UPbeat

News for and about University of Portland faculty and staff.

Information Services

Time To Order Fall 2014 Software

Iman's handsnformation services will begin creating the computer classroom and lab software builds for the 2014 fall semester in April. A software build is applied to all computers in the requested location and contains a set of applications that the students require access to in order to complete their coursework. The computer classroom and lab software builds start from a blank slate, which means that any software that was available in the previous term will not be available for the following term unless it is specifically requested. Exceptions to this are software installed commonly everywhere, including Microsoft Office (Excel, Word, PowerPoint, etc.), Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, and Symantec anti-virus protection. For the Mac, Office, Safari, Firefox, and iLife are included by default.

To request software in a classroom or lab, please go to http://tinyurl.com/l5x5py3 and complete the web-based form. If you are interested in purchasing new software for your department to to http://tinyurl.com/mk9udn7 for instructions. If you are interested in requesting software for other locations that are not labs or classrooms, please contact the help desk at help@up.edu or call 7000.

Please note: Funding for new software is the responsibility of the requesting department.

The software build and deployment process is extremely labor intensive, and information services must receive software requests no later than Friday, April 4 to be included in the the computer classroom/lab software build for the Fall 2014 semester. For more information contact Sheila Smith, academic technology services, at 7658 or smithsv@up.edu.

Farewell Party For Brian Toole, March 27

toole copyInformation services will be saying farewell to Brian Toole on March 27, according to Lisel Stancil, web and enterprise services. Brian worked as a student employee in information services prior to joining the team as a full time employee in 2007 when he graduated from UP’s computer science program. Brian is leaving UP to join the UK-based company Virtual Trader, LLC in their Portland office. Brian’s institutional knowledge, programming skills, and passion for ultimate Frisbee will be missed.

There will be a farewell party for Brian in the Library Classroom on Thursday, March 27, beginning at 2:30 p.m. Please stop by to say farewell and wish Brian well on his next adventure. For more information contact Stancil at 7481 or stancil@up.edu.

Celly: UP Private Social Networking

cellyAll are welcome to stop by the Library Classroom on Wednesday, February 19, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., to learn more about Celly, the student-led network that is changing our campus, according to Ann Harris, information services. This is a great chance to visit with the Celly team and meet faculty, administrators, and students who are using Celly to facilitate their campus conversations. Snacks and pizza will be provided.

Celly allows groups to create private social networks or “cells” that members can join in seconds from any device. More versatile than e-mail and text, safer than Facebook or Twitter, an alternative to Clickers, Celly can organize your classrooms, clubs, and departments.

“Celly’s use on our campus really has no bounds!” says Quinten Chadwick, ASUP President. “From classroom communication, group projects, student clubs, or mass messages to the student body, Celly gives students the ability to easily communicate in all aspects of their academic life.”

Please visit wordpress.up.edu/celly for more information, or contact Harris at 8116 or harrisa@up.edu.

National Data Privacy Month: Do You Know Your Privacy IQ?

dataprivacyFebruary is National Data Privacy month. The information services office is committed to a safe and secure computing environment and encourages all UP computer users to do their part to keep private information secure. For some great tips on how to keep personal data safe please visit: http://tinyurl.com/kmp9m55. Want to know your Privacy IQ? Take a short quiz and check your score here: http://myprivacyiq.com/.

Windows XP Retiring Soon

man's hands typing at computer dreamstime_l_14874063 .jpgOn April 8, 2014, Microsoft will end support for the decade-old Windows XP operating system. This means UP will no longer receive updates, including security updates, for Windows XP from Microsoft. Support of Microsoft Office 2003 will also be ending on the same date.

Information services is committed to providing a highly secure computing environment that protects student and staff records. Any devices on the UP network still running windows XP will be required to upgrade to the Windows 7 operating system. The help desk will be scheduling upgrades for all XP campus computers starting this month.

Do you have a special need for legacy software that runs on Windows XP? Please start planning now by scheduling a consultation with IS technical experts. You can call ahead to schedule an upgrade appointment or request a consultation at 7000 or help@up.edu.

Mobile App Vendor Sessions

Apps Smart phone applications logos images dreamstime_m_31882324.jpgThe administration has heard the message: students want mobile application functionality at UP. The President’s Advisory Council on Information Technology has appointed a sub-committee to identify the needs and goals of mobile applications and/or websites. This is a time of transition for mobile technology, so the focus of this group is the long term.

In the short term, committee members have identified two vendors who offer solutions specific to higher education, and whose offerings complement other campus mobile solutions such as Moodle, Library, and Guidebook. Information services will be demonstrating two vendor solutions on campus with sessions focusing on students, and also for University personnel. The two vendors are DubLabs (www.dub labs.com) and ModoLabs (www.modolabs.com). The committee is very interested in all opinions concerning these two offerings and it is hoped that representatives of all campus units are able to attend. There will be three sessions by each vendor. Everyone is welcome to attend any of the three sessions. Each session will be approximately one hour in length with the first half hour being a demonstration of the product offerings, and the remaining time for questions.

