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Checkbox No Longer Available After Today

Over the summer, ITS and the FacTS Center brought Qualtrics to campus, a new advanced online survey application.

The old online survey tool, Checkbox, will no longer be available after today. Checkbox users need to export and archive their Checkbox data, including surveys, responses and reports to another location by that time. This data will not be retrievable once Checkbox is removed.

You can access Qualtrics by going to my.canisius.edu, where in “All Applications and Services” you will find the Qualtrics icon. The FacTS Center will run workshops during the fall to help users get acquainted with Qualtrics. For users with long surveys, a conversion process is available that can move question text from Checkbox to Qualtrics. For links to text and video tutorials and our workshop signup sheet, go to canisius.edu/surveys.

Please contact Mark Gallimore at Ext. 8353 with questions or further information.

Submitted by: Mark Gallimore, academic technology specialist

W9 Form Updates

The Controller’s Office is updating its records to comply with IRS regulations.

To ensure proper reporting to the IRS, the college must collect Form W9 (request for taxpayer identification verification) from ALL vendors.

This form must be completed for any new vendor. Every new vendor must also complete a W9 form before it is created in Banner and before the college will make any payments to the vendor. W9 Forms can be found under Canisius Templates and on the portal page.

All existing vendors in Banner must also have a W9 on file with the College. Please help the Accounts Payable and Purchasing Office gather W9s for any vendor that will receive payments from the college. Payments will not be processed if a W9 is not on file with the college.

On an annual basis, the college must issue 1099 tax statements to all eligible vendors regarding the income they received from the college. Certain types of payments made to vendors must be reported to the IRS. Having a signed W9 on file allows the college to report the correct combination of Tax Identification Number (TIN) and name, thus avoiding IRS penalties.

Thank you for your cooperation. If you have any questions, please contact Alex Brewer at Ext. 8526.

Submitted by: Alex Brewer, director of tax, endowment and grants, accounting

Play “What’s Your Financial IQ?”

Ready to test your financial savvy and learn something new each time you play?

Canisius College is teaming up with TIAA-CREF to bring you “What’s Your Financial IQ?” From Thursday, October 1 to Saturday, October 31, take the educational challenge to have fun and learn important information about financial planning. Each day, five new questions will be added to the challenge. Every time you play, you are automatically entered for a chance to win a $100 Amex gift card. The more you play, the better your chances of winning – so sign on every day! (All responses are confidential.)

Click here to see how to participate and maybe you will be a lucky winner of a $100 AMEX card.

Submitted by: Dawn Rotterman, benefits specialist, human resources

New Antivirus Software

Canisius College ITS is currently deploying a new antivirus product on campus, Cylance Protect. Cylance uses a very different approach to virus detection.

Previously, conventional anti-virus products used a combination of virus signatures, which required constant updates to detect a virus infection, only after the infection had already occurred.

Signature-based virus detection over the past few years hasn’t kept pace with the high rate of new threats, making this method of detection vulnerable.

Cylance Protect instead relies on artificial intelligence and machine learning to analyze threats prior to their launch and terminate them prior to the threat doing damage to the computer. Cylance does this very rapidly with the ability to evaluate threats in less than 100 milliseconds.

Currently we have Cylance Protect deployed to the majority of Microsoft Windows PC’s across campus. However, it is currently operating in a “monitor only” mode. This means that it has the ability to detect threats but is not currently quarantining the threats.

ITS has been fine-tuning Cylance Protect to recognize our legitimate software on campus.

Starting this Friday, October 2, at 9:00 a.m., ITS will activate quarantining of active threats on administrative offices Windows PC’s.

Starting on Friday, October 9, at 9:00 a.m. ITS will activate quarantining of active threats on academic offices Windows PC’s.

If you are having any difficulty running any programs on your computer after quarantining goes live, please contact the ITS Help Desk at Ext. 8340.

Submitted by: David Koenig, Support Specialist III, ITS

Flu Shot Clinics

Be ready for flu season this year!

The Department of Student Health and Wegmans are teaming up to provide two on-campus flu shot clinics.

The first clinic will be held Tuesday, October 6 in the Science Hall Atrium from 8:30 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.

The second will be held Thursday, October 8 in the Student Center Lobby from 4:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.

Participants must be 18 years of age for vaccination. Wegmans accepts most health insurances. Please bring your health insurance card with you as proof of coverage. If you are uninsured, the flu shot costs $28.99. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention recommends an annual flu vaccination as the best way to prevent influenza and its spread.

Submitted by: Patricia Creahan, APRN, director, student health center