Technology on Your Own Terms Fall 2010

13 08 2010

Faculty members interested in learning more about emerging technologies might be interested in Technology on Your Own Terms, a training series offered each semester by the Weinberg Memorial Library and the Center for Teaching & Learning Excellence (CTLE).  The series introduces University faculty and staff to emerging technologies in a hands-on environment, in order to encourage innovation in the workplace and in the classroom.  The Fall 2010 series is themed “Get to Know Google” and features workshops on four different Google services.  All faculty are welcome, but seats are limited, so please register for sessions you plan to attend at www.scranton.edu/ctleregistration (select Special Event).

Just Google It!
Tuesday, September 14 from 12pm – 1pm

One billion results in 0.27 seconds! When you need information, chances are you use Google™ to find it.  In this workshop, you will learn how Google’s Web search engine works.  You will also learn some tips to help you improve your search experience as well as some of Google’s special features, such as Google Books and Google Scholar. (Taught by Bonnie Oldham, Weinberg Memorial Library)

Google Docs: An Excellent Way to Create, Collaborate on, and Securely Store Documents
Friday, October 1 from 12pm – 1pm

This workshop will introduce you to Google Docs, a service that allows you to create documents that parallel Microsoft Office:  Word, Excel, and Powerpoint. It also allows for the creation of online surveys and the storage of any type of document in a very secure environment. Google Docs offers excellent collaborative opportunities for working on any supported document type with both peers and students, meaning that the tool can be used for course paper submissions, faculty feedback, collaborative student projects, club, or research purposes. (Taught by Dr. Tim Cannon, Psychology/Neuroscience)

Get Where You’re Going with Google Maps
Tuesday, October 12 from 12pm – 1pm

Many people know that you can use Google Maps to get driving directions from one place to another. But did you know that you can also use Maps to scope out a vacation destination, find the closest Italian restaurant, or make a custom map for a friend or a project?  In this workshop, you’ll explore specialized features and tools available in Google Maps to help you get where you want to go.  (Taught by Kristen Yarmey, Weinberg Memorial Library)

Does Google Give You A Voice?
Thursday, November 4 from 12pm – 1pm

In this workshop, we will explore Google Voice, a recently-made-public service of the search giant.  Google Voice offers one central phone number, which can be setup to call your other phones based on caller, time of day, etc.  Other features of the service include visual voicemail, personalized greetings, voicemail transcription, international calling, and a lot more.  It is easy to set up… Learn how! (Taught by Eugeniu Grigorescu, CTLE)


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ANGEL Downtime Notice

11 08 2010

Jason Wimmer notifies us about some Angel Downtime this weekend

Due to the ongoing construction project of the AMH computer room, ANGEL will be unavailable to all users between the hours of 7:00AM – 12:00PM on Saturday, August 14.


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Categories : Angel and Desire2Learn, Outages

Security updates on their way

11 08 2010

A new update from IT Services regarding the desktop security issues we’ve had this summer:

IT Services has experienced a large increase in the number of desktops becoming infected through casual web browsing and internet use. In order to limit exposure, computers that are infected must be immediately removed from the campus network. These recent malware infections require extensive work in cleaning and restoring the systems and have left many users without their computers for an extended period of time. IT Services has been working on improving the remediation process, however patching individual PC’s is necessary to limit the infection rate. In an effort to enhance desktop security and performance, IT Services will begin deploying third party patches to all office systems on August 10, 2010. Initial updates will include Adobe Reader, Adobe Flash, Adobe Shockwave and Java. These applications will be pushed out to office systems using the KACE KBOX service. Users will observe the installation prompt (light blue box with “University of Scranton” in the title bar) and it is critical that all users follow the prompts and install the third party updates.

IT Services will also provide the distribution of Internet Explorer 8.0 through the My.Scranton portal later this week. Watch for additional announcements in My.Scranton and on bboard.

If you have any questions or problem with the third party updates, please contact the TSC at extension 4357.


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A Plan Comes Together

9 08 2010

After a long but fun summer of Northern Light-powered planning and discussion, the University of Scranton Technology Advisory Group is about to officially get on its feet and meet for the first time.  While we’re still working through everyone’s schedules to set up a meeting time, we’re excited to announce our 2010-2011 inaugural membership.  Many thanks to the faculty and staff members who have volunteered to work with us!

TAG this year will consist of…

Three faculty members from the College of Arts and Sciences:
Dr. Timothy Cannon, Psychology/Neuroscience
Prof. Teresa Grettano, English and Theatre
Dr. Jeremy Sepinsky, Physics

Two faculty members from the Panuska College of Professional Studies:
Dr. Catherine Lovecchio, Nursing
Dr. Kevin Wilkerson, Counseling and Human Services

One faculty member from the Kania School of Management (although we’re trying to recruit one more):
Dr. S. P. Chattopadhyay, Management/Marketing

One faculty librarian from the Weinberg Memorial Library:
Prof. Kristen Yarmey-Tylutki, Digital Services Librarian

And two staff members representing Planning & Information Resources and the Center for Teaching and Learning Excellence, respectively:
James Franceschelli, Director of IT Services
Eugeniu Grigorescu, Associate Director, CTLE

We’ll start off by figuring out how to build communication bridges between faculty and IR, and by deciding how TAG fits in with other University committees and services. Let us know if you have any questions or suggestions!


