduate applicant is not accepted and re-applies to the university at a later date, it is possible that they may be unable to sign into their existing TCU account. If this happens, the applicant should reach out to the TCU IT Help Desk for support. 

In graduate programs requiring a thesis or dissertation, graduate students may sometimes complete all required coursework but need additional time to complete, present, defend, and revise their thesis or dissertation.

Because current students must enroll in at least one credit hour each major semester (fall, spring) for their TCU account to remain enabled, graduate departments should ensure that these students enroll in a one-credit thesis or dissertation course. As a leader, you should reach out to the TCU Graduate Studies Office if you need guidance or help.

If you are a leader in an academic department, you or your employees may be responsible for handling parts of the student matriculation and enrollment process in MyTCU. For information about requesting access to any needed tools, please see the MyTCU Roles & Tiles section above.

TCU accounts for students can be automatically disabled if matriculation and enrollment are not properly completed, so it is important for you and your team to fully understand all steps.

Because matriculation and enrollment processes for students are managed outside of IT, questions or concerns are best directed to the appropriate office. For undergraduate enrollment issues, contact the Registrar's Office, and for graduate enrollment concerns, reach out to the Graduate Studies Office. 

Department leadership should direct all questions about the faculty hiring process to the Office of the Provost.

Please note that since faculty hiring is handled outside of IT, the Help Desk does not have tools or access to assist incoming faculty with issues relating to incomplete/missing hiring forms or incorrect contract start/end dates.

New to TCU Orientation

As a leader, you should encourage incoming faculty in your area to attend faculty New to TCU orientation (sponsored by the Koehler Center for Teaching Excellence) prior to the start of the semester.  To prepare new faculty for the start of their first semester, this orientation covers many important topics, including technology available to faculty.

Access to TCU Technology & Resources

Generally, new hires do not get access to TCU technology or tools until their start date. However, faculty often need early access to prepare courses before their start date. The Office of the Provost  can provide new faculty members temporary, limited access to TCU resources as a Pre-Faculty Associate before the official start date listed on incoming faculty teaching contracts. Pre-Faculty Associates have access to TCU email and the Koehler Center for Teaching Excellence can grant them early access to the learning management system (LMS). Pre-Faculty will not be granted additional technology access until their contract start date.

Additionally, faculty will need to be listed as the instructor of record with the Registrar's Office for their courses to show up in the LMS, and it can take up to 24 hours to process new faculty assignments.

Classroom Technology Orientations

TCU IT wants faculty to feel confident with the technology in their classrooms. As a leader, please encourage faculty in your department to schedule a Classroom Technology Orientation with the IT AV team, who can check classroom availability and schedule training throughout the summer or leading into new semesters.

Classroom assignments or changes are handled by the Registrar's Office.

As a leader of an academic department, you may bear responsibility for facilitating the accreditation process on a pre-defined timeline set by the national accreditation organization(s) in your field of study.

Since individuals from other higher education institutions and the national organization(s) comprise the accreditation team, they will all need to be granted temporary access to select TCU systems and services to access department-prepared accreditation data. 

Depending on the particular requirements set by the accrediting body, you will need to store gathered accreditation data on a network share or in a shared Box folder since it contains confidential data. Additionally, you will need to plan ahead to provide a TCU-owned, departmental computer that can be used by site visitors.

When preparing for an accreditation site visit, department chairs should obtain the names and contact information of all accreditation team members at least a month in advance. This information should be submitted using steps found on the TCU Human Resources Associate Request page to request an Associate account for each person, specifically mentioning that they will need access to:

• TCU wireless (campus network)
• Ability to sign onto TCU computers

Please note that for security reasons, non-TCU-owned computers will not be allowed to connect to the wired campus network. 

After the Associate accounts are approved, leaders should reach out to the IT Help Desk providing the Associate's name and ID number to request any additional needed technology access:

• Network Xerox/HP Printing (provide the printer name and department budget codes)
• Network share (provide the specific share name)

While department leadership is responsible for facilitating the site visit, they may reach out to the TCU  IT Help Desk if the accreditation team encounters issues with sign on, network connectivity, or share access.

Specialized Software Availability

As a leader in an academic department, you should remind your faculty to reach out to IT proactively if they are considering use of specialized software (e.g. data analysis, creative design, etc.) as a key, required component in their courses.

Because specialized software is available in academic computer labs, TCU IT does not provide licenses or support for installation of specialized campus software on students' personal devices. If a specific software is not available in academic computer labs, faculty should reach out to the TCU IT Help Desk to provide the software information and discuss possibilities. Depending on the nature of the request, the department may be required to submit a contract, undergo technology review, and fund approved software.

Academic Lab Access & Availability

Current students have access to academic lab computers in numerous buildings on campus which provide a variety of specialized software commonly used in academia. Students may visit academic labs in person or connect remotely, with priority given to in-person usage. Faculty should be aware that during the day, academic lab computers may not be accessible remotely because they are reserved for in-person usage. To inquire about scheduling when planning for future courses, reach out to the TCU IT Help Desk.

Faculty should take note that the GIGA Lab, an academic computer lab in the Mary Couts Burnett Library with high-specification computers, requires approval before students can log in. Access to this lab is managed directly by library staff, and both faculty and students may visit the Library's GIGA Lab page for the access request form.

D2L/Brightspace, commonly known as TCU Online, is the campus electronic learning platform overseen by the Koehler Center for Teaching Excellence. 

Because this is managed outside of IT, leaders of academic departments should ensure that their faculty know to contact the Koehler Center directly regarding any TCU Online training or technical needs by filling out the TCU Online support request form.

Most faculty choose to use electronic testing methods and formats available in TCU Online, our campus learning management system. 

As a leader in an academic department, you should ensure that faculty in your area who choose to use paper scantron sheets for testing are familiar with test scanning resources, which are found on IT's Scantron Test Scanning page.

Please be aware that the kind of scantron sheet determines whether it is scanned by IT at the Help Desk or self-scanned by faculty near the Library Reference Desk.