One of the best aspects I have found to being in grad school is when the assignments align with my job. Recently, I was discussing with a colleague the frustration of how the central administrative offices do not network or link staff on campus with other staff experiencing or troubleshooting a similar problem. For example, I have recently been tasked with setting up an online webstore for my college to sell training materials. In order to sell items, there is a whole PCI compliance component I have been thrown into the deep end to learn. Now, given I work for a large university, I am not the first department interested in or currently selling materials online. So, why when I reach out to the central IT office do they not connect me with a department on campus that is already using a PCI compliant vendor?
Now, here is where my wheels started to turn for an assignment on produsage. Why not create a place where staff can share their resources and experiences. The idea is not to be formal university procedures, but rather a place where job aids, "tricks" for dealing with the central offices, and other relevant information can be shared among staff across campus.
I pitched my idea to my coworker, and she loved it! As I begin the assignment, I am hoping it will become useful for others and continue to grow.
That does sound frustrating, but I'm glad that you are spinning a negative into a positive! It often concerns me how much red tape there is when it comes to higher education institutions. It's never a good experience for faculty and staff and it frequently ends up affecting students in the end. Hopefully your produsage assignment will remedy, or at least help to remedy, this one issue!
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