by Scott Clark | Mar 10, 2023 | Faculty
Due to Daylight Savings Time changes on Sunday March 12 at 2:00 a.m., faculty/staff/students who have configured Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) for the my.canisius.edu portal will get prompted for additional verification on all trusted devices. Setting up MFA is easy, required for employees and highly recommended for students to keep our systems (and your information) secure. Instructions are available here: https://wiki.canisius.edu/x/Zy_8BQ
Advanced users can also use a digital authenticator app. Digital authenticator is NOT required but is available as an alternative authentication method. Instructions are available here:
https://youtu.be/8FgVuQdjz5M
Reminder that all users need to set up MFA by March 15th if you have not already done so. The Canisius Help Desk is available for any questions or problems you may encounter. For assistance, stop by the Help Desk in Horan O’Donnell 016, call 888-8340 or email helpdesk@canisius.edu.
Submitted by: Scott Clark, Director of User Services/ITS
by Scott Clark | Oct 5, 2022 | Faculty
October is CyberSecurity month and here at Canisius we would like you to spend some time thinking about how to can make your online presence more secure. First, I would like to remind everyone that you need to complete the online training sent out by Human Resources Department by the end of the month. It is available in the portal under the Human Resources link from the Launchpad.
The first topic this month I would like to bring your attention to is your use of Email for personal and professional life. This information was presented to the campus last year but I would like to revisit it again. It is always best to separate work from your home life. How you live on the internet is no different. On this note, the college strongly recommends that you do not mix your work and personal communications and online accounts. In accordance with newly adapted Canisius “Acceptable Usage Policy,” we recommend that you do not use your Canisius Email (ending @canisius.edu) for personal communications or as the Email address connected to various personal accounts, unrelated to your work at Canisius College, on the internet.
Please review your campus Email use and take this time to establish an external Email address (such as a free Google Mail or “gmail” account) if you have not already done so. Use this external Email address for any accounts unrelated to Canisius College, such as social media, personal finance, shopping, etc. Share your personal, external Email address with your family and friends and ask them to contact you there for non-work related matters.
Free Email services such as Google’s Gmail often have a mobile app for your phone, so you can maintain your two Email addresses in separate apps, for convenience. By maintaining a personal email address separate from your professional Canisius College address, you enhance the security, privacy, and organization of both spheres of your online life.
Below is a good article on the subject.
https://lifehacker.com/how-to-separate-your-work-and-personal-life-on-your-dev-1824208389
You can sign up for your free Gmail account here
https://accounts.google.com/signup/v2/webcreateaccount?flowName=GlifWebSignIn&flowEntry=SignUp
The College’s Acceptable Use Policy and other technology related policies can be found here:
https://wiki.canisius.edu/display/HR/Volume+II%3A+2.4+Information+Technology+Policies
As always if you have any questions, concerns or comments please contact the ITS Help Desk at 888-8340, email to helpdesk@canisius.edu or visit http://helpdesk.canisius.edu
Submitted by: Scott Clark, Director of User Services/ITS
by Scott Clark | Sep 9, 2022 | Faculty
Toner will no longer be automatically shipped to each device. There was too much over shipment and loss of items to make this work on our campus. From now on, all requests for supplies will go through the ITS Help Desk.
If you are having trouble with your departmental Xerox device, feel free to contact the ITS Help Desk. We can help you determine if ComDoc will need to come out for service or if it is something we can handle internally. If you are sure it is a problem with the device, end users should contact ComDoc and schedule service directly.
When you receive the “low toner” messages on a device, please contact the ITS Help Desk and we will send you the appropriate items. Do not replace them until the device indicates to replace them but this way you will have them on hand when needed.
If you find your device is out and you do not have toner on hand, you can also visit the Help Desk in Horan O’Donnell Room 016 and pick up as needed. Staple cartridges for devices that have that finishing option are also available at the Help Desk. There is no longer an additional charge for these supplies. Paper ordering has not changed.
You can submit these requests to the Help Desk by calling Ext. 8340, Emailing helpdesk@canisius.edu or by visiting http://helpdesk.canisius.edu.
Click here to see the article on the Canisius College wiki page for more information on all these procedures related to printing and supplies. https://wiki.canisius.edu/x/HALjAQ
Used cartridges should be returned to the Help Desk. Please mark them as used and drop them off or send them thru campus mail. If you have spare toner left over from the old devices, please drop it off at the Help Desk or send it via campus mail as well. We will sort through it and return what we can to ComDoc or reuse on campus as possible.
Training on usage of the Xerox devices is available any time for all users. Simply email Buffalo.Support.services@xerox.com and write “training” in the subject line. A Xerox trainer will contact you and schedule an in person training session for you and your colleagues.
Feel free to contact the Help Desk if you have any questions, comments or concerns.
Submitted by: Scott Clark, director of user services/ITS
by Scott Clark | May 23, 2022 | Faculty
ITS will be preparing the campus computer labs for the next academic year. To do this efficiently we need your input. We are starting from a clean slate so any previously installed software may not be available unless it is specifically requested. Our goal is to provide faculty and students the software they need for teaching and research.
Please use the Google form below to review the basic list of software that will be included in the lab builds and submit your requests for additional software before June 10th. This includes podium computers in classrooms and software in AppsAnywhere. Requests received after this date may not be able to be accommodated in a timely fashion.
https://forms.gle/TC4wmkDTMsxmNNwo9
Why are we doing this?
With the turnover in staff and faculty, and changes in faculty practices during the pandemic era, there is a lot of software out there that is no longer used. These software builds keep getting bigger and bigger. If we eliminate unused or redundant software, we could save the college significant amounts of money without impacting the quality of a Canisius education. This will also make computers easier for students to navigate. We are going to start evaluating new versions of the computer operating systems (MacOS Monterey and Windows 11) later this year for deployment in 2023 so we need this updated software list in preparation for this task.
We are also going to expand the ITS web pages with computer and software recommendations for students. If we know these software needs we can better recommend computer specifications for incoming freshman and current students if they choose to bring a laptop with them to campus. With these recommendations we can also include a list of software that particular academic programs may need.
We will be expanding the ITS “New Computer” pages in the weeks to come. This is a great resource for students, staff and faculty to explore options for personal computer purchases and recommendations. Links to purchase software and hardware for home use are already available and will be expanded based on some of this information.
Feel free to check it out… http://www.canisius.edu/newcomputer
Submitted by: Scott Clark, director of User Services, ITS
by Scott Clark | May 4, 2022 | Faculty
Please Email all requests for computer software for the summer session by Friday, May 6 to helpdesk@canisius.edu
If you have any questions or concerns please contact the ITS Help Desk via Email, phone (Ext. 8340) or visit here.
Submitted by: Scott Clark, director, User Services/ITS
