Our structure: Strategy 2030

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Changes to IT systems

Changes to SITS (the student records system) on Monday 3 October

The student records system, SITS, has now been updated in line with the new organisational structure.

Tutors, module convenors and supervisors are encouraged to check they still have correct access to tutee and PGR information.

Staff or students who notice any unexpected changes to their data in any of our University systems should raise an IT Service Desk request. 

Information for personal tutors, senior tutors, pastoral tutors, module convenors and supervisors

The SITS (Student Records System) update has the potential to affect access to information in SRS about personal tutees and Individual Learning Plans (ILPs), and in MyPGR for research student records. It would be helpful if all tutors, module convenors and supervisors could check that you:

  • Can still access appropriate data about your tutees/PGRs
  • Have access to the appropriate ILPs for your role

If you encounter any issues please report them to the IT Service Desk.  

Did you own or manage a shared mailbox before 1 August - and do you still use it?

If you need to make changes to a shared mailbox that existed before 1 August, you will need to request a new shared mailbox using the online IT Service Request. This is part of work to reduce the huge number of unused/unneeded mailboxes that we currently have at the University.

In your Service Request, please provide the name of the new mailbox and the names of those people who need access. You can request the same mailbox name as previously. If you want to retain access to all your old mailbox data/emails, please include that in your service request. 

Your existing shared mailbox will continue to function, but it cannot be updated. If you still use it, please request a new shared mailbox as soon as possible so that any future changes you need can be completed more quickly. 

Email distribution lists for the new structure

In line with the restructure, IT Services have now created new ‘dynamic’ email distribution lists for each faculty and department, and for each division and its main teams. These distribution lists will update automatically to account for new joiners and leavers, reducing the need for faculty and divisional colleagues to update these lists manually.

IT Services are currently finalising the owners for each mailing list. Each owner will have the authority to send to the distribution list and to request any changes. To take ownership of a new distribution list please contact the IT Service Desk.

Do you own or manage a SharePoint site or Microsoft Team?

If you manage or own one of the University’s 10,000 SharePoint sites or Microsoft Teams, it’s important you review that site or Team so it reflects our new structure. Some questions to consider include:

  • Is the site still needed? If so, could the content be combined with another site under the new organisational structure?
  • Does the site title or graphics need amending to reflect the new structure?
  • Does the structure within the SharePoint site need amending?
  • Is all the content still required and relevant within the new structure? Will new site members find it easy to use?
  • Does your site membership need updating for new owners and members? Do you need to remove access that is no longer needed?
  • Are all links still correct – for example, will they need pointing to a faculty rather than a college site?
  • Do any guidelines or help documents need updating for a wider audience?
  • Are the site contacts correct for the new structure?

If you need any advice or help on updating your SharePoint Site please raise a request with the IT Service Desk or book a SharePoint Q&A session at Digital Readiness Sessions (office365.com).

Telephone configuration changes

If you have special configurations for phones (for example, one number ringing a group of phones), please consider if this will need to change in line with the new structure. If so, please raise a request with the IT Service Desk.

Symplectic Elements and Open Research Exeter

The work in Symplectic Elements and Open Research Exeter (ORE) to align them with the new organisational structure has now been completed and access to Symplectic Elements is now restored. Please note, for ORE you may need to clear your cache before being able to view the organisation structure updated in ORE’s publication collections. 

PGR students will still be assigned to the old College Structure until our Student information system, SITS, is updated in October 2022. This will have no impact on their ability to use Symplectic Elements or to deposit the final version of your thesis. 

In completing this institutional structure change, we also took the opportunity to introduce an additional field within Symplectic. Please see here for further details: Symplectic Elements (sharepoint.com)

To ensure that the ORE team will be able to process deposits to ORE in a timely manner we have asked colleagues to prioritise, where possible, uploading publications to ORE that might be at risk of open access compliance. 

Any queries relating to ORE or open access compliance, can be directed to the Open Research team at openaccess@exeter.ac.uk. Any queries relating to Symplectic Elements can be directed to RIME@exeter.ac.uk.