UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health

Scheduling

Priorities for Scheduling

Scheduling for network locations and times will be prioritized as follows:

A. Emergency requests can pre-empt previously scheduled programming. Emergency requests include:

1. Time needed to inform the public health community about an urgent public health crisis.
2. Requests for time from the State Health Director, the Dean of the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health, the Governor, or other high-ranking officials of the state and/or university.

B. Public Health related programming. These are regularly scheduled programs by the North Carolina Division of Public Health and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's Gillings School of Global Public Health.

C. Non-Public Health related programming. Requests from groups outside of public health are considered on a case-by-case basis and can be scheduled on the authority of the PHTIN Director, in conjunction with the Head, Office of Public Health Nursing, or the Telecommunications Manager at the Gillings School of Global Public Health.

Scheduling Procedure

Clients are encouraged to limit the number of sites based on educational needs and appropriateness. Specific sites should be considered in the following order of priority:

1. PHTIN Core Sites: These are the preferred sites because they are strategically located in all areas of the state (generally within a fifty-mile radius of most local health departments). The PHTIN provides the equipment, the maintenance, and the training of the local staff at these sites. These sites typically seat between 20–50 people per site.  These sites include: UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health, Cooper Building, Catawba County Health Dept., Cumberland County Health Dept., Albemarle Regional Health Services, Jackson County Health Dept., and Wilson County Health Department.

2. PHTIN Affiliated Sites: This network was developed for use by many of our rural sites that utilize the Internet and T1 lines to connect to our hub site in Chapel Hill. PHTIN affiliated sites help fill in the locations not reached by the large PHTIN sites. These locations are scheduled by the Chapel Hill scheduler to join PHTIN programming, and typically seat from 6–25 people.

3. Non-PHTIN sites: These sites are not controlled, staffed, or maintained by the PHTIN, and therefore may require additional payment of line, operator, and/or room charges.

More advance notice is needed to reserve these locations. (Within the past year, more requests for additional sites have been received. This has necessitated more contacts be made, and has required additional time for program scheduling and coordination.)

In general, all PHTIN sites can be reserved within a 2 to 5 day period.

Non-PHTIN sites may take 3 to 4 weeks to schedule, depending on the speed with which a response is received from these sites.

Individual heath departments reserve the right to schedule other activities at their locations. However, all scheduling requests must be coordinated through the Videoconference Scheduler at the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health.

All programming is scheduled on a first-come, first-served basis.

Program Cancellations

The PHTIN Videoconference Scheduler should be notified immediately if for any reason a program needs to be cancelled. When a course is canceled, the hours are released and become available to other requesting parties.

To avoid incurring any charges, notification of cancellation is required of the requesting party prior to the day of the class!

Please Note: We cannot insure that you will not be charged by a non-PHTIN site for late cancellations or for sites at which no participants show up for scheduled programming. Rooms which are set up for programs may require the payment of line charges, operator charges, and/or room charges whether participants are present or not. These charges from non-PHTIN sites are the total responsibility of the requesting organization or division. The network scheduler will provide the reserved site with the name of the scheduling party so that the billing may be handled directly.

Contacting the Videoconference Scheduler

1. If you would like to schedule a videoconference, please call our Videoconference Scheduler (919-715-2643) to confirm a date’s availability.

2. Then complete a reservation form available online at:

http://www.sph.unc.edu/iis/video_conferencing.html

Please note that all scheduling requests must be coordinated through the Videoconference Scheduler.

3. The Videoconference Scheduler will send out a confirmation email with the reserved date of a videoconference, and other pertinent details. Do not consider your program scheduled until this confirmation is received.

Remember, most programming originates from our Hub Site at the Gillings School of Global Public Health at UNC-Chapel Hill. The Mayes Center and the Cooper Building in Raleigh are better equipped for originating your programs. Call these sites if you have specific questions about presentation capabilities and equipment.

If you are using non-PHTIN sites, you may be billed for line charges, operator charges, and/or room charges. Scheduling non-PHTIN sites will require additional time and may involve coordinating schedules with other networks.

