The goal of the Desktop Project at Glendale Community College is to develop and follow a coherent plan for meeting the hardware, software, and training needs of college employees now and into the future. Spurred by the narrower district-wide Desktop Project initiative begun last July, Glendale has built a much more comprehensive plan that is tied to other technology planning such as the five-year plan for student lab upgrades and other college-wide planning endeavors linking budgeting decisions and strategic planning efforts. Additional information about the Desktop Project is on the web at the following location:

Participants in the Desktop Project volunteer for the project on a time schedule that meets their needs. In the past, we have assigned volunteers to the next session as space becomes available. Participants have agreed to the following:

• To use a standard suite of software tools;
• To migrate to the latest supported software version;
• To run standard applications from a networked server;
• To forego the use of software that may cause network and/or system conflicts;
• To install unsupported, non-standard software on their hard drives from disks and become self-supporting;
• To begin an individual learning plan and meet some minimum competencies before their upgrade date arrives; and
• To help us troubleshoot, document, revise and expand our procedures.

Materials about the Desktop Project have been available to participants on the web and have been continually revised over the past year as we learn more about what information users need. In addition, we have begun orientation sessions in the Training Classroom prior to each installation session and have used an A-1 distribution list to field questions and provide answers. Those questions and answers are archived automatically on a web page also, so that participants can refer back to them when necessary. Some early participants have become assistants during the installation sessions, and many have provided support to others in their department, unit, or building.

The materials that comprise the Desktop Project workbook are on the web at the following location:

Progress to date:

Since July, 1996, 210 GCC employees (40% men, 60% women) have volunteered for the Desktop Project sessions. The following table provides a snapshot of these participants:

Procedures for the Future

The process for becoming part of the Desktop Project will change slightly this fall. Four session dates have been identified: September 18, October 16, November 13, and December 11. All installation sessions will be held in the Teleconference Room beginning at 1:30 pm.

People who have already submitted requests will be notified on August 27 via A-1 and will be invited to submit their Account and Computer Information electronically (including a preferred date). After these people have been accommodated, we will open the fall sessions to other full-time, board-approved employees on a space-available basis. As soon as we identify dates for 1998, we will publish those as well. Additional details about preparing for the installation sessions are on the web at the following location:

Refurbished Computers

Other college employees able to use refurbished computers may follow a similar process beginning this fall. We will be offering Orientation and Training Sessions each Friday afternoon, so employees will be able to attend one session one week, the other session the following week, and then receive a refurbished computer within 10 days. Details about the process (and a calendar of training sessions) are on the web at the following locations:

Continuous Improvement of the Desktop Project

During fall semester, we will continue to work on the process for the Desktop Project, making modifications as needed. Our goal is to integrate this project into the routine planning and budgeting cycle of the college for office computer upgrades and for continued individual learning. Ultimately, we intend to connect the Desktop Project with the college's 5-year plan for student station upgrades as developed by the College Technology Committee. We will keep members of the college community informed via A-1 and the web pages associated with the Desktop Project and the College Technology Committee.