Telephone Billing Updates

This month you may have seen a new look to your telephone invoices.  The new telephone billing system is live!  The new invoices provide much more information than was previously possible in the old system.  Department Heads now receive a detailed listing for all activity associated with all telephone codes within the department.  All faculty and staff members should have an individual authorization code.  If you have been sharing codes with someone else, now is the time to obtain your own code so that the new invoice reflects accurate information. 

Please make sure you review your invoice carefully and let Joanna Barnes in Telecommunications know if you have an access code for your department or a former employee that needs to be disabled.   Very soon, you will receive your invoices via email with a link to the new secure online system.  This system provides drill down capabilities for department heads, as well as historical reporting capabilities that were not previously possible.  Look for more enhancements soon! 

Electronic Learning Network ELN:

Instructional Technology Challenge Grants

Good news. The ITC Grant Program has been funded for 2008-2009. Grants will be awarded to faculty members who propose outstanding educational projects that meet key criteria. For more information—and to download the application guidelines, click

here

Must Have (And Must Trust) Java

Several Blackboard-CE6 users have recently experienced trouble uploading files to the system. The culprit in almost every case has been Java. Either users don't have Java running on their computers or users don't "trust" Java as it is leveraged by the course management system. If you have seen or see the a security pop-up upon logging in to Blackboard-CE6 that reads: "The application's digital signature has an error. Do you want to run the application?" You should first put a check in the "Always trust content from this publisher" checkbox, then click the "Run" button. To see what this security pop-up looks like, click here.

Finally, An Online Plagiarism Tutorial For Your Students

The University of Southern Mississippi Libraries have developed an excellent tutorial on plagiarism, and its open to the public. If your students could stand a lesson or two, send them to this link. If you need help identifying plagiarism in student work, DSU Libraries support faculty in their use of Turn-It-In. To find out more, click here.

 Faculty:  Need To Reserve The Center For Teaching & Learning Lab?  Here's How:

Do you need to conduct a class or training seminar using a computer lab?  Reservations for the Center for Teaching and Learning Faculty training lab in Ewing 238 are available to College of Education faculty and staff members (or their affiliates).  Don’t delay - reservations are made on a first come, first serve basis.  To reserve the lab, you may contact Tina with OIT at 4760 or you may contact Dawn in the CTL at 4868.  If for some reason, your plans change and you do not need the lab, please let Tina or Dawn know as soon as possible so that others may have a chance to use the lab.
 

 AV Equipment Loans

OIT is unable to loan equipment to students.  Student organizations or groups that are in need of AV equipment should first identify a faculty or staff  member who will serve as your sponsor for the equipment.  Details and further information can be found at Media Reservation Form

Did My Bank or IT Department Really Send This Out?

More than likely, the answer to that questions is, "NO!"  Is this an attempt to steal your information, more than likely... "YES!"

Phishing is defined as type of scam with the intent of capturing personal information such as Social Security numbers, online banking user identification numbers, debit and credit card account numbers, and passwords.

Always remember that banks, IT departments, government offices, etc will NEVER request sensitive information via email.  Should you receive emails requesting sensitive information, report it to OIT immediately and DO NOT RESPOND.

Your typical phishing scam will include information requests such as:

"So you are to send us your mail account details which are as follows:

*Login Page/Webpage:

*User name:

*Password:

*Date of birth:"

Responding to such request puts you in danger of identity theft or worse.  If you find yourself in a position of uncertainty, contact the OIT department immediately.  The best practice are to delete the message without responding! 

 ASK OIT? Your Questions Answered by OIT Staff

askoit@deltastate.edu

 Who should I contact for help with

my department's website?  Contact Kimberly Cooley in OIT for assistance with your department website.