Campus Technology Services

TechNews - July 2011

This is a summary of the activities supporting faculty, staff and student technology services at SUNY Oswego that occurred during June 2011.

Reminders

1. Routine Service Outage
   As part of Campus Technology Services' efforts to keep servers running at optimum levels, a regular maintenance period has been designated. From 6AM to 10AM on the second Sunday of each month, several services such as E-mail, editing of both departmental and personal web pageswill not be available. The next scheduled outage is Sunday, August 14th, 2011.
2. NYALERT
   For information on NYAlert: http://www.oswego.edu/administration/public_affairs/emergency/nyalert.html or
   visit http://www.suny.edu/SUNYALERTsec to sign up.
3. RAVE Guardian
   For information on Rave Guardian http://oswego.edu/student/blogs/?cat=11 or to sign up: https://www.getrave.com/login/oswego

Summer Projects
Talk a look at more detail  for projects  taking place  the summer of 2011

Campus Technology Services is pleased to welcome a new member to our technical staff. Sadig Gulaghayev has accepted a temporary position as a Technology Support Professional. Sadig's office will be located in the east end of the Campus Center (formerly Poucher Hall), and will be working closely with the Office of Learning Services, Collegiate Science and Technology Entry Program (CSTEP) and McNair Scholars Program.

CTS now has the capability of updating your campus owned computers for security fixes as well as functionality on a regularly scheduled basis. This may include software updates to programs such as Adobe Reader or Microsoft Word or to change Windows settings to better support your computers. In order to streamline this process we will only perform these updates on Wednesdays.  These changes will be implemented only after thorough internal CTS testing. You may possibly notice a slight slowdown in computer performance at that time however it will go away shortly. Updates will be added to a CTS calendar so you may see what changes have occurred to your computer on any given day. The calendar is still being revised at this time but will be up and running shortly.

LANDesk remote control and inventory are being incorporated into our HEAT ticketing system.  This will give us easy access to understanding the user's computer and requesting remote control of the user's computer all from within the ticketing system.  This will also be easier for our student workers in terms of not having to learn another system.

We are planning the training of eight new students that will be working for the TSC at the start of the fall semester.

Lakerpedia is being upgraded to version 6.3.  We are also working on implementing two new modules.  One will provide an automatic response to questions sent to help@oswego.edu.  The software will look for keywords in the user's question and provide a generic response saying our staff is working on the ticket and to check some online resources we have available pertaining to their question that might help resolve their issue.  The other is a custom search that can be inserted onto web pages to search only the content of that department's knowledge articles.  CTS will be inserting this onto our website to easily search our content within the knowledgebase.

Are you on Facebook? Want to receive updates from CTS on new services, updates, system outages, and more? We recently created a “SUNY Oswego – Campus Technology Services” Facebook group. Become a fan and start receiving updates!

You can reach us by phone at 312.3456 or at 26 Lanigan Hall or our website.

Please note that ANGEL is currently NOT compatible with Firefox 4 and IE 9.  SLN will be posting an announcement on ANGEL when they are deemed compatible.  If you have installed either or both Firefox 4 or IE 9, you may need to downgrade to continue to use ANGEL.  Please see the official announcement from SLN with links and information on downgrading at

http://wiki.sln.suny.edu/display/SLNKB/SLN+Online+Course+Browser+Compatibility.

Please check the ANGEL website for dates and times for upcoming workshops.

If you are interested in setting up a community group, please visit the ANGEL web site at www.oswego.edu/academics/angel. Community groups are limited to academic and/or university related activities only.

We are currently offering a few workshops over the summer for Office 2010.  In addition to instructor-led workshops, there are additional training opportunities for learning Office 2010, including recorded, on-demand tutorials in iTunes U. Check out the

MS Office training opportunities page for more information.  CTS Workshops are freely available to all SUNY Oswego faculty, staff and students.

Office 2010/2011 is now available for install on all campus-owned computers.  The programs are also available for install on faculty and staff personal machines for $9.95 each.  Please consult the CTS MS Office site for more details.

We are advising people to refrain from upgrading to Windows 7 as, currently, not all campus applications are compatible with it.

