Transforming employee support at UCalgary for a more connected experience

Introducing a reimagined UCalgary Support experience

As our university continues to evolve, so does that way we work. Employees have told us that finding the right support can feel fragmented, unclear, and time consuming, and often requires insider knowledge of systems, departments, or internal jargon. This is why the Operational Plan in Ahead of Tomorrow identifies a single-point intake model for accessing central services as a key initiative in supporting our work. 

This launch is a significant milestone in our work toward a fully integrated support experience. It brings together Information Technologies (IT), People & Culture (HR), and Finance support into one platform, and provides a gateway to support and services available across campus. 

 

What's new? 

 

A smarter starting point

Employees told us they often want a clearer starting point when they need support. 

In a large organization, the path to the right information can involve different teams, systems, and places depending on the task at hand. 

The UCalgary Support homepage is designed to bring things together in a more intuitive way. It’s organized around what you’re trying to do, so you can move forward more easily. 

• Task-based navigation helps you move forward without needing internal context  
• Plain language reduces reliance on technical terms or organizational knowledge  
• The Employee Services widget surfaces commonly used services across IT, People & Culture, and Finance  
• AI-supported search and guidance help connect you to relevant information more quickly 

 

Your first stop, one front door, multiple pathways

UCalgary’s service and support ecosystem is broad, we’re a complex organization with complex needs. While UC Support brings many services together, not everything lives in one place yet. Employees still need to navigate across systems, tools, and sites to get their work done. 

The UC Support mega menu is designed to act as a front door, helping you access both what’s in the platform today, and what exists beyond it. 

• A single, consistent navigation layer across a wide range of services and resources  
• Direct links to systems and information that may live outside UC Support  
• Clear indicators when you are leaving the platform  
• A structure designed to grow as more services are integrated over time 

 

Clarity and transparency, visibility into your requests all in one place

UC Support brings together your requests across IT, People & Culture, and Finance into one unified view, creating a more transparent and consistent support experience. Your account acts as a single source of truth for your support activity, giving you clarity and confidence in how your requests are progressing. Behind the scenes, service teams can collaborate more easily with seamless ticket transfers and tracking cross teams.  

• View and track all your tickets in one place—not just IT  
• Access real-time status updates and progress details  
• Add information or request updates directly within existing tickets  
• Save frequently used services and resources for quick access 

 

Support, without leaving your workflow  

Now available, you can access support directly within Microsoft Teams without leaving your workflow. 

This brings help closer to where conversations and collaboration are already happening, making it easier to connect with support in the moment you need it. 

• Access the existing support chat directly via Microsoft Teams  
• This update will be automatically rolled out to all employees
• This also allows people to click directly to browse the support site within the Teams platform
• Look out for the welcome notification when the integration is made available to you

At this phase, the integration launches the existing functionality and makes it available within Teams, in our next phase we'll be working to further enhance the chat experience. This is a feature that will get better over time and evolve with our needs.

Built with you, for you 

This digital transformation initiative was developed cross functionally in a collaboration between IT, Process Excellence (Digital Transformation and Technology) and Digital Experience (External Relations). 

It was shaped through close collaboration with support teams across UService, People & Culture, and Finance, and informed by the time, input, and feedback of colleagues from across the university. 

Together, this milestone advances our Ahead of Tomorrow priorities by making it easier to get help, submit requests, and track progress—all in one place. 
 
To support this work, a structured, data-informed approach was used to ensure the experience reflects how employees actually work and where friction exists today. This included: 

• Analysis of current systems, usage patterns, and request volumes  
• Engagement with frontline service teams to understand operational challenges  
• Employee surveys and usability testing to validate navigation and content  
• Workshops and working sessions to align on priorities and future direction  

This approach ensures that UC Support is not only aligned to our Ahead of Tomorrow goals, but also grounded in real user needs and behaviours.