IT Matters

Stop Unwanted SPAM and Robocalls

Your Caller ID may include “SPAM?” for known robocallers since December, 2018. This is an attempt by telecommunications carriers to help their customers determine if the call is valid or not. Scam calls made up a large share of the estimated 4.7 billion robocalls to mobile devices in May, according to YouMail, an app that helps block them. That’s more than double the amount from two years ago. The Federal Trade Commission receives about 10,000 robocall complaints per day.

“We’re all fed up with the tens of billions of illegal robocalls we get every year,” Andrew Smith, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, said in a statement. Fighting “this scourge remains a top priority for law enforcement agencies around the nation.” Carriers are always improving the algorithm used to determine which calls match the SPAM criteria. However, we will still continue to receive unsolicited calls from spammers/scammers.

The University’s Information Technology Division frequently receives requests to block SPAM or other unwanted calls but we are faced with determining if the phone number is actually valid. The spoofed number may belong to someone who justifiably needs to contact the University so we cannot just simply block all requests for unwanted calls. Normally, the calls cease within a few days.

In an attempt to help, you can register your phone numbers with the “Do Not Call” list by calling 1-800-382-1222 from the phone number you wish to register or by adding the number through www.donotcall.gov. You can also register your personal wireless number to the “Do Not Call” list.

However, if your department is receiving an influx of calls, please contact the Technology Support Center at 570-941-4357 in order to immediately block the number and cease the interruption to your business day. If we determine the spoofed number is valid, we will need to unblock the number after a few business days and set up a time to test to see if the calls begin again.

For additional information on Caller ID Spoofing, visit https://www.fcc.gov/consumers/guides/spoofing-and-caller-id

—

Sources

“FTC, Law Enforcement Partners Announce New Crackdown on Illegal Robocalls.” Federal Trade Commission, 5 July 2019, https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/press-releases/2019/06/ftc-law-enforcement-partners-announce-new-crackdown-illegal.

 

 

Business Improvement: New RoyalSync Platform by Presence

The Center for Student Engagement is proud to announce that RoyalSync, the University’s co-curricular campus engagement platform, will be relaunched this fall powered by a new platform, Presence. Presence is a web and mobile software platform that helps campuses identify ways to increase student engagement, enhance assessment practices and promote opportunities, ultimately improving outcomes and retention. Presence will allow the Center for Student Engagement to simplify processes with student organization and event management, track student involvement with card swipe technology, identify student involvement trends and behaviors with real-time analytics, and help students make progress toward skill development through a co-curricular transcript.

When OrgSync, the previous platform that powered RoyalSync, was scheduled to be retired, the Center for Student Engagement, along with partners across the Division of Student Life and the Kania School of Management, began to search for a suitable replacement product, with the support of the IT division. The IT division helped us navigate the Third-Party Software Evaluation Lite assessment process to help us evaluate potential replacement products. After several rounds of demos from potential vendors, we selected Presence as the replacement platform for RoyalSync.

Over the spring semester, the Center for Student Engagement and the IT division have worked with Presence to build out the platform for our campus needs and attended web-based training to learn all the essentials of the platform. Undergraduate students will be the primary audience that RoyalSync will serve, providing information about student organizations and events all in one place, while student leaders with support from faculty/staff moderators can plan club/organization campus activities.

The new RoyalSync will be launched at the start of the Fall 2019 semester with in-person and web based training being offered to students and faculty/staff users. Please feel free to check out the new RoyalSync at royalsync.scranton.edu. For additional questions, please email cse@scranton.edu.

—

Written by Michael Ritterbeck, Director of the Center for Student Engagement at The University of Scranton

Summer Computer Updates

Lab Computers

Many device updates were completed in the computer labs: Biology (1 new PC); CAS Dean (43 new zero client laptops); Chemistry (9 new PC’s); Communication (33 new PC’s); Classroom systems (34 new instructor’s PC’s); Library (7 new iMacs, 8 new PCs); Math (40 Chromebook mobile lab); Physics (13 new PC’s).

All lab and classroom Windows computers have been updated to include Office 2019 replacing Office 2016. Many software applications have also been upgraded in our computer lab facilities including SPSS, MatLab, Minitab and Maple. All lab and classroom systems received operating system and many third party application updates.

