July 2010 CRS Advanced Technology
IN THIS ISSUE
COMAL ISD EFFECTIVE INSTRUCTION EVEN WITH A SUBSTITUTE CLOUD BASED COMPUTING FOR EDUCATION 5 SIMPLE WAYS TO GREEN LIVING IMPROVEMENTS
QUICK LINKS CRS WEBSITE NEWSLETTER ARCHIVE CALENDAR SUBFINDER MEET MAXX
We hope everyone is staying cool in what is the hottest month of the year!
Welcome to our July edition of InTouch Online! Summer has arrived, and boy, is it letting us know it's here! Many of us have already begun to feel the sweltering heat and are dashing towards the local pool, lake, beach, or any place indoors with some air conditioning in attempts to keep cool. We hope all of our customers in the United States had a wonderful and safe Independence Day holiday – and the same to all our Canadian customers who celebrated Canada Day on July 1st.
July is also the month when the vacation travel begins! We wish you all relaxing vacations in preparation of the coming months – believe it or not, fall will be here before you know it and we will be welcoming in a new school year!
We have a great summer e-newsletter in store for you. We will start off by talking with Sonia Hernandez from Comal Independent School District (ISD) about their SubFinder system and how is has alleviated the stress of manually placing substitutes – and the importance of having the most qualified substitutes in their classrooms. Then, take a look into the newest way some school districts are utilizing Cloud Computing. This is an interesting article published this summer by eSchool News.
So find a cool place, sit back, relax, and enjoy!
Customer Highlight:
Comal ISD, Texas10 Years of Exceptional Customer Service
By: Corinne McLaughlin, Marketing Coordinator
Interview with: Sonia Hernandez, Substitute Manager
Comal Independent School District (ISD) is located in New Braunfels, Texas – which is actually a sizeable German community. Founded in 1845 by the German Prince, Carl of Solms-Braunfels, the city was named after his hometown in Germany. Located 30 miles northeast of San Antonio and 45 miles southwest of Austin, New Braunfels is an old-fashioned town in the Texas hill country situated along the Balcones Fault and a string of artesian springs known as Comal Springs. The New Braunfels area is a place where people love to relocate and to visit; this unique town has the Texas charm, and the German historic past that is still embraced in the present.
Comal ISD includes parts of five central counties in Texas: Comal, Bexar, Hays, Kendall, and Guadalupe. The total student enrollment at Comal ISD is about 17,050 and is comprised of fourteen elementary schools, five middle schools, four high schools, and one alternative school. The mission of Comal ISD is to provide extensive learning opportunities for all students to ensure they become contributing members of society. Time in the classroom must be utilized productively regardless of whether a teacher or a substitute is in the classroom. It is important that the daily curriculum continues to follow a schedule, which is why the SubFinder system has proven to be important to Comal when filling their daily absences. With SubFinder, Comal ISD’s personnel department can rest assured knowing that the most qualified substitute is being placed in the absence of an employee. I recently spoke with with Sonia Hernandez, SubFinder Operator and Substitute Manager about how the system has been a success for Comal ISD for the past 10 years.
Comal ISD has been a CRS customer since 2000, just a little over 10 years! How long have you been working with the SubFinder system?
I have been working with SubFinder since we implemented the system 10 years ago!
About two years ago, Comal ISD made the decision to switch from using SubFinder as a BOS solution to utilizing SubFinder as an ASP solution. What were the reasons behind the switch? Would you recommend SubFinder as an ASP?
We were having some issues with our hardware – and it was another issue that our technicians at Comal ISD had to deal with (as if they don’t deal with enough!) When researching the ASP solution, we found it would solve those problems – and more! No more delays with waiting for our tech support, no more hardware issues, no more phone lines, no long distance charges, and the freedom of accessibility. We are more than happy with our decision!
What payroll solution does Comal ISD use; is this payroll solution integrated with SubFinder?
We use the Internet-based Texas Computer Cooperative Software (iTCCS). Currently, we are in the process of working with the CRS staff and the iTCCS staff to integrate the solutions. We are looking forward to it!
