The following provides information about the IT projects planned for this spring and offers some quick updates to help you wrap up from the fall’s slate of activities.
Before you get to those topics, though, I wanted to take a moment to reflect on the past year of upgrades, updates and transitions in IT at DePauw. Over the past 12 months, we adopted a new email system, replaced the entire fleet of printer/copiers (80+ of them), upgraded the campus network system, added off-campus VPN access to network resources, implemented a new print/copy accounting system, and issued enhanced ID cards to the DePauw community. Whew!
Now that everything is nearly complete, we are excited for what these upgrades will provide for supporting communication and collaboration, enabling better remote access, encouraging sustainability, and improving security in many aspects of our campus IT activities.
Thank you for your patience and perseverance in helping make these projects successful!
If you have any questions about these (or any other IT-related projects), please don’t hesitate to contact me at clsmith@depauw.edu.
-- Carol.
Topics in the following include:
- Campus desktop/laptop inventory project
- Upcoming system maintenance and planned e-Services outage – March 19-22
- Google Apps – New services coming
- Helping students get logged in to Moodle, the DePauw network, printers, etc.
- The new campus Network (P, I and U)
1) Campus desktop/laptop inventory project
This spring, Information Services will be gathering information about faculty and staff desktop/laptop computers to ensure we have an accurate inventory. This information will enable us to develop a more effective upgrade cycle for administrative computer replacements.
Details about this project will be coming by email soon. In the meantime, thank you in advance for everyone’s assistance in identifying systems in your department.
2) Upcoming system maintenance and planned e-Services outage – March 19-22, 2011
System maintenance on the University core data systems is planned for March 19-22, 2011, which will require that e-Services be unavailable during the 4-day upgrade window.
During this maintenance, Information Services and the Finance Office will be collaborating to complete a major upgrade to Oracle e-Business Suite, moving from Release 11i to Release 12 (or “R12”). While most people on campus do not use e-Business Suite system directly, it is an important companion to eServices that is used in maintaining the University financial and human resources data systems. Overall, the upgrade will introduce changes for only those staff in the Finance and Human Resources division who regularly use e-Business Suite and they are currently involved in preparing for the change. It will not result in any noticeable changes in eServices for other faculty, staff or students.
Watch for upcoming email announcements with more information about the upgrade and how to prepare for the system outage.
3) Google Apps – New services coming
Early this spring, Google will be expanding the services available to DePauw’s Google Apps for Education domain, adding a number of applications such as Blogger, Reader and Picasa Web Albums. Once the update has been applied to our domain, the next time you log in to your DePauw Google Apps account you will see a one-time confirmation screen that describes the new services. After that, you can begin using the expanded services with your DePauw.edu account.
If you already have personal account in one of these other Google applications that you created with your DePauw.edu address, after the update, the next time you log in Google will walk you through steps to create a new username for that personal account. Afterwards, the data in that account is safe and you can continue access that personal Google account using the new username.
We will provide more information about the upgrade in a couple of weeks.
4) Helping students get logged in to Moodle, the DePauw network, printers, eServices, etc.
If you hear from students who are having difficulties using the new printers or logging in to one of their accounts, following are some resources that will help them:
If they’ve forgotten or are having trouble with a password
-- Direct them to visit the HelpDesk in person to have it reset
-- HelpDesk Hours: Monday – Friday 7:30am – 5:00pm
The DePauw Network Help Site - http://tinyurl.com/depauwnetwork
-- Provides information about connecting to network drives (P, I, and U) and using the VPN to access the Network from off-campus
Printer/Copiers - http://tinyurl.com/depauwprinters
-- Provides information about using the Canon printer/copiers, setting up a laptop or computer to print on campus, check your print quota, etc.
5) The new campus Network (P, I and U)
On January 11, the campus network was upgraded to Microsoft Active Directory and Novell was retired.. This change gives us easier access to network drives (P, I, and U) from off-campus, increased security, and better compatibility with both Macintosh and Windows computers. The new Canon printer/copiers are also tied into this network, so you use the same username and password to log in to use these as you do for connecting to P, U, and I.
To connect your network drives (P, I, and U) you will need to install a new program on your laptop or computer. Instructions to do so are on the Network Help Site.
If you have questions, contact the HelpDesk (helpdesk@depauw.edu, 765-658-4287)
