December 12th saw the EMA Programme hold the latest in its series of ‘EMA Programme Breakfast Briefings‘, bespoke sessions dedicated to informing administrative colleagues of the latest progress updates from the EMA Programme.
Held slightly later in the working day than previous events, the suitably seasonal ‘Mince Pie Briefing‘ took place in the Chancellor’s building on Wednesday afternoon, in the penultimate week of the Autumn term. Colleagues were welcomed with mince pies, tea and coffee, before the EMA Team provided updates on the eSFG, Core Systems and Integration work streams.
Liz Reader, Project Manager for Integration, thanked administrative colleagues for of all their help with the User Acceptance Testing (UAT) that took place in November, before moving on to outline the details of the first-phase Integration Go-Live, which is scheduled for January 3rd 2019. Colleagues were offered the opportunity to ask any questions they might have, and were reassured that bespoke Integration training will be scheduled throughout January. Further details on the Go-Live are available in the ‘Integration between Blackboard and RISIS: Go-Live on 3rd January‘ news article, whilst training dates are detailed in full under ‘Integration Training Dates (for Programme Administrators)‘.
Following the Integration update EMA Project Support Officer, Harriet Wallis, provided an update on the new guides and support resources available to administrative colleagues to support them in adopting changes in processes as a result of Integration. All guidance on EMA-affected processes is available for administrative colleagues to access via the Roles and Responsibilities Guide.
The session concluded with Director of Student Services, Dr Paddy Woodman, offering her thanks to all Support Centre colleagues for their ongoing hard work and cooperation in the implementation of electronic management of assessment across the University. Colleagues were wished a pleasant and restful break over the Christmas closure period.
If you have any specific queries regarding Integration, please log a ticket via TopDesk using the subject line ‘EMA Integration’. Alternatively, if you have any other questions about the work of the EMA Programme, please do email the team at ema@reading.ac.uk.