Connecting to a Lab calendar 2015

Connecting to a Lab calendar in 2015

Open up your University Email client.  via http://email.scu.edu.au 

Select the Calendar View by clicking on the little grid of boxes in the top left of the layout. (This will be different on phones )

Once you have the calendar view open.... you will see a list of your calendars on the left hand side (Again... different layout on phones... try to hum along with the tune.)

As this is my calendar, you can see I have all the labs already added.... you will probably see only 1 personal calendar.


If you right click (CTRL + Click on a Mac) on the calendar list heading, you should see an option to "Open Calendar".  Select this option.

You should now see the "Open Calendar" dialogue.

If you type "COF-M.1" into the "From Directory" box... you should get some results... but more importantly you should get the "Search Contacts and Directory" option at the bottom of the list.

Click on the "Search Contacts and Directory" option to open the search tool results. You should now see the list of all the labs (you may also see some other stray room calendars that are not labs)

Select the lab calendar that you are working in. Then click "Open".  You should now see that calendar added to your calendar lists on the left hand side of the calendar layout.

You can now select the calendar (tick the tick box) to view activity in the lab and make a booking.

Obviously, you do not need to subscribe to lab calendars that you are not working in.  So you should only see one or two calendars in this view rather than all of the labs as above.

Making a booking on a Lab calendar 2015

Making a booking on a Lab calendar in 2015

Making a booking is pretty straight forward.  Your experience will be slightly different to mine as I am an administrator of the calendar... so we will see slightly different options.  But again... try to hum along.


First, find the correct calendar for the lab you are working in.  (see above)

Turn the calendar on so you can view its days. Adjust your view to either day, week or month as you prefer. 

Find the day that you wish to make the booking on and Right click on it.  You will see a "New" option.  Select this to create a new booking.
Click on the "New" item in the top left corner below the blue "office 365" bar.   You will then see the form for a new event open.

You can now fill in the form fields as you need and save the booking.

Form Fields

Event - Put YOUR NAME and some code about your participant or the activity you will be running.  DO NOT PUT YOUR PARTICIPANTS NAME IN THIS FIELD.  Use their initials at most.

Location - You must use the "Add room" button to select the Lab you wish the event to be in.

Step 1. Click the "Add room" button on the right side. This will start looking for availible rooms.

Step 2.  Find the Lab that you wish to use for the location (This list may get jammed if there are no rooms free.  You may need to close the whole booking and create a new one to get this working again)

This will add the lab as a Location and as an Attendee.  This is correct.

Attendees - If you want to schedule other people into this event... then include them and let outlook send them messages and reminders.  I would tend not to include participants email addresses as this is confidential information and should not be included in a public calendar.

Duration/Start - Set the start time and the duration as you need.  Try not to block book the lab beyond a reasonable period as this will conflict with other lab users.

Reminder - set this as you see fit.

Show As - Set this to Busy.

Calendar - This will only allow you to create the event in your personal calendar.  This is correct.  (The location step above will create the event in the lab calendar)

Repeat -  Set this to Never.

Mark as Private - Do not set this field or other lab users will not be able to see your booking.

Notes Field -  Use this for your own purposes.  DO NOT PUT CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION IN THIS FIELD.  DO NOT PUT YOUR PARTICIPANTS NAME IN THIS FIELD.


When you are happy with the booking, click "Save" in the top left corner of the booking dialogue to save and close the booking editor.

You should now see the booking visible in your personal calendar and in the lab calendar.

NOTE - This new booking may take some time to Synchronise with other people.  Various times have been observed by different users.  

Editing a Booking 

Participants re-schedule.  Life gets in the road.  You need to change a booking.

First find the booking in the calendar (note if you have added yourself as an Attendee to the event, it may now be in both the lab calendar and your personal calendar... but its the same event)

Select the booking and you should see some options appear.

Click the "Edit" option to display the booking property fields and change the field values as you require. Then click "Send" in the top right corner to save and update all the attendees.

By editing the booking in the lab calendar, you should also see the changes applied to your personal calendar. 