The DubLabs sessions took place on Thursday, January 30. The ModoLabs sessions will take place on Wednesday, February 5, at 10 a.m., in Buckley Center room 163, with focus on University personnel; at 2 p.m., in Buckley Center room 163, with focus 0n students and university personnel; and at 5 p.m., in Buckley Center room 163, with focus on students (refreshments provided).

For more information contact Ann Harris, information services, at 8116 or harrisa@up.edu.

Campus Alert Test, Nov. 5

alert copyThe University of Portland is committed to comprehensive, real-time communication in the event of a campus emergency including natural disasters, weapons-bearing individuals, and other situations that pose an immediate threat to the security and safety of those on campus. UPAlert is an automated communication system that simultaneously sends voice, text, and e-mail messages to all students, faculty, and staff to notify them in the event of a campus emergency.

The public safety and information services departments are working collaboratively to test, analyze, and assess the capability of the mass notification infrastructure. To this end, we will conduct a campus-wide test of the UPAlert system on Wednesday, November 5, between noon and 1 p.m. Within a minute after the alert is issued, you should receive a voicemail, text message, and two e-mail messages—one e-mail to your UP account and the other to your personal account (e.g., Gmail, Hotmail, Yahoo, etc.).

Your support and participation is absolutely critical to the success of this program. If you wish to participate in UPAlert or need to update your contact information, please follow the instructions below to enter your information into the UPAlert system:

  • Log in to PilotsUP.
  • Scroll down to “UP Alert Contact Info” located toward the bottom of the right-hand column.
  • Click “Edit.”
  • Enter an “Alternate Email (non-UP).”
  • Enter a “Cell/Alternate Phone” number with no spaces, parentheses, or hyphens.
  • Check the check box to indicate that you agree to the terms and conditions of the UP Alert program.
  • If you would like to receive a text message as well, check the box that states, “I agree to receive text message notifications (optional).”
  • Click on the ‘Update’ button.

Your contact information will not be shared or distributed and you will only receive a message alert if an extreme emergency affects the campus. For more information, please visit the UPAlert page at http://www.up.edu/upalert. For more information contact public safety at 7161 or publicsafety@up.edu.

Cyber Security Awareness

Cyber security dreamstime_m_28148058.jpgOctober is National Cyber Security Awareness Month. As we continue to increase internet use throughout all aspects of our lives, we need to be even more aware of potential threats to information security. The information services division is committed to raising awareness across campus to ensure a safe and secure computing environment. In recognition of the important role each of us plays in securing University of Portland information and systems, please follow these guidelines:

  • Take personal responsibility for security and use good security practices.
  • Be aware of email phishing scams by carefully examining sender e-mail addresses.
  • Use caution when downloading or clicking on any unknown links.
  • Lock your computer whenever you leave your work or study area.
  • Treat your mobile device like the powerful computer it is and protect it. Only connect over a secure network (i.e. PilotsWPA) and lock your device using a passcode.
  • Use strong passwords, change them regularly and never share them with anyone.
  • Follow University of Portland Acceptable Use and Information Security policies. and promptly report all security incidents or concerns to the University help desk (7000, help@up.edu).
  • Safeguard sensitive data from any inappropriate disclosure.
  • Use privacy settings and do not post personal, sensitive, or non-public information on social media.
  • Do not participate in cyber bullying activities.
  • Raise awareness of good security practices among family, friends, and colleagues.

Throughout the remainder of this academic year expect to see more communications and outreach regarding information security at the University. Our policy documents are located on the University of Portland Policies and Disclosures website. For information about the University’s theft prevention software program available to all staff, faculty and students, see the FrontDoor Software website.

Welcome, Lynda

lynda.comThe information services team is proud to offer Lynda.com to the University community, according to Sam Williams, academic technology services. Lynda.com is free to University faculty, staff, and students, who will receive unlimited access to a vast library of high quality, current, and engaging video tutorials. New courses and topics are added every week.

To view information on Lynda.com and to see a sample course playlists go to https://wordpress.up.edu/lynda/. To access Lynda.com, use Go.up.edu, the University of Portland’s new Single Sign On (SSO) solution. Single sign on enables users to log in once rather than separately for each on-site and hosted web application they access via the university network. This feature has long been requested by end users to save time and provide ease of access. Learn more about Go.up.edu at http://wordpress.up.edu/go/. To access lynda.com now visit: https://go.up.edu/.

If you are experiencing problems with Go.up.edu or Lynda.com please notify the help desk at 7000 or help@up.edu.

Welcome Ann Harris

Harris LinkedIn.jpgInformation services is pleased to announce that Ann Harris has accepted the position of associate director of program management in web & enterprise services (WES). Ann brings 25 years of higher education experience to UP and in her recent capacity as a temporary worker added great value to the WES and to the overall information services division. She will be working primarily with WES, but will also be collaborating with the CIO on several strategic projects.