Overhaul of Wireless Environment Throughout Campus
The IT Department is undergoing a multi-phase effort to improve the wireless environment throughout the campus. The magnitude of a complete overhaul of our wireless infrastructure to meet our needs necessitates a multi-phase approach to assist us in achieving our ultimate goal. The goal is to provide high speed and full coverage to our campus. The following are some of the initial steps that the IT Department will be undertaking in the immediate future toward achieving the goal.
Effective Immediately - KUGUEST will now allow guests/visitors internet access by entering their email address and accepting our terms of access guidelines on the initial splash page that is presented. Guests will be required to re-authenticate only after non-activity of 4 hours. There is no longer a need to call or e-mail the Help Desk to activate the guest account for access. The KUGUEST SSID will remain active 24X7.
Week of 12/17/2012 - The availability of the wireless system will be intermittent (excluding KUGUEST which will remain accessible except during system re-boots) as we upgrade our wireless access points and controller to allow for multiple enhancements to our student and employee SSIDs:
Authentication will be updated to use the 802.1X protocol. Employees and students, under a Windows operating system, will only need to authenticate once, without time limits, during a 90 day period of time. You will not be disconnected due to time limits. Roaming across campus will automatically reconnect you to the appropriate wireless SSID when it’s within range.
The KUSTAFF SSID will be renamed to KUEMPLOYEE. KUSTAFF will remain active until all the campus access points are upgraded.
The KUW SSID will be phased out after all the campus access points are upgraded but will remain active throughout the transition time.
At the completion of the upgrade, additional instructions will be posted on the IT website (www.kettering.edu/it) providing information on how to connect to the upgraded SSIDs.
If you have any questions please contact Viola Sprague, Vice President of Instructional, Administrative, and Information Technology on x9668 or Dan Garcia, Director of IT Operations and Technical Infrastructure on x9752.
Dreamspark
The IT Department is excited to announce that we have subscribed to a three-year term for the new Microsoft DreamSpark Premium subscription program. This program grants students and faculty access to Microsoft software downloads at low or no cost for academic related use. This program replaces the old MSDNAA program that previously existed. We have already pre-loaded your LDAP identification into the DreamSpark database. You will need to log into our "Kettering University - Information Technology - DreamSpark Premium" webstore and register with your LDAP (email id). After registering, you will be able to download or purchase media of eligible software. For more information on this program and its guidelines, please see the Dreamspark FAQ's.
If you need further assistance, email helpdesk@kettering.edu or call 810.237.8324.
Minitab Software Now Available for Installation on Personal/Home Computers
The IT Department has recently negotiated a new enterprise license for the Minitab application that will result in costs savings and provide more widespread availability of Minitab 16 to faculty and students. The Annual Enterprise License provides qualified students and faculty unlimited use of the licensed software. Under this new yearly contract students and faculty will have access to the Minitab software for installation on personal/home computers for academic use.
Authorized Users are defined as follows:
1. Faculty members (whether full-time, part-time or adjunct) at an accredited, degree-granting academic institution.
2. Students (whether full-time or part-time) who are enrolled in coursework that results in the receipt of credits (excluding certificate programs and continuing education credits) towards a degree at an accredited, degree-granting academic institution. The downloading of Minitab 16 is now available through the online Blackboard Academic suite. To download a copy follow the steps listed below:
1. Logon to the Blackboard system
2. Go to My Files: Institutional Content: Enterprise Software: Minitab
3. Read the Setup_notes.txt file for instructions on the installation process
Please contact the Help Desk with any questions or issues encountered during this process at helpdesk@kettering.edu.
Microsoft Office E-Learning Courses Now Available for Kettering Employees
As part of a new offering from Microsoft through our licensing agreement, Kettering employees are now eligible to access E-Learning courses online at Microsoft.com. These courses are meant to help you keep up-to-date with the latest major software releases and may be taken as time allows either on or off campus.
There are several courses available covering products such as MS Office 2007/2010. These can be started and continued as time allows.
To gain initial access to the Microsoft® E-Learning courses, please follow the steps below:
- Go to: https://business.microsoftelearning.com/activate/.
- Input your multiuse access code: (obtain the code)
- You are prompted to sign in using a valid Windows Live™ ID. (This is the user name and password you use to access the site each time you log on.) If you already have a profile on microsoft.com, use that Windows Live ID otherwise create an id such as using your Kettering email address as your ID.
- You will receive an e-mail confirming your registration.
- From the confirmation e-mail, click the link to complete the e-mail confirmation and activate your courses.
- You are prompted to sign in using a valid Windows Live ID, once again.
- A confirmation page appears indicating that the access code has been accepted (or you may receive an error message if the code was not accepted).
- Click the My Learning link to see list of available courses.
- Click a course title to launch the offering. You have 12 months from the time of launch to finish that course.
To access your course at any time, please follow these steps:
-
Go to: https://business.microsoftelearning.com/.
- Click the "Sign In" button in the upper right corner of the page.
- Sign in to Windows Live using your Windows Live ID and password.
- Click the My Learning Catalog link on the left side of the page under Customer Login.
- Begin your E-Learning course.
If you have any questions regarding your access code, you may e-mail or phone the Microsoft support center. To view a list of support phone numbers, please visit https://www.microsoft.com/licensing/servicecenter/ and click the Support/Feedback link. If you experience any problems with your E-Learning training, please contact the regional support center in your region athttp://www.microsoft.com/learning/support/worldsites.mspx.
We trust you will enjoy this benefit and look forward to your participation. Please note that the access code we have received from Microsoft can accommodate a limited number of users from our organization. Do not share the code with unauthorized users. This is not permitted under our license agreement with Microsoft. Please provide any feedback from your experience using this resource by emailing the IT Help Desk at: helpdesk@kettering.edu.