Event Facilitation

Once a course has been booked on the PHTIN, two types of facilitation are required:

1. Technical Facilitation:
The Mayes Center at the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health in Chapel Hill and the Cooper Building in Raleigh have full-time technical coordinators. Technical coordinators at the other PHTIN sites have other duties and may not be able to remain in the room for the duration of the program. Technical coordinators at these sites will be on hand at the beginning of the program to set up the equipment and to do a microphone check. If other duties require them to be away, they will instruct a participant (whoever feels comfortable doing it) on how to mute the microphones and move the camera. If no one in the room feels comfortable adjusting microphones or cameras, the technical coordinator will mute microphones and leave the camera on a wide shot of the classroom. This will eliminate the option of individuals at that site asking questions of faculty.

2. Educational Facilitation:
It is the responsibility of the event organizer to arrange for appropriate facilitation for each event. In courses involving CME and CEU credits there are often very strict course facilitation requirements that often have to be met. It is the responsibility of the event organizer to see that facilitation meets these requirements.

These are the current policies of the PHTIN. They will evolve as technology changes.

Policies—PHTIN Affiliated Sites

POLICIES AND PROCEDURES
FOR SMALL INTERNET VIDEOCONFERENCING SITES

These procedures cover all of the sites that are NOT PHTIN Core Sites.

1. When personnel at a site identify a PHTIN distance learning program or course that they wish to take, they should contact the local site coordinator at their health department.

2. The site coordinator should contact the program coordinator for permission to take the course at that site.

3. After the coordinator gives permission, then they must add the site to their roster through the online reservation form: http://www.sph.unc.edu/iis/video_conferencing.html  or the program coordinator can contact the Videoconference Scheduler, Tim Peppers, at (919) 715-2643 or  This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it   with this information: This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it

4. The Scheduler will then add the site to the program and confirm the programming request.

Site Coordinator Responsibilities Before and During the Broadcast

1. Turn on the unit 15 minutes prior to the program and be available for a microphone check.

2. Position the camera on the students and make necessary camera adjustments.

3. Dial into the program.  (For technical assistance, call 919-966-9882)

4. On occasion, when instructed, your site may be dialed in by UNC.

5. Remain for the program, or demonstrate for a designated participant the manner in which the microphone may be muted and unmuted for questions from participants. (The microphone system is voice activated. If not properly monitored, inadvertent comments may be broadcast on the network. Proper microphone adjustment also helps eliminate the echo effect.)

6. Turn off all the equipment at the end of the videoconference.

7. The site coordinator who does not remain for the videoconference must leave a telephone number where he or she may be reached, which may be used to contact the coordinator in case of technical problems.

Notes to Site Coordinators

1. Return rosters to instructor.
2. Obtain a facilitator if requested by instructor.
3. Be aware that, at times, remote sites may not be added to the class due to the stretched capacity of the network.

These are the current policies for the PHTIN affiliated sites. They will evolve as technology changes.

Other Services

Instructional Design and Meeting Planning Services Assistance

The Office of Continuing Education, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill offers assistance with program design, development, evaluation, event planning, marketing, registration, and awarding of certificates and certifications. These support activities may be done within the event organizer’s agency, or contracted out to other agencies at the discretion of the event organizer.

Contact the Office of Continuing Education at (919) 966-4032, or email Dr. Steve Hicks at \n This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it for more information on the services they offer. This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it

The Department of Instructional & Information Systems (IIS), Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill offers instructional design support for the development and implementation of web courses.

Contact IIS Online Instruction Group at (919) 843-3779 for more information.

Videotape Duplication

The Mayes Center at the Gillings School of Global Public Health in Chapel Hill and the Cooper Building Site in Raleigh will provide the program coordinator with one complimentary VHS (i.e., standard format) copy of their program. Up to three additional courtesy copies will be provided upon request if the client provides the VHS tapes. Additional copies of the program will be the responsibility of the event organizers.

For satellite programs, one free copy of the program will be provided if the program is not copyrighted. Please check with the Mayes Center or the Cooper Building technical coordinator for assistance with your videotape duplication needs.

Last Updated ( March 26, 2009 )