As we expand our virtual desktop program, we are pleased to provide faculty with the ability to utilize a virtual lab. The virtual lab provides access to virtual Windows 10 machines preinstalled with University licensed software from a personal device eliminating the need to use rooms with lab machines when University licensed software is needed. Students can utilize their own laptops to access standard applications allowing faculty to create a lab in any room that they are teaching in. Review additional virtual lab information.

Office Computers

Over the summer months, the desktop windows operating system and many of third party applications (Firefox, Flash, Java, Adobe, etc.) received security patches through KBOX or Microsoft update. If you have not used your computer over the summer, these updates may automatically begin to download to your system when you turn it on. As the critical patches are installed, machines may experience a temporary decline in performance. We advise faculty to take this into consideration and allow time for the updates to take place.

MS Office 2019 will be available for faculty and staff on University owned office computers upon request.

What’s in a name?

For each student, faculty and staff member at the University, if provided, the entire name is collected and stored. In addition to the first, middle, and last names, a name prefix and suffix may also be stored. Name prefixes are typically Dr., Mr., Mrs., Ms., and a name suffix may be Jr., Sr., to name a few.

For some time, there has been a service available to faculty and staff members to adjust their Office 365 Display Name.  This name displays in the Office 365 address book and also in the sender/receiver fields. Faculty and staff can modify name fields, except their last name. Due to several requests by students, there is added functionality to allow students to remove their name prefix from the Office 365 Display Name.

Please note that the process for Office 365 Display Name is different from the Preferred Name service available to students through the Change of Bio-demographic Information Form managed by the Office of the Registrar & Academic Services, and faculty/staff through the Human Resources Data Change Form.

How do I adjust my name?

To adjust your Office 365 Display Name:

  1. Log into my.scranton with your credentials.
  2. On the Home tab, click on the Self-Service link.
  3. Select Personal Information.
  4. Then Office 365 Display Name.
  5. Select your default name, or edit your name in the additional text box. Your display name must contain your last name.
  6. Click Save.
  7. A green box at the top of the page will confirm when the change has been recorded.

 

Business Improvement: Ellucian DegreeWorks

The University of Scranton is proud to announce the planned implementation of Ellucian DegreeWorks, an easy-to-use, online suite of academic planning tools that assist students and advisors in planning, tracking and auditing academic progress and completion of degree requirements.  DegreeWorks is a web-based audit tool that will provide a clear and convenient method for: viewing and tracking requirements for the degree program declared by a student; supporting more timely degree certification by reducing paperwork and manual degree certification checklists; and aiding departments in forecasting course capacity demand. The program compares degree requirements against coursework completed to produce an easy-to-read, online worksheet that displays degree requirements by categories (GE, Major, Minor, Concentration).  The University’s decision to adopt DegreeWorks, the most modern educational program planning tool in the higher education marketplace, was highlighted as a strength by the Middle States Peer Review Team in their oral debriefing.

DegreeWorks also features a Transfer Equivalency (TE) module designed to articulate and map external coursework to University of Scranton equivalencies. Its self-service tool will allow high school and transfer students to forecast their transferable credits, a utility that will greatly improve the timeliness and processing of transfer credit for these applicant populations.

Susan Bowen, CIO, and Julie Ferguson, Registrar, are the executive sponsors of the DegreeWorks project. “DegreeWorks is a university-wide initiative that will further enhance the student user experience at UofS,” states Ms. Bowen.   Ms. Ferguson added “An implementation committee, co-chaired by Rose Ann Jubinski, IT Business Applications Analyst, and Lisa Cornell, Associate Registrar, will include cross-campus representation from TAG, Faculty Advisors, Advising Centers, ORAS, Financial Aid, IT, Dean’s Offices and the Office of the Provost. Advisors, Department Chairs and Program Directors will be routinely consulted throughout the coding and testing processes.”  Extensive training will be provided to all users.

DegreeWorks is expected to launch in Fall 2020; the product will be available to undergraduate and graduate students admitted in Fall 2020 and thereafter.  CAPP will be used to track the degree requirements of students admitted prior to Fall 2020.

Written by Julie Ferguson, Registrar

Security Spotlight: Security Awareness Training Matters

Cybersecurity, data breach, privacy, phishing attempts– I am sure you are most familiar with these words, as they have been frequently used these past years in our campus presentations, national news reports and articles in industry magazines (just to name a few). The threats these words represent are escalating, complicated and quite frankly too important to dismiss.