How was the support from the CRS’ Client Services staff when preparing to integrate your payroll solution with SubFinder?
The CRS staff is always very courteous, patient, and very understanding with our needs that we request.
What features within SubFinder do you think employees find most useful; what about substitutes?
The online portion of SubFinder is a useful tool for everyone that is associated with the system. Especially having the ability to upload special instructions and having the ability to easily access daily absences.
Do your site administrators receive SubCast reports? What reports do they receive and how do they help?
YES! Site administrators receive reports on a daily basis (the absence by site report!) It allows the site administrator and secretary to easily plan their day.
Why do you feel CRS and the SubFinder solution stands above the rest?
CRS is the best when it comes to customer service. We have the best account specialist! She is always funny, patient, and answers all my questions in a timely manner.
We want to thank Comal ISD and Sonia Hernandez for taking the time to participate in our Customer Highlight! If you would like to learn more about how SubFinder can automatically place the most qualified substitute in your classroom, contact us at 800.782.3463 or visit our website at www.crsadvancedtechnology.com.
Effective Instruction Even With A Substitute
With SubFinder the Most Qualified Substitute Will Be Placed In the Classroom
On any given day in the United States, more than 270,000 classes are taught by substitute teachers. With the federal government's increased focus on student achievement, it is more important than ever to have highly qualified substitutes providing a continuum of curricular instruction. Research shows a correlation between schools with lower academic achievement and the placement of less qualified substitutes in the classroom.
To improve student achievement, students must be engaged in effective instruction every day--even when a substitute is in the classroom. In many cases, the substitute selection process looks more like a job auction than a rigorous search for the most qualified teachers. With SubFinder, you can rest assured that only the most qualified substitutes will be placed in your classrooms.
SubFinder Places The Most Qualified Substitutes:
Preference lists allow you to select only preferred substitutes for each of your job positions, employees, and sites.
SubFinder uses Qualitative Substitute Analysis ™ to select substitutes based on their skills and job performance.
SubFinder's enhanced substitute selection process performs a series of qualification checks before a substitute may accept a job.
For more information on how SubFinder can ensure the most qualified substitute is placed in your classroom, contact us at 800.782.3463 or visit our website at www.crsadvancedtechnology.com.
Kentucky Offers Cloud-Based Software to 700,000 School Users
State Officials Expect to Save $6.3 M in what They Say is One of the World's Largest Cloud-Computing RolloutsFrom: eSchoolNews.com staff and wire reports
The deployment is not only one of the largest in the world, but also one of the fastest, Microsoft says.
In what state officials are calling one of the largest and fastest-ever deployments of cloud computing in the world, the Kentucky Department of Education has chosen Microsoft’s Live@edu service to bring 21st-century communication and collaboration tools to more than 700,000 students, faculty, and staff statewide.
The cloud-based service, in which the software is hosted on Microsoft’s servers and delivered to users via the internet, already has been rolled out to more than half a million users, officials said—and they expect the project will save them about $6.3 million in operating costs over four years by not having to install or maintain the software themselves.
Live@edu is a no-cost suite of online software, based on familiar Microsoft communication and productivity tools. With Live@edu, students and educators can access their files and information in the cloud virtually anytime, anywhere, through popular web browsers and from any internet-connected PC or mobile phone, Microsoft says.
“With Live@edu, all school districts in Kentucky have access to the same powerful Microsoft applications and Web 2.0 technologies. That means we can close the technology gap between rich and poor districts and level the playing field for students, regardless of where they live,” said Terry Holliday, Kentucky’s commissioner of education. “Because they are ‘in the cloud,’ Kentucky schools will always stay up-to-date with the latest innovations. And the features are far greater than anything we could have afforded to offer to every school in Kentucky.”
The deployment is not only one of the largest in the world, but also one of the fastest, Microsoft says. The state reportedly moved more than half a million people from some 180 distributed Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 on-site servers to Live@edu during a single weekend. The rapid migration helped minimize disruption and gave users faster access to new technologies, such as Microsoft Exchange Server 2010, which powers Live@edu’s cloud-based eMail service.
