myUMBC Summer Updates

This is an update to inform everyone of some changes we're making to myUMBC over the summer.  We will release pieces of these updates in batches every week or so with the goal of having all updates complete by early to mid-July to give everyone time to get things in order for the fall semester.

We understand that some will be more affected by these changes than others, however we feel that the system as a whole will benefit from some of these changes and allow us more flexibility as myUMBC continues to evolve.

• Group Content on Start Page - We are updating the sections of the Start page (News/Events/Discussions/Media) to show content from your groups in addition to community content.  If you are not a member of any groups, we will encourage you to check out the new Group Directory to find groups to follow or join.
• Group Directory - We are giving the listing of groups in myUMBC a major overhaul that will make it easier to search and browse for groups that you may want to join or follow.
• Enhanced Pawpularity Controls - To allow the community greater control over which posts and comments are promoted on the myUMBC Start page and on individual posts, we are implementing some additional options to ensure only the best of the best content and comments are promoted.
• Following - We are going to give individuals the ability to follow any Public group in myUMBC.  While following a group, a person will receive all of the notifications of new content that members of a group receive.  Followers are not members of a group so they will not show up on the Members tab (following is completely anonymous) and will not be able to leave comments.
• Note to Group Admins - With the addition of the ability to follow groups, we recommend that existing groups review how they want to use their group as a communication tool moving forward.  If you only want a select number of people to be able to post and leave comments, close your group membership and encourage others to follow your group.  If you prefer anyone and everyone to leave comments (and potentially post new content), open your group membership and encourage others to join your group.
• Changes to Group Settings - We are simplifying many of the settings for groups to make things easier to understand and to remove features that are not widely used or not working out as we had hoped.
• We are removing the Editor role from groups.  All existing Editors will be converted to Members.  If an individual needs the ability to edit all content in a group, make them an Admin.
• Groups can now set a tagline, a short description of their group.  This tagline will be used for the improved Group Directory.
• Groups can now set their visibility as Public or Private.
• If Public, each tool can be set to allow non-members to view content.
• If Private, tools can only be seen by members.
• Public groups can now choose whether to be listed in the Group Directory. (previously, public groups were always listed)
• The Spotlights tab (and the ability to post spotlights) will only be available to Admins.
• Major overhaul of the Tools & Access page:
• You can no longer rename tools.  Tools that have been renamed will be reset to their default name.  This change is being made to ensure a greater level of consistency between groups to make groups easier to learn, support, and evolve.
• All previous options for tools are being replaced with two checkboxes for each tool: "Anyone can read?" and "Members can post?"
• If your group is Private, the "Anyone can read?" option is turned off and cannot be turned on.
• You can no longer choose which tools appear on your Home tab.  All enabled tools will show.
• Group Kinds - We are separating groups into three kinds.  This will allow us to offer different features and functionality depending on the kind of group.
• Institutional Group - This is the group kind for departments and official university-related organizations.  Institutional groups will get some more advanced tools for managing members and have the greatest amount of flexibility in how they can configure their group.  Requests for new Institutional Groups must be approved by the myUMBC Team.
• Student Organization Group - Students will be able to register a new or manage their existing student organization through myUMBC.  The goal is to replace the current paper-based process for requesting and managing groups with myUMBC.  Requests for new Student Organization Groups must be approved by the Office of Student Life.
• Interest Group - This is the group kind for individuals with a common interested to connect and collaborate.  Interest groups are always Public (anyone can read the content), always have Open membership (anyone can join), and are always listed in the Group Directory.  Interest Groups can be created immediately with no approval necessary.
• Advanced Membership Options (Institutional Groups Only) - We will give institutional groups the ability to automatically add members based on specific criteria or through CSV import.  Members added using these options will not be able to leave the group, but will still be able to disable notifications from the group.  This will provide a compelling option for organizations with a large, yet clearly defined, set of individuals that they want to communicate with.
• Retiring Groups - We are implementing a formal procedure for retiring groups in myUMBC.  After six months of inactivity, we will notify the group's admins of our intent to retire the group.  After a confirmation to retire or a lack of response for a week, we will retire the group.  When retired, all of a groups members are removed and its web address is modified so that it becomes available for another group to use.  No content is removed during this process and any content shared with the community will remain publicly available.

Please don't hesitate to contact me if you have any questions about the update process.  Thanks and have a great summer.

Collier Jones

collier@umbc.edu