Cancelling a Booking

Previously we had a policy of not deleting bookings that were cancelled.  This was so we could track activity in the labs.  This policy is now pointless as it creates additional chaos in the calendar system and make lab users lives more difficult.

If you need to cancel a booking.. do so. 

Simply click on the event in the calendar as above, but select the "Cancel" option rather than "Edit".  Where you have multiple Attendees, you will be given the option to send them a message about the cancellation. It would seem polite to use this opportunity.. but its up to you.

Afterword

Please let me know if you have problems following this guide or you have problems getting the results you wish from the system. The TS help desk can provide additional assistance in the use of the Outlook system if you require support.

Thanks.

Setting your timezone in Outlook Correctly

Hi All,

A number of students have had trouble with the Lab Calendars due to the fact that the timezone has defaulted to an incorrect value in their Outlook Online/Office 365 client.

Please check your settings as it makes a real mess in the Calendars.


Steps to check or set your timezone correctly.

Step 1.  Open your Office365/Outlook account.

Step2. Click on the "Cog" icon in the top right corner.

Step 3. Select the "Option" item from the menu.

Step 4. Select the "General" options set from the list on the left hand side of the screen.

Step 5. Select the "Region and time zone" item on the sub list.

Step 4.  Check or set the option in the "Current time zone" box at the bottom to "(UTC+10:00) Canberra, Melbourne, Sydney"

Step 5.  Click the "Save" option above the "Region and time zone" title.

You should now have the correct timezone set and your appointments should make sense in the lab calendars.

Lab Calendars for 2015

Hi All,

We are trying a different method with the lab calendars this year... so consider it an experiment.  Please let me know if you have problems using the system.


This post has been UPDATED.  See the linked posts below for more details. 

Overview of the Lab Calendar process

Before you begin:  Please check your timezone is set correctly in Outlook ... see here for instructions

Step 1.  You will need to connect to the correct lab calendar to see what booking exist.  See this post for details on connecting to the calendars.

Step 2. You will need to make bookings in the lab calendars.  See this post for details on making bookings.

When using a lab, please remember to tag the door with the "Experiment in Progress" door hanger, so that you are not disturbed. It also serves to remind people to be a bit quiet in the corridor...

2014 year in review... now with more hindsight!!!

After a pretty heavy year on the politics side some of us are still standing.

The labs are still here, (most) of the staff are still here and another cohort of students have launched successfully.  I'm calling it a win.... but at a cost.

The Uni has been through the wringer with the Federal Budget shenanigans.  Yet another round of funding cuts, impending funding cuts and systematic changes topped off with a whole lot of drawn out uncertainty.  This has resulted in a general grinding on the staff and a big overdraft on the goodwill that keeps the place running.  

Another round of accreditation has been navigated with high praise for the quality of the course and the staff.  The politics around the structure of the school aside, it was fairly painless.  However the tension between the idealism of the APAC rules and the reality of where higher education is going has continued.  This tension mostly plays out between APAC's idealistic staffing model and the reality of the downsize pressure that all the Uni's are under.

It's always interesting to spectate on these kinds of processes.  Watching the slow evolution of the professional organisations as they struggle not to modernise while the commercial reality of operating in an environment that does not in any way resemble the one from the 70's that fostered (and educated) the mindset that is creating the drag on any attempt to change.

Don't get me wrong, I appreciate some idealism in all things. But the reality is that a combination of factors and players are working at cross purposes to keep many of the professions (like psych) still functioning as though it was 1956. The problem is that mostly this results in the systems being completely non-viable within the current funding envelopes.  Genius! 

Before I start ranting too much.....

On the research side, there are lots of projects bubbling along.  All manner of bits and pieces need building.  I currently have about 14 projects on my to-do list but a few of them I would count as inactive at the moment pending further interest by the clients. I need to clear them before the honours students get too busy. 

We have a good active cohort of PhD students at the moment with a number in the end game. (This will clear a couple of desks ... I hope)  Not sure how many will be coming on board this year so it will be interesting to see how the desks play out. I can always stack a couple in a spare staff office I guess.

