[CED/CD/EAT] Recent changes to volunteer hours tracking system

Tue Jan 28 09:43:09 MST 2020

Greetings,

I wanted to update this group on a recent change which was made with regard to the Volunteer Hours Reporting platform.  In 2019, we were told by CCT we needed to migrate the current volunteer hours tracking system as it sat on a Windows 7 server which was being decommissioned with the sunsetting of Windows 7 security updates.  We worked with a team of key stakeholders for Master Gardeners and quickly developed a simplified version of the tracking system using Qualtrics.  We were told by UITS that we had until the end of January to make the switchover.  However, there was a heightened sense of urgency entering 2020 as they felt the server in question was vulnerable to security risks if we didn't act fast.  The obvious issue being that all personally-identifiable information of our MGers could be leaked causing huge issues for Extension down the road.

So, instead of being able to pilot, test, communicate, and then roll out the new platform, we just rolled it out on Friday, January 17th.  For the majority of volunteers who use it, we've gotten great feedback about it being easier to enter information without having to remember logins and navigate too many screens to simply enter hours volunteered.  Internal staff agree it's a much cleaner and easier-to-use platform.  There have been a few grumblings from some of our volunteers and we are working with them to try to incorporate some of their feedback.  We are currently in the process of developing a communication rollout which will include some job aides for volunteers and other users of the system.

Some benefits of the new system include:

  *   No need to login - several requests were sent weekly from volunteers needing help to reset usernames and passwords.  That will no longer be needed.  All that's required is First Name, Last Name, UA Net ID and/or Personal E-mail address.  Volunteers should have received their UA Net ID when they became Designated Campus Colleagues.  We can pull a report and send them an e-mail letting them know their net id if they don't remember it.  That communication is forthcoming.
  *   Access from any device - because there isn't a need to enter login credentials, access to the site can be done from any device (mobile, desktop, tablet).  Volunteers use to have to wait until they completed their hours, go home, log in, and enter hours.  Many times, volunteers would forget until may months down the road.  Now, hours can be added immediately.
  *   Added security - since we're not requiring a full profile of volunteers, we're not storing personally-identifiable information and are less likely to be the source of a data breach putting our volunteers at risk.  Sensitive information like home addresses, phone numbers, and other contact names are no longer being stored in this system.
  *   Confirmations - when hours are entered, volunteers will receive an auto-generated confirmation e-mail with the details of their submission.  They can be sure that they have entered data correctly and that they can reach out to correct any mistakes.
  *   Multiple entries - the system allows for users to make multiple entries without having to continuously re-enter their name, net ID, and e-mail address.
  *   Access to all data by MG Leaders - since Qualtrics is a University-provided platform, I will share the platform with all leads so they can see the entries and have access to any reporting above what I'm already working on to provide.

The link to the new platform is here:  https://uarizona.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_0eLcW2olab4ZT49  We were solving for the immediate need to develop a platform for simple hours tracking and data entry.  Now, we can move to the next phase of creating multiple reporting methods, and then merging data from the old system to the new system.  In the long run, it is a vast improvement - especially for the newer MGers and those going through the initial online training program - but there's always going to be those who felt we didn't bring them along for the journey.

I'm working on developing a way for each of our county-specific MG leads and coordinators to be able to pull information from the system.  And the previous data is available and I'll work with each county on parsing that historical data from the old system to get into their hands soon.

Please reach out to me directly for any questions.

Thank you,
Dominic J. Rodriguez, M.A.
Chief Operations Officer
Arizona Cooperative Extension
520-626-4921 Office
drodriguez1 at email.arizona.edu<mailto:drodriguez1 at email.arizona.edu>

[Cooperative-Extension_PRIMARY (3)]

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <https://list.cals.arizona.edu/pipermail/ced/attachments/20200128/0b01efc3/attachment.htm>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image003.png
Type: image/png
Size: 32306 bytes
Desc: image003.png
URL: <https://list.cals.arizona.edu/pipermail/ced/attachments/20200128/0b01efc3/attachment.png>