Congratulations to Sara Grady, Community IT Experience, for your RecognizeIT nomination. Here is what your nominator had to say:
On Friday, August 18th, the First Year Advising department, in collaboration with Professor Arthur Lim, administered mathematics placement exams to eligible students seeking academic credit. I was here providing technical assistance and reassurances, primarily related to the Canvas LMS. which served as the conduit for all exam administration. For anyone who knows this process, the placement exams can be high stress and our colleagues are meticulous about having it in order. Many students on this day had Okta challenges or were not prepared to authenticate with MFA which added an additional stressor to the mix.
One student, in particular, had configured her Okta authentication factors and was having a tough time authenticating with SMS. She is an international student who had a different phone number and couldn't seem to get the SMS working. She was trying a bit frantically to get this working on her phone and I could tell this didn't do much in the way of minimizing test anxiety. The tests alone are enough to drive that up--the fact that she already had a bit of a late start and couldn't get authenticated even though she had it working a few days prior was not helping.
Through collaborative communication via Slack, Sara guided me through a step-by-step resolution process and pushed the magic buttons to reset the factors on the back end so we could do identity verification and move forward with the standard set up to configure new factors. With Sara's assistance, I was able to get the student set up using Okta's app so that she could successfully take her exams online via Canvas.
I recognize that addressing authentication issues with MFA is a relatively routine activity for our help desk team. However, I think it's important to underscore Sara's contributions in this moment for several reasons: (1) my familiarity with Okta factors is limited, and Sara adeptly communicated the necessary actions required to get this in order and quickly for which I am grateful (as was the student), (2) this situation exemplifies how wonderful it is when we in the OIT can pursue and meet our shared objective of serving our Notre Dame community, and (3) the significance of even a single student's positive initial encounter with OIT cannot be overstated. Easing a student's apprehensions, especially when transitioning from abroad to a new academic environment, holds substantial value in making them feel like they belong at Notre Dame and for them to know that they can count on someone in their time of need--whether it involves technology or something beyond. Successful interactions like this continue to reinforce confidence in the capabilities of the OIT, fostering trust and goodwill among those with whom we work. Sara's support not only resolved a technical issue but will also likely have a positive ripple effects on the perception of our organization/institution. Well done!
