!!Attention - Maintenance Window and Outage Friday, August 4  @ NOON

through Sunday, August 6 @ 8:00 AM

Good News!  The transfer of all Microsoft Exchange and Active Directory Servers to the new VMware virtualized environment and Sun Storage Area Network will occur this weekend.  This event is a significant milestone in providing a reliable, redundant network and email environment for our faculty and staff.
 

This event will require that Microsoft Exchange and Active Directory be unavailable from 12 noon on the 8th until 8:00 am on Sunday, 8/7.  All mail delivered to the campus during this time period will be held in the mail queues until the system is transferred and services are brought back online.
 

We appreciate your patience during this process as it will inconvenience you during this weekend outage.  If you have questions about the outage, and need more information, please feel free to contact Matt Logan .

ELN: August Summer FTI

The Summer Faculty Technology Institute (FTI) cohort is "on" for early August (August 7, 8, 11 and 12, from 8 am to 12 noon daily)--and the cohort is: Tanya McKinney, Biology; Marcus Steele, Chemistry; Talbot Brooks, GIS; Paul Starkey, Business; Jeannie Falkner, Social Work; Leslie Horton, Mathematics; Lacey Blessitt, Nursing; and Miriam Davis, History. For more information, visit: ELN website or contact Dr. Susan Hines for the details.

Fall Course Shells

Fall course shells were released to faculty in June. Please note that fall term course shells are indicated with a "[200804]" after the course prefix and name listing under My Courses in Blackboard-CE6. If you need assistance copying content from your master copies or from one of your previous courses, visit: ELN Course Copies and complete the Copy Course Content form. For step-by-step instructions on copying your own course content, watch the "how to" screencast: ELN ScreenCast.

Project Updates

Telecommunications Billing
The new telecommunications billing system has been running in parallel to the existing system for several months. The new system emails your phone bills directly to you and includes extensive reporting capabilities. You will see some changes in our telephone invoices in the very near future!  If you have questions, please contact Joanna Barnes.

Wireless enhancements continue on the campus.  The second floor of the Library, Jobe Hall atrium, and all floors of Ewing Hall now have wireless access.  Guest access is also available.  Check out the OkraNet page for connection information.  Look for more wireless locations to come!

Storage Area Network

The SAN and virtualization projects are moving forward.  Ten servers have recently been migrated to the SAN environment, providing cost savings for DSU in maintenance, energy, and improved efficiencies.  During August, the Microsoft Active Directory and Exchange environments will be migrated to the system.  This is a major step in providing a redundant Exchange environment for the campus.  

Technology Classroom Enhancements

As part of the master lease funding, twelve locations on campus will be receiving technology makeovers prior to the fall semester startup.  Broom, Ewing, Gibson Gunn, Nursing, and the BPAC recital hall are all scheduled for upgrades. Thank you for your patience us as we work in the classrooms to make these improvements!  Enhancements are scheduled to be completed between August 1-14^th.  

Jacob Center and State Room

The Jacob Center and State Room are scheduled for major technology renovations over the next few weeks.  These facilities will be modified to provide true technology conference center offerings, including much improved audio systems.    

Web Templates Go Live!

The new templates as approved by the WOC, ITGC, and Cabinet were successfully applied to the level 2 and 3 pages within the DSU site on July 18.  While content was not affected, some users have experienced incidents in which font sizes are larger than normal.  This issue can be quickly resolved and Kimberly Cooley can assist.  To schedule training, or have Kimberly evaluate your website for change recommendations, please contact Kimberly via the help desk @4444. 

  University Directory

The 2008/2009 University Directory will be published within the next few months. The information that is published is pulled directly from Banner. Please verify that your information is correct in banner such as office locations and telephone numbers.  Faculty changes should be reported to Cheryl Ballard in Academic Affairs, and staff should contact Kelcey Steinriede  in Human Resources.

Rate Increase – Phone/Data Installations – Effective August 1, 2008

Due to the rising cost of materials, OIT must increase the rates for the installation of new telecommunications drops for both phone and cable.  Since summer 2005, copper prices have risen by over 166%, driving the raw materials costs up significantly.  The current rate of $75 per installation has been in place for over 15 years and does not cover the costs of the raw materials for these installations.  As a direct result of rising raw materials costs, effective August 1, 2008, the installation rate for a new drop (phone or data) has increased to $125 per drop.  If you have questions or concerns, please contact Joanna Barnes in Telecommunications.

Lab Software - Are you Ready? 

Are you ready to start teaching your classes?  Syllabus?  Check!  Class roster?  Check!  Class textbook?  Check!  New software or updates for your class?  Check!  Is that new software/update loaded on the lab computers that you will be using for your class?  Not sure about it?  Installing new software and updates to existing software on lab computers can take significant time.  If you have new software or some updates to an existing program that you will be using for the fall semester, please contact OIT IMMEDIATELY so that we can get this information from you!  The sooner you contact us about it, the sooner we can get this implemented for you.  Otherwise, there will be a delay in getting your software loaded on the University computer labs. 

ASK OIT? Your Questions Answered by OIT Staff

 askoit@deltastate.edu

What is clean access and why should I use it?

To access DSU’s wireless network, OkraNet, you are required to pass through the NAC (aka clean Access).  NAC provides secure, enterprise access to the University resources via a wireless connection.   In the past, enterprise security has always been more heavily focused on keeping the “bad-guys” out and away from critical information inside.  Today threats from inside our network are just as, if not more, important to the total security and stability of Delta State’s Systems and Information.

This application makes sure that anyone who connects to the University wireless network is both an authorized user (faculty, staff, student or approved guest) and is protected from viruses, malware, and worms from other users by using policy based rules to allow access to network resources. This new security feature also has the positive side-effect of letting information flow across our network in a more efficient manner. For more information on the new technology please visit the OIT website.