A new piece of software is officially being introduced to the campus as a pilot project this fall.  The Elluminate web-conferencing software allows you to either present or participate in a conference all from the Web. Listen to or give a presentation from your office, home, wherever you can find a computer connected to the Internet.   Common uses for Elluminate include online workshops, online meetings, online office hours and general presentations. We are actively seeking pilot project participants for the fall. If you think you might be interested please fill out the pilot participation form.

Microsoft is offering students a significantly reduced price on its Microsoft Office Ultimate 2010 software. The "Office Ultimate Steal" entitles eligible students to the Microsoft Office Ultimate 2010 software at a price of only $79.95. Microsoft's store price for the same software is $679.95! The Ultimate edition is packaged with Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, OneNote, Groove, Publisher, Access, InfoPath, and Accounting Express. To determine if students qualify for the special price and to buy online visit www.theultimatesteal.com.

UBMicro has a great new site for purchasing various software products for your home machine. They include Microsoft Office and some of the Adobe products. Visit their site at http://www.ubmicrosuny.com/

We are working on testing our many applications with the newly released Windows Internet Explorer 9 and Mozilla Firefox 4, Campus Technology Services (CTS) would like to inform everyone that these browsers are not yet fully compatible with some of the campus services that you need to access.

Specifically, the SUNY Learning Network has indicated that both of these browser updates are NOT compatible with ANGEL at this time. Sungard(myOswego)has also indicated that these browsers are not supported and users will has some inconsistent behavior. CTS will continue to evaluate other services on campus.

The use of an unsupported browser can result in inconsistent or unpredictable behavior when working in applications. You should refrain from updating at this time.

As soon as vendors update these applications for compatibility with these services, we will post notices.

The OU Educate product for creating and maintaining personal websites will be decommissioned on June 30.  The small number of people using the product may migrate their site to LakerApps Sites or if their site is being used for class-related information, ANGEL.  Migration workshops are being offered every two weeks through the beginning of July.  The workshop will review LakerApps Sites and ANGEL and assist users in getting started migrating their content.  More information is available from the OU Educate web site.

Ingeniux trainings continue to be held.  Please check the Ingeniux training site for dates and times and online registration.

CTS is participating in this year's new student orientations.  We will be showing a video which provides an overview of our technology services.  This video was recently revised to include our latest service offerings.  We also will be handing out a CTS bookmark, which lists 10 items to help get students prepared for technology services upon their arrival to campus.  We will be presenting to both parents and students.  In addition, we will be hosting a table at the "Cruisin' the Campus" session for students and parents to ask specific questions.

Campus Technology Services technicians have continued to aid faculty, staff and students in resolving hardware, software, and account related issues. Since the beginning of June Campus Technology Services technicians have assisted in the resolution of 29 hardware, 94 software, and 12 account related support requests.

EDSC has continued its work with Landesk, Windows 7 roll-out preparations, the roll-out of Microsoft Office 2010 (windows), and 2011 (macintosh), and improvements the documentation provided to users when a new machine is delivered. During the month the EDSC has also facilitate the deployment of upgrades to Sophos v9.7 and Internet Explorer v8.

Our desktop support technicians continue to prepare and deploy new equipment as it arrives. During the month of June, new equipment has been configured and installed within: Art Department, Biology Department, Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, Facilities Department, Intramurals & Recreation Department, Office of Business and Community Relations, Office of Learning Services, Psychology Department, School of Business, and Theater Department.

Campus Technology Services desktop support technicians assisted with relocation's of equipment in the following departments and offices: Facilities Design and Construction, Field Placement Office, Office of Learning Services, School of Education Deans Office, and the Urban Education Program.

Over the course of the semester Campus Technology has been working in conjunction with the Art, and Psychology departments to pilot test a virtual lab environment. One entire Art class, and a subset of a Psychology class have utilized the Virtual Lab environment to provide access to campus licensed software in locations where this software would not normally be available. Overall this small initial pilot was successful, however it has identified some complications and issues that Campus Technology Services is working to address. This pilot project will continue over the summer session.

