OIT Newsletter

Maintenance Update – Friday, January 19

OIT must perform mandatory maintenance and updates on campus servers and other. In order to minimize disruption to the campus as a whole, this window has been scheduled for Friday, January 19 from 4:00 p.m. until 9:00 p.m. Software updates for all Windows servers will be applied and some minor hardware changes will be implemented. During this time, you may experience an interruption of service. Applications that may be affected include network access, network printing, web applications, and One Kard access.

The WebCT (Blackboard) Learning System

WebCT and Blackboard have merged their online course management systems into one company. Over the next year you will see a migration in the name of our WebCT online system to the Blackboard name. The system is the same as only the name will be changing at this time. This vital resource is being used more and more by DSU Faculty to enhance their courses and expand the boundaries of teaching and learning with the WebCT (Blackboard) Learning System.

In order to orientate new students to this new learning environment, the Office of Information Technology (OIT) is conducting a series of orientation seminars and hands-on training workshops. Don't miss this opportunity to get comprehensive training and information on this e-learning platform. For more information, check out the OIT website for training dates and times. http://oit.deltastate.edu.

OkraMail – Official Student Email System for DSU

During the summer of 2005, OIT rolled out a new robust, fully functional student e-mail system.

This system provides all DSU students with a unique DSU e-mail address created upon full admittance to the University. This e-mail address will quickly become your lifeline to the University and will be a means for official communication between the campus, faculty members, and your fellow students.

To check your OkraMail account, logon to http://okramail.deltastate.edu.

For information on how to find your OkraMail address see the OkraMail FAQ Page.

Managing your Mailbox: Your Action Required before January 22, 2007

At the beginning of the semester, OIT noticed that numerous students had exceeded their 10MB email quota and mail was being returned to senders. In order to provide students with an opportunity to clean their mailboxes, OIT has temporarily increased the mail folder size from 10MB to 20MB until January 22, 2007. Over the next week please use this opportunity to purge unnecessary information from your mailbox. At 8:00 am on the 22 nd all mailbox folders will return to the original 10MB limitation. If you have not processed your mail to reduce the contents of your mailbox to under 10MB any email that is being attempted to deliver to you will return to the sender. It is your responsibility to manage your mailbox so that faculty and administrators can correspond with you. If you need help contact the OIT Help Desk @4444.

Issue No. 68 - January 12, 2007

Unauthorized Wireless Access Points are prohibited on Campus

To protect the security and performance of the campus network, unauthorized wireless access points are prohibited on the Delta State campus. Unauthorized and improperly secured wireless access points can compromise the security and performance of the campus network. These devices provide easy access for intruders to steal passwords, destroy data, and use University network and Internet resources for unauthorized purposes. Additionally, when these types of devices are connected to the network, legitimate devices will begin to experience connectivity issues resulting in slow or unavailable services, including email, network access, and printing. These devices can have serious repercussions in residential halls, computer labs, offices, and all other campus locations.

The University has invested considerable monies to ensure that everyone has a safe, secure, and fast network connection. If an unauthorized device is connected to the campus network, OIT will immediately shut down the network connectivity to the device and contact the respective owner. The network port will not be reactivated until such time that the device is removed from the network. OIT appreciates your assistance in ensuring that a safe, reliable network is available for all of the campus community 24/7.

Wireless Service Available in the H. L. Nowell Union
Wireless network connectivity is available in the Union! More locations will be deployed as funding cycles permit.

MyDSU

MyDSU is designed to be your portal into all of Delta State University 's online resources. MyDSU is where you register for classes, add/drop classes, check your grades, view class schedules, change personal information on your profile, as well as make tuition payments via credit card or check, check your email and get to WebCT all ONLINE. To connect to MyDSU go to www.deltastate.edu and select MyDSU from the menu on the left or go directly to MyDSU at http://mydsu.deltastate.edu.

Never Save Work on Public Campus Computers

There are many ways you can unintentionally lose information on a computer. A child playing the keyboard like a piano, a power surge, lightning, floods. And sometimes equipment just fails. Public computing labs on campus are not backed-up and the entire lab is subject to being reformatted at a moment's notice. More importantly, every time the computer is restarted it resets the information on the computer to its original state meaning that anything you might have saved on the computer will be removed. It is critical that students do not save work on lab computers or other computers on campus as it will be removed daily. A better rule of thumb is that you keep your documents on a small USB flash drive that you can keep with you at all times. These devices are fairly inexpensive and allow you to keep your documents with you and access them on any computer. Imation makes a great series of USB flash drives that have proven reliable over time. You can purchase these devices at the campus bookstore, Wal-Mart, Radio Shack or from a number of online vendors.

Questions or comments ~ feel free to contact Glenn Trammel at 662-846-4840 or email at gtrammel@deltastate.edu