Regional Support Centres To Facilitate The Connection Of Further Education Colleges Onto JANET And To Promote The Take Up Of JISC’S Network Services And Resources In The FE Community.

Funding 4/99: Regional Support Centres

Invitation for Expressions of Interest

March 2000

To:

Heads of Higher Education Institutions funded by SHEFC
Heads of Further Education Colleges funded by SFEFC

Copies:

Directors of Information Services at those Institutions
JISC Committee Members
JISC Services and JISC Projects

            Introduction

  1. The Scottish Further Education Funding Council has agreed to become a funding partner of the JISC. A number of actions have been agreed in the short term.
  2. All FE colleges will be given a link to JANET and will have access to JISC services via that network by March 2001. Additional online information resources will be purchased for FE and existing resources made available to FE.
  3. JISC will set up two Regional Support Centres (RSCs) in Scotland to facilitate the connection of Scottish FE colleges onto JANET and to promote the take up of JISC’s network services and resources in the Scottish FE community.
  4. This letter outlines what the RSCs are expected to be doing and the timescale for establishing them. The JISC invites Expressions of Interest from the HE and FE communities to run an RSC to cover their region. It is anticipated that Expressions of Interest will come from a partnership of at least one FE college and at least one HEI.
  5. Expressions of Interest to bid for a three year grant are requested by close of play Friday 14th April 2000 and formal Invitations to Tender for these grants will be circulated to those expressing an interest by Tuesday 2nd May 2000.

    Regional Support Centre Activities

  6. Four RSCs have already been set up in England and Wales by UKERNA to provide support for networking. They have demonstrated that they are a valuable resource, providing significant benefits to local FE colleges.
  7. The initial task facing the RSCs is to connect FE colleges to the network and provide ongoing technical network support. A second task is to promote awareness and encourage the take up of JISC Services within the colleges and the incorporation of electronic resources in the learning process.
  8. In addition to these specific tasks, the RSCs will be expected to complement the Metropolitan Area Networks (MANs) by advising on outreach, especially content issues, to support the SFEFC ICT Strategy . They will therefore need to work closely with other bodies supporting this activity (eg. SFEU, SCET, SufI, NGfL, LECs, etc.).
  9. The RSCs, close to the users of the services, will be an excellent source of feedback to the JISC on FE requirements. The Centres will also be able to act as regional focus points for other JISC activities such as providing advice and guidance on information strategies, corporate information systems, managed learning environments, etc. This will be particularly helpful for outreach and awareness raising.

    Networking

  10. Experience with the first RSCs shows that time has to be spent at institutions in preliminary visits to explain issues and scenarios to technical and management staff. Once this has occurred the following services will be supplied:
    • Set up of equipment and training (initially, and for upgrades);
    • Day to day support, including problem solving;
    • Advice on hardware upgrades and procurement;
    • Hardware maintenance contract management;
    • Liaison with UKERNA.
  11. Discussions are in progress with UKERNA as to the detailed nature and timing for provision of this support. A more specific requirement will be made available as part of the formal tendering process.
  12. An RSC might wish to sub-contract this (or other) parts of their remit.

    Help Desk

  13. This will be a key service for the RSCs and the Help Desk can provide first point of call for support on all types of issues.
  14. The Help Desk will supply the following services:
    • First point of call for any problems from technical and teaching staff in colleges;
    • Problem tracking for network equipment and services;
    • Technical support for minor queries, pass on major queries to staff in services;
    • Distribution of training materials, self help packs, flyers, etc.
  15. It is anticipated that, after the initial 18 months of network connection has been achieved, this area of technical assistance will be phased out of the RSC’s remit and the other training and awareness raising aspects of the remit will take a more prominent role.

    Training

  16. The RSC staff will be able to provide cost-effective training to colleges in a region, either on site visits or by running courses at their host institution. They can also facilitate the provision of training from other sources such as JISC Services, UKERNA and other Funding Council initiatives. There is expected to be a heavy demand for training in the first few years of RSC operation. It can be assumed that training will be made available to the RSC trainers by existing JISC Services and UKERNA.

