Training on the use of the College’s administrative software system’s requisitioning, requisition approval and budget functions is being organized upon demand. Those requiring training or having questions about these functions should contact Programmer/Analyst Connie McCarty via email at cmccarty@wooster.edu or via phone at x2199.
Database Specialist John Ma has left the College to attend graduate school. During his six year tenure in the Applications Development group, John provided support for our admissions and payroll applications. Most recently he worked intensively on the large scale data conversions associated with our implementation of Colleague Advancement for the Offices of Development and Alumni Affairs. We’ll miss John and wish him the very best with his studies.
Colleague will be unavailable between 7:00 a.m. on Saturday, August 18 and 8:00 a.m. on Monday, August 20. (ScotWeb will also be unavailable.) During this period IT will be working to copy large amounts of data from the legacy administrative software system to Colleague. This process is a critical part of the implementation of Colleague Advancement–the Datatel module dedicated to the Development and Alumni Affairs Offices. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. Questions can be directed to Marlene Brown at x2304.
The search to fill the position of Director of Instructional Technology has been pressed throughout the summer. The search committee has reviewed applications, and conducted phone interviews, and is now working to complete arrangements for candidates to visit campus. These visits are expected to occur during the weeks of September 3, 10 and 17. Additional details will be released as they become available. The Office of Information Technology is very grateful to the faculty and staff members of the search committee for their continuing efforts.
Faculty are invited to an open house on Monday, September 3. The event will get underway at 4:00 and will take place in Taylor 205. The open house will allow faculty to meet the Instructional Technology staff, explore available equipment and services, learn about changes and developments that took place over the summer, and discuss potential projects. Refreshments will be served. We look forward to seeing you there!
The Department of Instructional Technology will conduct the following training sessions for faculty members. No registration is required. Attendees should meet the facilitator in Taylor 205 at the indicated date and time. Faculty members will shortly receive via campus mail a document containing a description of each offering. Questions should be directed to Jon Breitenbucher via email at jbreitenbuch@wooster.edu or via phone at x2207.
Moodle, our course management system, was recently upgraded to version 1.7. The upgrade makes a number of new features available. Chief among them is the creation of a new Teaching Assistant (TA) role. Individuals assigned this role for a given course are permitted to add assignments, start forums and post handouts to the course, but are unable to enter or view grades. In addition to the upgrade, a number of new software plug-ins have been added. These plug-ins allow the inclusion of YouTube and Google video, allow for podcast assignments, and make it possible to add graded activities to the gradebook without creating course assignments. The upgrade and the installation of the new plug-ins are responses to faculty requests for additional functionality.
The initial load of Fall semester courses and enrollments was recently completed. The courses and course enrollments in Moodle are now being updated on a nightly basis to reflect the official information stored in Colleague. Faculty should now be able to access their courses in Moodle.
Faculty who anticipate using Moodle for the first time during the upcoming semester, as well as those who would like a refresher, will be able to attend training sessions conducted by the Department of Instructional Technology. These sessions are tentatively slated for August 15, 16, 21, 22 and 23. Official dates and times will be distributed shortly.
Questions related to Moodle should be addressed to Jon Breitenbucher via email at jbreitenbuch@wooster.edu or via phone at x2207.
Colleague will be unavailable between 7:00 a.m. on Saturday, August 11 and 8:00 a.m. on Monday, August 13. (ScotWeb will also be unavailable.) During this period IT will be working to copy large amounts of data from the legacy administrative software system to Colleague. This process is a critical part of the implementation of Colleague Advancement–the Datatel module dedicated to the Development and Alumni Affairs Offices. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.
As announced back in November, IT will implement a network access control (NAC) solution in all student residential spaces effective with the beginning of the 07-08 academic year. The NAC is designed to prevent computers that are infected with viruses or worms and computers that are vulnerable to infection from connecting to the campus network. This will prevent the spread of infection and help to ensure that the campus network and other IT resources operate effectively.
When students arrive on campus and plug a computer into a network jack, the NAC will require that the student authenticate and register the computer. Following registration, a software agent will be installed on the student’s computer. This software agent will scan the student’s computer for infection and vulnerabilities. If infections or vulnerabilities are detected, the student will be directed to the appropriate resource for assistance. During the first two weeks of the fall semester, student computers found to have infections or vulnerabilities will still be allowed to connect to the campus network. Thereafter, network access will be denied to such computers until the infections or vulnerabilities are addressed. Students bringing multiple computers to campus will have to register each machine individually.
Gaming devices and IP telephones are permitted on the network, but require setup by IT. To initiate this setup, send an email with the device type and the device’s MAC address to it-nac@wooster.edu. Setup should be complete within two business days. Hubs, routers, switches and wireless access points will not function on the network. Questions can be addressed to the student help desk at xHELP (x4357).
Back in March, IT announced that the DVD/VCR combo units in all Kauke classrooms would be replaced. Ten units were replaced during spring break. (Those in rooms 141, 142, 143, 236, 237, 238, 242, 243, 244 and 305.) The remaining units have now been replaced. The new units are capable of playing DVD regions one through six, and video cassettes in PAL, NTSC and SECAM formats. The original units supported a much more limited range of regions and formats. This replacement does not impact the way in which users interact with or control the devices.
Should you encounter a problem with any of these devices or with any technological equipment in any classroom please contact the help desk. The number is posted in each classroom. If the help desk worker is unable to resolve the problem over the phone, he or she will dispatch an appropriate technician.
Weblog authors are solely responsible for the content and accuracy of their weblogs, including
opinions they express,
and the College of Wooster, disclaims any and all liabililty for that content, its
accuracy, and opinions it may contain.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.5
License.
