TSUS Shared Services Partnership with LSCO
TSUS Shared Services Initiative
The TSUS Shared Services project is a TSUS initiative designed to scale services and support for quality online education. Participating TSUS institutions enter a voluntary partnership agreement whereby distance education departments collaborate to pool resources.
Lamar Institute of Technology and Sul Ross University were the first to join the project. Lamar State College Orange and Lamar State College at Port Arthur have signed Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs) to join the TSUS Shared Services project, starting in Fall 2022.
SHSU Online was tasked by the TSUS chancellery to lead the implementation of the Shared Services Project. In the spring semester of 2019, SHSU Online took the first steps in implementing the initiative. The initiative enables the facilitation of online education at scale for TSUS institutions and plays a key role in maintaining operations in case of a disruptive disaster, like Hurricane Harvey and COVID-19.
Benefits of Partnership
The activities undertaken pursuant to the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) are based on a spirit of cooperation and reciprocity that is intended to be of mutual benefit to all participating institutions. As part of this collaboration, online education services have been negotiated, including a shared instance of Blackboard, with access to the complete suite of licenses native to the LMS.
Blackboard licenses include Bb Ultra, Bb Communities, Bb Content, Bb Outcomes, and Bb Collaborate Ultra.
In addition to a robust installation of Blackboard, other benefits of the shared services project include licensing for exam proctoring, lecture capture and video hosting software, ADA Compliance tools, access to a 24 x 7 technical call center, instructional design services, and faculty development workshops.
More recently, the initiative facilitated the emergency response to the current pandemic. Over the past two years, SHSU Online has provided institutions within the TSUS Shared Services Initiative support and assistance in maintaining instructional continuity in times of crisis.
Project Timeline and Implementation Services
- April 2022 - Project Launch
- May 2022 - Environment Assessment, User Migration
- June 2022 - Course Content Migration
- July 2022 - Technical Integration/Login, ID Assignment
- August 2022 - Fall 2022 Launch in Production
LSCO faculty and staff will receive support and services throughout the implementation period, including:
- Informational Town Halls
- Training Sessions
- On-site Visits
- Meet and Greets
- Bb Ultra Webinars
- Access to the TSUS Shared Services Website
- Electronic Resources for Students and Staff
Contacts
SHSU Team
- Bill Angrove (bangrove@shsu.edu) - Associate Vice President for Distance Learning
- Dr. Ruth Chisum (ruthchisum@shsu.edu) - Assistant Vice President
- Angela Gill (amb229@shsu.edu) - Administrative Assistant
- Ricki Hodges Neri (rickilee@shsu.edu) - Blackboard Master Administrator
- Ray Scheel (ray.scheel@shsu.edu) - Assistant Director, Online Course Design
- Jacob Spradlin (ucs_jws@shsu.edu) - Associate Director, Faculty Development
- Daniel Walker (dww008@shsu.edu)- Assistant Director, 24/7 Online Support Desk
LSCO Team
- Alicia Lloyd (alicia.lloyd@lsco.edu) - Director of Learning Technology
- Kevin Petitjean (kevin.petitjean@lsco.edu) - Application Support Analyst
- Thomas "Kash" Cox (coxtk@lamarpa.edu) - Director of Systems, Networking, and Support
- Samir Ghorayeb (sghorayeb@lamarpa.edu) - Assistant Vice President (CIO/IRM), Information Services, Lamar State College Orange & Lamar State College Port Arthur