Listed as the single most pressing issue in the Top 10 IT Issues 2019 from Educause (a non-profit association that helps higher education optimize the impact of IT), it is a University-wide challenge that we must address – together.

Our Information Security Office (ISO) has seen a steady increase in the number of phishing and social engineering attempts. Thankfully, in part due to our programming and outreach (such as cybersecurity month, wellness day presentations, email notices and training) constituents have become more aware of these types of attempts and are increasingly reporting them to the ISO and the Technology Support Center.

The ISO encourages everyone to take advantage of the security awareness training available through SANS to learn more about phishing and social engineering, and recommends that everyone regularly perform a “Malwarebytes Full Scan” to guard against malware (this program is already installed on our campus computers).

As we continue to develop our University security strategies, we ask that you remain vigilant, and never hesitate to call or email us to confirm the validity of an email or phone call. You can reach the Information Security Office at 570-941-4226 or email infosec@scranton.edu.

Free Security Resources

  • The  THINK. CONNECT. ™ Campaign is a national public awareness campaign aimed at increasing the understanding of cyber threats. https://www.stopthinkconnect.org/resources
  • Through StaySafeOnline, the National Cyber Security Alliance (NCSA) empowers users at home, work and school with the information they need to keep themselves, their organizations, their systems and their sensitive information safe and secure online and encourage a culture of cybersecurity. https://staysafeonline.org/
  • Report identity theft to the Federal Trade Commission online at IdentityTheft.gov or by phone at 1-877-438-4338.
  • Get the latest information on IRS Tax Scams / Consumer Alerts. https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/tax-scams-consumer-alerts

Free Security Software Resources (for home)

  • uBlock Origin Extension (in Google Chrome Browser) is a free and open-source, cross-platform browser extension for content-filtering, including ad-blocking. https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/ublock-origin/cjpalhdlnbpafiamejdnhcphjbkeiagm?hl=en
  • Malwarebytes protects you against malware, ransomware, malicious websites, and other advanced online threats that have made traditional antivirus obsolete. https://www.malwarebytes.com/
  • Have I Been Pwned allows you to search across multiple data breaches to see if your email address has been compromised. https://haveibeenpwned.com/
  • LastPass is a password manager that stores encrypted passwords online. https://www.lastpass.com/

 

 

 

Wireless Upgrades in Student Residence Halls

Cisco Wireless Access Point

The Network Services team will be performing a wireless infrastructure upgrade to many of our student residence halls this summer.

Wireless was upgraded in Giblin-Kelly Hall as a proof-of-concept last March. During this pilot, a total of 37 new wireless access points and one additional back-end Cisco switch were placed in the dormitory to enhance and support the student increased wireless bandwidth demand.

In order to address the increasing demand for wireless capacity in the student residence halls, and to allow each student to leverage more wireless devices, a more comprehensive wireless design plan has been created. This plan calls for a wireless access point in every other student room with multiple access points in the hospitality areas.

The following student residence halls will be upgraded this summer using the same wireless design: Casey Hall, Condron Hall, Denis Edward Hall, Driscoll Hall, Fitch Hall, Hafey Hall, Lynett Hall, Martin Hall, McCourt Hall, McGowan House, GLM, Nevils Hall and Redington Hall.

Use Microsoft Forms to create a survey, quiz, or poll.

Microsoft Forms is an online program that lets you easily create surveys, quizzes and polls. It can be used to track meeting or event reservations, collect feedback or gather ideas. Once you have built your form, you can invite others to respond to your form using a link. Built-in analytics are available within the program to evaluate responses as they’re submitted. You can export your form data when needed.

Microsoft Forms is available to all students, faculty and staff free of charge as part of our Office 365 campus license. You can access Forms by going to https://forms.office.com/  and select Get Started.

Update: IT Resources

IT Training Resources

All of our training materials are now available online. Simply visit scranton.edu/ITtraining to access our new SharePoint folder. Authentication will be required.

Website
We have created the following new web pages in response to various campus requests:

Social Media
We invite you to follow us today at our respective social media websites listed below.

Twitter: @ScrantonTSC

Facebook: The University of Scranton’s Technology Support Center

← Older Posts

Newer Posts →

Menu

Search