Speaking of staff, we lost a number of core staff over the last year through reorganisation and redundancies.  Organisational change is always difficult.  There is loss and sadness along with renewal and hope.... but that doesn't me we don't miss them.

The Uni is continuing its constant evolution (like any reactive organisation) and we are charging ahead at a considered pace.  Not fast enough for many but too fast for some.  There are new administration systems, more online courses and new campus locations.  I personally am not missing some of the old administration systems.  They were very aged in many of the design assumptions and were well past time for replacement.  But the trade off is the pain of learning the new systems and figuring out how to get stuff done with them.

We have lost a number of admin staff and the rest have been centralised.  This has created some renewal but also a concentration of pressure on the remaining staff.  They have also been loaded with the new software systems, more duties (from the redundant staff) and a constantly evolving policy landscape and organisation which is making it very difficult to form new knowledge networks.  Hopefully, we will have some time to stabilise and consolidate this year so that they can get over the learning curve of the new systems and find the productive sweet spots.

Just a few weeks now until the new honours cohort lands... time to shine the brass and grease the hinges....

Door Pin Codes in the Coffs Harbour Psychology Labs

Hi All,

This post is to capture information about the Pin Code situation for the labs.


The Labs have Pin locks.  You will need a Pin Code, key or escort to get into the labs. 

If you are not currently a Research Student, Research Staff or Research Associate, there is no reason you need or will be issued with a Pin code. 

The Pin Codes are allocated using the following logic.

Research Students

Each Lab has a generic Pin code for all the honours students using that Lab.  This code is changed each year to keep out the students from the previous year(s).

Each Lab has a generic code for all PhD students using that Lab. This code is changed when we need to keep out previous PhD students.

Individual pin codes are created for students who need access to multiple labs. These are deleted when the student completes their research.

NOTE - Please do not simply knock on my door every day to get access because you cannot manage to remember/write down/tattoo on your arm, your allocated pin code.

Research Staff

All full time research staff are issued with a Pin Code to access all the lab spaces.  These will be changed when that person ceases to be employed or moves to a non-research role.

Research Associates and Casual Staff

Short term, continuing or visting researcher and staff will be issued with an Individual Pin which will be configured to allow access to the areas they are required to work in.  This Pin will be deleted when they complete their project or their contract ends.

Research Participants

All research participants need to be escorted into and out of the labs by the researcher, student or RA that they are working with. 

DO NOT GIVE PIN CODES TO RESEARCH PARTICIPANTS.  EVER! 

They are your responsibility.  Escort them in, escort them out and call security if you think they are stealing from the labs.

Walk and Talk Tours, Visitors, Family Members, Groupies, Pets, Kids 

PIN CODES ARE NOT TO BE GIVEN TO ANY OTHER GROUPS.  DO NOT ASK.

Anyone visiting the labs does so under the escort of a student or staff member who has permission to be in the lab.  Your visitors are your responsibility. 

Tradespeople, Security and Facilities Staff

Security hold the only keys to the labs.
Tradespeople will be escorted on and off campus by security staff.
Facilities staff have a generic pin code which will be changed on a yearly basis.

2013 The Psychology Labs Year in Review

So who's where in the Southern Cross University Psychology Labs over the 2013 honours rush?   I'm writing this just after the lab rush has finished.  Currently the students are in data analysis. We're all getting ready for the Presentations Panic so this is a good time to clear my head of this info before I forget.