    Use of Electronic Services

  17. There is already a small but growing demand from FE colleges for information about and assistance with using electronic resources for teaching. The JISC expects to offer colleges access to existing digital resources at a low rate, recognising that use will be quite low in the first instance. JISC Services and data-centres will not be able to cope with the resultant increase in enquiries and these will therefore be fielded by the RSC in much the same way that library help desk staff field enquiries within a college .
  18. The following services will have to be provided to support electronic services:
    • First point of contact for support in the use of electronic services and resources;
    • Site visits and workshops;
    • Provision of information on licensing, costs, training packs and documentation;
    • Host regional workshops to raise awareness or provide special training, in conjunction with JISC services and programmes;
    • Run regional forums to gather feedback, and pass this to JISC ASSIST.

    Outreach

    Scottish FE Funding Council

    Coverage of JISC Regional Support Centres

    North & East

    • Aberdeen College
    • Angus College
    • Banff & Buchan College of Further Education
    • Borders College
    • Clackmannan College of Further Education
    • Dundee College
    • Edinburgh's Telford College
    • Elmwood College
    • Falkirk College of Further and Higher Education
    • Fife College of Further and Higher Education
    • Glenrothes College
    • Inverness College
    • Jewel and Esk Valley College
    • Lauder College
    • Lews Castle College
    • Moray College
    • Newbattle Abbey
    • Oatridge Agricultural College
    • Orkney College
    • Perth College
    • Sabhal Mor Ostaig
    • Shetland College of Further Education
    • Stevenson College
    • The North Highland College (Thurso)
    • West Lothian College

    South & West

    • Anniesland College
    • Ayr College
    • (The) Barony College
    • Bell College of Technology
    • Cardonald College
    • Central College of Commerce
    • Clydebank College
    • Coatbridge College
    • Cumbernauld College
    • Dumfries and Galloway College
    • Glasgow College of Building and Printing
    • Glasgow College of Food Technology
    • Glasgow College of Nautical Studies
    • James Watt College of Further & Higher Education
    • John Wheatley College
    • Kilmarnock College
    • Langside College
    • Motherwell College
    • Reid Kerr College
    • South Lanarkshire
    • Stow College
  19. The RSCs will be expected to broker collaborative arrangements between FE, HE and other bodies supporting the National Learning Network agenda beyond FE and HE involvement. They will therefore need to work closely with bodies such as National Grid for Learning, Scottish University for Industry, LECs , MLAC, FE bodies, etc.

    Advice and Guidance

  20. A key area for the RSCs is to provide advice and guidance to JISC committees to ensure that activities’ and programmes’ outcomes are applicable to FE as well as HE. In the first instance, this will focus particularly on providing guidance to the Information Strategies Advisory Panel and the JISC Committee for Integrated Environments for Learners.

    Location

  21. There are arguments for placing RSCs within FE colleges. They will have a better understanding of the issues facing FE and would therefore be likely to offer a service that is more tuned to, and likely to generate the trust of, the local colleges. On the other hand, the existing RSCs are based in HE institutions and have been successful. HE institutions also have significantly larger information support services that will be able to provide back up and support in depth to the RSC staff.
  22. To build on the strengths of both sectors, it might be preferred that the RSCs are provided by a consortium of at least one FE and one HE institution. These partnerships would be judged under the same criteria as those within one region.
  23. Expressions of interest are therefore welcomed from FE colleges, higher education institutions and consortia thereof.

    Timetable

  24. Timetable to be followed is:

    w/b 20th March

    Letter inviting Expressions of Interest is sent to institutions

    14th April 2000

    Expressions of Interest received by JISC

    2nd May 2000

    Formal Invitation to Tenders sent to institutions

    w/b 8th May 2000

    Town Meeting

    26th May 2000

    Closing date for bids

    w/b 14th June 2000

    Presentations and panel decisions.

    August 2000

    RSCs operational

     

    FECs have access to all JISC provided electronic information and services, including fee-paid datasets

  25. This may be subject to change, following receipt of Expressions of Interest and a final timetable will be outlined in the Invitation to Tender .

    Submission of Expressions of Interest

  26. Expressions of Interest are asked to present institutional commitment and a partnership agreement between an HEI and an FEC and should not be longer than 2 A4 sides.
  27. Responses must be received no later than 5.30 pm on Friday 14th April 2000. Faxed, emailed or late expressions of interest will not be accepted.
  28. Submissions should be addressed to:

    Ms R Corrie
    Joint Information Systems Committee
    Northavon House
    Coldharbour Lane
    Bristol
    BS16 1QD

    Further Information

  29. Further information about the JISC and a copy of this letter can be found on the JISC web site or from Rachael Corrie.
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Summary
Submission Deadline
14 April 1999 09:00
Funding
See full call