“Historically, it would have required months and potentially years to migrate hundreds of thousands of people to a new solution,” said Chuck Austin of the Kentucky Department of Education’s Office of Education Technology.
“With Microsoft’s cloud technology and a collaborative focus between Microsoft and the Kentucky Department of Education on the planning aspects, we were able to dramatically reduce the implementation cycle and migrate everyone in a single weekend.”
Kentucky has become the second U.S. state in just the last six weeks to move to a statewide cloud-based model for school communication and collaboration. In late April, Oregon announced that its 540,000 public school students would be the first to use Google Apps for Education in K-12 schools statewide, a move that Oregon officials said would save the state about $1.5 million in IT costs.
Kentucky’s announcement also ratchets up the rivalry between Microsoft and Google, both of which are competing to attract education users of their web-based eMail and productivity software.
“Kentucky is getting a world-class communications and collaboration infrastructure that is dependable and highly secure,” said Sig Behrens, general manager for U.S. Education at Microsoft.
“With [a] single sign-on, Live@edu integrates with existing school systems, including school portals, allowing people to access all content with one identity that makes it easier to accomplish their work. More important, Live@edu will help transform the learning environment by extending education opportunities beyond the traditional classroom walls and [will] help students master the technology they will use in their future careers.”
Reprinted with permission from eSchool News, copyright 2009. Visit www.eschoolnews.com for daily news and resources for K-12 educators. For free subscriptions please visit https://www.eschoolnews.com/freeesn/index.cfm.
5 Simple Ways to Green Living Improvements
By: Green Life Staff
*article from Green Life (http://agreenliving.net) – Start A Green Living Now!
While many people hear the term green living, they think that is a fad, but more people are realizing that this needs to be a way of life for everyone in order to ensure we do not deplete the earth’s resources. There are little things you can do right now in order to do your part and if everyone does the same, before long people begin living a greener lifestyle automatically. Some ways you can begin your green living include:
1. Do you receive paper bills in the mail? Most companies have what is called an e-bill or paperless bills, meaning rather than generating a paper bill each month, they send you an email of your bill. You can then log in and pay your bill via an online check or credit card. Check with all your bills today such as credit cards, utilities, cell phones, home phone, and cable most if not all, offer e-bill statements.
2. Get in the habit of recycling. Many neighborhoods and apartment complexes actually participate in recycling programs. This means they give you the needed bags and pick up the recycled materials for you. Even if you do not have such a service where you live, your individual city will have recycling bins set up around the city, so you can simply place your recycled items in the can.
Additionally, purchase recycled products and those that have the recycled emblem on the label. The more people that refuse to purchase items that are not recyclable, the more you put pressure on companies to change their packaging.3. Everyone likes good tasting water, but did you know that those plastic water bottles you love so much are not biodegradable? This means they hang around the landfills for 100’s of years. Switch to a filtered in-home water filtering or system. These are quite popular now, such as pitchers and it allows you to filter your tap water so that it tastes just as good as bottled water and you save money since purchasing bottled water by the case adds up quickly.
4. Do you have a bike and live relatively close to work or school? Start riding your bike instead of driving, you save on the emissions your car puts out and you get in shape. It is a win-win situation.
5. Change all your light bulbs in your home to the florescent variety, these come in many sizes and the compact ones work great for replacing bulbs in your lamps and bathrooms. These bulbs normally last about 5 years, so you are saving money and helping the environment. Another win-win situation.
In conclusion, if everyone would live by these five simple suggestions, the planet as a whole would be in much better shape, especially when you think about 200 years from now. Remember, what you do today affects others in the future.
Would you like to receive SubFinder product information?
CRS Advanced Technology is the leading provider of employee absence management and substitute placement solutions serving over 1.5 million throughout the United States and Canada. Our flagship product, SubFinder, completely automates employee absence reporting, substitute placement, data management, and payroll tasks. If you would like further information about SubFinder, please contact us at 800.782.3463.Sincerely,
The CRS Advanced Technology Team