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Desktop security alert

9 08 2010

IR has put out a warning to all faculty about an increase in desktop computer infections this month —

During the summer months we have seen an increase in the number of computer desktops becoming infected on a daily basis. In order to limit exposure, computers that are infected must be immediately removed from the campus network until they can be remediated by a staff member of the Information Technology Services department. Depending upon the severity and nature of the infection, it may take one to two weeks to fully clean your computer and get it back to you. In preparation for the start of the fall semester, here are some things that you can do to help prevent an infection on your desktop and to protect your information.

  • Do not store personally identifiable information (social security numbers, financial account numbers) on your desktop – in documents, spreadsheets, or email.
  • Use Royal Drive to store personally identifiable information and any data files that you would need to continue to perform your job on a day-to-day basis if you do not have access to your desktop.
  • Use Internet Explorer for accessing University systems only.
  • Use the Firefox web browser with Adblock Plus for all other web browsing. Avoid the following areas of the Internet while using your University desktop — websites related to gambling, hacking, warez (illegal software), adult content, and social networking. The risk of infection to your system is particularly high from these types of sites.
  • We strongly recommend that computers which are used to perform financial transactions or those known to contain personally identifiable information, such as social security numbers or financial account numbers, not be used for web browsing, instant messaging, or accessing external mail accounts.

We are working to put in place additional measures to protect your desktop over the next few weeks, including automated patching of the most vulnerable applications. In the coming months, we will be deploying other tools to help locate personally identifiable information on desktops and place additional controls on desktops accessing our network. Longer term, we are making plans and requesting resources to provide a layered defense through the use of multiple tools that will help to protect our campus desktops, ensuring our information and your productivity.

If you suspect that your computer has been compromised, contact the Technology Support Center at (941-HELP or techsupport@scranton.edu).  For more information about this and other malware threats, please contact security@scranton.edu

Anecdotally, we’ve had several computers hit here in the Library, and it takes a few days for the computer to make its way back into the Library after being cleaned up by IR.  If you’re not backing up your work, either to Royal Drive, to an external hard drive, or to some other cloud storage service, now would be a good time to start.


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Royal Drive outage?

19 07 2010

We just heard through the grapevine that everyone is supposed to stay off of Royal Drive “until further notice” due to a server migration taking place – but we haven’t seen any official notices about this outage.  We’ll post details as we hear them.

Update: As of 9:15am on July 20th, we’ve heard that the Royal Drive migration has been successfully completed – so use of Royal Drive can be resumed.


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EDUCAUSE Webinar on New Faculty and IT

7 07 2010

This afternoon, TAG members sat in with IT staff on an EDUCAUSE webinar titled “What Do Newer Generation Faculty Want from IT Services?”  The webinar featured two speakers from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee: Bruce Maas, CIO (representing the IT perspective) and Michael Zimmer, assistant professor (representing the new faculty perspective).  Both Bruce and Michael stressed the importance of communication between faculty and IT and acknowledged that official campus tools “often lag behind cloud and consumer services.”  Bruce described new faculty as “impatient” and unlikely to ask permission before using unsupported tools, while Michael described the frustration of being a tech-savvy faculty member with high expectations for IT services.  The discussion essentially came down to a single question: “How do we educate each other?”

If anyone’s interested, you can find a recording and transcript of the webinar, along with Bruce and Michael’s slides, here.


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Internet/Email/Etc outage 7/9-7/10

28 06 2010

Another outage announcement, from Network Infrastructure (emphasis ours):

Power Shutdown Impacting IR Services

As related to the construction of a new Data Center in Alumni Memorial Hall, substantial modifications to electrical services will require downtime affecting nearly all Information Resources services.  The power shutdown will begin at 11PM on Friday, July 9 and end at 7PM on Saturday, July 10.  Internet service, Email, ResNet and all enterprise services such as Banner will not be available during the power shutdown. Users outside of our campus will not be able to reach online services with the exception of our emergency website.  Cisco Voice over IP telephones will be functional during the maintenance window.  Please plan accordingly.


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University Catalog in now in relational database form

24 06 2010

In case you missed the announcement earlier this month, the University’s Undergraduate Catalog has been moved online and is now available as a searchable relational database (as opposed to last year’s PDF format) at catalog.scranton.edu. The catalog database also includes last year’s undergraduate catalog, graduate catalog, and student handbook.  (Don’t forget that previous catalogs, all the way back to 1926, can be found in the Library’s digital collections at www.scranton.edu/library/coursecatalogs).

According to the Public Relations office, there will be an information session on campus about the new catalog format at some point.  All content changes are expected to be completed by the time Orientation begins in July.

There will be a print version of the catalog available, but in limited quantities.

Comments or questions should be addressed to Gerry Zaboski at zaboskig1@scranton.edu.


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Computer control

21 06 2010

Last week Brian Croxall from Clemson University wrote a post for ProfHacker about faculty needing to have control over their own computer resources.  An excerpt:

Now I have nothing against IT Staff. In my interactions with them at the two schools where I’ve taught, they have been helpful and friendly. But relying on another person to adjust the tools that I need for my research is never efficient, and it suggests that researchers or teachers are not in a position to judge what is best for them. (I’ve been told, for instance, that I could not install specialized software we were using in class on a classroom’s podium computer because it would deviate from the standard software set.) If the computer is the equivalent of laboratory equipment–and for many in the humanities, it is the only “laboratory equipment” we have–then we should have control over its use.

Any thoughts? Is this an issue for you on our campus? Post to the comments.


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