Town Hall Updates - October 2025
Greetings and happy fall Friday. I hope you all had a great extended weekend last week. I have five updates to share:
Windows 11 and Computer Updates: I am happy to share that we are ~ 95% complete with our lifecycle computer replacement and Windows 11 project. We are finishing a handful of instructor station replacements on the 2nd floor and English classrooms this week and next. We are waiting for our laptop cart replacements ~ 150 computers, which we are expecting around October 31 - November 6. We have fewer than five remaining employee device replacements to complete. We will conduct an inventory audit walk-through to identify any outliers or missed devices.
Student Loaner Device Updates: For my student life and advising colleagues...I am pleased to share that we are now distributing student loaner Windows devices. After shipping and configuration delays, we were able to host our first distribution event yesterday (10/23/2025) and distribute new loaner devices to our students. We are messaging the 115 students who received loaner hotspots, Chromebooks, computers, and VDI access to automatically extend their loaners for the spring semester by sharing their Saint Paul College spring schedule via our TDx ticketing system (https://services.saintpaul.edu).
Data Matters Portal: In Data Services, as part of our work to improve transparency and communication, we are updating the Data Matters portal page by reviewing outdated information and adding pertinent, relevant content. We have been doing quite a bit of work behind the scenes:
- Inventory - Paginated reports, Power BI reports, and Dashboards
- Why: Understand who, what, how, and why they are needed and last accessed
- Next Steps: Share with the stakeholders to help determine what we need to continue using or adjust. Is the target dashboard or report duplicated?
- Student and Employee Data Lifecycle - What happens to data when they enter and exit the college
- Where does the data go (what application or service)? How does the data get there (automated, SSO, manual)? When does the data get there/leave (onboarding/offboarding/automated/manual)?
- Next Steps: Confirm that the process is documented and meaningful; Is the 'target' application redundant?
- Additional Information:
- Created an inventory of our surveys and compliance reporting dates
- Updated our data dictionary
- Linking to external IPEDS URL
- Linking to MinnState Data CookBook (for assisting Data Services and building our data definitions)
- Ensuring the page is more user-friendly
- Linked the Data Request form adding a Date field for when a Grant/Report is due, separate from when data is needed
Institutional Research: We have been working on report templates that are more focused on specific stakeholders, while also understanding the totality of our data sets through robust statistical modeling that ensures data accuracy. The renewed focus of the team will lead to strengthened relationships and trust, aligning and centering our work with institutional initiatives and our Promise Plan pillars of Purpose, People, and Place.
I want to give a shout out to the IT/IR team for their amazing work. They have been exceptional in their ability to shift to support all our initiatives and for all of you for shifting and supporting all of our work!
Last but not least... you can always view your tickets at services.saintpaul.edu and click on CHECK MY TICKETS
So now, I'll hand this over to Raji in HR