Meet the Collaboration Technologies Analyst team: Different name, same team

By Katharine Casey

Katharine Casey is the Manager of Collaboration Technology Operations in MedIT’s Collaboration Technologies portfolio. Within the portfolio, she oversees the Vancouver-Fraser Medical Program team and the Collaboration Technologies Analyst team, and provides operational input to the Island Medical Program, Northern Medical Program, and Southern Medical Program teams.

King Siu and Jing Jing are two business analysts critical to MedIT’s success. Unfortunately, how they enable success has been largely misunderstood due to a lack of clarity around their roles and responsibilities. In an effort to clarify what the team does, we have renamed them the Collaboration Technologies Analyst (CTA) team (formerly the Session Coordination team). We are meeting with customers around the province in November to re-introduce the team’s key roles and responsibilities, and ensure that our customers know how and when to best leverage the CTA team to meet their needs.

Simply put, the CTA team acts as a hub. King and Jing assist our customers (program managers, program administrators, faculty, students, partners and technicians) with questions pertaining to audio conferencing, videoconferencing, desktop videoconferencing and web conferencing (see MedIT’s Services for details). The CTA team are experts in applying these tools for educational and administrative purposes, and are able to assist our customers in selecting tools to increase a session’s success.

The secret to success is a set of business policies and procedures which the CTA team masterfully creates and maintains. Although the phrase “policies and procedures” tends to elicit groans, King and Jing know that these pieces are what keep our customers happy. Clear policies and procedures ensure that, among other things:

• Presenters know what to expect when delivering a lecture in a Faculty of Medicine lecture theatre;
• Program assistants know what instructions are needed in advance of a session; and
• Backup plans for all collaboration technologies’ tools are at the ready should anything go awry.

Their skills remain in demand as the Faculty of Medicine grows and changes. New tools continue to be introduced and new partners continue to be brought onboard. The CTA team works very hard to ensure the Collaboration Technologies team can support this growth and these changes sustainably.

At this point, you may find yourself asking, “Are their names really King and Jing?” Yes, they really are and they are a great team. Contact the CTA team at medit.ctanalyst@ubc.ca today about how collaboration technologies can work for you.