M.1.54 - EEG Lab (Prof. Robert O'She and Dr. Urte Rober)

Tom Sanderson (Hons)
Emily Prowse (Hons)
Ho (Ken) Ko (Hons)
Ruth Titherington (Hons)
Brad Jack (Phd)
Lachlan Foster (Hons) 

M.1.53 - VR Lab

Yezen Nwiran (Hons)
Nicole Foldes (Hons) (Co Super between Rick van der Zwan and Desiree Kozlowski)

M.1.52 - Perception Lab

Margurite Rowe (RA)

M.1.49 - Accoustic Lab (Assc. Prof. Rick van der Zwan)

Graeme Hacker (Phd)
Samantha Joplin (Hons)
Elise Morris (Hons)
Abbie McPherson (Hons) (Co Super between Rick van der Zwan and Heather Winskel)
Nicole Foldes (Hons) (Co Super between Rick van der Zwan and Desiree Kozlowski)

M.1.47 - Motion and Planning Lab (Dr. Mitchell Longstaff)

Gemma Doust (Hons)
Taryn Payne (Hons)
Tristan Hazelwood (Hons)
Suellen Jenkins (Hons)
Kevin Minotti (Phd)
Richard Tindle (Phd)

M.1.46 - Eyetracking Lab (Dr. Alison Bowling)

Nick Batty (Hons)
Kyla Brogmus (Hons)
Sharna Gale (Hons)
Leigh Grant (Hons)
Jacqueline Ruello (Hons)

M.1.45 - Conditioning and Learning Lab (Dr. Steve Provost)

Madeline Begg (Hons)
Lachlan Foster (Hons)
Royce Willis (Hons)
Elisabeth Hanley (Hons)
Kristel Broderick (Hons) (Co Super between Steve Provost and Desiree Kozlowski)

M.1.44 - Cognitive Neuroscience and Behaviour Lab (Dr. Anna Brooks)

Natalie Doring (Hons)
Monica Heafey (Hons)
Yezen Nwiran (Hons) (Co super between Anna Brooks and Desiree Kozlowski)
Alice Murphy (Hons)
Selena Ravot (Hons)
Desiree Kozlowski (Phd)
Justin Gaetano (Phd)

M.1.43 - Executive Function and Emotion Lab (Dr. Jim Donnelly)




Leah Gould-Anthony (Hons)
Michele Oaten (Hons)
Andrew Sheldon (Hons)
Matthew Snow (Hons)
Martin Tedeschi (Hons)
Tara Kocek (Phd)

M.1.42 - Language and Reading Lab (Dr. Heather Winskel)

David Beet (Hons)
Emma Peart (Hons)
Tiffany Web (Hons)
Julie-Anne Nicholson (Hons)
Abbie McPherson (Hons) (Co Super between Rick van der Zwan and Heather Winskel)

M.1.33 - Social Psychology Lab (Dr. Gail Moloney)

Noor Alkazali (Hons)
Ashlee Pennington (Hons)
Catherine Scott (Hons)

Remote Students (Supervised by Jacquie Yoxal)

Alexandria Brown (Hons) (Supervised by Jacquie Yoxal)
Kai Das (Hons) (Supervised by Jacquie Yoxal)

Part Timers

Aimee Doyle
Christine Farrell
Heulwen Gordon
Carmel Gray
Emma Turner
Philippa Visser

How to make an appointment in the Psychology Lab Calendars

This information is for the students using the Coffs Harbour Psychology Labs booking Calendars.

There are two main ways to create an appointment with the Calendars; the right way and the wrong way.

The Right Way

Step 1.   Open the Outlook Web Client (SCU Webmail) and Log in.

Step 2. Select the "Calendar" option in the upper right area of the screen.

Step 3.  On the lower left of your screen, locate the "My Calendars" panel and select the calendar you want to create an appointment in.

If you cannot see the room calendar in your "My Calendars" panel, you will need to open it first.  Refer to the previous post for more instructions. psychology-lab-calendar-setup Post


Step 4.  Find the date and time in the calendar and click to create a new appointment entry.
Enter your name in the Appointment field and any notes.  If you wish to make a note of the participant, use their initials only.

DO NOT PUT THE NAME OF ANY PARTICIPANT INTO THE SHARED CALENDAR.

Press Enter when done.

Step 5.   Click on the Appointment to open the details view.

Step 6.  Click the "Edit" Option at the bottom left of the "Detail View" panel. This will open the Appointment Editor panel.

Step 7. Set the start time and duration for your appointment and then click the "Save" option at the top left.

Optionally, you can set a reminder.  


