Monthly Archives: December 2012

How do I… submit an Event Registration Form?

The campus Event Registration form has undergone some big transformations over the past year.  We’ve tried to improve the level of detail in the form, while at the same time streamlining the form-filling for time spent and ease of use.  The feedback that we’ve received from those of you who use the form has been invaluable.  Thank you for your patience and contributions to the process!

Representatives from all support departments on campus meet as the Facilities Committee every Tuesday morning at 8 am.  At that time, the committee discusses newly submitted Event Registration forms for feasibility and logistics.  The form has become the primary tool for groups to describe their events to the committee for support.  The committee requests that the form be submitted no less than six weeks prior to the first day of the event in order to best overcome any logistical challenges that may arise.  Also, the person filling in and submitting the form should be someone from the campus, and a faculty or staff member – not a student.

Let’s take a look at the form itself.  I’ve created some images that will allow us to look at it step-by-step so that we can clarify its use.  First, to access the form, go to the Penn State Mont Alto home page:  www.ma.psu.edu.  Click on “Faculty & Staff,” then find the “Event Registration Form” link and click on it.

 Below is what the top of the Event Registration form looks like.  Note the links at the top of the page.  Policy information is there, as well as a listing of fees that events may incur, and templates for room layouts for the MPR.  Every field that has a red asterisk is a required answer in order to submit the form.  The difference between Event Sponsor and Group Contact is that if an outside group comes in to do an event, the sponsor would be the campus person who acts as liaison and the group contact is the non-PSU contact for the group.  For most campus events, the Event Sponsor and the Group Contact are the same person.

 When you reach the point at which you need to fill in date and time, simply clicking in the field brings up a calendar and slide controls for time selection.  Once you’ve entered information for the first day of your event, you can click “Expand Dates” link to add more dates:

Please share as much about your event as you can in the comments section.  Great details to include here may be whether you’re requesting a tech support person or custodial services for your event, temporary computer accounts, menu requests, etc.  The more information our support staff has as the event is planned, the more likely that we’ll be able to overcome any logistical challenges that arise.

 When you select each location that you’ll need for your event, the appropriate contact person for reserving the space should appear on the right side of the screen with telephone number.  Please reserve each space before submitting the form.  Likewise, when you select an item of equipment, a line will appear at the bottom of the Equipment section that allows you to specify quantity and location.  If you need to request an LCD projector in two different locations for example (see below), just click LCD projector twice so that you can list a different location for each one.

The Logistics section of this form pulls together some relatively unrelated, but important, information for the committee.  If minors will be present for this event, it is imperative that you choose that option so that the campus can be sure to comply to all the requirements of PSU Policy AD-39. 

 The Housing and Food Services section is auto-filled with NO answers to save you time: many events don’t involve meals or food.  If you answer yes to any of the meals or snacks, please take a moment to use the text fields to the right of the option to state where that setup will be needed.  When you’re done, click the “Submit Form” button.

 The following image is what you should see when you submit the completed form.  After you double-check your information, you can either click the “Edit Again” button to change your information, or click the “Form is Correct” button to continue with the submission process.

 This image will pop up to remind you to agree to the policy terms at the bottom of the next page:

 Until you click the “Accept Agreements” button at the bottom of the next page, your form is NOT YET submitted.  We’ve listed everything so that you have access to the entire policy.  When you’re ready, click the “Accept Agreements” button.

Congratulations!  If you see this image, you’ve successfully submitted the Event Registration Form.  Note the three email addresses listed – one copy goes to the Facilities Committee, one to the Event Sponsor, and one to the Group Contact.

If the committee has any questions upon review of your form, we’ll send a message asking for clarification.  You’ll receive confirmation when your event is approved.  Thank you for helping us provide your event with good support.  Don’t hesitate to let us know if you have any questions.

Media Commons: are you taking advantage of it?

We’re a small campus, but we have great services available to us through University Park by virtue of the fact that we are part of the Penn State system.  Some examples of these resources  are computing resources, library resources, and instructional design resources.

One service that combines all three of those categories is the Media Commons, located in the campus Library.  Have you heard of Media Commons?  Have you used the studios?  When Media Commons first came to Mont Alto years ago, it was called Digital Commons.

Media Commons on our campus is comprised of a recording studio and three editing studios, outfitted with great equipment like professional-grade video camera and lights, a green screen, broadcast-quality microphones, and Apple iMac computers with numerous media-editing applications installed.  There are telephones installed in the editing studios that dial directly to the Media Commons Help Desk, where a Media Commons professional can connect remotely to the computer and help troubleshoot issues that arise.

What uses does Media Commons have?  Students are encouraged to use this equipment for audio and video projects.  Faculty and staff, likewise, have opportunity to generate media as creative as they can imagine.  Our campus has a number of different classes in different disciplines that rely heavily on the Media Commons technologies for semester projects.  Our PT384 class has been requiring a semester video project for many years – when Digital Commons arrived here, it was a great fit for what the students need to do.  Click here to see the case study for this class use of Media Commons, complete with a sample student video and an interview of Renee Borromeo:  http://mediacommons.psu.edu/pt384.

What if you don’t know how to use the equipment or even how the studios might benefit you in your efforts?  You’re in a good place to ask.  Nick Smerker, a Traveling Media Consultant from the University Park Media Commons team, visits the Mont Alto campus regularly to assist faculty, staff, and students with current projects and to plan future ones.  He’ll be here on January 7, and he has availability to meet with you!

If you’re interested in meeting with Nick on January 7, or another date, please email mediacommons@psu.edu.  It’s not too late to consider incorporating these technologies into your Spring semester.

In other Media Commons news, we’re bringing a Penn State specific technology to campus soon…  It’s called a One Button Studio, and we’ll be posting more information as we have it.  Here’s a link, in case you’re curious:

http://mediacommons.psu.edu/onebutton