Faculty, staff and students who use ANGEL Groups for collaborative or storage space will need to find an alternative by November 1, 2017. This change is tied to the transition from ANGEL to Canvas as the University’s Learning Management System.
No new ANGEL Groups can be created after June 30, 2017. Access to all ANGEL Groups will end on October 31, 2017.
Available alternatives
Box, Yammer, Sites at Penn State, and Qualtrics are four alternatives that ANGEL Group users should consider as a replacement. Each offers varying capabilities as far as file storage, sharing and collaboration, and surveys:
● Box (http://box.psu.edu/): file storage; sharing and collaboration
● Yammer (https://www.yammer.com/psu.edu/): file storage; sharing and collaboration; polling
● Sites at Penn State (http://sites.psu.edu/): file storage; sharing and collaboration
● Qualtrics (https://pennstate.qualtrics.com/): surveys/polling
ITS Training Services has developed a table comparing these four alternatives to help users see what will work best for them as well as a full list of resources and training available for each at http://ittraining.psu.edu/2016/07/transitioning-from-angel-groups/#alternatives.
Users who need help moving content from their ANGEL Groups to any of these alternatives can find directions on extracting files at http://kb.its.psu.edu/node/3784/.
Meeting minutes
Official copies of meeting minutes representing University business should be transferred to the University Archives, per requirements outlined in University Policy AD35. This transfer can be accomplished most effectively by uploading copies of the minutes to Box and sending a link to the Box contents to the University Archives.
Future option in Canvas
The Canvas project team is working to create space in Canvas that will be comparable to ANGEL Group space for academic purposes such as study groups and co-curricular activities. This alternative is targeted for completion by June 30, 2017.
Please contact the IT Service Desk, http://itservicedesk.psu.edu/, with any questions.
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