DO NOT USE THE "ADD A ROOM" FEATURE.
DO NOT USE THE "ATTENDEES" FEATURE.

DO NOT USE THE "MARK AS PRIVATE" FEATURE.
DO NOT USE THE "REPEAT" FEATURE.

Keep in mind these are shared calendars, please do not create repeating private appointments with reminders.... cause they will really really bother everyone else.... and I will delete them and remove you from the calendar.


Step 8.  You should now have an appointment reflecting the correct time and duration you are booking the lab/cubicle for showing your notes. If this is not correct, please edit the appointment until this information is correct.

How to Delete an Appointment in the Shared Lab Calendar

Firstly, students cannot delete appointments. We would prefer you to change the detail on the appointment to something like  "Deleted" and why.  This allows us to use the calendar to track activity and understand how much the labs are used ... and not used.  

Step 1. Open the calendar.

Step 2.  Select the appointment to show the detail view panel.

Step 3. Click the "Edit" option in the lower left of the panel.

Step 4. Click in the area next to the "Event:" details line and type some additional text.

Step 5. Click the save option in the top left of the screen and your appointment will be updated.





Step 6.  You are done. Your appointment has now been "Deleted".

Hope that helps.


D

2012 The Psychology Labs Year in Review

I have decided to post some details of the projects that have been going on in the Southern Cross University Psychology Labs over 2012.  Partly to keep my head straight as they tend to pass in a bit of a blur if I don't take some time to document them.  It also helps me to find any files if we need to find old project files in the future.

M.1.54 - EEG Lab (Prof. Robert O'She and Dr. Urte Rober)

Brad Jack (Phd)
Beate Pasch (Hons) - Co-supervised by Dr. Heather Winskel

M.1.53 - VR Lab

Rayshell Harkin-Allen (Hons)

M.1.52 - Perception Lab

(Most of Steve's Students)

M.1.49 - Accoustic Lab (Assc. Prof. Rick van der Zwan)

Graeme Hacker (Phd)
Desiree Kozlowsky (Phd)
Rayshell Harkin-Allen (Hons)

Kerren Heilpern (Hons)  Co-supervised by Desiree Kozlowsky (Phd)

Emma Tudor (Hons)  Co-supervised by Desiree Kozlowsky (Phd)

M.1.47 - Motion and Planning Lab (Dr. Mitchell Longstaff)

Richard Tindle (Phd)
Kevin Minotti (Phd)
Nick Asara (Hons)
Tracey Adendorff (Hons)
Julie Byrn (Hons)
Hazel Bell (Hons)

M.1.46 - Eyetracking Lab (Dr. Alison Bowling)

Belinda Smith (Phd)
Kerri Storok (Hons)
Liz Donnan (Hons)
Michael Brough (Hons)
Peter Lindsay (Hons)

M.1.45 - Conditioning and Learning Lab (Dr. Steve Provost)

Andrew Worthy (Hons)
Steven Clifford (Hons)
Regi Yeoh (Hons)
Stephen Smithers (Hons)
Emma Harte (Hons)

M.1.44 - Cognitive Neuroscience and Behaviour Lab (Dr. Anna Brooks)

Justin Gaetano (Phd)
Marni Hietbrink (Hons)
Jacalyn Hall (Hons)
Sue-Ann Fitzgerald (Hons)
Michelle Hohs (Hons)

M.1.43 - Executive Function and Emotion Lab (Dr. Jim Donnelly)

Tara Kocek (Phd)
Alexandra Nicolopoulos (Hons)
Martina Browne (Hons)
Josie Cubitt (Hons)
Leanne Peters (Hons)

M.1.42 - Language and Reading Lab (Dr. Heather Winskel)

Geoff Turnbull (Phd)
Garth Parkill (Hons)
Lisa Walsh (Hons)

M.1.33 - Social Psychology Lab (Dr. Gail Moloney)

Louisa Salmon (Phd)
Alexandra Naef (Hons)
Tegan Charlton (Hons)
Robyn Pryor (Hons)
Rachael Wade (Hons)

There were a couple of other students who started the year but bailed out early on....