Yammer

IT was a little too eager this morning to launch a new social networking and communication tool for the campus. As a result, you may have received a message from Yammer@cofc.edu asking you to login to Yammer, a social networking application. While this email was legit, the message was sent in error.

Yammer (yammer.com/cofc.edu) is currently in beta test phase. Information Technology along with members from Staff Advisory Committee (SAC) and Faculty Educational Technology Committee (FETC) have been testing Yammer and providing feedback to determine if it meets campus needs. There is a process that IT follows for administrative approval before applications such as Yammer can go into production. We seek the endorsement from IT governance committees and other offices at interest. Following approval by the Executive Steering Committee (ESC), IT will initiate our own project implementation methodologies:

  1. Create formal IT project and communication plan
  2. Finalize terms of service and appropriate use guidelines
  3. Outline IT support and training model
  4. Create set of policies, responsibilities and processes that guides the IT management of Yammer

So stay tuned for a technology solution that will enhance and facilitate communications across campus.

In the meantime…

Our eagerness must have been contagious! Since the invitation was sent out this morning over 50 people have joined! So if you would like try out Yammer, please send any feedback about the tool to the Helpdesk. Please be aware that this tool is in beta testing phase; no policies, best practices, training documentation or approvals have been finalized and changes to the application are to be expected if Yammer goes live.

We look forward to implementing a new social networking solution that will meet the campus needs.