Thank you,
Dan Garcia, Director of IT Operations
IE9 - Not a fully supported browser at this time
Microsoft has announced the release of Internet Explorer 9 (IE9). Please be advised that while Microsoft fully supports this browser, most major applications (including Blackboard) and websites do not yet support the browser. The network resources available at Kettering are not supported with the usage of this version of IE. Users of IE9 may experience errors while attempting to access Kettering resources. The IT Department will keep users informed when the usage of the browser is fully supported.
LDAP (Email/Blackboard/Bannerweb) Password Compromise Alert – 1/20/2011
Passwords that are set to something that is convenient to remember are usually a target for scams. Be aware that if your account is compromised, your personal information is also compromised. Typically if your account is compromised it could be used to send out tens of thousands of emails to unsolicited recipients. Thus, causing the domain (Kettering) that sent out the emails to be blacklisted. For example if your Kettering account is compromised and thousands of unsolicited emails get sent from your account, the Kettering domain could be blacklisted by other domains such as Yahoo or Gmail. When this happens no one on the Kettering domain would be able to send email to anyone that blacklisted us.
Please keep everyone’s security in mind when setting a password. An example of some passwords that shouldn’t be used would be your last name, first name, drivers license #, social security #, the name of your employer or school. An example of a password that you could use would be the first letter of each word in a phrase that is easy to recall while including the pound or dollar sign or numbers in the middle to be extra safe.
To reset your ldap password, you must log into Webmail. Click on the Options tab in the upper left-hand corner, click on global, click on change password. You will have to put in your current password and then choose a new password and type it in a second time for verification. Remember when you change this password it not only changes it for Webmail, but also for Blackboard, Bannerweb, Kquest, Kettering Connect, and wireless.
As always if you have questions or concerns, please send email to helpdesk@kettering.edu or call us at (810) 237-8324.
Microsoft Home Use Program Now Available – 5/12/2010
Kettering Employees now eligible to participate in Microsoft's Software Assurance Home Use Program (HUP). This program enables you to get a licensed copy of the Microsoft® Office desktop PC applications to install and use on your home computer.
Under the Home Use Program, you and our other employees who are users of qualifying applications at work (e.g. Office Enterprise Suite) may acquire a licensed copy of the corresponding Home Use Program software (e.g. Office Enterprise Suite) to install and use on a home computer. You may continue using HUP software while you are under our employment and as long as the corresponding software you use at work has active Software Assurance coverage.
Please note that some product and language versions may not be available at the time you place an order.
To access the Microsoft Home Use Program Web site:
- Go to http://hup.microsoft.com/
- Select the country to which you want your order to be shipped to and choose the language for viewing the order Web site.
- Enter your corporate e-mail address and insert the following program code: F8937A745E.
Note: This program code is assigned to our organization for our sole use in accessing this site. You may not share this number with anyone outside our organization. - Place your order online, and it will be shipped to the location you have chosen. Please note that a fulfillment fee will be charged to cover packaging, shipping, and handling costs.
We trust you will enjoy this benefit and look forward to your participation.
Dan Garcia – Director IT Operations
Windows 7 Deployment – 5/10/2010
The Kettering Information Technology Services Department announces the official support of the Microsoft Windows 7 operating system.
After extensive testing and a pilot project that ended on March 30, 2010, the IT Department is officially announcing its certification of the Windows 7 Enterprise Operating System. You may contact the Help Desk (helpdesk@kettering.edu — 810-237-8324) to schedule your upgrade. Labs will be scheduled upon consultation with and notification of the applicable stakeholders.
Please be aware that if you have business required software beyond the standard desktop image, that ITS Technicians will work with you to determine Windows 7 compatibility along with minimal hardware specifications for the upgrade. A pre-migration checklistwill be provided prior to scheduling your upgrade to gather all the pertinent information needed to aid in the migration process. Included in this upgrade will be the MS Office 2007 suite. The average time for a migration from Windows XP is 4 hours. Read details about our Windows 7 Migration Strategy.
Office 2007 Deployment – 5/10/2010
The Kettering Information Technology Services Department is currently scheduling upgrades to the Microsoft Office 2007 suite on Kettering owned and supported Windows machines. This upgrade may be scheduled as part of the overall Windows 7 migration unless it is critical to have it prior to that upgrade.
You may schedule your upgrade by contacting the IT Help Desk at 810-237-8324 or by sending an email to helpdesk@kettering.edu.
- MS Office 2007 Deployment Strategy
- MS Office 2007 Web Training Resources
- MS Office Quick Reference Sheets (Free Printable Downloads)
- Scheduling Your MS Office 2007 Upgrade
Kettering Anti-virus Software Upgrade – 5/10/2010
During the past few months the IT department has been remotely upgrading the anti-virus software on Kettering owned and supported computers from the old eTrust to the new NOD32 software. While a majority of the machines have already been successfully upgraded, there remain many mobile machines such as laptops that are not remotely accessible for a variety of reasons. In order to upgrade these machines, we are asking that personnel please contact the Help Desk (helpdesk@kettering.edu— 810-237-8324) to schedule your upgrade. The typical time required is one hour. Promptness in having the upgrade applied will assure a greater level of protection for your computer and its contents.
As always stay tuned to the IT website for future updates and details of new developments and upcoming events.
IT Hours and Contact Information
Helpdesk and Card Access hours of operation are 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday.
Email is the most effective way to report IT issues. When sending e-mail to helpdesk@kettering.edu, you should not include additional e-mail addresses in the TO: or CC: fields. If you need additional staff to be informed of an issue, please include those names in the body of the message. This will ensure that the Helpdesk receives clear and appropriate correspondence with regard to the call ticket.
For emergencies outside of the Helpdesk hours of operation, please contact Campus Safety at 1-810-762-9501.
