And the name of our intranet is...

The results are in! Concordia faculty and staff have chosen Cspace as the name of the first version of the intranet that will be launched on August 5. The intranet is a private site for faculty and staff that will contain information and documentation to help better perform their jobs, as well as opportunities to build communities of thought, interest and practice.

For those whose favourite name was chosen, congrats! For those who voted for other names, there are still many ways to contribute to the growth of the intranet. To get involved, please contact beth.luscombe@concordia.ca.
   
Intranet information sessions a success
From June 17 to 20, the WCMS project team held four intranet information sessions to provide project stakeholders with an update and unveil the intranet home page.

Close to 200 stakeholders signed up for the sessions, which were held on both the Loyola and Sir George Williams campuses, and sparked a series of discussions that confirmed their interest in seeing the intranet evolve toward the building of communities of thought, interest and practice.

Sami Antaki, executive director of University Communications Services (UCS), delivered a presentation to the groups. He informed participants that during the cross-unit consultation sessions leading up to the creation of Version 1 of the intranet, the project team heard that the platform’s primary goal should be to consolidate information so it’s easy to find in a central location.

Adan Suazo, assistant to the principal of the Loyola College for Diversity and Sustainability, echoed those sentiments. “The intranet will fill a gap,” Suazo says. “Oftentimes, you have to hunt down the information you need. The intranet will centralize all of that information for us.”

Lucy Niro, UCS director of Web Communications and the WCMS project director, says she and the project team expect faculty and staff to let them know about features they would like to see in future versions of the intranet and provide recommendations for improvements.

“This is really Version 1, so it should be perceived as a foundation upon which we will continue to build a site that is much more comprehensive and interactive. Based on the feedback we received during the information sessions, Cspace is poised to become a one-stop shop for faculty and staff,” says Niro.

Helen Downie, Loyola Chapel administrator in Multi-faith Chaplaincy, says she recognized the intranet’s potential to connect faculty and staff in new ways. “After today’s session, I understand that we’re in a developmental phase and that we can give feedback. The intranet will give me the opportunity to connect the dots between all the communities at Concordia and my own work.”

Participants asked numerous questions, such as whether the site will be mobile friendly, how the communities section would work and how to access the intranet. Read the answers to those questions and others in the Intranet FAQ.

How you can help
There are more than 7,000 people working at Concordia. Of the 750 project stakeholders who were invited to the information sessions, close to 200 attended. While this is a good turnout, there is still a lot of work to do to promote Cspace.

Here’s how you can help spread the word:
•    Tell your colleagues about Cspace.
•    Stay in touch and submit your feedback.
•    Print out and share this intranet handout.

Related links:
•    WCMS Hub on MyConcordia
•    Intranet FAQ
•    Intranet handout
•    “Concordia to launch first phase of private site for faculty and staff” — NOW, June 12, 2013