• Continued CashNet /Banner eCommerce integration; attended training, meetings, and continued the development of data extracts and exports for the ePayment of student bills
• Continued working with Institutional Research and the Financial Aid Office to complete the SUNY Financial Aid Data Submission (FADS) as required by System Administration; have submitted first aid year and are awaiting approval
• Completed the Enrollment Confirmation survey for Student Accounts; this survey is expected to be activated in early August
• Continued Intelliworks Graduate Student/Banner student integration project
• Continued testing the use of the SICAS ASC interface to load Admissions Applications
.Phased out the use of JINITIATOR for use in logging into INB Banner

•Continued working with Registrar and Advisement to provide access to BDMS documents via myOswego

• Laker NetID/myOswego authentication implementation completed
• Developed an ARGOS query for Student Accounts to track students that have withdrawn
• Attended training session for SIRIS SRDS submission
• Assisted Res Life and Housing with summer student room assignments and Millennium access
• Continued developing database queries for Orientation (Banner Events) preparation
• Assisted Registrar's with planning for new business processes (second degree, transcripts, clearing house reporting); modified process that returns reserved seats to the general pool
• Installed Credential Solutions software for Registrar's; this product will provide alumni and current students a site for purchasing transcripts online
• Set up a new database to track Res Life and Housing/Judicial Affairs incidents
• Provided Financial Aid with TAP award information as requested
• Developed a wealth study for Alumni/Development and updated designation codes as requested
• Completed modifications to approximately 15 sqr, cobol and Argos applications
• Setup and install Sage accounting software on Sage-srv
• Test installation of Sage software on client computers
• Attended tracs users webinar.
• Met with Dell sales rep for Dell Equallogic iSCSI storage
• Tested Dell Equallogic iSCSI storage unit.
• Pushed Office upgrade to multiple departments/computers
• Move Mailroom, Anthropology, Sociology and History departments to CTS-DOMAIN
• Upgraded TMA test to verson 8.1.2 and iSD to 5.3, working with TMA on iSD service bug issue.
• Upgraded Titanium software for Counseling Center in Walker.
• Upgraded Camtasia to version 3.0.3
• Upgraded Theatre Manager to version 9.0.8
. Assisted in moving Theatre Manager from PCCharge to Authorize.net.

• Install SICAS releases on production database
• Set up the Fusion Middleware (FMW)
. Install start testing Conduct Coordinator which replaces Judicial Advisor
. Install exterprise version of Global Viewer, assist in managing ATC equipment
. Install web server for new WRVO system

• Res Hall floor phone installations
• SOE relocation
• Culkin 5th floor network closet
• Hewitt SOE terminations
• UPS install 23 Lanigan
• Cayuga data wiring
. Tyler Hall VoIP installation

• 800 Adds
• 124 Swaps
• 629 Changes
• 3268 Disconnects
• 1167 Moves
• Generate Monthly Bills.
• Voice Mail Audit
• Updating VOIP phones in Pinnacle
• Deletion of Res Hall student phone lines

• Matthew Brooks, and Timothy Yager participated and presented at the LabMan technical conference
• David Kahn successfully completed his certification as an Apple Certified Macintosh Technician
• Aaron Reece attended an UUP workshop on Performance Programs and Performance Evaluations
• Tim Yager was elected to serve on the SUNY Computer Officers Association(COA) executive board.
• Sue Fisk attended CashNet teleconference sessions
• IS staff attended Tegrity Lecture Capture Presentation
• IS staff attended Burst Point Lecture Capture Presentation
• IS staff attended Panopto Lecture Capture Presentation
• IS staff attended MediaSite: Evaluating lecture captures outcome on student outcomes.
• IS staff attended Classroom Design Webinar: Part II
• Tim Yager, Chuck Perkins and Dave Mcquin attended and presented at SUNY Technology Conference.
• Matt Perez - "Enterprise Mobile Technology Services Best Practices" webinar
• Nicole Decker,Dan Laird,Steve Leeper, Mike Pisa, Greg Fuller, Dave James - SUNY Technology Conference
• Greg Fuller - Passed "Troubleshooting Cisco Networks" CCNP certification exam

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